Masters,
In this week’s Bleat;
• From the Race Committee
• Masters Out and About
• Rotary Five Peaks Challenge
• Racing this Week
• Race Reports
Ian Morton
thebleat@actvets.cc
From the Race Committee
A reminder on race entries
Last Tuesday we had some members enter the crit but not race in anticipation of it being canceled due to the weather. Racing goes ahead unless the weather presents too great a risk such as lightning, extreme winds, or bushfire smoke. The regular wet track, Duck Pâté, and ugly southerly alone won’t result in a canceled race which by all accounts made the points worth the cost of a bottom bracket!
If you have entered a race but unable to race the race committee is happy to help with transferring your entry providing you email race.committee@actvets.cc as early as possible but definitely before your scheduled race time. Transferring is possible but does require some RMS wizardry so “changes of mind“, “legs needing a rest“, or “can’t miss MAFs” cannot be accommodated.
Coaching
The Race Committee is looking to establish a roster of people prepared to act as coaches/mentors for new members who want to develop their skills.
Could anyone who is interested or who knows anyone who might be interested, please let the Race Committee know (race.committee@actvets.cc)
Race Directors and Marshals
The RMS has been updated with the ACT races that we have currently secured approval.
We are looking for volunteers to fill the Race Director and Marshal positions so that we can ensure the running of these races.
Masters Out and About
The Falls Creek Peaks Challenge (235km 4000+ climbing metres) was held over the weekend with the club’s star mountain goats Emma Padovan and Jeremy Gillman-Wells recording some stunning performances. Emma was the 41-50 age category winner in 8:47 against 53 starters, while Jeremy, having recovered from his exhausting session of race directing on Tuesday, was 7th out of 454 finishers in the same age category for the men in a time of 7:53.
Over Wagga Wagga way, Marc Vroomans and Mark Harris finished 9th and 11th, respectively, in the Div 3 Criterium at Ladysmith, but were less successful in the open handicap. Ben Morrison was 4th in the Div 2 criterium, and finished among the 50-rider bunch in the handicap. Meanwhile at the Vikings Supercrits, Johnathan Chowns continued to turn back the decades, winning the D grade race.
Rob Langridge
Rotary Five Peaks Challenge
Early bird entries close on 26 March. More details at: www.rotaryrides.org.au
RACING THIS WEEK:
Tuesday, 15th March: Stromlo Criterium
Note: Pre-registration required by 15 Mar 2022 3:50 pm.
No late entries accepted.
Where: Stromlo Forest Park
Race Description:
A/C 5:50 A 28m+2, C 25m+2
B/D 6:25 B 28m+2, D 25m+2
E/F/G 7:00 E/F/G 20 m + 2
Race Director: Graham Tanton Contact: Email: grahamtanton@hotmail.com Ph 0419 880 078
Marshals: Geoff Ellacott
Thursday, 17th March: Track Racing
The Program for Thursday is;
5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice,
6.00pm – 6.20pm: 8-lap graded scratch race;
6.20pm – 6.50pm: 200m flying start TT;
6.50pm – 7.10pm: 4-lap handicap race;
7.10pm – 7.30pm: Italian pursuit.
Note: This session will be the final competitive track session for the 21-22 season. The season presentation evening will be 24 March 2022. Hope to see as many trackies as possible at the presentation evening. All other club members also welcome.
Sunday, 20th March – No Scheduled Road Race
RACE REPORTS:
SFP Criterium – 8th March
Scratchings came thick and fast with Gerard Tiffen, Nathan Spillane, Gareth Downey and Paul Watson calling “I’m out” even before the day had begun. But that dear reader, was the tip of the iceberg with many riders having enough sense to not even register; whilst the howling gusts triggered others to not even bother glancing out the window in order to realise pulling on the lycra was foolhardy; meanwhile others delved deep into the BOM radar & weather alerts with great anticipation and decided this was a great week to volunteer for officiating.
26 hopeful souls backed themselves before 3.50pm. As it turns out, that was mostly bravado and folly.
First up to not race with 0 from 3 entrants in B grade and 0 from 5 in D great – it was a 100% “wash out” with no points awarded and a delighted CRMCC committee gratefully accepting the $80 donation.
