Great Lawson Homes turnout for the Jimmy Phillips memorial race at Carrick this weekend.  Andrew Christie our Melbourne based rider flew over for a weekend of racing and team riding.  Beautiful weather at last saw an exiciting race with the A Graders catching the front markers in the final kilometres of the race.  Michael Smith was first across the line to win line honours, A grade and fastest time, Ben Mather from Rapid was 2nd and Joel 3rd completed the podium positions.  Young Taylah McLennan finished 2nd in D Grade.  A team dinner on Saturday night and training ride on Sunday culminated a great weekend.

Nine Lawson Homes riders headed to Geelong for the mens 5 day and womens 3 day Geelong Tour with the last 3 days doubling as the Victorian Road, Criterium and Time trial championships for both genders.  In what was described as the hardest tour weather-wise by the Tour director John Craven the team performed well by finishing with no falls, and gaining sprint points, QOM points and a podium finish.  The mens team was 1 of only 10 teams to finish the tour from 19 team starters in the mens 5 day tour.  Michael Smith and Joel Stearnes finished on 29th and 31st respectively from 104 starters.  Michael also gained 9 sprint points throughout the tour.  Emma Lawson placed 5th in the time trial after receiving a knock to the head 15 minutes before her start time, and she completed the tour with a podium finish and a silver medal in the criterium.  Myra rode a strong road race and crossed the line in 6th place on an extremely challenging course which many riders failed to finish.  She also gain QOM and sprint points along the way.  Myra finished the tour in 5th on GC overall.

Well done to the whole team who overcame personal challenges along the way and showed determination to complete the tour in very trying conditions.

A trifecta for the Lawson Homes team at the Devon 80 today at Deloraine.  Joel Stearnes rode strongly to win A Grade comfortably and fastest time.  Luke Padgett won B Grade and Emma Lawson won C Grade.  Emma Smith won 1st unplaced female and Tim Elmer placed 2nd in A Grade.    Great to see so many Lawson Homes riders competing.

Six Lawson Homes riders have just returned from their first NRS teams race for the year.  With two new team riders in Andrew Arundel and Andrew Christie, Andrew Smith, Michael Smith, Joel Stearnes and David Abraham came home excited and enthusiastic about the team experiences and opportunities.  In a large field of 155 starters and 27 teams the boys worked well to achieve their goal of a top 30 GC rider.  Michael Smith finished 23rd in the final classification after the team had to overcome losing Andrew Smith in the second stage from a fall, numerous punctures, chest infection and some very dodgey weather conditions in the last few stages.  The boys are looking forward to Geelong.  Check out the tour report which will be available shortly.

After a weekend of very cold weather conditions the team came away with some great experiences and personal bests.  Emma Lawson spent two stages in the yellow jersey after finishing 5th in the time trial and 2nd in the 1st road stage, ending the tour in 13th place on GC.   Myra rode consistently to finish the tour in 9th place and 3rd in QOM.  The Under 17 boys experienced their first tour and whilst overwhelmed in the opening stages rode strongly and continued to improve as the tour progressed.  Well done to all riders.  Check out the tour report in the riders dairy.

In the local teams racing event the combined A/B grade Lawson Homes A team managed to secure the best time during the 3 race series concluding this weekend with a team time trial.  Congratulations to the boys.

Today 6 riders head to Canberra for the annual Canberra Junior/Womens Tour.  This tour consists of 4 stages - a time trial, 2 road stages and a criterium.  Usually in very cold conditions this competition will be the first interstate tour for a number of our riders and we wish them all the best.  Myra Moller, Emma Smith, Emma Lawson and Belinda Mason contest the Womens open and U/19 section whilst Taylah and Matt compete in Under 17 Men.

In a once again well handicapped race the A grade backmarkers caught the leading bunch in the final stages near the Corra Linn bridge of the 80km Fred O'Keefe Challenge from St Leonards to Blessington and return.  The Genesys boys claimed 1st and 2nd in the final sprint and our Michael Smith finished in 3rd place.  Well done to the whole team with Lawson Homes having great representation.

With weather that proved perfect for racing after some heavy rain and very threatening conditions the Lawson Homes girls completed the 74km course in the Tas Gas Grindelwald Challenge with very satisfying and personal best results.  Emma finished on the podium in 3rd position and 1st female whilst Belinda rode a very stong race to win E grade and to be the 3rd female to finish.   In a starting field of 81 riders our boys while not finishing a place in their grades were very competitive and came very close to catching the front markers in a well handicapped race which proved very exciting in the latter stages as the grades came together.

