RSS_TITLE

An Evening With Team Type 1: Diabetes Support

Team Type 1, a US-based professional cycling team featuring riders with Type 1 Diabetes, will be racing the Jayco Herald Sun Tour as it passes through Ballarat. Have dinner with them on Wednesday evening, learn more about the best tools to manage your diabetes, and hear from a Victorian-based dedicated support group for people with Type 1 Diabetes interested in exercise.

Click HERE for all the details.

Road: BSCC's Tour of Bright training camp

Stuart Grigg writes:

The Tour of Bright is just under 4 weeks away, on the weekend of 4 & 5 December. If you are contemplating entering and haven’t done so, best make a hasty visit to the CSV site, as a quick look at a couple of the entry lists sees them very full and the tour does book out quickly as entries are limited to a field of 550.

With that in mind, a bunch of BSCC faithful have pencilled in a training camp weekend on 20 and 21 November, in just under a fortnight’s time. The weekend’s aim is to familiarise or reacquaint ourselves with the course’s climbs and descents outside race conditions, and test that the legs and head are in some sort of shape.

The plan is on Saturday, after a good night’s sleep, to ride the two gaps loop (Stage 1) leaving the Chestnut Tree (training camp accommodation - ed.) at around 8AM. Mid-afternoon, we'll do a gentle roll on the out'n'back Stage 2 TT course. Saturday evening Kate is organising a BBQ at our accommodation, the Chestnut Tree, which has a great BBQ area and gardens, for the riders and families. Another early 8 AM start on Sunday, and we'll ascend Mt Hotham, with Zirky’s cafe conveniently open for the much needed coffee at the pointy end of the climb.

The idea of the weekend is to provide a relaxing atmosphere to ride the stage routes, as well as giving partners and families a chance to be involved without the stresses of being at start areas and finish lines and generally looking after us.

For more race information visit:

CSV - Tour of Bright information

Tour of Bright Homepage

There are also some fantastic accommodation options, so for ideas visit the web pages listed below, or use your favorite search engine.

Visit Alpine Victoria

Bright Accommodation

Bright Escapes

Bright Holidays

Wotif.com

lastminute.com.au

If you're coming, please let 75,97,116,101,32know. She is able organizing the BBQ, and she'll keep you informed along the way.

See you there!

*********

Stuart Grigg writes, in August:

Believe it or not, the Tour of Bright is just under 14 weeks away, on the weekend of 4 & 5 December.

If you are contemplating entering the Tour, or if you've already entered, you'll be interested to know that a few of us are planning a training camp in Bright on the weekend of the 20th and 21st of November. The goals of the training camp are to familiarise ourselves with the course’s climbs and descents outside race conditions, and test that the legs and head are in some sort of shape. Last year I saw a large number of competitors, I mean cyclists, riding parts of the course 3 weeks before the tour.

I am looking at booking a few apartments or houses to put us all up in, depending on who is coming - singles, couples, families etc. I'm planning to book for Friday and Saturday nights, to allow a good night’s sleep before we attack Stage 1 at around 8am Saturday morning.

The training camp plan is to hit the course in the same format as the Tour:-

· Stage 1 – Saturday morning (approx 110 km).

· Stage 2 – Saturday arvo (16km TT – just a roll over it to have a look, or if you are feeling energised....)

· Stage 3 – Sunday morning (55 km Mt Hotham – 24 km to Harrietville and 31 km up Hotham).

I want this to be a relaxed and enjoyable family weekend. If you're not racing but you're interested in riding with us, you're more than welcome. I will organise a baby sitter: we know some people in Bright that look after friends' kids.

Please 101,109,97,105,108,32,109,101 or call me on 0400 860 763 before September 11, or catch up with me at the presentation night, if you are interested in coming. Also please let me know about any particular special needs. I (well, Kate really) will be booking accommodation the week after and will need deposits. Currently we have about a dozen adults and 5 kids in for the weekend – it should be great.

For more race information visit:

Tour of Bright CSV info page

The Tour of Bright home page

The tour does book out quickly and entries are limited to 550.

********

Sick of the cold and rain? Wishing you did a summer sport? (Actually, you do! Road racing is held in the summer everywhere in the world except Australia. And the Bendigo Cycling Club does not race in July or August. There has been some discussion on the forum that one day we might do the same. But enough of that.) Well, entries for the Tour of Bright are now open. This might help you through the rest of the winter. It's in early December, typically held in glorious sunshine, and it's probably the most "euro" race in Australia that's open to normal mortals. Have a go! It's a lot of fun. But be aware that the CSV web site has the following note:

The Tour of Bright requires a certain level of fitness and bike handling skills and common sense.

The last condition counts most of us out. Also note that the field is limited and the race fills up early.

Thanks to Kate Grigg for pointing this out.

Amy's Ride, 2010

From the Amy Gillett Foundation.

Amy's Ride Victoria - Sunday 3 January 2010

Registrations are now open for the 2010 Amy’s Ride, brought to you by the Amy Gillett Foundation proudly supported by Cyclecover, on Sunday 3rd January starting from Geelong's Eastern Park.

Complimentary Jersey
The first 2,300 riders registered for the 120km or 60km rides will all receive the new Amy Gillett Foundation "a metre matters" jersey, proudly sponsored by the Transport Accident Commission, Continental Tyres and Cyclecover.

Fundraising
Join the Amy’s Ride Fundraising challenge by getting your family and friends to sponsor you for the ride. All money raised will go to supporting the Amy Gillett Foundation’s road safety initiatives, such as the new 'a metre matters' campaign. You get the chance to win great prizes.

Highlights
Have the opportunity to meet and ride with all your favorite Australian cycling stars, including new World Champion Cadel Evans, Stuart O’Grady and Robbie McEwen. Ride the picturesque Bellarine Peninsular with sweeping Bay and Ocean views, after riding the first 15km of Portarlington Road in a lane closed for traffic.

More details and registration
Visit the website for more information on the ride, fundraising and registrations. Stay tuned for an exciting announcement regarding Continental Tyres' involvement with the Amy Gillett Foundation.

MTB: ANZAC Race, Sunday May 1 (updated x2)

ANZAC 2-hour Challenge & Fundraiser

Slideshow (9-May-11)

The following slideshow has been put together using the images taken on the day, check it out at: http://vimeo.com/23428395

Race Result (2-May-11)

A last minute glitch in event logistics meant that we did not have access to the scout camp, and so the ‘race village’ was relocated and the course altered slightly. This made for a much more interesting final fast descent before hitting the brakes over a water bar and negotiating a 90-degree off-camber corner to turn into the timing area.

Eight juniors kicked the day off over a shorter circuit which featured an extended fire road climb to test the little legs out, but being as full of energy as they are, this wasn’t a problem and they pumped out numerous hot laps over 25 minutes.

We had a good field of seniors spanning three grades, with quite a number of out of town folk coming down to experience some new trails and low key racing in a friendly club atmosphere. I think most riders, even the ones who participated in this event last year, were surprised by the amount of climbing involved in each lap, with many people remarking that the circuit seemed to be nearly all uphill. The monolithic ‘Big Red,’ as it has become lovingly known, punctuated the halfway mark of each lap. It was a granny ring climb for some, and a slog-fest for those with limited gear options, while others decided it was quicker to walk up there. Of course a fast descent was the reward. It took riders sweeping into a large amphitheatre-like clearing with a bit of a jump in the middle of it. This was an ideal vantage point for some local campers who were sinking a few tins and hoping to see a bit of carnage, but as far as I know there was none, at this location at least.

Being a spectator at an MTB race gives you a new appreciation for how tough it is on a rider. Bystanders witnessed a whole rainbow of ‘pain faces’ throughout the two intense hours of racing, especially on those who had backed up from the previous day's three-hour race at Forrest. Jack Lamshed, who won at Forrest, came out to Ballarat for the day and finished a lap up on BSCC's top entrants, but he was grimacing no less than anyone else out there.

The fundraising aspect for the Timor projects was quite successful. An esky full of sausages was devoured, and the mother-lode of ANZAC cookies laid out in the feed zone was reduced to a few scant crumbs by the end of the morning. All in attendance donated generously which was much appreciated.

All in all it was a great day with the rain holding off and all riders looking thoroughly burned but smiling and satisfied. Just as any good mountain bike race should leave you feeling.

Original Article (18-Apr-11)

In the spirit of mateship, the Ballarat-Sebastopol MTB Club is proud to offer a 2-hour MTB challenge on the 1st of May, from Pax Hill Scout Camp in Canadian Forest, for BSCC seniors and juniors, and MTBA members from other clubs. Half of the proceeds from this race will be used to raise funds for community projects in East Timor as part of our club team’s participation in this years Tour de Timor.

