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Club Races
O'Brien
Wins at Stawell Racecourse
Stawell Racecourse
- Sunday 8th July 07
Slightly damp wintry conditions greeted the small
field of riders who tackled the 62km Racecourse circuit,
starting and finishing at the Stawell Racecourse, just
out of Stawell on the Pomonal road. However, the recent
cold, wet and windy conditions meant that some riders
were not as well prepared as usual!
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| Gerard
O'Brien |
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Limit riders Larry Bales, Frank Stokes, Tania Walter
and Les Power headed off with a 17 minute head start,
and were making good time until the flooded causeway
at Mokepilly forced the group to take a soft gravel
road detour.
More drama unfolded when they
reached the Halls Gap Road. The energetic Les Power
turned right at Fyans Creek Road, planning to go
around both lakes. It
took some loud vocal persuasion to call him back, preventing
him from embarking on the unnecessarily long Paris
Roubaix alternate route.
Middle markers Stuart King and
Gerard O'Brien riding off 11 minutes decided to go
straight through the half metre of flood water. King wisely
kept his shoes clipped into the pedals, although
it crossed his mind to release his feet and free-wheel
through the water (and get stuff half way!!!). The
middle markers caught the limit riders in the Halls
Gap - Pomonal road hills before leaving them behind
at the Pomonal corner.
The second scratch bunch of Allan Barnett, Jamie Bennett
and Daryl Elliott, riding off 6 minutes, also went
through the freezing Mokepilly. Bennett, suffering
from wet, numb toes, suggested riding to Halls Gap
for coffee to thaw out. The idea was tempting but scratch
rider Ian Blackie was hot on their heels. Blackie,
2006 Club Rider of the Year, was in great form and
caught most the riders 10 kilometres from home. He
then surged away to chase down O'Brien and King.
The very fit O'Brien looked
comfortable flying up the last hills. He had worked
well with King and deservedly took first place. Blackie
crossed the line in second place and took out fastest
race time, followed by King in third place. Barnett
courageously hung on to Blackie's slip stream the
longest to push him ahead of the rest of
the field and into fourth place.
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