We wish to introduce new team member Luke Padgett.  Luke is excited about becoming a member of our team and he will be a valuable asset with a lot to offer. 

Check out Luke's profile.

It was a busy and exciting weekend with a mixed bag of road racing and mountain biking. 

On Saturday 15th May in perfect winter weather the team competed in the annual handicap West Tamar Open.  Although the A graders with a tough handicap didn't quite get up after the hills they rode a stong race with David Cripps and Joel Stearnes gaining 2nd and 3rd fastest time behind Tom Robinson.  Emma won first female home finishing in the first bunch across the line.

After riding in Saturday races Tim Elmer and Michael Smith took up the challenge and competed in the MTB 4 hour enduro solo event held at Four Springs on Sunday. Once again in perfect conditions Tim Elmer showed his experience and determination to win the men's solo event from over 50 starters. Michael also rode strongly to finish in 3rd position after leading for part of the race. Well done boys.

Myra Moller is continuing her dominance of girl power and showed she can mix it with the boys when she finished 6th out of 41 starters for the 40km road race at Broadmarsh in the South.  Myra rode strongly with the front riders on an undulating course to cross the line in 6th position with the same time as the winner.

The 2010 Canberra tour was held in beautiful weather with a quality field of riders.  Myra rode a strong and consistent tour to finish a fantastic 6th in the general classification after 3 stages of racing and after overcoming a fall.

In the mens races Michael Smith  finished top 20 in GC after 3 stages of racing.  Michael rode consistently in each stage to finish 16th from 80 starters.

A great tour with a lot of knowledge gained by all riders

6 senior riders arrived in Canberra today to compete in the 3 day NRS Canberra tour.  Michael, Tim, Joel and Matthew will compete in A Grade Men and Myra and Emma in A Grade Women.  We wish all the riders the very best in reaching their own personal goals in what will be a challenging and competitive tour.

Commencing today Belinda Mason is competing in the Under 19 Australian National championship at Murwillumbah Queensland .  We wish Belinda all the best as she competes in a time trial, road race and criterium event against the best Under 19 riders in the country.

A successful weekend by the team in threatening weather as the senior race managed to avoid the rain in the Latrobe 40.

Our A grade boys worked well together to secure the first three A grade placings and the fastest time.  Michael Smith, David Cripps and Tim Elmer gained 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Emma Lawson won D grade and placed 5th over the finish line and Belinda Mason rode well to gain 2nd place in E grade.

Michael Smith is "King of the Mountain" after a sprint to the finish line on the gruelling Ben Lomond course yesterday. Michael managed to fend off a determined Steven Brown who came in second, while Tim Elmer did well to finish 5th overall after a delayed start due to problems with his gear. Even with his gear problems Tim was able to win the master category (riders aged 40-49), and Steven won the veteran category (riders aged 30-39).  A great effort by all three riders.

Lauren Perry rode extremely well in the under 15 events at the National Junior Track Titles in Melbourne last week. Not only did she take home the Gold medal in the 2000m Individual Pursuit, she also won Silver in the 5K Scratch Race, and a Bronze in the 500m Time Trial. Congratulations Lauren!

The Lawson Homes Cycling Team has been devastated by the untimely death of Will Robinson during a training ride near Cethana in March this year. Will was one of our senior team members and had a bright future ahead of him in both cycling and in life. He was loved and admired by all, and his attitude and commitment to his sport set a benchmark that we all aspire to reach. His loss is deeply felt by the team.

Lauren Perry, James Robinson and Taylah McLennan have been selected to represent Tasmania in the Australian Junior Track Championships being held in Melbourne from the 18th-20th of March. We wish them all the best.

As the track season for the seniors came to a close two Lawson Homes riders Will Robinson and Emma Lawson represented Tasmania in the Australian Senior Track Cycling Championships in Adelaide last week. Both rode extremely well riding personal bests against the best track cyclists in the country. Emma was fortunate to be a member of the Tasmanian Open Women's Team Pursuit team with Amy Cure and Belinda Goss who won the silver medal against a very strong Western Australian team. 

What a way to finish the Christmas series and start 2010! Two big wheelrace wins to our riders Will Robinson and Lauren Perry. Early in the day Lauren took out the Under 15 wheelrace beating the boys home to take first place on the podium. As evening approached Will Robinson put in an inspirational ride to win the illustrious Men’s 3000m wheelrace beating home scratch man Ben Kersten. A fantastic job from both Lauren and Will and let's not forget team member Jamie Perry who is their coach.