ACT Veterans Weekly Bleat, Monday 18th February, 2019

Hello Vets,

A bumper Bleat this week;

• Ellen’s Ride 2019
• From the Desk of the Handicapper
• Giant Children’s Bicycle Recall
• Vets Out and About
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

Ellen’s Ride 2019

On Friday 8 March 2019, I will be leaving Canberra an a 1350km solo charity (unsupported) ride from Canberra to the Qld border, just north of Murwillumbah. I am riding through country NSW on mainly quiet back roads over 11 days.

I am doing this ride in memory of our daughter Ellen who was born still in 2010.

I am raising funds for Red Nose (formally SidsnKids), I have done this previously, 2016 & 2017, raising over $15,000 in total, I am aiming to raise $5000 again this year. I am hoping this year’s ride will be a little easier than last years as I now have a new bionic left hip, will just have to watch it on right hand turns, and hopefully will return much fitter for the rest of the road season.

If your keen to help out sponsoring my ride please click the link below
http://www.everydayhero.com.au/event/EllensRide2019

Also if anyone would like to follow the ride I will be updating each night on my Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/tony.oconnor.397

Any donations help Red Nose provide bereavement support to anyone impacted by the death of a baby, infant or child regardless of the cause. Their challenge is to raise enough funds to support anyone seeking our care following the death of a child, to support research into sudden infant and perinatal death, and continue our Safe Sleeping campaign educating the community to reduce the incidence of SIDS and fatal sleeping accidents.

Anthony O’Connor (Sluggo)

From the Desk of the Handicapper

Prize money criterium

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.

Rob Langridge
Handicapper

Giant Children’s Bicycle Recall

Any members with children who have a Giant & Liv Children’s Bicycle should check the following recall notice;

https://www.productsafety.gov.au/recall/giant-bicycles-co-pty-ltd-giant-liv-childrens-bicycles

Vets Out and About

The 2019 ACT Track Championships were run by Cycling ACT from the 3rd to the 11th of February, with 5 Championship titles to be won, Individual Pursuit and Team Sprint on 3rd, Sprint on the evening of the 4th, 6 race Omnium on 9th and 10th and Team Pursuit Championships on evening of 11th.

Many of the Masters competing are also ACTVCC members.

On Sunday 3rd, 9 ACTVCC members competed In the Individual Pursuit Championships, with 8 Gold and 1 Silver medals won.
GOLD , Hamish Anderson, Masters Men, 4, 3000 Meters (9 laps), Time: – 4.36.372
GOLD, Kerry Knowler , Masters Women, 5, 2000 Meters (6 laps), Gold, Time:-2.53.529
GOLD, Michael Langdon, Masters Men, 5, 2000 Meters (6 laps), Time:-2.46.743
GOLD, Dave Mullens, Masters Men, 6, 2000 Meters, (6 laps), Time:-2.54.160
GOLD, Sian Mulholland, Masters Women, 7, 2000 Meters (6 laps), Gold, Time:-3.23.81
GOLD, Craig Kentwell, Masters Men, 7, 2000 Meters (6 laps), Gold, Time:-2.49.695
SILVER, Dominque Rideaux, Masters Men, 7, 2000 Meters (6 laps), Silver, Time:-2.51.662
GOLD, Tony Beasley, Masters Men,8, 2000 Meters (6 laps), Gold, Time:-2.58.912
GOLD, Jim Veal, Masters Men, 9, 2000 Meters (6 laps), Gold, Time:-3.07.643

The second event on Sunday was the Team Sprint, the ACTVCC had 9 riders in 4 teams with 3 Gold medals won and 1 Silver medal won.
Masters Men 150+Team Sprint 1000m (3 laps)
Team 1,
GOLD, Ray Gorrell*, Tony Beasley, Ryan Bates (Vikings CC), Time:-1.17.090 (* former ACTVCC member)
Team 2,
SILVER, Jim Veal, Craig Kentwell, Hamish Anderson, Time:-1.20.551
Masters 110+Team Sprint 1000m (3 laps)
GOLD, Sufyan Saleem (ANU CC), Paul Kennedy, Michael Langdon, Time:-1.15.602
Masters Women 90+Team Sprint, 666 Meters (2 Laps)
GOLD, Sian Mulholand, Kerry Knowler, Time:-57.107

ACT Sprint Championships, were run on Monday evening 4th February

There were 7 ACTVCC members competing, some age groups were combined. M7, W7, M8, and M9
With 4 ACTVCC members competing
GOLD, Ed Garnett
Silver Crag Kentwell
Bronze Tony Beasley
4th Sian Mulholand
GOLD, Kerry Knowler and Liny Hou competed in the Para Champs, with a very good time of 13.35s
M4, M5, and M6
GOLD, Paul Kennedy
Silver, Michael Langdon
4th Hamish Anderson

On Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th February in the 6 event Omnium , 6 ACTVCC members competed with 6 Gold medals won. M4 to M9 and W masters were combined which made for interesting racing for the older competitors.
Omnium events, Saturday, 200 meters fly, 15 lap Scratch, 6 lap Keirin.
Sunday, 500 Meters TT, 21 lap points race, and Elimination
GOLD, M4, Hamish Anderson
GOLD, W4, Peta Brill
GOLD, M5, Michael, Langdon
GOLD, M7, Craig Kentwell
GOLD, M8, Tony Beasley
GOLD, M9, Jim Veal

The Team Pursuit Championships were on Monday evening 11th February
ACTVCC members were represented in 3 teams for 2 GOLD and 1 SILVER. 2000 meters.
GOLD, mixed 110, Kerry Knowler, Jim Veal, Paul Kennedy and Sufyan Saleem (ANU CC),
GOLD, M150, Michael Langdon, Alex Millet, Criag Kentwell, Ryan Bates (Vikings CC)
SILVER, M150, Hamish Anderson, Tony Beasley Gordon Marcks (CCC).

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 19th February: Stromlo Criterium – Age Graded Club Championship – Part 1

Note: This race is Part 1 of the Age Graded Championships.

Racing is only for Men (ages 55 – 75+) and Women (all ages).

Next week is Part 2 which will be for Men (ages 35 – 54).

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
M7 (65-69)/M8 (70-74)/M9 (75+) @5:50 30 min
Women (All ages)** @6:30 30 min
M5 (55-59)/M6 (60-64) @7:10 35 min

*Age Classification is the Age that you turn on your birthday in 2019, e.g. a rider who turns 40 in December 2019 is classed as M2 (40-44) or W2 (40-49) for all events during 2019.

**While all Women will start together, results will be recorded for 10 year ages groups (30-39, 40-49, etc).

Race Director:  Allan Bontjer Contact: Email: allan@allanbontjer.net    Ph  0422808035

Marshals: Mark Terracini

Wednesday, 20th 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: 2-Lap Handicap (Omnium);
6.40pm – 7.10pm: 1 Lap SS Screamer
7.10pm – 7.30pm: Italian Pursuit.

Sunday, 24th February: Old Federal Highway Graded Scratch

Where: Turn left off new Federal Hwy (dual carriageway) after Bywong Rd. The intersection is signposted to Gundaroo and approx 9 km after Sutton Rd overpass. Park in gravel pit on corner of next intersection about 100 m in from highway.
When: 9:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number
Race Description:
Old Federal Highway Gravel Pit to Lake George and back. ABCD 4 laps for 48km. EFG 3 laps for 36km.

Race Director: Andrew Matz Contact: Email: Andrew.matz@bigpond.com    Ph  0417277248

Marshals: Anthony Beasley, Ashley Carruthers, Ben Carmody, Bruce Goodfellow, Thomas Hartley

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 – 12th February

Tuesday last week turned out to be a challenging environment for a bike race. Gale force winds and dust storms made us think twice about proceeding but having cancelled the previous week because of heavy rain and encouraged by the fact that the wind was reducing, we decided to proceed. Not surprisingly only 40 riders decided to appear at Stromlo but those who did enjoyed relatively calm conditions and some competitive racing. Notable was that all riders were male (the regular ladies had better sense?).

E, F and G were first to go for 28 minutes with only three riders, who rode together until the last lap when Ian Morton (the lone E Grader) broke away. Chris Copeland and Mal Paterson were the two F Graders in that order. After a break for a couple of years – welcome back Mal.

A and C grade were next away. A grade doing 40 minutes and C rolling for 35 minutes. A grade had 10 riders and after a few breakaway attempts three riders got off the front in the latter stages with Al Seiper winning comfortably followed by Gerard Tiffen and Rob McLaughlin. The Tiffen team orange featured throughout as pacemakers. C Grade also had 10 riders with Will Robb emerging victorious followed by Kevin Wells and Steve Terracini.

B and D grades completed the program in fading light due to the dust, but despite kangaroos trying to join the fun, B managed their 40 minutes without incident and D had a close contest over 35 minutes. B grade had 9 riders with Paul Hollings wining comfortably followed by Craig Tozer and Adam Potts.

D grade stayed together with a bunch sprint of 4 riders within a bike length at the finish with Kevin Newhouse winning by a short margin followed by Ben Davis and Bruce Griffen. Ian Morton who earlier rode E grade obviously was not stressed and joined the D graders and finished in the bunch.