Entry fees will be $10 for seniors and $5 for juniors.

We’ll also have a BBQ for this event, with the proceeds going towards the fundraiser.

Date: 1st May 2011

Juniors

Registration at 10am, racing at 10:15 am for 30 minutes.

Seniors

Registration will begin at 10:30am with racing from 11am and racing for 2 hours on a 30 minute loop.

Download the flyer in PDF

A course map is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/79955497

Directions

The race will be starting from Pax Hill Scout Camp in (450 Spencer St, Ballarat), see: http://www.paxhill.com.au/page.php?base=2 then scroll down to the "Where Are We?" section.

Road: BSCC is King of the Mountain

BSCC riders starred at the Victorian Hillclimb Championships at Leongatha on May 2. The state hillclimb champs were held two weeks after the national hillclimb champs at Mt Buffalo, in which BSCC also did very well. Angus Lyons won the M15 Victorian championship, and Emily Wordie-Thompson took bronze in W17.

Tireless correspondent Chris Liston writes:

Angus Lyons backed up his recent silver medal in the National Mountain Climb 23.5 km scratch race with a win in the Victorian Hill Climb Championship at Outrim, near Leongatha. Lyons picked his run to the finish perfectly in the 2.5 km uphill dash. Lyons' BSCC club-mate Joshua Liston attacked the field, consisting of the top fifteen of the state's M15 riders, in a frenetic race with constant jostling for position. Cresting the climb with the finish line in sight, Lyons went from the front, and powered home to outclass the bunch that included the national mountain climbing champ, Liam Hood, who claimed fifth in the end. Lyons' state title and gold medal built on his bronze medal in the same event last year. Liston finished in the top ten.

****

BSCC was represented by:

Angus Lyons, Josh Liston, Nicholas White (M15)

Dylan Bilston (JB13)

Liam White, Craig Firman (M17)

Emily Wordie-Thompson, Victoria Snibson (W17)

Emma Bilston (W15).

For full results, click HERE.

MTB: DirtGirls - Monthly MTB Rides for Women

Want to improve your MTB skills? Come and join us on our regular DirtGirl rides!

Watching others ride all the cool stuff, whilst you zip around the B line starts to get a bit tedious after a while, so if you are keen to develop your MTB skills with other women then join us for our monthly skills ride.

These rides cater to all riding abilities, so whether you are just new to the sport or you have been riding forever, there is something for everyone.

When: 1st Saturday of each month
Where: Different locations each month…….check the website!
When: 8am

So put it in your calendar and get your MTB bike ready!

Contact 74,97,99,113,117,105,32,67,108,121,110,101,115 to find out more or register your interest

Rail Trail Ride, Saturday 9:30 AM

Updated after the ride: this was fun! Some of us will be doing it again soon. We liked the state of the trail, and the masochists amongst us liked the fact that it was slightly soggy - very soft in places - so even going downhill required some power. It's a workout. Stay tuned for the next strada arancia epic. (We intend this to mean "orange road" in Italian, like the Montepaschi Strade Bianche, the white (gravel) roads used in the race formerly known as the Eroica, and in the stage of the Giro that Cadel Evans won last year. - ed.)

*******

There's no BSCC road race this weekend. If you're not skiing or doing the Bendigo Tour, join us for a ride to Linton and back on the Rail Trail on Saturday. Click HERE for more info about the Rail Trail. It's gravel and dirt, but it's designed for recreational riders (and originally for trains!), so not the least bit technical, so bring a road bike with big tyres, or a cyclocross bike. Or at MTB of course! We'll be going at B- or C-grade pace.

The ride is about 80 km round-trip, or 110 km if we decide to go all the way to Skipton and back (we'll decide en route). Meet at the Lake View at 9:30 AM Saturday.

MTB: Forrest 6 Hour Enduro

BSCC's own Phil Orr convincingly won the Forrest 6 hour Enduro on Sunday June 6th. Phil won by more than a lap in the mens solo category, and in doing so beat all the teams but 1 at the same time. For the full results see category results and lap splits.

There were a number of BSCC members that put in good results as well Clinton Lemaitre, Tanya Wiggins and Michael Veal in the solo category. Peter Walker and Jeff Filip in the pairs, and Tim & Gail Oliver in the mixed pairs Well done to everyone who competed!

Reach for the Stars

If you weren't there, you missed the stars: Matt White (and his hair - scroll down & you'll see it - and read the story while you're there), Chris (CJ) Sutton and Cameron Meyer (whom this column sort of tipped for the Oz Champs quite a while ago, and is now tipping emphatically). They signed jerseys, rang the bell, and even gave us track tips (Meyer's: "Don't crash.") And another star: Damien Keirl. If you haven't seen him gun the mighty engine, do yourself a favour & come down to the track one Thursday night. It is quite a sight.

Full results, thanks to Chris Liston:

U11 “Reach for the stars” 1000m Wheelrace Kate Lyons 1, Olivia Oliver 2, Bayley Dignan (SGW) 3, Rochelle Liston 4

U13 “Reach for the Stars” 1500m Wheelrace Emma Bilston 1, Nicholas White 2, Dylan Bilston 3

U15/17 “Reach for the Stars” 2000m Wheelrace Liam White 1, Killian Plastow 2, Joshua Liston 3

U15/17 F & Women’s “Reach for the Stars” 2000m Wheelrace Molly Hegert 1, Madeline Plastow 2, Monica Kelly 3

Men’s Senior “Reach for the Stars” 2000m Wheelrace Alan Cureton 1, Damien Keirl 2, Cameron Shaw 3

Handicaps

# 1 U11 1000m Rochelle Liston 1, Bayley Dignan (SGW) 2, Olivia Oliver 3

# 2 U11 1000m Bayley Dignan (SGW) 1, Olivia Oliver 2, Kate KLyons 3

#1 U13 1500m Emma Bilston 1, Nicholas White 2, Dylan Bilston 3

U13 Front markers 1000m Felicity Liston 1, Jayden Dignan 2, Sam Smith 3

U13 Back Markers 1000m Emma Bilston 1, Nicholas Whiote 2, Dylan Bilston 3

U15/17 2000m Zac Shaw (Colac) 1, Killian Plastow 2, Liam White 3

Women’s 2000m Gail Oliver 1, Monica Kelly (Horsham) 2, Molly Hegert 3

Men’s 2500m Cameron Shaw (Colac) 1, Chris Jehu (Camperdown) 2, Joel MacAllister 3

Points Races

U15/17 B Grade Angus Lyons,

U15/17 A Grade Hugo Tolliday

Women’s 10 lap Motor Pace Monica Kelly (Horsham) 1, Chloe Hegert 2, Molly Hegert 3

Men’s B Grade 15 lap Motor Pace Joel MacAllister

Men’s A Grade 20 lap Motor Pace Damien Keirl 1, Cameron Shaw (Colac) 2, Chris Jehu (Camperdown) 3

Track: Bendigo Track Night, February 19

Syd Anstee, Bendigo & District Cycling Club, writes:

Bendigo and District Cycling club is holding a special Saturday evening of track racing on February 19. Members of a dozen country cycling clubs have been invited. Racing will consist of four events for all grades: a scratch race, a motor pace, a points race, and a major handicap. There will be at least three grades - four if there are enough entries. The A-grade points race, the last event of the evening, will be 70 laps.

Entry fee is $10. Enter on the line. Racing will start at 6 PM.

For further information please contact me by 101,109,97,105,108 or on 0419 130 735.

Here's an opportunity to race on the unique and legendary Bendigo track, at the Tom Flood Sports Center. It has been the home of the Bendigo Golden Mile handicap since 1911 - won in 1985 by our won Greg Nunn - and the Bendigo Madison since 1972. We often think that Europe is the home of all our sport's history. But the Golden Mile started earlier than the Tour of Flanders (1913), and decades earlier than the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain).- ed.

BSCC at the Oceania Championships

The Championships are in the Geelong area Feb 12-15. That's this week. Harry is doing the U19 TT on Thursday, Beth is doing the women's RR on Saturday, and Rob is doing the men's RR on Sunday. You will be pleased to hear that Friday the 13th is a rest day. All our crew have some form, as you'd know if you've been to the track or the crits recently. If you're amongst the thousands who keep Doyle Time, you might have noticed that Rob rode for five hours the morning before he won the last Vic Park crit. Be afraid, other entrants ...

