Masters, In this week’s Bleat;
- Report from Perth, Scotland – UCI World Championships
- CRuMBS out and about (Capital Region Masters Blokes and Sheilas)
- Next Race – Sunday 13 August 1.30pm – Stromlo Criteriums (race Director needed)
- Race Reports – Sutton Super Series & Lookout Hill TT
- Race calendar can be found here for other race dates needing Officials
- Event alert – Friday 8 September
“It was sketchy and nervous racing due to the very narrow country roads, and all 186 of us were crammed in. The break didn’t go until around the 65km mark. The scenery was incredible. Some of us were surprised to learn that Mario Cipollini had been invited to lead out M6! Similarly, Alexander Vinokourov lead out and won M5. Lots of fun, great experience, highly recommended. M6 was the only age group to be defended by previous winner Michael Schaefer”.
Conan Liu – Australia M6 – 2023 UCI Gran Fondo. (CRMCC Membership Officer)
Race report of podium here
Learning note C. Liu: to qualify for the next Gran Fondo World Championship in Aalborg, Denmark in September 2024, you will need to finish in the top 25% of your age group either at Amy’s Gran Fondo in Lorne, or the Tour de Brisbane.
CRuMBS out and about (Capital Region Masters Blokes and Sheilas)
It’s an international edition this week. See Conan’s blurb above about the World Gran Fondo Championships in Glasgow. Imagine riding a hilly 160km course at 34.5 average–Amazing. Lining up in other age groups were ex-pros Alexander Vinokurov and Johnny Hoogerland!
On the track, Alana Forster placed 6th in the women’s C5 individual pursuit. Alana’s time of 3:49 for 3km was only 4 seconds away from the medal qualification time and an average of 47.1km/h! Fantastic effort Alana.
At the NSW crit champs in Penrith, Rosie Hurt won the combined W1-3 event. Rosie gave CRMCC C grade a demonstration of her crit form last month after demolishing the race in a breakaway with cyclocross star Claire Aubury. Toby McLenaghan was 10th in the M1-2, Marc Vroomans 4th in the M5, and Bruce McMillan was first of the M9s.
Robert Langridge – Race Comittee
RACING – Next Race
Sunday 13 August 1.30pm – Stromlo Criteriums (race Director needed)
1330 B/D Grades 50mins plus 2 laps (D 5mins less)
1430 E/F/G Grades 45mins plus 2 laps
1530 A/C 50mins plus 2 laps (C 5mins less)
Anti-Clockwise
Race calendar can be found here for other race dates needing Officials
Race Reports
Sutton Super Series – (5 Aug 23)
Dry conditions emerged for race 5 of the Sutton Super Series and a light tailwind on the finish straight got everyone talking early about sprint tactics.
E grade took off first after a very fast (3-4min) tube change on the start line for Elizabeth. The three riders stuck together, trading turns nicely throughout the race until the final lap, where Russell Marston took out the sprint, closely followed by Ian Morton (second) and Elizabeth with a strong finish (third).
A Grade then took to the course with 6 riders, followed by B Grade with 10 riders. A grade rolled out calmly with a couple little attacks by Ben Morrison on lap 3, but they were shut down quickly. The diesel tractor of Nathan Spillane dropped off a little but pulled himself back onto the group and headed to the front for a turn to settle down the attackers. Daniel Lekhac threw in a little attack but didn’t get to far. The group then stuck together for a little while, reassessing their next chess moves. Tobias McLenaghan also had a strong showing having recently stepped into A grade, hanging in there with the guys until the final stages of the race. With 10min to go, a split with Ben Morrison and Steve Crispin began to form and Dennis Mungoven wasn’t missing out, so bridged across to make selection. The three rode together until the final 2 two laps, where Dennis tried his luck at a solo finish, sitting about 50m ahead of Ben and Steve. In the end Ben Morrison showcased the sprint legs for the win, Steve Crispin rolled in second and Dennis held on for third having left it all out there. Daniel rolled in for a solid fourth, Tobias fifth and Nathan sixth.
B grade began in a civil manner much like A grade but it didn’t take long for Mark Harris to try a couple surge’s up the hill to soften up the group. The group hung on and stayed together for a while, with a few riders trying small attacks to get moves going, but the elastic band of the peloton held together. Mid way through Christopher van der Spek and Nathan Rickerby caused a split, and David Parker began bridging across to make the move. The three got together and traded turns for a couple laps, before David decided (or his legs decided) to drop back to the main group. Nathan and Chris stayed away for a couple more laps before a few fellow riders caught them and a group had formed for the closing laps. In the end Christopher van der Spek took out a bunch sprint, followed by Michael Rowland in second and David Parker in third. Craig Tozer took fourth and Nathan Rickerby fifth.
