z11.4 Nov 24 Bleat

Post date: Nov 24, 2014 10:40:7 AM

Hello Vets,

In this week's Bleat;

• Fund Raising BBQ at the Crits

• Registration for 2015 is now open

• Handicapping

• Interstate Events

• Racing this Week

• Race Reports

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

Ian Morton.

Archived copies of the Bleat

You can find archived copies of the Bleat: here.

Fund Raising BBQ at the Crits

The Hartley Fund raising BBQ at the Tuesday nights has concluded.

Thanks from Angie and Liz and the Hartley Team to everyone who supported the fund raising over the last 4 weeks.

Registration for 2015 is now open

The Registration system on IMG is open for next year's subscriptions. Simply go to the IMG site. Logon with the username and password that you used to register last year. The annual subscription for 2015 remains unchanged.

Note that if you are not currently a member, you can register now and get the remainder of this year and all of 2015 for the one fee.

Handicapping

The Handicapper will be away for a while but as a parting gift to a lucky few, he has bestowed the following regradings;

• Nick Boylan B -> A

• Tom Tokich C -> B

• Sean Smith D -> C

• Susan Belton G -> F

And a reminder that riders are not to downgrade themselves without approval from the Handicapper.

Interstate Events

• Classic Adelaide Masters Cycling Series during the Tour Down Under week 17-25th Jan 2015.

Registrations are now open at http://www.samc.org.au/

• 2015 Riverina Rush Cycling Classic - Narrandera

- 28 Feb - Twilight Criterium

- 1 Mar - Road Cycle Classic

for more information contact Gerry Daly

RACING THIS WEEK:

Tuesday, 25th November: Stromlo Criterium

Where: Stromlo Forrest Park

Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.

Race Description:

G Grade@ 5:45 - 13min + 2 laps; E/F Grade@ 6:07 - 24min + 2 laps; A/B Grade@ 6:39 - 36min + 2 laps; C/D Grade@ 7:21 - 29min + 2 laps

Race Director: Mick Donaldson

Contact: Email: mdonaldson@netspeed.com.au Ph 0418 486 367 or 6241 8294

The nominated marshals for this event are;

• Mary Lovett

• Des Brown

Please confirm with the Race Director that you are available. If you unable to make the date that you have been rostered please find a replacement.

Wednesday, 26th November: Track Racing

The Program for Wed 19 November is as follows:

5.30pm – 6.00pm: Warm-up and free practice;

6.00pm – 6.20pm: 8-lap Graded scratch race;

6.20pm – 7.10pm: 2 Lap Time Trial, Standing Start (from fence);

6.10pm – 7.20pm: Graded Snowball (6-10 Laps);

7.20pm – 7.40pm: 6-Lap scratch (All in with B Grade early start).

Sunday, 30th November – Lookout Hill Graded Scratch

Where: Observation lookout on Tidbinbilla Road about 2.5 km towards Tharwa from Point Hut / Tidbinbilla Rd intersection.

When: 9:00 am

Sign on: 15 mins before scheduled start time wearing your registered number.

Race Description: Lookout Hill map: Start, A, B, A, B, A, Finish (Lookout, Pt Hut, Short turn, Pt Hut , Short turn, Pt Hut, Lookout)

Race Director: Linda Stals

Contact: Email linda.stals@anu.edu.au Ph 0419 283 599 or 6292 3771

The nominated marshals for this event are;

• Richard Bourne

• Baden White

Please confirm with the Race Director that you are available. If you unable to make the date that you have been rostered please find a replacement.

End of Year Events

This year, the End of Year presentation BBQ will be held on Tuesday 9th December and the traditional Christmas Wheel Race will be the 16th December.

RACE REPORTS:

STROMLO CRITERIUM – 11th November (missed from last week's Bleat)

121 riders turned out to race on Tuesday with the ‘sea breeze’ blowing heartily and keeping the temperature comfortable. B grade had the biggest field with 28 riders while D grade had 26 riders. Only F and G grades fielded less than 10 competitors.

As usual G grade kicked off the evening and in the early laps they rode as a bunch with Bruce Jones, Tony Sheehan and then Paul Robey doing the work out front. Then 2 riders were dropped leaving Bruce, Paul, Tony and Felicity Toohey to fight it out. They rode together until the bell lap when Bruce and Tony sprinted away. Tony Sheehan powered to the finish ahead of a fast finishing Felicity Toohey with Bruce Jones taking third. C and D grades were next to race. In C grade there was an early break by Tom Tokich and Kevin Wells. After 10 minutes of racing they were joined by 2 other riders and by another 4 minutes there were 5 riders in the breakaway with Dale Teddy trying valiantly to join them. Dale found the going too difficult and at the finish Tom Tokich took the honours with David Rowe and Duane Toohey finishing second and third respectively.

