Masters,
In this week’s Bleat;
• From the Desk of the President
• Racing this Week
• Race Report
Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc
From the Desk of the President
It’s now 4 months since our AGM and the new Committee is progressing well. A big thank you to our Race Committee who have kept us on the road and back racing in NSW. Sadly Andy Matz has resigned due to work and other more pressing commitments. We thank Andy for his assistance on the committee over the past 3 years, particularly with First Aid and ETCs. Clearly he will be missed, however, we will continue to see him at our events. Meanwhile, if anyone is interesting in helping on the committee please let me know.
Thank you to all members for continuing to participate and be interested in cycling. The winter chills and ills are certainly affecting our attendances at events of late. The cost of running events in NSW continues to be an issue. Until we can resolve training our own traffic controllers for NSW events we can only continue to hire this skill. The cost of over $1300 a race is not sustainable and we will have to consider reducing NSW events until this is resolved long term.
I noticed in our survey last year some members were unable to make races because they didn’t have access to a vehicle on the day. If you are having that problem please let me know or post on our Facebook page seeking assistance and hopefully another member may have the capacity to assist you getting to events.
The new club kit is out and about after a bit of a delay. It looks great and thank you to all involved in making this happen.
Our national body the AVCC is about to have their AGM. A note later in the newsletter includes details for those wishing to be involved.
Mentoring and race etiquette skills is listed later in the newsletter. A thank you to Mark Taylor and Matt Hinchcliffe who are willing to help club members requiring more knowledge and skills in cycling.
We have a couple of trophy events coming up. Next week is the Tonelli handicap and on 30 July we have the M&H Age Standard Time Trial for men and women. Medals are on offer for both events. The Tonelli Trophy was donated by Frank and Angie Tonelli while the M&H Trophies were donated by Marilyn and Henry Beaverstock.
Please continue to have fun and fellowship in a friendly environment while racing.
Stay upright.
Kim Malcolm
CRMCC President
President@actvets.cc
Mentoring Skills and Techniques for Racing
For all members needing to gain more confidence and understanding of bike handling and racing, 2 of our very experienced members have kindly volunteered their time to help individuals at races or other convenient times on criterium and road skills, techniques and etiquette.
If you wish to take advantage of this opportunity please contact one of them listed below:
Mark Taylor markandanita4u@bigpond.com or 0408884984
Matt Hinchcliffe 0423476341
AVCC (Australian Veteran Cycling Council Inc) AGM
We are all members of AVCC as this is our national body which arranges our insurance and racing policies.
Nominations are being sought for President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer and Committee. Nominations close 5 July.
This group meets twice yearly (usually online) to discuss and finalise matters.
Please let me know if you would like to nominate for a position, Kim Malcolm 0418643623.
RACING THIS WEEK:
Saturday, 2nd July – Old Federal Highway – Handicap
Reminder: All riders must register on the CRMCC Web site (https://rms.actvets.cc/calendar) by 1/7/2022 8:00 PM prior to the race. There is no registration at the event.
Any requests for Grade changes should be sorted out with the Handicapper prior to registration.
Where: Turn left off new Federal Hwy (dual carriageway) onto Shingle Hill Way. The intersection is signposted to Gundaroo and approx 9 km past the Sutton Rd overpass. Park in gravel pit on corner of next intersection about 100 m in from highway.
When: 1:30 pm.
Race Description:
Old Federal Highway – Tulip Farm
All Grades 3 Laps.
Race Director: Peta Brill Contact: Email: purple_peet@hotmail.com Ph 0416 140 528
Marshals: Lindsay Graham, Tim Brown, Kevin Newhouse, Warwick Wilson, Van driver – Michael Carr
RACE REPORT:
Smiths Rd – Naas Rd – 25th June
It was a beautiful sunny winter’s day with 17 riders taking on the terror that is Mt Tennent. Mother nature threw in WNW winds at 10km/hr which meant a headwind going up Mt Tennent, but a tailwind for a fast descent to the finish.
