Gold Coast Goldstars CC
2009 CRITERIUM
CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS
Nerang Cycling Complex, Hope Street, on Saturday 7th March
Results after Race Report
The club's Criterium Championships was held at the infamous Nerang circuit and was a call to all the Goldstars gladiators to battle it out in their respective age categories to win the honor and glory of being crowned age group Criterium Club Champion for 2009. The day proved victorious for the select few who conquered and returned home with the elusive Goldstars medallion and to have their names forever engraved into the Goldstars annals of history.
The day began with the Under 11, Under 13 and Under 15 lining up with anticipation to be the first group to test the lower Criterium course racing in the reverse direction. It was an amazing sight to behold as our juniors, all clad in their Goldstars strip, doing turns in perfect synchronization. The regular junior training was put to good use, as the racing proved furious from the word go with the juniors dishing out a never ending barrage of attacks, feints and tactical moves. Special mention must go to our Under 9 competitors (Zavier Drake, Zakk Patterson, Jack Collins and Harrison Wilkins) who had an enormous task of racing against the Under 11. Well done. As the dust settled, it was Courtney Patterson and Ryan Duncan who claimed the Under 11 Championship. The Under 13 winners were Claudia Evangelista and Daniel Rae, and the Under 15 winners were Peta Cannon and Jamie Custers.
The second round of racing consisted Under 17, Masters Women and Masters Men 6 & 8. It was agreed to race this category together, which proved to be the right choice, as there were more mind games being played out here than in your average poker game! These master gladiators looked fierce as they used all their past racing experience to gauge and intimidate each other. This allowed Brandon Dance our sole Under 17 rider to slip through the peloton and time trial his way to a good lead until he got bored and returned to the peloton. Lap after lap the masters men put the pressure to break the field; however, the master women gave it straight back to them. At the 23 minute mark, the Masters women were given 2 laps to go, and immediately the pace lifted. Sarah-Jane Patterson took home the Masters Women 2 medallion, Diane Monk the Masters 3 and Robyn Francis the Masters 5.
Now for the controversy. As the masters men were preparing themselves for a further 5 minutes of racing, they failed to notice Vice President, Peter Flynn showing an early 2 laps to go board from behind a bush somewhere off the track on the opposite side to where the officials were operating, and when the bell sounded on the next lap, those seasoned warriors dismissed it as being for the Under 17 who was still circulating with the field- that is except for debutante and new member, Mike Mulcahy, who was the only rider to sprint for the finish with the rest of the field rolling over the line on his wheel. Confusion then reigned among the officials, as the Masters field continued to circulate. Finally, and still early, the bell was rung again for the final lap and the race was now left for the Masters men to decide the result by a fast and furious bunch sprint won by Werner Rogosenski with Andre Bondeson defending his sprint against the other Masters 6 riders crossing the line behind Werner. Mike Mulcahy (AKA Bradbury) was awarded the winner of Masters 6 with Andre Bondeson second and Kevin Taylor third. Werner Rogosenski was the winner of Masters 8+ ahead of Frank Bertchart.
The third round of racing consisted of Under 19, Elite Women and Masters 4 & 5. Joshua Hamilton and Nicole Keily had Gold sewn up in Under 19 and Elite Women respectively being the only competitors. However Masters 4/5 was the race to watch. 35 min on the large course in the reverse direction was really going to be a test of attrition to those ageing legs of theirs. No one wanted to get dropped, but that killer hill, lap after lap, showed no mercy. Someone else who showed no mercy to his fellow combatants was eventual Masters 4 winner John Evangelista. His tactic of attacking up the hill succeeded in shattering the field leaving only a remnant chasing group and other lone scattered riders and many bruised egos.
The final round of racing consisted of Elite, Masters Men 2 & 3 and Under 23. The Elite race was off to a slow start with no one willing to sacrifice themselves so early in the race. Peter Spencer and Luke Clarkson quickly established a good 30 second gap on the field which they maintained until a chasing group including eventual winner, Nick Gates, bridged the gap. Luke dropped back to join this chasing group leaving Peter out on his own. Nick then opened "the Gates" and in one lap bridged a 100 metre gap to Peter and put another 100 metres into him. From then on Nick was untouchable. He just rode away from the rest of the Elite guys and won easily. Maybe next time we can deflate his tyres as a handicap and remove one pedal. Credit to Peter Spencer(2nd), Luke Clarkson(3rd) who had to grit their teeth to and fought a hard battle for minor placing. Under 23 winner was Kirk Darnell.
Masters Men 2/3 with thirteen riders, including yours truly, put themselves to a furious pace from the start with everyone chasing and attacking to shake things up in front. We made sure we put on a lovely show as Iban "Spielberg" Zapata was testing his new helmet cam which he hopes to be able to download to our Goldstars website. Hopefully our butts don't look too big, eh boys? With relentless attacking from Peter Duncan, all eyes were on him. After the bunch reeling Peter back near the end of the race, it gave me (John Murazak) an opportunity to sneak away to hold on for Masters 2 Gold. Robb Smith held on to win Masters 3.
After all the racing was done and post-mortems prognosticated over, we all enjoyed the free BBQ and drinks the Club provided. It was a good time to mingle with fellow club members and recall our war stories. The feedback received for our Club Championship was very positive, so the Club will be having a 2009 Road Race Club Championship and 2009 Time Trial Club Championship. So if you just missed out on a medal, better train for the next races to get your name into the Goldstars History Book.
John Murazak
Goldstars Club Captain
