Another cold blustery winters day greeted 12 riders at the Long Swamp course, for round 7 of the Road Racer of the Year (RROTY) competition. A strong crosswind was ripping across the course, which would put a premium on strong groups sharing the workload into the wind.Handicapper Houlty quickly marshalled the groups, and with Jo running proceedings racing was quickly underway.

First off was the GO pair of Jacqui King and Adam Edwards, followed at 5mins by the quartet of Andrew Swan, Christian Girard, and Clint & Dene Bourke. A further 5mins in arrears at 10 mins was the Block trio of John Kenny, Phil Thomas, and Andy Robb; last off the start ramp was the power Scratch group of current RROTY leader Pat Ferris aka GravelKing, Shaun Brennan, and ironman Mick Hoult.

Sensing the conditions the 5 min group stayed tucked in echelon formation, sharing the work and reeling in the GO pair so that at the end of the first lap they were the front of the race. Block was also working well and had halved the gap at the turn; Scratch meanwhile had dropped GravelKing Patty, and although they had shrunk the deficit by over 2mins, they would pay the price for losing a man overboard and would struggle to make further inroads on the second lap.

As riders battled through the wind, the 5min group were slowly losing riders, but were doing just enough to keep their noses in front, and as they hit the finish on Dump Hill, Dene surged to the front and opened up what looked like a winning gap…but pacing his effort to perfection Swanny rolled over the top as they hit the top slopes, and held on to take a famous win…well done Swanny! Dene rolled in just behind to take an excellent second place.

But there was still the final podium spot and RROTY points up for grabs. Clint hit Dump Hill in 3rd spot and looked good for the podium, but as the Block trio roared up from behind, the gap evaporated and Andy pushed on to take 3rd place, with Keglegs 4th, and mugging Clint just before the line JK took out the final ROTTY points…sorry Clint!

Well done to all riders for great racing in tough conditions; thanks to Jo for doing the signs and running the race, and also thanks to Houlty for great handicapping making for a competitive race.