Capital Region Masters – Weekly Bleat, Monday 06 November, 2023

Masters, In this week’s Bleat

• Next Crit Race – Summer Series Evening Criterium Tuesday 07 November. 5.50 PM
• Next Road Race – Smiths Rd-Naas Rd – 19 November
• Narrabundah Track Racing – Thursday 09 November, 5:30 PM
• From the Committee
• Race calendar can be found here for other race dates needing Officials

RACING – Summer Series Evening Criterium Tuesday 07 November

(Volunteers are needed for various sessions so please check dates at the link)

NARRABUNDAH TRACK SESSION – THURSDAY 09 NOVEMBER 5:30 PM

The Program for Thursday is as follows:
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice.
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 8-lap graded scratch race.
6.20pm – 6.50pm: 200m fly.
6.50pm – 7.10pm: 2-lap handicap.
7.10pm – 7.30pm: Italian Pursuit.

Please register and pay $10 for this session by looking up the calendar entry in the RMS https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar

We also offer an annual season pass of $140 for a theoretical 20 racing sessions until 21 March 2024 (weather permitting), or $7 per session, and you would need to attend 14 of the 20 sessions remaining to break even.

As we have moved to online registration and payment, we no longer accept cash on the day. You must be registered to participate for insurance purposes.

Graeme O’Neill – Chief Commissaire

ROAD RACE – SUNDAY 05 NOVEMBER 9:00AM

Uriarra Homestead – top of crossing – Condor Creek – Homestead. A/B/C 3 laps. D/E/F/G 2 Laps. Entry Fee $10.

CRIT RACING REPORTS TUESDAY 31 OCTOBER

Another spring evening greeted our Gladiatrices and Gladiators at the Crit Halloween special and
after all riders were cautioned if they crashed they would be buried in the middle of the track we got
on with the racing.
First off was B & D and while best dress for the night was the rider 365, Andrew Yates not because of
his matching attire and pretty white bike but he was the first rider that I have seen showing off his
slut strands while racing. They were the unofficial hair trend for 2022 for anyone wondering. B grade
was a mixed bag with a few early attacks before a threesome of Paul Scherl, Bruce Goodfellow and
Rowan McMurray had a half-hearted attempt to breakaway before Luka Manson stood up with 10
mins to go to show B grade what he was made off. Luka spent 7 laps off the front and took an easy
win followed by Andrew Chamberlain and Paul Scherl.
D grade saw the emergence of Greg Mitchell having a real dig, I suspect it was because I promised D
grade frogs as a sprint bonus every 2 nd lap. At the end, Mr Mitchell claimed that I owed him 10 frogs
but the pictures on facebook (thanks Ian) suggest otherwise plus the fact that Wayne Shippley broke
away on the 1 st lap and no one decided to chase him. Wanye, looking like a certain winner midway
through the race mysteriously decided to sit up allowing the bunch catch him. In the end it came
down to a bunch sprint with Ian Morton taking home gold with the gladiatrices Elizabeth Lowe and
Clare Menzies claiming silver and bronze.
Next up was E and F. With only 1 F grader, I asked Lindsay Graham to join E grade and try his luck. To
his credit, Lindsay stuck it to them showing what F grade is made off and comfortably taunting them
from the back of the pack. E grade largely rode as a well-oiled pack swapping the lead from time to
time with one short lived attack by Raeleigh. With the bell ringing loud, Rico Fitch decided to attack
and easily powered away until he chose to freewheel down the back straight allowing Raeleigh to
overtake and also take the win. Being afraid of being promoted, Rico then encouraged Bruce Griffin
and Ross Heazlewood to overtake him thought collarbone by tapping the breaks and allowing them
to claim 2 nd and 3 rd respectively. Well done Robert Craine for rounding out E grade.
Finally it was time for A & C to show the remaining spectators what racing was all about. From the
sidelines, I was expecting A grade to kick off with another sub-par performance for the first few laps
as per the last few weeks. How wrong was I, Stuart Griffiths who was given the new nick name of
“Pretty on Pink” by the spectators and James “keep on going” Thorp came out firing and they didn’t
disappoint. The pair managed to remain out front for the entire night and from the sidelines the
most amusing part was Stu’s continued encouragement of James…words truly cannot describe how
funny this was and the fact he made James lead up the hill every lap. In the end it was Pretty on Pink
by a nose over James and Crispy third.
C grade was largely a dull affair, few attacks and fewer points to write about. Speaking with Mr
Hardy after the race, he said it nice to hold a steady pace for once esp as the fool who likes to jump
of the front wasn’t racing. If I had to praise 1 racer for having a go it would be Mark Vardy and in the
end it was a bunch sprint with Leonard Pooley victorious over Wayne Benham and a fast finishing
Craig O’Neall who nearly stole second.
Thanks to Ian for setting up and all the wonderful pics (as usual), Gareth for his excellent
marshalling, Simon for the burying of 2 riders for me and bell girl Chloe who Dad made come and
help for petrol money and Greg’s freddo frogs .
Signing out Uncle Fester

TRACK RACING REPORT- THURSDAY 2 NOVEMBER
Thursday 2 November saw the third track racing session for the 2023-24 season. The weather was mild
and sunny, with a slight headwind in the back straight. Attendance was moderate (10 riders), though
significantly better than last week.
The warm-up provided a bit more than usual excitement. Graeme O’Neill was first out on the track and
did 3 laps at moderate speed on the inside duck board (blue strip in the picture). As he entered the bend
off the front straight, a 1.5m brown snake was suddenly sprawled across the path ahead. With no time to
swerve and no brakes, Graeme’s only course was straight across the middle of the snake. Fortunately, it
did not rear up and looked much the worse for wear after the incident. However, the snake recovered
after 5 minutes and slithered around the grass verge to await another victim. The warm-up went ahead
with riders taking a wide line at the first turn.

