Hello Vets,
In the Bleat this week;
- From the Desk of the President
- Pedal Power – Traffic Controller Course
- Racing this Week
- Race Report
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton
From the Desk of the President
Vets in the News
A few weeks ago I was contacted by the a reporter from the ABC, Hannah Walmsley, who was wanting to interview some of our more “experienced” members on how they managed to stay fit and motivated in Canberra’s winter temperatures. After a short panic from me about who our oldest riders were (and thanks to the Board on helping me at short notice) Lindsay Graham stepped up to be interviewed. Thanks go to Lindsay for his story – and the plug for the club. The story can be found here: http://abc.net.au/news/2017-06-11/meet-the-grandmasters-of-competition-sport-in-canberra/8604188?pfmredir=sm.
Feedback
As always, I’m happy to hear from members about anything club related. Email me at President@actvets.cc. Several of you have provided feedback over the past few months and I’ll be incorporating these issues to take to the Board meeting in a few weeks. Thanks again for your comments.
I received the following email in my inbox after Saturday’s race up Honeysuckle creek climb;
“I kinda snuck off without thanking the race team for an awesome event this afternoon. Love that climb. Have had a smile on my dial all night thinking about it.
Could you pass on my thanks to Ben and the team?
Cheers
#555”
I’m particularly proud that many of you take the time at the end of the race to thank marshals, race directors and the ever present “van man” Graham Hendrie.
See you on the road.
Dougal Torrance
Rider #428
President
ACT Veterans Cycling Club
Pedal Power – Traffic Controller Course
Pedal Power ACT, in association with Roads ACT have scheduled a FREE Traffic Controller Course for the Cycling clubs and Community of the ACT for the past three years. Roads ACT have once again enabled FREE access to this training for two more dates in 2017.
The Traffic Controller training that is provided meets the NSW and the ACT requirements and provides the appropriate qualification to allow a registered person to control traffic at cycling (and other) events.
The Traffic Controller Training courses will be held for free for Canberra cycling clubs and cycling organisations in July and again in November. Spaces are limited for each training course.
Fully subsidised by Roads ACT these courses have been organised to assist in minimising costs on cycling clubs and organisations and help train volunteers, or club appointed marshals to fulfil the traffic controller duties at cycling events. We urge you to make use of this generous offer and assist your club and the broader cycling community by having more trained and skilled operators available for club and open events in the ACT. Please note ALL registrants must have a current driver’s license.
Course 1
Dates: Saturday 15 July
Time: Full day of training 8:30 – 5:30 pm
Location: Canberra Ave, Fyshwick
Cost: Free
Course 2
Dates: Saturday 11 November
Time: Full day of training 8:30-5:30 pm
Location: Canberra Ave, Fyshwick
Cost: Free
To register please go to:
https://eventdesq.sportstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=24993&OrgID=4426
Any problems or concerns please let me know.
Kindest Regard,
Stephanie Sleen | Program and Events Manager
I work Mondays (9-5) Tuesdays (9-2:30) and Fridays (9-5)
Ph: 02 6248 7995
Pedal Power ACT
Level 2 Griffin Centre, 20 Genge Street, Canberra City ACT | GPO Box 581, Canbera ACT, 2601
www.pedalpower.org.au
- Marshals are critical to the survival of our racing schedule as we simply cannot conduct races safely without them. Please note the policy on members marshalling a race a year to support club races at https://actvets.cc/racing-with-us/marshal-schedule/. Note that members should not leave it to the last minute to try and find a replacement if they can’t make their allotted marshaling duty.
Dougal Torrance
President, ACT Veterans Cycling
RACING THIS WEEK:
Saturday, 1st July: Stromlo Forest Park Criterium – Points Race
Where: Stromlo Forest Park.
When: 1:30 pm.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Points Race
Grade Start Times and Duration to be advised.
