Club Races
Parnaby Goes Solo
Concongella 49km Handicap
Sunday 3rd April 2011
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Meg
Parnaby |
Riding off limit, Grampians Vets rider
Meg Parnaby put in a gutsy solo ride to hold off
the rest of the field and take out the 49 kilometre
Concongella handicap last Sunday.
With riders also
taking part in the Murray to Moyne the same weekend,
the reduced field meant that Parnaby had no one to
share the limit mark. Undaunted, she set herself a
solid pace from the start and managed to hold it despite
the hills and strong southerly wind.
Further back,
the 3 minute riders Gary Brumby, Drew Heard, Brian
Howlett and Daryl Elliott were making good time, but
the scratch riders Drew Gray, Dean Hayward, Shaun Blackie
and Peter Parnaby had them in their sights.
At the
Joel Joel turn, with 18 kilometres to go, Meg Parnaby
still had a good lead, while the scratch riders were
50 seconds behind the 3 minute riders, and making steady
gains until the two groups combined with 8 kilometres
to go.
Working together, these two groups
still failed to catch Meg Parnaby, who surprised even
herself with her form, and finished several minutes
ahead of the chasing riders.
Dean Hayward took out
the sprint for second place, with Gary Brumby third.
Hayward
also took out the fastest race time of 1 hour and 19
minutes.
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