Capital Region Masters – Weekly Bleat, 22 January, 2024

Masters, In this week’s Bleat

• Next Crit Race – Summer Series Evening Criterium Tuesday 23 January 5.50 PM
• NARRABUNDAH TRACK RACING – THURSDAY 25 JANUARY, 5.30 PM
• Crits Race Report 16 January
• Track Racing Report 18 January
• Handicapper’s Message
• Membership Message
• Race calendar can be found here for other race dates needing Officials

RACING – Summer Series Evening Criterium Tuesday 23 January

Grade	Time	Race Duration [ sunset @ 8:19 ]
A/C	5:50	A 45mins + 2 laps; C 40mins + 2 laps
B/D	6:40	B 45mins + 2 laps; D 40mins + 2 laps
E/F/G	7:30	30mins + 2 laps

NARRABUNDAH TRACK RACING – THURSDAY 25 JANUARY, 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: Paired match races
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
As we have moved to online registration and payment, we no longer accept cash on the day.

CRITS RACE REPORT TUESDAY 16 JANUARY

Following some afternoon showers, the mild, windless evening weather turn out all
but perfect for all riders who attended with the track completely drying by the end of
the first race.
Up first were B & D grades and it didn’t take long for the attacks to start flying in B
grade withing the first 5 mins Aaron Thompson & Mick Rose of My Ride were off the
front with teammate Krusty riding a false tempo for a couple of laps to let the lead
slowly grow. Paul Scherl must have been the only 1 wise to it as he took up the
chase but no one else was willing to help.
31 minutes remaining the breakaway was pulled back. Not long later it was Ed
Meeuwissen and Krusty trying to force a break While Andrew Yates and Kate
Vandenberg constantly hanging near the front policing the moves. With 21mins to go
Krusty & Mick got away forming another break and a few minutes later were joined
by another 5 riders to make 7 up front.
One lab later, the bunch scrambled and it was all back together.
8 minutes to go it split up again. This time My Ride doing the chasing in the main
bunch.
Nathan Rickerby tried to go solo. But the race still had too much to go and was
caught with 4mins remaining by some bridging riders. This was to be the final group
with Aaron Paul and Bruce Goodfellow now up front and not much time left. Bruce
eventually blew up and couldn’t say with them as did Nathan but still managed to
hold on for 3 rd this left Scherl 1 st to out sprint Thompson 2 nd .
D grade was far more civilised with everyone very evenly matched. An attack by Ian
Morton in the early stages never made it far. At the mid-way mark Shirley-Anne
Taylor tried to attack down the back straight this was also nullified.
Greg Mitchell always seemed to be on the front going up the straight. I’m not sure if
this was a move to control the pace or the rest of the bunch was happy to let him be
on the front to burn him up. With the closing mins before the final laps nearing tony
Sheehan decided it was his turn to take up the front of the bunch and apply the
pressure. With the bunch still largely together minus a couple of DNF riders the
sprint was on with a strong finishing James Steen taking the W over Steve Simms 2 nd
and Shirley-Anne 3 rd /
E & G were next and were the smallest fields of the evening with only 4 E grade and
1 G Grader. Committed G grader Robyn Smallwood who by all accounts had a great
time riding solo for the win except the race director didn’t call the 2 laps remaining
soon enough, sorry!! Although admittedly Robyn may still have been buzzing from
getting a hug off Sam Welsford at nationals a week or so ago and therefore let me off
the hook. E Grade was out there for business with all riders sharing the work early
on. Until midway through the race new rider John Brotherton in his first race attacked
leaving the rest of E grade behind. John looked to have good form out front solo and
eventually caught up to the bunch sat in for a lap and attacked them again before the
finish to take a comfortable +1 lap victory and a promotion next week. The minor
placing was up for grabs with Bruce Griffin 2nd getting the better of Mick Donaldson
3rd.
A & C Grade were last for the evening and much like B grade, A didn’t wait long for
the attacks to fly Steve Crispin, Jeremy Gillman-Wells & Stu Griffiths forming a
strong 3-man break. However, their time out front was short lived with the bunch

