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Mildura-Coomealla CC
Merbein Cemetery circuit, May 15, 2004
McNally racks up rare win
By Peter Winton
To my knowledge the Merbein cemetery circuit is the graveyard of all riders except those in scratch. Such is the effect of the cemetery rise and the high speed sections coupled with whatever wind and it's direction impacting on lesser mortals.
And so it eventuated that Rob McNally (where did he go? we all asked) outrode his colleague in scratch, Kevin Tankard, by a very narrow wheel in 1:38:07.
29 riders took part in today's race, and then there were the 4 junior boys having a go at 3 laps of the 8km circuit. The diminutive Ryan Digby took this race out from Jarrod Richardson. Could Ryan be the next David Tozer?
Scratch missed Mark Busch today, suffering the dreaded lurgy, Scott Giles attempted to have another go but the troublesome knee wouldn't allow him more than 1 lap. An unfortunate state of affairs brought about from chasing bad guys in the streets of Mildura. Mulhearn and Schmidt the other 2 members.
Chopping block, at 3 minutes, was quite a large bunch (10), Beruldsen, Shipsides, Hale, Doody, Akkermans, Gallagher, Anderson, Welsh, Dwyer and Bassi-Anstee. Absentees from this bunch of recent weeks being Nathan Floramo and Steve Fenwick. Harvey Dwyer a welcome face back in the bunch however, and he rode his usual gutsy ride.
At 7 minutes stood the melting pot of the Club's riders, 9 participants, comprising both genders (are there more than 2?), several decades difference in ages and years of cycling experience. Frawley (F), Lokan, Robbins, Gregory, Morrish, Winton, Mitchell, Wightwick and Scott.
On the limit mark of 13 minutes, regulars in the name of Cerini, Doyle, Caldwell, Dave Digby, and Andrew Twaddle (still new).
2nd limit caught this group inside the second lap and for a while limit paraded as a long tail (or anchor) until the first of the rising sections of road. The early high pace of the Wightwick bunch had Greg Scott reaching for heart attack pills and Kev Gregory needing to catch his breath also. Pretty quickly the limit tail was reduced to Doyle and Twaddle and the Wightwick led group had lost Morrish, Gregory, Frawley and Scott. So, there was 5 working and some not (you know what that is !) Rumour has it that the Big Engine had the scratchmen clocking high 50's and indeed they must have as they "crashed" into the back of chopping block crossing the line at the end of lap 5 with the remnants of the front 2 groups a mere 500 metres or less ahead. Fresh meat !
Fresh? Bullshit. I can think of another word starting with "F" to describe how we were. I applaud the efforts of Adam Wighwick who rode his best to the 30km mark and then wished his fellow riders "good luck" as he went out the back. Jeff Mitchell never missed a turn and came round for more, as did Jack Lokan, at my cry for help on several occasions.
We all know what happens next. "They're coming hard. 50 metres. They're on us, get on". Shipsides had a momentary lapse of effort (apologies to Pink Floyd), crucial metres were lost as a result by Doody, Hale, Robbins and Winton. Lokan caught the train however. That was it for Winton, Hale and eventually Welsh. The sidelines were too inviting to ride past. Muffins and cold lemonade mate!
Prior to all this happening, it was evident the toughness of the conditions was taking it's toll as an ever increasing number of riders scored "DNF" on the start sheet with each passing lap as noted by this scribe/rider. By the end of the arvo' 13 riders had hopped off early for one reason or another.
The cemetery rise (we call it a climb here) provided the "kill" for the scratchies as the lesser bunches fragmented big time under the increased pace of Schmidt, Tankard and McNally. This left them alone for the final lap and as they came into sight with 600 metres to go, the trio together, it was Tankard and McNally breaking away from Schmidt. At 50m Tankard looked over the shoulder and allowed McNally a glimmer of hope on the lee side. Within 10m McNally strained one last time and edged Tankard out. Then, like a phantom, he was gone.
Next week we have a 66km graded scratch at the Barndeet Road (Red Cliffs) to Colignan and back ser-cute. Oh yeah baby, can't wait for that little dandy (yeah right).
Results, 64km handicap
1 R McNally 2 K Tankard 3 E Schmidt 4 I Beruldsen 5 H Dwyer 6 J Lokan 7 P Doody 8 H Robbins 9 J Mitchell 10 A Twaddle. Juniors 1 R Digby 2 J Richardson 3 A Moe 4 L McManus
