Several Lifecycle riders competed in the BikeKing Tour de Sunshine Coast over the Queen's Birthday long weekend.  The 5 stage, 4 day Tour is considered by many to be the highlight of the Queensland road racing calendar and again in 2008 this proved to be the case.

2nd place Avanti Classic finisher Adrian Booth (above in green) has been kind enough to submit this race report:

A fantastic day greeted over 200 hundred riders from South East Queensland for the 2007 edition of the Avanti Classic. An 80km handicap held in and around Wivenhoe Dam, this event takes in some beautiful scenery and is fiercely contested by all who participate. Hosted by the Lifecycle club, Blair Stockwell has made this race an institution on the CQ racing calendar since Chris Locke won the inaugural event in 2002.

Wow, another Avanti Classic wrapped up and what a great event it was. It was fantastic to see Grant Irwin (Ord Minnett) take out the event on an Avanti Team Corsa in a closely fought finish. Adrian Booth (Merida), Steven George (Velo) and Mark Ledgerwood (2XU) rounding out the top 4 in the battle for the line.

You can view the full length photo finish here.

This Sunday sees the Lifecycle Club's major promotion for 2007 when the 6th edition of the Avanti Classic will take place at Lowood. It is the largest field for a race in recent history with a record 223 hopeful riders have paid their nomination for a crack at the $5000 in cash and prizes on offer. The major drawcard will be the $1000 for the first rider across the line, however the next 19 riders will also be in the money (see below). There are big cash prizes for fastest time placings, and separate prize categories for women and masters. Also for the early starters there are cash prizes for the first 3 through on the first lap.

This is the road profile for the Winter Warmer. For those of you who ride on our Saturday ride to Samford the hill between the 10-20klm mark is shown as "Samford Range". As you can see the climbs are very tough.

It is 125klm on the Saturday and the same on Sunday, 250klm in two days.

The ride is full for this year but this time next year we will be taking entries.

The Recon Ride was met with a brisk turn of weather this morning. However a cool 7 degrees was not enough to dampen the spirits of the select group that chose to recon the route the "Winter Warmer" will take this Saturday.