We had perfect cool late summer weather for another round of graded scratch crit racing, and the usual 3 grade were set off to compete over 30, 35 and 40mins +2 laps respectively.

C grade was a civilised affair with 4 riders rolling a steady pace including junior Bernie May. Bernie was the first to feel the pace after having already competed in junior cycling earlier in the day; Donella Tutt was next to feel the pinch, and this left it to Jo Wauch and Pete Wilko to fight out the win, and although it came down to the wire Jo edged out a well deserved win!

B grade was a larger affair, with 9 riders rolling off the start line; there was the usual noisy shenanigans from Kirky, but in spite of some surging attacks from a number of riders, it would come down to a sprint finish for all the racers, and it was no surprise to see sprint specialist Nathan Paull take out a clear win ahead of John Kenny and Kirky; there was also notable effort from Abbott White, who was able to hold his own in B grade for the entire race after recently moving up from C grade – keep up the great work Abbott!

Last up was A grade, and the 5 racers formed a perfect paceline, with Houlty doing his usual mountain of work at the front, with Holly also looking strong. But with the pace high a breakaway was never on the cards, and it came down to searing last lap and a massive surge up crit hill gave Toby Inglis a small gap and he was able to just hang on to takeout a close win just ahead of Shaun Brennan and Pat Ferris.

Well done to all racers; we’re back for more crit action next Saturday, and we also wish the best of luck to all the local racers competing at the MTB Nationals in Tassie!