Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

  • From the Desk of the Handicapper
  • Racing this Week
  • Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

From the desk of the handicapper in Wellington, NZ

Let me start by thanking Heath Chester for assisting the week before, and thanks to Sean Fleming for being time keeper this week.

This week’s Promotion;
– Anthony Evans B to A

Rob Langridge

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 21th November: Stromlo Criterium

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Note: A/C is on the same timeslot this week as last week (last week was “out of pattern”).
B/D 5:50 B 40m+2, D 35m+2
E/F/G 6:35 28 min + 2 laps
A/C 7:10 A 40m+2, C 35m+2

Race Director:  Linda Stals
Contact: Email: linda.stals@anu.edu.au    Ph  0419283599

Marshal:  Brendan Lakey

Wednesday, 22th November: Track Racing

The Program for Wednesday is as follows:
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice;
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 10-lap graded scratch race;
6.20pm – 6.40pm: 4-Lap Handicap;
6.40pm – 7.00pm: 12 Lap Points Race;
7.00pm – 7.20pm: Italian Pursuit.

Sunday, 26th November: Dairy Flat Road Criterium

Where: Dairy Road, Fyswick.
When: 8:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Grade start times/durations to be advised.

Race Director: Nick Boylan Contact: Email: paddlepower@grapevine.com.au    Ph  0406379973

Marshal: Rico Fitch

Upcoming Marshall Roster

The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
Date: Event – Marshals
28-11-2017: Stromlo FP – Peter Kitchen
3-12-2017: Cotter/Mt MacDonald –
5-12-2017: Stromlo FP – Terence Merrigan
10-12-2017: Dairy Road – David Dickson
12-12-2017: Stromlo FP – Duane Toohey
17-12-2017: Dairy Road – Matthew Haddock
19-12-2017: Stromlo FP – Ben Davis

 

RACE REPORT:

Stromlo – 14th November

G Grade

Bernie Crowe welcomed back Bruce Jones to the bunch after a bit of a lay-off. They shadowed each other for the entire race until Bernie edged past Bruce by half a wheel at the finish.

F Grade

In the perfect conditions, F Grade stuck together like glue.

Such is the smoothness of F Grade that they all look like they are on e-bikes but there were actually plenty of watts being produced. The closing sprint was very close but David Witteveen took it ahead of Mike Hayes and Ian Lake.

E Grade

During the race briefing, Des Brown caused an uproar by peeling of his jersey to remove his undershirt. The gasps from the bunch had tandem stoker Lindy Hou asking what earth was going on but no-one had the adjectives to accurately describe what they had seen. The lack of wind meant that everyone was content to sit in and channel their inner-Cavendish. A number of riders had short digs but to no avail. The last lap saw a number of gaps formed and the top few place-getters entered straight clear of the rest. In the end, the old master Alex Sommariva won easily from Peter Jovanovic and Tess McLachan.

D Grade

All the talk after the race was the 39.? average speed and the fact that B Grade never caught them. All the attacks were confined to riders hammering on the front. The rising pace in the last lap broke up the bunch and just before the line, Kristy Cummin and Reg Sheridan were going neck and neck but Kristy summoned the strength to take line honours with Dan Grillo in third.

C Grade

C Grade was a small bunch content to roll around for 30 plus minutes but it must have been hard going as 3 riders were dropped.

Luke Healy who had been the most aggressive so far led the bunch into the finish straight. Allan Bontjer came onto his hip with about 50 to go but not wanting to disappoint Luke’s cheering family decided to sit back down and cruise into the second ahead of Wayne Benham.

B Grade

B Grade started with a bang and ended with another but overall was a relaxed race compared to speedy D Grade. The early attacks containing combinations of Mark Taylor, Conan Liu, Nick Boylan, Jason Parks, Heath Chester, Chris Kon and Cam Pitt all looked promising but didn’t stick. With about 15 minutes remaining, the bunch had reformed with everyone sitting back for the sprint. With 3 laps to go, future A-Grader Anthony Evans took a flyer and maintained his pace to beat Simon Junakovic and Jason Parkes by miles.

A Grade

A Grade was a cracker!

Anytime Steve Isbel fronts up, you know, he will keep attacking until he forms a break, and then he’ll attack the other escapees until he is alone. Despite the total lack of wind, just hanging on to the relentless attacks was impossible for many. With 15 minutes remaining and the deadly easterly springing up from nowhere, the race’s degree of difficulty ramped up to another level. Ben Morrison, Steve, Paul Scherl, Lewis Cressy, Marc Vroomans, and briefly Dave McCook formed the break that would stick until the end. Ben and Steve took turns at putting each other in the gutter and this took its toll on Dave, then Paul and then Lewis who all returned to the safety of the mother ship. On the final lap, Marc was gapped on the back straight leaving Ben to dispose of only Steve on the finishing straight. The majority of the newly promoted A Graders found the going very hard, demonstrating the huge gap in the firepower between A and B Grades.

