Capital Region Masters Cycling Club

Masters,

In this week’s Bleat;

•  Vale Peter Black

•  From the Race Committee

•  Racing this Week

•  Race Report

Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc

Vale Peter James Black 11 January 1942 – 20 August 2022

‘He loved his cycling, and in retirement would ride at least six days per week‘ was how former member Doug Widdup summed up Peter’s passion for cycling. Peter raced with the club from 2002 to 2011, competing in 79 events in E and F grades. His best performance was winning an E grade scratch race at Uriarra Homestead in 2008, where we had a staggering 99 competitors. He also rode in France and Italy on tours on a number of occasions.

From John Hall: “Blackie”, as Peter was affectionately known, was a competitive rider and loved a contest. He also loved telling yarns at the end of the ride, and in social settings, and many of us had heard his same yarns several times over! He was a devoted family man and gave of his time and affection to his three kids and their families.

His day job was a GP in Belconnen, and he was highly experienced and regarded in the Canberra community. He had a focus on obstetrics in his practice.

Peter was mainly a road cyclist but also a recreational MTB rider, particularly at the coast where he loved to spend time.

He was a member of a number of ongoing riding groups including Eros Esra (EE, Sore Arse spelt backwards) which was founded by Bob McDonald, Ben Hall and John Sweetapple in the mid-80s. EE would do annual country tours in NSW and Victoria with other participants including Mark Stevenson, Mark Taylor and Howard Galloway. Peter also rode in a regular Thursday group with Doug as well as Scott French.

The funeral service for Peter will be held in St Thomas Mores Catholic Church, Campbell, on Wednesday 31 August at 11am.

The Capital Region Cycling Club extends its deepest condolences to Peter’s family and friends and mourns the loss of one of its former members.

[Editor’s Note: In addition to being a fellow competitor, Peter also delivered my three children. Our whole family is sorry to hear of his passing. His family has asked that in lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to St Vincent de Paul or the Salvation Army. Ian Morton]

Pat Carey Funeral Arrangements

A celebration of Pat’s life will be held at 15:00, Tuesday 30 August at Norwood Park Chapel, Mitchell.

Robert Langridge
Club handicapper and Welfare Officer

From the Race Committee

Iron Mike

We still require a Race Director, two more ETCs and a Van Driver to assist with the Iron Mike this weekend. Please contact the Race Committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) if you can assist.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 3^rd September – Iron Mike – Handicap

Reminder: All riders must register on the CRMCC Web site (https://rms.actvets.cc/calendar) by 2/9/2022 6:00 PM prior to the race. There is no registration at the event.

Late entries may be accepted in exceptional circumstances. All late entries must be lodged with the Race Committee race.committee@actvets.com.au, not through the Race Director on the day.

Any requests for Grade changes should be sorted out with the Handicapper prior to registration.

Where: Drive aprox 2.5km north west on Uriarra Rd from the intersection with Opperman Ave (the main entrance to SFP).
When: 1:30 pm.
Race Description:
Iron Mike Classic Race
Race start and finish on Uriarra Road at SFP western car park. Race goes past the homestead to end of bitumen and return.
NOTE: riders are NOT to attack on the descents onto Uriarra crossing on either the outward or return legs.

Race Director:  Vacant Contact: Email: tba    Ph tba

Marshals: Cat Riley, David Buckley, Darren Blackhurst ETC, Vacant ETC, Vacant ETC, Van driver – Vacant

RACE REPORT:

Mtn Creek Rd, Club Championship – 27^th August

The CRMCC Road Race Club Championships were staged on the beautiful Mountain Creek Road at Fairlight, on a 10k out and back course in spectacular spring-like conditions… however unfortunately, our trusting partners the ‘traffic controllers’ showed up on-time at the Old Federal Highway course!

With this in mind I want to say a massive thanks to all participants and volunteers, for your patience and flexibility in an otherwise frustrating moment, because with some tweaks to the program we had a fantastic day of competition and community. This typifies what I love about this club.

So with racing start delayed almost 1 hr, we decided to shorten all age groups to 40km (2 laps) which produced some very high intensity racing.

Paul Robey, the sole M10 entrant headed out early by himself and diligently completed the 40kms in fine style.

Our 3 F3 competitors, decided on consensus to do 1 lap as a social bunch ride, before undertaking a 20km single lap race once the traffic controllers were all set up. This race turned out to be more of a 20km TT as according to Cat Riley who finished 1st, she wasn’t waiting to get rolled in a sprint by the other 2. Alison arrived 2nd, with Elizabeth Lowe in 3rd.

