Hello Vets,

In the Bleat this week;

• Vale John Ignatius

• From the Desk of the Handicapper

• From the Race Committee

• 2021 AGM – Thinking of Nominating for the ACTVETS Committee?

• Seeking female ACT Vets members for online focus groups

• COVID-19 Restrictions

• Racing this Week

• Race Reports

Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc

Vale John Ignatius – 1952 – 2021

Vets member John Ignatius passed away at his Canberra home surrounded by his family on 17 January. John competed in 87 events between 2008 and March 2019. His most recent victory was at Uriarra Homestead in April 2018. 2016 was perhaps his best year in D grade, as he placed second at the Mt Tennant Terror race and earned a well-earned second at the Peter McLennan Gunning Tour. John also volunteered seven times.

The photo below shows the presentation after a diabolically freezing and wet day at Old Federal Highway in 2018 where John was the director of a race with only 25 participants.

The club extends its heartfelt condolences to John’s family and friends.

John Ignatius (left) at OFH 2018

From the Desk of the Handicapper

Mass Promotions

To even out the A-C/B-D imbalance I’ve initiated a mass promotion for B and D grades. This is a trial and not necessarily permanent.

B grade to A grade

Ben McDuff
Bruce Goodfellow
Kieran Butler
Al Raitt
Michael Foulds
Gareth Downey

C to B

Frank Zeller
Doug Pashley

D to C

Vanessa Judge
Liz Lowe
Frank Zeller
Andrew Peel

Rob Langridge
Handicapper

From the Race Committee

1st Aiders required – Sun 7 Feb and Tue 16 Feb

We need fill in 1st aiders for the races on Sun 7 Feb at Lookout Hill and the Tue Stromlo crit on 16 Feb. If you have current 1st aid qualifications, can you please assist at one or both of these events. 1st aid kits will be at both events if needed.

We cannot race without a 1st aider present. All members are urged to do the training and get qualified. The club will cover $200 of training fees.

You won’t be feeling great if an accident happens and you couldn’t be bothered learning how to help save another rider’s life.

Ian McVay
Race Committee

2021 AGM – Thinking of Nominating for the ACTVETS Committee?

You’d be very welcome. If you would like to know more about how the club works and want to contribute in some way then talk to a current Committee member (details on the web site – https://actvets.cc/about/committee/).

Then fill out and submit a nomination form, prior to the AGM, to the president (president@actvets.cc) and the secretary (secretary@actvets.cc).

Nomination forms are accessed and downloaded via the Member documents shared drive link on the web site (https://actvets.cc/documents/) or contact a committee member.

The AGM for 2021 will be held on Monday 15th February 2021 at 7:00pm in the Loft Meeting Room at the Raiders Club Weston.

Russell Marston
Secretary ACT Veterans Cycling Club

Seeking female ACT Vets members for online focus groups

We have engaged an external evaluator, Erin, to look at how well we engage with our membership and target group, to identify what works well and what can be improved. Many of you participated in an online survey late last year.

Erin is inviting female members (former members also welcome) to participate in an online focus group. This will provide an opportunity for female members to provide direct feedback about the club, discuss specific issues emerging from the survey findings, and consider how the club may better respond to women’s interests.

Three times are available to choose from:

7:30pm, Wednesday 27 January 2021
7:30pm, Thursday 28 January [New additional time]

Focus groups will take one hour and be held via the online platform Zoom. To participate or for more information, contact erinbarry@hotmail.com.

If you would like to contribute but are unable to attend these session times, please contact Erin to arrange a separate time for a phone call.

For more information about the evaluation activities, visit the ACTVCC website: https://actvets.cc/about/have-your-say-actvcc-survey.

COVID-19 Restrictions

There are conditions for travelers from other states.

Members should stay home if you have been feeling unwell or showing symptoms of COVID-19 or been in contact with someone who has felt unwell in the past 2 weeks.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Heat Warning

Tuesday, 26th January: Stromlo Criterium

Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description:
B/D 5:50 B 45m+2, D 40m+2
E/F/G 6:40 30 min + 2 laps
A/C 7:15 A 45m+2, C 40m+2

Race Director: Alain Arbaut Contact: Email: arbaut@grapevine.net.au Ph 0400 493 148

Marshals: Peta Brill

Wednesday, 27th January: 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: 4-lap handicap.
6.50pm – 7.10pm: 10-lap points race.
7.10pm – 7.30pm: Italian pursuit

Sunday, 31st January – Tidbinbilla Handicap

Where: Intersection of Tidbinbilla Reserve Rd and Paddy’s River Road approx 14 km from Point Hut Crossing.
Parking: Off the road on either side of Paddy’s River Road. For road safety reasons, please DO NOT park on the corners of the intersection. Road traffic can be busy and dangerous, especially around the times we are finishing.
When: 9:00 am.
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number
Race Description:
Tidbinbilla Nature reserve to turn at power lines on hill before Point Hut Crossing T junction for 18km. 2 Laps for 36km

Race Director: Simon Milnes Contact: Email: simonmilnes@bigpond.com Ph 0407 296 418

Marshals: Conan Liu ETC, Donald de SMET, Bruce Goodspeed ETC

RACE REPORTS:

Track Racing – 20th January

Wednesday 20 January saw the 11th track racing session for the 20-21 season. The evening was hot with a stiff headwind in the back straight. The temperature cooled slightly over the evening and the wind moderated, providing quite good conditions for racing. Attendance was good with 15 riders, 7 in A grade and 8 in B grade.