reeling them back in. Only to be counter attacked by Gerard Tiffen although with 35
mins to go the solo break was always going to difficult. But dangling off the front paid
off with Steve bridging solo the 2 riders looked determined to work from here.
Jeremy now back in the pack turned to super teammate looking to get in the rotation
and slow the chase down drop back to 3 rd wheel and repeat this allowed the gap to
grow and with a lack of cohesion between riders in the chase the 2 out front were
looking good. Not wanting to miss out on season points with no Moshy in the race
Stu attacked out of the peloton with Matt Rizzuto on his wheel. They worked very
hard to close the sizeable gap and made the lead group. But with the win on the line
the tactics started to come out and as predictable as ever and not wanting to go up
against better sprinters Steve was first to attack with the 2 laps to go sign up. This
was nullified immediately. With the race destined for a small group sprint it was
another Tiffen teammate Rizzo on the front driving a ridiculous pace the final lap to
setup and leadout Gerard to go head to head with Stu none of the officials could split
them on the line we had to go to the photo finish and after some deliberation the
victory went to Gerard Tiffen by a tyre width.
C Grade like D Grade were quite evenly matched throughout the race. James Tonkin
was keen to do the early work. Michael Handbury was also doing plenty of work
through the middle part of the race.
An attack Rob Langridge up the finishing straight didn’t manage to get far with Bruce
McMillian on the front keen not to let it get away. With 8 to go a rider (sorry I missed
who it was) took a strong turn up the hill stringing out the bunch only for the bunch to
sit up going down the other side allowing all back together this is the way it would
remain, and another bunch sprint was on the cards. There almost was no pace in the
final lap as no rider wanted to be caught on the front ruining their chances of a
victory. Enough was enough and the race switched back on down around collarbone
corner and up the final straight Bruce McMillian out sprinting Wayne Benham 2 nd &
Simon Porombka 3 rd .
Thanks to Rico for assisting, Paul Robey for first aid and Ian Hutchings setup and
some wonderful pictures capturing some stunning scenes from the races that can be
found on FB.
Jason Irwin.

TRACK RACING REPORT- THURSDAY 18 JANUARY

Thursday 18 January was the second track session for 2024. Conditions were warm with a brisk
headwind in the back straight. Attendance was disappointing with only 7 riders, 4 in A grade and 3 in B
grade. Still, the riders made the best of a fine evening with good racing.
The 8-lap A grade scratch race was led out at an easy pace by Martin Graham. Martin did two laps on
the front and by the second lap had the pack moving at a good pace. The next 4 laps saw each of the
four riders on the front for varying distances. The action started on lap 7 with an attack by Martin
Graham. Martin was closely watched and only allowed about 6 metres gap before Steve Jones and
Conan Liu set off in pursuit. By the end of the lap, the pack was consolidated and jockeying for position
into the bell lap. The final sprint was close with Steve Jones just pipping Conan Liu for the win and Martin
Graham holding on for a close third.
The 8 lap B grade scratch was orderly with three riders swapping out one lap turns on the front, up until
the entry to the bell lap. Graeme O’Neill was positioned high on the banking in the turn coming into the
bell lap. He initiated an attack from this highly favourable position and managed to gain an initial 6m
margin before Alison Hale and Kerry Knowler pursued. Alison had no trouble closing the distance and
going on to the win. Graeme put in a big effort to hold off Kerry for second place.
The evenings second events were graded scratch races with A grade doing 20 laps (5 sprints) and B
grade doing 12 laps (3 sprints). These points races are taxing events, requiring both sprinting prowess
and endurance. Conan Liu dominated in A grade by attacking mid race and finishing the final two sprints
about 30 metres ahead of the pack. This gave Conan 29 points for a comfortable win over Steve Jones
on 20 points. Martin Graham was only one point adrift of Steve for third place.
The B grade points race saw Alison Hale take out the three sprints for a maximal 20 points. Kerry
Knowler took second in each sprint to garner 16 points. Graeme O”Neill added a bit of interest to the
contest by just catching the others prior to each sprint. In the final sprint Graeme managed an attack and
gained a handy lead before being run down by Alison and Kerry.
The session’s final event was the usual Italian pursuit. The teams had only 3 riders with Kerry Knowler
volunteering as starter. Team 1 got off to a good start with Alison Hale doing a fast lap, putting Team 1
into the lead. Team 2 could not close the lead, so their anchor rider Conan Liu started 3 metres adrift of
Team 1’s anchor Steve Jones. Steve put in a great closing lap to give Team 1 a narrow win.
Bon Voyage to Martin Graham from the track group. Martin is moving permanently to Adelaide and will
be missed as a regular trackie.
Major place getters were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A1 grade) Steve Jones Conan Liu, Martin Graham (A2 grade) Craig Kentwell (B grade)
Alison Hale, Graeme O’Neill, Kerry Knowler.
Points Race: (A1 Grade) Conan Liu (29 pts), Steve Jones (20 pts), Martin Graham (19 pts), (A2 Grade)
Craig Kentwell (15 pts) (B Grade) Alison Hale (20 pts), Kerry Knowler (16 pts), Graeme O’Neill (12 pts).
Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 1 (Steve Jones, Craig Kentwell, Alison Hale)
Season Point Score Update:
Conan Liu (185), John Paul De Sousa (165), Alison Hale (133), Graeme O’Neill (117), Craig Kentwell
(110), Steve Jones (93), Warwick Wilson (85), Hamish Anderson (75), Wayne Benham (73), Martin
Graham (72), Sarah Stephens (68), Ed Garnett (65), Kerry Knowler (62), Phil Coulton (57), Ben Davis
(47), Ian Drayton (45).