G grade offered up a lone Andre Swenson who arrived super keen and super early. Sure, not keen enough to turn a pedal in anger for warm up – but there nonetheless. As we scoured the form guide for starters in F grade, Lindsay’s wife was aghast at the fact that we had even called her to find out whether or not Lindsey was indeed racing. He wasn’t. And that left Ross Heazlewood to “soak” up the maximum 2 points on offer in F. Cheekily, Andre, who had been sitting on Ross’ wheel all day, attacked up the final back straight but that move was to no avail and Ross easily rolled over him up the final climb of the day and monstered the cranks down the home straight into a nasty cross-head-southerly for glory. Impressively, that also meant a maximum 2 points for Andre in F grade so…well played sir, well played.
That left A & C grades with 3 hitters and 4 gladiators respectively…and they rolled out combined for 30 minutes & 25 minutes + 2 respectively. C grade valiantly holding the wheel in the early laps with Brad Peppinck and Bruce Goodfellow from A grade swapping turns out the front. David Parker was dangerously loitering at the very back of the combined A/C bunch. Brad made his first move down the front straight into the wind on lap three followed by Bruce and DP scrambling to stay in touch. This move, followed by the pace into collarbone corner, dislodged C grade and DP. And then with the tailwind behind them all up the back straight, the whole bunch managed to reform by the time they came round for the fourth lap.
Brad made another move off the front for lap five with DP and Bruce trailing. Further back to C grade who were trying to bridge the gap downhill into the headwind. By the time they hit the top of the track, it was A grade all back together for lap six and then the elastic snapped to C and the 3 A’s were out front, chopping off by themselves. Well that got us to 18 to go and quite frankly, nothing much happened in those long, cold, windy, wet and gloomy 18 minutes. Well except that Brad attacked with 9 to go and achieved a sizeable gap very quickly – a confident man in the wet considering he’s recently off the collarbone injury. And then it was all back together with 4 minutes to go. With two laps to go there was no action and all together into the final lap – clearly all saving themselves for the final. As they received the bell the wind was gusting strongly and the rain was picking up. Still all together is they came into collarbone corner for the final time and as they rounded the back straight with the tailwind the expected attack never came and it was all very cagey indeed. Into the home straight and they were fully fanned out across the track with DP unable to sustain the pace and Brad Peppernink showing his prowess and sprinting form as he crossed the line well ahead of Bruce.
After C grade was dislodged from the trio in A – Dale Kleeman was dropped due to the surging pace and strong winds. Mind you the enormous jacket he was wearing acted somewhat like a parachute and surely restricted his movement in the forward direction. The remaining three in C grade worked well together to stay up the front and ensuring that Dale could not rejoin. Mark Taylor was never seen at the front – the wily cat biding his time at the back of the 3 – although that did cost him a mouthful of track grit from all the spray. Dale rejoined the back of the bunch after being lapped with 2 to go. Tom Stewart-Moore led it out up the back straight however the combatants were very controlled and it looked like a lot of cat and mouse going on as they climbed for the last time. Tom was still in the front until halfway down the main straight and then Mark Taylor opened up the sprint and held on for the win ahead of Ian Preston and then Tom. Mark clearly taking a leaf from the Troy Reddick/Christophe book of racing – NEVER put your nose in the wind until you see the line…
Jeremy Gillman-Wells
Track Racing – 10th March
Weather for the season’s 13th track racing session was mild with a moderate head wind in the Bundadome front straight. Attendance was 12 riders, 5 in A grade and 7 in B grade. This race session saw the completion of both the season’s track championship and the 4-event omnium championship.
The 8-lap A grade scratch race was orderly. It commenced at an even pace with turns by Tony Beasley, James Newhouse Tim Jolly and Craig Kentwell. Craig must have felt good, as he did almost two laps on the front before handing off to Michael Langdon. Michael did a lap and a bit at bunch pace, before rolling off. However, instead of rotating to the back of the bunch, Michael eased up the banking, positioning himself for an attack as the bunch rolled into the penultimate lap. Michael soon made the expected attack, surging out to a 30-metre lead in the next half lap. As Michael rolled into the bell lap, Craig Kentwell, Tim Jolly and the remaining bunch were pursuing hard. However, by this stage Michael’s lead was unbeatable and he rolled in for a comfortable win. Craig and Tim battled it out for second place with Tim just pipping Craig at the line.
