Club Races
Glenn Forward at the Right Time
Lake Lonsdale Handicap
Sunday 6th November 2011

	Glenn Ford

Ararat cyclist Glenn Ford judged his charge to the line perfectly last Sunday, clinching victory in the final ten metres of the Grampians Vets 60 kilometre Lake Lonsdale handicap.

Held over two laps around Lake Lonsdale, the race serves as a lead up to the Grampians Open, to be held over the weekend of the 19th and 20th of November, starting from Halls Gap.

Riding off seven minutes, Glenn Ford, along with Daryl Elliott, Peter Parnaby, and Tony Rathgeber, co-ordinated well as they set out after the limit riders Meg Parnaby and Peter Mayo, who had a twelve minute start. 

However, most of the race was run without sighting them, and it was not until  about 12 kilometres to go, that the limit riders appeared as tiny specks in the distance at the end of one of the long straights.

At this point it looked liked there would still be time to catch them, but behind both these bunches the second scratch riders Danny Monaghan, Frank Kean, Geoff Richards and Drew Heard were also coming into sight.

With six kilometres to go, it looked like the seven minute riders would catch the limit riders easily, but the limit riders had other ideas, and after turning onto the Sandbar Road, with 5 kilometres to go, they seemed to find renewed energy, forcing the chasing bunch to work extra hard to reel them in.

Coming over the final rise, with about 800m to go, the the seven minute riders finally caught the limit riders. Tony Rathgeber provided the initial lead out for the sprint, with Peter Parnaby taking his chances and jumping first. However Glenn Ford just managed to ease his wheel past with 10 metres to go, ahead of a fast finishing Daryl Elliott, with all three riders only separated by about half a bike length, relegating Peter Parnaby to third.

The second scratch riders finished soon after, followed by the scratch riders Sean Prins, Peter Wemyss and Rick McIntosh, with McIntosh taking out the fastest time of one hour and thirty-six minutes.