Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

  • From the Desk of the Handicapper
  • Racing this Week
  • From the Race Committee
  • Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

From the Desk of the Handicapper

Promotions

Kurt Andrews B to A
Allan Bontjer C to B
Josh Quilliam E to D

Rob Langridge
Handicapper

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 29th October: Stromlo Criterium – Graded Scratch

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
E/F/G 5:50 20 min + 2 laps
A/C 6:15 A 30m+2, C 25m+2
B/D 6:50 B 30m+2, D 25m+2

Race Director: Daniel Grillo Contact: Email: danandllewella@bigpond.com    Ph  0427296052

Marshals: Greg Mitchell

Wednesday, 30th October: Track Racing

The Program for Wednesday is;
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice;
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 8-lap graded scratch race;
6.20pm – 6.50pm: 2-Lap Handicap;
6.50pm – 7.20pm: Italian Pursuit.

Sunday, 3rd November: Uriarra Homestead

Where: Assemble at Uriarra Rd / Brindabella Rd, T-Junction. From North Canberra slightly faster Coppins crossing & right onto Uriarra Road. From Sth Canberra follow Cotter Road down to bridge crossing, turn right onto Brindabella Road.
When: 9:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number
Race Description:
Two laps of Uriarra Homestead – top of Uriarra Crossing – Condor Creek – Homestead.

Race Director: Brian Peak Contact: Email: brianpeak1@me.com    Ph  0424403696

Marshals: Neil Burton ETC, Lindsay Graham ETC, Seymour Savell-Boss ETC, Ashley Carruthers

From the Race Committee

New RMS

The update of RMS, which works better on mobile devices, has been implemented. Bookmarks to the old RMS no longer work. You need to follow the updated links to the Race Calendar and Results from our home page at actvets.cc.

Upcoming Race Officials Roster

With the implementation of the new Race Calendar, the publication of the upcoming Race Officials Roster in the weekly Bleat will be discontinued.

Rostered race directors AND MARSHALS are shown against each race.

Please check the calendar (http://rms.actvets.cc/calendar). If your name is followed by TBC (To Be Confirmed) you need to contact the race committee (race.committee@actvets.cc) as soon as possible to either confirm your attendance or to request a swap.

Empty race directors and marshal positions are denoted as Vacant. Some marshals for races in the ACT need to be Events Traffic Controllers (ETC) and appear as Vacant ETC.

Please review the vacancies for upcoming races and email the race committee with events you would like to help out at, rather than wait and be asked to help at a race you wanted to do. Races cannot happen without members contributing to make them happen.

Ian McVay
Race Committee

RACE REPORTS:

SFP Criterium – 22nd October

On a great afternoon we had a good turn up with ninety one riders.

Things got set up quickly thanks to the committee team, Kirsty, Ian, Jane and Dough.

A grade was the first bunch to start, on the first lap the attacks started, Ben Morison went away and was left at the front for five laps, when the gap got larger the Tiffen Team/riders put the hammer down to close it. This was fast and furious for few laps , which did split the bunch in two . At the front the Tiffen riders were working hard to split again the reduced bunch . At some stage Ben Morrison did attack again in an impressive display of strength, he did manage to drop few riders now the bunch was only six left with three just hanging there and not doing any turn, Al Sieper did few surges which were closed quickly by Ben , the two Tiffen riders left in the group were taking turn to attack but to no avail , the final sprint was won by Ben Morison followed closely by Corby Mathew and Allan Sieper.

C grade was a different affair , the first lap saw James Curran shooting at the front , this did not last as the bunch was working hard under the impetus of Belinda Chamberlain and Kate Vandenberg. The pace was high maybe this did cooled off any ideas to escape as the bunch did stay together to the bell lap . The sprint was a very close one which Al Bonjter won ( nice work Al ), then Liam Zeller 2d and Brian Holloway 3d.

B grade was fast , the bunch stayed together for most of the race with only Peter Young having a dig , after few laps Peter got reeled back in the bunch. At two laps to go the pace picked up greatly on bell lap the bunch got blow apart , Andrews Kurt won the sprint Chester Heath came second holding off a fast finishing Doran Stuart.

