G’day Masters,
In this week’s Bleat
- Next Crit Race – summer evening criterium series – Tuesday 12 November
- Narrabundah Track Racing – Thursday 14 November, 5.30pm
- Crits race report for 5 November – Bruce Goodfellow
- Track race report for 7 November – Graeme O’Neill
- Handicapper’s hammer
- Next Road Race – Sutton Road Training Centre graded scratch on Sunday 8 December
- Upcoming races requiring volunteers – race calendar can be found here
Summer evening criterium series week 6 – Tuesday 12 November
Race director Ross Goggin, marshal Krusty Bryant, first aid Ryan Fawke
Bell for the final lap.
Direction clockwise
| Grades | Time | Race Duration [sunset 1944] |
| A/C | 17:50 | A 38mins + 2 laps, C 33min +2L |
| B/D | 18:35 | B 38mins + 2 laps, D 33min +2L |
| E/F/G | 19:15 | 25mins + 2 laps |
Race registration cut-off is Tuesday 12th November at 12.50pm.
Cost is $10 for a single race or $160 for a season pass.
You need to register by looking up the calendar entry in the RMS https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar?5021179
Late registration will be assessed by race.committee@crmcc.org.au and if allowed, a late fee of an extra $10 will be applied.
If you are unregistered and show up to the event, you must convince a committee member (not the Race Director) of your club member financial status for insurance purposes, before being allowed to participate.
You must wear your CRMCC assigned number to race. No number on the day, no race.
The club is offering a season pass for $160, which now covers 21 SFP crit races concluding on Tuesday 1 April 2025, contingent upon your renewal as a fully paid financial member from 1 Jan 2025 (once we know the amount set by the national committee).
You will need to participate in 16 crits to break even. There are six SFP crits left in the 2024 calendar year. The season crit pass covers the Christmas wheel race, and also the Club Criterium championships on Tuesday 18 February 2025.
NOTE – the registration cut-off this season will be at 12.50pm on the Tuesday of the crit.
Former club president Seymour having too much fun in B grade last week – pic from Ian Hutchings
Narrabundah Track Racing
NARRABUNDAH TRACK RACING – THURSDAY 14 NOVEMBER, 5.30 PM
The season’s second track racing session is scheduled for this Thursday.
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 – 6.40pm: 1-lap Screamer (flying start TT).
6:40pm – 7.10pm: 2-lap handicap.
7.10pm – 7.30pm: Italian pursuit.
Spare Track Bikes
We have several spare track bikes if you wish to try track racing. Note that you will need to
bring your own pedals. You may need to pump up tyres (we will have a pump available) and
adjust saddle / bar position. You will need to check over the bike for safety purposes. Although
we will assist as far as practical, equipment safety and providing tools for fitting / adjustments is
your responsibility.
Attendance
Please register your attendance at https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar?5021918 , where each race
will cost $10, or purchase the season track pass at $80. We have decided to substantially reduce
the cost of this year’s season’s pass to return value to members, and to incentivise participation.
Any new or returning riders who wish to ease their way into track racing may do the just the
warm-up and the single, timed event (200m fly) at nil cost for the session. Just show up at the
Narrabundah track at 5.30pm.
Graeme O’Neill
Crits race report – 5 November 2024 – Bruce Goodfellow
It was an excellent night of racing at Stromlo for the fifth week of the Summer Criterium series. Weather conditions were perfect, with only a deceptively mild zephyr that would split the field for most grades throughout the evening.
From the onset, all grades raced aggressively and fairly, looking at making that break, that would pull away from the rest of the field. It was a real pleasure to be watching the racing from the sidelines and see the tactics at play.
B Grade
With a strong, solid field and plenty of depth, B Grade were on the attack from the beginning. The wind had picked by lap two and was making things very challenging. Breaks were made but they were quickly pulled back, not allowing any opportunist to get too large of a gap. At around the 15-20 minute mark after many attacks held brief moments of potential glory only to be summarily crushed, B Grade had settled in, when out of the inner depths of the peloton, Rowan McMurray, Christopher Short and Paul Morgan broke away. WAS this the one…….alas no, the big hitters came to the front to work together to drag these intrepid Rouleurs back.
