Post date: Jul 31, 2017 10:28:41 AM
Hello Vets,
In the Bleat this week;
• Dalton Incident
• Vets Out and About
• Pedal Power - Traffic Controller Course
• Racing this Week
• Race Report
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton
Dear members,
An alleged incident, where one member threatened another, was bought to my attention after the otherwise excellent racing at Dalton last weekend. Apparently the incident occurred after a new member got dropped from his grade and interfered with the racing in the grade below. As a new member, this breach of race etiquette is understandable. Any form of threatening is not acceptable and is strongly discouraged.
In the ACT Veterans while we may race hard, by far more important is the camaraderie built while enjoying a tea or coffee at the end of the race. The Committee and I want an ACT Veterans Club that is welcoming of a range of riding abilities and forgiving of mistakes. We understand that things can be said and actions taken in the heat of the moment, but there are limits to this. The safety and wellbeing of riders and officials is always our highest priority. The loss of a member because they feel threatened or belittled means less interesting racing for everyone else.
Any member that believes they have been threatened by another member has the right, and is encouraged, to report the threat to the Club. If the Club receives information that a member has been threatened, we will initiate an inquiry that could result in disciplinary action against the member that made the threat. In more serious cases the Club may involve outside organisations such as the Police.
As always, I am open to feedback on the incident and any other issues in regards to the operation of the Club. Email me at president@actvets.cc.
Dougal Torrance
President, ACT Veterans Cycling
From 16-23 September 2017, Vets' member Andrew Matz will participate in tourXOz - a 1200km charity ride between Perth and Broome WA in support of the not-for-profit Black Dog Institute (BDI). BDI is a world leader in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mood disorders such as depression and bipolar disorder.
Andy will be riding 150km a day for eight days, and is seeking to raise $3,500 for BDI. He'd be deeply grateful for Vets' support. The link to his fundraising page is attached:
http://www.tourXOz.com/my-fundraising/97/andrew-matz-tourxoz-2017
For more information on tourXOz and BDI, go to http://tourxoz.com.
Pedal Power ACT, in association with Roads ACT have scheduled a FREE Traffic Controller Course for the Cycling clubs and Community of the ACT for the past three years. Roads ACT have once again enabled FREE access to this training for two more dates in 2017.
The Traffic Controller training that is provided meets the NSW and the ACT requirements and provides the appropriate qualification to allow a registered person to control traffic at cycling (and other) events.
The Traffic Controller Training courses will be held for free for Canberra cycling clubs and cycling organisations in July and again in November. Spaces are limited for each training course.
Fully subsidised by Roads ACT these courses have been organised to assist in minimising costs on cycling clubs and organisations and help train volunteers, or club appointed marshals to fulfil the traffic controller duties at cycling events. We urge you to make use of this generous offer and assist your club and the broader cycling community by having more trained and skilled operators available for club and open events in the ACT. Please note ALL registrants must have a current driver’s license.
Course 2
Dates: Saturday 11 November
Time: Full day of training 8:30-5:30 pm
Location: Canberra Ave, Fyshwick
Cost: Free
To register please go to:
https://eventdesq.sportstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=24993&OrgID=4426
Any problems or concerns please let me know.
Kindest Regard,
Stephanie Sleen | Program and Events Manager
I work Mondays (9-5) Tuesdays (9-2:30) and Fridays (9-5)
Ph: 02 6248 7995
Pedal Power ACT
Level 2 Griffin Centre, 20 Genge Street, Canberra City ACT | GPO Box 581, Canbera ACT, 2601
ps. Marshals are critical to the survival of our racing schedule as we simply cannot conduct races safely without them. Please note the policy on members marshalling a race a year to support club races at https://actvets.cc/racing-with-us/marshal-schedule/. Note that members should not leave it to the last minute to try and find a replacement if they can't make their allotted marshaling duty.
Dougal Torrance
President, ACT Veterans Cycling
Where: Observation lookout on Tidbinbilla Road about 2.5 km towards Tharwa from Point Hut / Tidbinbilla Rd intersection (or about 4.5 km from Tharwa village).
