W SMITH HANDICAP
Albany Cycle Club’s last race of the season was the newly reconstituted J W Smith handicap. Held under clear skies, the field was started in three groups at intervals calculated to give everyone a reasonable chance at holding the trophy aloft.
First off were the Pauls, Clifton and Gibson along with stalwart Jimmy Watmore, making his return after a long layoff recovering from injuries sustained in an unfortunate crash back in June. They had seven minutes on the next group and thirteen minutes to stay ahead of the scratch group.
The scratch group of three, Michael Gardiner, Colin Rose and Damien McAleese looked very capable of getting through for the win, setting a strong pace of the start line and by the time they turned back onto Frenchman Bay road after the Quaranup leg they had started to collect riders jettisoned from the groups above. Unfortunately for Gardiner, the pace of his companions at this point proved too strong and he gradually lost contact.
The middle group of Colin Ashton Graham, Mike Staude, David Beckwith and Joel Gray became three early on, after dropping Beckwith before Quaranup, and then Staude found that he couldn’t match the pace on the climb out from Frenchman bay, leaving just two to try and catch Clifton who was now out on his own.
Somewhat inevitably, this pair of Ashton Graham and Gray were caught by the scratch group with Ashton Graham doing his best barnacle impersonation and latching on for the high-speed descent back to the finish. With about five kilometres to go his legs said enough, and it was just Rose and McAleese motoring along in pursuit of Clifton who was still solo in front, albeit with a rapidly diminishing margin.
In the end, Clifton was triumphant by just a hundred metres or so with Rose out sprinting McAleese for second and completing a very successful debut season with the club, rarely finishing off the podium. Joel Gray, in his first race for the club, overran Ashton Graham on the final stretch to finish fourth.
Fastest time on the day was Colin Rose who completed the 45km course at an average speed of 37 kmh.
Albany Cycle Club thanks motorists for the courtesy shown to competitors. Thanks also to the volunteers on the day and throughout the season who set out and collected the signs, manned the start/finish line and corners to facilitate safe racing for the competitors.