Granfondo Bigarelli

A typical Saturday ride from Myer's in Sturt Street leaves at 6:30 AM and includes about a dozen riders, mostly mainstays of the former Ballarat Veterans' Cycling Club, now BSCC members. Typically the ride is a few hours long, and isn't exactly flat, but keeps away from the handful of climbs around here that are more than 4 or 5 minutes long. A few years ago, Michael Bigarelli decided that on one day of the year, all these rules would be broken. Biggers is inspired by the Granfondo rides, the Italian answer to L'Etape du Tour, designed to give non-pros a taste of a Grand Tour mountain stage. Americans call these things century rides (100 miles, 160 km), and make them all friendly and non-competitive, as do Audax with the Alpine Classic. The Euro view is that what people pay money for is 6 hours of baking heat, freezing cold, hunger flat, dehydration, near-death experiences on the descents, and above all humiliation, because some skinny pro freak will beat you by hours no matter what you do. Biggers understands this. So it was that at 6:30 last Saturday, about 40 riders rolled away from Myer's. The group included several that had not seen a Myer's training ride for some time, such as mountain goat Jay Bourke, Austral winner Dean Taylor, and bionic man and former pro Adam "Steel" Smith. The route: Napoleons, around the back of Mt Helen, Gear Avenue, Yankee Flat Road to the top of Buninyong, down and onto the Oz Champs circuit, down Fisken Road, into Buninyong village, up the highway, follow the Champs circuit, head south towards Yendon, left at the railway lines, over the stone bridge at Navigators, into Dunnstown, over Betts and Howards Road, over the Pimple, to the top of Warrenheip. By this time the temperature was well into the 30s. Luckily someone knew where the taps were, but several cooked riders literally toppled over at the top of Warrenheip, and some big guns looked as though they were about to, and limped home. The remaining riders headed north towards Mollonghip, where there are a few short but steep climbs. Details of the finale are sketchy, but the word is that only eight made it. Next year we're betting that even more will front up. Grazie Biggers.

Road: Round 4 crit results

BSCC Senior Criteriums Rnd 4 - Dec 7 -2011

Doolan takes Line Honours!
Many attacks was the order of the night in the ½ extended Senior A grade Criterium. With the threat of being relegated down a grade all were keen to perform. Aaron Blomeley set about making a pair as Tony Mirabella wanted to get a break off the front. After a brief stint the peleton reeled them in. Hugo Tolliday had a dip along with Jeremy Doolan. Josh Collingwood kept the bunch cool and in the final stages the group had everyone in for a shot at the win. Sprinter and double championship winner Scott Townsend lurked, however it was Doolan who went off the front going into the last corner and he had the whole corner to accelerate out of to the finish. Townsend second with Tolliday third.
Jim Crumpler and Paul Humphries continued to collect podium places in B and C grade. Simon Wilkninson had the run in a tight sprint in B grade, then Crumpler followed by Sam Palance. Dave Peters came home strongly in C grade to take a solid win, from Humphries and Don Stewart.

Senior Results
A Grade 25 min + 2 laps
1st Jeremy Doolan
2nd Scott Townsend
3rd Hugo Tolliday

B Grade 25 min + 2 laps
1st Simon Wilkinson
2nd Jim Crumpler
3rd Sam Palanca

C Grade 20 min + 2 laps
1st David Peters
2nd Paul Humphries
3rd Don Stewart

Junior results

Bailey Cody took a win in the E grade junior criterium over 5.2km. Cody off limit with Rochelle Liston dropped her at lap two and went on with the field chasing. Zac Stinchcombe was the closest followed by Tyson Cody and Jake Ashmore. Clancy Dickson from scratch with Graeme Frislie managed to dislodge the tenacious Frislie as he hopped through the field. Coming to the finish Jake Ashmore sprinted from Felicity L:iston and Dickson through to relegate Liston to sixth. The placings had been taken, with Tyson Cody picking up third.
In the F grade group the field did not make inroads on the previous times. Zigggy Lee held on to his starting gap. Chloe Stinchcombe took second from the steadily improving Emily Smith.

1 lap Dash Heart Starter
Jake Ashmore (0)
Bailey Cody (10)
Zac Stinchcombe (10)
Greame Frislie (f/t)

E Grade 1 lap H’cap Sprint 1.3km
1st Bailey Cody
2nd Zac Stinchcombe
3rd Tyson Cody
f/t Clancy Dickson

E Grade 4 lap H’cap 5.2km
1st Ziggy Lee
2nd Chloe Stinchcombe
3rd Emily Smith

Track: Junior and senior race results

Form club track reporter Angus Lyons

School was out and the numbers were down but that did not stop the great racing from continuing with a number of experienced and novice seniors turning out and getting involved. This wealth of knowledge and experience did not go un-noticed with many of the junior riders learning some track craft.

B grade was a combined B, C and D grade this time with no clear standouts for the top position. The races were tight with Dominic Geoghegan taking the first scratch race in a sprint. The second race was the next event; a tired Geoghegan had only a few seconds on the fence before they were off again, this time upcoming rider Jake Ashmore took off from the first lap and never looked back, he rode with the consistency of a pursuiter and stayed away to take top spot, Rochelle Liston took second from Graeme Frissilie, in a tight sprint. The elimination a clearly tactical race, Geoghegan took to the front early on to avoid elimination, Clancy Dickson had a crack on the front before sliding back to ride level with Geoghegan who kept him in the wind in an attempt to wear him out. This seemed to be effective with Dickson taking third, Graeme Frissilie taking second and Geoghegan once again took first. The team pursuit is all about the balance of speed and endurance. To fast and your team breaks apart, too slow and the other team wins. Those in B grade learned this the hard way, Team Ballarat consisting of Jake Ashmore, Dominic Geoghegan and Graeme Frissilie went out hard but stayed together for the first few laps, however a strong turn on the front by Frissilie came back to haunt them when he dropped the wheel and the team started to fall apart, this allowed team Sebastopol to come through and take honours.

A grade was hotly contested the junior and seniors looking for a good race. First up in the Scratch race was a move by Jack Stewart, he broke away with about 5 laps to go, taking a good margin before Victoria Snibson and Doug Garley lifted the pace and held him there. With 3 to go, no one had moved and the chasing duo decided to lift the pace in an attempt to make a catch. After 2 laps the distance had halved but it looked like it could go either way. The catch was made in the last fifty meters; Garley took the race by centimetres from Stewart and a Bright weary Snibson. The second race was an unlimited lap, elimination, team’s pursuit. The aim is to catch the other team, eliminating them. It took five to ten laps for movement to occur, both teams locked in an even battle however in the end Doug and Andrew could not be denied, catching the junior team of Victoria and Jack. The motor pace was a combined A-B grade event, however with six laps remaining it was called off due to rain. Within fifteen minutes the track had dried and the race was restarted with ten laps to go. The seniors dominated with a three way sprint for the line Doug taking prime position from Andrew and Joel Hassock.
Racing is on next week (15th Dec) and we would like to see anyone interested there, seniors are welcome.

As alway, for full results go to the Track site.

BSCC goes uber chic

Statistics show that 9 out of 10 BSCC members are cool, even those sporting last years sock length. The remaining 1 in 10 doesn't use Facebook. Shocking I know, but its the cold hard truth.

Another fact. BSCC now has not one but three Facebook pages. Thats three chances to keep up to date with the latest news and contribute to the inane banter generated by other bored office workers with smart phones.

Those with a keen eye may have noticed that the website forum has been taken down. Pro: My predecessor is no longer inundated with Russian spam from comical looking bogus email accounts wishing to infiltrate our forum with the express intention of pedalling marital aids rather than bicycles. Con: Dr Feuntes has one less place to manifest his 3am stream of consciousness.

Solution:

Click here for road, track and general stuff,

here for MTB,

and here for BMX,

and 'like' them all. Then away you go.

MTB: Final Events for the Year

This is just a reminder to all MTB members that there are two remaining MTB events scheduled before the end of the year.

On the 14-Dec starting at around 5:30pm is the last dirt crit. To help celebrate we will fire up the BBQ and for something a little different there is also going to be a bike themed "car boot" sale so bring along all your old bikes and parts that you no longer want and see if anyone else could use them.

On the 19-Dec starting at 10am (arrive a little early, so 9:45) we will be setting off from Gong Gong reserve for a social ride around Nerrina and arrive back at 12pm for a combined BBQ lunch with all BSCC members and family welcome to attend. see article from more details.

Hope to see you all there.

