ACT Veterans Weekly Bleat, Monday 11th February, 2019

Hello Vets,

In this week’s Bleat;

• Annual General Meeting
• From the Desk of the Handicapper
• AVCC Championships
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

Members wishing to nominate for a Committee position can download a nomination form here

From the Desk of the Handicapper

Prize money criteriums

In a departure from the not-riding-for-sheep-stations format, the club will conduct prize money races on March 12. The format will be combined AB, CD and EFG races with prize money for first to third, a sprint prime and first from the lower grade. The club will match the $10 entry fee for each rider with an additional $10. First place will receive half of the prize pool, and entries will be limited to 40 riders per race so that means the maximum first place prize could be $400! Eligibility rules:

AB riders must be a financial member and have ridden at least one race during the season (starting October).

C to G riders must be a financial member and have ridden at least three races during the season. C to G riders must ride in the highest grade they have ridden during the season. Entries will be via the SportsTG Event website (detail will be provided closer to the event), and eligibility will be closely scrutinised to avoid burglars taking the loot. Details to follow in the coming weeks.

Neutral turns

Riders are reminded to respect the neutral turn rule in all Vets races. The rule ensures that riders are fully concentrating on the traffic around them when cornering, and are not risking life and limb to get back to the leaders or the wheel in front. Leading riders should roll through the turn, soft pedal until the bunch reforms and then hostilities can recommence. Accelerating out of the turn will create gaps and delay the reformation of the group. Car drivers have ignored instructions and driven through turns in the past so it’s vital that riders concentrate on the traffic and instructions of the marshal. Turns make up a tiny proportion of the race, so the thinking cyclist should use hills, descents, flat sections, windy sections, crests or launch a counter-attack to gain an advantage. Use turns to safely change direction not put the boot into the opposition.

Handicaps

No changes

Rob Langridge
Handicapper

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 12th February: Stromlo Criterium

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
E/F/G @5:50 28 min + 2 laps
A/C @6:25 A 40m+2, C 35m+2
B/D @7:20 B 40m+2, D 35m+2

Race Director:  Dennis Puniard Contact: Email: puniard@grapevine.com.au    Ph  0407220885

Marshals: Darren Symons

Wednesday, 13th February: Track Racing

The Program for Wednesday is;
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice;
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 8-Lap Graded Scratch;
6.20pm – 6.40pm: 200m Fly (Omnium);
6.40pm – 7.00pm: 2-Lap Match Race;
7.00pm – 7.20pm: Italian Pursuit.

Sunday, 17th February: Sutton Driver Training Criterium

Where: Approx 0.5 km along Sutton Rd from intersection of Sutton Rd and Pialligo Avenue.
Notes:
– Tea and coffee won’t be available after racing this week,
– Riders are not to go near the Vehicle Manoeuvre Area (VMA) as an MG Car Club event will be on at the same day,
– 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.
When: 9:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number in your Crit grade.
Race Description:
E/F/G @9:00 30 mins + 1 lap
A/B @9:40 50 mins + 1 lap
C/D @10:40 40 mins + 1 lap.

Race Director: Steven Simms Contact: Email: steve.simms56@gmail.com    Ph  0412601605

Marshals: Heath Wade

Crit Racing overload

Following the usual Tuesday night crit tomorrow evening, we have the more challenging crit at Sutton Driver Training Centre on Sunday morning. The club has negotiated to run 3 races per season at the centre with a donation going to Police Legacy for the use of the track. Note that on the 17th the centre will be shared with the MG car club so please park as directed and do not go near the manoeuvring area which they will be using.

Then next week we have the 1st of the Club’s Crit championships for women and men 55 and over. The week after on 26 Feb will be men’s 35 to 54 championship races. The idea of moving the championship races to Tuesday evenings is to attract more riders to race in the championship event.

Road racing resumes on 24th Feb at the popular Old Federal Highway to Lake George course. The 1st two road races of the year have seen some competitive racing across most of the grades.

15 June Pierces Creek – Change of start location

Pierces creek race start on 15 June will be relocated to Tidbinbilla. The start at the top of Pierces Creek hill is logistically challenging as we need to have someone look after the urn and gear at the car park while the van is at the start/finish. The course will be ABCD 2 laps and EFG 1 lap. Apologies to those who were looking forward to the warm-up climb up Pierces Creek hill.

Gunning 2 Day marshals

Gunning 2 Day race is on 18-19 May. We will need 6 marshals each day to safely and effectively run the race. If you are planning to race and have a partner, child, friend etc who would be interested in coming to help marshal, please let me know. Early volunteering to do marshalling would be appreciated.

Upcoming Marshal Roster

Thank you to those who have already volunteered to help. Nominees, in blue have been selected based on results from the previous race season and the period since they last helped at a race. Nominees are requested to advise their availability/unavailability to the race committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) as soon as possible.

Summer series crit races are held at Stromlo Forest Park on Tuesday evenings and road races are held on Sunday mornings.

* denotes ETC required for ACT races.

