Start at the end

It's been soo long since I posted I'm now going to have to start at the end.

The series has now finished, and it ended up being really succesful for us.

Although the results are still unofficial, to the best of my knowledge, they should still be right.

Overall winner of the series
Paul Odlin
Overall winner of the womens section
Tracy Clark
2nd Overall womens section
Annaliisa Farrell
2nd Overall over 40
Neil Sutherland
3rd Overall Team
Us, Laurie Dawe Cycles


We went into the final race of the series in the overall lead with Paul, and Tracy tied with Katri Lake in the womens section.

Not long after the start proper a break went away that contained the only two people in the race that could beat Paul.
It contained a large number of riders including some very good ones so it posed a very real threat to us.
This meant that the way we wanted to ride this race was thrown out the window right from the start, instead of the team protecting Paul from mishaps we now had to mount a serious effort to chase this break down.

With most of the other teams represented in the break, including the only two able to take the series from Paul, meant we had to do most of the work ourselves.

They manged to do this despite the odds and from this point on the race more or less fell into place for us.

Although there was still breaks going off the front none posed a threat to us so we were more than happy to let them go, although Paul did get a bit worried when Hayden Roulston went away because he thought he could take the lead from him, even he if had won the race and Paul finished last, Paul would have still had enough points to have beaten him, so again no threat to us.

Later on in the race Katri drifted off the back, leaving Tracy, Annaliisa and I thought one other women in the bunch, so I quickly did a bit of addition and worked out that if there was another women still in the bunch and she finished ahead of Katri but behind Tracy and Annaliisa, and if Annaliisa finished ahead of Tracy then Tracy could win the series, Annaliisa could win the day and also leapfrog Katri into second so when Ross came back for some bottles I told him. Oh for race radios at times like this.

Although it was a gamble because the other women could have thrown a spanner in the works I had the confidence that our women could do the job and I thought they deserved to be first and second overall because they had shown their class, consistency and determination throughout the series. Not to mention it would increase the payout the team would get at the end also.

Although some of the teams have thought we may have raced negatively at some rounds they need to look at it from our point of view and also from the point that this has been touted as a teams event.
We had the lead and we had to protect that lead, that was our job plain and simple.
The other teams job was to take that lead from us something they couldn't do because of the way we raced. Although we may have only placed third in the teams category I think we were by far the best TEAM in the series and my congratulations go out to each and everyone on our team, you have done a fantastic job in this series and you have shown them all how to race throughout the year as a TEAM.

I will as I get time continue to update this post so you have a full roundup of the series and results from each round.

Main Bunch Finish

Thanks to Glenn Rewi for the photo

Points standings after 4 rounds.

1. PAUL ODLIN ~ LAURIE DAWE CYCLES 69 points
2. Brian Fowler ~ Kelford/Reiker 56 points
3. Joe Chapman ~ Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 54 points
4. MIKE KINGAN ~ LAURIE DAWE CYCLES 40 points
5. Daniel Barry ~ Benchmark Homes 38 points
6. James Williamson ~ Subway 38 points
7. Edward Barrett ~ Benchmark Homes 35 points
8. Glenn Rewi ~ Benchmark Homes 28 points
9. Scott Wilder ~ Benchmark Homes 28 points
10. Ross Machejefski ~ Individual 26 points
11. NEIL SUTHERLAND ~ LAURIE DAWE CYCLES 26 points
12. Hayden Roulston ~ Kelford/Reiker 25 points
13. Dan Waluszewski ~ Subway 25 points
14. Aaron Tuckerman ~ Individual 20 points
15. Ross Stewart ~ Benchmark Homes 19 points
16. Reon Park ~ Kelford/Reiker 16 points
17. Steve Elden ~ Benchmark Homes 16 points
18. Andrew Widdup ~ Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 16 points
19. Darrell Kircher ~ Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 13 points
20. Craig Atwill ~ Team Crown Hotel 12 points
21. Hayden Godfrey ~ Subway 10 points
22. Stuart Lowe ~ Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 8 points
23. Ashley Whitehead ~ Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 6 points
24. Shane Archbold ~ Kelford/Reiker 6 points
25. SAM HORGAN ~ LAURIE DAWE CYCLES 6 points
26. Nathan Hood ~ Benchmark Homes 5 points
27. Tony Fowler ~ Individual 4 points
28. James Gibson ~ Individual 4 points
29. Daniel Dean ~ Individual 3 points
30. Malcom Pearce ~ Individual 3 points
31. Marc Prutton ~ Individual 3 points
32. Nick Emery ~ Individual 2 points
33. Steven Hands ~ Individual 2 points
34. Craig Scott ~ Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 1 point
35. Barry Tinkler ~ Individual 1 point

Women's:

1. ANNALIISA FARRELL ~ LAURIE DAWE CYCLES 26 points
2. TRACY CLARK ~ LAURIE DAWE CYCLES 25 points
3. Katri Laike ~ Kelford/Reiker 17 points
4. Donna Sibley ~ Benchmark Homes 10 points
5. Josie Giddens ~ Kelford/Reiker 10 points
6. Nimesha Smith ~ Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 5 points
7. Gina Waibl ~ Individual 5 points
8. Michele Kiesanowski ~ Individual 5 points
9. Laura Thompson ~ Benchmark Homes 3 points
10. Justine Forde ~ Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 2 points

Teams:

1. Benchmark Homes Cycling Team 69 points
2. LAURIE DAWE CYCLES CYCLING TEAM 44 points
3. Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R & R Sports 33 points
4. Kelford/Reiker Cycling Team 29 points
5. Subway Cycling Team 23 points
6. Team Crown Hotel 7 points
7. Cycleworkz 2 points

Round 4 results (now official).

Annaliisa, Sam, Fitzy and Tracy rolling out of Hanmer.

Sunday 6th May, round 4 of the Benchmark Homes 8 race series from Hanmer to Kaikoura, better weather this year than last and it stayed that way all day.

Hayden Roulston broke away early with Ed Barrett and when I say early I mean early, like in the first few k's, we thought far too early we'll let them go, unfortunately we made a rather large error in underestimating both of their strengths as they managed to stay away together for the best part of the race.

Numerous attempts were made to bridge the gap but all proved fruitless, until after halfway, when Daniel Barry went away closely followed by Paul Odlin and Ross Machejefski. Once these three got together and started working they soon started pulling in the leaders, soon after Barrett started to feel the strain of going so early and soon drifted back to the chasers and then back to the main bunch, all the while the three chasers kept working away slowly but surely pulling back Roulston.

At one stage Roulstons lead was out to over 5 minutes, by the end it had been whittled back to a mere 24 seconds. Nonetheless an outstanding ride by Roulston to win the race showing once again his true class.

Paul came home strongly in 2nd place followed closely by Daniel Barry and then Ross Machejefski who was starting to fade a little.

As it turned out the race worked out alright for us as Paul extended his lead over the rest of the field and Mike Kingan sprinted home exceptionally well, after doing a fair amount of work to protect Paul, to get himself a few more points. Sam Horgan also rode outstandingly to finish in the top 10 & 2nd U23 rider.

The woman's competition is starting to heat up. Tracy found the going a bit tough but in typical Tracy style she still finished and collected some more points as well, Annaliisa however stayed in contact with the other woman throughout the race but just didn't quite have the legs at the finish, being out sprinted by Katri Laike.
Annaliisa crossing the line in Kaikoura.

Dave crossing the line in Kaikoura.

There was only a whisker between us and Benchmark for the Teams prize, one place to be precise and they had to check it on the video to make sure.

I have to say well done everyone on the team, we are going into the winter break in a very strong position, we hold the overall lead, the woman's lead (x2), 2nd in the teams standings and Mike Kingan in the top five also. This has been achieved by outstanding teamwork and selfless dedication to the team, I thank you all.



Results:

1st Hayden Roulston (Kelford/Reiker)
2nd Paul Odlin (Laurie Dawe Cycles)
3rd Daniel Barry (Benchmark Homes)
4th Ross Machejefski (Individual/Hokitika)
5th Brian Folwer (Kelford/Reiker)
6th Joe Chapman (Harty's-Lowe & Assoc.)
7th Glenn Rewi (Benchmark Homes)
8th Mike Kingan (Laurie Dawe Cycles)
9th Scott Wilder (Benchmark Homes)
10th Sam Horgan (Laurie Dawe Cycles)

1st Woman:

Katri Laike
1st Team:

Benchmark Homes

Paul crossing the line in Kaikoura.

Photos courtesy of Annabel Fitzsimons.

Standings after Round 3

The overall standings after three rounds of the Benchmark Homes race series is as follows:

1st Paul Odlin (Laurie Dawe Cycles) 47 points
2nd Joe Chapman (Harty's-Lowe & Assoc.) 40 points
3rd Brian Fowler (Kelford-Reiker) 40 points (over 40 leader)
4th James Williamson (Subway) 38 points (U23 leader)
5th Edward Barrett (Benchmark Homes) 30 points (2nd U23)
6th Michael Kingan (Laurie Dawe Cycles) 30 points
7th Neil Sutherland (Laurie Dawe Cycles) 26 points (2nd over 40)
8th Dan Waluszewski (Subway) 25 points (3rd U23)
9th Scott Wilder (Benchmark Homes) 20 points
10th Aaron Tuckerman (Blenheim) 20 points (4th U23)

Womans Standings:
1st Tracy Clark (Laurie Dawe Cycles) 20 points
2nd Annaliisa Farrell (Laurie Dawe Cycles) 19 points
3rd Josie Giddens (Kelford-Reiker) 10 points
4th Donna Sibley (Benchmark Homes) 8 points
5th Katrie Lake (Kelford-Reiker) 7 points

Interesting point to note, Paul Odlin, Mike Kingan, Scott Wilder, Annaliisa Farrell and Josie Giddens are the only riders to have gained points in all three rounds so far.

