Post date: Mar 31, 2015 12:49:32 AM
Hello Vets,
In this week's Bleat;
• Interstate Events
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton
• 2015 South Pacific Veterans Cycling Championships
- 3,4,5&6 April
Road Championship & State Title, Straight Line Sprint Championships, Individual Time Trial, Criterium and Road Handicap.
Enquiries to Tom Finning tfinning@ncable.net.au
Online registration www.veterancycling.com.au
• Tolland Open (Wagga Wagga)
- 18, 19 April
Details https://eventdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=11893&OrgID=20999
• Battle on the Border
- Thursday 28 May to Sunday 31 May
In its short seven year history, the Battle on the Border has become one of the highly sought after cycling festivals in Australia and the largest tour on the Eastern Seaboard.
Online registration here
Enquiries to office@battleontheborder.com.au
Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
G Grade@ 5:45 - 15min + 2 laps; A/B Grade@6:04 - 18min + 2 laps; C/D Grade@6:26 - 18min + 2 laps; E/F Grade@6:48 - 18min + 2 laps
Race Director: Paul Robey
Contact: Email paul.robey3@gmail.com Ph 0413 480 241
Enjoy your Easter Eggs.
The weather looked uncertain early on Tuesday with scattered showers in the afternoon, though by the time riders were warming up the sky had cleared to a beautiful evening. G grade set off promptly in an attempt to have everyone finished on the track by dark. Bernie Crowe edged out Bruce Jones with a bit of tactical work towards the end and a good sprint to take it by a wheel width with Paul Robey bringing up the rear.
C/D grades were next off the mark and by this time the track had dried out. C grade set off with 9 riders, and D had 13, so it was a good field. C grade kept up the pace with Scott Tozer and Sean Flemming breaking away from the rest early on and held the advantage. With the rest chasing it was inevitable that they caught up to D and overtook them down the bottom of the track to come home cleanly. D grade worked well as a group with Luke McGowan taking out the sprint for first, a very pleasing result for Luke who has been promoted through the grades during the season, and only went to D last week. He was followed by John Ignatius and then John Wilson and the rest of the pack. Then came the rest of C grade where Ben Vargnarelli showed the rest how to go for the line to take out third.
E/F grades set off with the sun low over Mt Stromlo, though still plenty of light. E grade had 8 riders who worked well together for the duration of the race coming round the last bend in close formation. Stjepan Hirsler put in a good sprint with Mike Hayes second and Rosemary Robinson third. James Meredith in F grade also showed his tactical race techniques to edge out Sue Duckett a wheel width behind and then followed by Barb Bayliss.
A/B had the biggest field with 11 starters in A and 24 in B. The race started just in time to complete the 20 minutes plus 2 laps in the dusk, though when the sun disappeared the temperature dropped trackside, but not for those out riding as the pace was constantly high. A variety of attacks in both grades saw a range of leaders each lap, though towards the last few a split developed in B grade. A grade were completing each lap in about a minute. Mark Harris showed a clean set of wheels to the rest for a convincing win in A, followed by Marc Vroomans and Tom Hartley. In B grade Dougal Torrance beat Paul Ledbrook to the line with Andrew Murrell taking out third.
It was very pleasing to see the grades work well together, riders kept their lines and there were some skippies who decided to join the action in D grade for a while. Caution prevailed and the riders eased off till the track was clear. As the last ‘scheduled’ crit race for the season there were prizes for the top two riders in each grade courtesy of Scott Main from 'On The Rivett' - thanks for the support and gifts.
Thanks to Bruce Goodspeed for assisting and of course the club stalwarts Henry and Graham whose experience is invaluable to those such as myself who only occasionally direct a race.
Bob Miller
While driving to Dairy Flat at 7:30 the radio announcer reported the current temperature as 6 degrees at the airport. I was not surprised as there were significant fog patches all around North Canberra and at the venue. Whilst warming up for the first race Bruce Jones reported to the officials that it was a whiteout at the Molonglo River turn and he couldn’t see a thing. For those of us standing at the finish line it seemed like it was going to be one of those mid-winter days when the sun appears briefly at 3:30 and the temperature only reaches single digits. Suffice to say at 8 am it was cold! There were 3 handicap races held which meant the higher grade in each event started their race at a time disadvantage to the lower grade which was only known to the race director. Each race consisted of an unknown number of intermediate sprints and a final sprint and in each race points were given to placegetters. The handicaps seemed to work well in each event as it took the higher and faster grades around half the time allocated for each race and a number of intermediate sprints before the lower grade riders were caught.
A combined E/F/G grade raced first with a total of only 6 competitors, only 1 each in F and G grade. Maybe racing on a cold morning at 8am wasn’t that appealing to some? Bruce Jones held off the lone F Grader, James Meredith, and the E Grade riders to win the prime sprints. In the final sprint the E Graders, Stjepan Hirsler, Rosemary Robinson and Aniva Cavanagh filled the first three places.
Bruce’s 4th place in the final sprint was enough to give him first place overall with a total of 8 points. Stjepan Hirsler amassed the second highest number of points, followed by Rosemary Robinson in third, Aniva Cavanagh in fourth and James Meredith in fifth.
A/B grades contested the next race with A Grade having a 2 minute handicap in the 50 minute race. There were 6 intermediate sprints with the first 3 taken out by B Graders as they had managed to stay away from the A Grade peleton. David Dickson was too good for Tom Tokich in first three primes. With A Grade catching the “hares” it was Mark Harris who won the last three primes and Marc Vroomens got 2 seconds. B graders David Dickson and Tom Tokich were also in the mix. In the final sprint Marc Vroomens pipped Mark Harris on the line and Ed Pellegrino came third.
In the end Mark Harris won with 13 points followed by David Dickson with 10 points and Marc Vroomens 9 points was good enough for third. Tom Tokich and Ed Pellegrino took out the other placings.
In the 40 minute C/D grade race there were 4 intermediate sprints. D grade riders secured all the points in the first 2 primes with David Turner scoring most points. Jon Chowns, Mick Hanbury and Terry Merrigan also troubled the scorer. In spite of a 1 minute 45 second handicap C Grade riders managed to catch leading D grade bunch to contest the last 2 primes. Honours were shared amongst riders from both grades in these 2 sprints but the John Barlow/Cameron tandem managed to secure the most points. Ben Chown, David Turner, Ben Robey and Terry Merrigan also had some success. In the final sprint Ben Robey was too strong for the Barlow/Cameron tandem. David Stewart-Thomson finished third followed by Mick Hanbury and Warwick Wilson. With high placings in 2 primes and a second place in the final sprint, the Barlow/Cameron tandem scored 9 points to win the race. David Turner finished second with 7 points followed by Ben Robey and Jon Chowns both with 6 points and Mick Hanbury in fifth place with 4 points.
Thanks to the Marshalls Graham Tanton and Ben Davis and the regulars James Meredith and Graham Hendrie who set up for the races. Thanks also to First Aid Officer Simon Whitehead. Many thanks to James Meredith who used his lawn mower to cut the grass on the mound where competitors assemble and sit and also the grass at finish line which is occupied by the officials.
Ian Shaw