Club Races
Heard and Kelly Battle it Out
Stawell Racecourse - Sunday 10th February 2008

Horsham cyclist Drew Heard just edged out Stawell’s Mike Kelly in a closely fought finish to the Grampians Vets 54km Stawell Racecourse handicap last Sunday.

	Drew Heard

Cool conditions early were soon forgotten as the racing heated up, with 15 riders tackling the race from Stawell out to Pomonal, back towards Stawell, then across past Lake Fyans to Mokepilly, and returning past Lake Fyans to the Stawell – Pomonal road and back to the Stawell Racecourse.

The usual course was altered due to concerns about the amount of traffic on the major Halls Gap roads due the the Jazz Festival.

Limit riders Meg Parnaby, Frank Stokes and Shauna Heard headed off with a 12 minute start, but confusion reined supreme when they got to Pomonal, and they missed the turning point, loosing quite a few minutes by riding further than needed. Meanwhile the 6 minute riders Harvey Lang, Tony Lloyd, Stuart King, and Leon Gibson turned before them, and headed back towards Lake Fyans.

Not far behind, the 3 minute riders Alan Barnett, Peter Parnaby, Drew Heard and Mike Kelly were making good time and had the 6 minute riders in their sights. However it was not until both groups turned at Mokepilly and were heading back into the strong southerly towards Lake Fyans that they caught the 6 minute riders, and this combined group then powered ahead to hold the scratch riders at bay.

This large group stayed together until the first big hill about 9km from Stawell, where it broke up, with Mike Kelly, Drew Heard, Peter Parnaby, Alan Barnett and Harvey Lang breaking away. This group headed for the finish, still with a good lead on the 2 remaining scratch riders, Ian Blackie and Frank Kean, having lost Daryl Elliott and Jamie Bennett early on.

The five man breakaway group worked together over the remaining hills, to keep the ever gaining Ian Blackie at bay, who by now had parted company with Frank Kean. With 400m to go Harvey Lang set off for the line, but faded with 100m to go and Drew Heard and Mike Kelly took over. These two were neck and neck all the way, but Heard had a wheel in front at the line to claim victory, with Peter Parnaby not far behind in third.

Ian Blackie recorded the fastest time of the day with 1:26:40.