Thanks to Darren Symons for his most efficient time keeping and recording, Simon Whitehead as our first aider and Phil Coulton for opening, closing up and general guidance.

Dennis Puniard – Race Director

Track Racing – 13th February

Wednesday 13 Feb provided another balmy evening for track racing. As usual there was a stiff headwind in the back straight. The wind intensity fluctuated throughout the evening. The turn-out was good, with seventeen riders, ten in A grade and seven in B grade.

The initial events were graded scratch races over eight laps. Alex Millett led out A Grade at a good clip and the pack settled in for five laps. At this point Michael Langdon attacked, pursued by Hamish Anderson who caught and passed Michael and continued with the break. It fell to Martin Graham to pursue and close down this break. Martin also held his pace and was eventually joined by Michael Langdon, Craig Kentwell. Tim Minehan and Alex Millett. This group scorched off the front and spreadeagled the field. As the bell lap approached Michael Langdon put in a further attack, leading out for a win. The remaining front runners sprinted for the places with Martin Graham taking second and Alex Millett appearing from nowhere to take third.

The B grade scratch race commenced at a comfortable pace and held steady until Bruce Griffin took the front on lap 7 and livened things up. This acceleration dropped one rider. However, within another three-quarters lap, the race turned tactical with riders spreading up the banking for a good launch position. With one lap to go, Bruce Griffin made the break. However, the pack latched on quickly and eventually streamed around Bruce as he faded. Will Rob put in a great sprint from the bunch in his first track outing and took a comfortable win. Ross Scutts was solid in second place and Phil Anderson showed form to take third.

The second event was a 200m flying start time trial. This is a demanding event that requires a perfect set up and launch and a gut busting sprint. The times were generally quite good. As usual Michael Langdon was fastest in the only time under 13 seconds. Hamish Anderson and Ed Garnett took second and third in A grade with times under 13.5 seconds. Will Rob’s time was sensational, fast enough to take fourth place in A grade and an easy win in B grade. Bruce Griffin took second in B grade getting under the 15 second mark. Ben Davis took third in B grade, in just over 15 seconds.

The third event was a series of paired match races over two laps. The match races were interesting to watch with a variety of tactics employed to gain a sprint advantage. Most of the races were reasonably close, with a few surprise results. The most exciting contest was Steve Hirsler Vs Tony Beasley. Initially Steve looked to have too much power. However, Tony caught his draft and clawed his way around for the win as Steve tired. Riders who emerged as winners in their event were Michael Langdon, Dougal Torrance, Hamish Anderson, Ed Garnett, Tony Beasley, Will Rob, Phil Anderson and Ben Davis.

The track session closed with an all-in, Italian pursuit. This event had eight riders per team and was very evenly contested, as normally expected. Both teams made good starts. Team 2 had strength in its mid race riders and managed to draw slightly ahead as the pursuit progressed. There was only about one bike length difference until the last riders. Team 2’s Martin Graham had a good lap and managed to give Dougal Torrance almost 2 bike lengths lead for the final lap. This lap was exciting as it looked like Team 1’s Michael Langdon might close the gap. However, Dougal was well motivated and kept Michael at bay, winning with a margin of almost a bike length. It was a good race to watch.

Place getters for this session were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Michael Langdon, Martin Graham, Alex Millett. (B Grade) Will Rob, Ross Scutts, Phil Anderson. 200m Fly: A Grade, Michael Langdon (12.70s), Hamish Anderson (13.28s), Ed Garnett (13.42s) B Grade, Will Rob (13.47s), Bruce Griffin (14.93s), Ben Davis (15.16s). 2 Lap Match Races: (A&B Grade): Winners, Michael Langdon, Dougal Torrance, Hamish Anderson, Ed Garnett, Tony Beasley, Will Rob, Phil Anderson, Ben Davis. Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (Dougal Torrance, Tony Beasley, Alex Millett, Craig Kentwell, Martin Graham, Ken Birch, Phil Anderson, Will Rob).

Season Point Score Update:
Michael Langdon (209), Ross Scutts (203), Dougal Torrance (194), Steve Hirsler (171), Phil Anderson (152), Craig Kentwell (137), Bruce Griffin (133), Tony Beasley (129), Ken Birch (100 ).

Graeme O’Neill

Sutton Driver Training Centre – 17th February

The weather was as close to perfect for racing as you can get. 22 deg, clear skies and very little wind. There were a few kangaroos around with one making a brief appearance during the A / B grade race, otherwise they were all well behaved.

The MG car club had booked the area beside the race track so riders raced to the sounds of burning tyres and revving motors adding to the atmosphere??????

The track is a great venue with some tight corners, lots of undulations and a great finishing straight. Perfect for the sprinters.

