Post date: Mar 21, 2016 12:46:36 PM
Hello Vets,
In this week's Bleat;
• Tour de Cure Charity Black Tie - Fri 8th April
• From the Desk of the Handicapper
• Interstate Events
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton
I have offered to help out for this good cause by organising a table for a few people, plus it looks like good fun. This fundraiser is specifically for the fundraising efforts of two friends, Ged and Laura, who will ride the Syd Bris 2016 Tour de Cure.
Ged and Laura set themselves spectacular fundraising targets each year! This is my way of helping a little bit and supporting the cause.
While the ticket price is up there, nights like these are a great reason to dress up and enjoy each other’s company, while opening up new networks savouring a famous venue.
It would be great if we could get enough of the Vets Track riders (partners welcome) to form a full table and reminisce on “what could have been” and “tales of success” and “gear inch ratios” and “Italian pursuit buzzing” from the 15/16 season.
Also consider this … instead of getting up early on Sat 9th for your training ride, stay up late on Fri 8th.
Please let me know by Thursday 24th March.
(my preference is for you to book and pay directly with NPC using the following link https://npc.org.au/member_events/tour-de-cure.
John Paul De Sousa
0411 804 658
Changes this week;
Michael Foulds B to A
Steven Stolk C to B
• Tour De Riverina interclub dates;
- 3 April - Butch Menz Memorial - Wagga CC
- 24 April - Geoff Dixon Memorial - Albury CC
For more information http://riverinainterclubracing.com/tdr/.
• 2016 South Pacific Veterans Cycling Championships
- 25-28 March
A combination of aged based events (the Time Trial and 300 metre sprints), and graded road race and Criterium events. In the age group races, riders are grouped in 5 year increments. Women start at 30 years and men at 35 years of age. Click HERE for details and online entry.
• Tolland Cycling Club Wagga Wagga
- 16-17 April
90 km Handicap and 71km/54km Graded Scratch. Details and registration https://eventdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=16484&OrgID=20999. For more information contact Barry O'Hagan 02 69252404 or 043191803.
Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
EFG 5:50 15 m + 2
A/C 6:15 A 20m+2, C 18m+2
B/D 6:45 B 20m+2, D 18m+2
Race Director: Lloyd Bennett
Contact: Email: lloydpbennett@gmail.com Ph 0424162038
The nominated marshals for this event are;
• Dennis Puniard,
• Tanya VanderPutt
Vets,
Sorry, Track program should have read;
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 – 6.40pm: 2-Lap paired match race
6.40pm – 7.00pm: 2-Lap Handicap
7.00pm – 7.20pm: Italian Pursuit.
The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
- 29 Mar @ Stromlo: Leon Horsnell, Stewart Stockwell
- 9 Apr @ Lookout Hill: Belinda Wren, Douglas Widdup, Rico Fitch, Jason McAvoy
- 16 Apr @ Uriarra: Lindsay Graham, Reinhard Mauch
A cool evening saw A/C grade start first an only a group of Roos who decided to join in made things interesting down the southern end of the course. Luckily our roo rustler Stu was able to keep an eye on them for a while. A grade with a group of 15 took off fast and had alone break away for the first few laps. Things became interesting with about 5 to go when both A & C grade seemed to be travelling about the same pace, gradually A grade separated and allowed C grade to begin their final 2 laps on schedule. C grade had 12 starters.
A grade winners were Stephen Blackburn after being in an earlier break away, followed by Brenden Savage and Peter Kitchen.
C grade maintained a fairly consistent pace throughout to produce an interesting sprint with Steven Stolk winning from Mark Harwood and James Curran.
B & D grade were next up and the wind was still firm but getting cooler. A couple of breaks made B grade work a little hard through out causing the group of 22 starters to break up towards the end. D grade after starting with a group of 16 gradually reduced its numbers in the pack and lost one rider who had to withdraw because of a broken spoke.
B grade was won by Michael Foulds from Robin Mules and Darius Everett.
D grade had a clear winner in Andrew Hall followed by Michael Hanbury and Brian Chugg.
E, F & G started late with conditions becoming cooler and cloudy making the light even but fading. E had a group of 13 start while F & G had two each and started together. After a few laps F & G had split up while E maintained most of its group. E grade produced the closest finish on the night with Steve Dean winning from Ian Morton and Mike Hayes. F grade was won by Michael Spoljaric from David Witteveen while G grade was won by Paul Robey from Bruce Jones.
One issued raised with regards to safety was a group line passing slower riders on corners sometimes moved over too early for the slow riders forcing them to take evasive action often to side of the track. Please be aware and take care in future.
Thanks to our helpers marshalls Phil Anderson, Seymour Savell-Boss, Stu Horner (first aid and roo rustler) and spotter Scottie ( Phil's mate in town for the day).