3 M2 and 6 M4 competitors headed out together and all stayed together for the first blistering lap which was covered in around 32 minutes. Whilst hard to report on all the attacks from the start finish line, it was a completely different story at the end, with all 9 competitors filtering in as small groups or individuals. M4 saw Gerard Tiffen arriving solo at the finish with no-one else in sight for a dominant win in M4. Paul Scherl 2nd and Peter Young 3rd rounded out the M4 category. M2 was similar, lead home by a solo Jason Irwin, ahead of Andrew McCosker 2nd and David Parker 3rd.

M5 and M6 headed off together, only dropping 2 on the first lap before a very hard fought 2nd lap. However M5 changed the script with 3 coming to the finish for a fast and furious sprint. It was decided that Christophe Barberet, took the win over Steve Blackburn with a bike throw at the finish. With Nathan Spillane a bike length back. Notable mention to Steve, who managed to back up for 2nd the next day in the Auscycling ACT Road Race also.

M7 saw another dominant performance with Paul Welsh, attacking on almost every climb, and the bunch chasing hard the whole race. Paul arrived solo well ahead of his competitors who contested a hard fought sprint for the line, in which Michael Foulds 2nd edged out Ian Preston 3rd just ahead of the ever present David Dickson.

M8 and M9 rolled away together and which saw yet another hard fought race, with the bunch doing plenty of attacking over the closing stages of the race. Brian Peak took 1st, Anthony Beasley 2nd and Bruce McMillan all arriving individually, but insight of each other followed closely by Kevin Woods. M9 saw Mark K Taylor took 1st finishing in amongst the M8 field, while Alex Sommariva took 2nd. A notable mention goes to Howard Moffat who while coming last some time later was determined to finish and not DNF, even after having to stop and fix attend to a slow leaking tire 5 times!

Last a massive thanks to our Marshals, Steve Simms, Andrew Remely, David Buckley, Terry Moore and Ian Drayton.

Matt Hinchcliffe

Masters,

In this week’s Bleat;

•  Vale Pat Carey

•  From the Race Committee

•  From the Committee

•  Racing this Week

•  Race Report

Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc

Vale Pat Carey

Pat Carey passed away on Thursday 18th August at Claire Holland after a sudden illness.

Pat was a member of the Vets from 1996 to 2011. He rode in well over 200 events.

He was a keen triathlete and joined the Vets to improve his cycling leg. He participated in the Hawaiian Ironman event. He rode with the Mice and recently rode with Pedal Power. He will be missed. Our condolences go out to his wife Val and family.

Funeral arrangement will be advised later.

From the Race Committee

Club Championship

We still require two more marshals to assist with this weekend’s Club Championship on Mountain Creek Road. Please contact the Race Committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) if you can assist.

And a reminder that the event is a NSW race which means we will incur professional traffic controller fees so a minimum of 30 competitors is required to be viable.

From the Committee

Active Travel Plan

The ACT Government has released a draft Active Travel Plan, which outlines a pathway to boost active travel in the territory. It includes an interactive cycling infrastructure map where you as members of the cycling community can make suggestions directly. There are several ways for you to have a say on the plan before 24 August 2022.

The Club is considering making a submission that will focus on enhancing the riding experience for those who ride to races, and the use of end of trip facilities.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 27^th August – Mountain Creek Road – Club Championship

Reminder: All riders must register on the CRMCC Web site (https://rms.actvets.cc/calendar) by 26/8/2022 8:00 PM prior to the race. There is no registration at the event.

Late entries may be accepted in exceptional circumstances. All late entries must be lodged with the Race Committee race.committee@actvets.com.au, not through the Race Director on the day.

Any requests for Grade changes should be sorted out with the Handicapper prior to registration.

Where: Cnr Mtn Creek Rd and Fairlight Rd
*** Do not park in front of the Fire Shed ***
When: 1:30 pm.
Race Description:
From Mtn Creek Rd and Fairlight Rd intersection to 10km and return 1 lap.

