RACERS from the Mount Gambier Cycling Club ventured out to the roads outside Tantanoola for the fourth race in their Summer Series.
Some of the younger riders had commitments with the Junior Track Cycling Championships but there were still 15 riders who took the course in the wind farm region and around Lake Bonney.
The day started with a 10km race for the junior riders, where Glenn Tye led the young racers away and started three and a half minutes Molly Opperman, before Sean Tye and Ethan McKenny began two minutes later.
The focus of the junior races is to help the younger riders understand the finer points of racing and the racers were chaperoned by David Tye, Nick Kidman, Matthew Opperman and Malcolm Tirabassi.
At the midway point in the race, Molly Opperman had caught up to Glenn Tye, while McKenny and Sean Tye remained in hot-pursuit.
As they approached the finish line, Molly Opperman was still in front and she was followed by McKenny, Sean Tye and Glenn Tye.
After an impressive junior race, McKenny decided to take up the opportunity to ride in the senior race as well.
McKenny and Dianne Major were the first riders to depart and had a 12 minute advantage over the next group.
The second group to start their race consisted of Jen Buckland, David Tye, Ainsley Curtis and Troy Mustey.
They were then followed by John Cranwell and Spek Peake, who began two minutes later.
A further 6 minutes elapsed before Gerard Coote and Colin Weatherill joined the chase.
Matthew Opperman, Chris Kennett, Tirabassi and Craig Andrae started one minute later before Kidman began his chase a further minute back.
The Tantanoola race includes a punchy climb about seven kilometres which can play havoc as each riders tries to find their rhythm.
By the time they reached the turnaround marker, McKenny held a 30-second lead over Major.
Further back, Weatherill and Coote had been caught by Matthew Opperman, Kennett, Andrae and Tirabassi.
However, while Weatherill failed to latch onto the faster group, Coote remained with the faster riders.
As the the rest f the group reached the turnaround, Jen Buckland, David Tye, Curtis and Mustey trailed McKenny and Major by just over four minutes.
Peake and Cranwell shaved 30 seconds off the group in front and were being reeled in by the group behind with 17km left.
An untimely puncture, ended Coote’s race, while Kidman kept pace with the group in front of him but failed to make any headway.
On the return leg, the climb proved to be a major obstacle as riders were caught or dropped from the group at the summit.
McKenny was the last one to be caught by Kennett and Matthew Opperman but he managed to keep pace with the pair.
As they crossed the line, McKenny claimed the victory, ahead of Kennett, Matthew Opperman, Andrae and David Tye.
Kidman was the next to arrive and after comparing times, it was determined that Kennett had claimed the award for the fastest time by just one second.
Kidman was followed by Tirabassi, Mustey, Curtis, Buckland, Peake, Major, Cranwell and Weatherill – who was just 200 metres short of catching those in front.
This Sunday, there will be a 30km race near Glencoe with riders taking on the Overland track before they finish with a 1.5km climb up the Range Hill.
