CYCLING MAJOR RACES IN CASH AND AMATEUR CODES

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28963, 3 August 1959, Page 5

CYCLING MAJOR RACES IN CASH AND AMATEUR CODES

On Saturday there were two major cycle races. The Christchurch club ' held its 40 miles round the bays event for the Dunn Memorial Cup. , The three amateur clubs combined j and raced for the Frank Grose Me- j mortal trophy over 50 miles on the ' Papanui club s course. CHRISTCHURCH CLUB There were three scratchings from I the 24 entries, and the held was | reduced to a good number for such I a gruelling race. The course was i fl o n Halswell over Gebbies Pass 1 through Teddington and Lyttelton i to the finish on Linwood avenue. Conditions were perfect with little wind, and the roads were in very good order. There were no accidents. but some punctures. kuMost ot the bunches held together , Witil they reached the loot of | Gebbies Pass when they began to | break up. The race then developed i into individual efforts. R. Lucas had bad luck at the start. Riding from break of 4j minutes, lie was on his own because his co-matker had scratched. He only managed to cover about 100 yards of the course. Standing on his pedals to gain extra thrust, he stripped his gears and lost control. He ran off the road into a ditch and also hit a power pole. He was un- [ injured but shaken. M. Wildermoth. who last year was riding as a novice, rode well to finish fourth. From Halswell to the top of Gebbies Pass he dropped his co-marker, oft 16 minutes, and then went past the next bunch, off 21 | minutes, to go over the top only Imin 30see behind the leaders, having picked up 7 J minutes on his handicap. T. Gibbs, off 12Jmin. was riding very well and gradually working his way through the field to be in the I lead with Wildermoth coming dow n ■ Evans Pass into Sumner. These two were only a minute ahead of R Harrison and F. Chapman, who had Kept together throughout the race from the 10 minute mark. The next rider to reach the flat was the ultimate winner. E. McCann, who, with his co-marker, J. Cummings, had ridden a great race oft the 7 minute mark. At Lyttelton McCann began to ride away from Cummings. At Sumner it appeared as if Harrison and Chapman would dispute the major placings, but determined riding by McCann gave them no chance.

Harrison and Chapman caught and passed Gibbs and Wildermoth as did McCann, who soon linked up with the leaders. Just more than a mile from the finish McCann began to take control and rode away from the other two for a clear win of 17 seconds over Harrison, who outsprinted Chapman for second. The scratch riders did not ride well in the early stages and had actually dropped time on the run to the top of Gebbies Pass. At this stage D. Swanston suffered meuhanical trouble, which put him out of the race as it did a week ago. G. Milner and K. Brown, the other two men, rode better for the rest of the journey and improved their positions considerably. About 200 yards from the finish Milner rode away from Brown to take fastest time, covering the distance in Ihr 49min 59sec.

Milner, one of the finest hill riders in the province, has had a fair measure of success in this event. He has won it three times and on Saturday he recorded his sixth fastest time for the event. Twice when he took fastest time he also finished first. Results were:—

E. McCann (7min). Ihr 52min 52 sec. 1; R. Harrison (lOmin), Ihr 56 min 9sec. 2; F. Chapman (lOmin), Ihr 56min lOsec, 3; M. Wildermoth (16min>, 2hr 2min 49sec, 4; T, Gibbs (12Jmin), Ihr 59min 20sec, 5. Fastest Time.—G. Milner (sen, Ihr 49min 59sec. AMATEUR EVENT

K. Taylor (Papanui), riding from the break mark off 2 minutes, rode well to take first place, and fastest time in the Frank Grose Memorial event. His time of Ihr 51min 40sec was very good, but it must be realised that the distance was only about 46 j miles and not the 50 miles as listed. Nevertheless, this time for the race was outstanding. This race is run over the same course each year, from Papanui to Leithfield. across to Sefton, through Rangiora and back down the main road to the finish on the Cranford street extension. The break riders had nothing to lose and everything to gain by making the pace a solid one from the start, and these tactics paid off. There were some solid riders on the break mark although two, N. Cowles (Papanui) and B. A'Court (Christchurch), were dropped early in the race. Many of the bunches broke up during the race, but this

was only to be expected for as the fast-moving break men came through the stronger of each bunch linked up with them and stayed as long as they could.

R. Harrison tTimaru) was most unlucky. He was the strongest rider on the break mark and it was mainly through his efforts that the break men went as well as they did. After riding so well. Harrison had bad luck to puncture about eight miles from the finish. The scratch bunch lost G. Hill (Christchurch) early in the race, but they did not seem to be riding as steadily as they could have done. J. Holloway (Invercargill) and D Craig (Timaru) worked very hard on the back mark but the others just could not carry on with fast laps that were required to match the fast-moving break men. Credit must »o to the 10J minute men. who when they reached the front, kept up to their work very welt, and it was only when nearing the finish that they were picked up by the break men. Nearing the finish there were eight riders in the leading bunch to dispute the major places and in the final sprint Taylor went away to win from W. Smith (Papanui) by one second, with V. Lili (Papanui) close up in third place. The race was marred by a rather bad smash at Ashley when four riders fell. They were T. Rondel (Christchurch). B. Seeker (Papanui) and E. Barnden and G. Austin (Avon). Austin suffered facial injuries and he required hospital treatment. The other three suffered abrasions.

Results were:—K. Taylor (Papanui) (2min), Ihr 51min 40sec, 1; W. Smith (Papanui) (lOJmin). 2hr Omm Usee, 2: V. Lili (Papanui) (lOjmini. 2hr Omin 11.2 sec, 3; P. Wood iAvon) (smin). Ihr 54min 41.4 sec. 4 Fastest Tune.—K. Taylor (Papanui) (2min), Ihr 51min 40sec. NOVICE CLUBS Mairehau The senior 10 and junior five mile club championships were decided on Saturday morning with L. Manners taking the senior title and P. Clemence the junior. Both these riders have performed well this season and their wins on Saturday were a reward of consistent riding. Results were:— Senior Championship.—L. Manners 1, H. Moore 2. A. Fergie 3. Time. 25min 21sec. Sealed handicap: H. Moore. Junior Championship.—P. Clemence 1. M. Jones 2. G. Nolan 3. Time, 13min 11.2 sec. Sealed handicap: 1). Bailey. Papanui P. Green was first home in the Papanui Novice Club's 10J mile handicap event. The race was not run at a very solid pace and some of the riders on the shorter handicaps could do much better. Results were:— P. Green (2}mln), 30min 53sec, 1; B. Alexander (limln), 2; J. Clothier (I'.imfn) 3: N. Smith (scr), 4. Fastest Time.—N. Smith (scr), 28 min 42sec.