Race Director:  Matt Hinchcliffe Contact: Email: hinchymatt1@gmail.com    Ph 0423 476 341

Marshals: Michael Hanbury, David Buckley, Vacant, Vacant, Van driver – Steven Simms

RACE REPORT:

Sutton Driver Traing Centre – Graded Scratch – 20^th August

First up was A Grade with 8 starters. In the first couple of laps the pace was quite fast with the main bunch of 6 holding together quite well with only 2 just off the back. By the time 5th lap came past the lap times were getting faster and the race was breaking up with a Strong group of 3 riders out in front including Tristan Dimmock, Daniel Lekhac and Steve Crispin followed by 2 more then a lone rider. In the 6th lap the gap had grown even more with the trio working well together. This was the time for 1 of the chasers Rainer Wilton to call it not feeling great for the race abandoned. This left the next 2 chasers both Paul Scherl and Gerard Tiffen isolated. Lap 8 saw Crispin showing his strength and splitting the lead bunch and going solo from this point eventually taking a dominant win, Dimmock tried his best to follow on solo finishing a clear 2nd. Lekhac now paying for his efforts starting to fade and seem to sit up a bit to wait for the chase from behind. With only a few laps to go the next 3 places came back together working well into the final lap coming down the final straight Lekhac lead the trio for 3rd in front of Tiffen 4th and Scherl 5th.

Out on the track at the same time was B grade with only 5 starters and 3 no shows. B grade was a very civilized race with a chain dropped by Craig Tozer on the 2nd lap the race was neutralized by all rider allowing the chain to be fixed and race to continue together. This was also followed by a little confusion with Paul Welsh still off the back heading into the first climb off the straight Calls from Conan Lui could be heard from the finish line to neutralize again allowing him to return. Its not sure if this was agreed by all or was just a tactic employed by Conan to ensure he didn’t have to work to much and be fresh for the final sprint. Either way the group again complied and were all back together swapping turns and all riding hard this group remained as 1 group for the rest of the race. As they entered the final straight for the last time it appeared from the finish line that they all came to a standstill and no one wanting to lead out the sprint. As they continued rolling down the straight you could see the pace pick up and with 150m to go it was Conan Lui coming to the front being pushed to his limits by Craig Tozer and Daniel Crocker eventually taking the close victory over Tozer 2nd, Crocker 3rd and Peter Young 4th.

C Grade had the biggest field of 14 starters including 1 new rider to the vets in Luke Phillips. The first couple of laps the entire bunch stayed together before a couple of riders starting to be dropped. In lap 6 Bruce Mcmillan was unlucky and dropped a chain also but unfortunately due to the size of the field Bruce wasn’t afforded the same courtesy as his B-grade counterpart. He re-joined the main bunch but a lap down. With the large group having some strong efforts on the front by Darren Blackhurst and Ian Preston it was Anthony Beasley leading the group into the Bell lap making up for his disappointment last weekend. As the sprint opened up down the long finishing straight it was Tobis Mclenaghan proving to strong finishing a good bike length in front of Matt Hinchcliffe 2nd and Darren Blackhurst 3rd.

D Grade had 6 starters rolling out together and settling into a rhythm for the first half of the race with 4 out in front followed by 2 solo dropped riders. This pattern continued for several laps with Peta Brill and Michael Hanbury pulling some strong turn on the front. But with 3 laps to go it was Marc Cisterna broke away from the group going solo for the win which will gain plenty of interest from the handicapper. Peta Brill also finishing stronger leaving the rest of the bunch also on the final lap to finish 2nd and Michael Handbury 3rd.

E and F grade rolled out together and consisted of 3 riders and 4 riders in each grade respectively. Only 1 lap into the race Lindsay Graham called it quits stating “I wasn’t ready for the hills today” but good effort for giving it a go anyway. E and F grades then broke up into their respective grades and the pairing of Allan Bontjer and Alison Hale putting a gap into fellow E grader Ian Morton this move proving to much for Ian in difficult conditions to close down on his own. Alison and Allan working with each other to make sure Ian couldn’t make it back. As they both rounded the last bend onto the straight for the final time it was Alison Hale who opened up a small gap which she maintained all the way to the finish for 1st place Allan Bontjer 2nd and Ian Morton 3rd. F Grade had the chase of the day with Chris Copeland who was dropped early and had a good distance to catch his rivals must have finally warmed up and hit form late closing a gap of over 100m on his own in the space of a lap to be back with the leader just before the bell lap. In the end it was this effort that might have been his undoing as he had nothing left come the sprint eventually finishing 3rd. Michelle Hodgetts and Elizabeth Lowe were battling it out lap after lap before the return of Copland however when it cam to the final sprint down the straight it was Elizabeth Lowe out sprinting Michelle Hodgetts in a close finish.

A special thanks to Terry Danaher and Craig Kentwell for assisting with marshalling cleaning the track and recording results. Another big thanks to Paul Robey who pulled out of racing to assist as First Aider last minute without whom the race could not haver been held.

