Phil Orr, 2009 BSCC club champion

On the first warm day of the spring, and one of the windiest of the year, Phil Orr yet again demonstrated his dominance of the unrelenting Gordon circuit to win his eighth BSCC club championship.  Needless to say, this number of wins is a club record.  Details of the event remain sketchy, but survivors recall that Tony Mirabella skipped away in the tailwind at the start of the second lap, hoping that young guns Mitch Brogden or James Crafter, or cunning and in-form veteran Jon Townsend, would join him and increase their chances of holding off strong men Orr, Jay Bourke and Andrew Weightman.  But instead the big three three left Mirabella out on his own in the crosswind after Mt. Egerton, and shut down any attempts by other riders to join him.  Their counter-attacks on the climbs towards Ballan on the third lap ejected first Brogden, then Crafter and Mirabella himself.  This was the final selection, and left a front group of the big three plus Gullock and Jon Townsend.  Crafter and Mirabella held the leaders within sight for the remainder of the lap, which inspired them to battle on for the last lap, earning Crafter a well-deserved M19 club title. 

Phil was pushed hard in the sprint finish by Jon Townsend, with Andrew Weightman a powerful third, Jay Bourke fourth, and the evergreen hard man Gary Gullock, club champion in 1992, rounding out the lead group for fifth. Both Mirabella and Gullock declared after the race that this was their last senior championship.  Next year, masters riders look out! 

2009 BSCC club championship, 108 km:

1.  Phillip Orr, 2009 BSCC club champion

2.  Jon Townsend

3.  Andrew Weightman

4.  Jay Bourke

5.  Gary Gullock

Masters, 81 km

All the top five riders in the main event (except Jay) were eligible to ride the masters race, based on their age, but they along with Tony Mirabella courageously chose the highest challenge, as did M19 riders James Crafter and Mitch Brogden.  Other deciding factors were Doug Garley's Melbourne to Ballarat crash, and the ensuing serious infection; and Adam Smith's hip replacement.  Both riders are still recovering.  As a result, the masters championship was a close and hard-fought race.  A field of almost 20 riders started the race.  Many regular racers, who would have been competitive, were absent, but numbers were much higher than last year. 

The race started in earnest on the second climb in the crosswind section on the Egerton-Ballan road, with ferocious pace from Stuart Grigg, the day's surprise package.  This, combined with the howling crosswind on this road and the "block" headwind on the Geelong-Ballan road, began the attrition that is typical of this course.  On the first approach to Gordon, with some shelter, the pace eased, before a savage attack from Peter Kiel past the start-finish forced the critical selection of the race.  First Doug Garley and then the hugely powerful Adam Smith smelled blood, and drove the pace beyond 60 km/hr in the tailwind.  Grigg was with them, then a gap to Rob Phillips, John Polkinghorne, a hugely-improved Charlie Stebbing, and Jonathan Lacey.  The rest of the field was in tatters.  Polkinghorne powered across the gap, bringing the others with him.  Grigg, going from strength to strength, drove again on the climbs towards Ballan, eliminating Stebbing.  The rest of the front group kept the pressure on.  Kiel drove again up through Gordon, and the field started their last lap. 

Once again the relentless Grigg, who not long ago was riding C grade, put the hammer down on his favorite cross-wind climbs, in an attempt to hurt the more fancied sprinters, former pros Adam Smith and Garley.  The result was first to shatter Phillips, and then on the second climb to split the field, with Smith, Polkinghorne and Lacey in the second group.  The front three, by now very fatigued, did not quite have the firepower to stay away from Smith as the road flattened.  This proved to be decisive.  As the remaining six riders headed up towards the finish at Gordon, Grigg amazingly attacked twice more.  Kiel followed his first attack, and this move might have won the race, but for a quick response from Smith, now recovered, and a superhuman effort from the Hard Rider Garley, who received no assistance from Lacey or Polkinghorne.  This was Grigg's last card.  His final attack, just outside 1 km to go, had far less sting, but he remained on the front until Lacey launched an all-or-nothing acceleration with 400m to go.  Nothing was the result for him.  Garley responded first, then Smith opened up, overtook Garley, and led all the way to the finish.  Kiel squeezed past an exhausted Grigg for third, with Polkinghorne a fighting fifth. 

BSCC 2009 Masters road championship

1.  Adam Smith

2.  Doug Garley

3.  Peter Kiel

4.  Stuart Grigg

5.  John Polkinghorne

Chris Liston writes (here & in the Courier):

Junior Road Championships

Major sporting accomplishment is adorned with challenge, pain and a fair amount of luck. The Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club’s 2009 junior road championships, held at Gordon on Saturday, were no exception. The races were longer than typical club events, and the first warm day of the spring plus strong winds made the races arduous at best.

The U9/11 group went out and back to complete an 8 km course. Olivia Oliver set the pace and took a strong win from Kate Lyons, Rochelle Liston and Beatrice Pickersgill. Nick White and Dylan Bilston were the only two to line up in the usually strong and competitive M13 division. The pair dueled out their event with White finishing in front in the tough uphill sprint. Harriet Pickersgill rode a great race to claim third in the W13 girls’ event, with Emily Oliver runner-up to champion Emma Bilston.

In the M15 division, the stage had been set all year for show-stopper of a race between Angus Lyons, Josh Liston and Craig Firman. However a stroke of bad luck left Liston driving the porcelain bus on Friday, and depleted his reserves to race for 35 km with the in-form Lyons. Angus finished off the tough Gordon circuit in 1:13.14, despite winds gusting at 40 km/h, to take his first club title. Firman claimed runner up and Liston battled home for third.

In the W15 race, Meg O’Doherty finally took the win that had been eluding her for many weeks. She and sparring partner Molly Hegert also rode the 35 km course, but coming to the uphill sprint, O’Doherty made a move that sealed her win.

Killian Plastow made it onto the podium to take the bronze medal in the M17 event. The young men fought out two laps of the circuit in punishing winds. Ciaran Conaughton, who wins senior events, took a minute from Liam White, also a recent competitor in senior events, in the first lap. On the second lap, Conaughton increased his lead to take the title.

James Crafter, recently thrashing senior riders, showed his courage and class in the senior 108 km event. Crafter, along with fellow young gun Mitch Brogden, set out full of confidence in the blue-ribbon senior event. Repeated savage attacks from national-level riders Jay Bourke, Andrew Weightman and eventual champion Phil Orr saw the end of Brogden on the third lap, and, like Joel MacAllister in 2008, Crafter fought out the final lap to finish the senior race and engrave his name into history by taking the U19 championship.

Junior results:
U9 8 km Road Champion – Rochelle Liston 29:05

W11 8 km Road Champion – Olivia Oliver 22:58
2nd Kate Lyons
3rd Beatrice Pickersgill

W13 16 km Road Champion – Emma Bilston 35:40
2nd Emily Oliver
3rd Harriet Pickersgill

M13 16 km Road Champion – Nicholas White 39:40
2nd Dylan Bilston

M15 35 km Road Champion – Angus Lyons 1:13:14
2nd Craig Firman
3rd Joshua Liston

W17 35 km Road Champion – Meg O’Doherty
2nd Molly Hegert

M17 54 km Road Champion – Ciaran Conaughton
2nd Liam White
3rd Killian Plastow

M19 108 km Road Champion – James Crafter 3:28:04

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