Late Friday afternoon, Tom Hutchison decided he wanted to walk out and have another look at the finish of the Fair HillFEI 100-Mile Ride, which would start the next morning, Oct. 16. He’d pre-ridden the concluding, 10-mile trail the day before, but he’d found the turns confusing.
That reconnaissance was a key decision, because the next time he’d be there it would be dark and raining, and he’d be chasing World Champion Valerie Kanavy while trying to hold off 18-year-old Canadian rider Ryan Rawaki.
And he did both, passing Kanavy and nosing out Rawaki.
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On his own Prymtym, Hutchison galloped to the brightly lit finish line, behind the Fair Hill CCI’s Sponsors’ Tent, just 3 seconds ahead of Rawaki, on JC Quick Quint. Connie Walker, on Electric Smoke, crossed the line only 18 seconds later, 5 seconds ahead of Kanavy, on Shahdon.
Just 23 seconds separated the top four at the end of about 151
