Rotary’s Tour of the Blackwood sees impressive times put up during 135km race

Nearly 400 cyclists from all over the South West, Great Southern and Perth took part in the fifth annual Rotary Tour of the Blackwood on Saturday. The cycle had three races taking place at the same time with competitors taking part in either the full 134km ride, the half and best 65km or the not-so-cosy 35km ride. The full ride saw cyclists leaving the Blackwood River park at 7am as they began their journey through from Bridgetown to Nannup which led to Balingup before going down the Greenbshes-Boyup Brook road and eventually finishing in Bridgetown again. The cyclists battled through pouring rain, thunder and lightning, kangaroos and a few big collisions before finishing the course in the sunshine. The first two competitors across the finish line on Saturday were Brett Dal Pozzo and Sam Gane who finished with identical times of 3:46:46. After them was David Seaton with a time of 3:46:57, followed closely by Matthew Sevior, who finished with 3:47:35. The half and best course saw riders leave Bridgetown at 9am before the first finishers started making their way back just after 11am. The first cyclists to finish the half and best course were Mateus Martins with a time of 2:07:18, Wayne Douglass who finished with 2:09:08 and Tony Haywood who arrived back in Bridgetown with a time of 2:15:21. The not-so-cosy competitors started their journey at 10:20am with Paul Summers being the first across the line just after 11:30am with a time of 1:14:04. He was followed closely by Judy Allen who finished with a time of 1:15:53 and Harvey Graham who finished the race one second later at 1:15:54.