Eleven riders signed up for the 60 kilometre race and two C grade riders signed up for the 30 kilometre race in a traditional handicap format with all riders heading towards the Driver Reviver rest stop.

C Graders Kiri Bunker and Simone Marsh, quite evenly matched were sent off on scratch together with the start of the stop watch.  The first bunch in the longer race left one minute later with Lyn Roughan, Frank Long and Tony Sweeney the hares for the more fancied riders.  

Five minutes later in-form Linda French and Jim Lillecrapp set their machines into motion.  Three and a half minutes later, the sole Cloncurry rider David Atkinson and Isa rider Geoff Marsh were the junction between A and B Grade.  At 13 minutes the first of the A graders left with Matthys Labuschagne and a fit John Braithwaite set off the with back markers 

Rory French and the new “it” rider in the club Graham Peden were two minutes in arears.

In the C Grade race, Simone Marsh was able to make a break on new rider Kiri Bunker, with the hills proving a challenge for the two women.  To her credit Bunker clawed her way back up to Marsh, before the more experienced Marsh pulled ahead to take line honours in a time of 1:06:05 some 50 seconds ahead of strong finish by Bunker.

The combined A and B race was a world of pain for some riders.  In the front bunch, lack of cohesion between the trio of Long Sweeney and Roughan proved to be the undoing of their advantage. Behind them Marsh and Atkinson caught French and Lillecrapp about 19 kilometres into the race and briefly formed a quartet.  Braithwaite and Labuschagne had quickly eaten up the time advantage of the quartet and caught them around the 20 kilometre mark.  

All of the captured riders got on, with an out of form Lillecrapp succumbing to the lift in pace and dropping off quickly with French and Atkinson also dropping off not long afterwards.

The trio of Braithwaite, Labuschagne and Marsh formed up to push on, with the two A Grade riders in a punishing mood as they swept by Sweeney, Roughan and Long with only Sweeney briefly grabbing their wheel to take him ahead of his former packmates.  Next to cruise by were French and Atkinson with French eventually dropping Atkinson on her favoured hills.  Next in her sight was Marsh who had fallen victim to the pace of the lead riders and as she caught and passed him, backmarker Graham Peden scooted by.

Meanwhile at the front, with Braithwaite and Labuschagne were working hard, as they couldn’t be sure the backmarkers weren’t closing in.  Braithwaite wanted to win on his terms and with a strong turn in the last of the hills before Driver Reviver, had made a gap on Labuschagne and rode to victory down the long sweeping finish at the rest stop clocking a ride time of 1:56:34 for the 60 kilometre distance.  Labuschagne cruised in solo at 1:58:08 and Peden, having dispatched Rory French early in the race, making third with a ride time of 2:03.43.  A great time was recorded by Linda French with 2:04.15 putting her male rivals in their place with a fourth place, having tackled the 100 kilometre McKinlay Ride the morning before.

The next race is the One Way Handicap on June 14 from the Airport Start to the 100 kilometre rest stop, with a shorter option for the C Graders. 

All enquiries should be directed to coppercitycyclingclub@gmail.com.