Club Races
Hunt Edges out Wemyss
Rifle Butts Short Course
Sunday 3rd June 2012

In a closely fought battle that went right to the line, Ararat cyclist John Hunt just edged out Stawell rider Peter Wemyss to take out the Grampians Vets 46 kilometre Rifle Butts handicap, held near Horsham last Sunday.

	John Hunt

A clear still morning greeted riders, but out on the road there was a noticeable breeze, making the first leg out towards Nurrabiel tougher than expected for limit riders Meg Parnaby and Peter Mayo. With a 17 minute start over scratch they were well down the road when the five minute riders Gerard O'Brien, Daryl Elliott, John Hunt, Drew Heard, Laura White and Tom Eldridge set off.

Second scratch riders Peter Wemyss, Jason Shipcott, Wayne Klauss and Geoff Richards set a good pace from the start and made the job of lone limit rider Dennis Kelly difficult, with Kelly finally joining them after about forteen kilometres, soon after the start of the Rifle Butts road. Once this bunch turned onto the Henty Highway for the leg back to Horsham, pushed along by the tail wind, the pace hit 50 kilometres per hour at times. With Kelly putting in some strong turns, the gap to the five minute riders was closing noticeably, but the catch did not come until well along the the Golf Course Road, with about 5 kilometres to go.

Still about a minute up the road, and with the final stage ridden into a side to head wind, the tiring limit riders were finding the going tough, but put up a valiant effort to hold off the chasing riders until the last two kilometres.

With all the field now together, Kelly set a cracking pace to try to break up the field before the sprint. On the final turn, there were four riders clear, with Peter Wemyss and John Hunt soon locked in a dual that went right to the line, with Hunt just pulling clear over the final few metres. Jason Shipcott was close behind in third.