Sport
18 February, 2026
A colourful night for cyclists
THERE was a sea of colour among riders competing in race 17 of the Camperdown Cycling Club season last week.
The vintage and Melbourne to Warrnambool night proved a big success, with the senior contingent supporting the theme with old kits, jackets, cycling numbers and bikes.
Thirteen riders were on the start line but unfortunately Lawson had a puncture about one kilometer into the ride and was a DNF.
This proved a great lesson for some of the junior riders, showing how the back car is not only a visual reminder to traffic that there are cyclists present, but also that it supports riders with breakdowns, medical help or when they need to pull off into grass in uncertain situations.
The winner of the race was Eleanor who smashed her race time from the week before by four minutes and successfully made handicapping ‘tricky.’
Second was Finny with at time of 14.29 and third was Ava in 11.20.
Other times were Henry (12.06), Taj 11.51, Archie (15.12), Rieley (10.59), Bede (12.56), Josh (09.28), Nathaniel (10.44), Quinn (10.20) and Bentley (10.56).
In celebration of the history of the Melbourne to Warrnambool cycling race, Camperdown Cycling Club asked previous M2W members to come and speak about their reflections on the big race.
MC Todd Baxter posed the questions and Matt G, Al Tune, Garry Doyle, Steve Pickles, Chris Kane and Clyde Sefton gave generous and informative answers.
Steve Pickles spoke fondly of his father Max’s wonderful achievements completing the M2W multiple times, finishing in the top 20s.
Steve himself rode the race nine or 10 times.
Members spoke of the different routes they rode from year to year.
Some started at the Docklands while others began at Williamstown.
Over the years the M2W has changed its path to Warrnambool and this was evident with M2W riders chatting about the different towns they passed through.
Clyde spoke of the camaraderie between riders while racing the M2W.
He has kindly left a signed book for all members to read, written by John Craven who wrote the M2W history and stories of riders.
Chris remembers the mental battle as well and the physical barriers that riders needed to overcome.
He also said how riders didn’t think about how many kilometres needed to be ridden but instead road town to town and celebrated the small wins along the way.
Some of the major highlights from the guest speakers was when they spoke of their time approaching the township of Camperdown.
Most riders spoke of the long line of crowds waiting to see if a local rider would be in the breakaway group and this always pushed the riders to give extra.
Via video call the small crowd was able to listen to Jamie Drew’s story of the M2W – with many of Camperdown’s younger riders huddled together, eager to listen.
Jamie spoke of how he first started riding with the Camperdown Cycling club as a child living in Terang.
Jamie was the M2W winner twice over the 10 years he rode the event.
He trained and raced the M2W with Camperdown Cycling Club members and fondly spoke of the Camperdown riders’ passion for the race.
He mentioned Gerry Clark in this group and Jamie was delighted that three of Gerry’s grandchildren were listening to his talk and were now carrying the Clark cycling name.
Jamie spoke of eating good amounts on the bike while completing long distances.
Dark fruit cake was a staple and drinking water.
Older riders spoke of having to carry their own food and water.
They took jam sandwiches, bananas, muesli bars and as much water as could be carried in bottles.
In the modern race there are now feed zones, which lightens the ride.
Jamie also spoke of “riding asleep” until the race started to heat up around Camperdown “and then you needed to be awake.”
Jamie’s bike which he rode to victory in two M2Ws is hanging in Café Cycles in Warrnambool.
The club also celebrated previous riders Steph Hibert, Bailey McDonald, Riley Helmore, Denzel Wickenton and Kobe Henderson who have all done the club proud by finishing their races associated with the M2W.
The young riders were asked who would like to one day do the M2W - and its safe to say that Camperdown Cycling Club could have another couple of names to add to the M2W completed race list.
All club members were encouraged to watch roadside or at the finish of the M2W festivities in the coming weeks.
In the senior race (number 17) there were some glimpses of steel and some iconic jerseys on the start line for the retro/Melbourne to Warrnambool-themed race last Thursday evening.
Quinn Clark was the solo limit rider, starting two min later were Matt Gstrien (riding a steel bike) and Finn Baxter (steel bike).
Two minutes further back were Tanya McKenzie and Josh Thompson, a further 15seconds to Oliver Clark, another two minutes to Todd Baxter (50kg steel bike) and a mere 15 seconds to the solo scratchman Shaun Thompson.
Oliver jumped across to Tanya and Josh, who then caught Finn and Matt by Podgers and Quinn soon after.
Meanwhile, Shaun swept past Todd in the first two kilometresbut continued on solo to the line.
Oliver was too strong, riding Josh and Finn off the wheel.
Results were: Oliver (26:22), Josh (26:38), Finn (28:40), Tanya (26:48), Matt (29:17), Quinn (31:55) and Shaun (25:47).
Todd decided to take the spoon home for some buffing.
Read More: Camperdown, local