Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

  • Christmas Wheel Race
  • From the desk of the handicapper
  • Cycling holiday in the French Pyrenees
  • Registration Renewal for 2018
  • Racing this Week
  • Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

Christmas Wheel Race

This week is our Christmas Wheel Race at Stromlo where the club will be putting on some catering to allow members to stay on after their heats and participate in the festivities and the awards.

From the desk of the handicapper

This week’s Promotion;
– Peter Taylor C to B road and crit
– David Jukes C to B
– Chris Short B to A road
– Chris Kon C to B road

Rob Langridge

Cycling holiday in the French Pyrenees, September 6-21, 2018

Its on again…..ACT Veterans cycling trip in the French Pyrenees. Has watching the Tour de France ever inspired you to want to tackle one of the famous mountains of the Pyrenees but you were put off by the cost, lack of companions or knowledge how to go about it? Here’s your chance to participate in carefully planned, graduated and guided bike rides with sag wagon support, with fellow riders from the Vets Cycling Club, all at a very low cost when compared to commercially available tours.

All inclusive cost: €2,200

This 16-day holiday includes half-board (breakfast and dinner) shared accommodation at a dedicated cycling lodge and selected hotels, pick-up and drop-off at Toulouse or Tarascon sur Ariege. Three cycling rest days are included when we will visit local cultural and scenic tourist attractions. Club handicapper Rob Langridge who participated in the 2013 Vets trip organised by Peter Southgate had the following to say about the experience: “Peter loves the Pyrenees so much that he’s bought a house there! The rides were a mixture of challenging social rides to absolute climbing epics. The atmosphere at the lodge is welcoming and lots of fun. I have many wonderful memories of a great trip and would recommend it to anyone with a reasonable level of fitness and looking for a challenge.”

For further information and to receive a detailed outline of the itinerary contact Peter Southgate peter.southgate@hotmail.com or ph. 0417181052. There will also be an information session for interested parties at a date to be advised.

Peter SouthGate

Registration Renewal for 2018

2018 membership renewals are due by 31 December 2017. To renew, go to https://memberdesq.sportstg.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. SportsTG will then forward you the information.

You need to renew your membership prior to 31 December or prior to your first race in 2018.

It is preferable to renew prior to the end of December if you intend to race in 2018. 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 2018 is $110
  • A full competitive membership for a sight impaired tandem cyclist for 2018 is $95
  • Non competitive membership for 2018 is $5

Upon renewal, your 2018 licence will be emailed to you direct from SportsTG. 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 SportsTG website.

Kirsti McVay
Membership Secretary

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 12th December: Stromlo Criterium – Christmas Wheel Race

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Heats
E/F/G 5:50 25 m + 2 laps
A/C 6:20 A 30m+2, C 25m+2
B/D 6:50 B 30m+2, D 25m+2

Final
7:35 – 5 lap handicap of 5 top finishers from each grade.

Race Director:  Robert Langridge
Contact: Email: langridge@netspeed.com.au    Ph  0450400658

Marshal:  Duane Toohey

Wednesday, 13th December: Track Racing

The Program for Wednesday is as follows:
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice;
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 8-lap graded scratch race;
6.20pm – 6.40pm: 6-lap Xmas Wheel race (handicap);
6.40 pm – : Xmas party.

Please note: The club will provide drinks and a small range of nibbles for the Xmas party. Anyone bringing a plate will be most welcome. Party is open to all club members and partners.

There will be no track racing on 20 or 27 December or 3 January. Racing will resume on 10 January.

Sunday, 17th: Dairy Road Points Race

Where: Dairy Road, Fyshwick.
When: 8:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
08:00 am – A/B 50 mins + 1
09:00 am – C/D 40 mins + 1
09:50 am – E/F/G 30 mins + 1

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

Marshal: Matthew Haddock

Upcoming Marshall Roster

The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
Date: Event – Marshals
19-12-2017: Stromlo FP – Ben Davis

RACE REPORTS:

Stromlo – 5th December

So was it the thought of rain, the wind or just that it was colder than previous nights. Just 40 riders braved the possible conditions and other than the wind the ride conditions weren’t too bad. Though Terry Merrigan (our marshal) and I were feeling the cold on the start/finish line. We stole a few minutes from each grade (and they were advised before we started) so that we were able to have all grades finish before it got to dark to ride. As it turned out the rain came about 15 minutes after the last grades finished so all in all a pretty reasonable night.

E, F and G grades started together as there was only 1 F grader and 2 G graders. E and F stayed together for the better part of the event until Sam Agostino jumped away early in the last lap to record a strong win from Dale Ammett and Kevin Newhouse. David Witteveen was the easy winner in F grade being the only rider and Bernie Crow managed to jump away from Bruce Jones early to win G grade.

