Lithe muscled figures in vivid figure-hugging jerseys and shorts streaking down vineyard slopes. Below 4 k away a rippled holiday resort lake. Olive hills and yellow ochre villas. Mountain backdrop, cherry trees, bone-warming sun, semi-desert air. Don’t need to be in Tuscany, Greece, the Giro D’Italia, Milan – San Remo, or Tour of Lombardy. You have all this ambience in Kelowna cycle racing.
To the Winfield Criterium course, 1.7 k safe, fast, challenging : East on Beaver Lake Rd., south on Jim Bailey Rd. Best viewing spot : top of the incline by the corner, back stretch, where the breaks occur and riders are shed.
The 60s were invigorated by the presence of delectable younger female racers - David Mercer being sufficiently stimulated to lap the field. Eric Rayson (71), ex-Geordie and rock/mountain climber was last to be picked off. Rose Filiatraut of the euphonious appellation was a classy 7th out of 13.
In the under-60 crit David Kirk made a valiant solo attack at about midway to gain 80 metres only to be absorbed after a couple more laps. The field of 19 was whittled down to a lead group of 14 with 15 minutes to go. The lung-bursting last lap saw this bunch strikingly strung out. A sprint of 4, then Gary Wade, then the sprint for 6th to 11th. Peter Tonkin (45-49) ex-patriate South African, younger brother of Bruce a Victoria cycle race stalwart, was a scintillating 2nd to younger men Steve Kraetzer (35-9) 1st, and Simon Craig (40-4) 3rd. Jovial, jesting Janusz Grelecki (55-9) imposingly accoutred with classic Mercedes was first of the 50s at 11th.
To the S.E. Kelowna 9 k road race circuit : S off KLO Rd. on Spiers Rd. Viewing spot : last and steepest part of the June Springs Rd. climb at the McClain Rd. intersection. The 60s duo of Roy Quade, Calgarian ex-mathematician now violin bow maker, and David Mercer were surpassed by nimble Nordic notable Olav stunning Stana near the top of June Springs Rd. on the 5th lap. A lap later the tiring 60s tandem were caught by a lead group of 8 40s plus a single 30s rider – Trevor Haaheim. Olav’s supremacy shows in that the lead 40s riding as a strong group were able to regain only 1½ minutes on Olav racing alone. Again the run-in strung out the lead chasers. First a sprint for 2nd – 4th won by Tom Stewart (45-9) Vancouver, then another 3 at 4 seconds, followed by Anton Kew (40-4) Grand Forks about 15 seconds adrift.
Further enhancing female presence in the rr of Tanille Stickley – 1st woman.
Phil Macdougal (50-4) crashed early on a descent but courageously remounted for 16th overall and 2nd in the 50s. Elegant ex-Parisian veteran Robert Dumalanede made a wrong turn just before the finish but was close to his cosmopolitan Italian-Canadian colleague Rino di Biasio.
Combined results for the weekend’s 2 events would be :
Under-60s : 1. Tom Stewart. 2. Simon Craig. 3. Trevor Haaheim and Gary Wade – tie.
60+ : 1. David Mercer. 2. Roy Quade. 3. Des Snider.
Women : 1. Rose Filiatraut. 2. Carol Chester. 3. Barb Penner.
Photo pick (courtesy duanebc.com) : Under-60 crit : #135-6, Tom Stewart classic roadman sprint, head and shoulders way down, arms outstretched, thrusting his bike at the line. #138, powerful Anton Kew out of the saddle, on the drops, head down, flat back, throwing his bike around. RR : #113-4, again Tom Stewart in superb sprinting position.
Using my system for awarding overall points for crits (see Cedar Bowl blog May) Peter Tonkin 2nd in the under-60s crit could have received 4 ½ bonus points for beating 9 riders of younger age categories plus 3 ½ regular points (half of 7 since total field divided into 2 crits) for a total of 8. By the same reckoning winner Steve Kraetzer would have gained 5 regular points (half of 10) but only ½ bonus point, for a total of 5 ½.
Organisers Ray Morrison and Eric Rayson had to pay over $100 for the services of one flag person. Clearly, BCMCA and Cycling BC have to coordinate with BC Ministry of
Transportation to ensure that municipalities recognize the validity of our own marshalling courses.
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