Post date: Dec 14, 2015 11:55:28 AM
Hello Vets,
In this week's Bleat;
• Farewell James Meredith
• Canberra Cycling Club Xmas Ride
• Registration Renewal for 2016
• From the desk of the handicapper
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton
On Tuesday we said farewell to longtime member James Meredith who has retired and is moving up to sunny Queensland.
James has been a member since November 2006 and has racked up an impressive 473 events with the club. During the time he has been an enthusiastic volunteer, helping with setup, manning the signon desk and always willing, when we were short of Marshals, to fill in.
Tuesday's race started with a ceremonial tribute lap with members of his grade and some of the committee to send him off.
To all the members of the ACT Vets,
Thank you all for the send-off at the Crits on Tuesday evening. I will put this memory into the treasure chest of memories I have from riding with the Club.
I remember joining back in late 2006 at the young age of 59 and riding on what turned out to be the last ride we have had at the Sutton Driver training circuit and I managed to be there for the last ride at Kingston and again at Geoscience ! Was it me ?
There have been many memorable rides since and many memorable people that I have had the distinct privilege to know. I did like riding the crit circuits at Kingston and Geoscience where I always felt I had a chance maybe because I was confident in my ability to take the corners or perhaps I am just too foolhardy to realise how dangerous it was !
During my year or so of illness, when I couldn't ride, I took great pleasure in being able to put a number to a face and pretended to remember your names at sign-on. I have recovered from that illness ( a hiatus hernia that had half my stomach in the lung cavity) only to have the real breathing problem manifest itself as pleural plaques that have left a scar on section of my diaphragm giving something like a permanent stitch. But I did eventually remember many names ! It was an honour to be able to contribute the the functioning of the Club in what ever small way I could. While I am reluctant to name names for fear for forgetting someone I would like to mention 3 – Bill Frost for the years of towing the trailer to the events, Graham Hendrie for taking on the van and the sign-on program and Henry Beaverstock for his event organisation. There is huge gap to fill now that Henry can't assist and I, for one, have certainly missed him in the last couple of weeks – thanks Bill, Graham and Henry.
My wife and I will be travelling to the UK for Christmas with our daughter and her family, then to Brittany for 3 months of Long Service Leave, back to Canberra for 2 weeks and then return to QLD for retirement. My plan is to transfer membership to the Gold Coast vets and remain in touch with the vets riding community for as long as the legs last.
Thank you one and all for your companionship and camaraderie over the years. Ride safe.
Joyeux noel et bonne annee
James Meredith.
Canberra Cycling Club are conducting their annual social Xmas ride this Wednesday the 16th. This is a jovial ride (20km avg) that covers the usual Wednesday morning route around the inner southern suburbs. A host of celebrities including Santa often make an appearance. To ride with over 100 riders on what should be a beautiful morning along Adelaide Ave is certainly a sight to be seen. For more details, check out http://www.canberracyclingclub.org.au/social/ccc-christmas-bunch-ride-2/.
2016 membership renewals are due by 31 December 2015. To renew, go to https://memberdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10244 or follow the prompts via our website www.actvets.cc. Click on the Login link and enter the username and password from last year. If you have forgotten your login and password , after clicking on ‘login’ - go to the tab at the top right hand side of the screen and click on ‘Username & Password’ - then forward your email address as requested in the box that will appear. IMG will then forward you the information.
You need to renew your membership prior to 31 December or prior to your first race in 2016.
It is preferable to renew prior to the end of December if you intend to race in 2016. Before each race, a check has to be done of all those registered to race to ensure they are financial members and covered by insurance. As a courtesy to those committee members who work hard to ensure the club complies with the terms of our insurance cover and also produce the race results, please renew your membership at least 2 days prior to racing. Membership costs are:
A full competitive membership for 2016 is $100
A full competitive membership for a sight impaired tandem cyclist for 2016 is $85
Non competitive membership for 2016 is $5
Upon renewal, your 2016 licence will be emailed to you direct from IMG. Please print out a copy and it is suggested that you laminate it or place it in plastic for future reference during the year ahead. You will need to show this licence if you enter events run by other Veteran Cycling Clubs or the AVCC.
