May 29/02 5:45 am - Hamilton & Edmonton Weekly Series, Sea Otter Date Change for 2003

Posted by Editoress on 05/29/02
 

Hamilton Cycling Club's Tuesday Evening Criterium May 28, 2002
Courtesy Sandy Cheskey

Wow! What a ride tonight! This wonderful, warm evening saw 34 riders come out. Early on in this fast-paced ride four riders broke away. This group worked very well together and steadily enlarged their gap, almost lapping the main group. The finishing order was Duncan Salisbury, Paul Hornak, Chris Paton, Jay MacLaren and approximately one minute and ten seconds later Kim Davidge crossed the line to take fifth position.

Overall Standings:

1. Mirek Mazur, 20 points
2. Sean Scott, 12 points
3. Ryan DeBoer
   Paul Hornak
   Duncan Salisbury, 9 points
4. Jeff Sharafbayani, 8 points
5. Michael Moore
   Paul Rego, 7 points


Edmonton Interclub Race Series
Courtesy Sean Barr

The final race for the first month of the Edmonton Interclub Race Series came to a conclusion Tuesday night at the Polar Park Road Race located approximately 20kms to the east of Edmonton. The previous week's event was cancelled because of rain so the participants were out in full force to take advantage of the 21 C temperature and mild winds from the southeast. The 14km course is a local favourite and with two short climbs each lap it can be a test for the unfit.

The "A" group started with 18 participants and after the first lap the field had splintered into three distinct groups. The lead was comprised of Chris Wright, Paul MacDonald, Robin Borstmayer and Nick Jendzjowsky all from Juventus. Mike Stickland (Pedalhead) and Bruce Copeland (ERTC) made up the remainder of this breakaway. The quick separation of the field and rapid lap time indicated that it would be a fast evening for the A's and the eventual winner would originate from this break. The numbers favoured a Juventus victory. This train continued to power away from the remaining riders through the next two laps coming down to a drag race amongst the six competitors. Chris Wright (Juventus) led the charge and he was clearly in fine form with a speedy Nick Jendzjowsky (Juventus) hoping to find some draft from the powerful Wright. Jendzjowsky's attempt to close the gap was too late but the race for third proved a tight battle between local sprinting aces Mike Stickland (Pedalhead) and Paul MacDonald (Juventus). The two seemed more concerned with beating each other then worrying about the race ahead and it was demonstrated in a finish that was in the fashion of Bauer and Planckert's finish in Paris Roubaix. The victor of the Colchester Time Trial two weeks earlier, Bruce Copeland (ERTC), was the fifth rider to cross the line picking up the final point in the evening's festivities.

The "B" group was a bit more sedate with the 16 rider field remaining intact until the finish. The sprint was hotly contested spanning the width of the road. Harley Desprey (Velocity) took the lead and win in the final charge to the line with Brian Popowich (Pedalhead), a bike length behind, in second. The remaining three positions were much tighter in terms of spacing with two very fit masters, Wayne Long (EMCC) and Ed Heacock (EMCC), showing the younger Trevor Soll (Pedalhead) how to manage a bunch sprint.

The "C" group experienced another club monopoly on the finish with Pedalhead taking the top four positions in this race and the like the "A" race it too splintered into smaller packs. 19 riders contested this race and an enthusiastic Ron Boureg sprinted ahead of his breakaway companions Dean Rawson, Colleen MacCollum and Paul Plakas (all Pedalhead) with Paul Kozak (ERTC) rounding out the top five positions for points.

I would like to thank Sian Barraclough for her marshalling efforts on the course and encourage everyone to attend the June races that will be hosted by ERTC.