Masters, In this week’s Bleat
- Next Crit Race – Summer Series Evening Criterium Tuesday 31 October. 5.50 PM
- Next Road Race – Uriarra Homestead – Sunday 05 November
- Narrabundah Track Racing – Thursday 02 November, 5:30 PM
- From the Handicapper
- From the Committee
- Race calendar can be found here for other race dates needing Officials
RACING – Summer Series Evening Criterium Tuesday 30 October
| Grade | Time Week 01 | Race Duration [ sunset @ 7:14 ] |
| B/D | 5:50 | B 35min+2laps, D 30min+2laps |
| E/F/G | 6:25 | 22mins +2 laps |
| A/C | 6:55 | A 35min+2laps, C 30min+2laps |
Race registration and payment deadline is 3:50pm. Please register and pay $10 for this session by looking up the calendar entry in the RMS https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar
You must wear your CRMCC assigned race number to race. Late registrations will be assessed by race.committee@actvets.cc and if allowed, a late fee of $10 will be applied.
If you are unregistered and show up to the crit track, you must convince a committee member (not the Race Director) of your club member financial status for insurance purposes, before allowed to participate.
Committee member on duty: David Parker
**Lights needed if riding home from crits**
(Volunteers are needed for various sessions so please check dates at the link)
NARRABUNDAH TRACK SESSION – THURSDAY 02 NOVEMBER 5:30 PM
The Program for Thursday is as follows:
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice.
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 8-lap graded scratch race.
6.20pm – 7.00pm: 20-lap graded points race.
7.00pm – 7.20pm: Italian Pursuit.
Please register and pay $10 for this session by looking up the calendar entry in the RMS https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar
We also offer an annual season pass of $140 for a theoretical 20 racing sessions until 21 March 2024 (weather permitting), or $7 per session, and you would need to attend 14 of the 20 sessions remaining to break even.
As we have moved to online registration and payment, we no longer accept cash on the day. You must be registered to participate for insurance purposes.
Graeme O’Neill – Chief Commissaire
ROAD RACE – SUNDAY 05 NOVEMBER 9:00AM
Uriarra Homestead – top of crossing – Condor Creek – Homestead. A/B/C 3 laps. D/E/F/G 2 Laps. Entry Fee $10.
CRIT RACING REPORTS TUESDAY 24 OCTOBER
Weather was pretty good with 101 riders lining up for crits on 24 October. There was a bit of a north westerly blowing with some gusto around mid-afternoon, but this was easing by the time we got underway. This was quite evident with most breaks being short lived and bunches largely staying together. The only roos spotted were on the other side of the fence on the running track and they stayed out of the way for the evening. The one slight drama happened near the end when I pulled out the 2 laps to go sign for the D graders, when they had nearly half a lap lead over the B graders. However, the B graders upped the pace and caught D grade at the top of the track on their way to the final sprint. Fortunately, they seemed to appreciate the situation and appeared to have a short neutral section down the finishing straight, allowing the D graders to have an unimpeded sprint. This made things much easier on the line and I thank them for this understanding.
E and F grade were first up, with 6 riders in E grade and 1 in F grade (and none in G grade). They all started together, with Robert Miller in F grade staying with the lead bunch for a bit longer than a couple of others who were dropped just after the halfway point. Poupee Lam was frequently seen leading the bunch and managed to open up a bit of a gap coming down the finishing straight. She was followed in by Robert Solomon and Rico Fitch.
A and C grade were up next with good sized bunches of 20 and 23 riders. As always, A grade saw its share of aggressive riding with various groups attacking off the front but none of these lasted more than a lap or two. Notable among them were James Thorp, Stephen Blackburn, Sebastian Mueller and Daniel Lekhac. In the end, it came down to a bunch sprint with Stephen Blackburn getting the better of Ben Morrison (finally beaten after taking out the first 3 A grade crits) and Mathew Corby. C grade was a little more calm with only a couple of minor incursions off the front, with Mark Bauer being the most visible. Steven Jones won the sprint ahead of Duncan Macdonald, Wayne Benham and Mark getting 4th.
B and D grade finished things off with 28 and 22 riders respectively. Conditions were getting fairly calm by this stage and despite some strong riding in B grade, Craig Lindenmayer was the only one really getting off the front for less than a lap at the half way point. As noted earlier, the speed of the B graders was quite evident at the end when they caught D grade. Seymour Savell-Boss has been knocking at the door over the last few weeks and was just beaten to the line again, this week by Ed Meeuwissen, with Luke Philps coming in third. D grade generally stayed together with the exception of Grant Johnston going off the front with 10 minutes to go. He had a reasonable gap by the time B grade passed soon after. The bunch passing created some confusion, with his lead possibly increasing a little during this process, but a key issue from the sidelines was that he continued to increase his lead on the chasing D grade bunch after this. Grant finished with daylight (rapidly diminishing by this stage) back to the remaining D graders with Alfred Cook taking the sprint ahead of Steven Simms.
My thanks to Craig for his excellent marshalling and ability to update the timing board, Simon for medic support (thankfully not required) and Ian and David for opening/closing.
Dale Kleeman
D grade went out for the last event for the evening along with B grade.
It wasn’t long before Grant Johnston felt like testing the legs of the other D graders and made an early break before being quickly reeled in by the bunch.
He then settled pulling on the front for several laps swapping turns with other riders and of course the strong breaks of the men on the tandem bike.
The D grade crew swapped turns for some time before being lapped by B grade.
