Narine wins battle of the Berbicians in Beyonce Ross Memorial Cycling event

By Brandon Corlette

A proud product of the Randolph Roberts-led Flying Ace Cycle Club, Balram Narine has won the battle of the Berbicians in the Beyonce Ross Memorial Cycling event held on Sunday July 7.

The 40-mile road race pedalled off from Rose Hall Town to Number 51 Village and back for the finish at ‘Sha Veh’ at Port Mourant, and Narine completed the race in one hour, 58 minutes and 58 seconds.
The Corentyne roadways became the cyclists’ playfield as they battled with intensity throughout the race. Prior to the commencement of the race, all observed a moment of silence for the late 15-year-old Beyonce Ross, a former national female junior cycling champion who hailed from Rose Hall Town. Ross, who won three gold medals at the National Schools’ Cycling Championships, died a year ago from a brain tumor.
It was the most exciting of finishes a race could produce. The packed Berbice roadways witnessed Narine outsprinting one of the best cyclists in the country, Romello Crawford, who finished the race in second position, but was disqualified from the official placings after he made physical contact with a moving vehicle when he suffered a flat tyre.

However, he won two sprint prizes, as did Narine and 2019 National Junior Cycling Champion Ajay Gopilall. The 2018 Road Race champion Curtis ‘Chappy’ Dey finished in second after Crawford’s disqualification, while Andrew Hicks came in third position. Gopilall rode in fourth position, and Andre ‘Padlock’ Green, who came in fifth, completed the top five riders in the Open category.
In the other class, Flying Ace’s Jeremiah Joseph won the Juveniles’ category, while 2019 Juvenile champion Mario Washington came in second position. The highly talented Steve Bhimsen rode in third position.
In the Veterans category, the lone entrant, senior statesman Syborne Fernandes, won his category of race. Narine won the first place cash prize that was proudly sponsored by A Ally and Sons. All other outstanding cyclists received cash prizes sponsored by the business community in Berbice.

After the exciting race, which had kept everyone buzzing, champion rider Narine addressed this daily publication, and said, “For me, the race was a very hard race. It was a cat-and-mouse race, but the race turned out in my favour”, Narine disclosed.
The Flying Ace rider said that, five miles into the turning point, he was confident of his sprinting abilities. With all the best Berbice riders on show, Narine was not tipped as favourite, but he showed his class over the likes of Crawford, Dey and Green.
“I was a bit intimidated by these guys, but I kept my cool,” Narine explained.
The presentation ceremony was held at the Area ‘H’ Ground in Rose Hall Town, where the Ross family had organised a day of sports. The Ross family is in the process of setting up a foundation to assist others who would have fallen on difficult times.
This sporting event that was held was also used to gain funds to take the foundation forward.