Windmill Handicap
Gary “Rambo” Blood, armed and dangerous with a new bike, went one better from his second last week to win on the Windmill circuit, and this week he reckons he did use his gears, at least once.
A small field of 13 starters were spread between scratch and limit off 19 minutes. Gary’s first task was to bridge the 2 minutes to the limit riders by himself. This mission accomplished, he then powered the combined bunch of Gary, Shirley Hetherington, and new racers Tony Herbert and Matt Kaess, which remained unseen until very late in the race. Matt succumbed on the final lap, and Shirley was popped just a km or so from the finish. She hung on desperately to finish third with the marauding backmarkers bearing down on her. But it was Gary and Tony that saw the job through, with the now seasoned veteran Gary taking the final kill.
The rest of the field were roughly arranged in small groups of two or three, good handicapping ensuring that there was less than a minute on the line between the winner and fastest time. The scratch pairing of Phil Cartledge and Guy Falla, shook off tired legs from the previous days ordeal in the Melbourne-Ballarat to methodically round up the field and accelerate to the finish.
First to be collected was the two minute bunch of Rob Phillips, Dean Griffin and Richard Taylor. Both Rob and Richard were able to hang on as Guy wound it up, riding at least two gears larger than anyone else up the back stretch, the ask proving too much for Dean today.
The new foursome of Phillips, Taylor, Falla and Cartledge continued to share the work around and at the Donovans Rd corner for the second time they had picked up the odd couple of Peter Livitsanis and John Creek. John was suffering by then as Livitsanis isn’t much of a sit. The corner marshall, Rod Hetherington, was very amused with the lanky John appearing to try to get as low as he could behind his diminutive partner.
Guy worked up the Donovan’s Rd rise with the field hanging on for what they were worth. Into the last lap, Robbie Kinna and Kevin Lee, appeared on the horizon, providing enough incentive for Falla, Cartledge, Taylor and Phillips to continue to chase. Creek and Livitsanis offering only occasional support, taking the opportunity to recover before the inevitable final onslaught.
Robbie and Kevin rode well to stay clear until the final turn at Coghills Creek, Robbie managed to hang onto the combined scratch bunch as they attacked out of the Donovan’s Road corner to feature in the final sprint. Livitsanis also made this final selection but Creek and Lee got caught out on the corner.
The pace of the bunch diminished somewhat until Shirley was spotted just cresting the top of the final rise. Livitsanis, Taylor and Cartledge still believed in a victory, each trying to lift the pace, Guy, Robbie and Rob were less convinced.
Shirley was coming back to the chasers quickly with Tony and Gary 200m further up the road. Phil was stuck on the front and had no choice but to lead out the sprint. With 250m to go Rob and Robbie attacked instantaneously with Livitsanis and Taylor in pursuit. Rob’s turbo kicked in late and he missed Shirley by less than a wheel.
For fastest time Guy had enough left to account for the courageous Phil.
Results
1st Gary Blood (17 minutes)
2nd Tony Herbert (19 Minutes)
3rd Shirley Hetherington (19 minutes)
4th Rob Phillips (2 minutes)
5th Peter Livitsanis (6 minutes)
Fastest Guy Falla (scratch)
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