Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

  • Pedal Power – Traffic Controller Course
  • Racing this Week
  • Race Report

Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc

Ian Morton

Pedal Power – Traffic Controller Course

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
www.pedalpower.org.au

 

  1. 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 athttps://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

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 16th September: Uriarra Homestead Club Championship

Where:Uriarra Homestead, intersection Uriarra Rd and Bridabella Rd.
When: 1:30 pm.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Age Championship – Start on the road towards the top of Mt McDonald, turn before the decent to Cotter, return to Uriarra Homestead and turn left, turn point is the short turn near East West Road. Ride towards Uriarra Crossing to the turn point approx. 300 meters before the descent to the crossing and return to Uriarra Homestead (1 lap). Older age groups miss the Mt McDonald section on the second lap.

Race Director: Ian Morton Contact: Email: mortoni@optusnet.com.au Ph 0411112007

Marshals: John Paul De Sousa, Tony Weir, Frank O’Sullivan, Scott Tozer, Heath Chester

Upcoming Marshall Roster

The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
– 3/10- Stromlo Crit: Sue Duckett
– 10/10- Stromlo Crit: Simon Johnston
– 17/10- Strolo Crit: Liz Lowe

RACE REPORT:

THE IRON MIKE 2017 – 9th September

A fine spring day with an earlier than usual start at 12.30pm. 47 riders signed up for the gruellingly event which is a handicap race with grades being sent off at different intervals starting with G Grade and the sole rider being Tony Weir who commenced 45 minutes before the last and again a sole rider was away in A1 being Steve Crispin.

This is a challenging hilly course of 2 laps from the Uriarra Homestead (start/finish) to end of the bitumen, return to start/ finish, then to top of the crossing and return to start/finish. Do that twice and you have completed 60 Km.

At the end of the first lap Rosemary Robinson had built up a suitable lead. The headwind on the return from the end of the bitumen played havoc with most riders in the open stretches particularly towards the top of the crossing. Riders began to pull out after one lap with a couple of mechanicals and fatigue for others.

The second lap sorted out many riders with more DNFs and we had a total of 14 withdrawals on the day. On the return journey the lead had changed with Rohan Verco well out in front and while he did cross the line first he did not claim first as he did admit maybe C grade was not quite the right fit for his returning after a recent lay off from racing.

First place went to Andrew Chamberlain (B Grade) closely followed by Steve Crispin and Grant Shaw (C Grade) who headed a bunch finish sprint. Congratulations to our newest member Laura Darlington (who started with C grade) in her first ride with the club and first female across the line in 4th place in the bunch sprint, followed closely by Kevin Wells 5th and Belinda Chamberlain 6th. Next was a sprint between David Dickson 7th ahead of Paul Frankston 8th. A gap to Des Brown in 9th followed by a final sprint for 10th won by Sean Ifland holding off Stuart Roesler, Michael Carr, Owen Tilley and Nick Boylan.

We had a police vehicle tour our course during the event which is a first for me.

For those in attendance Ian Morton had a bit of difficulty after getting to the end of the bitumen for a second time and consequently stopped to wait for assistance. Thanks to our first aider Simon Whitehead who did a loop of the course and picked Ian up and returned him to the start/finish where an Ambulance was called. Ian, you will be pleased to hear, recovered well and was able to get home that evening in plenty of time to watch the football.

Thank you to our marshalls on the day Ian Albery, Polly Templeton, Frank O’Sullivan, Sue Powell, Steve Curran and Graham Hendrie. Thanks also to others who helped on the day in Bruce and Gill.

Finally a reminder to all that we keep left as much as possible and only 2 abreast maximum. A motor cyclist informed us he was nearly taken out by a 4 wheel drive passing cyclists who were taking up too much room.

Thanks for all who participated. While a warm start, the wind chill certainly played a part towards the end of the race.

Kim Malcolm
Race Referee

Thanks for the assistance

Thanks for the assistance from the club members who drove my car home after the event, sorry I don’t have your names. Thanks to Simon, our first aid attendant for his response. I also appreciate the messages of concern from the members of the club for my wellbeing.

For those who are interested, it was a case of Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia) which resulted in a very high heart rate (peaked at 238 bpm) and very low blood pressure (Systolic < 60 mmHg) resulting in a severe shortage of oxygen. Fortunately it corrected itself while I was in the ambulance and after a checkup at the hospital, I was cleared to go home.

I’m feeling much better now but I plan to take it a bit easier on the bike for a while.

Ian Morton