Thursday 11 January was the first track session for 2024, as the previous session (4 January) was
washed out. Conditions were warm with a strong headwind in the front straight. Attendance was
encouraging with 12 riders, 7 in A grade and 5 in B grade.
The 8-lap A grade scratch race was led out at an easy pace by John Paul De Sousa. John Paul handed
off to Steve Jones at half lap and Steve, in turn, handed off to Martin Graham at a further half lap. Martin
upped the pace a little and the pack settled into orderly, one lap turns. Conan Liu and Wayne Benham
each upped the pace during their turns on the front. Shortly after Wayne had upped the pace on lap 6,
Martin Graham surged past for an early attack. By lap 7 Martin had a 10 metre lead on the bunch and
looked a good bet for the win. However, John Paul De Sousa, Steve Jones and Conan Liu soon stirred
into action with a furious pursuit. The finish was quite exciting with Steve Jones and Conan Liu surging
past Martin locked in combat. Steve just took the win over Conan by barely a tire width. Martin hung on
for third against a fast closing John Paul De Sousa.
The 8 lap B grade scratch was a little more orderly with riders doing one lap turns up until the entry to lap
7 when the whole bunch surged forward. As the bell lap approached, the race became more tactical with
a hesitation in the pace as riders looked for good positions on the banking. The pace slowed only
momentarily before the pack launched into the final lap at top speed. The sprint was a close contest with
Kerry Knowler just holding out Sarah Stephens for the win. Alison Hale was just behind in third place.
The evenings second event was a 1-lap standing start time trial. This event was made a little more
challenging by the need to accelerate into a headwind. However, the times were good with John Paul De
Sousa posting the best time in A1 grade at 29.60s and Warwick Wilson posting a best time of 30.85s in B
grade. The overall standout time was 29.03s posted by Sarah Stephen in B grade. Sarah looked quick
and appeared to have a great technique for this event.
The evenings third event was a 2-lap handicap. This was another exciting event and quite pleasing for
the handicapper as the whole bunch seemed to coalesce at the finish. Fortunately, the standard of riding
was exemplary, with Warwick Wilson taking a close win from John Paul De Sousa and Wayne Benham in
that order.
The session’s final event was the usual Italian pursuit with teams of 6 riders nominated for the contest.
This event had more than the normal drama. Initially, Wayne Benham from Team 1 had mechanical
problems on the start line. Wayne tried valiantly to fix the problem during a short delay, but ultimately had
to abandon the team. Conan Liu and Martin Graham decided they would compensate for the loss of a
rider by each leading for 1.5 laps in lieu of the normal 1 lap. After the race started, the contest looked
close with both teams putting in disciplined efforts. By the latter part of the race Team 2 had gained a
small lead. With solid final efforts by Martin Graham and Conan Liu, Team 1 looked like it would wipe out
the small deficit. Conan, in particular, accelerated savagely over the last lap and looked likely to catch
Steve Jones who anchored for Team 2. However, disaster struck Team 1 when Conan became
disoriented by the 1.5 lap turns and eased off the engine half a lap early. This handed Team 2 an easy
win. Fortunately, the Team 1 riders were happy with their effort and took the loss philosophically.
Major place getters were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A1 grade) Steve Jones Conan Liu, Martin Graham (A2 grade) Craig Kentwell, Warwick
Wilson (B grade) Kerry Knowler, Sarah Stephens, Alison Hale.
1-Lap SS TT: (A1 Grade) John Paul De Sousa (29.60s), Steve Jones (29.94s), Wayne Benham (30.38s),
(A2 Grade) Warwick Wilson (30.85s), Craig Kentwell (31.61s) (B Grade) Sarah Stephens (29.06s), Ed
Garnett (31.45s), Kerry Knowler (31.62s).
2-Lap Handicap: (A&B grades) Warwick Wilson, John Paul De Sousa, Wayne Benham.
Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (John Paul De Sousa, Steve Jones, Craig Kentwell, Warwick Wilson,
Alison Hale, Ed Garnett)
Season Point Score Update:
Conan Liu (168), John Paul De Sousa (165), Alison Hale (113), Graeme O’Neill (102), Craig Kentwell
(90), Warwick Wilson (85), Hamish Anderson (75), Steve Jones (74), Wayne Benham (73), Martin
Graham (72), Sarah Stephens (68), Ed Garnett (65), Kerry Knowler (50), Phil Coulton (57), Ben Davis
(47), Ian Drayton (45).

