Masters, In this week’s Bleat;
- Next Race – Tonelli Handicap – 17 June
- Race Officials – needed
- Sutton Super Series – Report and Points Score
“I was six when I saw E.T. It changed my life. I wasn’t interested in cycling at all before”. Chris Hoy MBE – Gold Winning British Olympian
RACING – Next Race
Saturday 17 June, 1.30pm – Uriarra Homestead – Tonelli Handicap
Race Officials needed – Race Director and x 3 ETCs and 1 Marshal – if you can assist the Club then please email the race.committee@actvets.cc
Format: Uriarra Homestead
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: Tonelli 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.
Race Officials – needed
Saturday 24 June, 1.30pm – Race Director and a Marshal for the Lookout Hill ITT
Sunday 25 June 2pm – Race Director and a Marshal for the Stromlo FP Criteriums
If you can assist the Club then please email the race.committee@actvets.cc
Sutton Super Series – Race Report Round 3
We saw a reasonable turn up of riders for the Points Race at Sutton Driver Training Centre on Saturday. What looked like being a terrific winter’s day, soon changed to drizzly cool afternoon. That must have dissuaded a few of our entrants turning up, as we had 8 riders form the 58 entered, who failed to show. The threatening rain began to materialise part way through our first C And D grade races and persisted for E grade as well.
C GRADE
C Grade headed off in what seemed like fine weather, but the dark clouds soon appeared from the south. The bunch stayed together for the first few laps, with Krusty Bryant winning the first sprint prime. David Dickson tried for an early break (perhaps as insurance against his sprinting prowess), but was soon reeled back in. Then it was Ian Preston who made a break mid-way through the race, with a little more success when he won the 3rd sprint prime.
Wins in the sprints were shared between the riders – Krusty, Andrew Remely, Ian Preston, David Buckley and Nathan Monck, with no one winning more than one. However, Nathan was consistently strong throughout the race, taking points in every sprint. He won the first sprint, followed by Michael Hanbury and Krusty.
After tallying up the points, Nathan was a clear winner on 12, followed by Krusty on 5 and Michael Hanbury on 4. Gavin Stephens also scored 4 points but missed out on the final podium due to a lower placing in the finishing sprint.
D GRADE
Another race interrupted by the rain. Once again, the bunch stayed pretty much together for the first few laps. After some solid laps the pace and rain took its toll on the field, with a few riders dropping off the bunch. Al Bontjer and Sarah Stevens thought better of the conditions and called it a day. Whilst a few hardy souls motored on alone in the lousy conditions. Shelley-Anne Taylor deserves special mention as she carried on solo after being dropped early, and then did a couple of extra laps for good measure, when she should have finished.
Greg Harris was the dominant rider, winning 3 of the 4 sprints during the race, including the final. He was followed over the finish line by Nick Boylan and Terry Moore, who also made up the final podium positions once points were allocated. Although not in that order as Terry won some sprint points earlier.
The final podium was Greg Harris 1st (12 points), Terry Moore 2nd (5 points) and Nick Boylan 3rd (4 points). Peta Brill and Tony Beasley also performed well during the sprints, each picking up 4 points, but placed 4th and 5th overall due to their finishing position in the final sprint.
E GRADE
E grade only had a small field of 6 entered, which included Doug Lean (the sole F grader), However there were 3 non-starters including John Barlow on the tandem, who later advised that they’d had a blowout on the way there and missed the start. A bit unlucky for them and also for the riders who did start, as they’d likely have a nice sit behind the tandem for a lot of the race. So we only had 3 starters – Doug, Sue Powell and John Barlow, making up the 3 musketeers.
They rolled around at a reasonable pace in the damp conditions and made it an easy job for the officials by maintain the same order for every one of the sprints, including the final. It was John, followed by Sue and the Doug each time. Doug did well and managed to hang on to the higher grade for a few laps until dropping off on the hill after one of the sprints. He then carried on alone to the finish, for another perseverance medal. Final points and placings were John Barlow 1st (12 points), Sue Powell 2nd (8 points) and Doug Lean 3rd (4 points).
A GRADE
A grade had the longest race of the day, ending up with 7 sprints by the time we got to the end. They also had the largest number of non-starters. Possibly due to starting last, which gave people time to see the weather coming. Having said that, by the time they did start at 3.00pm, the heavens had parted and they saw some sunshine.
They started with a good pace, to ensure B grade (only 15 secs behind) caught them. Stuart Griffiths engineered an early break, which was a sign of things to come. He proved to be the dominant rider in the race. Although it also highlighted the fact that he was wearing someone else’s number. A bit confusing for us officials, when we had someone winning sprints who wasn’t on the start list. It wasn’t until after the race that we worked out Stuart was the one winning all the points.
The bunch generally stayed together for a fair while, with only a few riders dropping off for mechanicals or due to the high pace. Although there were a number of breaks during the race, it usually came back together again, so the sprints were well fought out. Jason Irwin was strong for the first few sprints, winning one and second in the next two. From then on it was a Stuart and Steve Crispin show – with Stuart winning sprints 3, 4, 6 and the final and Steve placing or winning in every one except sprint No. 2. Daniel Lekhac was strong towards the end of the race, placing in the final few sprints.
Stuart won the final sprint, followed by Steve Crispin and the Tristan Dimmock. However, Tristan didn’t feature on the final podium, as it was the only sprint he scored points in. Final results were 1st Stuart Griffiths (20 points), 2nd Steve Crispin (12 points), 3rd Jason Irwin (7 points).
B GRADE
B grade kept up a strong pace for most of the race, such that A grade didn’t seem to get away from them much until fairly late in the race. We even managed to finish the B grade race before they were lapped by A grade.
Gareth Downey won the first sprint with a strong push, but he may have spent a few to many bikkies and was dropped on the hill soon after. There was a strong break by Michael Rowland and Toby McLenaghan with Conan Liu, following the 4th sprint.
Toby maintained his form towards the end of the race, featuring in the last 4 sprints, including a win in the 5th. Enough to ensure a final 3rd place on the podium. Michael Davies was also strong at the end of the race, winning the 4th sprint and the final finishing sprint. Enough to secure 2nd place overall. Conan Liu was strong throughout the race, scoring in 4 of the 6 sprints, but just missed out on a podium place due to a lower placing than Toby in the final sprint. They were both on the same points.
At the finish line sprint, it was Michael Davies, followed by Michael Rowland and then Toby McLenaghan. This resulted in Michael Rowland winning overall by a big margin – featuring in every sprint, winning 2, second in 2 and third in 1. Overall placings were 1st Michael Rowland (15 points), 2nd Michael Davies (9 points), 3rd Toby McLenaghan (7 points). With Conan Liu 4th (also on 7 points).
ASHLEY SKED – Race Director
Points Score – after round 3
Point score notes: Riders are permitted to keep points gained even when promoted. So far the following promotions have been made:
Dimitar Dojcinoski B to A
Toby McLenaghan C to B
Aaron Thomson C to B
Michael Hanbury D to C
Robert Langridge E to D
Sarah Stephens E to D
Shirley-Anne Taylor E to D
Rob Langridge – Handicapper
