Hello Vets,

A short Bleat this week;

•  Racing this Week

•  Race Report

Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc

Ian Morton

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 4th July: Old Federal Highway Graded Scratch

Where: Gravel Pit, Intersection Shingle Hill Way and Old Federal Highway
When: 1:30 pm
Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.
Race Description: Hadlow Drive to Lake George x 2 (no Shingle Hill Way)
Race Director: Michael Fawke
Contact: Email mjfawke@internode.on.net Ph  0414685464 or 62232291

Please Note: We are still waiting police approvals for this race. Please keep an eye on the Bleat and the twitter feed (https://twitter.com/actvets) for confirmation of the race.

The nominated marshals for this event are;

•  Sean Ifland

•  Paul Ledbrook

•  Bob Perkins

•  Ian Preston

•  Warwick Wilson

The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
- Jul 11 @ Uriarra: Kevin Hennessy, Denis Jessop Sean Smith, John Wilson
- Jul 18 @ Dairy Flat: Bruce Griffin, Andrew Murrell
- Jul 25 @ Dalton: Johnathan Chowns, More volunteers required
- Aug 01 @ Dog Trap Road: David Gunther, Michael Langdon, Ross MacPherson, Richard Hedley, Steve Hosking

RACE REPORTS:

Gunning Handicap – 27th June

Fortune favours the brave - so they say. Saturday morning, 10:30am at Duffy Heights it was 3c and foggy. Who would want to race a bike in those conditions? However by the time I got out to Gunning it was clear blue skies, little wind and a balmy 9c. The subsequent fast race times were testament to the ideal race conditions.

A total of 56 riders also showed faith and turned up to race - indeed one rider who shall go unnamed (ok it was Al Bontjer) rode out from Canberra, obviously needing a thorough warm-up.. A sterling effort. Unfortunately he was our only DNF.

Also of note was Tony Weir eschewing his rightful handicap as a G2 graded rider and choosing instead to ride with the G1 graded riders group - sacrificing a 10' handicap benefit. Very noble and almost comparable with Lawrence Oates stepping outside of the tent!

Unfortunately my race report is somewhat compromised by the fact that as a race director I don't get to see much of the race - just the start and finish. Its probably time that the Committee invested in a Skoda, with a sunroof, so that race directors can follow the race barking instructions and handing out penalties for breaches of race rules - similar to the commissars in the TdF.

The race was won by the tandem team of Mr Mankewich and Carruthers, and they won by a gap of 17" - no photo required to pick the winner. To win they covered the covered the course at a rate of 40kph. Very impressive. The remaining steps of the podium were taken up by Aaron Sedgmen (2nd - 38.5kph) and a very much inform Club Handicapper, Robert Langridge (3rd - 39.8kph!!).

Also of note was Steve Crispin, fastest time (2" faster than the tandem) and also covering the course at 40kph.

A special mention also goes to Lindsay Graham from G1 grade - if the course had been 4 kilometres shorter he may well have been standing on the top step of the podium (assuming we had one - but like the Skoda its probably not going to eventuate). Excellent effort to hold of the rampaging A graders for so long.

Thanks to the marshals who made the race possible - Michael Carr, John Paul De Sousa, Ben Davis, Ed Garnett, Chris Short, and Polly Templeton.

Owain Tilley