ACT Veterans Weekly Bleat, Monday 5th November, 2018

Hello Vets,

In this week’s Bleat;

• From the Desk of the Handicapper
• Australian Paralympic Committee Talent Search
• Tandem Cycling Come and Try
• Additional Event Traffic Controller course for 2018
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

From the Desk of the Handicapper

The changes this week;

Promotions
– Conan Liu Road C to B
– James Curran Road E to C
– Adrian Priddin Crit F to E

Adjustments
– Andrew Remely Road B to C, Crit A to B
– Damian Copeland Road B to C
– Simon Junakovic Road B to C
– Jason McAvoy Road C to D
– Shane Warburton Road C to D
– Tess McLachlan Road E to F

Joining the other group when bunches or breakaways pass

To maximise the length of races at Stromlo we race two or three grades per time slot over the summer months. To ensure races are conducted safely and fairly riders need to adhere to certain procedures when passing the other grade. In particular, gaining an advantage from the other group when it passes can earn you a disqualification. The saying “If it seems too good to true, it usually is” applies equally to criterium racing as it does to investing. If you find yourself off the front of your group sitting behind a bunch of riders or single rider working smoothly and nobody from your bunch is chasing you, it’s probably because the riders you are following are from the other grade. This is cheating. If you are new to the club and don’t recognise the riders in your bunch then I suggest when joining a breakaway that you ask the obvious question “What grade are you in?”. We have one or two disqualifications or warnings per season, and we had our first last Tuesday. Let’s not have any more.

Sunday racing

It was great to see the regulars from the winter plus quite a few new and some we haven’t seen for ages faces at Sunday’s road race. For those of you who only race crits, I encourage you to try something different. Road races are obviously longer and the hills can make it much harder than being sucked along behind the bunch at Stromlo, but finishing is very rewarding and a good chance to get to know your other competitors over a cuppa afterwards. They are also great preparation for grand fondo events.

Rob Langridge
Handicapper

Australian Paralympic Committee Talent Search 18th Nov

The Australian Paralympic Committee and our sporting partners are searching for the next generation of Paralympic athletes. If you believe you have the potential to compete at the Paralympic Games, please join us at our upcoming testing session in Bruce;

AIS Sport Halls
Leverrier St, Bruce
Sunday 18 November, 11am-3pm

Eligible disability types include but are not limited to:
– Impaired muscle power
– Short stature
– Ataxia, athetosis and hypertonia
– Limb deficiency and dysmelia
– Leg length difference
– Impaired passive range of motion
– Vision impairment
– Intellectual impairment

For more information: http://paralympic.org.au/talent-search-registration-form

Tandem Cycling Come and Try

Riding a bike is an inclusive activity – however it’s not always an activity everyone can be included in without some extra assistance, particularly if they have a visual impairment or another disability that means they can’t ride safely alone.

For this reason, we are always looking for new tandem pilots to ride with us.

On Saturday 10 November at the forecourt area of the National Museum of Australia (Lawson Crescent, Acton), between 2 and 4pm, Fitability will be holding a come and try tandem afternoon where people can go down and trial piloting a tandem bike!

This is a great opportunity for people to turn up and see if piloting a tandem is something they enjoy and volunteer to share with riders with vision impairment or other disabilities.

You can also speak with us about opportunities to ride tandem with a person with a disability, or accompany a person with a disability riding their single bike, as a paid casual job. This is becoming possible through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) because people with a disability can use their NDIS funds to support their own recreational and social goals.

No matter what interest you have, whether it is road riding, social riding or even racing – if you are confident on your bike and open to trying a tandem then Fitability’s trial afternoon is for you.

The only thing you need to bring with you is your own helmet and a willingness to give something new a try.

More information about Fitability Tandem Riding, a Pedal Power program can be found at www.fitability.org.au

Contact: Lauren Brand on 0403 602 577 or email: lauren.brand@grapevine.com.au or Lindy Hou on 0402 113 836 or email: lindy@lindyhou.com.

