Hello Vets,

In this week’s Bleat;

  • Gunning 2 Day
  • From the Desk of the Handicapper
  • Indoor Winter training for Vets
  • Event Traffic Controller courses for 2018
  • RMS Race distances
  • Interstate Events
  • Racing this Week
  • Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

Gunning 2 Day

Make sure you reserve the weekend of the 5th/6th May for the Gunning 2 Day.

We are still awaiting NSW police approvals so we will be releasing the full event details once those final approvals have been secured.

The Race Director for Gunning on the weekend will be Dougal Torrance. If you can assist with the event as a Marshal or Driver, the club can offer payment to offset petrol costs and other expenses. If you can help, please contact Dougal at president.actvets.cc.

From the Desk of the Handicapper

Handicaps for this week;
– Dave Dickson B to A
– Paul Hollings C to B

Indoor Winter training for Vets

The Club has secured the coaching services of the highly credentialed coach, Michael Aisbitt to run a weekly indoor training session for an hour or so on Tuesday nights at 6:30 commencing Tuesday 22 May.

Michael used to run these sessions for Vikings and many Vets riders know already how useful these sessions are to get you in peak condition for the Summer crits or track. They will also supplement training for the Winter Road season.

Michael is a 10 times Australian champion in events as varied as 750m sprint to the 100km team time trial. He is also a 3 times World Champion and a level 2 NCAS accredited road and track cycling coach.

These sessions aren’t to be missed. The club has booked a large hall at Weston which can hold many riders. Riders from A to G grade are welcome and riders in the lower grades should not be put off as the sessions accommodate all fitness levels.

More information to come in the following weeks through the Bleat and the Facebook site. Any questions contact Bruce Griffin on 0402 000619 or griffy996@gmail.com.

Event Traffic Controller courses for 2018

Two courses (free) have been scheduled for 2018, 21st April and 8 September. Details are available on Cycling ACT’s web site http://www.act.cycling.org.au/Road/News/2018-cycling-event-traffic-controllers-course-dates-confirmed

Members previously accredited as ATCs will need to do the updated training course to get ETC accreditation. Having enough controllers available in the club is critical to our ability to run races in the ACT and it is likely we will need to have ETCs for NSW races in the future. Please register for a place on one of the courses ASAP as numbers are limited.

Ian McVay

Interstate and Local Events

  • 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:

Saturday, 21st April: Lookout Hill Graded Scratch

Where: Lookout Hill, about 2.5 km towards Tharwa from Point Hut / Tidbinbilla Rd intersection (or about 4.5 km from Tharwa villiage).
When: 1:30 pm.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
Lookout Hill to Tidbinbilla Nature Park entry
ABCD x 2 laps – 50km
EF&G 1 lap – 25km
Lookout Hill 18 Lookout to Tidbinbilla Space Tracking – A,B,C,D Grades – Start to turn B (Tharwa Short Turn) to Turn D (Tracking Station), turn A (Pt Hut) to Finish; – E,F,G Grades – Same but not to Tracking Station (only turn C)
See Race map – Lookout-Tidbinbilla – http://www.actvets.cc/events/racemaps

Marshals: Brian Chugg, Michael Brice. ETCs: Tony Weir, Robert Miller, Richard Gorrell, Rob Langridge.

Note: For any Marshals that require mentoring, there will be places available on Saturday. Please let Rob Langridge know if you wish to attend (rlangridge88@gmail.com.

Upcoming Marshal Roster

Please check the following table of allocated officials. If you are unavailable on your allocated date, please arrange to organise a swap with another rider and advise the race committee (race.committee@actvets.cc).

ETCs: Thank you to the positive response I received from ETCs to volunteer for upcoming races. We still need to try and fill spots as per the vacant *s in the marshal list below. Can we please have some more nominations to fill these? If you are yet to complete your ETC training due to the requirement to be mentored, please contact the race committee to organise for one of the club’s mentors to assess you at one of the upcoming ACT races.

Date Event Director Marshals
28th April Orroral Valley Mark Harris Bruce Jones, *, *
5th& 6th May Gunning Dougal Torrance Day 1: Bob Miller + 8 additional volunteers
Day 2:John McMaster + 8 additional volunteers
12th May Smiths Rd/Apollo TT Paul Scherl Rainer Wilton, Tony Weir*, *
19th May Dog Trap Rd Mark Taylor Daniel Grillo, Peter Klein, Alex Sommariva, Donald de Smet
2nd June Old Federal Highway Steven Simms Bernie Crowe, Adam Potts, Alwyn Chilver, Steve Crispin, Jason Parkes
16th June Pierces Creek Brian Holloway Chris Short, *, *
23rd June Honeysuckle Creek Paul Robey Michael Carr, *
30th June Lookout Hill Susan Frost Ben Healy, *, *

* denotes ETC required for ACT races.

RACE REPORT:

Uriarra – 14th April

A tough course on a very blowy day. A,B, C and D grade rode from Uriarra Homestead to Condor Creek, back to the top of Uriarra X’ing, back to the Homerstead and then did it all again – a distance of approximately 50 kms. E and F graders (there was no G grade) did a slightly shorter course only doing the Blue Range Hill once, a distance of 35 kms. Whilst a hilly course, the real challenge was dealing with the wind, blowing at around 30 kph, with gusts up around 60 kph. Sane heads ruled in the various grades as we had no crashes.

We had a total of 35 riders for the race, a decent number for the unpleasant conditions, and all but 4 riders completed the course.

As could have been expected given the hills and wind the grades quickly split up, with the exception of D grade that pretty much stuck together throughout the race, although Terry Moore and Al Bontjer were dropped temporarily and battled valiantly to get back on.

In A grade Bradley Peppinck led early and never relinquished his lead, winning by 40 seconds from a dogged Christophe Barberet who beat Peter Young into 2nd with a withering sprint.

In B grade Stuart Roesler, Dave Dickson (in great form at the moment) and Nick Boylan broke away in the second lap, with Nick getting dropped on the return leg from the X’ing. Stuart was too strong in the sprint for Dave.

Paul Hollings took out C grade by over a minute from Peter Klein (making a welcome comeback to Vets racing), with Gerald Van Ewyk taking 3rd.

Des Brown, not a recognised sprinter but relishing the tough conditions took out D grade with a sprint from Michael Hanbury! Darren Garnon took out 3rd, 6 seconds back.

In E grade John Ignatius won in a sprint from the evergreen Alex Sommariva and Gillian Lugg took out 3rd some 20 seconds back, showing she has form on the road as well as the crit track. Congratulations to Lance Purdon who completed his first road race, a tough initiation into road racing.

In F grade the tandem team of Beasley and Barlow had a comfortable win, Michael Spoljaric taking out second.

Thanks to every one who helped out: Michael Foulds, Bruce Goodspeed, Graham Hendrie, Andrew Matz, Howard Moffat, Warren Smith, Mark Taylor and Peter Young. It certainly makes directing easy when you have so many helpers…..and we finished just in time to avoid the rain and the arrival of winter in Canberra!!

 

Owain Tilley