A flat, fast circuit on Ridge Road in the Burragorang State Recreation Area required riders to complete four laps of the course.

Pleasant, warm winter conditions under cloudy skies greeted riders and while an earlier storm had passed over a portion of the course the rain held off for the race.

Nearly 80 riders from Southern Highlands, Illawarra, Goulburn, Nowra and Macarthur Cycle Clubs entered the 56 kilometre handicap.

Despite some injuries, illness and overseas commitments Goulburn riders made up a quarter of the field and were keen to put in another solid effort to gain valuable points toward the shield for best performing club in the series.

Some 26 and a half minutes separated the Division Two limit rider, Fiona Berry from the Division One scratch bunch which included elite team riders Andy Cartwright and Adam Kiss.

Just two kilometres into the race Fiona’s afternoon came to a premature end when her tyres sustained punctures due to some glass on the circuit. By the end of the afternoon punctures ended 10 riders chances including Phil Hansen, Josh Daniel and Brian Rawlinson.

Alan Bassingthwaite and Chris Berry in the large 7 minute 30 second group of 10 riders set off at a cracking pace and by the end of the first lap had caught and passed the leading groups.

Into the second lap and the group had whittled away to six riders including three from Macarthur, two from Illawarra and lone Goulburn rider, Chris Berry.

On the third lap the two Illawarra riders broke away on the climb to the turnaround point stringing out the remainder of the group.

The stragglers regrouped after the turnaround and working together hauled the leaders in before the start of the final lap.

Phil Champion and Grant Moller off scratch in Division Two worked hard with their group to catch the other earlier chasers. By the final lap they had combined with the other groups which included team mates Craig Johnson and Brian Rawlinson and only had the lead group to catch. By the second last turn the leading group with Chris Berry driving off the front held a 90 second lead.

The local Macarthur riders urged the other riders in the group to maintain their pace knowing their lead would be sufficient to stay away from the chasers.

With two kilometres to go David Soto from Illawarra attacked on the slight incline to the finish.

The rest of the group were more patient narrowing the gap but ensuring they still had sufficient energy for a final sprint. By the 200m mark the Illawarra rider had nothing left in the tank and Chris Berry found himself out the front. In one last effort Chris opened up his sprint only to find crafty veteran Stan Burgin of Macarthur following his wheel.

Stan made his move at the 100m mark and pulled away from Chris to take out line honours by five bike lengths. Chris hung on for second with Jo Clark (Illawarra) finishing third a further four bike lengths back.

Grant Moller and Phil Champion lead the Division Two chasers over the line taking out fastest and second fastest times for their efforts. In Division One the scratch group made up over six minutes to catch their limit riders and with half a lap to go riders from all the groups had combined to form a large bunch.

Cameron Roberts, Andy Cartwright and Adam Kiss were well positioned in the final bunch sprint to the finish line. Protected by his team mates Adam Kiss was launched to the line only to fall short by a narrow margin.

Second place and second fastest time was a great effort for Adam who was backing up the next day in the prestigious Wagga to Albury road race.

Six riders from the Goulburn elite team travelled to Wagga on Sunday for the 135km John Woodman Memorial Wagga to Albury Handicap. Graeme Allbon, Chris Brown, Andy Cartwright, Adam Kiss, Michael Payne and Jeremy Ryan all had solid performances off block. The scratch group made the catch with about 10kms to go and unfortunately the Goulburn riders finished a few seconds back at the finish.

Still a very fine effort by the team who raced at 43.5km/hr over the 135km course.

Next Saturday local racing returns to Windellama Road for a graded scratch race. Sign on is in Brisbane Grove Road by 1.45pm with racing to start at 2pm.

New riders and visitors welcome.

Macarthur Interclub results

Division Two

Division One