BUT it was to no avail. The final lap quickly came around and, in the end, Christopher was able to take the win, with Luke Philips and Andrew McCosker hot on his heels. To round off the top 5, John Brotherton came fourth with Mark Terracini was able to hold off the charging field to claim fifth place.
D Grade
Whilst B grade keeping throwing the proverbial hammer at each other, D grade were slowly making inroads into their race. A solid group of four riders broke away early on. Julie Kael, Brian Chugg, Seppo Kael and John Stokman consistently worked together to hold the rest of D Grade at bay. The devilish wind though would come into play and just gently sap the legs of the lead group. Eventually they would be caught, and everyone would stay together for the rest of the race.
In the end, it was Tony Sheehan sprinting into first place followed by Seppo Kael in second and Kevin Newhouse in third with Timothy Moore and Adam Knight rounding off 4th and 5th.
E/F/G Grade
With a very small field (a total of two), E grade were off and racing with several of the D Grade riders willing to join in and fill in the ranks. Jan and Ian traded blows throughout the race with a strong finish by Ian to take the win. Thank you again to all the riders who joined in to make a race for Jan and Ian.
C Grade
C grade for the duration of the race mostly stayed as one. There were some flurries and attacks, however by the bell lap everybody was still a together. Leading into the final corner, finally holes began to form as the sprint opened up.
With half a wheel separating them, Hamish Anderson was able to snag first place quickly followed by Mick Hanbury in second and Simon Priest in third position. John Paul De Sousa took fourth with Charles Black rounding off the top five.
A Grade
From the onset, A Grade was in attack mode. Never a dull moment was had.
Trent Smyth opened up a hefty lead early on with the rest of the field splitting up under the pressure. Eventually Trent was caught with a concerted effort and a group of six formed for the duration of the race. They had a lead of nearly half a minute over the rest of the bunch with riders suffering from the infernal pace of attacks within each group.
The lead pack worked flawlessly, rolling turns and never easing off the watts.
As the evening drew to its inevitable close and the rest of A Grade realising that the catch was not going to happen, the lead group sprinted to the final line. It was incredibly close with the first five riders within half a second of each other.
Jeremy Gillman-Wells took an outstanding first place with Mathew Corby and Luka Manson rounding off second and third. Steve Crispin and Marc Williams earned a fourth and fifth place respectively.
Overall, it was an excellent night of racing with all competitors riding hard and most importantly safe.
It made directing the race all that easier, along with Lance Purdon as marshal and Ryan Fawke there for first aid.
Thank you.
Bruce G
Links to photos, courtesy of Ian Hutchings, from last week’s criterium are here – https://www.facebook.com/share/oWBHk5YqeQnqFoGd/ , https://www.facebook.com/share/69a6CyCYpvQbpckx/ and https://www.facebook.com/share/CcyxhC945Ve5yy9r/
Narrabundah track racing report – Thursday 7 November – Graeme O’Neill
Thursday 7 November saw the fourth track racing session for the 2024-25 season. The weather was warm. Negotiating the back straight was challenging due to a strong head wind that moderated only slightly over the session. Attendance (nine riders) was less that desired, but still an improvement on last week.
The 8-lap A grade scratch race had a field of six starters. The race commenced with Craig Kentwell leading out at a comfortable tempo. Craig did one and a half laps before swapping out to John Paul De Sousa. From there the race gathered pace with riders taking turns on the front for varying distances. By lap six, Craig was back leading and the pack was tightly bunched and spread across the track. This status continued until the entry to the bell lap. At this point, all riders accelerated in unison and contested a very tight final lap. Steve Jones just pipped Hamish Anderson for the win, with John Paul De Sousa and Sarah Stephens a close third and fourth.