Small Dog Criterium BBQs, 2nd Wed. of each month

The club will be putting on a BBQ at the Small Dog Crits on the 2nd Wednesday of each month through the season, starting Wednesday, December 9.

So, bring a few extra dollars, family and friends and make an evening of it on the 9th Dec, 13th Jan (if we're racing then - to be confirmed), 10th Feb , 10th March and possibly also the Championship night. There’ll be sausages, hamburgers, salad, and even steak sandwiches, with prices ranging from $3 to $5.50 with soft drinks at $1.50 each. So eat and race, or race and eat, or just eat. Stay for a little longer and have a chat.

Road: BSCC Scores at State Junior Road Champs

Click HERE for the full official road race results, and HERE for the TT results.

And click HERE to see Chris Liston's gallery of photos.

A full report is coming soon, but until then, here are some highlights of BSCC's results. Congratulations all!

Time Trial:

JG11: Rochelle Liston 3rd

JW15: Emma Bilston 1st

JW17: Victoria Snibson 1st

JM17: Angus Lyons 4th

Road Races

JG11: Rochelle Liston 4th

JW15: Emma Bilston 2nd

JM19: Liam White 2nd

Chris Cashin Memorial RR

Over thirty riders greeted the starter for the senior edition of the Chris Cashin Memorial road race last Sunday. The race, in memory of the former BSCC and Ballarat Veteran stalwart who was killed in a training accident, has been run recently as a veterans' open race. The Mount Misery Circuit was a favourite course of Chris’ because it suited his tough relentless style. This was its first edition as a BSCC race, and the turnout, on the first week of school holidays and the same weekend as the Coleraine tour, is a testament to Chris.
Kylie Zelly set off first with Karen James, pursued by two groups totaling ten riders, spaced apart by only 90 seconds. The second limit bunch went from four riders to three on the first corner, and then to 2 riders after the second corner. They couldn’t match the strength of the marauding Vince Mader. This left Bob Morley and Vince Mader no choice but to wait for the next bunch to come through. Come through they did, with Morley and Mader jumping on and struggling to keep pace. The newly constructed bunch quickly settled in with a mixture of strength, experience and exuberance. Tim Oliver, Bob Morley, Dale Boucher and Jeff Filip added some experience and Jason Haire, Peter Kyatt and Vince Mader were excited and raring to go. They caught the front markers at the 30 km mark, and Zelley had the strength to get on. She made the mistake of rolling through for a turn and that was the last that was seen of her.

At the start, the rift between the front three groups and the back four groups was five minutes. On the rolling, exposed Mount Misery circuit, the strengthening north-westerly wind favored the back markers, but they faced a tough task to cross the rift. The seven-minute group, with the experience of Greg Nunn marshalling Ben Clark, Peter Canny, Shane Butler and new recruit Shane Cody, made a solid start. The 5:30 bunch rocketed off the mark, towed by world-ranked master kilo track rider Scott Townsend, but none of the other riders in the group matched Townsend's power, and when he punctured on the gravel section, their fate was sealed. Before the end of the Mount Misery lap, they were mowed down by the powerful and evenly-matched second scratch bunch, under the command of John Polkinghorne, and shortly thereafter by the flying scratch bunch. Surges from number one rider Phil Orr thinned the ranks further, and with a lap of the Avenue circuit remaining, the race was between what remained of the two groups either side of the rift.

The front group of Oliver, Haire, Boucher, Mader, Morley, Filip, Norman and Kyatt kept powering on, out of sight of the chasers. The wind had steadily come up during the race, and the last 2 km was a strong cross wind. Mader found himself on the front a long way out, but had the sense to ride on the down-wind edge of the road, elimininating any advantage for the riders behind him. With 500 meters to go Jason Haire moved closer to the front. Tim Oliver swung out, jumped out of the saddle, and committed. Haire and Peter Kyatt followed. Jason Haire was too strong and took out his best race win in his short career. Tim Oliver was a meritorious second, and Peter Kyatt third. The remaining survivors of the front groups followed: Peter Norman, Jeff Filip, Vince Mader, Dale Boucher and Bob Morley finished in that order. They finished four minutes ahead of the consistent Phil Orr, who took the fastest time, and the indefatigable Gary Gullock who finished ninth and tenth respectively.

Bob Morley and Phil Orr contributed to this report. For full results of this race, and other BSCC club senior and junior races, please click Club Racing > Results on the left-hand menu, or click HERE.

Road: Tour of Bright Training Weekend

Stuart Grigg writes:

We are again heading to Bright for a training weekend, similar to our Tour of Bright training weekend of last October. This year we will be in Bright over the Melbourne Cup weekend, or at least the Friday night, October 28, to Monday October 31. We plan on doing some good hill training whilst having some time with our families to enjoy the serenity! We are leaving it with anyone who wants to venture north to find their own accommodation. They had better get in quickly, as long weekends book town out, and accommodation is already running tight. Just get in touch with 83,116,117,32to let me know you will be there, and we will make arrangements to join up on either the Friday night or Saturday morning.

Look forward to seeing as many as possible up there.

BSCC 2009 club road champs: 1 PM START

The BSCC Race Committee met last night, Monday 7 September, to make final decisions regarding the format of the club road race championships. Here is what was decided. This is a long posting, but please read all of it. Updated: corrected W17 distance

Saturday: road race championships

The Gordon - Mt. Egerton - Ballan - Gordon circuit is 27 km per lap. Events will be 1, 2, 3 or 4 laps. First place in each event will be the club road champion in that division. Second and third places will also be awarded. The 2009 BSCC Club Road Champion will be the winner of the 108 km senior (open or "elite") race. Racing will not start before the listed time. Senior and masters entries close Friday 11 September with 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114. Senior and masters registrations close at 12.45 PM on race day.

1:00 PM: Club Championship, 108 km, senior or by self-nomination, verified by 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114,46

1:10 PM: M19 (men under 19), 81 km

1:20 PM: MMAS (masters men, 30 and over), 81 km. All riders will start together. There will be one overall race winner and place-getters (2nd and 3rd). Championships will also be awarded for subsets MMAS1-3 (ages 30-44) and MMAS 4-7 (ages 45+). This means if a MMAS5 rider (like Doug Garley - ed.) wins the race, he will be the BSCC Masters Champ and also the MMAS 4-7 Champion.

1:25 PM: WMAS (masters women, 30 and over), 54 km.

1:30 PM: Women, 81 km

Juniors, from 2:00 PM

Racing will not start before the listed time. Registration closes at 1.45 PM on race day. Entries close with 67,104,114,105,115,32,76,105,115,116,111,110 on Wednesday 9 September (tomorrow!).

M17 (male under 17), 54 km

W17 (female under 17), 36.3 km

W19 (women under 19), 54 km

M15 (male under 15), 36.3 km (9.3 km +1 lap)

J9 (under 9), 9.3 km

J11 female (female under 11), 9.3 km

J11 male (male under 11), 9.3 km

W13 (female under 13), 16 km

M13 (male under 13), 16 km

(W15 (female under 13), 27km: both road race and road time trial championships are postponed due to clash with national titles. Events will be held at Dunnstown on September 19).

Notes:

M17 and W17 must ride in the under-17 races, not the senior or 19 races.

M19 and W19 races will be held if there are 2 or more entries.

If you are in any doubt regarding what race you are qualified to ride, please discuss with 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114 (senior and master riders) or 67,104,114,105,115,32,76,105,115,116,111,110 (junior). The objective of the club rules and guidelines regarding championships is to provide races for all competitors. The rules allow some discretion. As a rider, it's your personal responsibilty to address entry issues with Phil or Chris before Saturday. So if you have questions (for example, about whether you have qualified for the championships by riding enough club events or doing your allocated marshalling duties, as described HERE - ed.), please contact Phil or Chris now.

Race numbers are to be worn so as to be seen horizontal on your left side above your hip.

All instructions and judgments from marshals and officials are final. The usual appeals processes apply.

Riders are not permitted to involve themselves in another division's race. Infringement affecting placings will be penalized as Did Not Finish.

Sunday, individual road time trial

Windemere Hotel - Cardigan. The races will be followed by a BBQ at the Windermere Hotel car park.

9.30 AM: Recreational team time trial

10.00 AM: Senior ("Elite"), masters, women, M19, W19, 18 km

10.30 AM: Cuthberts Road, far western end: Junior - M17, W17, M15, W15, M13, W13: 8 km. J11, J9: 4 km

Presentation of Teams for the Jayco Herald Sun Tour

The City of Ballarat invites BSCC members to the the Jayco Herald Sun Tour teams presentation, on Saturday night, 10 Oct, 7:30 to 9:30 pm, at the Regent Theatre. Bring your Cycling Australia licence.