Additional Event Traffic Controller course for 2018

An additional course for Event Traffic Controllers has been scheduled for 24 November. Details are available on Blended Learning’s web site: http://www.blendedlearning.edu.au/home/courses/programs-courses/event-traffic-controller/.

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 ASAP as numbers are limited. Register directly with Blended Learning via email info@blendedlearning.edu.au or phone 6230 4633 and indicate you are from our club.

UPDATE: There will be an opportunity to undertake ETC mentoring at the Uriarra race on Sunday 25 November.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 6th November: Stromlo Criterium

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
B/D @5:50 B 35m+2, D 30m+2
E/F/G @6:25 22 min + 2 laps
A/C @6:55 A 35m+2, C 30m+2

Race Director:  Damian Copeland Contact: Email: damiancopeland@me.com    Ph  0450903676

Marshals: Simon Wells

Wednesday, 7th November: Track Racing

The Program for Wednesday is as follows;
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice;
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 8-lap graded scratch race;
6.20pm – 7.00pm: 20-lap points race;
7.00pm – 7.10pm: Italian Pursuit.

Sunday, 11th November: Sutton Driver Training Graded Scratch

Where: Sutton Driver Training Course, Approx 0.5 km along Sutton Rd from intersection of Sutton Rd and Pialligo Avenue.
When: 9:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
C/D @9:00 40 mins + 1 lap
E/F/G @9:50 30 mins + 1 lap
A/B @10:30 50 mins + 1 lap

Note: Tea and coffee won’t be available after racing this week.
No on-course warm ups. Use the flat, asphalt area near the circuit.
There is limited parking adjacent to the circuit, all members must exercise due courtesy in parking in and around the area. Our ongoing permission to race at this venue is contingent upon our club leaving the facility in good condition.

Race Director: Warwick Wilson Contact: Email: warwick.wilson@optusnet.com.au    Ph  0407415351

Marshals: Ian Preston

Upcoming Marshal Roster

Thank you to those who volunteered to help (noted below in black) at the races to September. The nominees (in blue) have been selected based on results from the previous summer race season and the period since they last helped at a race. Please advise your availability or unavailability to the race committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) as soon as possible.

Crit races are at Stromlo Forest Park on Tuesdays and road races are on Sunday mornings.

* denotes ETC required for ACT races.

Ian McVay
Race Committee

RACE REPORTS:

Stromlo Criterium – 30th October

Thanks to John Ignatius for helping run the race and to Kirsti McVay for managing the office. Perfect racing conditions saw over 100 riders, with D remaining the most popular grade. The Handicapper has returned and was keeping a keen eye on the racing. So much so that one rider caught his attention by unintentionally ‘hooking onto’ a higher-grade rider. This saw the Handicapper rushing across the course to red-flag the unfortunate rider. The moral of the story is that if a previous unsighted rider comes past and looks like a good option to draft on, it may be best to politely ask which grade they are in. The Handicapper was most happy with A grade. His comment was (something like) “They can do as they like. I don’t need to handicap anyone who’s already in A”.

Race tactics during the evening were mixed. G grade rode solidly to the finish. E & F grades hammered themselves to pieces from the start. D grade seemed content to keep each other company while C, B & A grades saw breakaways of 3, 1, and 2 riders, with varying degrees of success. It is inconvenient, but if you do a big break away, you do need to keep going until time’s up and you do the 2 final laps. A final twist to A grade saw an ‘un-sprint’ finish with both riders trying to back-pedal away from the finish line.

Ian McVay

Track Racing – 31st October

After several weeks of poor weather for track racing, the Wednesday 31 October session provided a very welcome change. The evening was perfect with a balmy temperature and minimal wind. The attendance was fourteen riders with a good roll up in B grade. The modest A grade attendance likely resulted from riders recovering from long efforts in the weekend’s Fitz’s challenge.

