Narine outsprints Crawford to win Homeline Furnishing’s 30-miler

Cyclist Balram Narine outsprinted the Berbice champion rider Romello Crawford to win the Homeline Furnishing’s First Anniversary 30-Mile Road Race held in East Berbice on Sunday.

Dubbed “the Crawford/Balram battle”, the event lived up to expectations in terms of its competitiveness. Before the riders had taken the starting line outside of Homeline Furnishing’s new address at Strand and Church Street in New Amsterdam, it was being touted that Narine was being over-promoted; and when the race commenced, both riders approached the task with caution for about five minutes.
Narine then attempted to use the declivity of the Canje Bridge to make a break away from the competition, but he found Crawford keeping up with him, and the two riders left the peloton behind.
After five miles of competing against each other, these two riders decided to join forces and put more pressure on the peloton. They thus shared the eight sprint point prizes equally.
Turnaround point of the race was at the University of Guyana Tain Campus, and conclusion was at its point of origin. With two hundred metres left in the race, Narine and Crawford relinquished the union they had established and got off their seats in a bid to outsprint each other to the finish line. With bikes wobbling from side to side as each man employed his utmost effort to get first to the finish line, Narine prevailed over Crawford to win the race impressively.
Several minutes after that epic battle, Jerimiah Joseph crossed the finish line as third position winner of the race, ahead of Syborne Fernandez and Steve Bhimsen. Competing in the Juvenile category, Joseph was first and Bhimsen second. Third place went to Mario Washington, with Marlon Boodram occupying the fourth spot. In the Under-14 category, Jason Campbell won over the second placed Shasim Yakub. The lone female to compete in the race was Maria Carrington.
Operating in New Amsterdam for the past decade, and having branches in Rose Hall Town in Region 6 and at Rosignol in Region 5, Homeline Furnishing moved to its new location in New Amsterdam one year ago, and has promised to make the 30-mile cycle race an annual event. A few years ago, Homeline Furnishing had, through its Rose Hall Town store, sponsored a similar event.
Sunday’s event was organised by Coach of the Flying Ace Cycle Club, Randolph Roberts. (Andrew Carmichael)