Handicapper Message

Promotions

Paul Scherl B to A

Aaron Thomson B to A

David Buckley C to B

Steven Simms D to C

Greg Mitchell D to C

John Brotherton E to C

Rob Langridge

Handicapper

Membership Message

Thank you to the 189+ members who have renewed with us for the 2024 calendar year.

If you have yet to sign up for this 2024 year of racing, please renew your financial membership early and ahead of the criterium deadline, to allow enough time for me to move your information across manually.

Once transferred across and active in the RMS, you can check your own status in the results section, and look up either your name or race number https://rms.crmcc.org.au/index

If you appear as ‘active’ and ‘financial’, then you know you can proceed to register for a race.

Please see below the instructions to renew your racing membership for 2024 with the Capital Region Masters Cycling Club of the Australian Veteran Cycling Council Inc.

As previously stated, the annual racing licence for 2024 is $140, comprising $120 for the national component, and $20 club component for running races.

•             To start the $140 race licence process click here https://amc.helloclub.com/register?membership=657ed9ff637993bde7bcf446. This is for both new and renewing members.

•             If you would like to help the club with a CRCMCC $5 licence for officials (e.g. first aid, events management) please contact membership@actvets.cc for more information and a link to this type of membership.

•             For either licence, the membership system has moved to Hello Club from SportsTG, and your previous account credentials will not work with this system. You will need to create a new membership account, irrespective of how many years you have been a member of the club.

•             Do NOT sign in using a previous AVCC account, click CONTINUE.

•             Read and agree to the terms and conditions.

•             Sign up with email, Google or Facebook. Follow the prompts to enter your contact details and emergency contact details.

•             Pay $140 via credit card.

•             If successful, you will receive an email from ‘Australian Veteran Cycling Council reply+australian-veteran-cycling-council@helloclub.com’ to inform you that your registration has been completed.

•             Contact membership@actvets.cc if you have questions or if you encounter any issues.

Thanks

Conan Liu

CRMCC Club Membership Officer

The 30^th Anniversary Bleat has been posted on the Club Website.

Please see the following link:

30 years of CRMCC racing – 1993 to 2023

The Bleat

If you would like to contribute to the Club and put the Bleat together each week, please reach our to us!

thebleat@actvets.cc