Club Races
Monaghan Two in a Row
Rifle Butts Long course - Greg Smith Memorial
Sunday 27th April 2008

Danny Monaghan sprinted his way to victory in last Sunday’s annual Greg Smith Memorial 60km handicap, taking out the event for the second year in a row.

	Danny Monaghan

Long training rides and high kilometres per week have brought Monaghan back into form very quickly, after returning from a work commitment in the USA only four weeks ago.

Sunny but cool conditions prevailed for the race, with very light winds - much better than the forecast rain and strong winds.

Limit riders Meg Parnaby and Les Power rode off 20 minutes, and managed to hold off the 7:30 minute riders Danny Monaghan, Tony Lloyd, Peter Blair and Peter Mayo until the final turn with about 4km to go. Behind them, 6 minute riders Peter Parnaby, Gerard O’Brien and Daryl Elliott managed to take 30 seconds out Monaghan’s bunch within the first 10km, but then failed to make up much more ground.

Further back the 3:30 minute riders Harvey Lang, Alan Barnett, Drew Heard and Mark Uebergang were also making hard work of it, until they were caught about half way by scratch riders Ian Blackie, Steve Monks, and Frank Kean.

This combined bunch, largely pulled along by the super strong Blackie, bridged the gap to the 6 minute riders with about 8km to go, picking them up as they went past.

By this time, Monaghan’s bunch had caught the limit riders, and were making for home thinking they were still well clear, until one of their number pointed out how fast the chasing pack were closing in. This spurred some urgency, with Peter Blair starting the sprint a long way out, only to be overcome by the flying finish of Monaghan, who went on to win by 10 metres. Blair finished second with Lloyd third and Mayo fourth.

The rest of the field finished only 200 metres behind. Fastest time went to Ian Blackie, with 1 hour 31 minutes.

Special Thanks

To Merv Thompson of Horsham Cyclery for donating the trophies.

To Steve Monks for the great BBQ he provided after the race.