Green Sky Dominate Round 1 of Livestrong

They were unsure of their team name and strip, but Green Sky certainly dominated round 1 of the 2012 Livestrong Series taking out the A and B grade road races and the Team Time Trial.

Wet and foggy conditions greeted riders Sunday morning and there seemed little chance of it clearing up before the races got under way.  With Suzanne taking charge of the online entry system and registration, it was certainly less stressful sorting teams and was great to see most able to get their act together and have all riders in the same kit.

There were a number of new riders having their first ride with the club or participating in their first ever event which is what this series is all about.  Most teams had 1-2 new riders bolstering the B grade numbers while Russell entered his whole team in B grade with late recruits including Rob Ellem, Walter Tresnak and Gerard.  Meanwhile the tri club team was bolstered with Steve Marks joining their line up.

After the pre-race briefing the A grade bunch were keen to get underway and seemed to miss the bit about waiting for the lead vehicle.  Jo tried to slow them down to make sure everyone was in the bunch, but to no avail.  It appeared everyone was onto it however and the whole group safely made the right hand turn onto Sue’s Rd. 

X-Kal’s Tim Langley and LJ Sleegers were pushing the pace on the climb but it was actually quite a large bunch of a dozen or so riders that stuck together with a few scrambling to get on the back and it was great to also see young Nicholas Lawler mixing it up with the club’s top riders.

Heading towards the finish Marten was duped by Steph L-S who was parked a km or so before the finish and hence mis-judged his sprint but team mate, the white pointer made no mistake and led the bunch in with Daniel L-S coming at him fast.  Youngsters LJ and Jake were just behind with Brent Allen also putting in a great ride to finish in 5^th ahead of Stephen Marks, Allistair and Nicholas.

In the B grade bunch finish it was a blast from the past with Rick Cresswell showing he still has a turn of speed taking the win from new rider Paul Cogan representing Global 2.  Stalker was lurking in 3^rd place ahead of Denny Teede, Tony Shaw and Steve Roberts.  Denise Allen was first female and rounded out the top 10.

The committee decided on a new format this year with a TTT for the return leg with times taken on the 4^th rider across the line and all teams having to stay together til they turned off Sue’s Rd.  This format appeared popular and was probably a safer option in the wet conditions.  All teams appeared to be working well together with a number of the younger riders putting in big efforts to support their teams.

The final times saw Green Sky who stuck together with all 5 riders finishing recording the fastest time of 34:15 ahead of Busselton Cycle Club and Bunbury Tri.  Global 2 put in some strong turns and took 4^th ahead of the Prime Mates team which included the SWCC ITT Golden Gnome winner Regan Pye.

At the end of round 1 Green Sky has taken a commanding lead in the points classification and there may need to be a review of grade allocations for the next event on Sunday in Collie.  Many thanks to the helpers for the Bsn event – Suzanne, Mal Hopkins, Guy Pathe and to Tanya for some great post race refreshments.  Thanks also to Tanya and Adrian for once again doing a great job with organising the series prizes and promoting the event.

Check out the newsletter and facebook for details of the upcoming Collie event.

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