MASTERS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS | MMAS1-MMAS2 RACE REPORT
NSW’s retirement centres were emptied as a collection of the finest ‘experienced’ cyclist descended on Molong, 30km north-west of Orange.
The Molong road race course is a tough regional course with a number of steep bergs, however it is the wind and road surface that tends to be the deciding factors. The Team Edition lads were representing us in both MMAS1 (30-35) and MMAS2 (35-40), a race that would be combined.
The 117km Race saw riders completing 4 laps of the course, and with a number of strong sprinters assembled, our lads had a very clear plan to make the race as tough as possible and force a selection.
Moosh Brown capitalised on some strong teamwork by Beau, and found himself off the front of the race for a long period of the first lap. Unfortunately no successful bridging moves would establish, that was until first the steep KOM climb and the following Town climb split the bunch with Christopher Miller bringing Mathieu Bremoud (RBCC) and Andrew Lake (ACT) with him. The successfully bridged to Moosh and set about establishing a break.
By the end of the 2nd lap they had 40 seconds on the bunch, a gap that would stay pretty consistent throughout. The 3rd lap would see the roads and wind begin to take it’s toll, with what was left of the main peloton getting within 30 seconds.
The steep KOM and Town climbs would eventually see Chris go solo from his breakaway compatriots, however with a full lap remaining and a hungry (green) peloton chasing it would be tough.
Lucky for Chris the chasing group contained both Beau and a host of MMAS1 riders who had no interest in chasing the pensioner Miller (MMAS2). The gap never went much above 30 seconds, with Chris is sight for long periods, that was until the final 10km uphill drag that finally saw him dislodge his chasers.
3 hours of solid racing was enough to see Chris take the title, closely followed by Nash and Jeremy Hopson who took the MMAS 1 title.
Beau had a super strong race finishing 4th in MMAS 1 and making the selection, but it was the ride of Moosh Brown setting up Chris win that was the ride of the day.
Congratulations to all the riders and officials for making todays event a very successful one. Special menion to Orange Cycling Club who managed to put on an outstanding event.