Having checked the club’s website, this was the first time in recent history that there was no participation from B or D grades; not one single rider. This is a worrying sign and we all need to address this by encouraging our peers to participate. Call them, offer to share rides, placate them, tell them you’ll talk to the handicapper on their behalf, etc. I know who you are, and I see you sitting on the couch reading this. It’s time to charge the Di2 or change your frayed gear cables and get back out racing.
The only valid excuses for absences I received were “COVID” and “Italy.” Birthdays, weddings etc don’t count. The other troubling sign is the frequent no shows from the super squads of the post-Cadel era, QUON, Squadra and Tiffen. It looks like The Cartel is ascending.
All the chat in the race leadup was about if the 6 C graders (split into C1 and C2) could outfox the 6 A graders (also split into A1 and A2). Some described this as brain vs brawn. Others billed it as the battle of the supergroups, think Supertramp vs ELO.
The Handicapper dished out a hefty 40mins against A1 and 28mins against C1. Was this enough rope?
The 3 F-graders took off first, and came in from their first lap all together. Ali Hale from E grade made the first lap first in TT mode ahead of Al Bontjer.
C1 had made up their 3min gap to C2 by the end of the first lap to form Supertramp, but not without some drama, as Darren had to deal with a dropped chain. The Supertramp C1 trio of Ed Logue, David Dickson and Ian Preston setting a blistering lap of 28 mins, rolling turns at 39 km/hr in between Apollo Rd and Mt Tennent.
A2 racers Michael Rosser and David Parker ended lap 1 together with lap time of 28:24.
A1 racers ended lap 1 together with Tristo, Crispy and Cal setting a lap time of 25:25, cruising at 40.4km/hr in between Apollo Rd and Mt Tennent.
For the 2nd lap, the WNW winds picked up and put everyone in the hurt locker stringing out many riders and contributing to 2 DNFs. F grade racers Cat Riley, Chris Copeland and Michelle Hodgetts were in an ITT and should be commended as all were faster than their first lap by a 90secs. E grader Ali Hale completed this lap on her own. Supertramp ended lap 2 with 4 riders (all C1 and the strongest of C2 in Darren Blackhurst), with a lap time of 30:51.
The ELO formed briefly (A1 and A2) but then some band members were split off the back at the end of lap 2, with Michael, Crispy, Tristo and Cal driving the band, and setting a lap time just 10 secs slower than their first lap, and averaging 40.4 km/hr between Apollo Rd and Mt Tennent.
As the marshals were positioning the finish line and chute, we were all waiting and expecting to see ELO make its first appearance on stage for the finish. Instead, we saw the resplendent Cat Riley coming in hot from descending Tennent with a tailwind, crossing the line uncontested as the handicap winner. Congratulations.
Meanwhile back on the course, Supertramp had started to break up on the run back over Mt Tennent. ELO had also split up with Tristo and Crispy catching Supertramp C1 founders Ed, Dave and Presto at the base of Mt Tennent, with former ELO band members Cal and Michael also catching Supertramp up Tennent.
The jazz teacher, front legal man and guitarist from ELO finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively, some 2mins behind Cat, followed by Chris from F grade, and Presto, the first C grader to finish. Congratulations to everyone.
I was very fortunate to have worked with such a professional and responsible marshalling crew in Jason Irwin, Joel Rahman and Tony Beasley, and Simon (First Aid). Thanks again to Cat Riley for baking delicious goodies. Thank you to the Race Committee for the behind the scenes coordination, and we look forward to seeing more racers participate in the F&A Tonelli Trophy handicap on Old Fed on 2 July, and then in arguably one of the best racing courses on our calendar, the Dalton NSW on 16 July.
Conan Liu
ps And a special mention from Conan the RD about Steve Simms for driving the van and helping out as an extra marshal.
Thanks,
Conan Liu
Capital Region Masters Cycling Club 