We are told that the the dress code is smart casual. We have never known exactly what this means.

A (subjective) selection of notable riders from the current teams lists:

Patrick Shaw! Our very own.

Richie Porte - Bjarne's latest love (announced 1 hour ago)

Peter McDonald - green & gold

Jaan Kirsipuu - 3 Tour stages, 5 days in yellow. Respect.

Leigh Howard - world omnium champ, and more to come, we bet

Glenn O'Shea - likewise

Darren Lapthorne - former green & gold, has been through some tough times lately

Bradley Wiggins - 4th in Tour, best pursuiter ever?

Trent Lowe - Aussie climber (there aren't many of them)

Chris Sutton - very fast, awesome pedigree

Svein Tuft - the hard man's hard man

Rock Racing - everyone's fave bad-asses - including ...

Ivan Dominguez - scary fast

Track: Senior Track Racing - The Monthly Western Wheelrace

Updated:

Danny, the proprietor of the Western Hotel, will sponsor the Western Wheelrace for BSCC senior track riders, once a month. The winner will get a $50 meal voucher at the Western, second place will be $30, and third $20. Thanks Danny!

So, BSCC senior track riders, now that we have an incentive to race, do you want to race on Saturday afternoon, as we used to do in the olden days, and as we do on the road? Or do you prefer Sunday afternoon, as we proposed earlier (see below)? Contact The Hard Rider, Doug Garley - click 72,69,82,69 to email him, or phone or text 0423 856 428 - and let us know.

Roger Bade, BSCC Track Tsar, writes:

The current plan is for senior racing this track season to be held on weekends - Sunday afternoons. We're planning to have junior racing on Thursday afternoons, as we have done for the past several years, and separate senior racing on Sunday afternoons. Discussions so far suggest that the current model - junior and senior racing on Thursday afternoon-evening - doesn't work for anyone. The adults get there late and get no warm up. Numbers have generally been poor. The juniors are delayed, so the finish is not until close to 7 PM. We are all banking on more regular weekend racing, focused mainly on seniors, catering better for the adults. The lines would not be rigid. Seniors who can sensibly join in with better juniors on Thursday afternoon would be fine, and juniors could do the same on weekends without dominating.

I have picked out some dates for Sunday afternoon senior racing: Nov 6 and 20, Dec 11, Jan 15 and 29, Feb 26 (remembering the Spokes Ballarat Madison carnival on Feb 11) and March 25. We need volunteers to run these sessions. If you're up for it, or if you have comments on this plan, please contact 82,111,103,101,114.

BSCC September-October board meeting

Karen Snibson, BSCC secretary, writes:

Minutes - September / October meeting
19/10/2010
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office 7:30pm
1.0 Board members: Volker Hegert, Gerard White, Roger Bade, Don Stewart, Stuart Brien, Phil Orr, Chris Liston, Peter Martin, Karen Snibson
Apologies: Gerard Cosgrave, Wayne Jolly
In attendance: Ian Nunn
2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
Minutes of the August meeting were presented and no issues were raised.
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report: Presented by Gerard White, seconded Don Stewart, carried
Gerard presented the finance report.
There is still some sponsorship to be collected.
The club social event will incur a small loss, we may run a raffle in the future to assist with this.
3.2 Road report: Presented By Phil Orr seconded Gerard White carried
The season has progressed well.
However today we have become aware that permits and planning are not in place for the Swiss-Italia race. We will look at the management of this event for next year.
Planning is underway for 2011, and the commencement of the crit season in November.
3.3 Track report: Presented by Roger Bade seconded Gerard White carried
Marking of the track has proved problematic. The upgrade of the facility has been difficult and consumed a lot of time for Roger.
28 riders participated last week.
Training has commenced with Damien Keirl.
Clubrooms- decisions still need to be made on the process of this. (Key issue project management – Volker and Mal Callaway are considering this)
3.4 BMX report:
No report tabled, however things are progressing. Drainage work is being undertaken. It is likely that there will be a grant awarded to upgrade the BMX track.
3.5 MTB report: Dale presented his report seconded Peter Martin Carried
35 racers tonight at the race
10 new members
MTB have purchased equipment as required.
Dale is using his personal trailer for the movement of equipment. We need to find a solution for this. BBQ trailer might be an option.
3.6 Secretary's report: Karen Presented the report, seconded Volker Hegert, carried
Move a motion to move the correspondence as read (which will include payment of the membership to the Ballarat Foundation)
4.0 General Business
Action Items:
 Cancel the Swiss Italia and notify on the website
 Forum, discussion of the club jersey – look at the champion gear in 2011
 Liaise with the City re Master planning of Marty Busch ASAP, Gerard will be the club contact for that.
4.1 Commencement of track season:
We will host Sunday 13th of February. Roger is liaising with CSV to run the event. Work to do on sponsorship. This will be a madison event. (Men’s and women’s) plus the initiation of a junior madison., perhaps city versus country.
We will not be hosting a regional track championship.
4.2 CSV AGM attendance / changes to constitution / vote
Don will attend the AGM,
Our club has one vote for the board, we take this seriously.
The board of BSCC would like to ensure that the voice of the club is heard.
There was discussion about the role of the delegate
Gerard will seek information about the people who have nominated for the board.
4.3 CHSA – do we want to seek accreditation as a good sports club (fwd email to board members) - not at this point in time
4.4 CSV amendments to constitution – were discussed no questions or objections were raised.
4.5 Preparations for AGM – date and agenda format / board positions
21 day notice required both on the website and in the Courier. Chris will take on the role of advertising the meeting.
Of the current board members who are due to be replaced all are prepare to re-stand, except one.
All positions will be declared vacant at the AGM, nominations for the executive will be received prior.
Proper preparations need to be made for the meeting.
4.6 Membership.
Meeting subscriptions have started to come through. New members who present at track and crits will be asked to approach Phil in Navajo.
There was discussion about the capacity to offer membership to all members of the public.
The issue of complaint by the Bilston family was raised. To this point there has been no mediation.
4.7 Brunswick club request for strategic plan – the club received funding for this, and we are happy to share it. Karen will contact Harry Hart.
4.8 Ballarat Sports Foundation Membership – discussed and supported in the secretaries report.
4.9 Bay Crits: would the club consider entering a team. The club supports this view and would be prepared to add some financial assistance. Stuart Sanders has expressed some interest in assisting the formation of the team.
Motion 1) Gerard moved a motion that the club support the formation of a team for the Bay crits. The club will set aside up to $1000 to support the team.
Meeting closed 9:45pm

**************

Agenda - September / October meeting, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, 19 October 2010
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office 7:30pm
1.0 Attendance:
Board members:
Apologies:
In attendance:
2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report:
3.2 Road report:
3.3 Track report:
3.4 BMX report:
3.5 MTB report:
3.6 Secretary's report
4.0 General Business
4.1 Commencement of track season
4.2 CSV AGM attendance
4.3 CHSA – do we want to seek accreditation as a good sports club (fwd email to board members)
4.4 CSV amendments to constitution
4.5 Preparations for AGM – date and agenda format / board positions
4.6 Membership.
4.7 Brunswick club request for strategic plan
4.8 Ballarat Sports Foundation Membership

Road: Liam White ascends at Taltarni

Updated with a few more details, and official results:

In one of the top rides we've seen in a BSCC club road race this year, Liam White confirmed his ascent to a new level with a dominant win in the season-ending Taltarni handicap at Moonambel today. Scott Townsend took fastest time.

The race was run in near-perfect conditions. The course is sheltered from the gusty winds that were buffeting Ballarat, and rain threatened but did not eventuate. Peter Kyatt, one of the revelations of last year's Taltarni race, national-level junior star Victoria Snibson and Michael Colville set off first, followed after a seven-minute gap by Don Stewart, Roger Bade and Gerard White. A further four minutes back was a powerful bunch consisting of young gun Aaron Blomley, the ever-consistent Peter "Engine" Walker, in-form Craig Lightfoot, Phil Cartledge, and Michael Veal, in a welcome return to road racing after a year on the dirt. After this the starters came thick and fast: 6 minutes, 4, 2 and scratch.

