Post date: Apr 11, 2013 10:43:6 AM
Hello Vets,
In this issue of The Bleat;
· Gunning 2 Day Tour report
· Report on the Queanbeyan Park Track racing 2012-13 Season
· Racing this week - Stromlo Criterium Club Championship
· Free Threshold Power Testing Session
· AIS Cyclists Study
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton.
Perfect weather, good bunch sizes and no safety incidents helped make the 2013 Gunning Two Day a memorable one. All stages started on time and initial results were printed within 20 minutes or so. All in all a great event and thanks to the tireless band of experienced helpers, the race administration remained in the background.
The event commemorates the late Peter McLennan, a tireless worker for the club who was tragically killed in an accident just over 3 years ago. Peter worked very hard to build club numbers up to 200 and wanted large fields doing longer distance races. He would have been so pleased to see the club now numbers 350 and all but 20 riders did the 100 kilometre course on Sunday, rather than the 'short' option of 50 km.
The prologue time trial started right on time and riders were off, plunging down towards the Fish River before the short climb to the finish. The climb is not much of a gradient, but appears so much steeper as you try to finish with a good time. This year saw a mild headwind spring up after the first riders had left, so year by year comparisons do not mean much. Plus, many competitors were mindful of the large collection of broken glass strewn across the road, the result of careless dumping or a rubbish bag bouncing out of a utility. Lee Hooper spent well over 30 minutes sweeping, even after the time trial started.
In a field of just under 90, 4 riders managed times of under 6 minutes.
Roger Northcote's time as the fastest B grade rider also gave him the 4th fastest time of any rider, including the tandems, so well done Roger! Most grades showed a time separation of 30 seconds to 1 minute from fastest to slowest, but it is always interesting to watch the spread of skills across this discipline, where the winning rider in D grade would have had a competitive time had he ridden in A grade.
Spare a thought for Graham Hendrie - he set off just before A grade's Steve Blackburn with Henry Beaverstock and Sue Frost driving by in the lead car at high speed, trying to beat Steve to the finish line. Henry co-ordinated his stopwatch with Steve's departure, then raced to the finish to record the results and pull Graham off his bike so that Graham could take over the electronic data collection with his laptop. It is a tribute to the efficiency of this pair that no-one got the wrong time, with 1 change to someone who missed the start and was subsequently accommodated at the end.
Thirty minutes after the start, the race results were printed off and made available on the internet.
Stage 1 was a 50 km road race to Breadalbane for all grades with sprint primes on the Cullerin range. Gone are the days where lower grades turned at the poplars. This year the big bunches kept the KOM judges and the line judges on their toes. A grade had 16 keen riders who basically stayed together, swamping the finishing chute as they sprinted for the line. C grade saw a clear win by a well-known rider who seemed to want to gift the win to someone else. Unfortunately, he sat up a few hundredths of a second too early and saw his plan foiled by 3 impartial judges, who all thought he had just won! Strong finishes by David Gunther and the welcome return to the club of the aptly-named Phil Anderson highlighted the lower grade finishes, topped off by a fine performance by James Meredith.
Day 2 traditionally sees A, B and C do two laps of the Gunning Breadalbane course but this year, D grade and the tandem riders also wanted the extended course. Cycling Australia also conduct championships on the Sunday and while their turn point is 500 or 600 metres short of our finish line, their finish line is a few hundred metres from the Breadalbane turn. Luckily Ross Robinson negotiated a compromise and the 2 highly-skilled KOM judges of Paul Scherl and Vince Dunn stood poised to resolve two bunches travelling in opposite directions reaching the KOM point simultaneously. Luckily this did not happen and they managed to avoid recording Cycling Australia numbers in the mix.
The heat was building up and as A grade reached the start / finish for the first lap, the pace had taken a toll and Michael Tolhurst led a bunch of 3 riders grimly hanging onto his wheel. Like limpets they had been holding on since the KOM sprint. Even the tandem had been dropped. B grade saw David Dixon well out in front and not many B grade riders wanted water bottles as they continued to pursue Dave. It was left to D grade and the tandems for the leisurely turn, gentlemanly truce and pleasant chat as water bottles were exchanged for full ones, with the odd shout of "remember we are neutral" as they rode off.
With almost 3 hours' racing completed, the final sprints were memorable.
