Hello Vets,
In the Bleat this week;
• From the Desk of the President
• From the Desk of the Handicapper
• Van Volunteers
• Event Traffic Controller Training
• Racing this Week
• Race Report
Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc
From the Desk of the President
Dear Members,
Unfortunately one of the casualties of our current problems with council approvals has been the Gunning 2 Day event which was to be this coming weekend. Until these problems can be resolved, our race calendar for events in NSW is still very much uncertain.
Appreciate your patience,
Seymour Savell-Boss
ACT Vets Cycling Club President.
From the Desk of the Handicapper
Handicaps
No changes for this week although John Paul De Sousa has achieved some good results in C grade this year, as has Brian Peak who, on Saturday, recorded his first C road victory since 1999!!!! Well done Brian, and certainly an exceptional performance for an M8 rider.
Dan Crocker and Adam Strickland both ventured beyond the safety of Stromlo to experience road racing for time and made the most of the downhill finish to record victories in B and D grades, respectively.
Rob Langridge
Handicapper
Van Volunteers
As we transition into the new arrangements for the race van, we are looking to establish a pool of members who would be interested in taking on responsibility to prepare the van, drive it out to races and return it to Stromlo.
Members who drive the van to an event would still be able to participate in the race.
Members who are willing to be included in the roster should contact secretary@actvets.cc
Note that the van is a manual gear change.
Event Traffic Controller Training
The last ETC training course was cancelled due to lack of enrollments. We need to have more members become ETC’s so we can run races in the ACT. And given current problems with racing in NSW, these are the only races we can currently run.
Upcoming dates for courses are;
- Saturday 5 June
- Saturday 24 July
We need to get sufficient members to nominate be able to run the courses. Please nominate to undertake the training to race.committee@actvets.cc We should look to get enough members attending so as to utilise both dates.
Ian McVay
Race Committee
RACING THIS WEEK:
There are no events this week.
RACE REPORT:
Smiths Rd – Naas Rd, Graded Scratch – 8th May
A predicted top of 20 degrees, zero wind and a beautiful course were the only ingredients needed to attract a field of 41 riders to the Mt Tennant scratch race on Saturday. Unlike other mountains around our region, Mt Tennant is one of the more forgiving climbs with a good downhill on both sides of the mountain making for some exciting attacking on the day.
A, B, C & D grades were each to do 3 laps of the out and back course and were first away. A grade were not mucking around on the day with the first lap completed in around 29 mins. They were blitzing it so quickly it caught Howard who was the ETC at the far turn almost napping and caught us by surprise at the finish line when they came into sight for the completion of the first lap. Of the 8 starters in A, there were still 7 together after lap 1. Meanwhile in B grade also with 8 starters we saw a group of 6 round the first lap. B grade were held up by a tractor on the course which gave them a nice leisurely pace over the first outward leg . C grade completed the string of lucky 8’s with 8 riders starting and 7 taking the tight turn to complete lap 1. Meanwhile in D grade with 11 riders starting=, it was never going to be a sedate affair with feared names such as Strickland, Langridge, Brown and Moore lurking in the ranks. D grade managed to hold it together after the first lap with a few weary faces fearing what would lie ahead in the later stages of the race.
By the completion of lap 2, it was essentially a replica of the first lap. With A grade registering a quicker lap time and all grades hanging together with a few dropped riders not far behind. On the last lap for A, B, C & D, it was where all the real action begun. From all reports, there were some serious attacks both outward and on the return climb over Mt Tennant which broke some riders. With a fast downhill to the finish, anyone with a minor break cresting over the mountain would be tough to run down in the race to the finish.
In A grade, we witnessed a 2 way sprint between Jimmy Carroll and Nicholas Stewart with Jimmy winning by half a wheel length on the line. Peter Zygadlo was only 24 secs behind in 3rd place.
B grade we witnessed a 4 way sprint that must have started up near the Namadgi visitor’s centre with Daniel Crocker just edging out Bruce Goodfellow again by half a wheel with Paul Welsh and Tristan Fuge mere seconds behind in 3rd and 4th respectively.
In C Grade we could have thrown a blanket over the first 4 finishers it was that close. In the end it was judged that Brian Peak had just edged out John Paul De Sousa ahead of Gerald Van Ewyk in 3rd and Ian Preston in 4th.
D grade was not to be outdone in the sprint finishes and ensured those of us judging at the finish line were earning our keep. Adam Strickland just edged out Tony Beasley with Alain Arbaut in 3rd.
E grade had 2 laps to race over with a total of 5 riders line up ready to rumble. After the first lap turn, they were all together, but as is often the case, the climbers reserved the sting for the final lap. Russell Marston and Elizabeth Lowe put in the watt bombs during the climbs on the last lap and were left to fight it out at the end with Russell just edging out Elizabeth in a sprint finish. Al Bontjer was 3rd.
Running road races on ACT roads is never an easy event with so many signs to put up and not possible without volunteers such as Howard Moffat who handled the far turn with perfection including putting up all the signs around the area. Al Raitt who put up signs and captured the riders numbers as they flew into the finish chute, Seymour Savell-Boss who drove the van and controlled the traffic at the Smiths rd intersection, Andrew Matz for all finish line duties helping to setup and pack down, Ian and Kirsti McVeigh who do all the behind the scenes work to make such a great day happen. And Simon Whitehead the sports med who made sure all medical issues were taken care of for which wasn’t needed on the day.
Ben Davis
