CYCLING 50-MILE SOUTH ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIP

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 28987, 31 August 1959, Page 6

CYCLING 50-MILE SOUTH ISLAND CHAMPIONSHIP

The main cycling attraction on Saturday was the 50-mile South Island championship conducted by the Hornby Club on the Main South road. The local amateur clubs held individual races over distances of approximately 60 miles. The championship was a triumph for the brilliant Ashburton junior, G. Moore, who took both senior and junior titles from the break mark of 2*,2 minutes. The scratch riders had every chance but failed to take advantage of the conditions over the first half of the race. On the outward run the riders had the benefit of a good following wind and all except the scratch riders took full advantage of this assistance. Over the first 13 miles the scratch riders had lost 1 minute to the break riders and at the turn they were down 2 l / 2 min. On the return R. Craig (Christchurch) was off the scratch mark early but after 12 miles of the second half of the journey the other scratch riders had improved their position to be only one minute down. D. Patrick (Dunedin) began to drift back and this left only D. Swanston and K. Brown on the scratch mark. A little later for some unkown reason Brown withdrew.

At the turn the limit men were the first round but only a minute ahead of the next bunch. For the return journey the riders were facing a fairly stiff head wind. The other bunches had also improved their position to the turn.

After 37 miles the leading bunch comprised five riders and they were followed two minutes later by another three, who were only one minute ahead of the riders from the 16 minute back to the 11 minute marks. Two minutes behind this bunch came F. Chapman, Harrison (Christchurch) and A. Herbert (Dunedin), who had broken away from the other riders off the eight minute mark. Here Chapman found the pace a littlt too solid and began to drift back.

Nearing Rolleston the 11, 13 ana 16 minute mark riders had reached the front and the other big bunch had caught the breakaways Harrison and Herbert. The field was in two bunches with 17 in the leading one and 19 in the next.

Over the concluding stages it was surprising that the leading bunch did not break up as was expected. D. Botica (Greymouth) moved away for a long sprint and as he approached the finish he drew away from J. Willcox (Christchurch) for a length win with R. Whitten (Christchurch) close up in third place. Soon after the major placings had been decided the other big hunch neared the line and with about 50 yards to go E. Gluestein (Ashburton) appeared to receive a bump and went into a wobble and crashed. N. Kennedy (Dunedin) went over Gluestein’s cycle and also fell. Superb riding by the other riders saVed any further falls. G. Moore, who was clear at the time of the crash, carried on to win the two titles. Abbreviations used in the results are:—Greymouth (G.), Christchurch (C.), Ashburton (A.), Timaru (T.). Results were:— D. Botica (G.) (13min), 2hr 12min 39sec, 1; J. Willcox (C.) (llmin), 2hr lOmin 40sec, 2; R. Whitten (C.) (11 mln), 2hr lOmin 41sec, 3; L. Frew (C.) (20min), 2hr 19min 42sec, 4, A. Ayres (C.) (llmin), 2hr lOmin 43sec, 5; W. Ferguson (T.) (llmin). 2hr lOmin 44sec, 6. Championship.—Senior and Junior: G. Moore (A.) (2',imin), 2hr 2min 35sec. CHRISTCHURCH CLUB

Although the Christchurch club was holding a race for its own riders for this race from Halswell to the Hill Top and return it combined with the Avon Club.

R. Fowler again had bad luck for within the first mile he punctured and was out of the contest. The scratch bunch was then reduced to four riders and at Birdling's Flat they lost another rider, P. Wood, who touched a wheel and fell. The three riders left were having a hard ride chasing the men off the break mark eight minutes ahead of them. At the foot of the hill, W. Hensley, who had punctured, was with the scratch men. On the hill Hensley apS eared to be riding with ease. G ill faded a little on the climb. The limit riders at the foot of the hill were still seven minutes ahead of the next bunch although they had now lost four minutes of their handicap to this bunch. The second bunch was intact, but it had also dropped

a little time to the break and scratch riders. At the bottom of the hill on the return journey, P. Cook was the first to reach the flat nearly three minutes ahead of D. Wood, who was nearly a minute in front of K. Jefferys with G. Lang close behind. J. Swanston, off the break mark, was the first of this bunch to come off the hill' and at this stage he was 14 minutes behind the leader. Two scratch riders, G. Weddell and G Shepherd, with; Hensley, were off the hill 15 minutes behind th 6 leader. It was not long before the break riders were picked up by the scratch riders.

On the flat P. Cook had a very big lead on D. Wood, who had passed T. Rondel. Wood soon had Cook in sight and when he caught up with him four other riders, who were riding very strongly, also linked up. The leading bunch comprised six riders, but before long Rondel and G. Austin began to drift back. Wood made two attempts to break away but both were unsuccessful. Then he and Lang made, a break and got away from the others. Nearing the line Lang began to ride away from Wood and went on for a clear win of 51sec. Cook held on for third. For this race there were no fastest time placings.

Results were:— G. Lang (Avon) (19min), 3hr 19 min 21sec, 1; D. Wood (Avon) (19min), 3hr 20min 12sec, 2; P. Cook (Christchurch) (30min), 3hr 35min 20.6 sec, 3; G. Weddell (Avon)' (scr), 3hr 7min 21sec, 4; G. Shepherd (Christchurch) (scr), 3hr 7min 21.2 Sec, 5; C. Fitzgerald (Christchurch) (30min), 3hr 37min 21.4 sec, 6. PAPANUI CLUB Quite a good field faced the starter for the Papanui Club’s 60-mile handicap event, which was held on Saturday morning. The course was from Papanui to Rangiora and Bennetts ana back to the finish on the Tram road, just before the Main North road was reached. Excellent racing was seen throughout the race and R. Mann rode very well from the seven minute mark to get through the field to take first place. The riders from the 11 minute mark held together throughout and three from this mark filled the three minor places. K. Taylor, off scratch, rode an outstanding race to take fastest time covering the distance in 2hr 33min 52sec. Over the concluding stages he was hard pressed to hold time from the break riders, W. Thorpe, who finished only 11.2 sec behind Taylor. The finish was exciting with four riders flashing across the line. Mann just held on to beat J. Clemence by a narrow margin. Similar margins separated the next two riders. Results were:— R. Mann (7min) 2hr 35min 28sec. 1; J. Clemence (llmin), 2hr 39min 28.2 sec, 2: R. E. Bush (llmin), 2hr 39min 28.4 sec, 3: B. Seeker (llmin). 2hr 39min 28.6 sec, 4.

Fastest time.—K. Taylor (scr). 2hr 33min 52sec.