- Notice of AGM
- Crit Reminder – Membership and Regrading
- International Women’s Day
- The Legend Lives On
- Next Race – Stromlo Crits
- NARRABUNDAH TRACK RACING
- Race Report – Crits
- Upcoming races requiring volunteers – race calendar can be found here
NOTICE OF ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
You are all invited to the 2026 AGM for the Capital Region Masters Cycling Club will be held on Monday 2 February at 7pm via Google meet:
Video call link: https://meet.google.com/iqu-ajfv-cvs
Or dial: (AU) +61 3 8594 6345 PIN: 701 509 747#
The agenda for the AGM will include:
– reports from Committee members on success and challenges of the Club in 2025, include financial, membership, and racing reports;
– looking forward to racing in 2026;
– nominations for and appointment of Committee members for 2026.
Want to make sure that the Club continues racing into 2026? Or get some experience being on a Board? Then consider nominating to join the Committee at the AGM. Due to some Committee members stepping down in 2026, several Committee positions will be open. Executive roles (President, Vice-President, Secretary, Treasurer and Membership) along with general Committee membership roles will be available and you will be well supported. If you have specific questions about vacant committee roles and responsibilities, please contact committee@crmcc.org.au.
Do you enjoy the Club’s no-frills, affordable racing? Did you like the return to racing at the Gravel Pit this year? Do you wish you could race somewhere we haven’t for a while, either in the ACT or surrounding NSW? Do you wish you could race crits during winter? Or try some different styles of racing on our existing beloved venues? The Club currently plans to return to more road racing venues, and consider other racing types, from April 2026. The Club’s ability to run races, including returning to road racing to other venues in the NSW and the ACT, will be limited if we don’t get enough help from members joining the Committee or helping out in other ways. The more people help out, the less burden there is to keep the Club running.
You can use the Committee nomination form or email committee@crmcc.org.au if you wish to nominate.
Please note that this meeting is not an in-person AGM. If online mode of attendance is a problem for you, please contact committee@crmcc.org.au.
Cheers
Simon
Crit Reminder – Membership and Regrading
If you are planning on racing Crits in 2026, please note the following updates on membership and grading:
Membership renewal
This is a reminder that you will need to renew your club membership before you will be able to race.
To renew membership online, please go to https://capitalregionmasterscyclingclub.org.au/membership/ and follow the instructions under: “Steps for renewing your annual membership”.
Once you have renewed, a member of the committee must manually update the RMS to make you active, so please note the following time cut-offs to allow this to happen:
- If you are a Crit Season Pass holder, please ensure that you renew your membership before 12:40 tomorrow. You will not immediately be shown as an entrant, but this will be updated by us before the race.
- If you enter races individually, please ensure that you renew your membership before 10am tomorrow. This is to allow us to update you in the system and get back to you in time to be able to enter before the normal 12:40 cut-off.
Criterium Regrading
As previously communicated in the Bleat (https://capitalregionmasterscyclingclub.org.au/2025/12/crmcc-weekly-bleat-08-december-2025/), we have completed a regrading exercise that is intended to improve the spread of racers across the grades.
Before racing, please check to see if your grade has changed and if so ensure that you attend the correct race.
New grades can be found at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Phf94jPvGo7OA_4nG71MfhY8oj5ePTz4/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=102624606282391619796&rtpof=true&sd=true
Note: We will not be able to make any changes to individual grades on the day. Going forward, grades can be discussed with Rob our handicapper at: handicapper@crmcc.org.au
International Women’s Day – 8th March 2026
We’re looking for volunteers to help organise a club event to celebrate International Women’s Day. This would be a great opportunity for someone who’s passionate about inclusion, community, and cycling to shape an event that highlights and supports the women in our club. Support will be available from the committee, and the scope can be tailored to suit your time and ideas—whether that’s coordinating a ride, a social gathering, or something a bit different.
If you’re interested in getting involved or would like to know more, we’d love to hear from you. Just speak to one of the committee members or mail us at: committee@crmcc.org.au
The Legend Lives On
Congratulations to Club living legend Mark Harris for coming third in the 65-69 age group category of the AusCycling National Grand Fondo Championships held in Perth yesterday. Mark averaged 36.3 km/h over the 81.6 km course.
