Halls Gap VVCC Open 2008
McIntosh Wins in Wet
Halls Gap - Saturday 30 and Sunday 31st August 08

NOTE - The following race description was gleaned from various sources, and is an approximation at best. Please overlook any minor inaccuracies, as it is not possible to see the whole event as it unfolds. Feel free to contact us if there are major errors in facts!

Sundays handicap photos here.

	Rick McIntosh

One hundred and thirty cyclists from across the state competed for $4000 in prize money last weekend, when the Grampians Veteran Cycling Club held their 11th annual 2 day Halls Gap VVCC Open.

Saturdays graded 44km scratch races attracted a record number of 94 entries, with nearly all riders braving the very wet conditions to line up at the start. Riders were graded into 7 divisions, with local riders Alan Barnett sprinting to third place in division 4, and Les Power placed second in division 6.

However, the weekends main focus was on Sunday’s 61km handicap. Once again the weather was less than kind, with showers early on making for uncomfortable riding conditions. A moderate north-westerly wind added a further degree of difficulty, making it harder for resting riders to find shelter between turns at the front. This resulted in all bunches loosing riders all along the course, which soon looked more like a strung out social ride rather than a race.

The limit riders headed off with a 23 minute start, but were caught about the Illawarra turn. By this time, the 18 minute bunch with local riders Meg Parnaby and Shauna Heard, had been caught by the 16 minute bunch, including Tom Eldridge, Les Power and Stuart King.

Further back the 14 minute bunch (with local riders Sean Prins, Peter Mayo and Dean Hayward) and 12 minute bunch (with Leon Gibson, Drew Heard and Allan Barnett) had also combined. Scratch and second scratch had combined forces at Pomonal, and set off after the rest of the field. The 5 and 8 minute bunches rode the entire race in no mans land.

At the turn onto the Sandbar Road, all bunches had been reduced severely in size, with the remanents of the 16 and 18 minute bunches holding a 30 second lead over the combined 12 and 14 minute bunch. The 10 minute bunch was a further 1 minute behind.

Soon after the start of the Sandbar Road section, the weather took a decided turn for the worse. Squally side to head winds and at times heavy rain set in, creating havoc with the already depleted bunches. About 2km before McCracken’s Hill, the combined 12 and 14 minute bunch caught the 16 and 18 minute bunch, this larger bunch then charged up McCracken’s Hill to contest the $50 hilltop sprint, won by local rider Alan Barnett.

After McCracken’s Hill the riders faced a strong side wind home, with gusts up to 50kmp making riding conditions extremely difficult. This really created havoc with riders strung out in long broken lines all along the road.

With 10km to go, local riders Leon Gibson and Dean Hayward worked together to open up a break, which they held for several kilometers, until they were brought back by the following riders.

With about 4km to go, the 10 minute bunch joined the leading group, and it was this combined bunch that charged down the finishing straight to contest the sprint. Central Vets (Bendigo) rider Rick McIntosh powered to the front, opening up a lead of several bike lengths, then hung on to win clearly from fast finishing local rider Dean Hayward who grabbed second place from Geelong rider Rod Nisbet in third.

Click to enlarge

Rick McIntosh from Central Vets gets up from Dean Hayward of Grampians, with Rod Nesbit from Geelong third.

Fastest race time went to scratch rider Ritchie Belleville from Warrnambool, with a time of 1 hour 30 minutes 2 seconds.

Handicap Results

1st Rick McIntosh (CV), 2nd Dean Hayward (G), 3rd Rod Nesbit (G), 4th Vin O'Brien (CV), 5th Barry Warren (W), 6th Robert Boydle (W), 7th Ken Heres (B), 8th Thorkild Muurholm (E), 9th Geoff Bennett (CV), 10th Paul Dynon (CV).

1st Grampians rider was Dean Hayward.

1st female rider Sheridan Hall (CV), 2nd female rider Mandy Hosking (G), 3rd female rider Aileen O'Brien

Scratch Races Results

Division 1: 1st Andrew Weightman (B), 2nd Ron Hollingworth (W), 3rd Ritchie Belleville (W)

Division 2: 1st Wayne Saunders (CV), 2nd Barry Jane (CV), 3rd Simon Walsh (W)

Division 3: 1st Peter Newton (H), 2nd Anthony Zanella (N), 3rd Peter Radcliffe (W).

Division 4: 1st Ken Heres (B), 2nd Geoff Bennett (CV), 3rd Allan Barnett (G)

Division 5: 1st Robert Logan (W), 2nd Rob Nicholls (G), 3rd Ken Lacey (Gip)

Division 6: 1st Brian Long (G), 2nd Les Power (Gr), 3rd Sabrina Smythe (CV)

Division 7: 1st Fran Medina (CV), 2nd Ian Jones (S), 3rd Daryl O'Grady (S)

More photos of Sundays handicap here..

A SPECIAL THANK YOU

The Grampians Club would like to thank all those who helped make the event run as smoothly as it did, and who helped on corners, with salads etc on the day. A special thank you to Tony Lloyd who was the main organiser behind the scenes, and to the VVCC race officials and handicapper who always do a magnificent job beforehand and on the day.