Kim Malcolm
Wednesday, 16 March was a little cooler than we have come to expect. Initially, there was a very stiff breeze facing riders in the front straight. As expected, wind conditions eased over the session, providing good conditions for an evening of hard racing. Track attendance was good with 19 riders almost evenly split between A and B grades.
The initial scratch races were 10 laps. The A grade race kicked off at a very fast pace with all riders working hard to hold on. By mid race Kerry Knowler moved into the lead and backed off the pace to a more sustainable level. At around 4 laps to go, Michael Langdon put in a burst, but lost interest after half a lap. It fell to Rowan McMurray to set the pace. Rowan soon gapped the field and began to look dangerous. Michael Langdon and Paul Conner set off in pursuit. By the bell lap, a small lead bunch had consolidated and was accelerating to contest the sprint. Paul Connor took a close win from Brendan Savage and Michael Langdon. A good result for Paul, who continues to improve and for Brendan on his first outing with the track group.
In B grade, the pace was tolerable over the first six laps. By lap seven, Ben Robey was hovering over the lead rider and soon took over, cranking up the pace and initially scrambling the bunch. Most of B grade did a good job to retrieve the leaders. By the bell lap, the bunch was largely consolidated, with only two riders off the pace. After a torrid final lap, Steve Hirsler had the legs for a fine win over Phil Anderson and Ross Scutts.
The next event was a 2-Lap time trial from a standing start. To perform in this event requires a good start, not easy with a high-geared fixie. The event times in A grade had a six second spread. In B grade, the spread was larger, at around 10 seconds. Michael Langdon set the best time in A grade at 50.65 seconds. Steve Hirsler was fastest in B grade at 57.11 seconds. In A grade, Paul Connor and Brendam Savage set second fastest times that were identical to 1/100 th of a second (52.09 seconds).
The next event was 4-lap handicap in A and B grades. The handicaps again worked quite well with the fields converging as the bell lap approached. In A grade, Alec Millett did a great job to hold off Michael Langdon and Paul Connor in a close finish. In B grade the limit rider was caught on the final lap providing a good contest among several riders. Ross Scutts took the win from Steve Hirsler and Linda Stalls.
The evening’s final Italian Pursuit was better than ever. Dave McGuiness led off for Team 1 in his first track session. He did a great job matching a fast starting Team 2. Team 2 initially established a good lead and looked unbeatable. By the time Paul O’Connor and Michael Langdon took charge for Team 1, their prospects look dim. Paul put in a deceptively quick lap. However, Michael still had a deficit for the final lap and appeared unlikely to change the race status. Amazingly, over the last half lap, Michael gained a small margin for a Team 1 win. It was a great race for both teams and smiles from all competitors confirmed the camaraderie and enjoyment that this event generates.
The major place getters for the 16 March races were as follows:
10-Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Paul Connor, Brendan Savage, Michael Langdon (B Grade) Steve Hirsler, Phil Anderson, Ross Scutts.
2-Lap TT standing start : (A Grade) Michael Langdon (50.65), Paul Connor (52.09s), Brender Savage (52.09s) (B Grade) Steve Hirsler (57.11s), Bruce Griffin (58.39s), Linda Stals (59.70s).
4-Lap Handicap: (A Grade) Alec Millett, Michael Langdon, Paul Connor (B Grade) Ross Scutts, Steve Hirsler, Linda Stals.
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner, Team 1 (Michael Langdon, Paul Connor, Rowan McMurray, John-Paul DeSousa, Ben Robey, Ross Scutts, Dave McGuiness).
Season Point Score Update: Michael Langdon (293), Alec Millett (252), Steve Hirsler (227), Steve Jones (213), Ross Scutts (213), John-Paul DeSousa (197), Bruce Griffin (159).
Omnium Track Championship Score Update: Ross Scutts (15), Alec Millett (11), Bruce Griffin (8), Steve Hirsler (8), Chris Thompson (7), Michael Langdon (7), John-Paul De Sousa (5), Ben Davis (5), Peta Brill (5), Phil Coulton (4)
Note that the final weeks in March continue to present a challenge in ensuring we have qualified first aiders present. If you are first-aid qualified, your attendance for these last few track sessions would be much appreciated.
Graeme O'Neill
Sunday mornings at Stromlo Forest Park are certainly different racing conditions than Tuesday nights. Sunday morning greeted the riders with a strong southerly wind which reminded riders, spectators and officials that winter is just around the corner. Add to the mix a hundred or so runners, a few kids popping mono’s on their mountain bikes down the straight and an elderly woman pushing a trolley with her dog between the running track and the carpark all adds up to an interesting few hours!
Braving the early morning breeze were the women. An all in event things remained civil with all riders using the tandem of Rosemary Robinson and Lindy Hou as a wind break down the back straight. With 10 minutes to go Ally Roche and Terry Moore attacked and quickly opened up a good 100mtr gap. The others relied on the power of the tandem to drag them back to the lead two but Ally and Terry worked very well out in front and both won their respective grades in the end.
