After recent weeks where the weather has been poor for racing, a beautiful day greeted the riders for the 2021 running of the Allen Bailey Memorial Handicap.
The prestigious race, held over 50km along a circuitous route from Mt Salt Road and around Kongorong, recalls a promising youngster who died while riding in 1931.
Held in most years since, this race is among the monuments of the Mount Gambier Cycling Club.
Border restrictions unfortunately did not allow riders from Western Victoria to join, so a smaller number of riders signed up to the event.
First away were the junior riders, racing over 10km, with Eddie Buckland given a three-minute head start over his older brother, Elmer.
Enjoying a slight tailwind for the first 5km, speeds were high and Elmer Buckland found making headway into the difference difficult.
After the turnaround and facing a slight headwind, Elmer’s strength had him hauling in brother Eddie at a quick rate.
With approximately two kilometres to race, Elmer caught up with Eddie and powered away in the final 1500 metres to win by 20 seconds.
A total of 14 riders greeted the Commissaire for the big race seeded into three groups by club handicappers.
The race was started by Mount Gambier Cycling Club life member Allan Dowdell and the first to enjoy the first 15km of tailwind were Rob Mann, Mike Bakker, Craig Andre and Pat Langsmith.
They were given a five minute head-start over the large middle group consisting of Jami Buckley, Colin Weatherill, Phil Stasiw, Dean Zeven, Spek Peake and John Cranwell.
The scratch group, consisting of Nick Kidman, Matthew Opperman, Ash Herrewyn and Dave Bryant waited a further 11 minutes before starting to chase down the riders ahead.
Enjoying the first 15km tailwind before the right turn onto Nene Valley Road, each group rode hard and was slowly catching the groups ahead of them.
Unfortunately, Herrewyn found the going tough, dropping out the back of the scratch group before the first turn and choosing to end his ride early.
After the 20km loop from Kongorong to Black Fellows Caves and back to Mount Salt Road, the groups were still maintaining cohesion and continued to close the gaps.
As the riders started the final 15km leg into the slight headwind, the middle group of riders could see the limit group in the distance and continued to reel them in.
Unfortunately the finish line arrived before the task could be completed, with the limit group sprinting for the win.
Andre reached the finish line first (1:27:42), just ahead of Langsmith, with Bakker edging out Mann for the final spot on the podium.
As the final group approached the finish, Kidman put on a burst of speed to ensure he received fastest time honours (1:14:54), ahead of Opperman and Bryant.
The Bailey Memorial Perpetual Trophy and medallion were presented by series sponsor, Nick Kidman.
Focus now turns to the next race in the Kidman Law Co Spring/Summer series, a 30km handicap along the familiar Caves Road route.