Luckily for the finish line judges, the long rise towards the line spreads out the field, assisting judging. Particularly memorable were the sprints from Christophe, with an interesting verbal commentary from a strong sprinter who thought he might have gained 1 or 2 positions in the dying stages. The pure class of the Dale Teddy sprint, made it all look easy.
Two minutes before lunch at Gunning was ready, results were printed out and placed on the web. After a high-standard feed from the Gunning Showground Committee and a short overview of Peter McLennan's contribution, club president Rob Diamond handed out medals and trophies, signalling the conclusion of a most successful event.
It would be remiss not to mention those volunteers who helped out, giving up an opportunity to ride to assist those who wanted to: Start line - Bill Frost, Henry Beaverstock and Alex Sommariva. Chute - Leo Biurra and Jan Koehler.
Breadalbane - Ross Robinson. KOM - Lee Hooper, Angie Wren, Belinda Wren, Vince Dunn and Paul Scherl. Drivers - Chris Chant, Sue Frost, Ally Roche and Dave Hennessy.
All the results for Gunning are on the web at http://www.actvets.cc/gunning-two-day/2013-gunning-two-day
Many thanks to Bill Frost for refereeing the event.
At the presentation ceremony, Club President Rob Diamond paid tribute to Peter McLennan and also thanked the members of the local show society for putting on another great lunch.
The medal winners in each grade were;
Tandems: 1st Ashley Carruthers and Lindy Hou (left), 2nd Don Mankewicz and Rosemary Robinson and (centre), 3rd Elton Ivers and John Barlow (right);
G Grade: 1st James Meredith (left), 2nd Bruce Jones (centre) and 3rd Bernie Crowe (right);
F Grade: 1st Phil Anderson (left), 2nd Terence Mulligan (centre), 3rd Graham Hendrie (right);
E Grade: 1st Craig Kentwell (left), 2nd David Gunther (centre), 3rd Liz Lowe (right);
D Grade: 1st Dale Teddy (absent), 2nd Mark Taylor (right), 3rd Brian McGlynn (left)
C Grade: 1st Robert Britten (centre), 2nd Allan Bontjer (left), 3rd Michael Reppion (right)
B Grade: 1st Kevin Goodman (centre), 2nd Roger Northcote (left), 3rd Michael Fawke (right)
A Grade: 1st Michael Tolhurst (absent), 2nd Matthew Kinch (left), 3rd Jeremy Gillman-Wells (right)
The 2012 –13 Track Racing season at Queanbeyan Park concluded on Thursday 28 March with a wet track, pizza, drinks and awards.
Over the season we had 40 members racing, 14 Roadies and 26 Trackies. Five of the total riders were female. Despite their modest number, female riders put up strong performances and were over represented among the winners and placegetters.
During the season we held 13 different types of track events – from timed events to handicaps and scratches, individual and team events, endurance, sprint events and novelty events. From our Trackies we had 12 riders go on to compete in interstate track events and carnivals over the season, some going on to win medals or prizes. Anton Wurzer was recently awarded the ACT Cycling Federation, Male Masters Rider of the Year.
The Track season was blessed with great weather. Only two racing events were cancelled due to rain. Winds were generally still to moderate. The temperature was usually balmy. With a great venue, located in pristine parkland, it was not surprising that riders and supporters greatly enjoyed the season.
Thanks to all the participants for their support of the 2012-13 track season. Everyone helped out in some important way. A big improvement this year resulted from a program of events that was developed by Pat Rooke. This provided a variety of races that kept up the riders’ interest. Particular thanks must go to Greg Rooke for running many of the races and to Anton Wurzer for consistently arriving early and setting out the track signage. Thanks also to the ACT Vets committee members, Phil Coulton, Pat Rooke and Barbara Bayliss for their consistent support of the track racing and for all the behind the scenes work. This included booking the venue, coordinating with the Queanbeyan Council, providing a first aid kit and other support items, publishing results and taking care of the finances.
The A Grade trackies had very competitive performances during the season. Anton Wurzer, Eddie O’Farrell, Ben Davis, Paul Angelatos, Jim Davey, Brad Sellwood and Steve Dean and others were consistently fast and competitive. The females Ally Roache, Linda Stals and Pat Rooke dominated the B Grade Trackies, at least until two of the three were promoted to A Grade. Ben Robey dominated the Roadies, though Phil Coulton and Rosemary Robinson always seemed to be performing above expectation.
