Canberra Cycling Club
After a long and cold winter with precious little to keep as entertained midweek, it was with much anticipation that CCC Summer Crits made a triumphant return for the 2024-25 season, with Trek Bicycles coming onboard as the major sponsor. And while I will endeavour to capture future rounds with all the blow-by-blow colour and complexion they deserve, a ‘greatest hits’ approach will have to suffice to see us through the first two rounds as I look to play catch up…
So it was that Round 1 saw some clear standout performances, Will Astridge among the first to grab the crowds attention with repeat attacks during what was a thoroughly entertaining D Grade race. While it may have taken three blistering attacks before Will was able to snap the elastic, he succeeded in the end and spearheaded a two rider breakaway after being joined by an in form Matthew Collings. Despite a strong chase led by Mark Cantril and Elliott Burrell, the duo out front stayed away in the closing stages with Mat eventually taking victory in the sprint to the line. Evelyn Power and Darcy Henwood, meanwhile, impressed with strong rides to remain with the bunch throughout much of the race.
Not to be outdone for aggression, Callum MacIver was in all the early moves for C Grade, eventually splitting the pack with around 10 minutes remaining after a strong attack up the back straight. Jim Mungoven was prominent in the chase, with new recruit Max Reardon also lending a hand. Altogether with two laps remaining, it was Dan Gowling who benefited from a solid lead out by his teammates to take the first victory of the season, with Baden Burke and Andrew Gordon pushing him all the way. In B Grade meanwhile, there was really only the one sub-plot and that revolved around Caleb Antill completely detonating the bunch with about seven minutes left on the clock before staying away solo to earn both the victory and a swift promotion to A Grade.
Speaking of A Grade, Tom Chester pretty much picked up where he left off last season with a dominant performance to sprint clear of a fast finishing Hayden Stevens in the dash to the line. Making Tom’s win all the more impressive was the fact that he’d stepped off the plane from Belgium not more than 24 hours earlier after representing Australia at the UCI Elite Gravel World Championships, a performance that poses the obvious question as to what he might do next week when not completely jet-lagged. Dennis Mungoven was the other standout in A Grade after making the almost impromptu decision to leave the relative safety of the B Grade peloton, and then more than justifying his presence at the sharp end with a top ten finish and some strong pulls on the front.
Round 2 perhaps unsurprisingly saw several of the same protagonists again grabbing the headlines for repeat stand-out performances. In the case of Will Astridge, however, what was surprising was the fact that he was in the mix yet again despite having made the jump from D Grade to C. While Will didn’t feature on the podium, he was active in several breakaway with Callum MacIver once again the most combative having instigated multiple attacks. Mustafa Anwar, another to be recently promoted, put in a strong showing, as did stalwart Andy Gordon and Jim Mungoven. But whereas ‘youth’ rode valiantly, it was ‘experience’ that rode smartest as Pete Roger’s emerged from the bunch with half a lap remaining to take a perfectly executed victory a bike length clear of another statesman of the Canberra cycling scene in Baden Burke, Dan Joller opening his account by winning the bunch kick for third.
A Grade meanwhile saw roles reversed as Hayden Stevens finally got the win he’s been chasing over Tom Chester in a straight up show of speed. While Tom looked to be the odds on favourite once again after going clear through collarbone in pursuit of an opportunistic escape by Dennis Mungoven, Hayden managed to close the gap around the final corner before dragging clear in the downhill run to the line. Bailey MacDonald was impressive in nabbing his first A Grade podium, while Caleb Antill showed he will likely be a force to be reckoned with in A Grade too after finishing in fourth. The only other particularly notable mention was for Trent Smyth who threw caution to the wind with a bold attack from the whistle, quickly building a sizeable lead which he sought to press during the opening stages before being eventually chased down.
B Grade was punctuated by several moves from the Tiffen Cycling crew with Mick Tolhurst’s escape looking the most dangerous before being shut down by a strong chase led by Rainer Wilton. Calvin Coombs ultimately prevailed in a somewhat chaotic bunch sprint, narrowly getting the better of Ryan Koroknai and Glen Sinnott. Kim Peterson rode strongly to finish on bunch time and take out a well deserved victory for the women. With D Grade left to bring down the curtain on Round 2, Darren Stevens took up his usual role off ‘pace-setter-in-chief’. Darcy Henwood rode a superb race positioning herself well throughout and taking a convincing win for the women ahead of rising star Annika Astridge having only just made the jump to D Grade. James Robinson and Bill Shelly, meanwhile, duked it out for line honours with James eventually prevailing, while Archer Peppinck earned himself his first D Grade podium with a ride that any U13 would have been proud of. Speaking of which, the Junior White contingent of Zach Thomas, Hugo Williams, and Maja Torres-Schmidt combined seamlessly to avoid being lapped by the much larger D Grade bunch, despite starting with a 30 second deficit, more than underscoring their credentials to make the move into D Grade for Round 3.
And last but not least, Caitlin Watkins prevailed over Barney Mungoven and Matthew Kellie Preece in E Grade, the latter among whom was his usual chatty and smiling self, less fussed about the result and just thrilled to be out there riding his bike. Something in that for all of us.
As momentum builds with Treks involvement and we all dust off the winter cobwebs, expect fast and furious racing, hopefully fewer pedal strikes and kangaroos, and some good tunes and vibes in the weeks ahead. No excuse not to pin on a number and get out there.