Robert Langridge

Narrabundah Track Racing – 15th November

The sixth Track Racing session for 2016-17 attracted 17 riders, maintaining the good record for attendance so far this season. The evening was warm and still and provided perfect conditions for racing.

The 8-lap A grade scratch race set a hot pace, so attacks were limited. Around lap 4 Ben Davis took a turn at the front and accelerated without making a break. Next lap Michael Langdon pushed forward but again the bunch stuck like limpets. This continued until lap 7. As the bunch barrelled into the bell lap, Paul Kennedy attacked with Michael Langdon, Dominic Rideaux and Dave Mullens in hot pursuit. Michael Langdon scorched around Paul Kennedy in the final sprint with Dominic Rideaux closing fast for third place.

The 8-Lap B grade scratch race started at an easy pace but soon settled to a fast tempo. On lap 7 the bunch rolled around the lead rider for a hotly contested final lap. Steve Dean took advantage of a good lead out by Tony Beasley to take the win. Tony held on for second with Steve Hirsler finishing rapidly to take third place.

The next event was a 200 metre flying time trial. This event is a flat chat sprint over 200 metres from a flying start. It is quite technical with the acceleration and positioning approaching the start being critical. It is a quick, fun event. The A grade times were clustered between 12 and 15 seconds. Paul Kennedy did a fabulous run in 12.64 seconds, the only time under 13 seconds. Michael Langdon (13.17s) and Dominic Rideaux (13.55s) had the next fastest times in A grade. The B grade times were mostly clustered between 14 and 16 seconds. However, Steve dean (13.45s) and Hamish Andersen (13.85s) stood out with times under 14 seconds. Tony Beasley was not far behind in 14.37 seconds.

The third event was a 10-Lap Snowball. The event had a points sprint every two laps. The event is similar to a points race, except that the sprint points increase progressively through the race, making tactics crucial. In A grade, Dominic Rideaux took the first sprint but could not established a break. Michael Langdon soon attacked with Alec Millett and Rowan McMurray in tow. From this point Michael took all the subsequent sprints to accumulate 14 points for an overall win. Rowan McMurray rode a great tactical race and demonstrated his endurance by following Michael Langdon through all subsequent sprints to a accumulate 8 points for second place. Alec Millett also profited from following Michael’s attack. He accumulated 5 points for third place.

The B grade Snowball was a very interesting contest for the overall win between Hamish Anderson and Tony Beasley. Although Hamish had two sprint wins, Tony was more consistent and also took the last sprint for maximum points. The upshot was a dead heat between Hamish and Tony, both accumulating 11 points. Not to be outdone by this improbability, Steve Hirsler, Phil Coulton and Bruce Griffin each accumulated 3 points for equal second place.

The track session closed with the usual, all-in, Italian pursuit. There were 7 riders on each team. Both teams made good starts with a small hiccup when the Team 1 lead jumped on instinct, not hearing the start whistle. Both teams made good changes. However, team 1 just seemed to have that little extra to draw ahead as the race progressed. In the end it was a good win to Team 1.

Major place getters were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A Grade): Michael Langdon, Paul Kennedy, Dominic Rideaux (B Grade) Steve Dean, Tony Beasley, Steve Hirsler.
200m Fly Time Trial: (A Grade): Paul Kennedy (12.64s), Michael Langdon (13.17s), Dominic Rideaux (13.55s) (B Grade) Steve Dean (13.45s), Hamish Anderson (13.84s), Tony Beasley (14.37s).
10 Lap Snowball: (A Grade) Michael Langdon (14), Rowan McMurray (8), Alec Millett (5) (B Grade) Tony Beasley, Hamish Anderson (11 ea), Bruce Griffin, Phil Coulton, Steve Hirsler (3 ea).
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 1 (Michael Langdon, John Paul De Sousa, Graeme O’Neill, Ben Robey, Ross Scutts, Tony Beasley, Domenic Rideaux).

Season Point Score Update:
Hamish Anderson (108), Michael Langdon (105), Paul Kennedy (90), Tony Beasley (86), John Paul DeSousa (76), Ross Scutts (75), Phil Anderson (70), Phil Coulton (67), Steve Hirsler (64).

Graeme O’Neill

Old Federal Highway – 19th November

A perfect day for racing saw over 50 riders turn out for a short three laps at Old Federal Highway. There were a few new faces, some returning faces and the usual suspects hiding in the bunches. A Grade welcomed their visitor by letting him ride both at the front and at the back of the bunch (the latter being at the end of the race). Grades stayed mostly together for the race. Even when Bruce Jones pulled out with a mechanical, Bernie (may have) followed in sympathy.

So, with a sad thought to ACDC guitarist Malcom Young’s passing … Thanks to: Rob Mackey for driving (while possibly listening to Highway to Hell?); Graham Hendrie who drove the van home to get lunch (It’s a long way to the shop to get a sausage roll?); Dave Dickson who wore a mostly black cycling outfit (maybe he’ll be coming Back in Black?); and particular thanks to Ben Davis for driving out at the last minute to guarantee we had enough marshals, while not wanting to be paid for driving duties (talk about Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap!).

Ian McVay
Race Referee