Masters,
In this week’s Bleat;
• From the Desk of the Handicapper
• From the Race Committee
• Rotary Five Peaks Challenge
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports
Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc
From the Desk of the Handicapper
Handicaps
Changes this week;
– Tom Stewart-Moore C to B
– Simon Porombka C to B
– Dale Kleeman C to B
– Ben Vagnarelli D to C
– Paul McKay E to D
CRMers out and out
An eagle-eyed Bleat reader commented on my rendition of the Peaks Challenge 2022 results which appeared last week. This was shocking for two reasons: one was that someone actually read it and the other was that Emma Padovan was the OVERALL female winner, beating 129 entrants ranging from TicTokers to OK Boomers.
ACT crit champs
These champs were conducted by AusCycling ACT on the weekend. The weekend format means more crits can be held on weekdays for those that like to mindlessly circle Stromlo, but it was a blow to entries resulting in only the likely medal winners turning up. This is further proof that we need to keep holding our championships on consecutive Tuesdays. See link for no surprises.
Dropper seatpost at Milano-San Remo
Those of you who follow international cycling would have seen Matej Mohric’s spectacular win at Milano-San Remo on Sunday morning. The use of the dropper seatpost, the bunny hop out of the gutter and the overall kamikaze descent that gave him enough advantage to prevent anyone bridging on the Via Roma will be part of cycling folklore for decades. I’m just wondering if any club members have already ordered a dropper seatpost in time for the winter season. Just think how handy it will be in the Iron Mike when descending from the end of the bitumen. The 50m gained will justify your purchase, if we move the finish line to Condor Creek.
GCN mega-fail
Kicked out of the bedroom where the smart TV is and unable to watch GCN on the intellectually challenged TV in the lounge room meant that I was streaming Milano-San Remo on my phone while watching a drama on iview to keep me awake during the first boring 260km. At first the app was allowing me to fast forward to the action so I could monitor race progress, but when the 6th episode of ‘Unforgotten’ had finished and Poggers’ minions were lighting it up on the Cipressa, my phone was showing an interview with Mads Pedersen and the riders still had over 100km to go. Unable to fast forward and not wanting to find out the result at 6am, I sadly had to resort to watching the live updates text feed on Cycling News.
Rob Langridge
From the Race Committee
Coaching
The Race Committee is looking to establish a roster of people prepared to act as coaches/mentors for new members who want to develop their skills.
Could anyone who is interested or who knows anyone who might be interested, please let the Race Committee know (race.committee@actvets.cc)
Race Directors and Marshals
The RMS has been updated with the ACT races that we have currently secured approval.
We are looking for volunteers to fill the Race Director and Marshal positions so that we can ensure the running of these races.
Rotary Five Peaks Challenge
Early bird entries close on 26 March. More details at: www.rotaryrides.org.au
RACING THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, 22nd March: Stromlo Criterium
Note: Pre-registration required by 22 Mar 2022 3:50 pm.
No late entries accepted.
Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Race Description:
E/F/G 20m+2 5:50 E/F/G 20m+2
A/C 6:15 A 28m+2, C 28m+2
B/D 6:50 B 28m+2, D 25m+2
Race Director: Craig Tozer Contact: Email: cranoss@gmail.com Ph 0414 157 765
Marshals: Gai Monahan
Thursday, 24th March: Track Racing Presentation
This track session will be the 21-22 season presentation evening. Hope to see as many trackies as possible. All other club members also welcome.
There will be the usual practice and warm up from 5.30pm and a single Italian Pursuit event at 6.00pm, followed by the trophy presentations. The club will provide drinks and nibbles. If anyone wishes to bring a plate it will be most welcome.
Sunday, 27th March – No Scheduled Road Race
RACE REPORTS:
SFP Criterium – 15th March
Unlike last week, the dry weather saw riders return in numbers across all grades. A and C grades start the evening, A Grade saw a number of attacks through out the race with Mathew Corby making a long range attack on the last lap only to be run down with the line in sight with James Meadley crossing first followed by, Mark Harris and Brad Peppinck. As a result of a communication breakdown, only the first three finishes were captured for A Grade. If you came in 4th and 5th please contact the race committee to allow the appropriate point to be allocated to you. C Grade set a steady pace with Mark Vardy taking his fair share of time up front. In the end it came down to a bunch sprint with Tom Stewart-Moore taking the points followed by Simon Porombka and Dale Kleeman.
B and D grade we next to go, like C Grade B Grade kept itself together for the majority of the race with Dominic ( The Dominator ) Romano taking a hotly contested sprint leading in Ed Pelligrino and Todd Sowter.
D grade stayed together until the final lap when it came apart leaving three riders in the lead group. After contested sprint Ben Vagnarelli took 1st place, which incidentally the same result as when he last raced in 2016 in C grade, followed by Steven Harrison and Greg Mitchell.
