THE Mount Gambier Cycling Club’s Summer Series returned to the familiar Caves Road course on Sunday for a 36km race.
With some riders unavailable, 16 riders still signed on and were divided into five groups by the handicapper.
The junior riders competed in a 10km handicap race first, with Glenn Tye given an eight-minute advantage over Ethan McKenny at the start.
Both riders continued to learn about racing on the road, thanks to the chaperones who rode with them.
They enjoyed a tailwind for the first five kilometres before working harder back into the wind on the return leg.
Tye managed to remain in front of McKenny all the way to the line.
The senior riders then prepared to begin their race and with the increased distance, the time between each of the groups grew, such that the fastest rider needed to wait 26 minutes from the start of the race to begin their chase.
First riders away were Dianne Major and Jason Buckland, with a 12-minute head start over the next group consisting of Jen Buckland, Ethan McKenny, Ainsley Curtis and Dave Delaland.
Six minutes later the next bunch headed off, which included Gerard Coote, John de Pree, Elmer Buckland and Spek Peake.
Another seven minutes passed before Jami Buckley, Patrick Langsmith, Malcolm Tirabassi, Craig Andrae and Matthew Opperman started their chase, with Nick Kidman beginning his chase a minute later.
Speeds were high as the riders made their way towards the border, with the wind at their backs.
As the first riders turned around and began the hard slog into the wind, they were also able to see how much of their lead had been erased by the chasers.
Surprisingly, the gaps were still high, but the strength and durability of the chasing riders came to the fore as the combination of the longer race and headwind slowed down other riders.
Still out in front Major and Jason Buckland tried to maintain their pace and turned onto the final four-kilometre straight with a sizable gap.
Buckland then dropped off the pace and left Major to push to the finish line solo.
Behind them Coote and Elmer Buckland had caught and passed the group ahead, while Kidman had caught the group ahead of him, with some riders dropping away as fatigue claimed them.
With the finish line in sight, Major was waiting for the sprinters to pass, but they were still too far behind and she claimed the honours, with Jason Buckland arriving one minute later.
Closing rapidly, Elmer Buckland took the third spot on the podium, just five seconds shy of second place.
Kidman recorded the fastest time of the race.
Next Sunday’s race will be at Caves Road 30km race with a difference, starting at the usual 10km turnaround point – Mount Sinai Road – and taking in Dry Creek before a turnaround at Donovans.
