A small, dedicated quartet of cyclists from Copper City Cycling Club made the trip to Tennant Creek for the Barkly Challenge on the weekend of July 16 and 17.
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This is an annual event with racing and points awarded to clubs from Alice Springs, Darwin, Mount Isa and Tennant Creek.
Last year the small band of riders from Darwin were traumatized and worked over by the strong cyclists from Mount Isa.
This year they arrived bigger and better with 23 riders, including a handful of quality junior riders. Alice Springs also came with similar numbers.
For the first time, Darwin took out the shield with an impressive 254 points.
Good strong racing was displayed all week-end by the clubs. This event is all about team racing, not individual glory.
An 8km time trial held on Saturday morning in cold, windy conditions, sorted out the gradings for the road race later in the day.
The Mount Isa riders ended up in the same grade which worked in their favour against the other eight competitors.
Tactics were played out before a trio of riders (one from each club) broke away from the bunch.
Heads down, this group, which included Linda French, worked well together with only another Alice Springs rider managing to bridge the gap and got on with them.
His ability to outsprint the other three riders helped him snatch the win, French crossing in fourth.
The next bunch to finish were Mount Isans Frank Long in fifth, Tony Sweeney in seventh and Lyn Roughan in 10th.
Sunday morning the criterium race was held at the town’s go-kart track.
A fun race that tests riders cornering abilities.
In less blustery conditions to the previous day, the Mount Isa team set off to race for 20 minutes plus one lap.
Frank Long, showing his prowess at this style of racing, sped off from the start and had Alice Springs and Darwin all scrambling to get on his wheel.
The speeds kept alternating throughout before a great sprint finish saw Long take out second place.
Further back in the field, the other riders crossed, happy not to have been lapped!
In Darwin’s acceptance speech for winning the shield, the challenge was put out to Mount Isa to match them next year.
So, the call is out to ALL of you cyclists to make the effort to come and have a fantastic week-end of racing. We promise the coffee van will be there again.
On a special note, the Mount Isa team has received an invitation to attend the launch of the Darwin velodrome and criterium.
This special event will be held sometime next year.
For further information or offers of sponsorship please contact the Copper City Cycling Club.
