Mount Gambier Cycling Club junior riders travelled to Mypolonga to participate in the South Australian Road Championships on recently.
Freya Miller rode well to take second position in the U13 Female race (16.6km), and Jamison Buckley rode gallantly to finish fourth, just off the podium, in the U15 Male race (38.4km).
They also participated in the time trial championships held the following day, joined by Molly Opperman.
Jamison finished his 9.5km “race of truth” in third position, Freya completed her 9.5km time trial in second position, while Molly was fastest of all U11 riders for her 4km time trial.
Coming off recent success in the Victorian Junior Cycling Tour Freya fronted a combined U13 boys and girls field to compete in the races.
The road race was windy, hilly and technical and Freya lost time early on, eventually taking silver behind her rival and good mate Issy Cranage from the Norwood Cycling Club.
The time trial the following day presented perfect weather conditions for all riders and Freya finished 25 seconds behind Issy again, bringing home silver again.
Jamison competed in his first state road championships, which provided an opportunity to compete against riders of his own age that comprised of entrants from around the state as well as talent from the state cycling team.
With a plan to compete to gain valuable experience, but still a gritty determination to give all that he had, Jamison threw everything into the two-day event that consisted of a 38km road circuit on Saturday and a 9.5km time trial circuit on Sunday.
With the aid of many road kilometres in his legs and some very valuable pointers from his mentor and coach Rob Mann, he rode well and finished a gallant fourth in the road race.
Steeling himself for the time trials the next day, Jamison knew that leaving anything in the tank was not an option if he was to finish well.
With this in mind Jamison launched into the time trial pushing hard against quality competition and was rewarded with a podium finish, achieving third.
Molly completed only the 4km time trial over the weekend due to dance commitments on the Saturday in Adelaide.
With no wind, she set off first being the only under 11 girl.
This event gave her the opportunity to ride against the boys and compare the times.
The official result was 7m26s which was the fastest of all under 11 competitors on the day, about 40 seconds faster than the quickest boy.
