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Club Races
Power too Strong for Hetherington
Armstrong 49km Handicap
Sunday 17th October 2010
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Les
Power |
Limit riders Les Power and visiting
Ballarat Eureka rider Shirley Hetherington vanished
into the hills last Sunday, to eventually emerge winners
of the Grampians Vets 49km Armstrong handicap.
Riding
off twenty-one minutes, the two had completed the first
of seven laps around the hilly 7km circuit before the
eight minute riders had left, and after the second
lap were unsighted by the rest of the field until the
final lap, when they again came into view.
Although
out of form, the ever strong Les Power used his strength
to good advantage down the hills and into the head
wind, while Shirley Hetherington assisted up the hills,
complementing each other nicely. The pair were not
under threat at any stage, and finished well clear
of the rest of the field.
Eight minute riders Tony
Lloyd, Tony Rathgeber, Peter Parnaby and Peter Mayo
worked hard to reel in the 15 minute riders Meg Parnaby
and Frank Stokes on the fifth lap, and although starting
to run out of working riders, still managed to hold
off the 4 minute riders Rod Hetherington, Crystal Wemyss,
Alan Barnett and visiting rider Bruce Hamilton until
the last lap, when things became more interesting.
With about 3km to go, the two bunches
were only about 200 metres apart, with the scratch
riders Shane Clark, Peter Weymss and Sean Prins also
closing in fast. With third place up for grabs, the
race was on.
The 8 minute riders cleared the hill
and took off, followed by the two chasing groups. With
8 minute rider Peter Parnaby doing some big turns,
they manage to hold onto their lead, while the 4 minute
riders got to within about 100 metres, and scratch
a further 200 metres behind.
However, Power had already
crossed the line to take out the race ahead of Shirley
Hetherington. Peter Parnaby was the first of the chasing
riders home to claim third place.
Shane Clark rode
brilliantly to take out fastest race time, despite
a 160km training ride through the Grampians the day
before.
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