Post date: Aug 17, 2015 11:58:12 AM
Hello Vets,
In the Bleat this week;
• From the Desk of the President
• Register for Fitz's Challenge in 2015
• The Alfred 6 Hour - Charity Mountain Bike Race
• Racing this Week
• Race Report
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton
'Calling all Vets Riders - the business end of the season is at hand'
We have seen some fantastic racing over the last few weeks with numbers building from the deep winter 'hibernation' to finally achieve some (numerical) respectability. The last weekend saw 49 riders (plus 9 officials) across all grades to compete in a secret handicap race on the Old Federal Hwy course. The conditions were fantastic - a very light breeze, some sun and only a handful of cars and one truck to bother us on the three laps out to Lake George and back.
The week before (8 August) saw 41 riders and 7 officials in a hard fought graded scratch at Lookout Hill, which followed the Cole Family H'cap at Dog Trap Road the week before with 36 and 8.
Getting fifty riders or even seventy would gladden our hearts, especially as we move into the really interesting part of the winter road racing season. Here is some food for thought over the next few weeks. We would love to see you 'out there'.
- 22 August. Get your climbing legs into gear with this TT which is run part way up the Corin road from the corner to Woods Reserve. It's only as hard as you wish to make it, but are you improving or deteriorating from the last time you rode this bench-mark ride? Give it a try . . . if you like real effort.
- 29 August. A good relaxation for last weeks sore legs (ha ha), we have a very interesting graded points race at Stromlo. Get out there and give it a try and see how easy it is to win those points in your grade. . . or not.
- 5 September. The big one - the club championships out at Uriarria. You may have been hiding in your grade all year, but this is your chance to ride in age categories and see how you go. It can be the race of truth for some and you might be surprised how well you do, but be sure to play it tactically and pick some stronger riders to lead you.
- 12 September. The annual 'Iron Mike'. The 'Mike' will show up who has been doing the hard yards over winter and who has been staying under the doona. The Iron Mike is a festival of going up hill, then going down, then racing on the flat. There is just no excuse for missing this classic race. It's the one to brag about to your grand kids . . . just being there is enough.
So let's see if we can have some good weather and crack 70 riders, then 'the ton' at these great road races. Look forward to seeing you.
Alex O'Shea
Fitz's Challenge - Canberra’s long distance cycling event – will be held on Sunday 25 October 2015 to provide participants the chance to choose their challenge from one of five course distances while also raising much needed funds for The Kids’ Cancer Project.
The five course distances on offer in Fitz’s Challenge are:
• 50 km Tidbinbilla Challenge
• 105 km Tharwa Challenge
• 165 km Fitz's Classic
• 210 km Fitz's Epic
• 255 km Fitz's Extreme
Registrations for the event are now open.
This event is being conducted by the Alpine Cycling Club with 100% of profits being donated to The Alfred Hospital in support of Emergency and Trauma Care.
Details of the event are www.alfred6hour.org.au.
Where: Intersection Corin Dam Rd, Tidbinbilla Rd.
When: 1:30 pm.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description: 7km Time Trial up Corin Dam Rd to finish at Woods Reserve. Return to start for presentation and arvo tea.
Race Director: James Meredith
Contact: Email JamesMeredith5@bigpond.com
Sports Med might have a problem providing a first-aider this Saturday at Corin. Just in case, could any first-aid club member who is available to be on standby please contact Ian Albrey.
The nominated marshals for this event are;
• Simon Milnes
• David McCook
• Ben Davis
• David Johnson
• ONE MORE ATC REQUIRED
The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
- Aug 29 @ Stromlo: Scott Main, Bernie Crowe
- Sep 05 @ Uriarra: Lyndsay Graham, Tony Weir, John Paul DeSouza Andrew Remely, David Rowe, Tony Rowley
- Sep 13 @ Iron Mike: Mike McGurgan, Ian Albrey, Adam Carmody, Dean Groening, Travis Hicks
- Sep 20 @ Yass: Volunteers required.
The latest Marshal Roster has been uploaded on to the club website at;
It was a dark and stormy night......no, I can't back that up. In fact the race conditions were near on perfect. Temperature in the low teens and little to no wind, and to make the race conditions even better there was very little traffic. So the 49 riders who turned up to race were very well catered for.
Being a blind handicap the idea is to try to hang on to riders in a grade(s) above you, while if you're an A grader then you ride as quick as you can and drop any lower graders. While three A graders (Ashley Carruthers, Marc Vroomans and Toby Driscoll) were able to drop all would be wheelsuckers, and record the fastest time for the race (the honour went to Ashley who recorded an average speed of 37.7kph over the course), they weren't fast enough to counter the effect of the handicaps awarded to the lower grades.
C grade rode well together as a group, assisted by a number of A grade riders who didn't make the cut with their fellow A graders, and recorded an average speed of 34.8 kph, a fast time for the course and stacks up well in comparison to the leading A graders pace. Oddly no B grade riders turned up for the race. However due to an 'oversight' on the part of the C grade riders, or was it simply because Sue Powell and Terry Moore were too strong, but the aforementioned riders, who were D graders, managed to hold onto the C grade pack.
Or was it an oversight? Did the A grade riders keep the pace high enough so that no one could attack off the front, but not so high that the D graders would get dropped, and at the same time exact revenge on their fellow A graders who had ridden off?
With the benefit of their handicaps and the hard work of the C/A grade pack, Sue and Terry were able to secure 1st and 2nd spot respectively in the race. Well done and commiserations, I'm sure that your efforts will come to the attention of the handicapper - it doesn't pay to keep up with A graders when you're meant to be in D grade!
Securing 3rd spot in the race was Anthony O'Connor, a C grade rider. Again, well done. The hard work done by C grade did have some reward.
Being a blind handicap the race pretty much splintered across the course, but no one was lapped and we only had one DNF.
Fastest E grade rider was Steven Simms (30.9 kph), fastest F grade rider was Mick Donaldson (29.2 kph) and the fastest G grade rider was Lindsay Graham (26 kph).
Overall a very good race.
Thanks to the following marshals and helpers who ensured the race went smoothly: Brian Chugg, John Ignatius, Ben Davis, Alex O'shea, Phil Coulton, Tony Weir, Terence Merrigan (and the Alsatian who bit Terry on Friday ensuring he couldn't race but could marshal instead), Ian Morton (sign setup), Henry Beaverstock and Graham Hendrie.
On anther matter unrelated to the race, Adrian Rollins, a member of this Club, is currently over in Europe attempting to do the three Haute Routes CONSECUTIVELY.
For those who may not be familiar with the three Haute Routes (held in the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Dolomites) each are held over 7 days and each day generally takes in enough climbing to give you altitude sickness. Each Haute Route is separated by one day only. Attempting one is brave, attempting two is foolhardy, attempting three is downright insane!
You can follow Adrian on Strava, or on his blog: https://mamilinthemountains.wordpress.com/
Owain Tilley