The 9-lap A grade scratch race had 5 riders with Ross Scutts stepping up from B grade to augment numbers. The race was led out by Dougal Torrance. The bunch settled to a normal tempo with riders rolling over each lap until lap 5 when Dougal rotated to the front and attacked. Dougal was pursued by Craig Kentwell and Michael Langdon who were determined to avoid last week’s scenario when Dougal gapped the bunch from a sudden attack. The race pace accelerated with a big gap opening between the front trio and the pursuing group. As the bell lap approached, Michael Langdon attacked, splitting up the front trio and cruising to a comfortable victory. Dougal Torrence took a comfortable second place and Craig Kentwell held off the pursuing bunch for third.

Wayne Benham joined the B grade scratch race as a new rider and had some early success. The race commenced at a comfortable pace and the bunch circulated in a tidy fashion for 7 laps. At this point, the pace accelerated, dropping a couple of riders. The surviving bunch barrelled around the course with Phil Anderson, Phil Coulton, Bruce Griffin and Wayne Benham setting up for the final lap. The sprint commenced after the bell with Phil Anderson showing good form for the win. Phil Coulton took second with Bruce Griffin holding third. Wayne Benham came in fourth in a good performance for his first race.

The evening’s second event was a 1-lap time trial from a standing start. This is a flat chat event where a high initial acceleration is critical. With race conditions being so good, most times were a fraction better than last year. Michael Langdon set the A grade benchmark at 26.93 seconds. Two other A grade riders, Craig Kentwell and Dougal Torrance went under 30 seconds. All other times were in a 3 second band from 30 – 33 seconds. B grade riders, Phil Coulton, Ian Drayton, Wayne Benham, Steve Dean and Bruce Griffin all achieved creditable times under 31 seconds.

The track session closed with an all-in, Italian pursuit with 6 riders per team. Both teams made good starts. Team 2 progressively drew slightly ahead. By lap 5, Tony Beasley and Michael Langdon (Team 1) looked set to close down a modest lead by Craig Kentwell and Dougal Torrance (Team 2). Tony was tiring and dropping back, but put in a gutsy effort to limit Team 2’s lead. As the final changeover approached, Michael Langdon sensed the race was slipping away. He climbed the banking to accelerate into a final lap. However, Michael’s effort counted for nought, as Dougal Torrance scorched around the final lap leaving no scope for Michael to recover Team 1’s disadvantage. Team 2 made a flawless overall effort for a well deserved win.

Major place getters were as follows:
9-Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Michael Langdon, Dougal Torrance, Craig Kentwell. (B Grade) Phil Anderson, Phil Coulton, Bruce Griffin.
1-Lap Standing Start TT: (A Grade) Michael Langdon (26.98s), Dougal Torrance (29.17s), Craig Kentwell (29.75). (B Grade) Wayne Benham (30.08s), Steve Dean (30.45s), Ian Drayton (30.45s).
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (Ken Birch, Phil Coulton, Wayne Benham, Ross Scutts, Craig Kentwell, Dougal Torrance).

Season Point Score Update:
Dougal Torrance (35), Michael Langdon (32), Bruce Griffin (30), Craig Kentwell (29), Tony Beasley (27), Phil Anderson (25), Ross Scutts (24).

Graeme O’Neill

Uriarra Homestead Graded Scratch – 4th November

A beautiful sunny morning at Uriarra greeted the 48 riders for the two laps of Brindabella road from the top of the Crossing to Condor Creek and back.

From the vantage point of the Start/Finish I could see that F grade stayed together for half the journey but the second lap was a race in two with Ian Morton prevailing over Theresa McLachlan. In similar fashion E grade was all together until lap two when Tony Sheehan, Don de Smet and Alex Sommariva got a gap with Tony edging out Don and Alex at the finish.

Seven riders in D grade with 4 staying together until the end when James Curran convincingly beat Anthony Beasley and Steven Simms.

The biggest field was in C grade with a fast pace and most riders handling the hills until the last couple of kilometres to the finish when a group fought out the finish with Conan Lui edging out Mark Stevenson in a strong sprint with Stephen Schwenke in third.

B grade looked to be on fire from the g

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