BATHURST’S Richard Hobson has completed a huge weekend on the bike with an overall win in his division at the Country Track Cycling Championships in Illawarra on Sunday.

Hobson was one of a number of Bathurst competitors in the medals, and the nature of his victory just reinforced the quality of his transition from Ironman triathlon racing to specialising on two wheels.

Adding to the merit of his performance was the fact that he competed in two totally separate meetings on Friday and Saturday night and performed strongly in both.

“In the Country Championships [44-49 years division] the placings were decided on an overall system where you raced three events and they combined all your results together,” Hobson explained.

“On Saturday we raced the 500 metre individual time trial, I managed to get a win in that. On Sunday we began with a sprint derby which I also won, and finished with a scratch race and I picked up a win there as well, so it was a pretty consistent effort across the two days.”

But that doesn’t tell the full story.

On Friday night Hobson, along with Harrison Carter, competed in the Bowral Cup meeting and finished second in a photo finish, having led until the final metres.

That event was staged under a heat-final format and handicap conditions, with Carter also managing to find himself on the podium in third.

Having finished the first leg of the Country Championships on the Saturday, Hobson then competed in a couple of events at the Illawarra Open meeting that night and again found himself in the top three and the prize money.

Not bad for someone who’s track experience has been limited to 2014, and a brief dalliance with the discipline in the earliest stages of his career.

“I did a bit of track riding back in about 1991, but I only really took it up again this year,” he said.

“I just found with the triathlon that there weren’t enough hours in the day to keep up the training workload and this suited me a lot better.

“For the time being I don’t see that changing, I’d like to set myself towards the NSW and Australian Masters Championships which will be held in February and March, that’s the goal for the time being.”

Among the other star efforts from Bathurst riders were Ebony Robinson (first, under nines girls), Amity Covington-Gorst (third, under 11 girls), Eliza Bennett (third, under 15s girls) and Lucy Hobson who took out the women’s open crown.

Renee Covington (first, women’s masters 1-3), Harrison Carter (first, elite men), and Darryl Thorncraft (first, men’s masters 4) were all winners as well.