Masters, In this week’s Bleat;

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

“It never gets easier, you just go faster.” Greg LeMond

RACING THIS WEEK:

*Saturday* 22 April, 1.30pm – Uriarra Homestead – Handicap (45km)

Format: Uriarra Homestead – Uphill to Short turn before the climb – downhill to top of Uriarra Crossing – back up to Homestead. 3 laps for a handicap.
Description: Memorial Handicap
Directions: Assemble at Uriarra Rd / Brindabella Rd, T-Junction. From North Canberra slightly faster Coppins crossing & right onto Uriarra Road. From Sth Canberra follow Cotter Road down to bridge crossing, turn right onto Brindabella Road.

Cutoff registration Friday 21/04/2023 9:30 PM
Gareth Downey – Race Director – (0409291500)

RACE REPORTS:

Sutton Driver Centre – Saturday 15 April 2023

This was the first round in the Sutton Super Series with those riders participating now with a head start over those who didn’t, but don’t worry those who missed out still have 5 more rounds to make up ground and claim a share of the prizes at the end of the series, so make sure you try to be there next time.

First grades up were A & B grade with small fields in each of 7 starters in A and only 4 in B.

The first few laps seemed very neutral in both grades before on Lap 4 A grade split apart leaving 2 groups of 3 and a single rider behind. The front group of Callum Henshaw, John Bridge and Gerrard Tiffen only continued to build on their lead over the next few laps until John was eventually dropped from the trio. With a roaring tailwind down the final straight the sprint was going to be a fast one and reportedly both riders were out of gears and couldn’t spin any quicker – it came down to a photo finish which the camera barely caught – it was that fast. Final result was Tiffen by almost a wheel over Henshaw and Bridge in 3rd.

B grade out on the course all stuck together making the work a bit easier on a windy afternoon. With all riders contributing to the pace and rolling turns well. It wasn’t till late in the race when Dimitar Dojcinoski attacked just after the final straight up the hill and got a gap on his opponents. The chase began unfortunately for Alana Forster – it became to much as she was dropped from the chase. Craig Tozer and Kieran Butler tried their best with Dimitar remaining too strong holding on over Kieran in 2nd and Craig in 3rd.

C & D grades were up next fielding the biggest start lists for the day of 15 (C) and 11 (D) – these fields had all the makings of being the hardest races to keep track of for the marshals – in the end however it was quite the opposite although there were several attempts in C grade for bunches to go off the front; none were allowed away and even more surprisingly none were dropped – all 15 riders were together down the final straight when the sprints opened up. Recently demoted B grade rider Tobias McLenaghan taking out the sprint (I’m sure the handicapper will have more to say about this) over our CRMCC Track champion Tim Jolly in 2nd and a couple of bike lengths later to Darren Blackhurst in 3rd.

D grade also making it easier than expected for the officials – mostly sticking together with only a couple of victims to the punchy climbs and the main bulk of the riders sticking together till the final laps as the race wore on – so did the toll on the legs. The final bunch sprint was eventually taken out by the strong finishing Mark Taylor over 2nd place Rosie Hurt and Mick Handbury rounding out the podium.

E & F grades were last to go – E grade fielding a very competitive 9 riders and 5 for F grade.

The initial laps sorted out who had the legs for the day and who didn’t with both grades having riders decide today was not their day. E grade kept a small pack together for most of the race and when the bell lap sounded the intensity picked up. The final Bunch sprint, and with the tailwind still blowing hard down the straight, Shirley-Anne Taylor decided to open her sprint from a long way out riding extremely hard all the way to the line holding off the bunch of Ian Morton in 2nd and Sue Powell in 3rd.

F Grade having a small field – it only got smaller pretty quickly with Lindsay Graham deciding it was not meant to be and Paul Robey being dropped from the group. That left only the tandem of Colin Calderwood and Lindy Hou against Chris Copeland and Elizabeth Lowe. As the race wore on, a small gap to the tandem opened up with the riders doing well; and a difficult and technical course on a standard bike not to mention on a tandem. The final result of the race was: 1st Elizabeth Lowe finishing stronger with 2nd Chris Copeland and 3rd Colin and Lindy.

Thanks to all who attended the races for the day as well as a big thanks to the volunteers Robert Craine for marshalling, Simon Whitehead for first Aid, Ian Hutchings and David Parker for driving the van.

Jason Irwin – Race Director

Results

From the Race Committee

Crankys Bicycle Worx Voucher

Excel spat out the random number of Toby McLenaghan to make him the winner on this occasion for the Cranky’s Bicycle Worx $180 major tune service voucher. Congratulations Toby and many thanks to Stu from Crankys for his ongoing support.

CRuMbs out and about

Club members representing Canberra Cycling Club competed in the first Hayman Classic held on Sunday. This interstate race is multiple loops from Coppin’s Crossing up Fairlight road, onto Mountain Creek Road then back onto Uriarra road, offering all types of terrain and shocking weather to top it off! Kris McCreath was second in A grade, Ben Morrison and Stuart Griffiths took out the quinella in B grade. Andrew Chamberlain and John Paul de Sousa finished C grade. The Chamberlains must love tough courses with rough sections as Andrew’s son, Oscar, finished second in the Paris-Roubaix junior race the weekend before. 

Sutton Super Series Point Score

The first round of the Super Series was held at the training centre on Saturday. Conditions were excellent with the only problem being the number of punctures sustained by riders who rode to the course because of the shocking state of Pialligo Avenue. Those who competed on Saturday are eligible for the 12 bonus points if they compete in every other race. I nominate Ians Morton and Preston to bag the bonus points irrespective of what conditions are dished up between now and September.

RMS is on the blink at the moment but points allocation is as follows:

1st 10 points
2nd 8 points
3rd 6 points
4th 4 points
5th 3 points
6th onwards 2 points

Front runners at the moment are:

A Gerard Tiffen
B Dimitar Dojcinoski
C Toby McLenaghan
D Mark Taylor
E Shirley-Anne Taylor
F Liz Lowe

Rob Langridge – Race Committee

Michael Langdon thebleat@actvets.cc