ACT Veterans Weekly Bleat, Monday 16h September 2019

Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

• Racing this Week
• Race Report
• From the Race Committee

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

Jan Koehler (standing in for Ian Morton)

Only two races remain on the winter road calendar, comprising this week’s mini tour at Breadalbane followed by the handicap race at Dog Trap Rd next weekend. Please note the start time for racing at Breadalbane this Saturday is 10am NOT the usual 1.30pm start. Surely the weather gods must be due to play nice out there so fingers crossed for a great day!

Summer Daylight Saving Time (DST) commences on 6th October which heralds the start of the criterium and track seasons. Criterium racing at Stromlo Forest Park commences on Tuesday 8th October and track racing at the Narrabundah Velodrome on Wednesday 9th. More to follow in upcoming Bleats.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday 21st Sept 2019: Breadalbane Mini Tour – Graded Stage Race

Where: Park at Breadalbane Community Hall. To get there:

Drive to Gunning, then Cullerin Rd to Breadalbane, OR

Take Federal Highway to Collector then Breadalbane Rd to Breadalbane, OR

Take Federal Highway, L onto Hume Highway, R onto Cullerin Rd

When: 10am

Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number

Race Description: 20km Time Trial followed by 50km Graded Scratch race. Full time trial kit allowed for TT; regular bikes only for graded scratch

Race Director: Rainer Wilton  ph: 0414 717 363

Marshals: Rowan McMurray, Terence Merrigan, Alex Sommariva, Marc Vroomans

RACE REPORT:

Stromlo Forest Park: Graded Criterium – 14th September

Please note that race results for Saturday’s event will not be available on the website, in Race Management System (RMS), until later in the week due to the maestro, Graham Hendrie, being away for a short break.

Race Director’s Report

The sun shone and the wind blew enough to make it hard up the start/finish straight ensuring that breakaways were the signature feature of the day.

E/F/G 1.30pm 28mins + 2 laps

Lining up were 6 in E grade, 2 in F and the one and only Bruce Jones in G. On the line the group decided to roll away together with E and F merging, settling into a solid tempo for about half the duration of the race. This all changed when Tony Sheehan moved swiftly off the front, creating a significant gap which he held till the finish winning decisively. Behind, the group chased hard with Phil Anderson and Howard Moffat driving hard on the front then leading the group home in a hard-fought sprint. Bruce rode hard for the entirety of the race and was heard muttering “about bloody time” when the 1 lap bell was rung.

A/C 2.05pm A 42mins + 2 laps, C 38 mins + 2 laps

On the start line we had 11 in A, and 10 in C. As A rolled out Jason Chalker softened the bunch up for the first few laps with a blistering attack, but as he was reeled in a counterattack came from Gerard Tiffen, followed by Marc Vroomans and Liam O’Dea. This breakaway quickly established a significant lead and stayed away until the bell lap when Gerard made the race winning attack on his breakaway companions. The breakaway came home with daylight in between them, but the order listed above. The chasing group ended up splintering further, with riders coming home in 2’s and 3’s, and the race director thinks a few of them have a good case of pursuiter’s cough today.

C grade bucked the breakaway trend for the day, with no riders getting more than a couple of lengths off the front of the bunch. An insider was overheard saying that “Wayne Duncan got the best workout having contributed to about 70% of the pace making duties”. The insider (Mike Hanbury) also allegedly said they were quite happy to let him. The race came down to a sprint, which saw first time trial vets racer Rodney Welsh take the sprint ahead of Ben Davis and Mike Hanbury.

B/D 2.55pm  B 42 mins + 2 laps, D 38 mins + 2 laps

12 B graders were joined by an A grader who suffered a misadventure (double puncture) on route to the race and talked his way into B promising to take it easy. Along with the 12 B graders they rolled out and worked steadily for a few laps until the A grader turned the screws splitting the bunch and taking the day’s strongest B-graders Aaron Sedgmen and Craig Tozer who showed great form matching him for what became a race winning breakaway, pushing their misgraded breakaway companion all the way to the line. Ben McDuff led home the rest of the field for a tough day out!

7 D graders took to the start line, and rode an aggressive race featuring a number of attacks before coming down to a sprint in which Alex Sommariva showed an extremely clean set of heels to the bunch, followed home by Don de Smet and James Curran. A notable but ill-fated attack came with around 3 laps to race as Jon “Chownsey” Chowns went smashing off the front up the straight into the wind, showing promising signs for the coming summer of racing.

Lastly, I want to thank Kim Malcolm from the committee and Steve Isbel for Marshalling.

Matt Hinchcliffe

From the Race Committee

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