Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

  • Team QOUN Crit race – POSTPONED
  • Dairy Flat working Bee
  • 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

Team QOUN Crit race – POSTPONED

Due to the ongoing issue with smoke over the ACT, it has been agreed to reschedule the Team QUON event.

Due to the predicted heat and the smoke haze that will be hanging around for the next few days, tomorrow’s Crit will be CANCELLED.

Dairy Flat working Bee

There was a good turn out of volunteers on Saturday to clean up the Dairy Road course. Fortunately the grass had been mowed but there was plenty of overgrowth along the side of the course (particularly Blackberries). The fluff that had built up on the road from a cluster of poplars at the turn around point was particularly challenging but with plenty of brooms and elbow grease (and one electric leaf blower), we were able to move most of it.

Thanks to all those who contributed their time.

From the Desk of the Handicapper

Promotions

– Peter Young B to A
– Mark Vardy C to B
– Kevin Wells C to B
– Dom Romano D to C
– Josh Quilliam D to C

Rob Langridge
Handicapper

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 10th December: Stromlo Criterium – Graded Scratch

CANCELLED – Due to heat and ongoing smoke hazard.

Wednesday, 11th December: 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: 6-lap Christmas Wheel Race (Handicap);
– 6.40pm – 7.10pm: Italian Pursuit.

This track session will be the final session before the Christmas break. The session will conclude with drinks and nibbles to celebrate the Christmas Season.

Sunday, 15th December: Mount Majura Hill Climb

Where: Base of Mount Majura Rd.
When: 9:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number
Race Description:
Hill climb, 2.8 km with an average grade of 7.8%.

Race Director: Bradley Peppinck Contact: Email: bradpeppinck@hotmail.com    Ph 0478 028 598

Marshals: Des Brown

This will be the final road race for 2019. Road racing will resume on the 2nd February 2020.

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:

Old Federal Highway – 1st December

First day of summer and it was sunny but inevitably the wind was again the dominant factor with riders in most grades spread all over the course. It also kept the numbers at the start line very low.

Two outstanding performances from Steve Crispin winning A grade by over 3 minutes and Kirsti McVay winning E by over 4 minutes.

Four riders in A grade and Steve broke away in the first lap pursued by Michael Olsen (visitor) and Rainer Wilton who worked hard together but could make no impact on Steve’s lead. Six riders in B grade with 3 breaking away and sharing the pace into the wind. The sprint was one by Dave Dickson from Owain Tilley and Michael Carr.

The biggest group was C grade who protected each other from the wind until the last lap when the wind and the hill finally hurt riders and it came down to a finish of four with Ed Logue triumphing over David Stewart-Thomson and Carmine Spagnoletti. There were only 3 riders in D grade and they had obviously decided the best course of action in the wind was to keep it friendly so it came down to a sprint and a win to Simon Milnes from Alex Sommariva and Frank O’Sullivan.

In E grade the 4 riders including the tandem of Elton and Lindy were treated to a cycling lesson by Kirsti McVay, who had obviously benefited from a stint cycling in Taiwan, leaving the field behind in the first lap. D grade I think. Ian Morton battled on gamely for second and the tandem team worked hard in difficult conditions for third.

Thanks to the marshals James Curran, Darren Garnon, Polly Templeton and Tim Minehan and of course, Graham Hendrie managing the sign on and timing yet again and Ian Morton for getting out course signs.

John Thorn

Stromlo Criterium – 3rd December

The evening kicked off with A and C grade. Both grades faced strong winds and the bunches soon fragmented into multiple groups, proving very difficult to keep track of. To make matters worse those watching from the side line had to contend with a random sprinkler activation which caused a brief period of chaos.

In A grade Rainer Wilton an Ben Carmody made an early break, with Jason Chalker, Aaron Thomson and Liam O’Dea in pursuit. Shortly after the two groups came together Rainer Wilton and Jason Chalker made a strong attack, surviving to the end with Rainer Wilton winning the sprint.

In C grade Mark Vardy made a strong early break for several laps before being joined by Stephen Terracini and Kevin Wells. The 3 managed to build their lead to the end with Mark Vardy winning the sprint.

Next up was B and D grades. With the wind still strong the race marshals were fearing another chaotic race to manage, however each grade stayed together for the majority of the race. B grade got off to a fast start and spent most of the early race in single file, before a group of 5 managed to break away. Peter Young ultimately took the honours ahead of Ben McDuff.

D grade stayed together for the first half of the race with a group of 7 ultimately breaking away. The break reduced to 5 with Joshua Quilliam, Elizabeth Lowe, Russell Marston, Dominic Romano, and rider 701 sprinting for the finish. Dominic Romano won the sprint finish ahead of Russell Marston.

The wind was easing a little as E and F grade started off, though the exit from Collar Bone Corner was still challenging the groups. Both groups rode strongly and made some excellent manoeuvres to avoid collisions with kangaroos. The larger F grade group manged to pass the smaller E grade group in the final minutes with several contenders sprinting for the finish. Michelle Hodgetts took the honours ahead of Robert Miller and Mike Hayes.

