4.3 April 18 Bleat

Post date: Apr 18, 2016 6:28:11 AM

Hello Vets,

In this week's Bleat;

• From the Desk of the President

• Gunning Peter McLennan Memorial 2 Day Event

• Cycle 2016 for Ronald McDonald House Canberra

• Interstate Events

• Racing this Week

• Race Reports

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

Ian Morton

From the Desk of the President

Racing

It was pleasing to see healthy numbers at races these last two weeks. Thirty-five at the Time Trial two weeks ago and fifty-seven across all grades at last Saturday’s graded scratch at Uriarra - plus willing marshals to help out and keep things ‘legal’ and safe. Both events were run in perfect Autumn conditions, despite predictions for rain last Saturday. It was a great start to the Winter road racing season.

This week we have another graded scratch. We are out at Hadlow Drive (Old Federal Hwy) racing from the intersection at Shingle Hill Way to Lake Gerorge - four laps (48kms) for A-D and 3 laps for E-G. Dale Kleeman is Race Referee and we now look like having a quorum of volunteer marshals. This race will be a good lead up to Gunning as the course has similar inclines, flat sections and down-hills to the Gunning course (well, I think so anyway!). Love to see some 70-80 riders taking part - good luck in the race.

More ‘ATC’ Training being scheduled

It is pleasing to see the ACT Government providing ACT cycle racing clubs with tangible support in the form of sponsoring free (to us) training of Accredited Traffic Controllers (ATC) - our on-road marshals. Watch this space as there are new training sessions coming up shortly. They will be co-ordinated by ‘Capital Cycling’ / Pedal Power and funded by ACT Government. We really need at least 6 members to undertake this training to replace trained members who have left the club, plus a few more ’to keep the numbers up’ We really rely on our ATCs in keeping us safe at turn points on our race courses and appreciate their spirit of volunteerism in supporting the whole club. Hopefully territory ATC training will be applicable in NSW, should they also introduce this requirement.

Getting things fixed by ACT Government

Instead of complaining about non-workin street lights or pot-holes in the road or cycle paths or other dangers to cyclists, try registering the fault through the ACT website ‘Access Canberra’ particularly at https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/app/forms/fixmystreet/. You might be surprised at how soon they are fixed up. I had been fuming about the number of street lights which were out along Adelaide Av from the City to Curtin - my old commuter route - after daylight saving had ended. I counted some 21 lights out - many at the on-off ramps, too making it dangerous for cyclists to be seen. A week after I logged the fault, most had been fixed up. I was quite amazed. Similar results have been reported with rectifying road and cycle path problems. The lesson is ‘report the fault’ don’t just complain about it!

Gunning

See details below on the Peter McLennan Memorial Gunning Two Day race on 7 and 8 May 2016. ‘Gunning’ is our premier event for the year - a three stage event over two days and will be the ’most fun you will have on a bike’ all year - guaranteed!. Ben Davis is the Gunning race director and is still looking for volunteer marshals. If you don’t plan on racing - join in the fun and excitement and be a marshal. Contact Ben.

Next round of seeking volunteer Referees and Marshals

Fair warning - we will shortly be seeking race referees and marshals - both ATCs and general marshals - for the races scheduled after Gunning. We do this on the basis that ‘if you race - then you must volunteer to marshal’. The Club cannot operate otherwise. Our trained race referees (you know who you are) will be called upon to nominate a race date you are able to referee for. Similarly for our ATCs. We will try to share the load as much as possible. For general marshal duties - e.g: staffing the sign-on desk, helping set out the myriad or signs, taking on finish line and chute duties and helping with pull-down and packing the van, etc don’t require special training - just your willingness to help, particularly if you don’t fancy racing a particular course, or can’t race for a number of reasons. Simply send me an e-mail to president@actvets.cc entitled ‘Vets Volunteer - date of race and your name’ and we will schedule you in. Thanks for your support.

