• From the desk of the President
  • Next Race – Uriarra Homestead Handicap – 31 May
  • Sutton Super Series
  • Race Report – Sutton Super Series Round 2
  • Upcoming races requiring volunteers – race calendar can be found here

From the desk of the President

Thank you to the members who attended last week’s Special Resolution General Meeting, at which we passed several amendments to our CRMCC Constitution so that we are aligned to the constitution of our parental body, the AVCC, and to the ATO’s reporting requirements to maintain our tax-free exemption status. Additionally, we amended the way members can vote at General Meetings, so that they can participate by pre-poll if they are unable to attend in person, or unable to harness a proxy vote. As an example of this democratic mechanism, 24 members utilised this pre-poll pathway to support the new amendments.

We will publish our updated 2025 Constitution in the documentation area of our CRMCC website within the next week.

Our Committee continues to work with limited hands and is under-resourced. We have two vacant positions, with many committee members carrying out multiple functions.

However, rather than look to filling the dimensionless vacant roles, we decided that we are better placed if we advertise for assistance from members with the following skills, or interests.

•                 developer skills in SwiftUI Xcode on Apple devices

•                 experienced and confident ETCs who can interpret TMPs and provide advice to other ETCs on course setup ahead of race day

•                 Van driving orientation for new drivers

•                 SFP and van container caretakers- members who can take inventory of equipment , ETC signage, and move equipment to and from and the van and SFP (e.g. the clock timer), and organise repairs when necessary

•                 Documentation – creating / updating instructions for volunteers

•                 Bookkeeping has increased since the club now incentivises volunteering by offering honorariums to some volunteers, and free races to all volunteers.

•                 Management of Google drive – do an archive, re-structure if needed, update to enable us to publish links rather than email documents every time

•                 Willingness to learn how to do submission of TMP requests to ACT Govt and support the race approvals process working with other committee members

•                 Members with ETC experience, who can liaise with ACT Govt to correct and provide feedback on inaccurate and out of date TMPs

•                 Quality improvement coordinator– collate improvements, record and possibly action suggested improvements from races

•                 Comms-like person who can advise the committee on our Bleat, FB page and website.

•                 Configuring races into our RMS Race Calendar via PC and web browse quarterly.

If any members have an interest in these functions, please contact me and we can describe them in further detail, and how you might be able to support the work of the committee and the club.

Thanks

Conan

President

 Next Race – Uriarra Homestead Handicap – 31 May 2025

Uriarra Homestead – Racing begins uphill to the short turn just before the climb. U-turn and race downhill to the top of Uriarra Crossing. A second U-turn before heading back up to Homestead to complete one lap. 3 laps for a handicap.

Enter here https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar?5025438

Sutton Super Series

Six races will be held over the winter season at the Sutton Road Training Centre, with riders accumulating the points gained as per the list :

1st 10 points

2nd 8 points

3rd 6 points

4th 4 points

5th 3 points

6th+ 2 points

This scoring system differs from the RMS. 10 points will still be awarded to the winner even if only one rider starts the race.

Riders with the most points accumulated at the end of the series will be crowned grand champions for their grade.

Here are the main rules:

  1. The final round will be worth double points and riders that participate in all races will get a bonus 12 points.
  2. Prizes such as gift vouchers will be presented after the final race for first, second and third places.
  3. Riders must compete in the final race to receive a prize and be present at the prize ceremony. 
  4. Riders who are promoted will take half their points with them to the higher grade.
  5. Point scores will be kept for each grade and updated after each round. 
  6. If more than one rider finishes with the same final score, a count-back of the overall results will determine the higher place getter.
  7. The races may not all be scratch races, with a points race as another option.

Riders intending to compete in the series should make themselves familiar with all the rules.  Any feedback will be welcome prior to the first race but it won’t be possible to make changes to the format after that.

Race Report – Sutton Super Series Round 2

A Grade – Four riders took to the start for the A grade, 50 minute race. With two Cartel riders out of four the crowd was expecting some coordination from the well represented team. After a brief acknowledgment and congratulations to Stu Griffiths on the birth of baby Angus, the group was given their 10 second count down and were on their way. Lap two saw a small gap off the front from Stu but by the time they came back around again the four riders were back together. The group seemed to be swapping off well through the middle section of the race with the main concern of the riders being dodging the numerous kangaroos who were hopping backwards and forwards across the top and bottom sections of the track. Three quarters of the race done and the four had become three, the race director and crowd unsure if it was Rainers legs that had given up, or he had a kangaroo phobia (he would say the latter I’m sure).

