It was clear once everyone was lined up on their start positions that Terry was the pea. Stuck in no man's land with 20m gap behind me and a 30m gap in front of me the decision was made to bridge the gap in front as there was a significant number of front markers grouped together with a high likelihood of organisation. Bridging the gap in less than a lap though as soon as I arrived they all sat up with no organisation and no-one was willing to do a turn.
Almost immediately after the Schintler train arrived and went through underneath which is as risky as it gets. As they went past I grabbed Terry's wheel before losing it to Lindsay Smith on an acceleration of the train. I was severely under geared with 91.8 (51*15). The same gear I ran 4th with in 1982 Austral (@16yo) to Phil Sawyer. I also ran 4th at the 1984 Wangaratta Wheelrace weeks earlier passing 8 down the back straight so confidence was high with the same gear.
It was later revealed however that the Schintler train was all riding 93.5 and Terry was riding 94.5.
The train was surging with every rider pulling 1 lap max effort turns and then peeling.
I was flat out just holding the wheel for the majority of the race and almost lost it several times on those accelerations. Having to sometimes defend that position from those peeling off at the same time.
Heading down the back straight on the last lap I optimistically positioned to pass when in fact I couldn't spin the legs any faster. Lindsay Smith was pushed up from the metre line by Brotherton as we entered the final bend while I was overlapping his rear wheel and this was enough to momentarily bork me and so I gave Gary Sutton racing room. Rather than tangle and possibly crash. Gary got by and ran 2nd and I'm pretty sure that's why he insisted that I stand next to the podium for the presentation.
Thanks to:
Brett Aitkin @ / @acko2k
The Austral is Australia's biggest and oldest wheelrace going back as far as 1887. The 1984 edition didn't disappoint with the 1980 Amateur World Points Race Champion 'Gary Sutton' giving the back markers some hope but couldn't overcome the organisation of the front markers who were too strong this time round!
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