Race Director: Ben Davis Contact: Email: bdavis@internode.on.net Ph 0416014629
Nominated Marshal: David Witteveen
Upcoming Marshall Roster
The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
– Jul 8 @ Old Federal Highway: Ben Healy, Tess Mclachlan, Andrew Murrell, Alex Sommariva, Warwick Wilson
– Jul 22 @ Dairy Flat: David Gunther
– Jul 29 @ Dalton: Jayson Clarke, Tony Sheehan, Brian Chugg, Lindsay Graham, Daniel Grillo
– Aug 5 @ Lookout Hill: Paul Ledbrook, Stephen Isbel
RACE REPORT:
Apollo Rd – 24 June
Mont Ventoux, Col Du Tourmalet, Alpe d’Huez. Names that bring fear to a rider’s legs at the pure mention of them. But a little well known climb south of Tharwa also strikes fear into local rider’s minds. At a distance of 8.420kms with an average gradient of 5.55% rising up to 20% in one section, Apollo Rd (The Apollo) was the scene to test the vets on Saturday. With some sporting rear cassette’s the size of dinner plates, a great turnout of 45 riders assembled at the start line in slightly windy and cool conditions. The course sounds simple enough, race along Naas Rd to Smith Rd, turnaround and come back to finish at the top of Apollo Rd at Honeysuckle Creek for a well-earned coffee and biscuit. I must say it is one of the most beautiful finishes we have on our courses anywhere in the ACT.
A Grade- 4 riders at the start line, all eager to get underway and chase down Bernie Crowe who had a 5 min start on them. The out and back for A grade should have been a formality, however at the turn into Apollo Rd, Steve Crispin had made a break of about 25 seconds over the chase group of Peter Marshall and Ashley Carruthers. Knowing Steve can climb a mountain with the best of them, it was going to be a tough task to reel him in on the climb. In the end Steve crossed the line in the fastest ride of the day at a smidge under 54 mins and was well clear by 3 minutes over Peter Marshal in 2nd and Ashley Carruthers in 3rd. All three riders did the course in under 1 hour.
B Grade- 10 riders began B grade. All 10 come past me as they turned onto Apollo Rd after the out and back. This was going to be a battle on the mountain with several very good mountain goats in amongst the group. It was ding dong all the way up with a few tailed off the back early on to leave a core group of 3 riders to battle it out. Michael Carr showed tremendous strength over the latter stages to draw away from Dougal Torrance (A sprinter doing well on a mountain course!) and Craig Tozer in 3rd.
C Grade- The largest grade of the day with 12 riders. At the turn it was still 12 riders with confidence brimming across the faces of all 12 as the ascent began. Similar to B grade, it was a hard slog up the climb with attack and counter attack on display. As I drove past the lead group, there was so much teeth gritting that I was thinking we may need a dentist at the finish line. Under a temperature dropping fast, Alwyn Chilver managed to clear away from Ross MacPherson and Chris Kon near the top to record a win by 14 seconds. The fight for 2nd place came down to a tyre’s width with Ross just edging out Chris on the line.
D Grade- Only 4 riders decided to front up for D grade. Nothing was given over the 1st part of the course with all 4 coming past me at the turn into Apollo. But once again the steeps caused the break-up of the main field shortly on the climb. In the end Gerald Van Eqyk showed supreme climbing skills to move away from the field to win by 2 mins from Andrew Matz in 2nd and Simon Porombka in 3rd.
E Grade- A more interesting race with Kirsty Cummin encountering a puncture on the return leg from Smiths Rd. At the turn into Apollo there were only 6 remaining in contention out of the 10 that started. Kirsty was able to fix the puncture with the help of Gillian and they proceeded to motor up the hill and caught a few of the stragglers. At the front of the race Brian Peak didn’t want to make it close and climbed like a mountain goat to the finish to claim the win by just under 2 mins ahead of Matt Shadbolt in 2nd and Lyn Vasudeva in 3rd.
F Grade- Lindsay Graham was banking on the climb to move away from the main bunch as when they turned onto the climb all 3 riders were still together. But you could see that glint in Lindsay’s eye that something special was going to occur and occur it did. He moved away gracefully over the latter half of the climb to win by over a minute ahead of Robert Solomon and Ed Joliffe
G Grade- Riding with a 5 min start on A grade, Bernie Crowe covered the course in a respectable 1hr44mins coming over the line looking none too flustered at conquering the big mountain.
Thanks to Michael Foulds and Chris Nolan who turned up and helped out with marshal duties. Doug Widdup did a great job as the ATC at the Smiths Rd turn point and Dale Kleeman who controlled the Apollo/Nass Rd intersection. Graham Hendrie braved the cold at the top of the mountain to ensure everyone had a warm cuppa at the end and Simon Milnes made sure that no medical emergencies were required on the day.
Ben Davis
Race Director
