Winter conditions were again present for the Heretaunga Building Society powered Ramblers Cycling Club's Winter Series.
Starting from Haumoana School, riders competed in graded racing out and return along Tuki Tuki Rd and Kahuranaki Rd on Saturday. Despite the cold with a light southerly wind and threat of rain, 115 riders registered for racing with A to D grades racing 50km while E, F and G grades raced over 26km. The hilly nature of the course ensured there were no mass bunch sprint finishes.
A small A grade started off at a solid pace which saw a few riders drop off the pace early. The bunch was further reduced when Andrew Townsend punctured in the opening kilometres. Luke Osborne was prominent at the front of the race and by the turnaround point, he and Gary Hall held a solid lead starting the return journey.
With little wind assistance, riders had to work hard to maintain the pace and the leading two riders were caught by a chasing bunch of five before Tuki Tuki Rd. They remained together until Coops Hill when Sam Clarke, Darryl Strachan and Luke Osborne opened a gap which the chasing group could not close. In a tight sprint finish, Clarke narrowly took line honours over Strachan with Osborne finishing third.
Eighteen B grade riders started their race with Austin Mortimer wearing the series leader's yellow jersey. The pace and course took its toll on the peloton which split largely into two groups. The leading group of riders raced tactically in the closing kilometres which saw them record a time of over six minutes slower than their A grade counterparts. In the final dash to the line, Mortimer was denied line honours by a fast finishing Patrick Barry who made it two wins from two starts in this series. Three riders in C grade were awarded the same time in a close finish which saw Hayley Davis secure first place followed by Nick McCarthy and Allister Beets. The result saw series leader Willem Bruins having to settle for fourth place.
It was Mark Riddell's day in D grade as he comfortably headed home the largest field of the day to record a 12 second winning margin. Gareth Nicholl finished second but was awarded an identical time to third and fourth placegetters Amanda Jamieson and Peter Jarvis.
In a case of déj? vu, Mark Waldin and Mal Warren were again involved in the tussle for line honours in the E grade finish. While Mick Cull was close behind, he had to settle for third place with Waldin again prevailing over Warren to make it three from three this series.
F grade numbers were also small with series leader Mike Lucinsky not racing. At the business end of the race, Nicholas Kelly and Tanya Winter, who were both promoted from G grade at the start of this series, were left to battle it out with veteran rider Dave Chote for victory. The experience of Chote saw him just edge out Kelly, with both recording the same time, while Winter finished three seconds in arrears.
With the largest winning margin of the day, G grade's Baylee Lingan crushed the field to win by almost six minutes over Carole Bone.
The Winter Series continues on Friday night with the Napier Downtown Criterium.