Hello Vets, Hope you've all had a relaxing Easter Break (and didn't consume too many Easter Eggs). In this week's Bleat; • From the Desk of the President • Interstate Events • Racing this Week • Race Reports
Please send me your contributions at: TheBleat@actvets.cc
Ian Morton
From the Desk of the PresidentSummer Series Wrap-UpDear Members - this Tuesday (29 March) sees our last Tuesday evening Stromlo criterium race for the Summer Season. We have had the Criterium Championships - age based - two weeks ago, and congratulations to our club champions and podium winners both women and men, but we have one last race out at Stromlo for this very popular form of racing. The times will be a bit truncated, due to the earlier sun set, but like last week, this just seems to bring on faster laps. Good luck to all competitors. Winter SeriesThe end of the summer series - with the end of daylight saving, late on Saturday night 2 April - sees the end of Tuesday criteriums, Wednesday track and Sunday morning road racing. We then contract our program to Saturday afternoons (1.30pm mostly) road racing for the winter series on a variety of exciting courses in the ACT and near-by NSW shires (see below for the list of up-coming events). Both take a fair bit of organising and seeking of racing approval form the various governments, not to mention meeting their compliance conditions such as posting approved traffic controllers, lead and trail cars in NSW as well as getting approval for our Temporary Traffic Management Plans including meeting signage standards for each race - all designed to enable us to race in safe and controlled conditions. All that we would hope is that you, or members, take advantage of this and simply attend and enjoy racing in, what can very occasionally be challenging, but more often, magnificent winter road-race conditions. Seeking volunteersBut wait, there is one more thing that we need to have enjoyable and safe racing during our winter road series; you guessed it - volunteer race referees and marshals. I will shortly be writing to our race referees and approved traffic controllers (ATC) seeking nominations from these groups to officiate at up-coming races. I will also be seeking nominations from our general membership to help out in roles such as: the sign-on desk; finish line - time keepers; finish chute; etc. Please give back to the club a proportion of what you get out of it and kindly nominate (early - see below) for these positions. We simply cannot run races without our wonderful volunteers. Volunteers for GunningTwo weeks ago, I wrote about our annual Peter McLennan memorial 2 day event out at Gunning. To help Ben Davis, the race referee for this premier event, we need a big team of volunteers such as: on-road marshals; finish line and sprint judges; time keepers; lead and trail car drivers. So if you can’t race, come and join this year’s Gunning Race as a valuable and much appreciated volunteer. Simply contact Ben Davis at Ben.Davis@Teradata.com to be part of his great team. Alternatively, contact me at alexoshea@hotmail.com specifying what role you can/would like to do. (pssst - not that it should make that much difference, but we do give petrol money to our Gunning volunteers to help them with the costs of the drive out there). Helping Graham outGraham Hendrie - our 'man in the van’ who gives such stirling service to club members by: packing and driving out the van to each event; setting out the myriad of signage (can take up to an hour to do this!); coordinating finishing times and calculating winners - whether in handicap or scratch race; ensuring race directors have the right ‘knowledge’; taking part in the odd race himself; then co-ordinating the van pack up - to mention but a few of his race day roles - would like a bit of assistance from us all. Here are some ways we can better help and support Graham:-
Cake timeOne of the best features of Vets racing in the ACT is the friendly cuppa we have with our fellow racers after the event as we also applaud the winners and podium placers of each grade as they are announced. It has been a past tradition that if a member has a birthday in the week leading up to the Saturday race, then they bring out a few tasty cakes to better help the tea and coffee go down. Its entirely up to each birthday boy/girl for the week to do this - but it is so well appreciated. Lets revive this great tradition and get the club members to help you mark your birthday. Upcoming eventsHere are the first few events, for the winter series (full details on RMS):
If you are a race referee or an ATC or would like to marshal or drive one of the safety cars - please contact me at alexoshea@hotmail.com (or Ben Davis for the Gunning 2 day race) to nominate early to help out at these events. Please entitle your e-mail ‘ACT Vets volunteer - date of event’ and explain the role you wish to perform.
