Club Races
Limit
Riders Hold On.
Horsham -
Sunday 25th November 2007
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Meg
Parnaby |
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A warm sunny morning and light winds
greeted the field of 13 Grampians Vets riders as they
lined up for the 46km Rifle Butts Short Course handicap,
starting near the Wool Factory at Horsham.
A relatively strong limit bunch
of Meg Parnaby, Leon Gibson, John McIntyre and Merv
Thompson led the field away, riding off 11 minutes.
This bunch combined well to hold on to a very good
lead for most of the race. Danny Monaghan, Tom Eldridge
and Gerard O’Brien
set off in pursuit from the 6 minute mark, but had
their work cut out trying to pull in the leading bunch.
Alan Barnett, Peter Parnaby and Ian Johnston rode from
the 3 minute mark, and although they averaged close
to 37kph, still did not catch the bunches in front.
Scratch riders Richard Clarke, Tim Schneider and Drew
Heard put in a very solid performance, and were gaining
on the leading bunches at the half way mark, until
Clarke caught the wheel of a rider in front and fell
heavily at high speed, destroying a new and very expensive
racing wheel in the process. Fortunately he escaped
with remarkably few cuts and minor bruising, but this
put the scratch bunch out of contention for the rest
of the race.
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Click
to enlarge |
John
McIntyre, Meg Parnaby and Leon Gibson |
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Coming into the final straight, the
limit riders still had a good minute lead over the
hard working Monaghan and Eldridge, with Meg Parnaby
powering to the line to claim first place ahead of
John McIntyre. Leon Gibson was close behind in third
place.
Ian Johnson liked the relatively flat conditions and
rode a very strong race, recording the fastest time for
the day.
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