Two Byron Bay Cycle Club (BBCC) members joined riders from the Clarence Valley for Yamba Cycling Club’s first road race of the season, the weekend before last.
There were roughly 25 cyclists from Grafton, Yamba and Byron Bay cycle clubs racing altogether in a handicapped format.
A-grade were handicapped to start 16 minutes after the D-grade start, with C and B grades within that 16 minutes. The winner was the first over the finish line out of all the cyclists.
The James Creek (near Harwood) course was about 45km with some undulations but predominantly flat.
‘The handicap proved too large against some strong D-grade riders who took out the first three placings. The remaining 4th-6th places swent to the A- and B-grade bunch that formed midway through the event.
‘Nonetheless, it was a fast race with A-grade riders averaging over 40km/h for the race,’ BBCC member Mat Johnson said.
‘It was of a reasonable standard with some of us using the event as part of our prep for the Grafton to Inverell Open coming up at the end of April,’ he said.
BBCC member Mat Perkins (B grade) came fourth with Mat (A grade) in sixth place.
Local racing
The BBCC has their first criterium of the autumn season at the Cavanbah Centre this Sunday, 10 March.