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Club Races
Damian Keeps the Rabble
at Bay
Lake Lonsdale Handicap
Sunday 20th March 2011
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Damian
Rabl |
With the whole field breathing down
his neck, Grampians Vets cyclist Damian Rabl had to
call up every last ounce of energy to take out the
60 kilometre Lake Lonsdale handicap last Sunday.
Riding
off nineteen minutes with fellow limit marker Meg Parnaby,
the two riders made very good time to stay out of sight
of the rest of the field until the closing stages of
the two laps around Lake Lonsdale
Six minute riders
Gary Brumby, Wayne Klauss and Brian Howlett rode hard
to pick up twelve minute riders Tony Rathgeber and
John Hunt the second time over McKrackens Hill, with
Rathgeber adding some much appreciated extra firepower.
Two
minute riders Drew Heard, Crystal Wemyss, Peter Parnaby
and Daryl Elliott put in a valiant effort but the scratch
riders had the carrot dangling in front of them and
chased hard, catching the two minute riders soon after
half way. With the sting taken from the legs of the
scratch riders, some of the two minute riders were
then able to contribute, and the bunch worked hard
to chase down the rest of the field, catching the six
minute riders half way around the second lap.
With
five and a half kilometres to go, the chasing riders
got their first glimpse of the limit riders at the
end of a long straight, still a minute speck in the
distance.
At this point, the limit riders only
had about four kilometres to go, but their legs were
almost shot, so for them it became a battle of the
mind.
With one kilometre to go, the chasing
riders topped the final hill to see the limit riders
about 300 metres ahead, but it was too late, with Rabl
taking out a well earned win from Meg Parnaby. Wayne
Klauss won the bunch sprint for third.
Peter Wemyss
rode the fastest race time of 1 hour and 34 minutes.
Averages
(including time spent with other bunches)
Limit 32.1kph
12min 33.5kph
6min 36.1kph
2min 37.6kph
Scratch 38.5kph
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