Sunday was a day of firsts at the Goddard Lane criterium races.
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It was the first outing for a few new faces with the Tamworth Cycle Club and it was the first time for quite a while the club has been able to hold a junior race.
Six juniors in total took to the track with the Traill family well represented with Charlotte, Oliver and Amelia in their first ever race. Sophia Butler, who moved to Tamworth recently, also took part while Josh Deasey helped to make up the numbers. To round it out was Sophie Johnstone who has raced valiantly on her own the last few weeks.
There was an early breakaway with Josh, Sophia and Sophie working hard to stay away from the field for the rest of the race.
They did just that as the rest of the field couldn’t bridge the gap. Sophie took the win in a close finish with Josh. Sophia finished third and Oliver fourth.
The next event was the C grade race with five riders. The bunch stuck together for some time before Nick Reid decided it was time to put in some effort.
He opened a 20-metre gap before Murray Russell came to help him out. The two worked together to see Reid get the chocolates with Murray in second. Peter Nash finished in third with Greg Johnstone claiming fourth.
A and B grade took to the course at the same time in separate races. The B Grade race was a fairly mild affair with the riders rolling turns for most of the race.
At the 23-minute mark Joe Kelly piled on the pace but was caught with a lap to go. Dave Menzies took the win in a sprint finish from Luke O'Connor while Kelly rolled across the line gasping for air in third place with Warren Clark coming fourth.
A Grade was a fast-paced six-rider race.
There were no significant breakaway efforts before a bunch sprint sorted them out. In what was probably his first A grade win, Luke Deasey was triumphant with Sam Munday, who made the trip down from Armidale, in second, Mick Sherwood third and Darren Taylor fourth.
Racing next weekend will be in Armidale on Saturday afternoon for the next round of the interclub series.