A special mention should be given to those riders who made a consistent effort each week to turn out for the racing. These riders include Anton Wurzer, Eddie O’Farrel, Ben Davis, Jim Davey, Ben Robey, Pat Rooke, Phil Coulton, Steve Dean, Linda Stals, James Meredith, Jeff Culnane, Rosemary Robinson and probably a few others that have been overlooked. They are responsible for the season’s success, as much as any of the other contributors.
Several riders made the transition to track bikes during the season. Once riders are bitten by the track bug, they now seem very keen to make the transition to the pure track machine.
The laurels for various competition categories were as follows:
- GOLD – (100 points) Anton Wurzer
- SILVER – (75 Points) Eddie O’Farrell
- BRONZE – (65 points) Ben Davis
- GOLD – (93 points) Ben Robey
- SILVER – (86 points) Phil Coulton
- BRONZE – (50 points) Rosemary Robinson
It should be noted that even though Phil ended the season as a trackie, he did all but the last event on his Road Bike.
- GOLD – (40 points) Linda Stals
- SILVER – (32 points) Jim Davey
- BRONZE – (30 points) Anton Wurzer
And finally, the Most Improved Rider (as voted by their peers) for 2012-13 was Jim Davey.
It has been great to continue the tradition of Track racing for 2012-13 as this style of racing is an integral part of the club’s history. Hopefully the club’s track season will continue for as long as the most uplifting venue in the country remains available.
Graeme O’Neill
Track Coordinator
Where: Stromlo Forrest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
This Sunday we will be finding out who are the best Crit riders in the club.
As with all championships this one will be undertaken using 5 year age groups starting with 35-39 for men and 30-34 for women.
Due to limited time on the track we will be combining some age groups, but they will receive medals as per their grade.
The start times for grades are as follows
1:15pm
M 60-64/65+
M 35-39
2:15pm
W 30-34/35-39/40-44
W 45-49/50-54/55-59
3:15pm
M45-49
W 60-64/65+
4pm
M 55-59
M 40-44
5pm
M 50-54
Race duration for each grade;
A couple of notes in regards to how the races will be run as the timing is tight
· -All riders must be signed in and assembled on the waiting ramp 10 min prior to the start of their race -NO EXCEPTIONS GRANTED
· -During the race any rider who is lapped by their grade will be taken off the course.
I currently need 3 marshals to assist with the race. Volunteers getting in touch the sooner the better would be appreciated
Race Director: James Jordan
Contact: Email: jcjordan@internode.on.net Ph 0400966695
Would you like to win more races? Well firstly, it would be good to know what your personal “FTP” = Functional Threshold Power, actually is. When you have your base number, you can compare it to your fellow cyclists and work on improvements.
Fun & Fitness Cycle Lab, in Manuka, owned by one of our members, David Gunther, has new software for their computrainers http://funfitness.com.au/?q=virtual_reality_cycling_introduction that can accurately measure your “FTP”. David has allocated a couple of upcoming Saturdays for Vets Cyclists to come in and do the test, free of charge. The original session this Saturday is now fully booked, so David has added another session at 11:30am on Saturday 13th April for Vets who want to participate (free of charge). If you would like to come along to this new session, email David at train@funfitness.com.au so that Fun & Fitness can have an idea of numbers, make sure they have a bike available for you, and be able to provide you with other details to help make this fairly rigorous test as enjoyable and as useful as possible for you.
Jess Stephens, from the AIS, is looking for some cyclists to participate in a study looking at cycling, hydrotherapy and body composition.
She is looking for cyclists who are;
· Male
· Aged 18-45 years
· Have a history of regular cycling >1 year (at any level eg. spin class, recreational all the way up to A grade)
· Free of injury and cardiovascular disease
· Non-smoker
· Have a BMI of ≥26 or ≤21 (BMI can be worked out by going to www.health.gov.au/internet/healthyactive/publishing.nsf/content/your-bmi )
What does participation in the study give you?
· A VO2 max test and report with lactate and heart rate training zones
· Individual comprehensive body composition assessment by skinfolds, DXA scan and 3D body scan
· Access to experts in the fields of sports science to provide you with valuable information on training and recovery
If you are interested, you can contact Jess at jessica.stephens@ausport.gov.au