Beautiful early Summer weather greeted the Mount Gambier Cycling Club members who had nominated to ride the Christmas race as the final race of the current Spring/Summer Series.

The race was held on the Caves Road course over a distance of 30km. There was hardly a cloud in the sky and a slight easterly wind had the riders excited for a tailwind finish to the racing later in the day.

The U11/13 riders were the first to greet the Commissaire for their 10km race, with Eddie Buckland given a 2:15 minute head start over the chasing Molly Opperman.

Both riders took advantage of their small frames to get as aerodynamic as possible on the outward leg, which was into the headwind.

Opperman ate into the lead that Buckland enjoyed before the turnaround, but with perhaps one eye on the State Junior Track Titles next weekend, chose not to press home her power advantage.

Buckland continued to ride strongly on the return leg, powering to the finish line in a time of 21:45.

Opperman arrived 2 minutes and 21 seconds later, allowing Buckland to also take fastest time honours by just six seconds.

After the junior race it was time for the seniors to step up to the line.

A solid 22 riders greeted the Commissaire, including one rider whose introduction to the club was the Crank the Crater event in the previous weekend.

The first group to leave consisted of Dave Delaland, Jen Buckland and Jason Buckland, followed four minutes later by Elmer Buckland and Mike Bakker.

There was a five minute gap before the group of Paul Brooker, Bruce McLaughlin and Phil Stasiw were allowed to depart on their quest, then just two minutes separated them from Rohan Mason, Spek Peake, Dean Zeven and John Cranwell.

A further two minutes delay ensued until Matthew Opperman, on his CX bike, joined Harry Opperman and Craig Andre in pursuit of the riders ahead.

The second last group to leave had a further two minutes to wait, now 15 minutes from the time the initial racers had left.

That group consisted of Ash Herrewyn, Rob Mann, Riley Hill, Patrick Langsmith and Jami Buckley who were followed a further two minutes later by the final pairing of Dave Bryant with Nick Kidman.

The slight headwind notwithstanding, the pace was on from the start and any rider who was unable to keep with their group were going to be faced with a tough solo time trial.

Unfortunately for Buckley and Langsmith, such was their fate as the pace of their group began quite high.

While separating from their group at different times, they had managed to catch up to each other and work together for the final 20km.

The rest of the riders managed to hold on to their respective groups to the turnaround, but the slight bumps close to the turnaround took the energy out of some of the riders who were unable to keep up with the faster members of their groups.

Out in front for 28 of the 30km race, Delaland and Jen Buckland continued to work strongly together but then, as if sensing the presence of riders close by, Delaland found another gear and set off towards the finish line as rapidly as possible.

His efforts were rewarded as he came over the brow of the hill towards the finish line with a strong margin to the next riders and celebrated his first victory in a Mount Gambier Cycling club race.

Behind him, Jen Buckland was not so fortunate, caught on the descent to the finish line by Elmer Buckland and Bakker, who crossed the line in 2nd and 3rd respectively.

Jen finished in 4th, just ahead of Stasiw and Brooker.

They were followed by the group who had managed to hold on to the fastest riders as they came through the field, led by Kidman, Harry Opperman, Hill, Mann and Bryant.

Kidman was rewarded with fastest time honours.

The next group to cross the line were Mason, Peake, Cranwell, Zeven and Herrewyn, then Jason Buckland, McLaughlin, Matthew Opperman, Andre, Buckley and Langsmith.

Presentations were held back at the clubrooms, where a Christmas morning tea was provided and family and friends joined in the festivities.

Delaland was presented with the trophy for winning the Christmas race and the sponsors of the race also provided prize money for the podium place-getters for both junior and senior races.

Because this race doubled as the final race of the Kidman Law Co Spring/Summer Series, presentations were also made to the top five finishers in the series and Elmer Buckland was crowned Series Champion.

Next weekend, junior riders Molly Opperman, Niel van Niekirk, Langsmith, Buckley and Kai Arbery will participate in the SA Junior Track Championships at the Adelaide Superdrome.

The club wished the junior riders all the best when they participate in these events.