Round 2 of the Calder Stewart Series, sponsored by KiwiStyle
Bike Tours, was in Timaru. A chilly, distinctly autumn morning gave way to a beautiful,
fine day. The course was two laps of a 55-km circuit around the quiet, country
roads and undulating terrain of Pleasant Point, northwest of Timaru.
Picturesque roads of Pleasant Point. |
With teammates Karen Fulton busy winning lots of gold medals
at NZ Track Nationals :-)
and Jessica Johnstone side-lined with an injury :-(,
Susan van der Pol, Rhonda Murphy, and I toed the line for the FreshChoice
Richmond Pomeroys Women’s Team. Since we had two leader’s jerseys and a top
team standing to defend, we knew we had a challenging race ahead.
The Black Magic and Benchmark Homes Teams put pressure on
straightaway, with Julia Grant (Benchmark Homes) and Michaela Kerr (Black
Magic) especially active, putting in repeated attacks throughout the first lap.
A mechanical for Rhonda whittled our team down to just me and Susan after only
15 km of racing. Susan, putting in a massive day at the office, did an amazing
job covering moves and making certain we were represented in any breaks.
Susan (middle) in a break with Julia Grant (Benchmark Homes) and Michalea Kerr (Black Magic). |
Just past midrace, Black Magic riders put in a flurry of
attacks, opening the door for Amanda Jamieson (Black Magic) to escape up the
road. Amanda’s exceptional finishing climb in Round 1 and second place standing
in the series highlighted her as a real threat. Registering her race number, I responded,
digging deep to bridge the gap. Soon my gains diminished and the distance between
us stabilized. We stayed that way for a while: Amanda looking to me like she
was pedalling along quite casually, me unable to bring her closer. Eventually,
I think she decided to put in some solid pedal strokes and disappeared up the
road.
Heading into the first climb. |
I looked behind to assess my situation and was somewhat bewildered
to find the bunch was completely out of sight. With 45 km remaining in the
race, I had a difficult decision: sit up and wait for the bunch or carry on
riding hard, possibly sacrificing my finish should I be caught. (Other options,
including lying down on the side of the road, do occur to me now but weren’t
considered at the time...)
Chasing hard. |
I opted for the latter and carried on, battling solo for nearly
an hour. Alas, my current form wasn’t quite sufficient to maintain the effort
required. Soon the bunch sucked me back in with just over 15 km remaining to
the finish. No chance of catching Amanda, however. She remained out of sight, finishing
over 3 minutes clear of the bunch, and showing some outstanding form and grit
in the process.
Solo finish from Amanda Jamieson (Black Magic). |
Once I was back in the bunch, Susan was immediately back on patrol,
giving me time to recover for the sprint. With the last climb behind us, my
legs felt good heading into the finish and second place was still a possibility.
Until…
A wee crash on the final corner split the bunch and eliminated
me from the sprint. I was fortunate to stay upright, barely swerving to miss the
splayed arm and skidding bike of one of the two riders who went down.
Com 1. |
Arrrrrrr. Putting forth a much bigger effort that I had left
in my legs, I battled through the last 500m to finish 10th. The
result knocked me well back in the points, but was good enough to keep me in
the Master’s Jersey and 3rd overall. No room for disappointment – I had
two chances for a better finish and I wasn’t able to collect on either of them.
Susan put in a great finish after huge efforts throughout the race to finish 13th,
and, despite missing out on team points, we held on to our second place team
ranking.
Most importantly, everyone ended up all right, minus a bit
of skin for two. Nelson powerhouse Michalea Kerr repeated her fifth place in
Round 1 to keep her in the U19 jersey. Well done to Amanda, Michalea, and the
Black Magic team for great riding.
What?! How cool are these pink lambs cheering us up the climb! |
Big thanks to series sponsor Calder Stewart, race sponsor KiwiStyle
Bike Tours, and team sponsors FreshChoice Richmond and Pomeroy's Coffee,
race photographers Chris Sexton (Faction Photography) and Sandi Scott, and our awesome team manager Craig Murphy. Round 3 is in Nelson in August after
the winter break. The next race for the FreshChoice Richmond Pomeroys Women
will be the GrapeRide on 2 April in Blenheim.