The 6-minute bunch of Jeremy Doolan, Stuart Brien, Liam White, Sam Turley and Jonathan Lacey started fast, despite Lacey having a "day without" and contributing very little all day. By the hamlet of Barkly, with hard work from Brien, White and Turley, the gap to Lightfoot's bunch was down to a minute, and then to 30 seconds at Navarre. The road from Navarre to the KOM with 7 km to go is almost dead straight, so White's bunch had the race spread out in front of them: Snibson and Colville dropping back, Kyatt holding on solo but doomed, with the combined forces of the Lightfoot and Stewart bunches bearing down. The road behind was clear. The four-minute group - Thayne Turley, king of Cape Clear Jon McLachlan, Fred Icke star Shannon Gration, MTB and motocross gun Warren Faneco, and 1983 Melbourne to Ballarat winner Stuart Sanders - lost Gration and Sanders, and with them the chance to cross to White's bunch. Adam Smith drove his fellow scratchmen Scott Townsend, Tony Mirabella and Ciaran Conaughton across to the 2-minute bunch of John Polkinghorne, Doug Garley and Peter Kiel, but this was not enough reinforcement to catch the front riders. In fact the scratch bunch started a minute behind scratch, 20:30 behind the leaders and three minutes behind Garley's group, thanks to the last-minute appearance of pursuit machine Conaughton.

White, by now clearly the strongest of the contenders, held himself back and kept his bunch together as they inched across the gap to Lightfoot's group. As the road sloped upwards, his patience ran out and he simply rode away from his co-markers. White has plenty of raw physiological ability, but what really sets him apart is his ferocious will, and today he would not be stopped. Sam Turley hung on for a while, but was dislodged near the top of the climb as White reached the leaders. Stuart Brien got his huge engine running on the descent towards the finish, and with occasional help from stragglers, he reeled Turley in within sight of the finish, and got to within a dozen seconds of the leaders, but not close enough. Craig Lightfoot pushed White all the way in the sprint, to the delight of the spectators, but White made no mistake. Peter Walker and Michael Veal filled out the places. A short time later, Scott Townsend, who, like White, has had an outstanding road season and is raring to go on the track, took out the sprint for fastest time.

BSCC Taltarni senior handicap, Moonambel: official results:

1. Liam White (6:00)

2. Craig Lightfoot (8:30)

3. Peter Walker (8:30)

4. Michael Veal (8:30)

5. Aaron Blomeley (8:30)

6. Peter Kyatt (19:30)

Fastest time: Scott Townsend (-1:00)

King of the Mountain: Peter Walker (8:30)

First woman: Victoria Snibson (19:30)

MTB: Social Ride - Forrest

Ballarat-Sebastopol MTB Club are proud to offer MTB cyclists a friendly ride on some of the best tracks available in Victoria (or Australia for that matter) at Forrest (in the Otways, down near the coast). While alot of local riders have ridden these tracks they may not have had the opportunity to ride them in a social setting. I personally think these tracks are better when you are not racing on them.

The plan is to met at the car park of Buninyong Pub where we can workout carpooling arrangements based on how many people are coming. Below is the planned timeline

- 7:45am, organise carpooling
- 8:00am departure
- 9:45am arrive at Trail Head, and unpack
- 10:00am start riding
- 1:00pm finish ride
- 1:00pm to 2:00pm get a late lunch
- 2:30pm to 4:00pm drive back to Buninyong Pub

If you are not aware of what tracks are available at Forrest checkout the following website:

http://www.rideforrest.com.au/trails

We will be driving directly to the "Yaugher Trail Head" (the upper set of trails) where there are approximately 10 trails to choose from. Once we arrive we will divide into two groups, a slow 'n' easy group (suitable for beginners to immediate riders) and a more advanced group (suitable for immediate to skilled riders) that will tackle all the black runs, along with some of the others.

We are going to allow for about 4 hours at Forrest, 3 riding and 1 for lunch, while not all riders have to ride that long there will be the opportunity to do as much or as little riding as you feel comfortable doing. The township of Forrest is about 2km away from the Trail head so it is possible to purchase food and drink there, although the selection is not huge.

Anyone can come along with us on social rides, you don’t need to be a BSCC member. If you don’t have a MTBA licence then you will need to pay a $5 charge (and fill in a form, so arrive a little early) for insurance cover.

Where: Carpark of Buninyong Pub (corner of Warrenheip St and Midland Hwy)
Departure Time: 7:45am
Expected Return Time: 4pm
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

BSCC MTB is affiliated with MTBA, which means all riders must present a current MTBA 'Social' or 'Race' membership card during registration. Membership provides insurance coverage for both the rider and the club in the event of an incident. Non MTBA members have two options, 1) annual membership, (see the Membership page for more details) or 2) purchase a $5 Social Day permit, which is valid for the whole event and available on the day, but we ask that you arrive early to fill in the paperwork.

Taltarni Rec TTT report

Ray Issac writes:

On Sunday 1 November, the same five RECTTT teams who had enjoyed the previous two time trials assembled in Moonambel for some serious fun on their bikes. All teams had tweaked their makeup somewhat in the relentless search for time trialling perfection.
• Last event’s CSC winner, Les Bilney, was back with the Principals.
• The Turret allowed Bob Braszell, Rob Dolan, Phil Cochrane, Peter Norman and Peter Canny to get onboard.
• The Saxons were strengthened by the addition of Neal Goad, Trevor Smith and Steve Smith.
• Dennis Family Homes had recruited well and welcomed Mark Smith onto their team.
• Karen Canny added some grit and jelly snakes to the Goddesses.

(I know there were others but if I don’t know your full name you’re not getting mentioned. Your chance for fame, or at least recognition, lies in your hands.)

Meteorologically, the weather was fine and the sky was blue, however a Scotch mist metaphorically descended the moment club vice-president Don Stewart began his instructions to the riders.

Perhaps it was our eagerness for the battle, or perhaps it was his lowland brogue, but Dennis Family Homes, the Principals and the Turret missed a key instruction and thus a key turn on the road. This fact was loudly conveyed to them as they passed the diligent Goddesses and Saxon House going in the opposite direction on the Barkly road just out of Navarre.

In a more serious (and less fun) event such as, say, a bike race, this may have been a source of some concern. RECTTT riders take such trivialities in their stride and adapt.

For the Goddesses, this adaption involved stopping at a stranger’s house in Navarre and asking them if they knew which way the riders had gone. (This was despite the fact that five minutes earlier they had passed the same riders out on the road.) There was no coherent answer to that incomprehensible question. I can only ascribe their eventual return to the finish line to divine intervention.

I must acknowledge that the Goddesses did make progress that day. Karen Canny, one of the Amazons who provide the power in their peloton, passed out her jelly snakes to each member and they didn’t even stop riding to do that. (My emphasis.)

The teams who had introduced the alternate route were treated to a unique view of the club race unfolding before their eyes. Somehow all the racers had managed to follow the correct course. But the most remarkable thing they witnessed was Don Stewart pivoting on his heels when it became apparent that the first RECTTT riders were coming from behind him and not from his right. Full marks for flexibility Don.

When all the counting up was done, all teams had performed well. The Saxons and the Principals remain the only teams to have increased their average speed each time they have attended. Well done to you both.

Overall, all average speeds were well up and everyone seemed pleased with their efforts. They also seemed pleased with their post-ride beers that were once again cheerfully provided by hotelier extraordinaire, Peter Canny. Thanks Pete.

No achievement came close to Don Stewart’s monumental effort. Thus he was awarded the CSC award. I don’t need to explain which category of Courageous, Stupid or Cunning that fell into, do I?

Footnote. The riders were invited to attend the club BBQ and presentation at the Taltarni winery. Most stayed and all those who did thoroughly enjoyed it.

Thanks to Wendy and Gail for all your work with the catering. Also to Rob Crocker for again manning the barbie, and to Phil Cartledge for arranging Taltarni to be available.

In what can only be seen as a glowing endorsement of the RECTTT concept, Alan Cureton demolished the club race by, well, half a wheel. Alan and fifth-placed Peter Kyatt have both recently honed their edge in the fire of RECTTT riding. Congratulations Alan and Peter, you’re both welcome back if you find the need for a different challenge.

For more on the Rec TTT series, please click Recreational on the left-hand menu.

Web site changes

Some more changes to the web site are coming up, in response to your requests. These are largely driven by the fact that 80,97,117,108,32,77,97,116,104,101,114,115,32has very kindly put his hand up to take charge of the MTB content on the web site. Paul is known to most of the MTB riders in the club. We'll post a proper introduction to Paul soon. The changes that Paul will implement will allow people who are mainly interested in the MTB content of the web site to find it quickly. The same idea will apply to the BMX content, when the BMX side of the club starts happening.