When: 1:30 pm.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
20km TT course Tharwa - Pt Hut - Finish
Race Director: Rohan Verco Contact: Email: Rohan.Verco@gmail.com Ph 0419730555
Marshals: Paul Ledbrook, Stephen Isbel
The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
- Aug 12 @ Dog Trap Rd: Andrew Murrell, Simon Junakovic, Peter Young, Ian Mongan, Graham Tanton
One of the warmer winter days of the season greeted riders for graded scratch racing at Dalton. Dalton is one of those venues where we don’t race often, but when we do all the riders afterwards are glowing in their praise of the course. With the course going past the Royal Hotel in the centre of Dalton, I would have expected at least 1 rider to attack early, pull in for a quick schooner and re-join the race. But no, all riders were very professional on the day.
A small field of 5 riders bumped up from 4 with the late decision by Roger Northcote to grade up from B to A. Rumours sweeping the course that Steve Crispin and Co had ridden out from Canberra to race were quickly put to rest when they in fact had ridden from Gunning. But who’s to stop a good tale? With two laps from Dalton to Gunning to cover by the end of the first lap, Steve Crispin and Peter Marshall had cleared away from the chase of Roger & Tom Hartley. They had a 1 min lead at this point. By lap 2, this had strung out to over 3 mins as the front two worked together to build a sizeable lead. The 2nd half of the course consisted of an out and back along Rye Park Rd and an out and back along Rugby rd. It was during this part of the course that Steve broke the pace and was a lone finisher on the line with Peter coming in under 2 mins behind for 2nd place. 3rd place was a good sprint between Roger and Tom Hartley with Tom just edging out Roger .
Took the mantra that “Those who ride together finish together”. I don’t know if there were any attacks or counter attacks out on course, but each time they came past the finishing post they were tightly grouped together. This remained the same at the finish line where I couldn’t press the button on the timer quick enough to separate them. However it was visibly easy to judge the winner with Matt Hinchcliffe edging out Bruce Goodspeed for 1st place with Seymour Savell-Boss in 3rd. However credit to all B graders as the time split between 1st and 9th was about 10 seconds.
8 starters who by the end of lap 2 were only missing 2 riders who found the hillier 1st half of the course too much when the pace is being set by the engines of Taylor, Kon & co. The 2nd half of the race saw some attacks where the field got whittled down to 5 riders for the sprint. On the world stage, uphill sprints are dominated by the likes of Sagan and Matthews, but on this day in Dalton, Mark Taylor outfoxed and outpowered them in the sprint to take a narrow win ahead of Chris Kon in 2nd and Kevin Woods in 3rd. Once again you could throw a blanket over the first 5 finishers.
Only 3 lined up for D grade (calling all D graders!!). By the end of lap 1 James Curran and Andrew Matz had a break on Matt Shadbolt. No change by the end of lap 2. However once again the uphill sprint can sap any remaining power in the legs with James and Andrew thrashing it out towards the line. James Curran had enough to hold off Andrew with Matt in 3rd.
Once the D graders had finished their 1st lap it was time for E grade to step up. With only 1 lap out and back towards Gunning, it was shaping up to be a no holds barred battle. Several attacks mid race were relled in with Tess McLachlan finishing the strongest in 1st place followed by Don de Smet with Al Bontjer in 3rd.
A healthy field of 8 riders signed on, but disaster struck Rob Solomon during the warmup with a broken spoke ruling him out of the race. The ladies quickly dominated proceedings in the race with all 4 putting the hurt into the Graham Hendrie, Ian Morton and Paul Robey by the end of the Gunning leg. Another blanket finish with all 4 in contention right to the line. Liz Lowe was judged to be the winner just head of Alison Hale with Angie Wren in 3rd and Rosemary Robinson in 4th.
Bernie had a lonesome ride in G grade and came home in a great time of 1:35.
The Dalton course covers a large amount of ground with 3 turn points and the NSW requirements to have a trail and lead car. Holding such a great event would not have been possible without the following helpers:
Tony Beasley who despite surgery only a few weeks ago manned the Rye Park Rd turn point,
Daniel Grillo who covered the far reaches of the Rugby Rd turn point where the most action was probably a few sheep getting amorous,
Tony Sheehan + his better half. Tony manned the Gunning turn point whilst his wife helped in the finish chute,
Brian Chugg as trail car driver ensuring everyone got home safely,
Lindsay Graham as lead car ensuring that the 2 A graders didn’t get any slipstream assistance at all,
Simon our ever reliable Sports Med, and
Graham Hendrie as always doing the van duties and making sure all had a well earned cuppa at the end.
Ben Davis