Please ensure that your personal particulars are always kept up to date, in particular your emergency contact details. For those members with First Aid qualifications please also update the site. It is a member’s responsibility to keep these updated via the IMG website.
Barbara Bayliss
Membership Secretary
Promotions and demotions for this week;
- James Meredith F to A!!! (Congratulations James, well deserved)
- Cameron Pitt D to C
- Nick Boylan B to A crit; C to B road
- Ben Vagnarelli B to C
- James Mills lower case c to upper case C
- Oren Fischer C to D
- Bill Frost E to F
- Ian Morton D to E
- Phil Coulton D to E
- Russell Marston D to E
- James Curran E to D
- Tony Beasley D to C
- Anthony Meredith A to B road
Comments from the race committee: It's a great relief that no more road races have to be organised this year. It's been a tremendous struggle to get marshals to help out each week. To everyone who volunteered this year--a big thank you. If you didn't, there will be plenty of opportunities to make up for it next year!
Rob Langridge
There will be the traditional wheelrace format, annual presentations, plus the club will be providing soft drinks and finger food including spinach pies, sandwiches, mini quiches, Italian meatballs and roulade.
Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Qualifying Heats:
G 5:40 10 min + 1 lap
C/D 6:00 20 min + 2 laps
E/F 6:28 18 min + 2 laps
A/B 6:52 22 min + 2 laps
Wheel Race:
Top 5 qualifiers in each grade from heats 7:30 4 laps
Race Director: Steve Dean
Contact: Email: steve.dean2004@gmail.com Ph 0413749652
The nominated marshals for this event are;
• Dan Ashcroft
• Stephen Cusack
Please confirm with the Race Director that you are available. If you unable to make the date that you have been rostered please find a replacement.
This will be the last Track event before racing re-commences in the New Year on 6 January. Beer, soft drink and nibbles will be supplied by the club, for a Christmas celebration, after the racing. All are welcome, including partners etc. If you feel like bringing a small plate, that would be appreciated.
The Program for Wednesday is as follows:
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice;
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 12-Lap graded scratch race;
6.20pm – 6.50pm: 8-Lap Christmas Wheel Race (Handicap Trophy Race)
6.50pm – 7.50pm: Drinks & Nibbles for Christmas Celebration.
Nineteen riders participated in the 9-Dec track session. The weather was warm and near perfect for racing.
In the 12-lap A grade scratch race, it was on from the start. The tandem pair Cameron Ermet and John Barlow took an early lead until being caught around lap 5. At this point a tight group comprising Gary Waldron, Craig Kentwell, Aaron Sedgmen and Michael Landgon burst forward and established a handy gap. The bunch did not give up. They relentlessly pegged back the lead and by lap 9 the bunch were back together. At this point John-Paul DeSousa took his chance to break from the field. Initially his lead looked decisive. However, the bunch were too close by the bell lap. The race ended in a bunch sprint taken by Steve Jones, Aaron Sedgmen and Michael Langdon, in that order.
The 12-lap B grade scratch race was also enterprising. Several riders established breaks that were quickly pegged back. The bunch split with the pace and as the finish approached, Ross Scutts took an early lead that looked very promising. However, Ian Drayton, Phil Anderson and Phil Coulton cranked on the pace as the bell lap commenced. They overhauled Ross to finish in the order listed.
The evening’s second event was a 4-lap handicap from a standing start. From the scratch mark, Steve Jones could not gain the wheel of the fast starting Michael Langdon and Aaron Sedgmen. He was out of contention. All the other riders looked to have a chance as the race unfolded. Ben Robey took his chance and held an early gap to finish first. Aaron Sedgmen and Michael Landon overtook all the contending riders to take second and third respectively. In B grade, the race looked equally competitive with James Meredith using all his energy to hold an early gap. The chasing riders were slowly aggregating. By the bell lap two riders had caught James and accelerated for a sprint finish. Ian Drayton took a fine win from Phil Anderson. James Meredith held on for the consolation of third place in one of his last rides before leaving to retire in God’s country.
