Hello Vets,
In the Bleat this week;
- From the Desk of the President
- Racing this Week
- Race Reports
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton
From the desk of the President
Dear Members,
It’s that time of year again to renew your membership and sign up for another exciting year of racing. The draft race schedule for 2018 shown to me at our Committee meeting tonight will continue to offer the most varied and full schedule of racing in the ACT with a new event or two thrown in just to keep you interested.
When renewing your membership, please indicate whether you have first aid qualifications. This helps the club in the event that professional first aiders are unable to attend races.
It’s great to see the numbers at the recent Crits races. I’d like to transfer this enthusiasm to the Road and Track and as such I’m happy to announce that our Dairy Flat Road race on 10th of December 2017 will be free entry for all members. Come out and give it a try! Stay for the (admittedly instant) coffee and a chat with fellow racers.
As always, please email me any concerns you may have at president@actvets.cc (except about the coffee – we don’t have a qualified barista!).
Regards,
Dougal Torrance
President
ACT Veterans Cycling Club
ps And don’t forget that the Christmas Wheel Race is coming up shortly on the 12th December.
RACING THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, 28th November: Stromlo Criterium
Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
A/C 5:50 A 42m+2, C 38m+2
B/D 6:35 B 42m+2, D 38m+2
E/F/G 7:20 28 min + 2 laps
Race Director: Roger Northcote
Contact: Email: roger.northcote@border.gov.au Ph 0467736580
Marshal: Peter Kitchen
Wednesday, 29th November: Track Racing
The Program for Wednesday is as follows:
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice;
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 10-lap graded scratch race;
6.20pm – 6.40pm: 2-Lap Handicap;
6.40pm – 7.00pm: 12-Lap Points Race;
7.00pm – 7.20pm: Italian Pursuit.
Sunday, 3rd December: Cotter Reserve Time Trial
Where: Cotter Reserve – park here and proceed to race start Cotter Reserve to Mt. McDonald .
When: 9:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Mt McDonald Hill Climb
Note that we will be shortening the race this year. The finish line will be just after the top of the climb at 5.1km.
Race Director: Ian Morton Contact: Email: mortoni@optusnet.com.au Ph 0411112007
Marshal: Richard Gorrell, Tony Weir, Terence Merrigan and Ed Joliffe
Upcoming Marshall Roster
The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
Date: Event – Marshals
5-12-2017: Stromlo FP – Terence Merrigan
10-12-2017: Dairy Road – David Dickson
12-12-2017: Stromlo FP – Duane Toohey
17-12-2017: Dairy Road – Matthew Haddock
19-12-2017: Stromlo FP – Ben Davis
RACE REPORT:
Stromlo – 21st November
Those of us who arrived early were greeted with a reminder as to why it is the time of the year not to forget the aerogard. Nevertheless, all grades had a good turnout.
B and D grades were first off the rank. Wayne Shippley raced off the front of B grade right from the word go and managed to stay well in front for the first 10 minutes of the race. D grade must have been taking the race seriously because they managed to keep pace with B grade for half of the race. It looked like B grade were not going to catch D grade. But they did, and I would like to thank both grades for communicating and demonstrating the perfect way for one grade to pass another. D grade stayed together as a big bunch for essentially the whole race, except when Terry Merrigan decided that he was feeling a bit lonely. In the day women would drop a handkerchief to get attention, Terry decided to drop his bidon. Alas no women came running over to pick it up and he was forced to retrieve it himself. John Manning showed that he did not want to stay in D grade by pulling way out in front to cross the line first. Daniel Grillo and Steven Simms grabbed the next two placing. B grade upped the pace in the second half of the race, as demonstrated by the number of DNFs. The final placings were filled by Stuart Cathcart, Christopher Kon and Jason Parkes.
The next grades to race were E/F/G. The disparity between the different number of riders in each grade was evident when E grade managed to overtake F grade twice. As race director, that was certainly not what I wanted to happen, my apologies to F grade. F grade largely stayed together, until the end of the race when Paul Robey was wondering why he was loosing ground, only to discover he did not have any air in his tyres. It was a bunch sprint that determined the placings with Leeanne Tennant coming first followed by Mike Hayes and Susan Frost. Given the strong wind in the back straight, E grade kindly allowed the tandem to sit in front as a wind break. Consequently E grade stayed together as a large bunch until the last two laps. In the last lap E grade was so spread out that it managed to fill half of the course. Mervyn Steen put on a massive sprint to cross the line first with Nicole Bruce and Michael Davie Brice second and third. And, of course, Bernard gave a commanding solo performance in G grade.
With the light fading, A and C grades were the last ones to race. Several groups of riders took turns being in the breakaway. Dougal Torrance and Ed Pellegrino were the first to test the waters. When they were absorbed back into the bunch Michael Brice and Quon Nonumber gave it a go (remember that it is a requirement of the club that you wear your race number, one reason being that no race number means no glory in the bleat). The last breakaway team formed at the 25 minute mark and they managed to gain about half a lap over the main bunch. Mark Harris easily crossed the line first, second placed rider Lewis Cressey also managed to get a bit of a gap and the third placed rider was Ben Morrison. The relatively small number in C grade decided that the best way to deal with the wind was to stay tightly bunched. It took a fast sprint finish to decide the final placings with Allan Bontjer coming first followed by Ben Robey and Ian Preston.
I would like to thank Barbara Bayliss for helping out with everything on the course and Phill Coulton for helping out with the registration.
Linda Stals
Narrabundah Track Racing
A nice snap from the Bundahdome courtesy of Mark Canaider
