ACT Veterans Weekly Bleat, Monday 1st April, 2019

Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

• Nationals
• Racing this Week
• From the Race Committee
• Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

Nationals

Steve Crispin is hoping to get down to Vets Nationals and was wondering if anyone else was going down that might be interested in sharing a ride and accommodation.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 2nd April: Stromlo Criterium – Scratch Race

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
B/D 20m + 2 @ 5:50
E/F/G 20m + 2 @ 6:15
A/C 20m + 2 @ 6:40

Race Director:  Paul Ledbrook Contact: Email: pl.actled@gmail.com    Ph  0414914438

Marshals: Bernard Crowe

Wednesday, 3rd April: No Track Racing

Track racing has concluded for the 2018-19 Summer Season

Sunday, 7th April: Orroral Handicap – Secret

Where: Travel to Tharwa, then left onto NAAS Road (If via Gordon/Right if Via Tidbinbilla Road). Go Past Nature reserve, Tenant hill, past Apollo road, past Naas, over Fitz’s Hill, turn right at bottom of Fitz’s onto Orroral Rd. Travel approx 3 km to OTC campground area.
When: 9:00 am. (NOTE: change to daylight saving hours).
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number
Race Description:
Orroral Valley Orroral Campground to Tracking Stn. Turn ~150m before the entry to the Stn parking area for 1 lap of 12km. 3 laps for 36km.

Race Director: Nick Boylan

Marshals: Sue Powell, Robert Langridge, Frank O’Sullivan

From the Race Committee

Orroral Valley Race

Please be respectful of other park users when parking and using facilities at the Orroral campground so that ACT Parks will continue to allow us to utilise these facilities.

Event Traffic Controller course for 1 June 2019

The next ETC Training course is on Saturday 1st June.

We did not get anyone interested in going on the March Course! We currently only have about 40 ETCs from a club of 300 members. Members need to share the burden of helping to run races. Having enough traffic controllers available in the club is critical to our ability to run races in the ACT and it is likely we will need to have ETCs for NSW races in the future. ETCs are eligible for reimbursement of $100 for marshalling at ACT road races.

Course details are available on Blended Learning’s web site – http://www.blendedlearning.edu.au/home/courses/programs-courses/event-traffic-controller/. I am still awaiting information on funding the training. YOU WILL NOT HAVE TO PAY.

Upcoming Marshal Roster

Thank you to those who have already volunteered to help. Nominees, in blue have been selected based on results from the previous race season and the period since they last helped at a race. Nominees are requested to advise their availability/unavailability to the race committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) as soon as possible.

Summer series crit races are held at Stromlo Forest Park on Tuesday evenings and road races are held on Sunday mornings.

* denotes ETC required for ACT races.

Ian McVay
Race Committee

RACE REPORTS:

Track Racing 2018-19 Season

The 2018-19 Track Racing Season concluded on Wednesday 27 March with a final, combined Italian pursuit, trophy presentation and small celebration to mark the end of an enjoyable racing season.

The 2018-19 track season saw 30 riders participating in one or more track sessions. The high-banked, Bundadome track is a great venue for racing. A total of 68 riders from the club have participated in Track racing since we started at this venue. Overall, this season’s attendance was a bit down on last year, with 12 – 20 riders being the norm. The enjoyment level was as high as ever. The season was delayed by poor weather. In addition, many of the early sessions had marginal weather that reduced attendances. There were two and a half sessions cancelled due to rain. However, a hard core of regulars kept the track discipline alive by returning each week for another dose of high adrenaline racing.

There were 17 track sessions with around 65 races over the season. The season provided a variety of race formats including scratch races, handicaps, pursuits, match races, sprints and time trials. All races contributed to an overall Track Championship. This year there was close points tussle between Ross Scutts, Michael Langdon and Dougal Torrance. In the final track session, Ross Scutts gained a small points margin to take the gold medal for this championship. Ross is a very deserving winner. He has not missed a track session in three years and always puts in a great effort. He has been in the top three on points score for the last 3-seasons.

The silver and bronze medals for the track championship were won by Michael Langdon and Dougal Torrance respectively. Both riders are active club members, track stalwarts and very deserving medal winners. They have both had excellent form over the season.

The track season was injury free. In the last six years, we have only had two minor accidents at track. Despite the speed and lack of brakes, track racing is likely the safest race discipline offered by the club. The standard of riding was high and most of the regular riders improved considerably over the season. The most improved rider was Phil Anderson, who consistently built up form through the season and was on fire for the last few races.

The track season included a Christmas Wheel Race with the trophy taken by Dougal Torrance. Towards the end of the season, we ran a four-event Omnium Championship that was won, again this season, by Ken Birch. Ken’s form was consistently good over the whole season.

This summary would not be complete without acknowledging all the parties who contributed to a great track season. This includes the club committee who book the venue, support the track racing discipline and publish results, the first aiders from Sports Medicine, all those who assisted in myriad ways over the season and, finally, the riders who invariably displayed the best competitive spirit and camaraderie.

Track Christmas Wheel Race Results (1st – 5th):
Dougal Torrance, Phil Coulton, Hamish Anderson, Ross Scutts, Tony Beasley.

Final Omnium Championship Scores:
Ken Birch (13), Craig Kentwell (12), Tony Beasley (12), Phil Anderson (12), Michael Langdon (11), Steve Hirsler (10), Ben Davis (10), Hamish Anderson (9), Bruce Griffin (6).

Final Season Point Score:
Ross Scutts (296), Michael Langdon (284), Dougal Torrance (267), Phil Anderson (248), Steve Hirsler (210), Tony Beasley (187), Bruce Griffin (187), Craig Kentwell (186), Hamish Anderson (170).

Track Trophy and Medal Winners
(L to R: Phil Anderson, Ross Scutts, Dougal Torrance, Michael Langdon. Ken Birch is missing from this picture. The bike is a classic Moser steel frame track bike.)

Graeme O’Neill