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On Sunday the Nowra TriAnimals started their winter duathlon series at the Longreach course. There was quite a good field of starters with all but one having competed last year. Anthony Chater was the new face and it was good to see him out competing on his mountain bike. Looks like you could take the prize money next time Anthony if we don’t get a few more MTB riders along to the start. It was a beautiful day for the event with sunshine and dry conditions and not much wind. The first run was three kilometres and followed the athletics club’s cross-country course. First back to transition were James Mottram and Robbie Williams with a fairly decent lead. Dane Earsman was next in then followed Tim Adams and Ross Henry together. The ride consisted of three laps of about 4km for those on road bikes and a bit shorter for the mountain bikes. James and Robbie kept their lead intact coming off the bike and it looked to me as though there may have been one or two further back in the field foxing a little bit, hoping to pick up a decent handicap for the next event when the prize money starts. Everyone finished off strongly although there were a few complaints of sore legs from those who have been a touch under active lately. Thanks to those who helped on the day. Next event will be at Flinders Estate on 8th July. Format is yet to be decided but it will definitely be a handicap event with everyone getting an equal chance to win or pick up a place. See if you can convince a friend to come along and join the fun. Elite level ability is definitely not required and you can certainly use a mountain bike if that is all you have. The more competitors, the more prize money! Don’t forget memberships will have expired by the time the next event comes around and you will need to rejoin on the day. Memberships are $25 for seniors, $15 for juniors, $40 for a family and $5 for associate (non competitors or visiting athletes). Another reminder too: the club’s AGM will be held at the Postman’s Tavern on Tuesday 10th July at 7.00 pm. Please make an effort to be there and have your say. Forget the lousy weather forecast. It was a beautiful cool but sunny day last Sunday morning for the second of the winter duathlon series and the first of the handicapped events which offered prize money. Just twelve starters but we knew there were a few away on holiday and other activities. Great to see John Bond back as well and a warm welcome to Graham Anderson and Tim Gersbach as well. Emo was keen to see how his form was hold up after his recent trip to the Arafura Games. The event for the day was the popular run/ride/run/ride/run format. Distances were about 2km/7.5km/1km/7.5km/2km and the start was staggered according to handicap with pat Maher and John Bond leading away as go markers. They were followed by Steve Henry at 30 seconds, then Keith Foley and Lou Reali at 2 minutes thirty. Next was Meagan Venhuizen on 4 minutes. Graham and Tim both started on six and their battle between themselves was expected to be very close and it certainly was. Next was a big gap to Trevor Bridge at 9:30, then Emo at 10:30, Dane Earsman at 11 minutes and scratch marker was James "Mega" Mottram. Mega has put in a very strong performance in the previous event and was therefore handicapped quite severely as it turned out. Steve Henry quickly made up ground on Pat and John and was soon up the road in front. The back markers were no doubt getting anxious as they saw others come in off the run and exit on the first bike leg before they had even got off the start line. The battle between Tim and Graham was interesting, with Tim first back on the run and quickly away on the bike. Graham was left behind in the changing of his shoes, but he soon made up ground and by the end of the third lap had quite a handy lead on Tim, only to watch it disappear as he fumbled with his shoelaces. Tim came in behind and went out onto the second run in front again. However, by the end of the second bike the margin was a little greater, either that or he remembered how to tie his laces and managed to stay ahead of Tim in the final run. Meanwhile, Emo had made big gains on the bike and went into the final run in the lead. Dane was not to be denied however. He also had a fantastic two bike legs and chased Emo hard on the final run, overhauling him before the final turn. Dane came home in front for a great win. Second was Emo with third and fourth going to Graham and Tim. Steve Henry came in fifth. Well done to everybody. Sorry about the lack of a trailer and racks for the bikes in transition, but it didn’t seem to matter. Everybody had fun regardless and Sue’s sandbags were every bit as good as the usual witch’s hats. By popular agreement, it seems we may continue with the series exclusively at Flinder’s Estate, because the venue seems well suited to the format and the roads are nice and quiet. Next event will be in a fortnight. Please encourage your friends to come along. I know there are still some out there who say they don’t know these events are back on yet. 1. Dane Earsman 47:26, 2. Mark Emerton 48:33, 3. Graham Anderson 53:32, 4. Tim Gersbach 54:03 5. Steve Henry 1:02:54, 6. Trevor Bridge 53:03, 7. Pat Maher 1:02:54, 8. Lou Reali 1:01:15, 9. Keith Foley 1:01:21, 10. James Mottram 50:28, 11. Meagan Venhuizen 1:06:01, 12. John Bond 1:19:58 Nowra TriAnimals enjoyed another fine morning’s racing out at Flinder’s Estate last Sunday morning. Thirteen competitors lined up for a five leg duathlon in the same run/ride/run/ride/run format as the previous event. We have decided to continue with this format so that the handicappers can fine-tune the handicapping system giving everybody a fair chance of winning. We now have two lots of results for most of the regular competitors and that will change things around quite a bit for next event. Handicaps will be based upon the averages of previous performances. Last weeks event was also slightly different in that all the runs were the same distance, which makes things a little simpler for both organisers and competitors. Meagan Venhuizen was first away, followed soon after by Geoff Crook and then Pat Maher. Steve Henry and Lou Reali were next away after another minute or so. Tim Gersbach left on six minutes, followed thirty seconds later by Graham Anderson and Aileen Whistler. Then there was a bit of a wait for Evert Venhuizen, Ross Henry, Trevor Bridge and finally Tim Adams and Robbie Williams. The handicapping seemed to be a bit out, with apologies to some of the competitors like Steve Henry, who was hard done by, even though he raced well. Graham Anderson won from a fast finishing Tim Gersbach, with an excellent race from Geoff who came in third. Fourth and fastest went to Robbie who raced very well also to make his way through most of the field. The Venhuizen team picked up fifth and sixth places with age before beauty winning out on the day. At least they both got their entry fees back as prize money went down to sixth place. Congratulations also to who was the most improved on the day. Results: 1. Graham Anderson 54:44, 2. Tim Gersbach 55:38, 3. Geoff crook 1:02:01, 4. Robbie Williams 43:46, 5. Evert Venhuizen 56:02, 6. Meagan Venhuizen 1:05:29, 7. Trevor Bridge 53:44, 8. Lou Reali 1:01:19, 9. Aileen Whistler 1:00:17, 10. Pat Maher 1:04:03, 11. Ross Henry 57:47, 12. Tim Adams 52:50, 13. Steve Henry 1:10:32 |