AN excellent field of over 45 starters was on hand to challenge the windy conditions for Saturday’s Bathurst Cycle Club’s scratch races and A grade saw Blair ‘Teddy’ Windsor upstage older brother Dean and Orange talent Tim Guy to claim an impressive victory.

Thirty km/hr winds were going to be a hurdle for even the toughest competitors and the question was who would survive?

All who raced and completed the course in such tough conditions were winners on the day, there was just no soft ride to be had anywhere.

A large A grade field set a cracking pace right from the outset, with many of the club’s big guns driving the bunch at a frenetic speed.

Tim Guy threw down the gauntlet to the rest of the field up the challenging 3.5km climb on Cow Flat Road.

A break was established, with the Windsor brothers Dean and Blair (also know as ‘Teddy’) combining for a hard chase.

In a thrilling contest, Guy held the lead as he turned up St Johns Road for the finish before the Windsors combined amazingly well in an inspiring team ride to chase him down.

Guy also put in an extremely gutsy ride to attack and then ride solo in such hard conditions. It was Blair Windsor who eventually bridged the gap to Guy and then went on to take the win.

Dean Windsor finished well for a hard earned third place while masters champions Charlie Gascoyne and Dennis Martin rounded out the top five.

B grade saw a stunning return to form for ‘Rocket’ Rod Lovett, who took first after a three-way contest between himself, Tony Barlow and Simon Hine.

These three also used the Cow Flat Climb to sort out the bunch and by the top of the crest had gained a good gap over the rest of the field.

The rest of the race was then a chase to catch this trio.

Marty Guy, Tony Hogan and Craig Hutton put in a mighty effort to chase down the leaders, but could not catch them.

The next places were then taken by Guy, Hogan and a fantastic ride by Craig Hutton to place sixth in his first B grade race – definitely a talent to watch there!

The C grade race developed into a two-way contest after the Cow Flat Climb had sorted the field.

Greg Bell and Bruce Hutton proved themselves the strong men of C grade by gaining a gap up the climb and then working together to successfully stay away from the pursuing pack – an amazing effort considering the windy conditions.

In a titanic sprint for the line it was wiley campaigner Hutton that just got up to claim the win, with Bell taking a well deserved second place.

Sprint ace Mick Foran led the rest of the field in for third and it was great to see BCC president Mark Windsor take fourth place. Rosemary Hastings, one of the fiercest competitors in the club, put in a brilliant effort for fifth.

Chris Cady continues to impress with a first place in the D grade race. Cady put in a fantastic effort to come in for the solo win – an awesome ride in such a cruel wind.

Newcomer Steve Buckley is already proving a force to be reckoned with, his never say die attitude leading to a solid second place.

The ever consistent veteran Geoff Hawkins then led in Phil Cole and Andrew Bain to round out the top five.