ACT Veterans Weekly Bleat, Monday 19th March, 2018

Hello Vets,

In this week’s Bleat;

• From the Desk of the Handicapper
• Interstate Events
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports

Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc

Ian Morton

From the Desk of the Handicapper

The handicapper has decided to have the week off so you all get to stay in your grades.

Rider Alert

Event Name: Annual Daramalan College Charity Walk Event Date and Time:
Friday 23 March – 9:30am to 1pm
What: 1,200 students and staff walking around Lake Burley Griffin western loop shared path.
Starts at 9:30am at Lennox Gardens with walkers moving in a clockwise direction, finishing at Acton Park at lunch time.

We hope it does not cause any inconvenience to those members who use this path as part of their daily commute or recreational activities.

Yvonne Mead
Events Co-ordinator
Daramalan College

Interstate and Local Events

• AVCC Championships – Maryborough, Vic
  Easter Weekend 31st Mar – 2 April
  Saturday: 25km Time Trial, Sunday: Criterium and Monday: Road Races.
  Championship Jerseys, Medals and Prize Money. Entry Fee: $25 per event, $5 transponder hire for the weekend.
  Entries open soon:www.veterancycling.com.au. For further information: Tom Finning Mob: 0418 521 420 EMail: veterancycling@yahoo.com.au.

• Giro d’Canberra
  20 May 2018
  • Want to take on the challenge? The ride features 2500 metre climbs and 130km of stunning Canberra Brindabella countryside
  • Cycling is powering ahead in Canberra
  • Giro d’ Canberra is in its third year and growing
  • Lots of interest from Sydney based riders
  • Get in on the early stages of a growing annual event
  • A chance to promote your community cycling activities
  • Fully supported ride with vehicles and food stations
  • Organised by the Rotary Club of Woden Daybreak

  Entries:www.GirodCanberra.gofundraise.com.au. For further information: Barry Welsby Mob: 0413729951 EMail: welsbw@internode.on.net.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 20th March: Stromlo Criterium

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
B/D 20m + 2 @ 5:50
E/F/G 20m + 2 @ 6:15
A/C 20m + 2 @ 6:40

Race Director:  Mick Donaldson Contact: Email: mdonaldson@netspeed.com.au    Ph  0418486367

Wednesday, 21st March: 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;
6.20pm – 6.40pm: 2-lap Handicap;
6.40pm – 7.10pm: 12-lap Points Race;
7.10pm – 7.30pm: Italian Pursuit.

Sunday, 25th March: Uriarra Homestead Graded Scratch

Where: Uriarra Rd / Brindabella Rd, T-Junction.
When: 9:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Uriarra Roubaix
The course start/finish is at corner of Mountain Creek Rd and Uriarra Rds. Riders will head down toward Uriarra Crossing, doing a U turn before the descent. Return and turn right on to Mountain Creek Rd. Riders will do a U turn after 3.6kms, just before the NSW border, and return to the start/finish area. This leg on Mountain Creek is on dirt road. Each lap is approx 15km. A,B,C and D grades will do 3 laps. E,F, & G grades will do 2 laps.

Race Director: Dougal Torrance Contact: Email: dougal.torrance@hotmail.com     Ph  0400831421

Marshals: Peter Marshall, Polly Templeton, Robert Miller, Christopher Short

Upcoming Marshal Roster

Basically anyone who raced in 2017 will be required to marshal at least 1 race throughout the 2018 season. Marshals are critical to the running of events through the helping of finish line duties, driving trail/lead cars, turn points and setting up/packing up. The marshal assignment schedule for the first 6 months of the year is below. It is also on the race calendar and you receive an email advising you of it several weeks in advance, so there should be no excuses to missing your allocated race. If you are unavailable for your allocated race you need to organize a swap with another rider and advise the race committee (race.committee@actvets.cc).

RACE REPORTS:

Stromlo – 13th March

Week 22 of crit racing was held under beautiful weather. A slight easterly breeze blowing across the course was going to test those riders who would get caught out by themselves. With only 3 weeks of racing left of the summer season and a congested leader board for the season point score, the racing was going to be hard fought.