Results:
Div 2- 1st Ally Roche, 2nd Linda Stals, 3rd Alison Hale
Div 3- 1st Terry Moore, 2nd Rosemary Robinson/Lindy Hou
Div 4- 1st Barbara Bayliss
The “young guns” lined up ready with their race faces on. With a strong tail wind down the finishing straight every lap they came past like rockets. After 10 minutes a 5 rider breakaway formed and worked very nicely together each taking turns into the wind with some impressive cornering around collarbone corner. With 7 mins to go a new attack was launched but was quickly brought back together. Often when attacks are folded back into the peloton a counter-attack is launched and Aaron Thomson executed this with panache and proceeded to display a power ride for the rest of the race. The real battle was in the chase group where M2 were still jostling for 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the final lap which resulted in a great sprint finish
Results:
Div 1- 1st Aaron Thomson, 2nd Peter Kitchen
Div 2- 1st Darius Everett, 2nd Paul Scherl, 3rd Marcus O’Toole
In Cameron Ermert’s last race for the club before he moves south of the border you can sense he was up for a big showing. We’ve watched over the past few years Cameron and John climb from F grade right up to A grade. Not only gritty racers on the road and crit, but they also backup in the odd track race and I will attest that they are bloody hard to pass on that final bend in a sprint. Goodluck for all future endeavors in Melbourne Cameron and we hope to see you make the odd celebrity appearance in the future. In the racing department Bruce Goodspeed launched a very impressive attack with 12 minutes remaining and displayed extremely “good speed” to hold out a well organized chase bunch. Apparently riding into a strong headwind every 2 minutes by oneself will eventually wear you down and with 4 minutes remaining on the clock the chase group with notable A graders Blackburn and Spillane acting as the engine caught Bruce and powered on. They say bright bikes win races and on this occasion the Blackburn express keep on motoring to post an impressive win. Powering home in 3rd was the tandem of Cameron and John who fought to chase the whole way. Right behind the tandem it was on for young and old in a sprint finish with Roger Northcote showing a very impressive pair of sprinting legs to take out his age group ahead of Bruce Goodspeed.
Results:
Div 3- 1st Stephen Blackburn, 2nd Nathan Spillane 3rd Cameron Ermert/John Barlow
Div 4- 1st Roger Northcote, 2nd Bruce Goodspeed, 3rd Dave Mullens
In true democratic style when the offer was made to Div 5 & 6 to run a 20 min race instead of a 25 min race, it was quickly voted down. I would have thought at least someone would want the T20 version of crit racing? With 15 mins to go, Mark Harris decided to test out the turbo button in his body and stir things up. Dom Rideaux and Wayne Shippley went with Mark and full credit to these two riders who weren’t going to let Mark have an easy race. Strategically it was a very interesting affair with Dom and Wayne putting Mark into the wind and with Mark slowing it right down to force them to the front. But with 7 mins to go, the power of Harris was all too much and he powered onto victory. In Div 6 Phil Coulton and Tony Beasley locked horns and it was a case of trying to mix it with the fast boys for the first part of the race for Phil who was unable to hang on for as long as Tony could.
Results:
Div 5- 1st Mark Harris, 2nd Dom Rideaux, 3rd Wayne Shippley
Div 6- 1st Tony Beasley, 2nd Phil Coulton
The last event of the day was shortened to a 15 min race as the runners were getting restless in moving their cars, the sun had started to defrost the spectators and the day was rolling into 11am. Mark Taylor lit the fuse early in the 1st lap and decided to have the most fun in 15 minutes. By lap 3 he was out of sight in the home straight by the chase group and had broken them to the point where they were content to race off for 2nd place. Mark continued to show that he is coming back into form by crossing the line without raising as much as a sweat and a cheeky grin. Div 8 got a little bit hairy in the sprint finish with one rider having to take evasive action to avoid Paul Robey. And in Div 9, Bruce Jones racing by himself only had to ride at his own pace for the full 15 minutes to add to his gold medal pile that is greater than Michael Phelps.
Results:
Div 7- 1st Mark Taylor, 2nd Alex Sommariva, 3rd Phil Martin
Div 8- 1st Des Brown, 2nd Graham Hendrie, 3rd Michael Spoljaric
Div 9- 1st Bruce Jones
And a big THANKYOU to the following people who without their help these events would be dangerous and poorly run.
Kim Malcolm for marshall duties
Richard Burrell for marshall duties
Nick Boylan who even with more pins in his arm and hand than a voodoo doll was still able to help
Alex O’Shea who was part pedestrian controller, part Pomeranian dog tamer and also handled the medal ceremony duties.
Phill Coulton for wrangling the runners on the other side of the track.
Graham Hendrie for the setup and coffee & tea facilities
Ben Davis