HARRY Carter was victorious twice in Bathurst Cycling Club’s Track Championships action on Friday and in the process wrote his name into the record books.
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Carter won the rescheduled pursuit championships A grade title in a club record time of two minutes and 17.06 seconds before backing up later in the evening to win the scratch crown.
Fresh off his campaign at the Oceania Track Championships even blustery conditions weren’t going to stop the talented cyclist from a new benchmark performance.
“There was a strong headwind down the straight but that didn’t seem to affect Harry’s cadence,” club track coordinator Damien Bennett said.
“He broke his personal best by three seconds and lowered the previous track record by five seconds. He still had to back up for the scratch championships after that but he still rode strongly.”
Bathurst club rider and Orange native Harry Bryant wasn’t far away from the recent Australian representative, finishing with a time of 2:28.42.
Dulwich Hill Cycling Club’s Tom Bolton (2:29.94) was third fastest on the night, but as a visiting rider he wasn’t officially classified. Bradley Rayner (2:41.79) took the last podium spot.
The other rescheduled pursuit race was the B grade event, where Rodney Lovett (2:49.08) narrowly beat Isaiah Bennett (2:53.78) and Damien Bennett (2:55.55).
Toireasa Gallagher (C grade) and Rosemary Hastings (D grade) won the races held on the original date.
Following the pursuit races came a collection of entertaining scratch events.
The A grade race saw Carter dictating the terms throughout the entire 45 laps although Bryant was making him work hard for victory.
The duo spent much of the race out in front working in tandem before Carter broke away late to take his second win of the night.
Bolton won the battle for third on the track ahead of the next classified podium finisher Rayner.
“Brad had a very interesting race because on several occasions he looked like he was going to get dropped out the back but he kept fighting his way back to the group,” Bennett said.
“He’s traditionally more of a ‘roadie’ and he brought a lot of that endurance to the scratch race.
“Harry Bryant’s really come a long way over the last year and a half. He swapped turns with the other Harry out in front through most of the race ... but Harry Carter broke away from him on the final lap.”
Eliza Bennett might have fallen just short of Kalinda Robinson in the pursuit but when it came to the sprint she found revenge.
Bennett won the B grade crown ahead of Robinson and Lovett.
“Eliza made a couple of small attacks to see what the field would do. She was brought back every time,” Damien Bennett said.
“They all came around the bend together and that’s when Eliza used her sprinting power to get home.”
Wayne Powell and Marian Renshaw won C and D grade respectively.