Our first visit to Picton for the summer brought out the locals to guide us round their fantastic challenging tracks. Peter and Justin set out a course with stiff climbs, tricky corners and some gorse to test the commitment of the 33 riders who turned up on this warm summer evening. It really was a great place to be, and there would have been some very sweaty satisfied riders at the end of the day.
There was a choice of courses and while the majority lapped on the long course, Yvette and Selena alternated between short and long, and Jimmy and Mikey completed 6 of the shorter laps.
On familiar territory and with great athleticism and fitness, Mitchell showed no mercy and blitzed the field. He established a one minute gap on lap one, extended it to two minutes on lap two and was almost four minutes clear at the end. Warren brought along his visiting son Nick, and at the end of lap one he was showing some good speed in second slot. Kiel and Connor were in close company filling third and fourth then Khan and Josh just a few seconds further back. The Gold Card brigade were out in force, we had six over sixties defying the aging process with Robert the quickest of these ahead of Warren and Peter W. John Pick had a small rest after two laps and was waiting for some company for his third lap. We haven’t had anyone get lost yet but with so many seniors around, carers are something we may have to look into.
Lap two and the tussle for fourth was heating up, Mitchell and Nick were holding station while Kiel had established a gap in third then Connor and Khan were neck and neck.
At the end of lap three Nick was being caught by Kiel and was further hampered by a dislodged chain. Khan had passed and cleared away from Connor and Justin was sneaking up on the leaders spinning like crazy on his single speed.
Five riders completed four laps. Mitchell was never challenged in front, then Kiel managed to stay ahead of a consistent persistent Khan who also managed to keep Justin off the podium. Nick eventually struggled home in fifth, admitting that the chain was only part of the issue and tired legs helped his demise.
Alana was best performed lady with Donna also competing on the big course.
It was a great all round effort on a perfect evening and I think we had around 33 satisfied customers at the end of the day. We will try again next week at the MTB park where Justin will fill in for Peter setting out the course. Hope to see you all around 6:30 for a 7:00 start.
Results