Sunday the 17^th of July saw the Riverland Cycling Club hold the annual Tom Perry Memorial Handicapped Road Race on Murtho Road, Paringa with a race distance of 50km. 8 riders took to the start line to race for line honours. Tom Perry’s daughter, Di DeCol was in attendance to see the riders off for their start.

The first riders to head off were Terry Bond, Mick Gray and Peter Burr. Next away at 10 minutes were Angelo Ylia and Ruth Strout with these riders only needing to complete 40km. One minute later Steve Jaensch and Lee Stevens departed. Last to leave at 16 minutes behind the front runners was Matthew Benson. All riders had to work hard on the way out into a headwind. The only riders to be caught and passed were Angelo Ylia and Ruth Strout. At the front of the race, Gray, Bond and Burr were never troubled by any of the other riders and were able to race all the way to the finish line for a three up sprint for the win.

 On the line Peter Burr took line honours, followed up by Terry Bond in second and Mick Gray rounding out the podium for third place. Fourth place went to a fast finishing Steve Jaensch who would also be given the honour of the fastest time for day. Lee Stevens ran his bike home for fifth place after breaking a spoke on the run in to the finish. Ruth Strout and Angelo Ylia had an all-out sprint for 6^th and 7^th position. Strout elbowed out Ylia to claim 6^th place, with Ylia relegated to 7^th. The winner of “Hardest slog for today” went to Matthew Benson. Benson had to ride on his own all day and after some time off the bike, he wasn’t able to reel in any of his fellow competitors and had to settle for 8^th place.

Next week sees the Riverland Cycling Club host handicap racing at the Winkie Circuit. Racing Starts at 0930 with nominations to be in by 0915.                                                                                                                                 

1 Peter Burr

2Terry Bond

3 Mick Gray

4 Steve Jaensch      fastest time

5  Lee Stevens

6 Ruth Strout

7 Angelo Ylia

8 Matthew  Benson