SAM Spokes, the red hotters all thought, was foxing.
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Not at the start when he almost got knocked over by one of the groundstaff preparing the track for the next race on Golden Guitar night at Tamworth Paceway but at a previous trial session where he and a pacer, Heartland Bid, were clocked by Tamworth Harness Racing Club deputy chairman Mark Lowe.
Lowe had timed the 22-year-old cycling star and the pacer with Sarah Rushbrook driving, and worked out Spokes had to give Rushbrook 50m start to handicap them into a photo finish and a bit of fun on Golden Guitar night.
The start was something of a shock for Spokes.
While he was at the top of the straight trying not to be knocked over by the hardworking track worker, Rushbrook was off and gone on Heartland Bid.
“He baulked me,” Spokes said of a mix-up that gave Rushbrook about 100m head start, 50 more than planned.
“I had to work for it.”
That Spokes did, on a mountain bike borrowed from fellow cyclist Mitch Carrington.
Carrington had also been involved in a previous “man v beast” promotion at the paceway when he raced against a pacer and a young runner, Ben Allan.
“Ben won by a long way but I beat the pacer home,” Carrington said after watching his mate cycle to a 30m win.
“It was a lot of fun,” Rushbrook agreed.
“I just got him out of the paddock this week,” she said of her pacer.
“He’s been spelling and only had a week’s work, so he’s done well tonight.”
Spokes has been in full training for a couple of months preparing for a big season, home and abroad with his new Drapac team.
He signed a professional contract with them recently and then rode an aggressive and courageous race to finish fifth to Heinrich Haussler in the recent Australian road race championship at Buninyong.
On Sunday he was bypassing the regular Tamworth criterium racing at Goddard Lane to complete a motor-paced training session behind a motor bike of around 130km.
That’s part of a weekly training regime of around 500km.
“Not doing that much but more intense,” he said of rides interjected with sprinting bursts every 10mins or so.
He’s off to Victoria next week to ride the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Classic and then the Sun Tour for Drapac before heading to the Tour of Taiwan and a trip to the USA to ride in some races including the Tour Of California.
It’s a busy time for the talented young rider.
And there won’t be many professional cyclists who can say their preparations for some big races were completed by racing against horses!
