by Glenn Marriott

The second annual Rob Monk Memorial Handicap was held on the near flat Modella circuit on Sunday morning.

The race was organised for the first time as a collaborative effort by Warragul and Southern Masters Cycling clubs.
With rain forecast and light drizzle in the early morning before the event, there were plenty who feared the event would be cancelled.
This race, however, was being held in remembrance of someone who would have scoffed at the mere suggestion of pulling the pin and to quote the Velominati rule number nine: "If you are out riding in bad weather, it means you are a badass. Period. Fair-weather riding is a luxury reserved for Sunday afternoons and wide boulevards. Those who ride in foul weather – be it cold, wet, or inordinately hot – are members of a special club of riders who, on the morning of a big ride, pull back the curtain to check the weather and, upon seeing rain falling from the skies, allow a wry smile to spread across their face. This is a rider who loves the work." And this was one of those days.
With almost 100 riders gathered at the start line on Sunday morning, to say the atmosphere was electric would be an understatement.
Being a handicap event, riders were divided into six groups, with A to D to complete three laps (100km) and grades E and F only two laps (67km).
On paper, C grade looked very capable of pulling off an upset given a generous 18-minute head start on scratch and a sizable gap of 12 minutes to the chasing B grade chopping block group.
The strength of C could have been greater if not for the meddling hands of Kenny the director of racing, who clearly overestimated his own and other's abilities and collectively moved them all out of C grade and into B grade.
It didn't take long for Kenny to realise his error, for by the time the B grade group reached the first intersection at Longwarry, he and others were already skipping turns and holding on for dear life.
Despite the damp conditions, it remained warm and the pace remained high.
A little too hot for the handicapper, who by the end of lap one was starting to sweat on his estimation of rider ability and speed.
While scratch were setting a scintillating pace of near 50 km/h, it was E grade at near 40 km/h who were performing well above expectations.
However, more important than the speed is the speed differential between groups.
With scratch catching the B grade chopping block group halfway around lap two, it was clear the scratch group were averaging more than the three km/h faster than required to catch the chopping block group and it was less than a quarter of lap before they reeled in C grade.
D grade were next to be caught, with only the wily Darren "Spitsi" Spiteri strong enough to hold on.
And this is where handicap races typically get interesting, for you are only a chance to contest for the win once you have caught all the riders in front of you.
Handicap racing was once very common but rare in recent years, and this ignorance or arrogance came to a head.
All riders were briefed pre-race, that if you cannot see the silver Prado lead car, you are not at the head of the race.
And yet when the A grade scratch group caught D grade, there was a perception that they were the last group on the road, despite the lack of the Prado lead car. Thus providing a great example of the saying "that the more experienced you are, the less you listen."
As a result, the collective will of the scratch group to roll turns and work together disintegrated and most started to contemplate their own chances of individual victory.
Being the richest road race on the Australian road racing calendar, it's plausible the sizeable price purse of $1000 for the winner was clearly starting to play into their minds at this point.
And yet despite scratch not being able to see the E grade group of six riders, the E grade group could not only see scratch, but they could see they were gaining rapidly.
And so as the might of E grade rounded the final corner and headed into the home straight, they knew they were in with a chance, but only if they continued to work together.
And work they did, deciding to continue to roll turns right up until 250m to go, when Warragul Cycling Club local Connor Bagot decided to open up the sprint.
Being closely marked by John O'Brien of Blackburn Cycling Club, Connor's years of experience came back to him so he proceeded to sit back down and let others do the work.
Mal Macleod, all the way from Echuca/Moama, then took up the reigns, with Colin Aitken of Latrobe City Cycling Club on his wheel.
Connor, however, had played his cards beautifully and came past them both to take the win, his first in 10 years of racing.
Mal held on for second, Colin third, O'Brien fourth and Aaron Nash fifth.
Oscar Gallagher led home the fast finishing scratch bunch, many of whom still thought they were springing for the win. Odette Lynch also finished with the scratch bunch to be first female.
While the event could be considered a roaring success based on the sheer number of participants alone, it is hoped that the joy of racing and the collaborative spirit in which it was conducted, will be remembered as takeaways from the event.
The Warragul Cycling Club are already looking forward to next year.