Brunswick Cycling Club

Melbourne to Warnambool 25/10/08

As the sun came up over a chilly Sanctuary Lakes it was also a new dawn for the Melbourne to Warrnambool. For the first time in its 113 year history, the race was staged as a teams event. Thirty five teams rolled out for the 300km journey. Team Rapido were represented by Northern Combine riders; Ben Johnson, Jason Costin and Cam Woolcock. I was a late scratching due to picking up a cold at an Adelaide conference a week before the race.

At the Werribee sprint, a person/man hole that was recessed into the road caused some grief when some riders hit the deck due to a runaway bidon. Apart from a few tearaways up the front, who consumed the bulk of the sprint dollars, the field stayed pretty much intact until the Beeac feed station 180km. An attack was launched before the feed and a group of nine elite riders pulled away from the field. At Camperdown, the third feed, the race winner was sitting in a bunch of 13 who were away. The Rapido boys stuck together, with Jason pulling strong turns to limit the time gap to the front riders.

There were crashes at every feed station except Garvoc. Conditions for the race were excellent. There was a slight nor-westerly which actually provided a bit of tailwind in a few sections. Zac Dempster won the race with Brunswick rider Dylan Newell taking out 5th place. The Rapido boys came in a very credible 28 minutes down from the winner. Cam was in the money with a D Grade, 6th place. A big thanks goes out to Rapido Cycles for supporting the team. Tour of Bright is next!