The 8-lap A grade scratch race started at an easy pace with Steve Jones and Wayne Benham taking the initial turns. On lap 3 the pace increased after John Paul De Sousa rolled to the front. On lap 6, Warwick Wilson rolled to the front and attacked. Craig Kentwell pursued and dragged the bunch up to Warwick within a further lap. Lap 7 saw Craig Kentwell leading, with the pack bunched and read to pounce. Craig initiated the final attack approaching the bell lap. Steve Jones and John Paul De Sousa pursued. The bell lap was hot with Steve Jones overhauling all to take the win from John Paul De Sousa and Rowan McMurray. Craig managed to hang on for fourth place.

The B Grade scratch race was quite orderly for the first 6 laps with riders swapping the lead lap by lap. Tony Beasley rolled into the lead on lap 7 and initiated an early sprint over 1.5 laps. Initially Phil Anderson and Graeme O’Neill pursued. However, Graeme fell back and most of the bunch streamed past to continue the pursuit. The pace was hot with Ian Drayton again proving too strong for the field and taking the win from James Newhouse and Tony Beasley.

The evening’s second event was a 1-lap screamer, a short, flat out, standing start, time trial. The initial acceleration phase is likely the most critical for a good race time. A grade times were extremely close with six of the seven starters posting times within a 1 second margin. Steve Jones (29.15 seconds) just squeezed out John Paul De Sousa (29.17 seconds) for the win. Wayne Benham (29.42 seconds) posted the third best A grade time. James Newhouse put in the best B grade time, at an impressive 30.87 seconds. Ian Drayton (31.28 seconds) and Tony Beasley (32.19 seconds) posted the second and third best B grade times.

The third event for the evening was a 2-lap handicap with two races where A & B grades were intermingled. Race 1 was won by Ian Drayton, closely followed by Ken Birch and Alison Hale in that order. Race 2 was won by James Newhouse followed by Phil Anderson and Tony Beasley in that order. The overall results suggest that B grade riders may be marginally advantaged by the current handicaps.

The track session closed with the usual, all-in, Italian pursuit. The teams were 6 riders each. Both teams had good starts and rode without error. Team 2 established an early lead and maintained it over the event. However, Team 2’s lead was never more than 10 metres. In the closing stage, it seemed just possible for Team 1’s Steve Jones to close the gap on John Paul De Sousa. Steve put in a blistering half-lap that made winning seem possible. However, John Paul held steady at a solid pace that eventually put the catch beyond Steve’s reach. It was a well-deserved victory for Team 2.

Major place getters for Wednesday were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Steve Jones, John Paul De Sousa, Rowan McMurray. (B Grade) Ian Drayton, James Newhouse, Tony Beasley.
1-Lap SS Time Trail: (A Grade) Steve Jones (29.15s), John Paul De Sousa (29.17s), Wayne Benham (29.42s). (B Grade) James Newhouse (30.87s), Ian Drayton (31.28s), Tony Beasley (32.19s).
2-Lap Handicap: (Race 1, A&B Grade) Ian Drayton, Ken Birch, Alison Hale. (Race 2, A&B Grade) James Newhouse, Phil Anderson, Tony Beasley.
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (John Paul De Sousa, Rowan McMurray, Wayne Benham, Ian Drayton, Ken Birch, Alison Hale).

Season Point Score Update:
Ian Drayton (163), Steve Jones (158), Phil Anderson (147), Ken Birch (138), James Newhouse (135), John Paul De Sousa (130), Alison Hale (109), Wayne Benham (108), Phil Coulton (105), Bruce Griffin (85).

Graeme O’Neill

Mt Majura Time Trial – 24th January

The promise of high temperatures didn’t deter 23 hardy climbers from competing in the Club’s first road race of 2021 – a 2.8km time trial to the summit of Mt Majura.

With the temperature already heading north of 30 degrees, Steve Crispin took out first place in A grade also recording the fasted time of the day with an impressive 8.54, followed closely by Daniel Lekhac (9.07) and Paul Hollings (10.20) in 3rd. Al Raitt took out B grade with a time of 10.11 and, in what is possibly a first for the club, three B grade riders recorded identical times – separated by just 1/100s of a second the final placings for the three in 5th 6th and 7th were Tim Minehan (11.51.06), Peter Young (11.51.23) and Bruce Goodfellow (1.51.49). Sean Conway in his first race for the club took out C grade in 11.38 which could draw some attention from the Handicapper in future events. Well done Sean.

Congrats to all those that made their way out to the first race of the year, next week’s race is a handicap at Tidbinbilla and the next hill climb event will be a graded scratch finishing at the Square Rock carpark on Corin Dam Rd on 14 February.

Thanks as always to Graham Hendrie and Ian McVay making these races happen.

David Hennessy

www.capitalregionmasterscyclingclub.org.au

ACT Veterans Bleat, Monday 25th January, 2021