A quiet rural road branching off the Olympic Highway 2km west of Coota was the scene for a thrilling regional bicycle race last Sunday, won by promising 16-year-old Cootamundra cyclist Jack Douglas.
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Jack was a clear winner of the inaugural "Big O Dirnaseer Dash" cycle race, over 40 kilometres along Dirnaseer Road.
The new event replaces the Stockinbingal Village Fair race which has been discontinued following the cancellation of the Stock Fair.
Cootamundra Cycle Club hosted the Dash, the second stage of the Tour de Riverina points score series.
It attracted 58 cyclists from Cootamundra, Canberra, Wagga Wagga, Griffith, Albury and Young.
With ideal weather conditions, a junior development ride was run in conjunction, attracting 11 children from the Cootamundra area.
As the race unfolded and the front bunches combined, a solo effort from Cootamundra Club's Vanessa Bennett resulted in the sprint prize and mountain prize being secured.
The chase was on to reel in the talented Vanessa and a sense of urgency grew as the faster riders knew they had to dig deep to run her down.
On the downhill run to the finish with 10 kms remaining, all riders shared the work and turns of pace to generate the momentum needed to catch the leading rider.
With 2 km remaining it was clear they had the leader covered and the pace increased.
At the base of the steep 500 metre finish, six riders were in contention.
In a calculated and clever move, Jack burst from the pack and no-one had an answer to his speed on the climb.
An appreciative crowd of club mates and friends that had gathered to watch the finish cheered, as one, as Jack crossed the line a clear winner.
Club president Mark Loiterton commented that in his first season in senior ranks as an under 19, Douglas has shown maturity and talent that has come from dedication to training and racing as a junior on both the road and track.
"Some were surprised at his win but those who have followed his progress certainly were not," Mr Loiterton said.
Several locals who hadn't raced for some years took advantage of a new licence category and donned the Coota colours to show glimpses of their old form.
Second place with fastest time of 59:43 was Will Silver from Tolland, and third went to Stephen Blackburn from ACT
Douglas also picked up the first local prize,and presentations were held at the Olympic Hotel.
Attention now turns to the first weekend in May for the "Haycarters Open", a time-honoured event on the State calendar.