A Grade

Mark Harris signalled his intentions early by attacking on lap 1 and forming a 4 man breakaway. With Mark being one of those fighting for season point score honours, was this going to be the decisive move? The pace set by the break was blistering in the first few laps and by lap 3 they had caught the back of C grade. With 20 mins to go, it was textbook racing with the 4 man break all working together to build a lead and the chase group all working together to close the gap. Seymour who is also up near the top of the points score was working overtime trying to chase down the four leaders and got within 30 metres of them at one point. But cycling is a cruel sport where the target is so close yet so far and he couldn’t erase the final 30 metres and got consumed by the chase group again. The 4 man break held off the challengers and jockeyed for position over the final lap. Mark Harris as always the one to beat, outsprinted Michael Brice with Andrew Chamberlain in 3rd.

B Grade

The usual Dougal Torrance attack in the early stages didn’t catch anyone by surprise as they rode within themselves to keep the prez at a respectable distance. Eventually they reeled him in but not before the pace had spat 4 riders off the back. With 16 mins to go, Dougal had another go and by this stage B grade were spread all over the course. His attack probably sapped the legs of the other sprinters as when it came down to the final sprint there was that weird sight of Dougal finding an extra pair of legs in the straight and outsprinting Conan Liu and Al Bontjer for the win. Needless to say his urine sample after the race only showed up traces of beer and I’m sure we’ll never hear the end of how he set a land speed record in that sprint for years to come.

C Grade

C grade rode at a very leisurely pace for most of the race. No attacks from Ian Preston attack must have thrown them into a spin as the racing from C grade tonight was very sedate. Ben Robey decided to spice things up towards the end with a solo attack, but the fresh legs of the peloton quickly consumed him back into the fold. In the end it eventuated into a mass sprint with Andrew Whiting saluting the judges edging out John Marinov and Elton Carneiro.

D Grade

The largest field of the night and they often keep me busy trying to keep track of where they are all spread over the course.The racing in the initial stages was close with a few dropping off as the result of some surges in the main field. With about 15 mins to go, 3 riders had slipped off the front and were never caught with Gillian Lugg outsprinting Elizabeth Lowe and Stephen Terracini for provisional line honours. But after deliberations, I had to disqualify the first three riders across the line and award the official first three placings to Don De Smet, John Flannery and Rico Fitch. The reason for this is that the first 3 riders gained an unfair advantage during their break by attaching themselves onto 2 x B grade riders. Even though the 2 x B graders were off the back of B grade you cannot ride on the wheel of another grade. This was covered in my race briefing so I was watching out for this, I provided 2 warnings to the riders during the race and they even had one of the B graders tell them. A reminder to all riders you must not sit on the wheel of riders from other grades. That includes riders who have been dropped. You must either pass the riders or sit at least 10 metres off the rear wheel of another grade. We are going to police this over the remaining weeks to ensure that racing is fair and enjoyable for everyone.

E Grade

There were no attacks in E grade from what I can recall. They all rode consistently with Daniel Jenkins outsprinting Dale Dummett with the ever consistent Ian Morton in 3rd place.

F Grade

Welcome to a new rider Anne Walker! Hope you enjoyed the racing. With 9 mins to go, F grader started to split up with a group of 6 riders leading the charge driven by the big engine Lindsay Graham. They cleared out from the other riders and started the sprint in earnst. It was a downhill scramble sprint with Susan Frost showing everyone how to smash the big gears for a great win ahead of Mike Hayes and Adrian Priddin.

G Grade

Mijo tagged with F Grade and stuck with them for most of the race until the last few minutes when the pace picked up.

Regards
Ben Davis
Race Director

Mick Donaldson

Narrabundah Track Racing – 14th March

A total of 14 riders turned out for Session 20 of the track racing season, with equal numbers in A and B grades. The day was hot and the wind unpredictable though generally moderate. Overall the evening provided good conditions for racing.