After B grade started to disappear down the road Johnston came from the back and started to drive the bunch again breaking away and catching up to the back of B grade. With no where to go, he ended up in no man’s land and solo’s for approx 10-15 min and came away with his 2nd win in 2 crits.
Alfred Cook ended up with a 2nd and Steven Simms 3rd.
Grant Johnston
B Grade
With a notable absence on the start list of the B grade hard man Krusty, the chatter had started on who would be setting the pace? Maybe it would be Aaron Thompson with his first appearance for the season, maybe we could have a nice leisurely evening ride for a change. One thing is for sure everyone was talking about the incident from last week and hoping for a safe race.
From the gun there was lots of head turning looking for who would set the pace. Myride set the early speed and it was solid. Solid enough that not many seemed to have the legs to attack. With the mid race attacks being shut down and the last final attempt at a break coming to an end with a somewhat neutral as we were with D grade on their final lap, it was time for the 2 lap board.
As usual the pace picks up for 3/4’s of a lap, then we realised we are not timetrial specialists and settle for a breath and the bell lap. Again the pace was increased but as we hit the back straight into a slight breeze no one wanted the front and for a second the pace eased. With an all out attack from the back of the bunch saw myself with a gap into the top corner. A second kick was needed to hold out big finishes from Seymour Savell-Boss and Luke Philps that needed just a couple more meters.
Edward Meeuwissen
TRACK RACING REPORT- THURSDAY 26 OCTOBER
Thursday 26 October saw the second track racing session for the 2023-24 season. The weather was
poor. Although it was sunny, it was still cold. A savage head wind in the front straight made it seem even
chillier and less pleasant. Attendance was poor (6 riders) with only the hardy showing up. However, the
racing was still OK and a good haul of points was on offer.
The 8-lap A grade scratch race was a contest between John Paul De Sousa and Conan Liu. They made
it a good race by ripping around the track at a fast tempo, swapping out turns until just prior to the bell lap
when tactics came into play. Approaching the bell, Conan had a slight lead. John Paul was high on the
banking and in a good position to attack. As the bell sounded, both riders took off for a good sprint
contest. John Paul just managed to pip Conan on the line.
The B Grade scratch race had 4 riders and began with Hamish Anderson leading out for several laps.
Alison Hale then took the lead until mid-race when Ian Drayton rolled to the front. The pace was
comfortable, but a good tempo. Graeme O’Neill took the lead for lap 6, slowing the pace a bit to keep
something in store for the final laps. Hamish Anderson took over for the final two laps and accelerated
into the bell lap. Alison Hale and Ian Drayton stuck like limpets to provide an exciting sprint lap. Alison
proved the strongest leading Hamish and Ian over the line in that order.
The second event was a 2-lap handicap with five starters. Ian Drayton shot off from the limit mark and
soon seemed to have built an unbeatable lead. The scratch riders did not work together and seemed out
of contention. Although Hamish Anderson started well back, he is normally very quick in short races. He
launched out with exceptional pace on the first lap. By half distance on the second lap, he caught and
overhauled the leader, going on for a great win. Ian Drayton held on for second spot and Conan Liu, off
scratch, made up a massive lead to come in third.
The evening’s racing closed with the usual Italian Pursuit. There were small team of three riders that
seemed evenly matched. Both teams had good starts and were evenly matched over the first two laps.
John Paul De Sousa and Conan Liu were the respective anchor riders for teams 1 and 2. They started
near even, but Conan seemed to fade a little over the final lap, probably suffering after an exceptional
effort in the prior handicap race. John Paul took the win for Team 1, by a small margin. It was a keen
contest despite the small numbers.
Major place getters were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A1 Grade) John Paul De Sousa, Conan Liu. (A2 Grade) No entries (B Grade) Alison
Hale, Hamish Anderson, Ian Drayton.
2-Lap Handicap: (A & B Grades) Hamish Anderson, Ian Drayton, Conan Liu
Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 1 (John Paul De Sousa, Alison Hale, Ian Drayton).
Season Point Score Update:
Hamish Anderson (31), Alison Hale (30), John Paul De Sousa (28), Ian Drayton (28), Conan Liu (25),
Graeme O’Neill (17), Craig Kentwell (15), Martin Graham (13), Ben Robey (12), Steve Jones (10), Bruce
Griffin (10).
From the Handicapper
Seymour Savell-Boss B to A
Ed Meeuwissen B to A
Steve Jones C to B
Chris Nolan C to B
Grant Johnston D to C
From the Committee
Reduced Membership Fee for Racing in the Remainder of 2023
As in previous years, a reduced membership fee of $85 has been set by AVCC
and is now available for new members and non-financial members wishing to
rejoin the club and race between now and 31 December 2023. This offer
typically gives previously non-financial members insurance coverage and
eligibility to race in the remaining 7 crits, 4 road races and 8 track session for 2023. Register and pay via the AVCC online membership portal at https://memberdesq.sportstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&OrgID=10244. Full 12 month membership pricing and registration for 2024 will not be known until around mid-December 2023 at which point we will announce it in the Bleat.
Astute readers will see that the annual membership of $120 offers a better value racing proposition than the reduced membership fee of $85 for 3 months of racing, in addition to year round insurance coverage. These minimum price points are set by the AVCC and not by the club.
CRMCC Committee Meeting
Time: Nov 6, 2023 19:00 Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88105490065?pwd=eePmPbSGBIUftUdMSBZq1ENA0KVKc6.1
Meeting ID: 881 0549 0065
Passcode: 675531
The Bleat
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