D grade had a good number of riders, there were few surges but got closed very quickly by a fast bunch where we saw Michael Rippion doing a lot of work at the front. The pace was high , the bunch did stay together until two laps to go when some pressure at the front broke it apart, the sprint was fast and close , Rico Fitch won it followed by Michael Rippion 2d and Dale Dummett 3d.

E grade Well it was pretty much let’s follow the Tandem( Elton and Lindy) did spend a lot of time pulling hard at the front , every one quite happy to seat behind waiting the bell lap so no much did happen, the sprint was easily won by Joshua Quilliam ( a new D grade?) , then Ian Morton 2d , Andrew Douglas 3d.

F grade was a steady race with few surges but the bunch stayed together to the end, it was a close sprint with Puniard Dennis taking the win followed by a fast finishing Mike Hayes 2d and Susan Frost a close 3d

G grade had one rider , Gai Monahan had a great ride if maybe somewhat lonely.

Well done to all the participants.

I would like to thanks Michelle Hodgetts for her help on the line, the track set up and doing the chute.

Cheers

Alain Arbaut

Track Racing – 23rd October

Wednesday’s 23 October was the first completed track racing session for the 2019-20 season. Conditions were almost ideal for racing. It was warm and an initial fresh breeze moderated over the evening. Attendance was quite good with 17 riders, 9 in A grade and 8 in B grade.

The 8-lap A grade scratch race started at a brisk pace with riders testing the bunch to see if an escape was practical. However, all the skirmishes were quickly closed down, until Michael Langdon accelerated off the front with just over two laps to go. Hamish Anderson reacted quickly and accelerated into Michael’s wheel. The pair soon had a 20 metre gap on the pursuing bunch and were dicing for the win. Hamish made a big effort to overtake Michael. However, Michael matched the overtaking pace and held Hamish on his outside for about 1.5 laps. The overtaking effort eventually took its toll on Hamish. In the final sprint, Michael had just enough in reserve to take the win. Dougal Torrance and Craig Kentwell lead the pursuing bunch with Dougal taking third place on the line.

In the B Grade scratch race, Phil Coulton led out the bunch at an easy starting pace. However, the pace notched up each successive lap. With one and a half laps to go, several riders initiated an attack simultaneously. The whole bunch accelerated with riders straining to close the many gaps opening in the paceline. A prolonged sprint saw Wayne Benham crossing the line for a win just ahead of Phil Coulton and Ian Drayton in second and third place respectively.

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. On average, times were better than last year. Hamish Anderson set the A grade benchmark at 27.69 seconds. The second and third best times were very close with Alex Millett on 27.91 seconds and Michael Langdon on 28.23 seconds. A total of seven A grade riders rode under 30 seconds, which was quite impressive.

Wayne Benham rode under 30 seconds (29.80s) setting the best time for B grade. Ian Drayton was close at 30.35 seconds for second best time. Phil Anderson set the third best time of 31.95 seconds. Most B grade riders were under 33 seconds, which was a good overall performance.

The track session closed with an all-in, Italian pursuit with 8 riders per team. On paper, Team 2 looked slightly stronger. However, Ken Birch and Phil Anderson made a brilliant start for Team 1 while confusion reigned, initially, in Team 2. It then looked like a lost cause for Team 2. However, the team had a strong line up for mid race. Great efforts by Dougal Torrance, John Paul De Sousa and Alec Millett reduced the deficit to around 10 metres by the penultimate lap. However, Team 1 were not making it easy for the pursuers. Craig Kentwell and Michael Langdon kept up a solid pace, so the gap was not further reduced. It was a good win for Team 1 and a classic illustration of the need for faultless teamwork in this event.

Major place getters were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Michael Langdon, Hamish Anderson, Dougal Torrance. (B Grade) Wayne Benham, Phil Coulton, Phil Anderson. 1-Lap Standing Start Time trial: (A Grade) Hamish Anderson (27.69s), Alec Millett (27.91s), Michael Langdon (28.23s). (B Grade) Wayne Benham (29.80s), Ian Drayton (30.35s), Phil Anderson (31.95s). Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 1 (Ken Birch, Phil Anderson, Ben Robey, Craig Kentwell, David McCook, Wayne Benham, Michael Langdon).

Season Point Score Update:
Wayne Benham (20), Michael Langdon (18), Hamish Anderson (17), Ian Drayton (15), Dougal Torrance (13), Phil Anderson (13), Alec Millett (13).

Graeme O’Neill