The evening’s third event was a 12-lap points race with four sprints of equal points. In A grade, Steve Jones was dominant with three sprint wins and 17 points. There was quite a mix in the rest of the group with Gary Waldron taking one sprint and various riders gaining useful points in the successive sprints. In the wash up, Chris Thompson and Aaron Sedgment finished equal second on 9 points. John-Paul DeSousa gained 8 points to finish third. In B grade, results were also well mixed up over the individual sprints. Ian Drayton took two sprint wins and garnered 16 points to finish first. Phil Anderson finished a close second on 15 points. Bruce Griffin finished third on 11 points. Both Phil and Bruce took one of the four sprints.
The track session closed with an all-in, Italian pursuit. This race was exciting, as usual. The B grade riders in Team 2 (Ian Drayton, Bruce Griffin and Phil Anderson) knew that they had to establish an early lead to compensate for the strength of the anchor riders in Team 1. They did not disappoint. As the race progressed it was clearly going to be tight. Over the race, gaps developed in the Team 1 bunch. The extra energy expended to close these gaps proved the decisive factor in the race. By the final lap, Team 1 had just enough lead to hold off Team 2. The final margin was within 10 metres.
Major place getters were as follows:
12-Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Steve Jones, Aaron Sedgmen, Michael Langdon; (B Grade) Ian Drayton, Phil Anderson, Phil Coulton.
4-Lap Handicap: (A Grade) Ben Robey, Aaron Sedgmen, Michael langdon; (B Grade) Phil Anderson, Ian Drayton, James Meredith.
12-Lap Points Race: (A Grade) Steve Jones (17pts), Chris Thompson & Aaron Sedgmen (9 pts), John-Paul DeSousa (8pts); (B Grade) Ian Drayton (16 pts), Phil Anderson (15pts), Bruce Griffin (11pts).
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 1 (Michael Langdon, Ben Davis, Aaron Sedgmen, John-Paul DeSousa, Chris Thompson, Ross Scutts, Phil Coulton).
Graeme O'Neill
Perfect conditions for the graded scratch at Uriarra on Sunday 13 December. 39 riders turned up to race and were treated to about the best possible conditions. There was even a tailwind from the Crossing back to the Homestead. What more could you ask for? Well, maybe some more riders, but more mention of that below.
All grades were evenly represented with around 5-7 riders with the exception of G who decided to sleep in on the day.
The course saw the riders head off towards the top of the first hill at Blue Range Spur, then down to the top of the crossing, back to Blue Range Spur and repeat the process to the finish line which was uphill to the homestead.
So no big hills but the course quickly took its toll. All grades lost a rider or two on Blue Range Spur. There was a fair bit of time trialling going on between the racing.
In A the victim was Christophe Barberet. The rest of the group fought it out till near the finish when the joint winners, Crispin/Hartley, broke away.
B stayed together much longer and the finish was hard fought with Peter Young beating out Bruce Goodspeed and Reinhard Mauch in a sprint finish. Only 6 seconds separated the first 6 placegetters so there was some very serious jockeying for position happening in the last kilometre!
In C grade the piece of string also broke on Blue Range Spur. The break away of McVay/Preston held to the finish when they fought out the sprint and finished in that order. Not even the tandem could catch them on the long run to the Crossing and the rest of the grade came in in ones and twos.
D Grade saw a tight finish with Terrence Merrigan edging out Anthony Beasley and Martin Horwood.
E Grade saw Phil Anderson badly misjudge the finish to be edged out by Peter Lafferty who timed his finish to perfection. Kirsti McVay was a very close third. After that the rubber band stretched a little!
F Troop was also hotly contested at the end with the timekeeper getting a severe challenge. Only 2 seconds separated the victor, Tony Sheehan, from Lindsay Graham and Barbara Bayliss.
Thanks to the marshals and ATC’s (authorised traffic controllers) – Kevin Hennessy, Paul Scherl, Belinda Wren, Scott Tozer, Dennis Jessop and Ben Carmody.
The usual thanks also go to Graham Hendrie for bringing out the van and assisting with set up until called to the line to race. Also Ian Morton for setting out signage. And that is not to mention the flurry of activity last week by Rob Langridge to ensure we had the correct officials on the day.
Indeed we were so well organised we could have easily dealt with another 39 riders so lets make sure that we get 80 riders to our next road race!
Rob Diamond