Unwelcome Guest Removed from the Track

The evening’s racing was rescued after a snake catcher was sought and able to attend at short notice.
The catcher was amazed that the snake had recovered from being run over and apparently suffered no ill
effect.
The 8-lap A grade scratch race commenced with Martin Graham leading out a bunch of 6 riders. John
Paul De Sousa soon took over, keeping up a moderate pace. Lead turns from Craig Kentwell, Warwick
Wilson, Conan Liu and Wayne Benham followed, with each rider incrementing the speed. Wayne
Benham and John Paul De Sousa started a lead out in the penultimate lap. However, Conan Liu and
Martin Graham were lurking with intent and soon launched a long sprint to the line. Conan managed to
get the better of Martin with Craig Kentwell keeping up a good pace to take third place.
The B Grade scratch race had 4 riders with Ben Davis making up the numbers. The race was routine
over the first 6 laps with riders rolling over the lead. Graeme O’Neill took his turn leading out the
penultimate lap at a good pace. As the bell lap approached riders were jockeying for a good position on
the banking when Graeme launched an attack. Graeme gained a small lead before he was swamped by

Alison Hale’s massive acceleration with Phil Coulton hanging on grimly. Alison surged around the bell lap
for a comfortable win with Phil Coulton and Graeme O’Neill taking the places in that order.
The evening’s second events were long points races. A grade did 20 laps with 5 points sprints while B
grade did 16 laps with 4 sprints. After an initial sprint victory by Wayne Benham, Conan Liu surged from
the pack and dominated the A grade contest. By the end of the race, Conan had almost caught the back
markers. Martin Graham put in a good effort chasing Conan to garner sufficient points for second place.
The final result was Conan Liu (28 pts), Martin Graham (20 pts) and Wayne Benham (16pts). Alison Hale
dominated the B grade contest winning every sprint for a maximal 25 points. Ben Davis stuck with Alison
throughout the race to garner second place on 18 points. Graeme O’Neill was lapped by Alison and Ben.
However, the rules allowed him to participate in the final sprint where he added a little excitement by
charging into the bell lap. He was soon overtaken by Alison, but managed to finish ahead of Ben Davis,
falling just behind him with a tally of 17 points.
The evening’s racing closed with the usual Italian Pursuit. There were teams of five riders and the
contest was very close. Both teams had good starts and were evenly matched. Team 1 managed to eke
out several metres lead by the stage where the anchor riders took over. Conan Liu then put in a
tremendous lap to more than recover lost ground and give Team 2 a narrow win.
Major place getters were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A1 Grade) Conan Liu, Martin Graham, John Paul De Sousa. (A2 Grade) Craig Kentwell,
Warwick Wilson (B Grade) Alison Hale, Phil Coulton, Graeme O’Neill.
20-Lap Points Race: (A Grade) Conan Liu (28 pts), Martin Graham (20 pts), Wayne Benham (16 pts),
Craig Kentwell (12 pts), John Paul De Sousa (10pts).
16-Lap Points Race: (B Grade) Alison Hale (25 pts), Ben Davis (18 pts), Graeme O’Neill (17 pts).
Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (Conan Liu, Wayne Benham, Warwick Wilson, Alison Hale, Graeme
O’Neill).
Season Point Score Update:
Alison Hale (50), Conan Liu (45), John Paul De Sousa (41), Graeme O’Neill (33), Craig Kentwell (33),
Hamish Anderson (31), Martin Graham (29), Ian Drayton (28), Wayne Benham (24), Ben Davis (23),
Warwick Wilson (18), Phil Coulton (14).

From the Committee

Update your membership details

In preparation for the early December announcement of the 2024 annual fees and online renewal, please take a moment to verify that your membership details (email address, emergency contact details) are current and up to date. This information is collated in the national body’s database SportsTG, from which we receive incremental updates to our RMS system. If you are reading this Bleat via email, then it is likely that we have a functional email address for you. To check your membership details go to https://memberdesq.sportstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10244 >Login > Enter your username (which is often a randomly generated string of letters like 0FrWUyp unless you have changed it).  Please contact membership@actvets.cc if you need help finding your username as it is understandable that you may only use it once a year for annual fee renewal.

From the Committee

Reduced Membership Fee for Racing in the Remainder of 2023

As in previous years, a reduced membership fee of $85 has been set by AVCC
and is now available for new members and non-financial members wishing to
rejoin the club and race between now and 31 December 2023. This offer
typically gives previously non-financial members insurance coverage and
eligibility to race in the remaining 6 crits, 3 road races and 7 track session for 2023.  Register and pay via the AVCC online membership portal at https://memberdesq.sportstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10244. Full 12 month membership pricing and registration for 2024 will not be known until around mid-December 2023 at which point we will announce it in the Bleat.

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