Griffith Cycle Club season gets underway for 2021

TDR is series of handicap road races encouraging interclub action for all levels of riders. The TDR has five stages, this year the stages are Uranquinty (65KM), Barooga (50km), Wodonga (69.4KM), Griffith (60km) and Collingullie (70km).

Tolland Cycling Clubs Peter Johnson won the sprint at Uranquinty to finish first in stage one. Hot weather caused several riders to drop out however a stellar performance from Mia Stockwell saw her as first female over the line and GCC rider Nigel Dunstone achieved a non-too shabby 5th place. Stage two of the TDR will be held on the 28th March at Barooga.

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Sunday saw the first of GCC's Bertoldos Cup race series. The series is a point score handicap event consisting of ten 40km races at the Hanwood circuit. Riders were split into four handicap groups - Limit (+ 12 minutes), 2nd Limit (+ 5 minutes), Chopping Block (+2 minutes) and Scratch.

Scratch goal is to catch Limit (a bit like a greyhound race where Limit group are the rabbit). After some friendly banter on the start line Limit riders Mia Stockwell and Michael Wynne (Winny) set off with their 12-minute advantage.

During the race Scratch caught Block on the second lap and they rode together catching 2nd Limit on the last lap but, near perfect cycling weather and speeds of almost 60km weren't enough to help them catch the rabbit.

With 1:30 minutes to spare over the other groups and a beaming smile Mia Stockwell (I've heard that name before) came flying over the finish line beating Winny in the sprint. Nige Dunstone (Scratch) got 3rd place and fastest time with 1 hour 3 seconds with Matt Smith, Tilly (Craig Tilston) and Chris Fuchs battling it out to come in 4th, 5th and 6th.

Riding in the 2nd Limit group and new to racing, Floody (Shaun Flood) put in a solid performance though he did look a bit knackered. When asked about his first race he said, "it was challenging". That said, doing a 20km run right before a 40km cycle race is probably overdoing the warmup.

Well done Mia on your first Bertoldos heat win and Winny for snagging second place, keep up the good work!

If you'd like to cheer the riders on, the next Bertoldos Cup race is on Sunday 21st March at 9am. The start / finish line is on Thorne Road at Hanwood.

It's not too late to participate in the series if you have a race licence (and a bicycle). Contact Griffith Cycle Club for more information.

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