We don't want to force any kind of segregation between road, track, MTB and BMX riders. After all, one of the benefits of a single club covering all these cycling disciplines is that it's easier for us to sample all of them! But as the amount of content on the web site increases, we want to make stuff easy to find, and sorting it by discipline is one way to do this. So look out for these changes during the month of May. We'll be asking you what you think.

For the time being, keep sending stories, race results, photos, corrections and so on to the usual 119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121. We'll let you know soon what goes to whom, and we'll make that easy for you.

Road: BSCC road races at Learmonth

BSCC's road races were held in glorious autumn conditions at Learmonth today. Thankfully, the races were not marred by the crashes that blighted last week's racing at Haddon. Presentations were hosted by the Stag Hotel in Learmonth, with sandwiches thanks once again to Wendy Ross.

Phil Orr, BSCC handicapper, writes:

I was in the perfect position to see how the winning group's ride unfolded. I decided I’d ride with the second limit group of Victoria Snibson, Emily Thompson, Michael Colville and Dominic Geoghegan. The idea here was to help these guys with real-time coaching on working together and understanding the wind: where to sit on the road to survive when the faster bunches come past. (Other riders pay big $$ for this kind of coaching and don't get Phil's experience or patience! - ed.)

The group were working well together. Dom found the pace a little hot and let go along Coghills Road. The remainder of the bunch got closer and closer to Sean Lee, who at this stage was on his own, with Jenny White, the other limit rider and the race leader, 500 meters in front.

Before we knew it, the 14 minute (3rd limit) bunch, driven by Gerard White and Killian Plastow, was 500 meters behind us. This little gap gave me enough time to give the second limit group some tips on how to deal with a passing bunch. They did exactly as I said: lifted, blended in and survived.

It was now the start of the last lap. This was when Don’s and my handicapping started to make us look bad! (One of the very rare exceptions to Phil's uncanny ability as handicapper to bring all the groups together at the finish. - ed.) The combined front group was riding only 1.5 km/h faster than predicted, but this was fast enough to get them to the finish 1 minute ahead of the charging middle-markers group. The middle group was the combined 4:00 and 6:30 groups. The 4-minute bunch consisted of most of the crew who unsuccessfully chased Grant Gilbert in last week's B-grade race. This bunch is very evenly-matched, and raced together most of last year, so they worked together very smoothly, and closed the 2:30 gap to the bunch in front in just over a lap. In the perfect conditions, on a non-selective course, the combined group was 15 or so riders, a little too large for the width of the roads, and so some of the smoothness went out of their chase on the critical second lap. This is where they lost the race. When corner marshal Gail Oliver gleefully told the group that the gap to the leaders was still four minutes with about 12 km remaining, massive turns of pace from the ever-strengthening Charlie Stebbing, monster triathlete Shannon Gration, and the Jedi himself, Shane Cody, brought the leaders almost into view, but it wasn't enough.

The third race within the race involved the back two groups, who started separated by two minutes. The scratch bunch, driven by Ciaran Conaughton and Grant "Cancellara" Gilbert, caught second scratch half way through the second lap. All of the second scratch bunch contributed to the chase, but both groups in front had flown the coop. Ciaran, the pursuit specialist, took a flyer on the long, tailwind finishing straight, but "King" Keirl was having none of it, and took the sprint for fastest time by a Cipollini-esque margin.

A big thanks must go out to our marshals, Kylie Zelley, Gail Oliver, Wendy Ross, Peter Kyatt and James Crafter, with a Chief Marshal of the Year award going to Simon Gillett in the new BSCC ute, for exemplary marshal and course management.

Official results - senior 54 km handicap:

1: Dave Peters (14:00)

2: Mike Colville (15:00)

3: Paul Crack (14:00)

4: Victoria Snibson (15:00)

5: Gerard White (14:00)

Fastest time: Damien Keirl (scratch)

Volunteers wanted

From the pen of Micheal Veal:

The community of Creswick is working with BSCC to develop an event of road and MTB races over the weekend of 23-24 October. Help is needed. Too often the role of arranging these events falls to the same few hands. No skills are needed, and no experience. What we need are people who can communicate and achieve a given task.

Whether it's marshaling, permits, promotion or all the fun stuff like course setting, these projects look great on your CV, and make fantastic VCE projects in the real world. Plenty of support is available.

Please email 115,116,117,98,114,105,101,110,64,104,111,116,109,97,105,108,46,99,111,109 or 109,105,99,107,118,101,97,108,64,104,111,116,109,97,105,108,46,99,111,109 to offer your support.

Road: the 51st Fred Icke handicap

Updated with junior report, and senior photos from Kate Grigg (see below).

Chris Liston reports:

The 51st running of the Fred Icke senior open handicap race was accompanied, for the first time, by a junior handicap race. Ballarat Sebastopol Ccycling Club was well represented. Emily Wordie-Thompson gained a place on the podium by taking the First Woman trophy in the Junior U15 / U17 44.7 km handicap race. The Icke is known as a hard rider's race, thanks to its tradition of being held in atrocious Ballarat winter conditions, and the trophy was a fitting win for the young lass from Gordon. Emily outsprinted clubmate and fellow member of the 8-minute bunch, Victoria Snibson, for the prize. In temperatures that were in single figures, with fog to start and rain at the end, the race lived up to its reputation for the youngsters. The field did not come together as expected. Conor Dickson and Joshua Liston, the only under-fifteen riders in the fourteen minute group, crossed to the bunch that contained Wordie-Thompson, Snibson and Nicholas White at around the 30 km mark. This combined group was unable to reel in the outmarkers, who had disposed of Dominic Geoghegan early and forged on ahead. Holding onto third place was BSCC’s Patrick Cosgrave. U15 Cosgrave, from the limit mark, stayed the course, chasing fellow limit rider, Brunswick's U17 Tyson Breen. Breen put time into the chasing bunches and finished minutes clear. Cosgrave held third after Ethen McMennimim from Bradford/Seymour overtook him within several hundred metres of the line.

Chasing from the rear, after starting 30 minutes behind limit, were Liam White, in the scratch bunch, and Hugo Tolliday and the in-form Angus Lyons from second scratch at 24 minutes. White clocked the second-fastest time, finishing on the wheel of Thomas Hamilton.

***********

BSCC was well represented in the senior race at the 51st Fred Icke open handicap race at Creswick on Saturday June 5. Ben Clark crashed heavily at the finish. He has a damaged AC joint in his left shoulder, and will have surgery, but is optimistic that he will make a full recovery.

Updated: previously we missed Andrew Weightman's contributions to the winning 12-minute bunch. Sorry Andrew! Now corrected - read on.

Twenty-five BSCC senior riders entered the race - a fair fraction of a total field of 180. The third scratch bunch (12 minutes), with BSCC's Ciaran Conaughton and Andrew Weightman at the fore, ground its way through the field on the third lap. Of the roughly 110 riders who started on 12 minutes or earlier, only about twenty were there to contest the finish. As the exhausted riders wound up their sprint, in heavy rain, a rider touched a wheel with 150m to go, went down, and left Ben Clark with nowhere to go but over the top. Ciaran avoided the carnage and finished sixth to take a well-deserved First Ballarat Rider trophy. Shannon Gration, from 27 minutes (2nd limit), in his first open race, put in a superb ride to finish a metre behind Ciaran. Andrew Weightman also avoided the chaos and finished in the front group after doing his lethal best in the last 10 km to crack the sprinters. The combined scratch and second scratch bunches, including Pat Shaw, finished a few minutes further back and took the fastest time.

Before the race, as Melbourne riders looked shocked at the weather, Ballarat riders pointed out that these were the best conditions for the Fred Icke for several years. The temperature briefly reached double figures, the precipitation was in liquid form - no sleet - and there are no reports so far of the wind knocking anyone over.

The CSV handicappers organized the field into seven large groups, with gaps of five or seven minutes. The limit group, featuring BSCC's Aaron Blomley, Melissa Keirl and Chloe McIntosh, was the exception: the smallest bunch, with a bigger gap of 9 minutes. Behind them were the powerful 27 minute group, with Bob Braszell, Shane Butler, Ben Clark, Shannon Gration, Jason Haire, Clive Silcock and Charlie Stebbing. Ben's bunch started steadily, remembered that the first ascent of Springmount was not the Plan de Corones time trial in the Giro, and worked well together. At the start of the second lap they caught the limit group and took over the lead.

In the 22-minute bunch were Jarrod Boyd, Jonathan Lacey and Charles Martin, along with most of the VIS women's road squad. This group did not work as cohesively as the group in front, but well enough to catch the two front groups on the second lap, and form a group with enough firepower to have a chance at dominating the race. But on the third and final ascent of Springmount, the pace began surging, ejecting Charles - also in his first open road handicap - along with Shane, Jason, Charlie and Bob.

