Post date: Jan 29, 2013 3:42:11 AM
Hello Vets,
In this issue of The Bleat;
· Notice of AGM
· Tandem tryout on Saturday
· Racing this Week (Note the Saturday event)
· Race Reports
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton.
Notice of Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting of the ACT Veterans Cycling Club will be held at
The Weston Club
Commencing at 7:30pm
On Wednesday 20 February 2013
Nominations are called for all committee positions being:
President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and no less than 3 general committee members.
Nominations signed by two current members and the nominee for committee are due with the Secretary by 13 February.
FIT-ability needs more riders to help our visually impaired riders participate in cycling. We will have some tandems of various sizes available to try at Dairy Flat on Saturday 2/2/13 from 4pm.
Why not try a tandem on the cycle path before or after your race, with one of our experienced tandem riders? You can also support FIT-ability to keep our tandems on the road by buying a cold drink next Saturday.
For more information call Rosemary Robinson on 0417898917 or visit www.fitability.org.au.
Where: Stromlo Forrest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description: G Grade@ 5:45 - 13min + 2 laps; E/F Grade@ 6:07 - 25min + 2 laps; A/B Grade@ 6:40 - 40min + 2 laps; C/D Grade@ 7:26 - 30min + 2 laps
Race Director: Steve Schwenke
Contact: Email: schwenkes@homemail.com.au Ph 0412485729 or 62829775
Reminder
All racing is now $5 per event. Please ensure you have the correct fees.
Crit Marshals and Helpers needed
Helpers will be needed on the night. If you are racing you can still get there early or stay after your race to help out.
Important Information: Late Arrivals
It is a condition of our Insurance that all riders receive a referee’s briefing before the commencement of racing to ensure that they are aware of racing conditions.
All riders need to ensure that they arrive in sufficient time to sign-on and be briefed before the commencement of racing.
Where: Queanbeyan Track
When: 6:00 pm
Details: Warm up from 5:30 first race at 6pm. Scratch races, two lap handicap, derny races and Italian pursuits. Road and track bikes welcome
Where: Dairy Road, Fyshwick
When: Starting 4:00 pm
*** Note: Saturday afternoon event ***
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Points Race - A/B @ 4:00pm – 40 + 1 lap; G + Tandams @ 4.45pm 25 + 1 lap;
C/D @ 5.20pm – 35 + 1 lap; E/F @ 6.00pm – 30 + 1 lap; Sprint Prime every lap.
Race Director: Nick Boylan
Contact: Email paddlepower@grapevine.com.au Ph 0417873032 or 6287 3032
Help Needed on Saturday: Nick will need some helpers at the finish line. Please contact him before the weekend if you can assist.
Up front I'd like to thank Stu the medic for being my constant helper, and Malcolm Paterson who hung around for the first half of the night until getting ready for his own race. And the biggest thanks goes to Henry Beaverstock, "Mr Incredible", who somehow manages to keep track in his head of what is going on and set us straight.
Anyway - another warm and windy day in Canberra (33 C with a constant 15kph westerly blowing across the track), with 99 riders taking part in the races.
G Grade
G grade started off on time, with a group of three riders forming and the rest strung out behind, before Lindsay Graham took the win in a sprint to the line over Bruce Jones and James Meredith.
A & B Grade.
As I sit here consoling myself with rum and chocolate... I'm STILL trying to work out what was going on in the last five minutes of the race. After sending everyone off, and having given B grade a mission on the line of "Catch and pass A grade", we settled in for what appeared to be a "calm" evening. The only excitement was when Paul Angelatos rode off the front of A grade about ten minutes in, and the rest of the riders seemed quite content to let him go. But after a few laps on his own he was joined by Graham "The Allbinator" Allbon, Paul O'Connor and Mark Harris. After this, the rest of the A grade bunch appeared to settle in for a quiet ride to the end. Meanwhile, B grade had generally remained as a bunch, but was eventually caught by A grade and then passed.
The serious moves started ten minutes from the end and the race turned into a confusing mess of small groups and individuals and a number of riders started to circulate slowly with that determined look of those who were going to ride until the end.
One minute before the two minute board was due to come out, Graeme Albon attacked off the A break, rapidly leaving his three companions behind and unleashing confusion at the start line as he stormed past all the other riders on the track.
