For a group of riders who log countless miles on their bikes at practice sessions every Tuesday and Thursday, there is added excitement in the air come the date of the time trials.

On July 19, members of the Sudbury Cycling Club gathered at the Delki Dozzi Track for the five-kilometre time trial event, with more than 20 local cyclist taking part.

Just five of the riders taking part raced on time trial bikes, with Derek D'Angelo leading the way with a time of 6:42, followed closely by Michel Barbeau (7:01) and Mike Nawalaniec (7:15).

Within the larger "Eddie Merckx" category, Myke Seppa showed the way (7:05), with Frank Battaion not too far off the pace (7:21).

Although a number of the SCC members on hand are more than comfortable with the annual time trial events, there were some newcomers to this individual test of speed and stamina.

"I was hoping to get under eight minutes, but I've never done this before, so I might have set my standard a little too high tonight," 18 year-old Graham Berardi acknowledged with a smile.

The elder of the two cycling brothers in the family crossed the line in 8:07, with Stephen (Berardi) given a pro-rated time of 8:15 after a miscount in his laps caused him to finish after just four laps (instead of five).

As for the eldest of the clan, Graham is trying to squeeze in practices as much as possible between work commitments and his final year of high school, which kept him occupied during the early training sessions in May and June.

"This year, I've hit the gym more," he said. "I try and keep active as much as I can. I'm still doing things that would help me out for cycling, explosive exercises for speed and agility."

A longtime hockey player as well, Berardi found plenty of positive cross-over in training for both sports.

"There are things the two have in common, needing a lot of cardio and endurance," he said.
"Doing interval training, going hard for a minute and off for a minute, is a lot like hockey."

While 55 year-old Lawrie Oliphant might enjoy several decades of life experience over Berardi, the two were very much in the same boat at the time trials.

"This is the first time I've ever done anything like this, so it was interesting," Oliphant said. "I think I probably could have gone a little harder, but I really didn't know what to expect."

With a background in competitive swimming, Oliphant has participated in triathlons for the past seven or eight years, encouraged by friends to join the cycling club in order to garner a better technical understanding of the riding component of his races.

"I've learned how to spin better, and I have a much better handle on what my legs should feel at various points in the ride," Oliphant added. "Also, I have a little better idea as to how to pass people to my advantage.

"You can't draft in triathlons, but you can certainly slingshot past."

In other SCC news, Jody Nadjiwon captured top spot at the Holland Marsh Challenge Provincial Road Race Championships held in Bradford on July 15.

Nadjiwon finished first in the Master A Women's division, completing her 72-kilometre leg in a time of 2:04.37. Nadjiwon crossed the line more than four minutes ahead of Leslie Horn (Oakville) and Shelly McKee (Hamilton), who came in together at 2:08.55.

Also racing at Provincials was Rob Rice, who finished with the peleton in the men's Master A grouping, posting a time of 1:50.11 and placing 13th.

Posted by Arron Pickard