THIS, is why we ride! – 23 April 2017

Rising Sun Trophy

Windmill circuit – with finish over The Wall – 56 km

When a man in his seventies holds them ALL at bay…

The lone intrepid soldier, Graeme “Colonel” Parker lead from gun to flag, to take the chockies and carve his name onto the famous Rising Sun Trophy.
The sole “limit” rider time-trialled his way around 3 laps of Windmill, then ascended the Mur de Learmonth (also known as The Wall) as best he could, he resisted the temptation just to get off, told his “aching knee” to shut up, and zig zagged his way up the notorious “Wall”.
It wasn’t pretty, but he made it first over the top and through no-man’s land to the finish.  For that, we realise, why we ride!

A healthy sized field of 25 gathered to honour the race dedicated to those that served, and in the spirit of community service, all proceeds from today’s race will be donated to a local community organization.
The locals must have got wind of today’s special trophy race with a large crowd of spectators assembled at the start line – granted they were a herd of young dairy cows that thought we were there to feed them – but they appeared genuinely interested in proceedings!  Such was their enthusiasm, the short pinch on Donovan’s Rd has been renamed the “Cowberg”.
Pre-race banter turned to a lengthy discussion about the nature of power and the invention of a new unit of measure, the “twat”.
For your information, 100 twats = 1 rat power.
Like impatient kids at Christmas, a few riders decided to warm up by ascertaining how many “twats” are required to scale The Wall (also known as the Mur de Learmonth), for Craig “Lightie” Lightfoot this wasn’t a great idea as he usually only has one ascent in him on any given day (week? year? decade?).
During all this jocularity, Graeme (30 minutes) slipped away from the start line almost unnoticed, and began his solo mission behind enemy lines.  The stealthy koploper went undetected for the entirety of the race, and while the rest of the race eroded his lead quickly, he found the reserves necessary to hold them at bay.  A classic ride from this hardened warrior, and a well-deserved win.

Off 13 minutes, a small scouting party of three were in pursuit, Roger McMillan, James Gretton and Brian Ure knew which way the Colonel had gone but they couldn’t spot him.  With two large groups behind, the smart race strategy was to race somewhat conservatively and contribute to the chase in a bigger bunch.  They made it to half way before meeting up with reinforcements…

The 7 minute Regiment was replete with nine in its company.  A company of this size is an oddity in club races, however they knitted together well.  With Paul Crack, Stephan Biram and James “Mack” Knipe providing the necessary fire power, all three rode strongly and drove the bunch with enthusiasm and a touch of sadism, especially when the road went up.  Danny “Fidel” Whelan and Bob “Muncher” Morley went about their work with determination, both strong and consistent they rode their turns with metronomic regularity.  Mark “Mocca” O’Callaghan was backing up from a testing race the day before (with sister club BSCC), but you could hardly tell that his legs were screaming.  Following his recent criterium success, Jeremy Humber was out for his first handicap race with Eureka, learning that this is a different “kettle of fish” and that pain can be your “new friend”.  Peter “Fifi” Livitsanis and Craig “Lightie” Lightfoot contributed where they could, but both found it necessary to sit back while the stronger riders drove the pace.  Fifi, just out of hospital, was cautiously undertaking his own personal stress test, he was in better knick than he thought and had plenty left in the tank for the finale!

A lap and a half in and the 13 minute scouts are ambushed, but rather than a summary execution, the 7 minute Regiment decided to conscript them to their cause and put them to work.
Roger McMillan is mentioned in despatches for his courageous sacrifice – working turns with the bunch knowing that every match he burnt was going to count against him on The Wall.  James and Brian did what they could – but preservation was their first priority – both hung in as long as they could, Brian only dislodged on the last lap up Crick’s Hill.
Left turn at the church on Coghills Creek Rd and the Wall loomed large on the horizon!!!
Lightie, having already ridden a prelude “Wall” ascent, was dubious about his chances of featuring in the finish, and instead sacrificed the few “twats” he had remaining on the front, to keep the bunch clear of the achtervolgers.
Impatient for the off, and to the surprise of the bunch, it’s a (James Knipe) Mack Attack!  Very early on the preliminary slopes, he stays clear to the bottom of the final climb.  Mack might be a puncheur, but The Wall punches back, and early on the steep ramp he finds himself calling for the medic.  Next, James Gretton cannot contain the adrenalin any further and attacks the climb, he opens a 10 metre gap but the lights dimmed before the climb relented and The Wall took another scalp.  Having sat on the back trying to hang onto wheels on the flat, the relatively fresh lightweight Fifi, plays his card halfway up the steepest section and kicks clear of the field, crawls past James and opens a gap back to his poursuivants Danny “Fidel” Whelan and Stephan Biram.  Topping the parapet, Fifi engages the “big dog” (aka the large chain ring) and sprints for the downhill finish line.  Behind, Fidel has distanced all but Stephen and the two battle it out for third, Stephen proving the faster and claims the final podium spot.

The 2 minute regiment of achervolgers were maintaining a mad pace – up over 39 kph is “scratch” riding.  Is it possible, or is Peter Kiel lighter than last time we saw him?  Well, not sure about that, but he’s still quick, climbs well and has a steely conviction to race.  Pete Canny was a winner yesterday at Springmount (BSCC) and was looking to double up the chocky quotient.  Matty Ayres was encouraged to test himself in better company as too was Duncan “Psycho” Bates.  The large bunch also welcomed new rider Peter “Norman” Gunston for his first race with Eureka, a great first up ride from him!  The rock of the group was Stu Brien, of course he can be relied on to push a big gear on the flat – but today he proved himself on The Wall – outclimbing the rest of this company.  Rick “Sudso” Calvert is starting to find his racing legs and today’s finale suited him when he’s in top knick.
This tightly knit group shared the work around, maintaining their 2 minute advantage to Scratch and steadily gaining on the front of the race.
Into the last lap and while the mission looked futile, they coursed on, hopeful that something might appear on the radar soon.  Sure enough their persistence was rewarded as the 7 minute bunch came into view around the final corner.
Encouraged, the pace found another level and mid way up The Wall, they stormed into the back of the 7 minute bunch now spread all over The Wall like a Jackson Pollock painting.
This ignited a flurry of attacks, and the world went topsy-turvy, the solid sprinter Stu breaking clear up the steep slope, towing Peter Kiel towards the top, then to complete the reversal of roles, Kiellie rewards Stu by out-sprinting him to the finish, to claim 5th.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get more surreal, the efforts of the bunch also rewarded Kiellie with fastest time – will wonders never cease?

So what became of the Special Forces Scratch bunch?  With a meagre 4 riders chasing two large bunches up the road it was always a chance that this was “A bridge too far”.  Club Champ Greg Ley and the sponsor of the race, Dean “Phantom” Wells were undaunted and combined with Tony “TIS” Mirabella and Brendan “Scheems” Schiemer to attempt the almost impossible.
A two minute gap may seem insignificant, but despite Scheems put in his two fastest taps of windmill ever, and TIS and Greg both having great races, the gap wasn’t coming down.  Late into the race, when all seemed lost, they all rode for each other to try to preserve fastest time, but despite superhuman efforts even this goal proved elusive, second scratch (Kiellie) taking fastest time by a mere TWO seconds.

Results:

1st – Graeme Parker (30 min)
2nd – Peter Livitsanis (7 min)
3rd – Stephen Biram (7 min)
4th – Danny Whelan (7 min)
5th – Peter Kiel (2 min)

Fastest Time: Peter Kiel (2 min) in 1h 27m 10s, ave. 38.7 kph

Photo: A proud Graeme post presentations.