New England’s speediest cyclists rode into town for Armidale Cycling Club’s interclub event.
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Riders from Inverell and Tamworth, as well as our own road champions, ventured to the Traffic Education Centre’s track for the criterium races on Saturday.
First up, the three clubs put forward four of their best cyclists for the team’s pursuit.
In a thrilling finish, Tamworth pipped a very young Armidale side by two seconds and Inverell came in third.
"Although we didn't win it, it is notable that our team was basically kids and we had Holly [Harris] in there as well so it was mixed,” Armidale Cycling Club’s publicity officer Rob Hale said.
"Hugh is still at school, David is still at school and Holly is a national mountain biking champion but she is not a 30-year-old semi-pro road racing cyclist.
"Although Sam Jenner was in there, we deliberately put a young team in there and they did really well so I think it was good they could mix it with the older, more experienced riders in the other clubs.
"I think that was really good, they were within two seconds of winning that against some really strong riders from the other clubs.”
Current national under-23 road cycling champion and Armidale local Sam Jenner was beaten in the A grade race by Tamworth’s Sam Spokes. The B grade race was taken out by Armidale’s John Scott-Hamilton.
Hale said the interclub criterium offered a bit more of a challenge for riders with the level of competition at a higher standard than club level.
"For the last couple of years we have run road races at Armidale, Tamworth and Inverell but this year we thought we would try a criterium,” he said.
"Tamworth and Inverell riders really enjoyed racing competitively with other local clubs so it was a bit different, not just week-in, week-out with their own club so there was a bit of variety.
"Different track as well, a bit more challenging, a bit more interesting.”
The second round of the interclub criterium will be raced on Sunday in Tamworth.
The Armidale Cycling Club are also in preparations for their notable Autumn Festival race.
A strong field of cyclists have put their hand up for the 13th running of the March event.
Hale said they also have a race with a bit of a difference coming up for club members or anyone interested in joining in.
"We have a fun gravel race coming up in a couple of weeks,” he said.
"Rather than just racing purely on sealed roads, we have a couple of sections on gravel which makes it more a bit more exciting and challenging. We just try to do a few things like that to make it a bit more interesting for more people.”
Hale said the club always welcome new members.