- From the Desk of the President
- Boxing Day Recovery Ride
- Next Race – Stromlo Crits
- Race Report – Stromlo Crits
- Upcoming races requiring volunteers – race calendar can be found here
From the Desk of the President
Please watch out for these things:
- For current financial members, you will receive an email from Australian Veteran Cycling Council reply+australian-veteran-cycling-council@helloclub.com’, informing you that it’s time to renew your racing membership for 2026. Please follow the links using your existing HelloClub profile and registered email address. If you don’t know what it is, please contact membership@crmcc.org.au
- You must have renewed your 2026 membership before you step foot on SFP or the velodrome from Tuesday 6 January 2026, otherwise you and the club will not be covered by insurance. Please allow at least 48hrs between the time you renew in HelloClub, and before you can register in our RMS, because each one of the 250 member records must be transferred from the national payment database to our own RMS system. The membership office will not be staffed by me 24/7 over the holiday period.
I hope you have a festive and peaceful holiday break and look forward to seeing many of you in 2026.
Conan
CRMCC President and Membership Officer
Boxing Day Recovery Ride
The Boxing Day Recovery Ride starts at 8.00 am sharp outside the Jolimont Centre on Northbourne Ave. It will be led by Ian ‘Presto’ Preston. Two nominated sensible riders will lead along Federal and Old Federal highways with slower riders positioned immediately behind the leaders (so they don’t get dropped if the bunch is broken up by traffic light changes) and faster riders go to the back. All riders are responsible for preventing the bunch from splitting up. If half the bunch suddenly disappears from behind you, it’s your responsibility to pass this message to the front of the group so that they know to stop and wait. This will be a relaxed ride and not a race.
Next Race – Crits at Stromlo Forest Park – Tuesday 06 January 2026
Please note, 5:40PM also holds the Women’s specific criterium grade (20mins) to foster participation and confidence in riding on the Stromlo Forest Park criterium track. Perfect for women and non-binary riders who are looking for an introductory ride or those that prefer cycling in a smaller group.
Race registration cut-off is 12:40pm. Cost is $10.
You need to register by looking up the calendar entry in the RMS https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar
You must wear your CRMCC assigned race number to race.
Late registrations will be assessed by committee@crmcc.org.au and if allowed, a late fee of $10 will be applied.
If you are unregistered and show up to the crit track, you must convince a committee member (not the Race Director) of your club member financial status for insurance purposes, before being allowed to participate.
All riders are required to sign on before their race start.
We will be running an entry chute, where riders are called 1 by 1 onto the circuit in numerical order of sign-on.
Please remember to check the RMS Calendar for race times each week now that we are back to rotating all 3 time slots.
Race Report – Stromlo Crits – 16 December 2025
Christmas Wheelrace Report
The evening kicked off with two competitors from E & G grade, visitor Mark Tuohy and Robyn Smallwood setting off around the track. Both duly negotiated the course without incident to qualify for the final, with Mark opting to sit out.
In the D grade race, Tony Sheehan attacked from the outset, opening up a handy lead mid way through the first lap. David Johnson dragged the bunch back to bring everything together by the second lap. Jonathon Chowns was next to have a crack during the 4th lap, with Martin Boyd and Tony Sheehan continuing to feature at the front of the pack. DJ fell off the pace and was off the back about two-thirds of the way through the race. With two laps to go, Kevin Newhouse took control of the race and went on to win the heat with Elizabeth Lowe, Timothy Moore, David Gunther and Martin Boyd filling the first 5 placings to qualify for finals.
The C Grade heat also began with a flurry, with Mick Hanbury attacking from the outset, joined by perennial breakaway man, Ian Preston. Peta Brill did the hard work to drag the chasing bunch back and things were all back together by the 3rd lap. From there, Mark Vardy took to the front. Claire Aubrey cracked the whip, and the bunch was strung out. Mark Vardy, Andrew Hislop, Sean Hunt, Mick Hanbury and Peta Brill set the pace for the remainder of the race, with Roger Wheatley making a rare (and brief) appearance at the front in the latter stages. In the end, as he so often does, Lance Purdon appeared at the right moment and proved too strong in the sprint, with Simon Junakovic, Eoin Rothery, Charles Black and Sean Hunt in the top 5.
In another big field, the B grade race followed a familiar pattern, with “Dominator” Dominic Romano doing his usual thing off the front in the first two laps. Thereafter, Krusty Bryant, Chris Williams and Geoff Hinchcliff appeared at the head of the group. James Patterson and Chris Williams made a break but came back to the field. Krusty continued to press. Ben Healy had a crack in the latter stages. In the end, Conan Liu showed good patience and timing in the sprint to win the heat, followed by Todd Sowter, James Watt, Nathan Rickerby, and Paul Scherl. A few drop-outs allowed Paul Connor and James Patterson to qualify.
In the best qualifying heat of the night, the A grade race exploded from the start with a group of about 9 riders, including Steve Crispin, Ayden Toovey, Tristan Dimmock, Kris McCreath and Andrew Foster getting the jump on the bunch. Three riders, Nick Stuart, Lewis Cressy and Glen Goggin gave chase but ultimately fell back to the pack. The lead group was well ahead and their lead unassailable by the time the chasing bunch was neutralised to allow B Grade to finish unimpeded. In the end, Kris McCreath won the heat, with Ayden Toovey, Steve Crispin, Andrew Foster and Chris Murphy qualifying for finals.
In the much anticipated 4 lap final, Robyn Smallwood started at 3:00 and led for two and a half laps before being caught by the chasing D graders. A-Grade caught the rest half way through the final lap, at which point the ever-wily Steve Crispin put the hammer down. In the final sprint, Crispin edged out fellow A-Grader, Chris Murphy with B-Grade’s James Watt sliding into 3rd. C-Grade’s Lance Purdon gets an honourable mention for a strong 4th place finish.
Thanks to all riders for racing in good spirit, to Dan Lekhac for his work on the finish shute, and Handicapper Rob Langridge for assistance through the night.
Andy Matz – Race Director
Wheelrace Podium
The tough windy conditions provided A grade with a bonus handicap this year. Whereas they couldn’t catch B grade in 2024, they mowed down everyone with a lap to spare, riding 11 seconds per lap faster than B grade. James Watt in B grade was the best of the rest, snagging 3rd.
Podium from L to R
Chris Murphy 2nd, Steve Crispin 1st, James Watt 3rd
All received shopping vouchers from Coles. CRMCC–cutting the cost of living!
Rob Langridge – Handicapper
Photos thanks to Ian Hutchings
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Upcoming races needing volunteers
We have multiple vacancies for race directors for SFP crits.
Please self-register as a volunteer, where you can put your name down against those roles marked ‘Vacant’ in this Google spreadsheet. We will follow-up and confirm your volunteering with an email from committee@crmcc.org.au
Thank you to those members who have offered their services to fill roles so our races can run.
