By Mark DavelThe batches for the Fast One race were based on 5-year age groups, and thus in order to be able to ride together as a team (riders are allowed to ride “down” in a “younger” age group) we were entered in the VA batch. As it turned out on the day, all the other major Vets teams had the same idea and as a result the VA group was much stronger than the VB group and the winning time was almost 10 minutes faster.....
As the race name suggests, the route is flat and fast, and in our planning for the race we fully expected the finish to be a bunch sprint. As our first Jhb race of the season and also riding in the VA category we were a little unsure about who the real threats might be on the day. The full Mr Price Vets team consisting of Werner, Norvyn, Emile, Iven, Gwyn and Mark was entered
Weather prediction for the day were unfortunately spot-on and we were greeted by very wet roads and continuous rain on Sunday morning. Despite the weather, all the main Jhb Vets teams were on the start line, with Cyclelab, Club 100/MTN, Bulk Pack Meats and TCS as well as the Fego team from Durban all present.
From the start the pace was fast and furious, but for the first 15km no serious breaks developed. At about 15km, a small attack went off the front and Werner, seeing that no Mr Price riders were in the move, rode across the gap to cover the move. Within the next few km a couple of additional riders also rode across and suddenly the move contained just the right group of riders for it to succeed as all the main teams were represented and as a result there was no concerted chase from the peleton.
With no race radios and no following team vehicles it took a while to gather information from other riders about who exactly was in the break, but once we found out that there were no serious sprinters among the break-away group we made the call not to try to chase at all as we were confident that Werner was probably the strongest rider in the break. The slight risk was the fact that TCS had 2 riders in the break but the odds of Werner getting a podium position from this break seemed better than relying on the lottery of a bunch sprint finish in the rain.
The rest of the ride in the peleton was thus a bit “uneventful”, and the chase only really got organised to a certain extent once the MTN riders in the break were dropped and their team suddenly decided to try to close the gap which had grown to well over 2 minutes. In the closing stages, Cyclelab also began to chase once their rider dropped from the break. 
By the finish there were only 4 riders left in the leading part of the break, and with an all-out effort up the long and slightly uphill finish Werner managed to get a small gap and hold on to take the win and ensure a fantastic start to the season for the team.
By Emile Fouche
It looked like we might be having a rainy ride when we lined up to start our first race of the season at the Waterside Wimpy in Newcastle on Sunday morning. It was only one big start bunch as all the different age groups raced as one big category. The teams present in numbers were House of Paint, Mr Price Junior Team (Aston Davies, Callum McHardy, Jonty Tivers, Myles Musschenbroek, Travis Meadows), Mr Price Vets Team (Werner Moolman, Iven Scharein, Emile Fouche, Gwyn Pine) and the newly formed Fego Café.
At 6h30 we were off heading towards Ladysmith. About 8 kilometers down the road we took a right hand turn and then had to cross a narrow bridge. The whole bunch was pretty much together at this point. The first hill came up which the locals call “Been Breukertjie” which translates to “Leg Breaker”. The bunch got a bit split up there. Not long after that Jason Bakke (House of Paint) attacked the group and Myles managed to get on his wheel. The bunch just watched them disappear in the distance. Werner was controlling the pace of the bunch to give the two break-away riders a bit of a gap. On about the 35 to 40 km mark we came to quite a big climb and Werner told me just to stay on Christopher Jennings wheel. Unfortunately for me it somehow felt like I was being boxed in by the group and could not stay there. On the big climb I got dropped from the front bunch with another couple of riders. Werner was with the front bunch and Gwyn, Aston and me were in the second group. At the turn around point it seemed that the two break-away riders were caught as we only saw one group of riders heading back to the finish line before we got to the turn-around mark. A third group of riders joined our group consisting of Iven, Callum , Martin Atterbury and a couple of the Fego riders. We were going at a steam roller pace and could just make out the backup vehicles in the distance. We picked up Jason and Myles who had dropped from the front bunch but unfortunately lost Gwyn and Iven due to punctures. Callum gave his wheel to Gwyn who attempted to catch up.
Our group caught the front bunch with about 15 km to go to the finish. Quite a couple of attacks happened from there but all stayed pretty much together. With about 5 km to go we got a bit separated into two groups again. One of the Fego riders, Clint Olsen from Burg Wheelers and me were sitting in front of this group trying to get back. When I got to the front I heard Werner shouting “GO! GO! GO!” and I did one last pull to get us back. My legs were screaming and cramping and I had no choice but to back down and watch the bunch go.
Werner finished the race off for our team by claiming 5th overall and a podium position for MR Price.
The results were as follows:
1.) Jason Bakke (House of Paint)
2.) Christopher Jennings (Zululand Cycles)
3.) Richard Baxter (House of Paint)
4.) AC Swanepoel (Newcastle local rider)
5.) Werner Moolman (Mr Price)