Twelve C Grade riders took to the course and stayed together for majority of the race. Gavin Stephens and Tim Jolly were regulars on the front of the group driving the pace and placing everyone nicely in the gutter along the finish straight to ensure no one was keeping their legs fresh for the sprint. The race looked set for a bunch sprint as they held tightly together with 2 laps to go. Over the back of the course the group went into the final lap and the crowd had their cameras ready for a video/photo finish. As the group emerged on the finish straight, someone had thrown a 1km to go Hail Mary, in the distance we could see one rider dangling 100m ahead of the bunch as the sprint finish wound up. But Krusty Bryant had timed the Hail Mary perfectly, taking the win like Jasper Stuyven in 2021 Milan San Remo. Tim Jolly in second and taking the bunch sprint, Ian Preston in third, Gavin Stephens fourth and David Wilkinson fifth.
Six riders in D Grade and it didn’t take long for Anthony Beasley, Mark Taylor and Rob Langridge to split the group to form a trio that traded turns to establish the races future. Shirley-Anne chased hard for a couple laps and later was joined by Terry Moore, and Alfred Cook hung in there. Eventually Terry dropped off and Shirley-Anne remained determined by driving a strong solo pace, Alfred also holding strong with good pace being solo. Meanwhile, the trio out front rode beautifully together as if they were on the same team in a team time trial, but all that changed as they entered the final lap. Mark Taylor wasn’t flinching and kept his cool as they all backed off the pace to prep the legs for a sprint. The finish straight came around and Rob Langridge burst out front with 150m to go to take the win, Mark Taylor holding a strong sprint for second and Anthony Beasley coming in for third. Shirley-Anne didn’t stop chasing until that finish line with a well ridden fourth place, and Alfred coming in fifth.
Special mentions of the day:
Ride of the Day: Krusty Byrant with a perfectly timed late flyer to take the C Grade win.
Strongest Showing: Shirley-Anne driving a solid solo pace all the way to the finish.
Rolled the dice: Dennis Mungoven trying his luck solo with 2 laps to go… ‘you’ve gotta be willing to lose it, to win it folks’
Until next time, cheers – Kris McCreath, Race Director.
Points score after round 5 below :
Lookout Hill TT – (29 July 23)
14 riders raced against the clock on the infamous ‘flat’ TT course – Lookout Hill. Many commented on the cruelty of the finishing ‘climb’. However by and large it is probably the flattest course on offer!!
13 finished. Unfortunately one rider (Dan Lekhac) having a mechanical on their second lap. Luckily all was well and Dan was able to ride his rocketship home.
At the race briefing, we were confident it wouldn’t rain and said as much. First rider rolled away, and the heavens opened; albeit, sporadically. The riders said it didn’t phase them.
By the time the last rider finished, the sun had returned.
In the end, Steve Crispin got the win, followed by Anthony Murfett; with Brendan Byatt in third place.
Tristan Dimmock – Race Director (TT Results here)
Racing Calendar changes – please see below
Subject to approvals from NSW and ACT governments, the dates have changed for the following events:
| Saturday, August 26 | Iron Mike Moved from August 19 as the AusCycling ACT RR championship is being held that morning on the same course. |
| Sunday, October 15 | The 2023 Gunning (aka Peter McLennan Memorial) event. Start/Finish at Bredalbane, using the community hall as race central Consists of a TT event followed by the usual 48km lap – once or twice depending on your grade. The handicapper is considering letting D grade vote on their lap count… The single day approach facilitates (i) the ability to attract potential 2024 members though the use of the single day trial licence, and (ii) reduces event costs hiring NSW traffic controllers. |
The dates of the NSW and ACT AusCycling events were not available at the time the Calendar was submitted to the ACT government for approval in 2022.
Chris Short – Race Committee
Event Alert
Event Name: Annual Daramalan College Charity Walk Fundraiser
Event Date and Time: Friday 8 September 2023 – 9:30am to 1.30pm
What: 1,200 students and staff walking around Lake Burley Griffin western loop shared path.
Starts: at 9:30am at Lennox Gardens with walkers moving in a clockwise direction, finishing at Acton Park at lunch time.
Thank you for making your members aware of this activity. We hope it doesn’t inconvenience those who use this path as part of their daily commute or recreational activities. – Daramalan College
