Cullimore, Spencer victorious in first Cycling team time trial

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

Long before it started and even days after it ended, cyclists were still talking about Sunday’s BVI Cycling Federation’s inaugural 20-mile team time trial. As with any new idea, the buzz about this race came about because of the uncertainty which basically left the field wide open, because no one knew who they would be their riding partner.

“When you do a team event, you don’t know who you’re going to be teamed with, you don’t know how the other teams are paired so it was a shot in the dark,” said 56-year old Jim Cullimore who was paired with Anthony Spencer and were the only team to break the one-hour barrier.

Cullimore and Spencer finished Sunday’s racefrom Pasea to French Men’s Cay and return in 59 minutes and 02 seconds. The race was preceded by a less than 2-minute prologue to determine the parings. Darel Christopher and Sam Tucker placed second in 1:00.15, with Ben Butler and Steve Marsh finishing third in 1:02.25.

“When I found out I was teamed with Anthony, I knew I had another rider with comparable ability as myself and I though we were going to be a competitive team,” Cullimore noted, saying he was surprised to win. “Age isn’t on my side these days,” he added.

Spencer said there were numerous tactics discussed prior to the prologue, whether they should go slowly, fall off the pace and get a slow rider or be in the middle of the pack. “In the end, the prologue was so short that I don’t think anybody had an idea where they were going to end up. It was only about 300 yards long, but, it was a good event,” he noted. “It was great to see so many people out there and see people working together. Quite often, the top riders disappear. Here, it’s more of a cycle club event, where everyone is together—the girls and the older men like Jim and Marsh (Steve). I thought it was a wonderful event.”

Spencer said Cullimore has always been his target in races. “He always rides a strong race. We rode well together and were both exhausted at the end of it,” he noted. “Coming back into the wind from West End to Nanny Cay—that was the hardest section and that’s where we made our best progress.”

Christopher said he thought it was interesting event to have the stronger cyclists with those who are improving. “That in itself made it challenging. I tell you, my teammate did a heck of a ride,” he noted. “We expected to win the event, but then I knew, Jim Cullimore had a very strong team in itself, but we did a super ride and I enjoyed the time trial.”

Tucker agreed the event was excellent. “I have to thank Darel because he really worked me harder that I think I’ve ever worked before. I beat my best time of going to West End and back by 15 minutes that in itself was quite an achievement,” Tucker said. “Darel was a real help, he worked me the whole race. It was excellent. Being the first event like this, it was different—a fun event. I hope they do it again soon.”

Federation president David Thomas was happy with the event. “I think this was probably one of the best events we had for the year so far. The team parings worked out well and the prologue also worked out really well. We figured the middle teams would be the fastest and Jim and Anthony, they were. It seemed to be a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed it. We definitely have to do this again.”

Prologue: 1. Chris Ghirose, 1 minute, 24.17 seconds. 2. Phillippe Leroy, 1:29.33. 3. Neil Thomas, 1:31.69. 4. Mark Bailey, 1:34.76. 5. Conrad Emmanuel, 1:35.32. 6. Sam Tucker, 1:36.67. 7. Darel Christopher Sr., 1:36.89. 8. Rick Connell, 1:40.76. 9. Jim Cullimore, 1:43.11. 10. Peter LeBlanc, 1:44.23. 11. Darel Christopher Jr., 1:47.19. 12. Ben Butler, 1:48.36. 13. Patlian Johnson, 1:49.58. 14. Anthony Spencer, 1:50.08. 15. Jackie Wilson, 1:51.20. 16. Steve Marsh, 1:51.42. 17. Archibald Christian, 1:55.99. 18. Tom Merrigan, 1:57.12.

Team Time Trials: 1. Jim Cullimore, Anthony Spencer, 59 minutes 02 seconds. 2. Sam Tucker, Darel Christopher Sr., 1:00.15. 3. Ben Butler, Steve Marsh, 1:02.25. 4. Peter Leblanc, Rick Connell, 1:04.34. 5. Neil Thomas, Patlian Johnson, 1:05.43. 6. Conrad Emmanuel, Darel Christopher Jr., 1:07.30. 7. Phillippe Leroy, Jackie Wilson, 1:08.13. 8. Tom Merrigan, Mark Bailey, 1:08.13. 9. Chris Ghiorse, Archibald Christian, 1:14.00.

Dasani Community Spring Series set to begin on April 30

The Dasani Community Spring Series will kick off at 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 30, with the first of four races leading up to the Olympic Day Run on June 25.

Now in its second year, the Dasani Community Spring Series involves organizations including the Rotary Club of Road Town, the Rotary Club of Tortola, the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports and the H. Lavity Stout Community College and the BVI Olympic Committee. Each organization will host one race.

The Rotary Club of Road Town will host the first race on April 30, starting and ending at the A. O. Shirley Recreation Grounds. The second race on May 14, will be hosted by the Rotary Club of Tortola. The H. Lavity Stoutt Community College will host the June 4 run and the BVI Olympic Committee the Olympic Day Run on June 25.