Hitting the line for what was to be the ‘fake bell lap’ Stu, Dan and Brad were all together. A bad call from the race director was going to eventuate in A and B coming too close together for the finish so the smart A graders decided to neutralise themselves for a lap and rode back to the start finish behind the finish of the B grade to start their real bell lap. Good call you guys. Stu was too strong at the line taking the win from Brad and then Dan.

B Grade – A couple more riders fronted for B grade and they rolled off 30 seconds after A grade for 50 minutes plus one lap. The group was working all as one through the initial part of the race and like A grade, they were having to keep alert for the kangaroos who would appear here there and everywhere on the track. New rider, Alan Reitsma was looking super strong on the finish straight for a lot of the race, this being welcomed by the other B graders. The group appeared to be testing each other up the finish straight climb every lap, just to see if anyone could be dropped from the selection, everyone rose to the challenge and the group remained together. Paul Scherl launched an attack in the same position on the final lap and got a small gap, Alan jumped across bringing Marc Vroomans with him (He’ll only do that once) and as they jumped over Paul to make their way onto the finish straight. Marc’s kick was too strong and he took the win ahead of Alan with Rowan McMurray taking out the third podium spot.

C Grade – A well represented field of 12 riders took off for their 40 minutes plus one lap race, welcoming a new rider Chris Black for his first race around SDTC. The first seven minutes saw the group roll around as one however, at the 32 minutes to go mark Kevin Wells, Ben Shillong and James Patterson jumped off the front and quickly found themselves with a 20 sec gap. This gap hovered between 20 seconds and 15 seconds for the next 10 minutes as the chase group were happy with the newbie, Chris Black, doing the fair share of the chasing. With 10 minutes to go, Ben found the pace a little harder than he could, or wanted to go as the two up front pedal their way to what would be a one two finish. The chasing group gobbled up a tired Ben Shillong to become the next group on the road into the last 2 laps. The bell had rung and the two out front were not going to get caught, James got the better of Kev across the line to take the win with a fast finishing Stuart Roesler taking third.  

D Grade – D grade also with a strong showing, rolled out with their 11 riders 30 seconds after D grade. The group was rolling effectively as one consistently lap after lap so this is the part of the race report where I fill it with pleasantries about the weather, kangaroos on the track, Pete Taylor assessing peoples bike noises as they rolled past the start finish line and Ryan Falke (our ever present first aid officer) wondering if he had to reach for the Ventolin as thre group rolled past the start finish. Needless to say, aside from some dropped riders, the D grade race was very sedate with the group rolling all together for the best part of 39.5 minutes. Coming onto the start finish straight, a large pack of about eight or nine riders started tightening their shoes and flicking down gears, ready to throw 1100 watts of bike at the chequered flag. Alfred Cook got the better of the field followed by Alison Hale and then Kevin Newhouse.

E Grade – E grade was the first cab off the rank in what was perfect racing conditions, slight to no wind and sun shining. The six riders rolled up the first hill, testing their, and each other’s legs straight out of the chute. It didn’t take too long for the natural selection to be made and Russell Marsden, Michael Reppion and David Gunther roll off the front in what was to be the select group of the afternoon. Elizabeth Lowe and Phillip Coulton finding the pace a bit too much had slipped off the group to be 5th and 6th on the road. The three up front continued to roll through sharing the turns as the crowd prepared for a three up sprint. However, this wasn’t to be, Dave Gunther cracked just before the bell lap leaving Russell and Michael to duke it out for the remaining lap and a half. The two came to the line with daylight behind, Michael proving to be too strong for Russell and Dave holding on in a valiant effort for third place.

Nathan Spillane

Photos by Ian Hutchings

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Upcoming races needing volunteers

2025

31 May 2025 – Uriarra Homestead
3 ETC, first aid

14 June 2025 – Smiths Road/Naas Road

Race Director, 2 ETC, Van Driver, first aid

28 June 2025 – Sutton Driver Training Centre

first aid

12 July 2025 – Sutton Driver Training Centre

Race Director, marshal, van driver, first aid

Please contact committee@crmcc.org.au if you can fill any of these roles for the club. Also look at the dates in the 2025 calendar where you could help the club. https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar

Thank you to those members who have offered their services to fill roles so our races can run.