The Cobram Barooga Cycling Club held its most prestigious event for the year on Sunday, March 9.

It was the tenth annual staging of the Raymond Jarratt Handicap, honouring the local "postie" who has committed a large portion of his adult life to the sport of cycling.

It was race two of a six-race series conducted over a distance of 54 km on the Berrigan-Yarrawonga Rd.

Blustery conditions were experienced, making the outward journey particularly difficult.

At least 36 riders entered and visited from near and far. Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Albury, Canberra, Carnegie, Caulfield, Echuca-Moama, Seymour, Broadford, Wangaratta, Shepparton, Orange, Tolland, Cobram-Barooga, and Mornington cycling club members were present.

The field was divided into five bunches, with just two on the scratch mark, chasing thirteen on the limit mark.

The burning question was: could the very strong duo overtake the rest of the field?

They failed to do so, with Griffith limit marker Matthew Smith taking the honours, followed by Shepparton's Simon Hall.

Griffith's Andrew Bradley finished third in a frantic sprint to the line. The fastest time went to Marc Vooraman from the ADF, Canberra.

The strongest riders are usually handicapped on the scratch mark, meaning in a handicap race they give all the other riders a start.

What was unusual here was that in this instance, the fastest time was taken by a block rider, a member of the perceived second-fastest group.

Mia Stockwell of the Griffith Cycling Club took the fastest female prize. A disappointing aspect, from the club's perspective, was the failure of Cobram-Barooga members to enter.

The club’s fastest rider, Daniel Burrows, who hails from Tocumwal, was the lone entry.

All in all, a fairly satisfactory day with visiting riders complimenting the choice of the course.

Sunday, March 16, saw the sixth and final staging of the popular McDonald's Super Series Time Trial.

Ten riders entered in the race against the clock. Considering the windy conditions, some very good times were set.

As expected, our fastest rider, Daniel Burrows, set the fastest time of 26.01 minutes.

Last year’s winner, Echuca-Moama's Cameron Smith, now into his late fifties, recorded second fastest with 26.16 minutes.

Gary Smith and Heath White both recorded personal best times over the 18.2 km journey.

The winner on the day was Heath White, who posted an adjusted time of 22.47 min, with an actual time of 31.10 min.

Overall winners of the series, and the ones who took out the lucrative prize money, were Heath White (first), Rod Armstrong (second), Neville Wilks (third), Myles Higgins (fourth) with Daniel Burrows and Charlie White sharing the fifth prize money .

The event was staged on an out and back course incorporating the Back Barooga and Carramar Rds.

A comment from a visiting rider some years ago was that the Carramar Rd section is so rough that he thought it resembled the cobblestoned road in the famous Paris-Roubaix race.

The club extends thanks once again to the Lyster Group who operate the very popular McDonald's franchise for their ongoing support.

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Monday, 21st April 2025

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