The B grade scratch race had the same starters as the last three weeks, namely Phil Coulton, Ian Drayton and Graeme O’Neill. As usual, the trio had a good race with riders holding a good tempo and swapping out the lead in an orderly fashion. As the bell lap approached, Graeme tried to gain an advantage from the high banking. However, Phil was alert on the front and accelerated to negate Graeme’s move. Ian was keeping a careful watch and followed Phil’s move to contest the final lap. Ultimately Ian accelerated around Phil to take the win, with Phil and Graeme following in that order.
The second event was a two lap, standing start time trial. The A grade times were spread within a range from 53 – 61 seconds. Hamish Anderson took fastest time in 53.45 seconds with Steve Jones, John Paul De Sousa and Sarah Stephens all under 56 seconds. In B grade, Phil Coulton confirmed his good current form with best time of 61.24 seconds.
The session’s third event was a two lap handicap with A & B Grades combined. The handicapper made some adjustments based on recent form. In the event, this gave the B graders a slight advantage and they filled the first three placings. Ian Drayton dominated with a solid pace that likely reflects improving form after knee surgery. Graeme O’Neill put in a good effort from limit and held off Phil Coulton until late in the second lap when Phil accelerated past for second place. Graeme held on for third just ahead of the fast closing, A2 duo, Hamish Anderson and Sarah Stephens.
The evening’s racing closed with the usual Italian Pursuit. Each team had 4 riders. The handicapper merits another pass for this event as it ended up being a reasonably close contest. Both teams rode fast, disciplined pursuits. Team 2 gained an initial advantage and built the lead out to a few metres by the final lap. Steve Jones (Team 1) had too big a task to catch John Paul De Sousa (Team 2) on the final lap and thus conceded a good win to Team 2.
Major place getters were as follows:
8-Lap Scratch: (A1 Grade) Steve Jones, John Paul De Sousa.
(A2 Grade) Hamish Anderson, Sarah Stephens, Craig Kentwell.
(B Grade) Ian Drayton, Phil Coulton, Graeme O’Neill.
2-Lap SS Time Trial: (A1 Grade): John Paul De Sousa (54.55s), Steve Jones (55.04s).
(A2 Grade): Hamish Anderson (53.45s), Sarah Stephens (55.29), Ben Davis (60.56).
(B Grade): Phil Coulton (61.24s), Ian Drayton (62.65s), Graeme O’Neill (67.25s).
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 2 (John Paul De Sousa, Hamish Anderson, Ben Davis, Phil Coulton).
Season Point Score:
Hamish Anderson (83), Phil Coulton (78), Ian Drayton (74), Steve Jones (64), Graeme O’Neill (63), Conan Liu (52), John Paul De Sousa (52), Sarah Stephens (50), Craig Kentwell (40), Wayne Benham (29), Warwick Wilson (14), Ben Davis (14), Alison Hale (13).
Graeme O’Neill
Handicapper’s hammer
Criterium grades:
Tony Sheehan D to C
Rob Langridge – handicapper
Next road race – Sutton Road Training Centre graded scratch on Sun 8 December
One to book in your calendars – our last road event of 2024 is a graded scratch race at the Sutton Road Training Centre on Sunday 8th December.
Cost is $10. Here is the link to register – https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar?5019058
Registration cut-off is 5pm on Saturday, 7 December.
Race director – Gerard Tiffen, marshal – Stephen Blackburn, van driver – Dimitar Dojcinoski.
Upcoming races needing volunteers
10 December 2024 – SFP crit
Race director
2025
14 Jan 2025 – SFP crit
Race director
21 Jan 2025 – SFP crit
Race director
4 Feb 2025 – SFP crit
Race director
11 Feb 2025 – SFP crit
Race director
25 Feb 2025 – SFP crit
Race director
11 Mar 2025 – SFP crit
Race director, marshal
18 Mar 2025 – SFP crit
Race director, marshal
25 Mar 2025 – SFP crit
Race director, marshal
Please contact race.committee@crmcc.org.au if you can fill any of these roles for the club. Also look at the dates in the 2025 calendar where you could help the club. https://rms.crmcc.org.au/calendar
Thank you to those members who have offered their services to fill roles so our races are run.
