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Club Races
King
Reigns Supreme
Golfcourse Rd, Horsham
- Sunday 24th June 07
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Stuart King |
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A chilly 5 degrees greeted the
smaller field of riders (those brave enough to get
out of their nice warm beds!) as they tried to “warm up” for the Grampians
Vets Cycling Club’s 48km handicap, held last
Sunday from Golfcourse Rd, Horsham.
A moderate northerly wind meant a fast start followed
by a long head wind haul up the Henty Highway back
to Horsham, and a tail wind for the final sprint down
Golfcourse Road.
Riding off 15 minutes, limit markers
Roger Williams, Larry Bales and Meg Parnaby were caught
by 12 minute riders Les Power and Graeme Rooney about
half way through the race, and joined forces to try
to hold off the following two bunches, with Les Power
once again showing his strength by doing more than
his share out front.
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| click to enlarge |
| The 5 minute bunch worked well
together to reel in the front markers with 10km
to go. Left to right are Tony, Tom, Harvey and
Stuart. |
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However, the 5 minute bunch of Tony Lloyd, Stuart
King, Harvey Lang, and Tom Eldridge were gaining rapidly,
and with 10 kilometres to go, had caught the front
group of riders, picking up Power and Bales as they
went past.
Working well together into the
head wind, this group continued to hold off the scratch
riders Daryl Elliott, Richard Clarke, Frank Kean,
Allan Barnett and Gerard O’Brien, who tried
valiantly to close the gap but were still a good
minute and a half behind at the final turn down Golfcourse
Road.
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| click to enlarge |
| The winning bunch
5km from home. Left to right riders are Tony, Stuart,
Tom, Les, Harvey, Larry (and invitational rider
Susie) |
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In the final sprint, King lead out strongly, chased
by Lang, Lloyd and Eldridge, but King was too strong
and won convincingly from Lang, with Eldridge getting
up for third just metres from the line. Tony Lloyd
was fourth with Larry Bales putting in a great effort
to hang on to the bunch and finish fifth.
The scratch riders finished shortly after, with Richard
Clarke winning their sprint and clocking the fastest
race time of 1 hour, 16 minutes.
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