Club Races
Rifle Butts 46km Handicap
Horsham
Sunday 4th November 2012

	Wayne Klauss

Ararat cyclist Wayne Klauss blasted clear of the pack with 200 metres to go, taking out the Rifle Butts 46km handicap and clinching his second win for the season.

Riding as part of the second scratch bunch, Klauss rode off three minutes forty-five seconds, along with Daryl Elliott, Danny Monaghan and new rider Alan McCulloch.

They set a high pace from the start, taking advantage of the tail wind for the first twelve kilometres to the Rifle Butts Road turn. However, to this point the other bunches were also doing well, with limit riders Meg Parnaby, Peter Mayo and John McIntyre holding their own, as were seven minute riders Tom Eldridge, Alan Barnett, and new members Edwin Irvine and Andrew Reid.

At the half way point, the turn onto the Henty Highway, all the bunches were still close to having halved the time gap to the bunch in front, except for the scratch riders Peter and Crystal Wemyss, Drew Heard, Steve Monks and Geoff Richards, who were hampered by the loss of Heard after the first six kilometres with a broken pedal.

With the long leg back to Horsham into a stiffening wind, the rear of the field starting making big inroads into the leading bunches, with the second scratch riders catching the seven minute riders shortly before Haven. This combined bunch charged on to pick up the limit riders at the start of Golf Course Road, with about nine kilometres to go.

At this point the scratch riders were still close to a minute and a half back, but were still working hard, and pushed along by a tail wind were reaching speeds of 50 kph.

Coming into the final straight the combined leading bunch had shed quite a few riders over the last five kilometres, and was down to about six riders, but Wayne Klauss had too much power and pulled clear in the sprint to take out the race from Andrew Reid, who just pipped Edwin Irvine for third.

Scratch finished soon after with Crystal Wemyss taking out the sprint for fastest time from Steve Monks.