Jason Irwin

Masters,

In this week’s Bleat;

•  From the Race Committee

•  From the Committee

•  Racing this Week

•  Race Report

Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc

From the Race Committee

Race Calendar

Events for the rest of the year have been loaded into RMS. Thanks to all those members who have volunteered so far. We are still looking for Race Directors and officials to assist. Please contact the Race Committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) if you have a preferred event to officiate.

From the Committee

Trial Rides

If you have any friends or family who might be interested in a trial ride with the Masters, there is the option available for up to two trial rides.

There is a trial ride form on the club website https://capitalregionmasterscyclingclub.org.au/racing-with-us/crmcc-trial-ride-form/ which they can use to apply for a trial ride.

Active Travel Plan

The ACT Government has released a draft Active Travel Plan, which outlines a pathway to boost active travel in the territory. It includes an interactive cycling infrastructure map where you as members of the cycling community can make suggestions directly. There are several ways for you to have a say on the plan before 24 August 2022.

The Club is considering making a submission that will focus on enhancing the riding experience for those who ride to races, and the use of end of trip facilities.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 20^th August – Sutton Driver Training – Graded Scratch

Reminder: All riders must register on the CRMCC Web site (https://rms.actvets.cc/calendar) by 19/8/2022 6:00 PM prior to the race. There is no registration at the event.

Late entries may be accepted in exceptional circumstances. All late entries must be lodged with the Race Committee race.committee@actvets.com.au, not through the Race Director on the day.

Any requests for Grade changes should be sorted out with the Handicapper prior to registration.

Where: Approx 0.5 km along Sutton Rd from intersection of Sutton Rd and Pialligo Avenue.
When: 1:30 pm.
Race Description:
A/B: 1.30pm 50 mins 1 lap
C/D: 2.30pm40 mins 1 lap
E/F/G: 3.20pm 30 mins 1 lap.

Race Director:  Jason Irwin Contact: Email: jasoncirwin@hotmail.com    Ph 0488 067 660

Marshals: Terry Danaher, Van driver – Craig Kentwell

RACE REPORT:

Old Federal Highway Graded Scratch – 13^th August

Despite a rather bleak weather forecast, 40 riders turned up to race the Old Federal Highway scratch race, with A-D competing 4 laps and E/F completing 3 laps of the course. From our vantage point at the finish line, the racing looked interesting and no doubt there was plenty of action, especially on the climb out to the turn point. With challenging course conditions, everyone heeded the warnings and stayed upright for the duration.

A grade split up on the first lap, with a 3 rider break and an eager pack chasing. By the second lap, the break had extended its advantage to approx a minute over a chasing bunch of 4. The pace was high and by the third lap, the break had caught E/F grades and they put more distance into their A grade counterparts. On the last lap, the 3 man break came into view over the finishing crest, with Tristan Dimmock powering to the line, Brad Peppinck a few seconds behind for second and Steve Crispin following up for third.

A rather small B grade bunch (strange) largely stayed together for most of the race but started to fracture from lap 3. A bunch of 3 worked together on the last lap, with reasonable splits over the line for the first three. The win was taken by Craig Tozer, with a 16 sec gap to Todd Sowter (2nd) and another 13 sec gap to Conan Liu (3rd).

C and D grades were combined for the start due to low D grade numbers and this represented the biggest bunch on the road. Like A grade, there were some early dropped riders on the first lap, with the D graders still hanging in there. By the second lap, C was largely together with the D grade riders settling into their individual rhythms. For the bell lap, there were a couple more who fell victim to the pace but over the crest to the finish, a 6 rider ‘bunch sprint’ provided the highest level of excitement for the spectators and the race director. Bruce McMillan pipped Owan Tilley with Brian Peak a very close third. Could have thrown a blanket over all three. For D grade, it became an ITT with Terry Danaher taking the win, with Marc Cisterna crossing the line approx 5 mins later for second. Mark Taylor decided to finish his race after 3 laps to get warm/get a brew.

6 riders in E and 4 in F completed the three lap dash. E grade looked like they were together for lap one, with a split on lap two. Sue pulled over for some electronic shifting bike maintenance, before cracking on for the last lap. Over the line, Alex Sommariva got the win, with Russell Marston some 13 sec for 2nd and Alison Hale some three minutes back for 3rd. F grade were together lap one with a very orderly Gillet shedding activity conducted, before heading off for lap 2. The bunch steadily split itself into individual pieces on the last lap with Cat Riley getting the win, over Chris Copeland and Elizabeth Lowe.

