- Adrian Frater photo
Raydeen Lawson, of the Westmoreland Cycling Club, making his victory lap after winning Sunday's Rotary Club of Montego Bay East Bike-a-thon 2004/Jamaica Challenge, which spanned the 75-kilometre distance from Montego Bay, St. James to Lucea, Hanover and back.
Adrian Frater, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
THIRTY-YEAR-OLD Raydeen Lawson, of the Westmoreland Cycling Club, emerged the toast of Sunday's Rotary Club of Montego Bay East Bike-a-thon 2004/ Jamaica Challenge when he romped through the Pro/Am, which cover the 75 kilometre from Montego Bay to Lucea and back in a smart 1:49.34.
"I was very confident that I would have won the race as I just returned to Jamaica from a training stint in Belize," said Lawson, who crossed the finish line ahead Kenardo Dunn and Martin Dennis. "The race was quite competitive but I never felt pressured at any time."
The race, which was returning to the local cycling calendar after a two-year break, proved to be a resounding success for the organisers as over 270 cyclist participated in the day of riding, which feature professional, amateur and recreational competing in some 13 categories.
Lawson, who also competed in the 25 kilometre Catherine Hall Criterium, just missed out on making it a perfect day when he finished a mere 14 seconds behind Dean Martin, who clocked 30.05 for the event, which spanned five laps around the Catherine Hall Community. O'neil Samuels finished third behind Lawson.
"It was truly a exciting day of cycling, the response in terms of entry was quite good," said Marline Stephenson-Dalley, a member of the organising group. "We are very please that we were able to put on an incident-free event in which everybody had so much fun."
'DADS' CATEGORY
Among the other outstanding performers were Rosemarie Johnson, who was the first female across the finish line in the Pro/Am and president of the Montego Bay Chamber of Commerce and Gleaner director Winston Dear, who finished 68th overall but first in the 'Dads' category.
Other winners were: Under-40 (female) Debra Stewart, Under-40 (male) Vivian White, Under-50 (female) Connie Harvey, Under-50 (male) Renfield Forton, 'Big Man Category' Ronald Parris, Queen Category Barbara Grandison, Under-30 (female) Heather Crawford, Under-30 (male) David Patman, Under-20 (female) Jorja Clarke, Under-20 (male) Lorenzo Wilson, Under-15 (female) Simone Hall, Under-15 (Male) Brandon Bayley-Haye, Under-10 (female) Samantha Walker and Under-10 (male) Theo Virgo.
The event, which was staged under the theme, 'Cycling For A Cause Education', is a major fund-raiser for the organisers, who expressed a desire to raise some $3 million to establish a fund to assist young persons, who are unable to complete their education because of a lack of funds.
