Windy and wet conditions prove difficult for riders but young gun beats senior rivals to win Scotsdale Slam

A small but determined group of riders tackled wet conditions for the Scotsdale Slam, Albany Cycle Club’s latest race held in the rolling hills of Denmark’s Scotsdale Valley on July 20. The riders faced a robust headwind all the way up the opening climb and out to the turnaround point near Kordabup, where it fluttered around the compass, refusing to settle into the expected screaming tailwind for the journey back to the finish. While not the longest race at 44km, the 500m-plus of climbing ensured riders finished with legs loaded with lactic acid and lungs gasping. The shortage of breath started as the riders rolled off the line in the precisely calibrated handicap intervals. Often much tougher than a mass start, handicap races oblige participants to work close to capacity from the outset to catch those in front and not be caught by those behind. Shirley Thurston led the field from the start at Rockcliffe Winery, followed shortly by Liz Cooper. As individual riders, their task into the wind was made harder than that of the group of Mike Garland, Paul Gibson and Alex Poulton who, at 11 minutes, were able to work together to combat the conditions. Similarly, the next group on the road, Colin Ashton-Graham, Jimmy Watmore, and Mike Staude used their collective power to chase down those in front of them. Vince Bascombe and Brett Dal Pozzo were off scratch at 26 minutes, with Brent Schoof, solo, sandwiched between them and the 14-minute group of Watmore. Thurston, doing a very credible Jonas Vingegaard impersonation, held on to the lead until after the turn, but couldn’t keep pace with the passing group of Ashton-Graham and Watmore on the climbs out of Kordabup. Cooper caught and passed her just at the start of the final descent, having hitched a ride with the 11-minute group of Garland, Poulton and Gibson. They stayed close to the Watmore group until Garland suffered a double calf cramp and, without his formidable power, they dropped away from the chase. Schoof buried himself on the way up to Scotsdale in an attempt to hold off Bascombe and Dal Pozzo, and having scorched his legs, applied the blowtorch further when caught sitting on the front of the newly formed trio driving the pace. With 5km to go, Watmore and Ashton-Graham were caught by the rampant trio. Watmore missed the move to finish solo in fifth, but Ashton-Graham grabbed the wheels and hung on. While not exactly impressed to acquire a passenger, the trio of Schoof, Bascombe and Dal Pozzo were reassured by the knowledge Ashton-Graham’s reputation as a sprinter was not great. Bascombe tried twice to escape from long-range but was hauled back both times. However, the third attempt from about 100m out stuck, and he took a memorable victory over Dal Pozzo in second and Schoof in third. Bascombe covered the course in 1hr.7min.48sec. at 39km/h to also secure the fastest time overall, while Cooper was the fastest woman, just four minutes in arrears. The next event is the fast and furious Lowlands Gravel Race on Saturday, August 3 before the season finishes with the Elleker Graded Handicap on August 24. Both races start at 2pm. Albany Cycling Club gave thanks to Rockcliffe Winery for hosting it and to the marshals, as well as Keith Symes and Steve Maguire for taking care of signage on the day.