A and C grades appeared to keep a tight rein on all the riders as there were no breakaways, probably due in part to the wind. In C grade John Barlow and Ben Healy did the lion share of the work out front and it appeared that the rest of the C graders were happy to let them have it. David Grillo was having none of the tandem in the last lap and hit the line in front of Matt Hanbury and Luke Laffan. A grade stayed together until the sprint for the line which saw three riders fight it out with Matt Hinchcliff out pacing Dave Roberts and Michael Foulds in a lunge for the line.

In B grade it appeared that again a tight rein was on the 6 riders, however a quick discussion after the race revealed that surging was the order of the night and a fast pace was set. John Manning took the honours on the night from Tony Rowley and Chris Kon. In D grade it was a ride of attrition with 3 of the 7 riders dropping off the pace all together and another struggled to keep in touch with the bunch but Merryn completed the distance. Tes McLachlan in her first D grade race did well to stick with what was left of the bunch to contest the sprint. Eventual winner was Liz Lowe from Mike Golding and Tes.

Phill Coulton

Narrabundah Track Racing – 6th December

Only nine riders turned out for Session 9 of the track racing season. The day had been overcast, with rain in some parts of Canberra. However, the nine optimists who showed up were rewarded with quite acceptable conditions for racing. The track stayed dry, the temperature was reasonably comfortable and the wind moderate. With the low turn out, it was decided to combine A & B grades for all the events with B grade riders generally being given a start on A grade.

In the 8-lap scratch race, B Grade started with a half lap advantage. Graeme O’Neill gave the B grade group a rapid 1.5 lap lead-out in the hope they could retain an advantage to the end. The B grade group rode well, but were no match for the A grade train which overhauled them around lap 5. Tony Beasley and Ross Scutts made good attempts to stay with A grade and were rewarded with the best finishes from the B grade group. However, Michael Langdon and John Manning put on the pace in the closing laps and left the field struggling in their wake. Michael took first place, John took second and Hamish Anderson, newly promoted to A grade, took a very creditable third. It was good to have John Manning making a second start at track. John is a visitor from Derby in the UK and appears to be a strong track rider. The presence of rainbow bands on his jersey and the discovery of his participation at UCI World Master Track Championships has seen a rapid promotion to A grade.

The second event of the evening was a taxing, 24-lap points race. The race rules permitted lapped riders to participate in sprints without penalty. For this event B grade were given one lap start.

Initially, Tony Beasley made a tactical error by catching the A grade group, after which he was counted as one lap down on the B grade group. However, Tony rode well and achieved good results overall. The B grade group managed to hold their lead for Sprint 1 where Ross Scutts took the sprint from Phil Coulton. Ross held on to gain a decent gap on the pursuing riders. However, as the second sprint approached, he began to tire and was soon swamped by the A grade bunch. The next three sprints were taken by Michael Langdon, generally with John Manning in hot pursuit. Tony Beasley managed a creditable second and third placing in intermediate sprints and Martin Graham took third in the final sprint. The overall points wash up saw Michael Langdon on top points (23). John Manning took second with 15 points. Third place was shared between Tony Beasley and Ross Scutts, both on 7 points.

As usual, the final event was an all-in Italian Pursuit. Fortunately, there were only four riders per team as the points race had taken its toll and no one was up for a long race. Team 1 made a good start and managed to gain a slight initial lead. However, Team 2 were just too strong and asserted their dominance over the second half of the contest. Both teams rode well and the winning margin was small. However, congratulations to Michael Langdon, Martin Graham, Phil Coulton and Tony Beasley for a fine win.

Major place getters were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A&B Grades combined): Michael Langdon, John Manning, Hamish Anderson.
24-Lap Points Race: (A&B Grades combined): Michael Langdon (23), John Manning (15), Tony Beasley & Ross Scutts (7 each), Hamish Anderson & Phil Coulton (6 each).
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (Michael Langdon, Martin Graham, Phil Coulton, Tony Beasley).

Season Point Score Update:
Michael Langdon (170), Hamish Anderson (144), Tony Beasley (130), Ross Scutts (118), John Paul DeSousa (106), Paul Kennedy (105), Phil Coulton (99), Steve Hirsler (81), Ben Robey (77).

Graeme O’Neill

Dairy Road – 10th December

A video from Sunday’s A/B Crit at Dairy Road – expert movie and editing by Dave Roberts, courtesy Seymour Savell-Boss;
https://youtu.be/J7NE-kpdSOA