Well done to all who competed and there was some great racing out there. Thanks to Ben for driving the van and dealing with wild horses, Simon as the trusty first aider, and Craig/David as the lead/follow drivers.

Marc Vroomans

	Ben Carmody has posted some photos from the event at: https://photos.app.goo.gl/xtq3nDJENc6UgAeS6

Masters,

In this week’s Bleat;

•  From the Race Committee

•  From the Committee

•  Racing this Week

Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc

From the Race Committee

Old Federal Highway

A reminder that, as this weekend’s race is in NSW and the club will be incurring the cost of professional traffic controllers, the number of registration will need to meet the minimum of 30 for the race to go ahead. A decision will be made by Friday lunchtime if there are sufficient numbers to proceed.

Race Calendar

Events for the rest of the year have been loaded into RMS. We are looking for Race Directors and officials to assist. Please contact the Race Committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) if you have a preferred event to officiate.

From the Committee

Trial Rides

If you have any friends or family who might be interested in a trial ride with the Masters, there is the option available for up to two trial rides.

There is a trial ride form on the club website https://capitalregionmasterscyclingclub.org.au/racing-with-us/crmcc-trial-ride-form/ which they can use to apply for a trial ride.

Active Travel Plan

The ACT Government has released a draft Active Travel Plan, which outlines a pathway to boost active travel in the territory. It includes an interactive cycling infrastructure map where you as members of the cycling community can make suggestions directly. There are several ways for you to have a say on the plan before 24 August 2022.

The Club is considering making a submission that will focus on enhancing the riding experience for those who ride to races, and the use of end of trip facilities.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 13^th August – Old Federal Highway – Graded Scratch

Reminder: All riders must register on the CRMCC Web site (https://rms.actvets.cc/calendar) by 12/8/2022 8:00 PM prior to the race. There is no registration at the event.

Late entries may be accepted in exceptional circumstances. All late entries must be lodged with the Race Committee race.committee@actvets.com.au, not through the Race Director on the day.

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 Gravel Pit to Lake George and back.
ABCD 4 laps for 48km. EFG 3 laps for 36km.

Race Director:  Marc Vroomans Contact: Email: vroomans@grapevine.com.au    Ph 0436 189 202

Marshals: David Witham, Craig O’Neall, Ben Carmody, Van driver – Vacant

Masters,

In this week’s Bleat;

•  From the Committee

•  From the Race Committee

•  Racing this Week

•  Race Report

Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc

From the Committee

Trial Rides

If you have any friends or family who might be interested in a trial ride with the Masters, there is the option available for up to two trial rides.

There is a trial ride form on the club website https://capitalregionmasterscyclingclub.org.au/racing-with-us/crmcc-trial-ride-form/ which they can use to apply for a trial ride.

Active Travel Plan

The ACT Government has released a draft Active Travel Plan, which outlines a pathway to boost active travel in the territory. It includes an interactive cycling infrastructure map where you as members of the cycling community can make suggestions directly. There are several ways for you to have a say on the plan before 24 August 2022.

The Club is considering making a submission that will focus on enhancing the riding experience for those who ride to races, and the use of end of trip facilities.

From the Race Committee

Events for the rest of the year have been loaded into RMS. We are looking for Race Directors and officials to assist. Please contact the Race Committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) if you have a preferred event to officiate.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 6^th August – No Scheduled Race

RACE REPORT:

M & H Age Standard Time Trial – 30^th July

Thanks to the 24 riders that took part in the M&H Age Standard Time Trial today covering 20kms at Lookout Hill. Conditions were excellent for racing, with sunshine, a great road surface, and mostly courteous traffic, although the riders had a steady Northerly breeze to contend.

There was plenty of time trial bling, single suits, disk wheels, and aero helmets. And what time trial would be complete without Owain Tilley warming up on pre-race rollers and headphones.

Michael Carr ended his 6 month taper to make a stealth appearance in black, while Christoffe Barberet appeared, but declined to enter without his French National champions jersey.

In the end it was tough racing. Cat Riley won the Women’s, with Katie Gregory in second, and Alison Hale third. In the Men, Steve Crispin won, with Brendan Byatt second, and Steve Blackburn third.

M&H TT Women: Cat Riley, Katie Gregory, Alison Hale (with Vice President David Parker)

M&H TT Men: Steve Crispin, Brendan Byatt (absent), Stephen Blackburn (with Vice President David Parker)

Marshalls were Polly Templeton, Paul Welsh, Callum Henshaw, while Anthony Dick drove the van and ran timing, with Simon Whitehead as First Aid.

Peter Young