The expletive Wanganui Cycling Club president Stu Bruce used when he drove down Brunswick's Western Line was not "holy cow" but it would have been the most appropriate.
Having just sent away a field of 19 C-Grade riders, closely followed by a group of Under 17 competitors for the 9.30amrace of Saturday's Grand Prix, Bruce was giving the Wanganui Chronicle a quick tour of the back end of the 22km course when he came across a herd of cows, unsupervised as they crossed from one paddock to the other, with several grazing on the roadside.
No doubt picturing an epic cyclist pile-up of bovine proportions, Bruce turned cattle rancher as he herded the cows off the road and locked the two neighbouring gates before the lead bunch of the C Grade riders had reached the final turn back towards the finishing line for Lap 1 of their 66km race.
A quick word with the farm owners and the rest of the morning went smoothly, other than the periodic cloud bursts and gusting winds.
The conditions did not stop Central Hawke's Bay rider Keri Anne Page from pulling away from the rest of the competent field to win the C Grade race in 1 hour 55.06 minutes, around two minutes ahead of runner-up Paul Forrest, with Elizabeth Stannard right on his heels for third.
Page had been in a lead bunch of eight, who made all the early running on Lap 1 around the loop from Brunswick through Kai Iwi.
For the Under 17s group of 12 riders, Robert Stannard (1h 47m 15.02s) won a close sprint to the line against Chris Denholm and Campbell Stewart.
At 12.30pm, the 88km B Grade race supported the headline John Bull Cup event, as local Bevan Cheatley stormed away to win in 2h 28m 05.01s, beating Scott Ardern and Glen Kirk to the line by two seconds.