Next Race – Crits at Stromlo Forest Park – Tuesday 13 January 2026
Please note, 5:40PM also holds the Women’s specific criterium grade (20mins) to foster participation and confidence in riding on the Stromlo Forest Park criterium track. Perfect for women and non-binary riders who are looking for an introductory ride or those that prefer cycling in a smaller group.
Race registration cut-off is 12:40pm. Cost is $10.
You need to register 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 committee@crmcc.org.au 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 being allowed to participate.
All riders are required to sign on before their race start.
We will be running an entry chute, where riders are called 1 by 1 onto the circuit in numerical order of sign-on.
Please remember to check the RMS Calendar for race times each week now that we are back to rotating all 3 time slots.
NARRABUNDAH TRACK RACING – THURSDAY 15 JANUARY, 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 – 6.50pm: A-Grade 20-lap / B-Grade 16-lap points race.
6.50pm – 7.20pm: 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?5021932
Each race will cost $10, or purchase the season track pass at $80.
Race Report – Crits
A warm Tuesday night brought the first crit races of 2026. The first race back is usually a quiet affair, but 76 riders started, clearly keen to work off the Christmas excess.
This was the first race day since the regrading exercise and there was some entertaining racing.
First up came D and E grades with 19 riders split between both.
In D grade, after an uneventful first few laps Kevin Newhouse made a break only to be reeled in. Rob Langridge then made a push but also couldn’t make it stick.
Shirley-Anne Taylor continued her recent good form and stretched the race out assisted by Ros Harper and Kevin Newhouse again. At the finish Shirley-Anne comfortably held off Greg Mitchell with Kevin in third.
In E grade, nine riders made the start. The first few laps were taken easily until Linda Stals started to lift the pace. Sarah Hardy also spent time on the front with the bunch being very cagey. The pace picked up towards the end with a competitive finish seeing Tim Moore take the win followed by Michael Reppion and with Linda Stals in 3rd place.
Next up came A and C grades – 17 in Grade A saw a pretty active race. After a few laps warming up Ben Morrison and then Steve Crispin made attempts to get away but were soon brought back. Daniel Lekhac made a valiant effort on his own with Jeremy Gilman-Wells and Marc Vroomans also active. After 20 minutes pressure from Andrew Foster and Kris McCreath saw a few drop off the back. At the half hour mark, the race got really competitive with Steve Crispin, Andrew Foster and Matt Rizzuto forming a break with Chris Murphy chasing. Steve and Matt then got away to contest the finish with Matt taking the win, Steve in second and Nicholas Stewart in third.
25 C graders turned up to race with Dom Romano making an immediate impact off the front. After a few laps on his own, he paid for his efforts as the bunch caught and passed him. Wayne Spratford then made a break only to get reeled in allowing Travis Hicks to have a go before the group reformed at the halfway mark. Mark Vardy and Boyd Statton both made attempts to drive the pace before Dave Parker and Wayne Spratford managed to get off the front and continued to build a gap until the finish with Wayne taking the win, Dave in second and with Mick Hanbury winning the bunch sprint for third.
Finally, came B grade with 17 riders. The local wildlife came into play in the last race with marshal Ben Carmody chasing ducks and roos off the track. After 10 minutes the pace picked up with Michael Fawke dropping off the back. After 20 minutes Mark Harris and Ed Pellegrino were off the front. Rowan McMurray then bridged across, but they could only last five minutes until Bruce Goodfellow brought them back. As the pace quickened, two groups formed with Michael Fawke gallantly trying to bridge across. After 3 laps Michael made it across, and the race continued in two groups of six with Mark Harris winning out followed by Bruce Goodfellow and then Ed Pelligrino.
Thanks to Ben for marshalling, Matt for First Aid and Ian as always for photos.
Dave Buckley
RD
Photos thanks to Ian Hutchings
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Upcoming races needing volunteers
We have multiple vacancies for race directors for SFP crits.
Please self-register as a volunteer, where you can put your name down against those roles marked ‘Vacant’ in this Google spreadsheet. We will follow-up and confirm your volunteering with an email from committee@crmcc.org.au
Thank you to those members who have offered their services to fill roles so our races can run.
