THE second race on the calendar of the Jamaica Cycling Federation (JCF) 2011 series, the Café Blue Mountain time trial, will get under way this morning at 7:00 beginning at Blue Mountain Inn and ending at Irish Town Police Station with the competition divided into categories A, B, C with prizes for the highest placers in each.

JCF vice-president in charge of development Iona Wynter Parks said “this race is where the ‘mountain goats’ with big engines shine”. A police officer attached to Irish Town estimated the mostly hilly course with “some potholes” to be about 61/2 miles.

Last weekend at the Clarendon ‘God Pee’ Memorial Race, Cleveland Sharp won the feature race, beating Raiden Lawson, Thailer Hill, Gayson Brisco, Shacquille Sinclair, Dervin Myers, and Peter Thompson.

Hill clinched the Category 1 & 2 race, ahead of Sharp and Lawson; while in Category 3 & 4, Novel Thompson came out on top, getting the better of Orlando Ferguson and Courtney Cousin.

Sixteen-year-old Myers took the juniors, with Sinclair, Andre Jackson, Howen Cardoza, Dahlia Palmer, and Terry Simpson trailing.

Sharp triumphed in the masters category, ahead of Garie Smith and Albert Milen; while in the super masters Albert Thomas won ahead of Horace Radricquits and Norman Evans.

Michael Reid clinched the All-Comers race, besting Gary Rickman and Stephanie Small; while for All-Comers 13 and Over, Conroy Johnson topped that category, with Ricardo Reid second and Davauhn Darkins third.

In the Rambo race, Wayne Campbelle won, followed by Andrew Roberts and Leion Mullins.

PREME winners, for which a cash prize was announced ahead of the lap, included Hill, Sinclair, Myers and Lawson. “It speeds up the race and keeps things exciting,” explained Wynter Parks.

“It burns energy to sprint in the middle of races randomly and some riders keep theirs on the final prize and don’t go for them, while some are all about grabbing the money if they can get it and worry about the end at the end,” she further explained.

The distances at the Clarendon meet varied in the categories from 10 miles up to 30 miles in a tight “NASCAR-style 1/2-mile circuit with a hill on one side that did have an effect on the race,” said Wynter Parks.

The overall series winner will be exposed to all forms of racing from the flat road races of long distances (Ocho Rios to Montego Bay), criteriums (Clarendon, Heroes Circle), and time trials both uphill (Blue Mountain) and straight and windy (Airport to Port Royal).