D grade rode as a bunch for the first 9 minutes of the race before 4 riders decided to make a break. After another 2 laps only John Stokman and Warwick Wilson remained in the break but with 10 minutes of regular time remaining D grade were riding as a bunch again. In the sprint to the line Gary Waldron crossed first, followed by Peter Harding and Sean Fleming.

E and F grades got away next with F grade riding in a bunch with James Meredith and Mike Hogan doing the early work at the front. With 15 minutes of regular riding left 2 of the original 7 riders were dropped with James, Mike, Kim Malcolm, Sue Frost and Barbara Bayliss left to fight out the finish. In the sprint to finish Kim Malcolm outlasted Mike Hogan and Sue Frost.

E Grade rode as a bunch for nearly the whole race with only Ian Morton and then Liz Lowe and Michael Golding trying to break from the bunch. Each time however, the break was closed very quickly by the other riders. Liz Lowe sprinted strongly to cross the line first ahead of Ian Morton in second and Wayne Kenner in third.

Next up were A and B grades who had to ride for 31 minutes before the business end of the race. In A grade Paul Scherl and Nathan Spillane made a break at the 6 minute mark and a minute later were joined by Brendan Byatt. With 20 minutes to go they were joined in what was by now a significant break, by Ed Pelligrino, Stephen Blackburn and Mark Harris. At the 6 minute mark Paul, Stephen, Ed and Mark were left to fight out the finish. In the sprint, Mark Harris proved too strong for Stephen Blackburn and Paul Scherl.

In B grade with a field of 28, there were 5 separate breakaways with James Jordan predominant early followed by David Dickson with 16 minutes to go, then Travis Hicks and James with 10 minutes left and finally Nick Boylan at the 5 minute mark. In each case the break was closed quickly by the bunch except for Nick Boylan who managed to extend his break to the length of the back straight. In the final lap however there was a bunch sprint from which Andrew Chamberlain was a clear winner from Timothy Palmer and John Thorn in third place.

Thanks to Kristi McVay, Geoff Strang and Henry Beaverstock for marshalling.

Thanks to Race Director Ian Shaw.

STROMLO CRITERIUM – 18th November

Good conditions out at Stromlo for the regular Tuesday night bit windy but nothing compared to previous weeks, the G’s were the usual lead out event and complained that under a yellow flag, riding neutral @ 25 meant they had to speed up, ooops… mental note for future race directors, anyway good racing and for the most part a tight bunch had Sue Belton fight off Natalie Attenborough take the points and the honour of the only ladies on the podium in any grade all night with Tony Sheehan getting a solid 3rd.

With the A and B’s away @ 6:07, The A Train lined up, Messrs’ Scherl and Vroomans in the middle and that was as close as A grade got to them, by the time most had clipped in they were 200 off the pace and that was as it, with both Scherl and Vroomans taking turns up front and amazingly had enough for a sprint finish, Mark Harris, Ed Pellegrino and Stephen Isbel tried valiantly to close it out but had to settle for the minor points. The B’s suffered the same fate with Nick Boylan and Peter Prammer going hard and early with Mike McGurgan the best of the rest, with both groups smashed it was an interesting challenge trying to keep track of 53 riders in brown’s cows formation.

C’s and D’s next away and while the D’s kept track on breakaways, Tom Tokich was obviously late for an appointment and was last seen a mile in front of the C’s, Terri Moore tried valiantly to stay but was ultimately rolled up by the “C” bunch, who looked more intent in sucking a wheel, rather than chase down a break. Brad Sellwood finished a solid 2nd in a hot sprint from Ben Vagnarelli. Delta force in a tight sprint saw Sean Smith take the points from the perennial seagull Peter Harding and new vets rider Wayne Kenner. Also worth noting a solid performance from Dave Clarke returning after a significant spell due a back injury, welcome back Dave.

