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Australian
Vets Championships
2008
Dubbo, Friday 26th
to Sunday 28th September 2008
Meg Parnaby and Leon Gibson
once again produced outstanding efforts, this
time at the Australian Veteran Cycling Championships,
held at Dubbo, NSW.
Events were staged over
three days, from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th
of September. The time trial and road race
were held 15km out of Dubbo at Wongarbon, while
the criterium was held in Dubbo itself.
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| Meg
& Leon with their medals |
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The
weather was glorious, with temperatures in
the mid twenties, and very mild overnight temps.
It was somewhat of a shock to come back to
the chilly Victorian climate.
The pair brought
back a swag of medals, with Meg winning two
gold medals from the two events she tackled,
while Leon medaled in the three events he entered,
bringing home a full set of gold, silver and
bronze. Unfortunately, the fields were most
small, with only 78 entries overall.
Fridays
out and back 25km time trial was staged over
a very testing hilly course, with all riders
struggling to keep the pace up over the hills
and into a head wind on the return journey.
Both Meg and Leon proved their metal, coming
up trumps to win gold in their age groups.
Saturdays 47km road race was
held over an ideal, undulating course. Meg
rode a well planned race, biding her time in
the bunch until the final hilly 11km of the
race. Being lightly built, the hilly section
suited her, and she made a break on a long
uphill climb, going on to win easily.
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Leon
in the criterium - don't you love those
helmets!!! |
Leon
found the slow pace of his bunch frustrating.
A long hard race was more suited to his style.
Leon attempted to breakaway on the final hilly
section with one other rider, but was unsuccessful,
and so the race came down to the final sprint.
A sudden change of direction by a leading rider
resulted in touched wheels and checked Leon’s
advance, but he recovered magnificently to
claim second place.
Leon also contested Sundays
criterium. Riders rode for 20 minutes, then
an extra 2 laps of the excellent wide, fast
course. Several attempts to break up the field
by various riders failed, so once again the
final sprint decided the placings. Leon once
again found himself checked at a vital moment,
but still finished with a bronze medal, completing
a matched set.
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