In a slight change to the planned event at the start of the series, the Mount Gambier Cycling Club returned to the familiar Caves Road course for the latest race in the spring series.
Thirteen riders signed on for the seventh race in the Kidman Law Spring Series and were assigned into their handicap categories.
First rider away was Jason Buckland, with Jen Buckland and Damian Buckley joined by Bruce McLaughlin in having to wait six minutes before their opportunity to start the chase.
A further five minute wait ensued before Elmer Buckland and Dean Zeven teamed up to begin the chase.
A large group consisting of Niel van Niekerk, Jami Buckley, Craig Andrae, Malcolm Tirabassi, Matthew Opperman and Patrick Langsmith waited another seven minutes before being given their starting orders, and a further 30 seconds later Nick Kidman began his effort to chase all others down.
Speeds were high on the journey down to the turnaround marker, with riders enjoying a tailwind for the first part of the ride.
Each of the groups were working hard, but the back riders still had over 5km of road to catch up to the leader at the turnaround.
Out in front the speed slowed considerably after the turnaround and the riders found the wind in their faces.
The benefit of being in a group and taking turns to rest behind other riders, rather than constantly pushing into the head wind, came to the fore in this part of the race, with the large group maintaining their strong pace.
With 10km to the finish, Elmer and Zeven had caught up to Damian, Jen and McLaughlin, with the latter two riders holding on to their wake as they passed.
With 8km to go, as they were passing Jason for the lead, Elmer decided to push the pace and see if he could solo away for the victory.
After being unable to hold his wheel, McLaughlin, Zeven and Jen worked together to see if their teamwork could drag him back into their reach.
Van Niekerk, Opperman, Andrae and Jami had also pulled away from their companions and were working hard to catch the riders in front.
As the finish line came into view, Elmer Buckland was able to hold off the challengers win by approximately 300m over Zeven, Jen Buckland and McLaughlin, with van Niekerk, Matthew Opperman, Jami Buckley and Andrae closing fast but just running out of time.
They were followed by Jason Buckland, Kidman, Langsmith, Damian Buckley and Tirabassi, while van Niekerk was the fastest rider for this race.
Next Sunday the club will host the postponed Bailey Memorial Race, which will be held as four laps of an 8.5km circuit around Kongorong for a race distance of approximately 34km.