Teams Standings:
1st Benchmark Homes 51 points
2nd Harty's/Lowe & Assoc./R&R Sports 30 points
3rd Laurie Dawe Cycles 28 points
4th Subway 23 points
5th Kelford/Reiker 16 points
6th Crown Hotel Timaru 5 points
7th Cycleworkz 2 points

Around Brunner results.

Michael Fitzsimons leading Mike Kingan, Barry Tinkler and Andre Chappell (obscured) across the finish line for 4th place overall and 1st Vet in the Around Brunner race.

Interestingly the results placed Barry and Andre both in front of Fitzie, and even gave the Vet prize to Barry, and listed Mike K as being picked up, whatever that means, however as the photo shows we know who really placed where.

Hopefully next year they will get the results right.

By all accounts otherwise a superbly run event, helped no doubt by a fantastic West Coast day.

The official results are listed as: Ashley Whitehead 1st, Andrew Williams 2nd, Ross Stewart 3rd, Barry Tinkler 4th, Tom Pearce 5th, Andre Chappell 6th, Johnathon Gee 7th, Richard Ussher 8th, Michael Fitzsimons 9th, Mike Kingan picked up, Tracy Clark 1st Vet Woman and a very creditable 56th overall, Annaliisa Farrell and Neelu Memon 6th Tandem (1st all woman pairing) and a superbe 27th overall.

The actual results should read: Ashley Whitehead 1st, Andrew Williams 2nd, Ross Stewart 3rd, Michael Fitzsimons 4th (and 1st Vet), Mike Kingan 5th, Barry Tinkler 6th, Andre Chappell 7th, Tracy Clark 1st Vet Woman and a very creditable 56th overall. Annaliisa Farrell and Neelu Memon 6th tandem (1st all woman pairing) and a very creditable 27th overall.

Looks like Tracy is over the bug that laid her low in Round 3 of The Benchmark Homes Series.

Roll on Round four where Paul will be racing in the Overall leaders jersey, Tracy will be leading the newly formed womans competition and Neil will be pressing hard to get back the Over 40's jersey.

Round 3 and 3rd Bio

Brian Fowler (over 40), Ed Barrett (U23) and Paul Odlin (Overall)receiving their leaders jerseys at Round 3 of the Benchmark Homes 8 race series.

I know some of the team were a bit dissappointed in their performances but in the overall context of things the weekend was still a success for us.

Mike Fitz., Neil, Sam and Johnathan all did sterling work at the front and helping both Paul and Annaliisa. Sam punctured fairly early but got back on quickly when Johnathan dropped back to help him back, great effort by both. Thats what team riding's all about.

Tracy started the race but pulled out early on as she was extremely unwell, she probably shouldn't have even started, but that just shows her absolute determination, as she has won two of the three rounds so far she wanted to keep going.

A break went away very early on in the race and we had 1 rider, Mike Kingan, in it. It also contained Steve Elden & Nathan Hood (Benchmark), Stu Lowe (Lowe & Ass.), and Chris Karton and Brad Hudson (Kelford/Reiker), this group looked like they would be the race winners especially after getting out to a lead of over 4 minutes at one stage, however the bunch eventually got it's act together and pulled back the defict very quickly and before we knew it the race was all back together. Another group then went away containing Mike again along with Anthony Chapman (Lowe & Ass.) and Ed Barrett (Benchmark), Mike and Ed proved too strong for Anthony and spat him out fairly quickly, at the finish Ed proved too strong for Mike. Paul came home in the bunch for 6th place overall, enough to give him outright leadership overall for the series.

So to cap it off: Mike 2nd overall on the day, Paul 6th overall on the day and now the series leader and Annaliisa 1st women home, continuing the Teams domination of the womens section.

That provisionally gives us 3 riders in the top 10 overall, 3rd placed team overall ? Neil 2nd in the over 40's comp ? and no one able to challenge Annaliisa or Tracy.

The Team has so far gained 7 of the available 15 podium spots, is there any other team who can claim the same ?

Roll on Round 4.

3rd Bio:

Michael Fitzsimmons:

Fitzy is one of the peleton heavyweights, a popular wheel to follow in windy conditions, aims to get a top 15 finish....and finish every race, so far so good even if the results say otherwise. (Round 2 results suggest Fitzy had a dnf, but he actually came in ahead of quite a few riders that were listed as finishing).