ACT Veterans Weekly Bleat, Monday 13th May, 2019

Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

• Gunning 2 Day
• Fitability Fundraising Trivia Night
• Racing this Week
• From the Race Committee
• Race Report

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

Ian Morton

Gunning 2 Day

The club’s signature event, the Gunning Two Day Tour, is on over the weekend of 25 & 26 May. This year sees A, B & C grades racing over 154km over the three stages and D, E, F & G grades racing over 104km, and, in an effort to keep the results as open as possible until the end of the event, the Time Trial will be LAST!.

DAY 1: Saturday 25th May 2019

Stage 1

Stage 1 will start from Gunning at 11:00am for A grade followed by grades B to G at 2 minute intervals. The course is Gunning to Breadalbane return, one lap is 50km. A, B & C grades will complete 2 laps for 100km, remaining grades 1 lap. Water bottles will be available at the end of lap 1 for A, B & C grades. Time bonuses and KOMs will be awarded on this stage.

DAY 2: Sunday 26th May 2019

Stage 2

Stage 2 will start from Breadalbane at 10:00am with 2 minute intervals between grades. All grades will race 50km from Breadalbane to Gunning return. Time bonuses and KOMs will be awarded on this stage.

Stage 3

Stage 3 is a 4km TT from Breadalbane from 12:30 to 1 PM start (dependent on finish of Stage 2). The following limitations apply for the TT:

• No Disc Wheels or wheel covers
• No Time Trial specific helmets
• No Time Trial bars either specific or clip on
• Tri Spoke or other deep dish wheels are allowed as long as the rim does not exceed 100mm.

Cost

Entry is $40 which includes a BBQ lunch and medal presentations at the conclusion of Day 2. Riders in F & G grades will be given the option to race both days $40, or choose to ride either Day 1 or Day 2 $20. Only those that ride both days will be eligible for medals.

Marshals

Race Director is Phill Coulton. Any offers of assistance (in the form of marshals, lead and tail drivers and general helpers) will be gladly received and will be eligible for reimbursement. If you are willing to help please contact race.committee@actvets.cc for details.

Requirements

Riders must be a current financial member of an AVCC club. Day licences are not available.

Have an approved helmet

Riders in grades A-E must have started and completed the previous stage in order to start the next stage i.e. if you don’t ride on Saturday you can’t start on Sunday.

In the event of a rider suffering a legitimate mechanical issue, at the Race Director’s discretion, the rider can awarded the time of the 2nd slowest rider.

Registration

Entry will be via cash payment on Saturday 25 May, not through Sports TG as in previous years. A survey link will be provided shortly to track entries. You will need to have entered via the survey to race on the day.

Presentation

Presentation of trophies/medals and a BBQ lunch in the Breadalbane Hall will be held after the conclusion of Stage 3 on Sunday.

Fitability Fundraising Trivia Night

Many of the ACT Vet members know that tandem cycling had given the opportunity for vision impaired members to ride and race on the bike. This fundraising will help Fitability keeps the bikes in good working order. So that many vision impaired people ant those with other disabilities can have the opportunity to experience the joys of cycling.

Friday 31st May, 6:30 to 9:30 at Canberra Labor Club, Belconnen. Cost: $20 plus booking fee. Don’t miss out – it should be a fantastic fun night! Bring your partners, friends and family. A great opportunity to mix socially with other Vet members and to raise money for a wonderful program.

Buy your tickets here https://eventplus.net/TN19.

Lindy Hou
Mobile: 0402 113 836
Email: lindy@lindyhou.com

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 18th May: No Scheduled Race

From the Race Committee

1st Aiders Needed

SMA are struggling to provide 1st aiders to support our races. We cannot race without a dedicated 1st aider on hand. The best option is for race directors and marshals to have 1st aid qualifications so they can also undertake the 1st aid role. 1st aid kit is in the van and in the office at Stromlo. Members will be asked to direct or marshal about two times a year.

The club will reimburse training costs. The next SMA course is on 19 May. See https://sma.org.au/training-courses/nationally-recognised-training/hltaid003-provide-first-aid/ for details.

Indoor Training – Coach wanted

We want to again run indoor training sessions one night a weeks during winter at Weston and are looking for a coach to script and run the sessions. Please contact the race committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) if you are interested.

Event Traffic Controller course for 1 June 2019

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

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:

Smiths Road – Naas Rd Graded Scratch – 11th May

A beautiful day awaited the 51 riders who made their way out to the corner of Smiths Road and Naas Road for the Smiths Road graded scratch race.

The course was an out and back from Smiths Road to Apollo Road, meaning each lap had to contend with the climb up over the Mt Tennent spur and back. Combining the quick addition of the vertical metres with a swirling south easterly wind, resulted in a tough days racing for all concerned. A, B, C and D grades all did 3 laps (totalling ~54 km) with E and F doing two laps and ~36km.

A grade (12 starters) were first to head off and set a fast pace all day. By the end of the first lap, Stephen Isbel and Brendan Byatt had hit off the front and had a solid gap over the field with Bradley Peppinck hard in pursuit. At the end of the second lap, Stephen had taken off by himself with Brendan in between him and a closing (but much reduced) field. The last lap saw a huge chase by Jason Chalker and Jeremy Ross who caught and overtook Stephen over the last lap. In a great display of team riding, Jason and Jeremy rolled in together in first and second place just ahead of Stephen, who rode most of the race off the front and strongly held on to third.

B grade (10 starters) was another fast, tough race, with race times being not far off A grade times. The group were mostly together at the turn around points on both the first and second laps, with fast lap times being made. The last lap saw the race break apart, with the Mankewich and Carruthers tandem and Gerard Tiffen sprinting for the win. The slightly downhill and tailwind finish gave the advantage to the tandem with them finishing in that order. Paul Welsh rode strongly to finish third just ahead of the rest of the field. Kudos in B grade to Darren Blackhurst who was slightly off the back after the first lap, but who managed to maintain that small gap through the rest of the race (secret TT training maybe?).

C grade (7 starters) was a toughly fought race with the bunch together through the turn points after the first two laps. A fast finish saw Ed Logue take the win ahead of David Stewart-Thomson in second, and John Paul De Sousa in third. Despite the tough racing, very little time separated the field at the end of the race.

D grade (5 starters) was the smallest field of the day. With such a small field, the wind and hills resulted in very little opportunity for rest for any of the riders. At the end of the three laps, Bryan Holloway and Brian Peak sprinted for the win, with Bryan H taking the win over Brian P. Des Brown came in third not too far behind the leaders.

E grade (12 starters) was another larger bunch and proved to be another very hard fought race. After the first lap, the bunch was mostly together with the exception of a trio of riders whom were slightly tailed off with the hard racing. In the closest finish of the day, a fast 4 up sprint saw Alex Sommariva very, very narrowly nudge out Jan Koehler for the win. Ross Robinson came narrowly behind in third with Kristi McVay in fourth.

F grade (5 starters) like D grade suffered from a small field. meaning little chance of respite. This saw the field start to splinter early, with numerous gaps after the first lap. A fast sprint saw Dennis Puniard take the win ahead of David Freudenberger, with the tandem of Barlow and Beasley coming in third.

A huge thanks to the designated officials for the day: Robert Brunato, Bruce Goodspeed, Steve Blackburn, and of course Graham Hendrie. Also, huge thank to Michael Langdon who jumped in late in the day to take on first aid duties and help with all the setup, marshalling and takedown.

Pete Merrick