Four years after taking up cycling and three years after getting more serious about the sport, former long-distance runner Kylie Wright competed in her first race, the 100-kilometre Nemingha to Nundle on Sunday, and won it.
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The married Tamworth mother of three, 42, overcame pre-race doubts, which continued throughout much of the race, to emerge victorious from a pack of the five riders who started the handicap race first and stayed together to the end, with them given the same time – 2hr 57min 57sec.
Wright, who relocated to Tamworth with her family more than four years ago, said she owed her win to the magnanimity of the other riders in her group.
“The first objective was to get to Nundle and hope no one caught us,” she said. “Once we climbed out of Nundle I was still feeling really good and I powered home ... It was not just a win for me but for the group I rode with. I couldn’t have done it without them.”
Wright admitted that while others, including her husband Warwick, had faith in her going into the race, she was not as confident. “I have to say I doubted myself,” she said. “But as we were getting closer and closer to the finish line, I started to think, ‘Okay, if a manage to keep the rest of the bunch off from here, I might have a chance.’”
Walcha’s Ayllie Allen came second while Tamworth’s Breanna Chillingworth was third. Fourth and fifth places went to Jo Waugh (Armidale) and Mal Nash (Tamworth). Inverell’s Dylan Sunderland recorded the quickest time – 2:23.47.