Finally, the E grade group made their run to the finish with Tony Sheehan finishing ahead of Leeanne Tennant and Chris Copeland.

Tony Rowley

Track Racing – 4th December

Wednesday 4 December was warm and provided good overall conditions for racing. There was a fresh breeze that moderated slightly over the session. The session had 13 riders with 5 in A grade and 8 in B grade.

The initial events were graded scratch races over eight laps. A Grade had five riders and began with lead outs by John Paul De Sousa, David McCook, Hamish Anderson and Steve Jones. In the absence of Dougal Torrance (who can be counted on to attack anywhere, anytime), the race looked conservative However, as lap 6 closed, Martin Graham put in a solid attack, immediately gaining 10 metres on the bunch. John Paul De Sousa led the pack for the chase and managed to peg back the lead slightly. Soon other riders also took up the pursuit, so that the pack consolidated for the final lap. Hamish Anderson then surged into the lead with Steve Jones and John Paul De Sousa stuck to his wheel. Steve sprinted past Hamish on the line to take the win. Hamish held second place and was followed in by John Paul De Sousa.

The B grade scratch race started chaotically when Ken Birch pulled a shoe out of a cleat. One or two riders were unimpeded and soon had a handy lead. Ross Scutts and James Newhouse lifted the pace to a frantic level in pursuit of the leaders. By the end of lap 3 they dropped the first rider. However, the pursuit proved successful with the pack consolidating around lap 5. By the bell lap, riders were starting to get strung out from the hot pace. In the front group, Warwick Wilson was strongest taking a close win from Ross Scutts. James Newhouse held out the remaining competition for third place.

The second event was a 2-Lap graded handicap. In A grade, the handicap differentials were modest and a good tactical start by the back riders soon saw the pack consolidate. However, the race results were unpredictable. Martin Graham made a savage attack early in the bell lap and held a solid pace for the win. Hamish Anderson pursued Martin and was rewarded with second place with Steve Jones in his wheel for third placing.

The limit rider, Graeme O’Neill was the rabbit in the B grade race. He looked like a good bet for the win. However, Ken Birch was relentless in pursuit and surged past entering the final straight. Graeme held on for second, followed by a fast closing James Newhouse and Phil Coulton.

The third event for the track session was a mystery race with A & B grades combined after giving B grade a half lap start. In this race, the number of laps is initially unknown and designated by ringing the bell, at random, for a final lap. The race started with B grade setting off in an orderly fashion. A grade jumped the gun, but still managed to concede almost half a lap to B grade. The rest of the race unfolded in an unexpected manner. B grade simply blasted around the course working in sync and giving no quarter to the pursuing A grade bunch. After seven laps A grade were still adrift of the lead bunch, so the bell was rung for a final lap. The B grade trio Ross Scutts, Warwick Wilson and James Newhouse barrelled over the line to take the first 3 places, in that order. David McCook and Hamish Anderson retrieved some honour for A grade by crossing the line next.

The session closed with an all-in Italian pursuit. This race saw interesting team selections with Team 1 having more A grade riders and Team 2 having stronger riders from B grade. The outcome was unpredictable, though most people would have backed Team 1 for the win. In the event, Team 2 established an early lead, as expected. However, Team 1 did not have the form to peg back the lead in the latter stage of the race. When Team 2’s David McCook started the final lap, it seemed just possible for Team 1 to reel him in. However, David was in fine form and did not allow his pace to slacken for a second. The upshot was a creditable and unexpected win for Team 2.

Place getters for this session were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Steve Jones, Hamish Anderson, John Paul De Sousa. (B Grade) Warwick Wilson, Ross Scutts, James Newjouse.. 2-Lap Handicap: (A Grade): Martin Graham, Hamish Anderson, Steve Jones. (B Grade) Ken Birch, Graeme O’Neill, James Newhouse. Mystery Race (A&B Grades) Ross Scutts, Warwick Wilson, James Newhouse, David McCook, Hamish Anderson. Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (David McCook, Steve Jones, Ross Scutts, Ken Birch, Warwick Wilson, Phil Anderson).

Season Point Score Update:
Hamish Anderson (107),Ross Scutts (107), Martin Graham (96), Warwick Wilson (92), Tony Beasley (84). Phil Anderson (84), James Newhouse (80), John Paul De Sousa (78), Michael Langdon (73).

Graeme O’Neill

Dairy Road Criterium – 8th December

Unfortunately, after all Saturday’s good work to get the Dairy Road course ready for racing, a wind change Saturday evening brought smoke from the NSW bushfires across the ACT and sent the air quality rocketing to hazardous levels so the decision was taken to cancel the race in the interest of riders’ health.

By the time of Sunday morning’s race, the Air Quality readings were well above the hazardous level. The following graph is based on data from the ACT Environmental Monitoring Website;

Thanks to all those who had worked so hard to try to make the race possible.

Nick Boylan
Race Director