E.F and G grade were last to go, with Paul Mckay taking out E Grade, followed by Robert Solomon and Linda Stalls. F grade was won by Lindsay Graham with Gai Monahan taking G.
Graham Tanton
Track Racing – 17th March
Thursday 17 March was the last competitive track session for the 21-22 season. Weather for the session was cool and overcast with almost no wind. Attendance was good at 16 riders, 9 in A grade and 7 in B grade.
The 8-lap A grade scratch race was quite eventful. It commenced at a solid pace with turns by John Paul De Sousa, Wayne Benham, Michael Langdon and Tony Beasley. On lap 5 Craig Kentwell launched an attack, soon gaining 20m on the bunch and drawing out Michael Langdon as an ally. Over lap 6, Kerry Knowler worked hard to close the gap to this pair, eventually taking the lead by lap 7. Then Tim Jolly attacked with Michael Langdon again covering the attack. The bunch was fairly consolidated going into the bell lap and at that point Michael Langdon put in the decisive attack gaining a good lead and holding it to the finish. Tim Jolly and Ben Davis put in a dogged pursuit of Michael and were rewarded with second and third placings respectively.
The B Grade scratch race was also fairly eventful. Frank O’Sullivan enlivened matters with an attack from the start, soon gaining a 30m lead and putting Phil Coulton into difficulty, in pursuit. Phil rolled off and Bruce Griffin took over the pursuit before handing off to Alison Hale. By this time, Alison was within striking distance of Frank. One good acceleration closed the gap to Frank and soon consolidated the bunch. Graeme O’Neill took over the pacing for lap 5. When he rolled off, the bunch was starting to get toey with riders splayed across the banking and jockeying for position. This continued until the bell lap approached, when there was a sudden acceleration from Alison Hale and riders sprinted through the bell lap. Terry Danaher, Alison Hale and Frank O’Sullivan contested the placings. Terry showed a good turn of speed to take the win, while Alison was able to hold off Frank O’Sullivan to take second. Frank took a comfortable third place.
The next event was a 200-metre flying start time trial. This is a popular and technically challenging event. The fifteen riders who participated had exciting runs and put in respectable times that were quite close within the different grades. Michael Langdon put in the best time in A1 grade at 13.22 seconds. Tim Jolly had the best time in A2 grade at an amazing 13.27 seconds. Terry Danaher was best in B grade at an also impressive 13.91 seconds.
A 4-lap handicap was scheduled as the next event in the race session. However, with heavy cloud cover, the light was fading, so this event was dropped.
The track session closed with the usual, all-in, Italian pursuit. This event had 2 teams of 7 riders. Team 1 was anchored by Michael Langdon, so team 2 needed to establish and consolidate an early lead. Team 2 did their best and built a significant lead over the first 70% of the race. They surrendered some of their lead in the latter part of the race. However, they still looked a good prospect right up to the final changeover. At this point Michael Langdon was just too strong for the Team 2 anchor and gained a win for Team 1 by a few metres. It was an interesting race.
Major place getters for this session were as follows:
8-Lap Graded Scratch: (A1 Grade) Michael Langdon, John Paul De Sousa, Wayne Benham. (A2 Grade) Tim Jolly, Ben Davis, Tony Beasley. (B Grade) Terry Danaher, Alison Hale, Frank O’Sullivan.
200m Fly TT: (A1 Grade) Michael Langdon (13.22s), John Paul De Sousa (13.94s), Wayne Benham (13.98s), (A2 Grade) Tim Jolly (13.27s), Kerry Knowler (13.89s), Craig Kentwell (13.95s). (B Grade) Terry Danaher (13.91s), Frank O’Sullivan (14.29s), Alison Hale (14.36s).
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 1 (Michael Langdon, Tony Beasley, Craig Kentwell, Tim Jolly, Phil Coulton, Frank O’Sullivan, Bruce Griffin).
Final Omnium Championship Points:
Michael Langdon (16), James Newhouse (13), Graeme O’Neill (13), Frank O’Sullivan (12), Tony Beasley (11), Tim Jolly (8), Karen Clutson (7), Alison Hale (6), Kerry Knowler (5), Lindy Hou (5), Terry Danaher (5).
Final Season Point Score:
Alison Hale (239), Tony Beasley (226), Craig Kentwell (204), James Newhouse (197), Michael Langdon (191), Graeme O’Neill (133), Steve Jones (128), Karen Clutson (123), Ken Birch (119), John Paul De Sousa (116), Bruce Griffin (97), Kerry Knowler (93), Phil Coulton (85), Wayne Benham (68), Tim Jolly (65), Warwick Wilson (62), Ben Davis (58).
Graeme O’Neill