E’s and F Troop last away on the evening and running late as the Race Director couldn’t work out how to get 26 + 2 into a 24 minute timeslot without shortening either event, so throwing caution to the now abated wind, the last race ran to schedule with enough light to do so safely, E grade was led out by Michael Golding who got off the front a few times was rolled in a few times but enough left in the tank for a big finish, leading Baden White and Luke McGowan and the rest of E’s in close pursuit. F Troop suffered at the hands of Steve Hirsler who went early and put in and continued to work the corners hard and eventually won by a considerable gap, with James Mills and Mike Hogan getting the minor places.

Special Thanks to the Lovely Jan Koehler, Henry Beaverstock and Al Bontjer for their assistance in running the night and keeping track of everything that was going on.

Thanks to Race Director Steve Dean.

Narrabundah Track Racing – 19th November

The track session on Wednesday 19 November again brought perfect weather with just a slight breeze. The roll up was 16 riders, slightly below current expectations, possibly due to the ODI cricket at Manuka Oval.

A and B Grade scratch races were each twelve laps. The A Grade was pacey with three riders dropped in the initial laps. The final laps say a five-man break from which Steve Jones took the sprint. The B Grade scratch saw a bunch sprint with Glen Heward surprising everyone to take the win. As Glen only started racing at the start of this track season, this was a very creditable performance.

The 200 meter fly was a challenging event for all riders. It requires just the right line and technique as the margins are fractions of a second. Mark Harris put in the best time of 13 seconds flat. He just piped Michael Langdon by 36 hundredths of a second.

The four lap handicaps suggested that the handicapper is slowly improving. Mark Harris and Steve Jones took first and second in A Grade from scratch marks. Craig Kentwell dominated B Grade from the scratch mark.

The track session concluded with an all in scratch race of six laps. B Grade were given half a lap start. This race was great to watch. The A Grade bunch took off in a torrid pursuit that immediately spat several riders out the back. The B Grade bunch were caught in 4 laps, after which the race became more tactical. Steve Jones won a close sprint from Mark Harris and Andrew Peel.

Major place getters were as follows:

12 Lap Scratch: (A Grade) Steve Jones, Andrew Peel, Michael Langdon; (B Grade) Glen Heward, Craig Kentwell, Phil Anderson.

200 metre Fly: (A Grade) Mark Harris (13.00s), Michael Langdon (13.36s), Brad Sellwood (13.50s); (B Grade) Glen Heward (13.50s), Craig Kentwell (13.98s), Ian Drayton (15.32s).

6 Lap Scratch: (All grades) Steve Jones, Mark Harris, Andrew Peel.

Old Federal Highway F&A Tonelli Handicap – 23rd November

In stark contrast to last weekend we had an extremely warm start to the day with the temperature at 20 deg by 8 o’clock. There was a need to get the race underway on time to beat the impending 35+ temp advised by the weather gurus. Firstly thanks to the marshals for their support, for signing up by Thursday night and being on time Sunday morning as this made my job that much easier.

G Grade hit the road first with A grade some 35 minutes later. By the time G grade had returned from the Shingle Hill Way turn a lone rider from F grade was already in hot pursuit. D grade did manage to keep it all together for the first loop down to the lake end of Hadlow Drive, and they appeared to be the only grade to manage this.

At the turn on the start line our lone F grader had been identified as non-other than Stjepan Hisler (Stephen) who has been noticed performing well in the crits over recent weeks. The other grades had begun to make ground on the leaders at the turn however the temperature was rising and this may have begun to take a toll on our riders. This was somewhat evident with the 10 DNF’s at the turn. Another notable ride was by Sue Duckett who had her first ride with the vets at Tuesday’s crit, joined the club late in the week and then was in a close competition with Jing Huang at the turn.

As the time ticked down the team on the finish line began to wonder if the A grade hot shots could reel in the lower grades something they were not able to do in last year’s event.

Over the rise came the lead car followed by a lone rider dressed in black. Stephen (F grade) had held on to take a well-deserved win being nearly a minute in front of the next finisher Jing Huang (G grade) followed by our new member Sue Duckett (F grade). The A graders once again missed out on the medals in this event. Fastest rider on the day was Christophe Barbaret (A grade). First B grader was Ben McDuff, first C grader was Dale Kleeman, first D grader was Terry Merrigan and first E Grader was Don DeSmet.

Thanks again to the team of helpers;

Henry Beaverstock, Mike Hayes, Geoff Strang, Mark Langman, Kev Hennessy, Ben Davis, Frank O’Sullivan & Alex O’Shea.

Phill Coulton

Race Referee