Northern Vets Cycling Club

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The Vets saw 58 starters tackle the roads around Bishopsbourne for a 42km graded mass start race. Recent weeks has seen A grade getting stronger every week with the return of Tim Elmer, Iain Hodgins to compliment the likes of Matty Sydes and Jas Andersch and this week was no different with Gavin Johnstone returning to the club and taking the win in A grade. Averaging just shy of 40kmh for the 40km circuit eventually Johnstone and Hodgins got away with Dalton and Scott Smith spending plenty of time marking each other coming in 3rd and 4th.

B Grade saw a solid ride from Don Lehner who won the bunch sprint from Brian Dabner and Glenn Myler. In C grade Justin Harper returned to the club with a win from Brett Fulton and Dale Hainsworth while East Coast rider Dale Ridgers showed he may not be in D grade for too long after winning the sprint from Peter Dadson and John Frankling.

In E Grade Nigel Aylott rode strongly to take the win just ahead of Bob Mason and Bernadette Matthews. After a solid ride out to the race, Leanne Szmekura scored a win in F Grade from Hilary Ivery and Jenny Bailey and she was spotted working hard on the way home also so looks set to get stronger every week.

The NHP Northern Vets raced over an old favourite course, the Panshanger out and back at Longford. Another great rollup with 55 starters, the graded mass start format tested all riders in every grade.

A-grade went flat out from the start with several riders being tested early. Just after the halfway mark three riders jumped away and stayed away for the rest of the race, even with the chasing group working hard to keep them in sight. The sprint for the finish saw Scott Smith take the honours from Matt Sydes and Andrew Flanagan proving his move up to A-grade was justified.

B-grade kept the pace constant with most choosing to work together until the turn. With a strong tailwind for the return trip, Andy Wells put the pressure on and gained a small gap over the bunch. Brian Dabner joined Wells and the two then worked together to hold off a chasing group. Wells took the win from Dabner with Mark Wilkie leading the chasers home taking 3rd.

Brett Fulton gave C-grade a solid workout as he broke away early and made the bunch chase over most of the course. Fulton was finally wound-in, only to attack again and almost made it home but was beaten on the line by a fast finishing Jeff McMahon, with Kerry Leonard close in 3rd.

Phil Stephenson just back from a break proved he has lost none of his speed and won D-grade in a very close bunch sprint finish. Gary Woodfall and Peter Jones filled the minor places as all three crossed the line just a wheel apart. Rodney Johnson, another rider with many years of racing experience rode smoothly all race and put the foot down in the sprint to cruise home to win his first race in E-grade. Scott Watson finished a close 2nd and Rob Tatchell came in 3rd.

The ladies featured again in F-grade and showed their male competitors how it should be done. Jackie Leonard sprinted strongly to take another win and may now be in the handicappers sights. John Hillier didn’t let the ladies have it all their way finishing in 2nd with Sherry Gibson crossing the line in 3rd.

The NHP Northern Vets held a Graded Points Score over a testing course at Whitemore. With over 50 riders starting, the racing was very competitive in all grades highlighted by some very close sprints.

It was great to see Tim Elmer back racing at the vets and his presence was evident prior to the start with his fellow A-grade riders preparing for a serious hit-out. As it turned out, the sprints were equally shared with a different rider winning each sprint and the final place for 1st only separated by a count-back. It was Dane Leedham who took the honours and 1st place over Elmer with the best place in the final sprint, while the consistent Darren Cook claimed third.

Andrew Flanagan riding in B-grade proved he was ready to move back to A-grade after another very strong performance repeating his win from last week. Flanagan attacked on the last lap and stayed away from a chasing bunch to claim his overall win. Simon Donovan finished in 2nd and was actually on equal points with Flanagan before the last sprint, with Vince Rowbottom claiming 3rd. C-grade saw another win from Michael Bailey who proved he is a great sprinter, winning 3 of the 4 sprints and surely must have the handicapper studying his form. Brett Fulton was the other fast rider in the bunch claiming a close 2nd with Steve Tristram coming in 3rd.

Another new-comer, Glenn Creely controlled proceedings in D-grade, winning his first race and showed he will be a rider to watch as he climbs through the grades. The sprint wins were shared across the grade, so final results came down to those who grabbed minor places through the race. Heath Edwards was the next best finisher claiming 2nd with Peter Jones cruising home for 3rd. Joe Riley nearly had a clean-sweep in E-grade and was obviously the in-form rider finishing with an easy win. Scott Watson and Bob Mason filled the minor places. It was the ladies in F-grade who kept the pace high and made Ward Totham fight hard for his win. Jenny Bailey completed the Bailey-family day out, grabbing 2nd with Sherry Gibson a close 3rd.

The NHP Northern Vets encountered sweltering conditions for their Handicap race at Bishopsbourne. The heat made the 3 laps of Armstrong’s lane challenging for all including the great volunteers at the club.

B Grade had the biggest bunch on the day and they worked well averaging close to 40kmh for the three laps. Once they rounded up C grade the pace lifted again and they were safe in holding their 1km lead on the smaller scratch bunch. The pace settled 5km out as the bunch contemplated the sprint. However Andrew Flanagan had different ideas and showed the bunch how to finish off the race with a well timed attack up the last rise to take out the win. Patrick Cruse took out the bunch sprint for 2nd place from Jon Lewarn in 3rd.

Congratulations to new members Michael Eastwood (E) and Sherry Gibson (F) who won their grades.Other grade winners on the day were Mathew Sydes (A) Phil Bishop (C) and Peter Dadson (D).

The NHP Northern Vets were back racing at Carrick for their first race of 2012 with a great field of over 50 starters kicking off the season in perfect racing conditions. There were many who looked like they had been putting in plenty of kilometres over the break and obviously taking it easy on the Xmas pudding.

A-grade had a serious hit-out with Peter Oliver constantly attacking and reminding the bunch that they were there to race. Adam Sanders tried for a break as the race turned back on to the home stretch but was caught not too far from the finish. It was Nick Preece who jumped away inside the last kilometre while the rest looked at each other and managed to hold them off to take the win. Mick Dalton, always a fast finisher, grabbed second with Jonathon Bishop over for third.

B-grade started with one of their biggest groups for a long time and were all soon tested by a few, keen to blow out the cobwebs. Andrew Flanagan probably got the prize for most aggressive and spent plenty of time at the front-end of the bunch. The big improver turned out to be Mike McOwan who sprinted home for his first win in B-grade after only three starts in that grade. Andy Wells also rode strongly all race, finished well to take second with Andrew Flanagan taking a well-earned third.

The first race turned out to be a great place to start when new club member, Michael Bailey showed he is the man to watch in C-grade and sprinted strongly to easily win his grade. Dale Hainsworth was also back and looking fit powering in for second with Phil Bishop rolling in for third.

D-grade were worked over by 'lady-power' with Helen Woodfall keeping all under pressure for the entire race but unfortunately was unable to finish it off with a place on the podium. It was the elder statesman, Gary Woodfall who glided over the line to take first place, closely followed by Peter Dadson and Michelle Dabner.

In E-grade Joel Wallace also joined the winners list and looked pleased to win in front of another new-comer, Scott Donohue with Howard Smith grabbing third. F-grade had a few new members from G-grade who were keen to do well up against some tougher opposition but it was Ward Totham who was first home, with John Hillier second and a great ride from Leanne Szmekura to take out third.