Results "Beast of the East" Road Race 8th May
Forty three riders registered for the first race on this new course. Being a new course they had no idea how many or how hard the hills were.
Let’s say it was testing, five decent hills with a few smaller rollers. Small numbers in A and B grade resulted in both grades being combined to make a bunch of 22 riders, it was still raced as two grades in one bunch riding 3 x 25km laps. C grade had a mixture of U17, U19 and masters riders who completed 2 x 25km laps. Both bunches rode it quietly for the first lap keeping together. Everyone appeared to be checking out the hills and deciding when or where to attack. Young triathlete Troy McAlister proved too strong in C grade and broke away on the last hills to win clear of the fast closing bunch. A/B grade rode the same way, staying together for the majority of the race with the stronger riders attacking on the last hills as well. Andrew Miller had the advantage of knowing the course well and used that to place 2nd closely behind Blake Tait-Jones.
Thanks to Jason and Joss Miller who kindly offered their property as a base for this course, the after match BBQ was a good time to reflect on events of the day. We couldn’t have asked for better conditions. Keep an eye out for Shane Fletcher next race he’s going for his fifth attempt at coming fifth place in a race (at least he’s consistent). Let’s see if he can get that monkey off his back!
Results:
A Grade 1st Blake Tait-Jones 2:01:52
2nd Andrew Miller 2:02:03
3rd Brehan Cairns 2:03:10
4th Tom Vessy Same Time
5th Shane Fletcher “
6th Liam Aitcheson “
B Grade 1st Robert Huisman 2:03:15
2nd Bruce Jones Same Time
3rd Paddy Dally Same Time
4th Aaron Sinclair “
5th Jason Shields 2:04:13
6th Josh Haggerty 2:04:28
C Grade 1st Troy McAllister 1:26:39
2nd Erin Criglington 1:27:24
3rd Tony Raggett 1:27:25
4th Alister Burnett 1:27:35
5th Tim Maynard 1:27:41
6th Jordan Copeland 1:27:45