Club Races
Bales Wins, Daylight Second!
Quarry Road - Sunday 22nd July 07

	Larry Bales

A field of 14 riders braved the frosty, still morning to tackle the 47km handicap held at Quarry Road.

Front markers Roger Williams, David Cariss and Larry Bales set off with a 19 and a half minute advantage. Not far into the race, it became clear to Cariss and Williams just how much Bales had improved over the last 12 months. Bales seemed to be effortlessly free-wheeling in front of them. The polite Bales stayed with Cariss and Williams until the Stawell/Halls Gap Road. That was the last anyone saw of him until after the race.

A much improved Michael Jensen rode with Tania Walter and Wayne Cox off 9 and a half minutes. It was Cox’s first race for a long time, and he was testing his fitness level. His strength helped the bunch make up time until he ran out of legs at the Sandbar Hill. Jenson and Walter combined well to round up Cariss and Williams further around Lake Londsdale.

Starting off 2 and a half minutes, Jamie Bennett, Peter Parnaby, Stuart King and Peter Carter flew up the first hills. Carter was setting a mean pace until he experienced wheel problems early and withdrew from that group of riders.  The three remaining second scratchmen put in a mighty effort to catch Walter and Jenson at the Quarry Road corner, 7 kilometres from home.

Bennett, King and Parnaby combined with Walter to attack the final hills to catch Bales. Bales handled the hills by himself well and crossed the line easily in first place. He was enjoying a drink at the finish line while he watched this group jostle for minor placings.  Walter lead out in the sprint and just made it across the line by a whisker to place second, with Parnaby just nudging a tiring Bennett for third by not much more than a tyre width.

Click to enlarge

Left to right - Peter Parnaby, Tania Walter, and Larry Bales

While Walter was surprised she won the sprint, Parnaby was even more surprised to find that he had the fastest time of the day. Even after the result was double checked, he was still shaking his head in disbelief.

The scratch riders, Allan Barnett, Daryl Elliott and Gerard O'Brien could not close the gap in the perfect, calm conditions and Parnaby's time was 11seconds better than theirs.