First on track were E & F grades for 30 mins. Riders registered and lined up for the 9am start.

E Grade 5 Riders

Jan lead the bunch out for the first lap which stayed together until a couple of laps in when Jan and Dave made a small break. The race stayed this way for the majority of laps with only a few position changes in the bunch. Linda had a bit of trouble late in the race to stay with the bunch however sprinted for a very strong finish.

In the end the placings were 1st Jan Koehler 2nd David Gunther & 3rd Ian Morton.

F Grade 5 Riders

F Grade remained as a bunch for most of the race with a few minor surges. Theresa, Dave & Dennis changed positions frequently out the front with the rest happy to follow behind. In the end after a long sprint the placings were 1st David Freudenberger 2nd Dennis Puniard & 3rd Theresa McLachlan.

Next on the track was a very strong field of A & B grade for their 50 mins of racing.

A Grade 15 Riders

A strong field of riders lined up for the start of A grade. Many of the riders having a long history of racing at a high level, both domestically and nationally. Quon had good numbers to try and put it to Jeremey Ross and Rob McLoughlin. Sure enough the power went down quickly and by the end of the first lap a break of 4 riders were 15 seconds clear, Jason Chalker, Mark and Seymour plus one mystery no number rider, (I think Ben from Quon). By the end of the third lap Rob and Jeremey had crossed to make it a very strong break. In perfect conditions Nathan Spillane could see the danger and tried valiantly to move forward, he spent a couple of laps on his own only to succumb and return to the chase group. The gap got to 40 seconds but held at 30 for most of the race. Seymour was heard saying the lead group was to boring (you can guess the real reason) and faded to the chase group. Several DNFs took place as a result of too much riding the day before or any other reason to give in to the pain on the day. Jeremey appeared to get pleasure in putting the power down on the small hill at the end of the straight on each lap. Later he was heard saying he needed to soften Ben up for his planned late attack; it worked and with two laps to go Jeremey rode off the front, Jason Chalker (his team mate) then played the role of soft peddling and disrupting the 4 guys chasing. Rob wasn’t keen to make the huge effort required to get to Jeremey and potentially tow Ben to a sprint win. Fun was had by all.

Placings for A Grade 1st Jeremy Ross, 2nd Ben Morrison & 3rd Rainer Wilton.

B Grade 17 Riders

Romano lead the large group off the start line and maintained this position for the first lap with Ian Preston close on his tail and the bunch breathing down their backs. Tim Minehan was the first to make a move and headed out on his own on lap 3 or 4. This break didn’t last long and Ian and the bunch were quick to run him down. From there Ian & Simon Costello set the pace heading off for a 2 man break. This move seemed to split the rest of the bunch slightly with about 7 riders in each minor bunch however a couple of laps later everyone was back together again getting ready for the final couple of laps and the all important sprint. “A” grade overtook some of B grade and the bunches got a bit messy after that. On the final lap there was a crash with a couple of riders touching wheels causing Simon Porombka to come down heavily. First aid was in attendance within a minute and along with a heap of saline solution and bandages Simon was patched up and heading home. The shower tonight will be slightly uncomfortable. Ouch. Get out the mercurochrome.

This race was at a cracking pace and by the end there was 4 DNF’s.

Placings were 1st Paul Welsh, 2nd David Dickson & 3rd Tim Minehan.

C & D was the last race for the day with again a strong field of riders for 40 mins.

C Grade 10 Riders

C Grade rolled off the line in a bunch and remained that way for the majority of the race. The lead rider changed nearly every lap which showed that everyone was happy to do their bit up front or they were just unable to make a break on the bunch. Dwain Tilly finally got a small break on the bunch on lap 7 however that didn’t last long either and was quickly run down.

Brian Chugg was the only one to drop off the back finding the going a bit tough after coming back from an operation and lacking some race fitness. He finished strongly with a big smile on his face. Well done Brian.

Placings were 1st Ed Logue, 2nd Andrew Hislop & 3rd Owain Tilley.

D Grade 6 Riders

D grade riders must all get along very well as they also remained as a tight bunch for a large part of the race. Don & Ian seemed to dominate the front positions for the first part of the race as they went past the start / finish line. Kevin took over the lead on lap 7 doing his bit to drag the bunch along and this was the way things progressed until the final lap where the sprint was hotly contested all the way to the line.

Placings were 1st Brian Peak, 2nd Don de SMET & 3rd Kevin Newhouse

Apart from the crash everyone seemed to enjoy the racing and the venue. There were a number of positive comments regarding the venue and the turnout of riders complemented this.

Thanks again to Heath and the ever reliable Graham for their valuable assistance on the day.

Steve Simms