Alex O'Shea

Gunning Peter McLennan Memorial 2 Day Event

Marshals

Ben Davis will be the Race referee for the two days. In order to run the event, he still requires 3 or 4 Marshals to assist.

Payment of $25 per day is available to offset petrol costs and other expenses. As it may be difficult to purchase lunch from the café’s in between the events it may be prudent for marshals to bring their own lunch and water.

If you are willing to help, please contact Ben at: bdavis@internode.on.net

Portaloo

A Portaloo has been booked. We are looking for a volunteer to help with towing duties. If someone is staying in Gunning on Saturday evening and would be able to tow it back to their accommodation overnight, that would save having to tow it back to Canberra.

Please contact Kim Malcolm d.kimmalcolm@icloud.com if you can assist.

Requirements

The cost will be $30 for the race and you must be a current member of the club within the AVCC. Please note that we do not have day licences available.

Riders will need to bring their helmet to the registration desk for inspection. Please note that it is an AVCC requirement that all riders must wear a helmet which meets Australian Standards.

Riders must have started the previous stage to compete in the next stage. (i.e. if you don’t ride Saturday then you cannot start on Sunday)

Registration

ALL REGISTRATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED ON THE IMG WEBSITE BY 5:00PM THURSDAY 5th MAY. NO REGISTRATIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED ON THE DAY.

To register go to;

https://eventdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=18967&OrgID=10345

Click on;

Click Here To Register

Select either;

Individual

Tandem

Select the $30 entry fee then click;

Next

Enter your username and password and click.

Login

Note that this is the username and password that you received when you first registered for the IMG system. If you cannot find your site login, go to the site login page; https://memberdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=login&OrgID=10244 and click the 'Forgot your Password?' Button. Enter your Email address (the one you used to register) and a new password will be sent to you.

One you have logged in, the system will show your membership details. Click;

Next

Confirm that you are entering as an Individual or Tandem then click;

Next

Click on;

Submit Now & Pay Online

Enter your credit card details and press;

Next

To confirm your payment, click;

Submit Payment

Your transaction will be confirmed and an email sent to your registered email address.

Once you have finished, click;

Logoff

If you have any problems, contact: Ian Morton

DAY 1: Saturday 7th May 2016

Prologue

All grades will complete the same 4km course – this is the traditional course starting from the top of the hill and heading northeast along the Old Hume Hwy towards Breadalbane.

Prologue will start at 10:00am and riders will be sent off at 30 second intervals.

Note if you miss your allocated time you will be sent off at the discretion of the Race Referee.

The following limitation applies to the Prologue

• No Disc Wheels or wheel covers

• No Time Trial specific helmets

• No Time Trial bars either specific or clip on

Tri Spoke or other deep dish wheels are allowed as long as the rim does not exceed 10cm.

Stage 1

Stage 1 will start at 1:30pm and riders will be sent off by grade.

Stage 1 is 50km for all grades.

Bonus time will be allocated to each grade on both primes for the first three sprint positions (1st – 3 seconds, 2nd – 2 seconds and 3rd - 1 second) and for the first five finish positions (1st – 5 seconds, 2nd – 4 seconds, 3rd - 3 seconds, 4th – 2 seconds and 5th – 1 second).

DAY 2: Sunday 8th May 2016

Yes, we know it's Mother's Day... so why not bring ya Mum along. I'm sure she'd enjoy watching a day's racing.

Stage 2

Stage 2 will start at 10:00am for all grades with 2 min between grades.

The course length will depend on grade:

• A, B, C, D will complete 100km (Note: A Water Bottle will be provided for riders on the Second Lap)

• E, F, G, Tandem will complete 50km

Presentation

Presentations will be held in the Hall in the Gunning Showground at 2:00 pm. Lunch will be provided for all riders and officials.

Cycle 2016 for Ronald McDonald House Canberra

The Rotary Club of Woden Daybreak is running Cycle 2016 for Ronald McDonald House Canberra on Saturday the 14th May 2016. The event will help raise funds for our local house.

