Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Vets

Dear members,

I’d like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a happy new year. This year the Club ran over 70 racing events for members, i.e more than one per week. That is a huge effort and I’d like to thank the members of the Committee, in particular Phill Coulton for all his work on road approvals, Kirsti McVay for keeping us afloat as a club, Rob Langridge for all the efforts in ensuring appropriate grades for each rider, Jan Koehler for all the extra support she has provided both the Committee and the club, Paul Robey for stepping in a number of times to run races and be the First Aider and Kim Malcolm for his help in organising the gunning two day and ensuring medals are able to be presented to riders. Ian Morton has continued his fantastic work in publishing the Bleat every week and keeping us all up to date and I also thank Allan Bontjer for his work on the RMS. I also want to thank Graham Hendrie (the Van Man) for his support of the road race series and Graeme O’Neill and, in his absence, Michael Langdon for running the ever exciting Track series. Behind the scenes Ian Albrey has been of tremendous assistance to me this year dealing with both insurance and legal issues at the National Level. If you missed last night’s meet, a committee member was awarded club person of the year. That person is Ian McVay, the Vets Vice President. As you may be aware, a few year ago the Club went through a spate of cancelled races due to a number of issues. Ian’s hard work this year has ensured a minimum of issues with this year’s race program and I sincerely thank him for his efforts.

I’d like to offer a special thanks to all those that volunteered their time to marshal or direct races. Without your efforts there simply would be no races.

With the coming year the club is in for some challenges in the form of changes to our racing venues, in particular Stromlo. There is a current plan that will see “Collarbone Corner” replaced with a simple hot dog turn due to the development of several sports fields in the area east of the Crit track. The ACT Vets have been fighting this change throughout 2018 and intend to keep the pressure up in 2019. As always we have a perennial challenge of seeking road and venue approvals from separate State (NSW) and Territory (ACT) bodies. I am particularly proud that the club was able to race on some different venues this year in the form of Cooma and the Sutton Driver Training Centre. An additional challenge is to keep membership prices as low as possible whilst ensuring maximum insurance coverage for members and, thanks to Ian Albrey’s work, we have been able to get away with a small increase in membership prices for 2019. This is a good time to remind you all to RENEW YOUR MEMBERSHIP!!

A final thanks must be said to you, the member. I have thoroughly enjoyed racing with you in 2018 (except perhaps for that small stack earlier in the year). The club continues to thrive thanks to your membership. Members are engaging and always have a story to tell. All I ask is that if you get tapped on the shoulder to help out with a race, say YES. There are 70 more to compete in and you won’t miss out. Your assistance in running a race is extremely valued by the club.

All the best for 2019 and I hope that Santa brings you at least one pair of cycling socks and hopefully that always sought after n+1 bike!

Regards,

 

Dougal Torrance
President,
ACT Veterans Cycling Club.

Clubman of the Year

Ian McVay

Season Medal Presentations

2017-18 Road Summer

Women: Gillian Lugg (1st), Tess McLachlan (2nd), Kirsty Cummin (3rd)

Men: Allan Bontjer (1st), Ian Preston (2nd), Mick Donaldson (3rd absent)
[with Photo bombing provided courtesy of Rob Langridge]

2018 Road Winter

Women: Jan Koehler (1st), Kirsti McVay (2nd), Gillian Lugg (3rd)

Men: Steve Crispin (1st), Steven Simms (2nd absent), Rob Langridge (3rd)

Registration Renewal for 2019

Note: For new members who registered after 1 Oct, your membership is valid up until the end of 2019.

2019 membership renewals are due by 31 December 2018. To renew, go to https://memberdesq.sportstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10244 or follow the prompts via our website www.actvets.cc. Click on the Login link and enter the username and password from last year. If you have forgotten your login and password , after clicking on ‘login’ – go to the tab at the top right hand side of the screen and click on ‘Username & Password’ – then forward your email address as requested in the box that will appear. SportsTG will then forward you the information.

You need to renew your membership prior to 31 December or prior to your first race in 2019.

It is preferable to renew prior to the end of December if you intend to race in 2019. Before each race, a check has to be done of all those registered to race to ensure they are financial members and covered by insurance. As a courtesy to those committee members who work hard to ensure the club complies with the terms of our insurance cover and also produce the race results, please renew your membership at least 2 days prior to racing. Membership costs are:

  • A full competitive membership for 2019 is $120
  • Non competitive membership for 2019 is $5

 

Upon renewal, your 2019 licence will be emailed to you direct from SportsTG. Please print out a copy and it is suggested that you laminate it or place it in plastic for future reference during the year ahead. You will need to show this licence if you enter events run by other Veteran Cycling Clubs or the AVCC.

Please ensure that your personal particulars are always kept up to date, in particular your emergency contact details. For those members with First Aid qualifications please also update the site. It is a member’s responsibility to keep these updated via the SportsTG website.

Please note that all members are expected to contribute to club administrative functions during the year. These may include: directing or marshalling races, providing first aid or joining the club committee.

 

Kirsti McVay
Membership Secretary

RACE REPORT:

Christmas Wheel Race – 18th December

Last crit for the year saw a big turnout with 111 riders signing on.

E/F/G were the first to head out with a fairly stiff breeze adding to the challenge however this eased later in the evening. Gai Monahan was clear for most of the race in G grade and finished first. The other three riders grouped together battling away with Bernie Crowe and Belinda O’Connor taking the minor places.

F grade stayed in a relatively tight group the whole race with Chris Copeland, Miche Hodgetts and Leanne Tennant taking the places.

In E grade Penelope Ardan and Ian Morton got away in an early break. As the race rolled on, the wind started to take its toll with the bunch breaking into three groups. Place getters were Will Robb followed by Dale Dummet and Ian Morton.

The tandem of John Barlow and Ben Healy led D grade out strongly. The 22 riders then stayed together for most of the race with Andrew Harrold, Alain Arbaut and Kevin Newhowe taking the places.

In C grade the ‘Dominator’ dominated the first few laps then joined the rest of the group. Stephen Terracini and Reg Sheridan also got away at one point but were reeled back in. John Marinov looked strong but again it all took its toll. Attacks came and went with the places taken by Scott Tozer, Mark Kitchen and Mick Hanbury.

B grade remained together for the initial part of the race with Ian Preston and Greg Collis featuring early. Eventually it was a bunch of seven riders that led the final two laps. Finishing order saw some familiar names with Greg Collis leading and Simon Junakovic and Craig Tozer taking similar positions to earlier in the month.

A grade as usual was on from the start. Seymour Savell-Boss made an early breakaway before he was joined and numbers in the lead group swelled to three then five. The pressure was applied which saw the lead group pull back to four riders that went all the way. Places went to Steve Crispin, Allan Sieper and Ben Morrison.

To finish the night a wheel race was held with the first five riders from each grade on the start line. F grade led off with a handicap of 1 minute 40 seconds but this wasn’t enough for the A graders with Steve Crispin leading the charge in front of Alan Sieper and Ben Morrison.

Chris Daly

Racing Resumes

Racing will resume in 2019 with the first Crit on the 8th January and Track Racing on the 9th January. The first road race will be on the 3rd February.

Till then, have a great Christmas Break.