Robin Persaud was unstoppable in the feature 25-lap showdown at the 12th annual Troy Humphrey Memorial Cycling Extravaganza held at the inner circuit of the National Park, yesterday and organised by the Roraima Bikers Club with sponsorship from Humphrey’s Bakery & Farm Products of Ketley Street, Charlestown and the Humphrey’s Family.In a race which saw a number of the top guns suffering punctures; Marlon ‘Fishy’ Williams (twice), Jude Bentley, Eric Sankar and Walter Grant-Stuart; Persaud returned a winning time of 58 minutes 34 seconds to win ahead comfortably ahead of Junior Niles, Raymond Newton, Ian Jackson, Jaikarran Sukhai and Jamal Nicholas. Persaud also won three of the eight prime prizes, Jackson two with one each to Sukhai, Enzo Matthews and Williams. A constantly deteriorating surface at the Park and broken bottles robbed fans of what was developing into a fierce contest.
The junior/juvenile 12-lap contest went to Christopher Holder who crossed the line way ahead of Kurt La Rose and Dellon Desa.
In other results of the day, Richard Charles was the top upright rider, defeating Kester Croal and Nigel Jacobs in their duel.
Linden Blackman was the leading under-50 veteran. Following him to the line were Virgil Jones and Kennard Lovell in that order. Ruling the roost in the over-50 category was USA based Randolph Toussaint who relegated Monty Parris to 2nd and Aubrey Gravesande, 3rd.
Mario King led the field in the BMX open race, Marlon King and Olandio King finished 2nd and 3rd respectively.
In the other BMX races, the results are as follows: 12-14 Devanand Bissoon, Mark Harris and Akeem Lakon; 9-12 Raymond Perez, Darius Ramsammy and Christopher Griffith. The lone competitor in the girl’s 6-12 race was Crystal Blackman; 6-9 Nicholas Nandan, Kevin Singh and Keon Harris.
President of Roraima Bikers Club Brian Allen complimented the 85 participants of this year’s race extravaganza and all who contributed towards its success noting that Troy Humphrey in whose memory the event is held would have been proud with its {Race} success.
Family Friend Gordon Gilhuys also complimented the riders for giving it their all and for making the races very exciting. He informed that the Humphrey’s Family will continue to sponsor the event for generations to come. A number of Roraima Bikers Club riders received cash in incentives. They were Darren Allen, Jude Bentley, Orville Hinds, Royston Anderson and Darrel Peters all category one riders. Virgil Jones (U-50), Monty Parris (O-50) and Nigel Jacobs in the general category along with Naiomi Singh who participated in the BMX open contest. Close to $300,000 was given out in prizes.
By Franklin Wilson