This fantastic ride is not competitive and showcases our beautiful local area, while providing an opportunity to fundraise to help support the families of seriously ill children throughout the ACT and surrounds.

Two courses will be available to cater for different skill levels, both starting and finishing at Stromlo Forrest Park. Both rides will be fun and casual.

Course 1 – 135kms

Commencing at 7am. If you enjoy the challenge of climbing 2,700 meters, then this riding experience is definitely for you! A great climbers’ ride with scenic views as you pedal your way to Corin Dam and back. This ride is suited for experienced riders.

You can view more detail about the 135km course by clicking HERE

Course 2 – 50kms

Commencing at 10am. Take in the spectacular views over Canberra with some small hills and an interesting little pinch as you climb to the top of Mt Stromlo. This will be a casual ride with no drops.

You can view more detail about the 50km course by clicking HERE

Interstate Events

• Tour De Riverina interclub dates;

- 24 April - Geoff Dixon Memorial - Albury CC

For more information http://riverinainterclubracing.com/tdr/.

• 2016 BATTLE ON THE BORDER

- 3-5 June

Now in its 8th year, the Battle of the Border cycling festival has grown to a notable multi-stage tour offering challenging racing in juniors, elite, masters and NRS divisions. The festival courses range from 50km to 150km, crossing challenging terrain and highlighting the beautifully unique volcanic caldera environment. Details at http://www.battleontheborder.com.au/.

RACING THIS WEEK:

Saturday, 23rd April: Old Federal Highway Graded Scratch

Where: Meet in the 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: Gravel Pit - Lake George - return; ABCD - 4 laps, EFG - 3 laps

The Race Director this week at Old Federal Highway is Dale Kleeman, dalek011@gmail.com, Ph 0438516382

The nominated marshals for this event are;

• Dale Kleeman,

• Paul Robey,

• Warwick Wilson,

• Tim Minehan,

• Tony Weir,

RACE REPORTS:

Uriarra Homestead Graded Scratch – 16th April

I have been given strict instructions to make the race report interesting. Well? At least the race seemed to go well.

It rained on my way to the race and it rained steadily on my way from the race, but the weather behaved itself during the race. A bit overcast, but dry, light winds and a good temperature. It appears that Mt Franklin being closed worked in our favour as the traffic was relatively light and, from all reports, well behaved.

We had a great turn out for our first scratch race for the season with 58 riders. We had one visitor, Matt McAuliffe, who gave A grade a serious workout and a sole G grade rider, Polly Templeton, who gave herself a serious workout. Congratulations Polly for making up to the top of the hill and back before B grade caught you.

The first run past the start/finish line was well ordered with most of the grades still in big bunches. We heard A grade well before we saw them, they must have had some speed up. The hill did do some damage to E and F grades. E grade was split roughly in half while F grade had two front runners, Tony Sheehan and Pauline Thorn. Tony and Pauline managed to stay out front for the remainder of the race. However, E grade had somehow got back together before they completed the first lap.

The second time up the hill took its toll on many of the riders. A, C and D grades did, more or less, stay together but otherwise we had mishmash of riders going in all sorts of directions past the start/finish line. (And please remember that when you have finished your race there may still be other riders on the course so try not to block their passage.)

I will not list the placing, the results have already been released and no doubt the eager-beavers have already checked out their competition. It looks like the handicapper is going to have a lot of fun.

I will however say a big thank you to all of those who helped thus ensuring that the race ran smoothly. We had three traffic controllers; Reinhard Mauch, Lindsay Graham and Denis Jessup as well as Mary Lovett, Barbara Bayliss, Bruce Jones, Ian McVay and Graham Hendrie as the marshals. Anyone who has helped out at the races will have seen what a brilliant job Graham has done setting up the van, the signs, the sign-on process, the timing process, the sign placement information, .... And finally, thank you to the first aider Simon who, I am happy to say, had a very boring day