The race events commenced with a 10-lap graded scratch race. In A grade, the pack circulated steadily for 3 laps, until Michael Langdon hit the front and opened a small gap. Craig Kentwell pursued and soon brought the pack together. As soon as the pack consolidated, a group comprising Michael Langdon, Craig Kentwell and Dougal Torrance attacked opening up a 6 metre gap. David McCook pursued and had the pack consolidated by lap 7. Hamish Anderson attacked on the penultimate lap. However, Michael Langdon surged past on the final lap as Hamish began to tire. Hamish held on for second. Third was John Paul De Sousa who came round Dougal Torrance in the final lap.

The B grade race circulated at a solid pace until lap 5 when Phil Anderson rotated to the front and immediately attacked. The pack streamed past a struggling pursuer and quickly closed a dangerous gap. Phil Anderson stuck with the pack and attacked again as the pack rounded into the bell lap. This time Phil did not surprise Steve Hirsler or Ross Scutts as these two clung to Phil’s wheel. In the final sprint, Steve Hirsler raced ahead for the win. Phil Anderson held on for second just ahead of a fast closing Ross Scutts.

The next event was a 2 lap standing start time trial. This event was important being the final event for the Omnium Championship with at least 6 riders having the potential to take out the championship. The times were generally quite good with some riders showing a big improvement over similar past events. In A grade, Michael Langdon took out the event with a good time of 50.17 seconds. Michael, ever competitive, was slightly disappointed not to go under 50 seconds. In B grade Steve Hirsler set the standard with a time (56.30 seconds) that would be quite respectable for A grade. As expected, the event proved decisive for the Omnium Championship.

The next event was a tough graded win and out. In this event there are five sprints on sequential laps with the winner of each sprint dropping out to claim a place. The placing matches the order in which riders drop out. In A grade, Michael Langdon, predictably took the first spring for the win. On subsequent laps John Paul De Sousa and Hamish Anderson took sprint wins to gain second and third placing respectively. In B grade Steve Hirsler took the first sprint and the overall win, followed by wins for Ross Scutts and Phil Anderson, respectively, in subsequent sprints.

The evening finished with the usual all-in Italian Pursuit. There were seven riders per team with the teams well matched. Team 2 set up their team well and executed the pursuit flawlessly. Phil Anderson gave them a great start by rocketing around the initial lap. Team 1 had the potential to win. However tactical errors in ordering riders and allowing gaps in the final changeovers prevented the team from reaching its potential. It was a good win to team 2, while team one remained upbeat as it was a good contest.

Major place getters were as follows:
10-Lap Scratch: (A Grade): Michael Langdon, Hamish Anderson, John Paul De Sousa (B Grade) Steve Hirsler, Phil Anderson, Ross Scutts.
2-Lap Standing Start Time Trial: (A Grade) Michael Langdon (50.17s), Ben Robey (51.44s), Hamish Anderson (52.47s). (B Grade) Steve Hirsler (56.30s), Bruce Griffin (58.90s), Ken Birch (59.75s).
6_Lap Win & Out: (A Grade) Michael Langdon, John Paul De Sousa, Hamish Anderson. (B Grade) Steve Hirsler, Ross Scutts, Phil Anderson.
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (Steve Hirsler, David McCook, Hamish Anderson, Phil Anderson, Dougal Torrance, John Paul De Sousa, Ross Scutts).

Season Point Score Update:
Michael Langdon (374), Hamish Anderson (292), Ross Scutts (288), Steve Hirsler (255), John Paul DeSousa (242),Tony Beasley (225), Phil Anderson (198), Phil Coulton (175), Ben Robey (154).

Omnium Progress Points:
Ken Birch (15), Michael Langdon (14), Hamish Anderson (11), Rowan McMurray, Steve Hirsler, Phil Anderson (10), Tony Beasley, (9), Ross Scutts (8), Kerry Knowler, Dougal Torrance (7), Phil Coulton, David McCook (6).

Graeme O’Neill