Club Races
Strong Winds Make Life Interesting!
Fyans Creek, Sunday
14th September 2008
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Daryl
Elliott |
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Average wind speeds of 30kph with
gusts up to 50kph made for some hairy moments in last
Sundays Grampians Vets 44km graded scratch races.
Some
riders obviously looked out the window and went back
to bed, as only a small field lined up for the start.
The race was held from Fyans Creek
Road, near Halls Gap, around the Lake Lonsdale circuit.
Riders also had to contend with a great deal of debris
from the trees along the side of the road.
A
grade riders Daryl Elliott, Peter Blair, Alan Barnett,
Leon Gibson and Dean Hayward touched speeds of up to
50km at times along the flatter sections of the course
with the help of a tail wind, while at other times
had to hang on tight when side wind gusts threatened
to blow their bikes out from underneath them.
Most
of the riders were still together at the end, so the
race was decided on the final sprint. Daryl Elliott
charged to the lead, and was not headed, with Leon
Gibson taking second place.
B grade riders Peter Mayo,
Peter Parnaby and Stuart King, along with C grade riders
Sean Prins, Meg Parnaby and Tania Walter headed off
together, to help protect riders from the difficult
conditions.
However, Meg Parnaby, having raced
the day before in Warrnambool, and Tania Walter, fresh
back to racing after a period off, both found the going
tough, and finished some distance behind the other
riders.
In the main sprint to the line, Peter
Mayo just pipped Peter Parnaby by half a wheel to take
the B grade event. Sean Prins took out the C grade,
while Tania Walter beat Meg Parnaby home to claim second
place in the C grade event.
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