MICK Sherwood was glad Tamworth Cycle Club president Sam Spokes is down riding in the Tour Down Under on two fronts.
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Glad to see Drapac professional Spokes given a ride in the high-class stage race that started on Sunday with a criterium through the Adelaide streets and glad it meant the talented Spokes wouldn’t be riding in the club’s A grade criterium.
It handed him and fellow clubmates the chance to win and Sherwood made the most of it, winning his first A grade criterium of the season from Phil Kelaher and Ashley Smith.
“I still had plenty of good riders to contend with,” the 22-year-old university student said. “The likes of Mitch (Carrington), Ashley (Smith) and Phil (Kelaher).
“We held a high pace throughout and everyone worked well together.”
However that friendship ended about five minutes from the finish when Sherwood said “the race blew apart”.
“Ash, Phil and I broke away,” he said.
“And we were able to keep that constant pace.
“I was just lucky to have the right wheel in the end.”
Sherwood is about to start the fourth and final year in his rural science degree at Armidale’s University Of New England.
At the moment he’s doing labouring work and looking towards the Grafton to Inverell Cycle classic in mid-May as a major goal for the year.
That the iconic Grafton to Inverell has been moved to mid-year is a boon for Sherwood as he is also, now, looking towards riding the Melbourne To Warrnambool in October.
“I can race both now they are not so close together,” he said.
The May 7 Grafton To Inverell will be a highlight.
“Moving it to the start of the National Road Series (NRS) season makes it a more tactical race,” he said.
“When the Grafton To Inverell was in October and the last race of the NRS it was very much a team race, very co-ordinated.
“They might find it more individual and exciting.
“It leaves an opening for someone to be brave on the day.”
Sherwood has “done three or four Graftons” and would like to convert those experiences and efforts into bigger and better results.
“It is a big day,” he said.
“You definitely feel it the next day. You have to do a lot of training to get in the right shape.”
Sherwood currently weighs 72kg and hopes to lose at least another 2kg to be in peak racing trim for a big year where he will race in the Baiocchi Griffin Wealth team again.
“They’ve been very good to me,” he said.
“It’s opened a lot of doors and without their support I wouldn’t have been able to do the racing I have done the last couple of years.”
TAMWORTH CRITERIUMS
Sunday, Goddard Lane: A GRADE (30mins+ 2laps): Mick Sherwood 1, Phil Kelaher 2, Ashley Smith 3, John Saunders 4. B GRADE (25mins +2laps): Dave Menzies 1, Dave Smith 2, Darren “Chuck” Taylor, James Eason 4. C GRADE (20mins +2laps): Luke Deasey 1, Peter Nash 2, Shona Tapp 3. JUNIORS (5laps): Emily Deasey 1, Josh Deasey 2, Zane Tapp 3.