In the end, the two minute board came out at the wrong point while trying to pick up the B grade leaders (yes, we missed them), and as Graeme came back over the line for his final lap, passing B grade for the second time, we had to show the B grade bunch the two laps board again (thanks for the abuse guys, I LOVE YOU TOO).
On his final lap, Graeme finally caught and lapped A grade, but taking two riders with him who hadn't realised they had been lapped and were obviously surprised to get the one lap board as they crossed the line. In the meantime, at the start line the bell was being rung with little confidence as the group of us collectively tried to work out who was finishing and who was starting their final lap.
In the end it was Graeme Albon taking the race from Paul Connor, Mark Harris and Paul Angelatos (from the original break) with James Sampson taking 5'th after a solo ride from the bunch. B grade was won by Rohan Verco over Bruce Goodspeed, Peter Merrick and David McCook.
C & D
This was a far more consistent affair with well formed bunches, the early breaks being rapidly shut down. But as the race progressed, more and more riders started dropping off the back. The final two laps were uneventful, except for Ian Langstaff who managed to attack off the front of D grade and finished the race shortly after C grade crossed the line. Edward O'Farrell took the win over Owain Tilley and Selwyn Snell, with D Grade being won by Ian over Dale Kleeman and David Heasman.
E & F
Was relatively uneventful with the exception of an errant Kangaroo at the top of the track at the start of the second last lap. In E grade, new rider Daniel Kerr did much of the work on the front at a steady pace, which allowed the final lap to be a bunch sprint won by Kelvin Alley over Daniel and David Gunther. F grade, with only seven riders, split up early, with only four riders left in the bunch to take the bell. At this point Terrance Merrigan launched an impressive solo attack and managed to pass most of E grade before the line, with Mick Donaldson and Paul McKay making up the places.
In conclusion...
To sum it up - a major cock-up for race management for A/B? Yes. However, this is going to continue to occur because there are simply not enough people on the start line to watch everything that is going on. As occurred in this race, at one point we had a rider attack off the front of B grade only to be caught and dropped shortly afterwards as they disappeared behind a hill. A rider on their own is just another object to be tracked, and the more that has to be tracked, the more difficult it becomes to work out who the leaders are and which lap they are on.
So…
If you get dropped and are eventually lapped or so far back you are going to be lapped, you are greatly increase the workload of the people on the line. A rider heading towards the start finish line is just a helmet on a bike, we can't see rider numbers or ribbon colours until after you have passed. It would be greatly appreciated if you just pulled in before the two lap board comes out.
If you are dropped by your grade, don't sit on the back of the next grade going past, because then we have the confusion of trying to work out why two grades are racing together, and if riders are getting an unfair advantage.
It is also pretty obvious that if your grade is being passed, you should not jump on the other grade (I'm looking at you, rider from D grade).
Thanks to Michael Fawke for a great job in refereeing on a challenging night.
The Secret Handicap event lived up to its name, with the positions on the podium a mystery until well after the conclusion of the race. Although Richard Gorell was the clear winner, the timekeepers had to go into a long huddle before separating the second and third places by one hundredth of a second! David Heasman took the silver while Alex O’Shea regretted that last glass of red the night before, settling for third by the narrowest of margins.
Rosemary Robinson rode strongly to win the women’s section, with Sue Powell second. Aaron Sedgeman and Nick Boylan shared fastest time honours with an average speed of a whisker over 38 km/h for the hilly 45 kilometre course.
Barry Cole one of the club’s original committee members was on hand to present the trophies and to regale the gathering with tales of the early days of veterans cycling in Canberra. The club greatly appreciates the Cole family’s ongoing interest and commitment to veterans cycling.
Many thanks to club stalwarts Henry Beaverstock , Graham Hendrie, James Meredith and Ian Morton for their work on the day and of course the marshalls who ensured a safe event ---Baden White, Owain Tilley, Cameron Emert, Mal Rimes and Lloyd Bennett.
Thanks to Mick Donaldson for race refereeing.
Note: Results in the RMS show actual race times and adjusted times in brackets. Adjusted times are actual times minus handicap.
A PDF file with fully detailed results can be found on the club web site at http://www.actvets.cc/results/2012-13-summer-season-results/2013_01_27.pdf?attredirects=0&d=1.