Alex O'Shea
Interstate Events• Tour De Riverina interclub dates;
• Tolland Cycling Club Wagga Wagga
RACING THIS WEEK:Tuesday, 29th March: Stromlo Criterium - Final Race of the SeasonWhere: Stromlo Forest Park Race Director: Alex O'Shea The nominated marshals for this event are; • Leon Horsnell, • Stewart Stockwell
Wednesday, 30th March: Track RacingAs daylight saving will soon cease, the track session on Wednesday 30 March will conclude the 2015-16 track racing season. There will be a normal warm up and free practice from 5.30pm – 6.00pm. A single competitive Italian Pursuit will be held at 6.00pm. This event will be followed by a trophy presentation and party to celebrate track friendships and a successful racing season. Please note that all club members and partners are welcome, particularly, participants in the 2015-16 track season and anyone interested in this form of racing. The club will provide free beer, coke and nibbles. If anyone would like to bring along a plate to augment the goodies, it would be most welcome. Please come and enjoy the celebration!
Sunday, 3rd April: No Race due to the end of the Summer Season
The nominated marshals for upcoming events are;
RACE REPORTS:Narrabundah Track Racing – 23rd MarchWednesday, 23 March was the last competitive evening of a great track season. The lengthening shadows during the warm up and the cooler weather were noticeable. A mild, head wind into the back straight persisted for most of the racing session. Track attendance was good with 17 riders, overall, and a healthy A grade bunch of ten riders. The initial scratch races were 12 laps. The A grade race kicked off in an enterprising fashion, with Martin Graham putting in an immediate attack. Martin stayed out front for four laps, then realised he was wasting energy and rejoined the pack. Subsequently, Michael Langdon and John-Paul DeSousa enlivened the bunch with short-lived attacks. We waited until lap 9 before the decisive attack. Michael Langdon initially shot from the bunch. However, Steve Jones and Brendan Savage quickly followed and soon caught Michael’s wheel. Michael, Steve and Brendan circulated ahead of the bunch until the bell lap, when Michael initiated a further attack. The sprint was close with Michael, Steve and Brendan all in contention. Steve Jones took a narrow win from Michael and Brendan. In B grade, the speed was solid, but comfortable, for nine laps. Then Phil Anderson cranked up the pace from the front, ejecting two riders out the back. The remaining riders hung on and began jockeying for position as the bell lap approached. The pace cranked up again over the bell lap with Phil Anderson having the legs to hold on for a win. Ross Scutts and Steve Hirsler took second and third placing. The evening’s second event was a 2-lap match race with riders paired with a rival of similar ability. Several match races had three participants to provide variety. Tactics are normally crucial for these match ups. However, it appeared that initiative and strong riding were the secrets to success for most of the contests. Match race winners are listed below. The third event was a 2-lap handicap in A and B grades. The handicaps again worked quite well with the fields converging as the bell lap approached. In A grade, Alec Millett again did a great job to hold off Rowan McMurray and Michael Langdon in a close finish. In B grade, the limit rider Graeme O’Neill suffered through the final lap to hold out Linda Stals and Ken Birch by a small margin. As expected, the evening’s final Italian Pursuit was great fun. Ross Scutts gave Team 1 a good start. However, it did not end there. Both teams cranked on more and more pace as lead riders dropped off. The lead fluctuated from Team 2 to Team 1 then back again. After good laps by Alec Millett and Brendan Savage, Team 2 looked safe for the win. However, the Team 1 anchor, Michael Langdon, missed the memo. He put in a blistering final lap to turn a few metres deficit into a surprise win for Team 1. All the participants were happy to have such a fine contest. The major place getters for the 23 March races were as follows: Final Track Championship Point Scores: Final Omnium Championship Scores:
Graeme O'Neill |
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