277 riders turned up on Thursday night for the Southern Masters Sandown Crit race.  Blue skies and a temperature of 27 deg meant there were no excuses to be anywhere else!

Andy at Sandown

7 grades covered a range of skills, fitness and experience with large numbers in most.  KAOS riders (and friends of KAOS – ie. people who have joined the shop rides) were scattered throughout the grades with more KAOS kits out there than any other ‘brand’.

The Sandown course offers 3.1kms of smooth traffic light free riding with a ‘hump’ up the back straight, a few great corners to test high speed cornering and a finish straight that has managed to have a wicked head wind most Thursdays.  Normally grades ride for around 50-55 min before getting the last lap bell – which is when things really hot up.

Wak with a winning smile!

B grade included Thomas and Ness on their matching Cannondale CAD10’s (they do look good!).  Thomas had to dig deep into his MTB skills bag late in the race to deal with a deflating rear tyre and the sideways action it served up.  Ness was happy to finish with the group but looked way to comfortable at the end (time to give it a real nudge?).  For the statisticians, the grade averaged 38.4 over the 42k distance in relatively tough wind conditions.

D grade had almost 50 riders with Nick, WAK and Jamie amongst them.  The pace was solid for the conditions and Nick put in a bit too much work around the middle of the race on legs that had already done a morning training session.  Jamie ran solidly throughout the session generally being positioned in the right place for most of the race except the very last (and important) bit.  WAK managed to shake the Bridesmaid reputation at last and graduate to C grade with a win for the first time.  Again for the statisticians, race distance was 34ks, ave 36.7 and the top speed somewhere in the 50’s.

E grade had KAOSJo and Darren from the KAOS family/customer group.  Their group was up to speed very quickly and the early lap pace took it’s toll on Darren who hadn’t had a chance to warm up the legs – and needs to do some Saturday shop rides.  Jo kept her cool throughout the race and was in the right place when it counted - coming home as the first female collecting the kudos and the all important cash!

F grade had the twin ‘pink kit’ KAOS girls Lian and Janine flying the shop colours and putting in a good show for the duration of the race.  In the end they finished well albeit out of the cash with Janine coming in around 6^th and Lian the next girl through.

So, another great night of crit racing at Sandown and a great turnout and results for KAOS riders.