The B Grade scratch race was also fairly orderly with a good, solid pace. Terry Danaher, Karen Clutson, Alison Hale, Pat Rooke and Graeme O’Neill rolled through one lap turns on the front. Frank O’Sullivan took over the lead on lap 6. When he handed off to Phil Coulton, there were two laps to go. Phil took this as a signal to put the hammer down and put the bunch under pressure. The pack accelerated and before long the front runners where barrelling into the bell lap, at speed. Alison Hale held off everyone over the bell lap to take the win. Terry Danaher and Franck O’Sullivan pursued relentlessly and picked up second and third spots, respectively. Phil Coulton missed the reward for his attack, fading over the last lap.
The evening’s second event was a 2-Lap handicap event to conclude the Omnium Championship. Graeme O’Neill and Michael Langdon were tied on top points leading into this event, so if either could lead the other home, they would be a good prospect to take the championship. Graeme went off with the limit riders. Disaster struck immediately, when he pulled out of a cleat on initial acceleration. There was no hope of recovering from this, so Graeme dropped onto the duck board as remaining riders streamed past. The handicap was keenly contested with Frank O’Sullivan riding strongly for a win. James Newhouse did well to take second place from a difficult handicap. Michael Langdon rode superbly from the scratch mark to pick up third and take the Omnium championship by 3 points.
The evening’s third event was a difficult 12-lap snowball points race with 4-sprints. In the aptly named snowball, the sprint points grow as the event proceeds, making the latter sprints more valuable. In A grade, Craig Kentwell put in a great tactical effort to secure a win with 12 points. Tim Jolly and Tony Beasley rode doggedly to pick up second and third spots respectively. In B grade, Alison Hale dominated picking up 14 points for the win. Karen Clutson rode a good, tactical race to take second spot with 9 points and Frank O’Sullivan picked up third spot with 5 points.
The track session closed with the usual, all-in, Italian pursuit. This event had 2 teams of 6 riders. Team 1 was anchored by Michael Langdon, so team 2 needed to establish and consolidate an early lead. Team 2 almost did that, by great riding over the first two laps. However, the mid-race riders for Team 1 (Karen Clutson, James Newhouse and Tony Beasley) refused to give up any more advantage to Team 2. Consequently, Team 2 had only a small lead going into the final lap. Michael Langdon easily closed down this lead and surged to a 10-metre win for Team 1. The changing fortunes made for an interesting race.
Correction from last week:
Combined 2-lap Handicap: Alison Hale, James Newhouse, Karen Clutson
Major place getters for this session were as follows:
8-Lap Graded Scratch: (A1 Grade) Michael Langdon. (A2 Grade) Tim Jolly, Craig Kentwell, Tony Beasley. (B Grade) Alison Hale, Terry Danaher, Frank O’Sullivan.
Combined 2-lap Handicap: Frank O’Sullivan, James Newhouse, Michael Langdon.
12-Lap Graded Snowball: (A Grade) Craig Kentwell (12pts), Tim Jolly (10pts), Tony Beasley(8pts). (B Grade) Alison Hale (14 pts), Karen Clutson (9 pts), Frank O’Sullivan (5 pts).
Combined Italian Pursuit: Winner Team 1 (Michael Langdon, Tony Beasley , Karen Clutson, James Newhouse, Pat Rooke, Graeme O’Neill).
Final Omnium Championship Points:
Michael Langdon (16), James Newhouse (13), Graeme O’Neill (13), Frank O’Sullivan (12), Tony Beasley (11), Tim Jolly (8), Karen Clutson (7), Alison Hale (6), Kerry Knowler (5), Lindy Hou (5), Terry Danaher (5).
Season Point Score Update:
Alison Hale (239), Tony Beasley (226), Craig Kentwell (204), James Newhouse (197), Michael Langdon (191), Graeme O’Neill (133), Steve Jones (128), Karen Clutson (123), Ken Birch (119), John Paul De Sousa (116), Bruce Griffin (97), Kerry Knowler (93), Phil Coulton (85), Wayne Benham (68), Tim Jolly (65), Warwick Wilson (62), Ben Davis (58).
Graeme O’Neill
