Jacob Emmerton claims fourth in Ken Dinnerville Memorial Handicap

One of six Goulburn-based riders to take part in the annual event, Emmerton performed extremely well despite the "absolutely terrible" conditions.

"I think on the first lap out to Breadalbane, we averaged 49kph with the tailwind," Emmerton said.

"And then it was pretty slow going on the way home. The average dropped to about 40 on the way home, but it's usually the faster downhill run."

Now in its 63^rd year, the Ken Dinnerville Memorial Handicap is named after a young cyclist who died in a tragic accident while training in 1956 near Dapto.

Run by the Illawarra Cycling Club, this year's event took place in Gunning and was 90km in length.

Of more than 200 competitors to take part in the massive event, only 142 were able to finish. There were a number of scratchings and non-starters, but by far the majority were those who could not finish due to the strong winds.

The weather also made it difficult for the top-ranked riders to climb the placings. While Emmerton was fourth in overall time, he was the 57^th across the line, which was a reflection of both the calibre of the other riders and severity of the conditions.

"The race itself was always going to be hard, when we found out that we were starting 39 minutes after the very first bunch went off," Emmerton said.

"When we started working, a lot of riders dropped off in the first 10-15 kilometres of the race, they just couldn't handle the pace."

Though he was unable to catch the lead group, Emmerton was pleased with his efforts considering it was his first serious event since lockdown began.

"Because I was in scratch, which is the fastest group out on the road, it was fast, it was hard," he said.

"There's a few key guys that I knew were going to be very strong and when the time came, they were going to put the hammer down and go hard. I pretty much kept up with them the whole time."

What was particularly pleasing for Emmerton was the success of the training regimen he implemented over the break.

While many riders used their months off to rest and recuperate, Emmerton instead subjected himself to a rigorous exercise plan designed to maintain his fitness and power output, and he noticed its impact on Sunday.

"I was hoping that it'd pay off now, and by the looks of it, it is," he said.

"My power output's a lot better, I'm able to ride the hills, the harder sections, with the strong guys. Some things were just easier in this race, my performance was pretty good.

"A couple of the guys who beat me were the top guys in the NRS [National Road Series], so to be able to finish with them and almost match them in the sprint was pretty cool."

The strong performance puts Emmerton in good stead ahead of this weekend's State Criterium Championships.

"I haven't raced in five months, so it was good to see the legs were able to adapt to the high intensity of racing," Emmerton said.

"This Saturday is going to be hard, but I'm hoping to get the win."

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