This year was the fifth time Vincent has entered the Melbourne to Warrnambool Cycling Classic but the first time he has finished.

And despite being told at the half way mark of the iconic one-day race that he wouldn't make the time cut, Vincent opted to keep going even though everyone else had dropped out.

So faced with doing the last half of the race on his own, Vincent sent a message to race organisers. "It pretty much said: 'on my own, last rider, outside the time cut, at Port Campbell, be there at 4.30pm'. So they knew I was coming," he said.

By the time he reached Allansford, a friend had driven back and got on his bike to keep him company.

Then Ryan Brodie, the first Warrnambool rider to cross the finish line earlier that day in 37^th place, was also driven back to Allansford to join the pair. "For the last 10kms or so I did have two people for moral support. I would have made it anyway, but certainly got there quicker with their help. It was really fantastic," Vincent said.

Officially there is 100-minute cut off at the end of the race. And while Vincent missed it, he was awarded a medal  anyway for his sheer determination.

"That was the biggest thing for me on the day, just getting to the line and that's that," he said. "Been there too many times not to.

"I probably pushed myself harder than I have in the past.

"In the whole race there was probably about a quarter of the riders who didn't finish."

Vincent said he'd decided to race again this year, partly because it was on his bucket list but also because it was "unfinished business".

"I thought 'I just have to keep going and keep entering until I finish'," he said. "I've entered five times, the first I didn't make the start and three I didn't make the ending."

The first time Vincent entered the race, illness forced him to drop out before the race had even started.

During the next three races, he made it as far as Lismore twice and Cobden another. "I'd thought if I could make Camperdown that I could make it home from there, but I literally just hit the wall," he said.

The last time he attempted to go the distance was three years ago. "It was a roaring north westerly. It was just head every inch of the way, just horrendous," he said.

Vincent, who is the president of the Warrnambool Cycling Club, rides at least two mornings and one afternoon a week and races on Saturdays.

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