With beautiful autumn weather, 27 riders signed on to race with two in the rec ride.
New riders James, Tom, and Rachel joined a returning Gary Needs, with Mick Ciavarella and Glen Kettle in our rec ride.
A limited group included the evergreen Ray Hamilton, who joined forces with Rachel Jenkins and gave 12 minutes to the second limit group of Tom and John Jenkins, Paul Oman, Needs and Karen Griffiths.
The pace was hot and the second limit group splintered early.
A further four minutes back were the smokies of Mel Smolenaars, Claire Goodman, Russell Jeffreys, Dave Faulkner and newcomer James Parker.
John Brian, Dazz McKemmish, Neil Thomson, Matt Dobeli and Will Kettle were three minutes back and were surprised to be joined by the following group by the first corner.
Troy Griffiths, Jack Arnold, Scott Moller and the two Matts, Sherman and Grealy, were flying and like ageing 70s rockers, a super-group was formed, streaming along Kotta Rd.
Our scratch group of Max Trewhella, Kevin Laffy, George Griffiths, Josh Thomson and Cam Smith were under pressure early with the pace being forced by the younger riders.
Resplendent in Giant Echuca green, it was Max Trewhella who flew past the field on Mitiamo Rd and only Jack Arnold could go with him, with George Griffiths not too far behind.
Into the final corner it was anyone's race with Max sprinting to the win from Arnold with George Griffiths in third.
The event was a good training ground for Trewhella to get some last-minute racing in before travelling to Europe for a three-month cycling stint in Belgium.
In other cycling news, Levi Hone and Lenny Griffiths competed in the John Woodman Memorial Race on Saturday, May 3.
The 127km race was filled with tough, rolling terrain with punchy climbs and fast descents.
Hone powered through to finish second and Griffiths crossed the line in ninth on the same time (+23) which gave him the overall win in the under-19 category.
In round two, the riders will battle it out in the Gunbarrel Handicap.
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