Ian McVay
Race Committee

RACE REPORTS:

Crit Racing – 5th February

Event was cancelled due to rain.

Track Racing – 6th February

Wednesday 6 Feb provided a balmy evening for track racing. It would have been perfect except for a very stiff headwind coming out of Turn 1. This remained a challenge throughout the evening. The turn-out was reasonable, with twelve riders, seven in A grade and five in B grade.

The initial events were graded scratch races over ten laps. Dougal Torrance led out A Grade and immediately attacked. However, Hamish Anderson pursued, closing down the attack within a lap. The pace was on and off for a few laps with Dougal putting in another attack on lap 5. This time Michael Langdon closed down the attack. Lap 7 saw the decisive attack by Martin Graham. Martin was soon 10m out with Michael Langdon and Dougal Torrance pursuing. Dougal was late to the party and had used up a bit too much juice in the earlier attacks. By lap 8, Martin and Michael had 15m on Dougal, with the main pack 5m back. This situation prevailed up to the bell lap by which time Martin and Michael were about 60m ahead of their pursuers. Martin looked strong in the final lap. However, Michael was in the box seat and accelerated around Martin in the final half lap to take an excellent win. Martin was second. Craig Kentwell was third, accelerating away from a small group of pursuers in the final sprint.

The B grade scratch race commenced at a solid pace putting the slowest rider under pressure. Riders were rolling over rapidly with rarely more than half lap turns. Ross Scutts did a fast turn around Lap 4, cooking the slowest rider, who did one more lap and fell off the back. The pack of four kept barrelling round the track at a taxing pace and were together for the final sprint from the back straight. Bruce Griffin led out and looked hard to overtake. However, Ross Scutts clawed his way around the outside to take the sprint from Bruce. Ken Birch put in a solid ride for third place.

The second event was graded team pursuit. A grade had two teams of 3 riders and B grade had two teams of two riders. The pursuit rules required all riders to finish with the placing being taken from the last team rider over the line. In A grade Team 1 (Michael Langdon, Tony Beasley, Craig Kentwell) were well coordinated and took the win. Team 2 were just that bit ragged and this is all it takes to trail in. In B grade Team 1 (Phil Anderson, Ken Birch) rode faultlessly to take a very creditable win.

The next event was a 2-lap handicap race, always an opportunity for some ribbing as handicaps were announced. Graeme O’Neill had a good limit handicap but was not too confident of holding off the pursuers. However, after a gut busting effort, he managed to sneak in with less than half a wheel on a rapidly closing Steve Hirsler and Phil Anderson. Another metre and the result would have been reversed.

The track session closed with an all-in, Italian pursuit. This event had four riders per team and was very evenly contested, as normally expected. Phil Anderson made a great start for Team 1. However, half a lap in, Ross Scutts was simply hammering and closed his lap with Team 1 just marginally ahead. Over the next two laps Team 2 reversed the margin and headed into the final lap with Dougal Torrance about 4 metres ahead of Michael Langdon. Michael put in a solid final lap. But so did Dougal, thereby giving Michael no chance to regain the lead. Dougal crossed the finish with about 2 metres on Michael, despite backing off over the closing metres. It was a good win to Team 2.

Place getters for this session were as follows:
10-Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Michael Langdon, Martin Graham, Craig Kentwell. (B Grade) Ross Scutts, Bruce Griffin, Ken Birch.
Team Pursuit: A Grade Winner, Team 1 (Michael Langdon, Tony Beasley, Craig Kentwell) B Grade Winner, Team 1(Phil Anderson, Ken Birch).
2 Lap Handicap: (A&B Grade): Graeme O’Neill, Steve Hirsler, Phil Anderson.
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (Dougal Torrance Hamish Anderson, Martin Graham, Ross Scutts).

Season Point Score Update:
Michael Langdon (187), Ross Scutts (184), Dougal Torrance (178), Steve Hirsler (155), Phil Anderson (136), Craig Kentwell (122), Bruce Griffin (116), Tony Beasley (116), Wayne Benham (97).

Graeme O’Neill

Lookout Hill – 10th February

The Road Race Season is starting to heat up as we head towards Gunning in May. The racing may have been hot and the riders certainly looked tired when they reached the finish at the top of Lookout Hill, and that undulating course is pretty testing but the weather on the day was mild at 27 degrees and light winds.

37 racers lined up across 6 grades, with the biggest field in C Grade with 12 riders. Bigger fields would be good, so come on out all you crit riders when you get sick of circle work.

Winners across the grades: Dennis Puniard in F, Jan Koehler in E, Andrew Hislop in D, Darren Blackhurst in C, Tim Brown in B and Peter Marshall by a solid 32 seconds in A.

Thanks to very competent marshals Owain Tilley, Simon Costello, Robert Brunate, Richard Gorrel and Andre Swenson, and as every week vital organisation and timing by Graham Hendrie.

Next Sunday morning is half way between a criterium and a road race at Sutton Driver Training Centre. It will be a great way to tune up for the Criterium Age Champs; see you out there.

Steve Schwenke