Meanwhile, further back, the 17 minute bunch of Doug Garley, Stuart Grigg, Damien Keirl, John Polkinghorne and Scott Townsend was also running hot and cold. They started very fast. Garley had knee problems and dropped back on the frenzied charge towards Koroochiang. Grigg hung tough, Polkinghorne worked relentlessly as always, and the in-form Townsend and Keirl made it look easy. After bolting into Smeaton on the first lap, the bunch lost cohesion between Smeaton and Creswick, then inexplicably found it again on Springmount the second time, and blasted towards Blampied as if motorized. Unfortunately Keirl had a mechanical problem near the top of Springmount, so found himself chasing the bunch solo. In an amazing piece of determined riding, he got within reach of his bunch, when he realized that the 12-minute group was almost upon him, so he accepted the free ride back to his group.

The 12-minute group, with Ciaran, James Crafter, Tony Mirabella and Andrew Weightman, and Shepparton's Stephen Fairless, arguably the strongest rider in Australia in the mid-1980s, chased like maniacs for the first lap, and sacrificed about half their riders in doing so, including Mirabella and Crafter (but not Weightman, as mistakenly reported earlier). Crafter calmly slotted in with the monsters of second scratch, but Mirabella's race was done. Despite the attrition, the momentum of the 12-minute bunch, with major contributions from Ciaran and Andrew, turned the tide of the race. Out the front, the combined three groups were depleted when Chloe punctured and fell victim to race director Doug Armstrong's rigidly-enforced old-school rule against outside assistance. The philosophy behind this rule is that either everyone in the race has spare wheels and feed stations, or nobody does. At the Tour of Bright, everyone does; at the Fred Icke, nobody does. The hot-and-cold 17-minute group was not gaining quickly on the big front group, until Ciaran and Andrew's group caught them. The lift in pace was too much for Townsend, Keirl and Polkinghorne on the third and final ascent of Springmount. They chased hard but did not make contact. The Conaughton-Weightman juggernaut rolled on, and caught the front group and took over the lead near Smeaton on the third lap. This left Ciaran, Andrew, Ben, Shannon and Clive from BSCC in the front group. Pat Shaw and Rhys Gillett were among the drivers of the scratch group. Fellow scratch rider Damien Turner, returning from injury, did his part for the first two laps and called it a day. Scratch caught second scratch, including James and Doug, at Koroochiang on the second lap, to form a combined group of fewer than 20, from 40 starters.

Before Ciaran and Andrew's group took the lead, the pace in the limit groups had become erratic, and the arrival of the exhausted but powerful middle markers made this even more the case. On the last half-lap, scratch was gaining rapidly, but not rapidly enough. Repeated surges at the front, especially Andrew's attacks, winnowed the numbers down, ejecting Clive, and kept the gap big enough. The last few kilometers, in driving rain, became very tactical, with the unfortunate result of Ben's crash.

In the scratch group, Rhys sacrificed himself on the last lap to bring the gap down, and lost contact outside Smeaton. Pat finished with the fastest time group.

The official story is on the Cycle Sport Victoria web site.

Here are some photos from Kate Grigg. Thanks Kate!

Ben Clark at the start

Chloe heads off

Stu Grigg and Damien Keirl

Stu looking relaxed

Tony Mirabella and James Crafter

Damien: gritty

Pat Shaw and Rhys Gillett driving the scratch bunch

Cold and wet

Pat Shaw almost home

Scott Townsend finishing

Pat Shaw debriefs after the race

*********

The handicaps for the 2010 Fred Icke open road race are now posted HERE, at Cycle Sport Victoria. Check it out. Observations:

Pat Shaw's wearing number 1. He has Damien Turner and Rhys to keep him company in the scratch bunch.

Scott Townsend has been walloped by the handicapper for his wins the last two weeks.

Doug "Hard Rider" Garley usually comes across a handicapper with a long memory. Not so much this time - he'll do fine off 17 minutes.

Ben Clark, who recorded some jaw-dropping numbers in Brad Clark's tests at Ballarat Uni, is looking very good off 27 minutes.

Chloe McIntosh, off limit, has got to be a solid bet too.

See you out there!

**********

A handful of BSCC riders who know better are preparing themselves for the 51st Fred Icke open handicap race at Creswick on Saturday June 5. Traditionally, this race is held on the coldest, bleakest day of the year. It's 133 km, the longest race that many of the competitors will ride for the whole year. Imagine the Collier, 5 degrees colder, 5 km/h faster, an hour longer, more climbing, fighting for the edge of the road the whole way, and the scratch bunch has a dozen riders almost as strong as Pat and Rhys. This is what some of us do for fun.

Entries close this Thursday, May 27, with Cycle Sport Victoria.

To read about last year's race, click HERE and HERE.

We're getting club rooms!

Roger Bade writes:

Hot off the press!

BSCC has been successful in grant applications for money to build club rooms at Marty Busch Reserve in Sebastopol. We got $60K from the Victorian State Government (Sport & Recreation Victoria Minor Grant), plus $40k from BSCC's and cycling's biggest supporter, the Ballarat City Council. Formal acceptance by council is still needed, but the money is there and this will go ahead. Hopefully quickly! Stay tuned for more details.

Snippets from the Bendigo Tour

Full details will follow, but here are some of the highlights:

- Rhys Gillett was in the break in A grade on the dismal, cold, wet, greasy first stage.

- Johnny Townsend had an emphatic win in the queen (hardest) stage in B grade on Sunday morning, easily winning the sprint to the top of the Melville Caves climb.

- Rhys and Jay's Cycle City team-mate James Mowatt took the A grade leader's jersey on the same stage.

- Tony Mirabella continued Ballarat's Sunday clean sweep of B grade, and scored a nomination for the Hard Rider award, by riding most of the afternoon stage on his own off the front, and holding off a charging bunch in a thrilling finish. In order to give the other riders a chance, Tony and Johnny went home on Sunday afternoon to rest up for next weekend's Fred Icke suffer-fest. Look out ...

- On Monday morning, Jay Bourke earned another Hard Rider award nomination by doing a Tony in A grade, soloing most of the stage on his own, and again holding off the cavalry to the delight of the crowd.

The low point of the weekend for Ballarat was Chloe McIntosh's crash in C grade on Sunday morning. Chloe hit the ground hard, was taped up by the Bendigo support crew, and got back on her bike to finish the stage. This alone would have won her the Hard Rider award, but the fact that she caught and passed several riders who did not crash meant she won it hands down. At the time this report went to press, Chloe believed she has no broken bones, but perhaps some tears to her hip flexor and adductor. More details soon. Meantime, best wishes to Chloe for a speedy recovery.

Road: The Long's Hill World Championships

Thanks to Chris Liston for the following full set of reports on the senior races.

Young guns lap up Long's Hill climb

Jay Bourke took line honours in the second stage of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club’s King of the Mountain series. In ideal spring-like conditions at Glen Park, four grades of senior riders tackled the 10 km loop that takes in the Long's Hill climb. Bourke, by definition a climber, crossed the line in the 50-km A-grade event as victor with apparent ease. Over the previous five laps it was not so clear cut. U19 rider James Crafter with Stuart Grigg, Grant Gilbert and Damien Keirl worked steadily on the White Swan descent and the Long's Hill climb. Their tactics dislodged Brad Clark, former winner of the U23 King of the Mountains at the Australian Championships, and last year’s B-grade winner at Long's Hill, Warren Faneco. Strong-man climber and mountain bike rider Shane Cody was sidelined after two laps due to a puncture. This left a core group of riders all capable of placing well. With Bourke putting time into the field on the last climb, the real battle was for the minors. Tony Mirabella, who in the opening laps was tucked off the main bunch, came through and claimed second over James Crafter. Track star Damien Kierl, along with Doug Garley and John Polkinghorne, rode a tough event to finish in the mix.

The B grade race, also over 50 km, saw young guns Aaron Blomeley, Jarrod Boyd, Thayne Turley, Charles Martin and Sam Edwards up against the wisdom of the likes of Charlie Stebbing, Shane Butler, Peter Kiel and Bob Braszell. From the early stages the in-form Martin was applying pressure, and attacked on the downhill on the opening lap. Scott Bilney succumbed to the terrain while the rest of the field stayed in contact. Martin came over the climb on the final lap to take the win in front of a field that was a tighter clump than A grade. Jarrod Boyd took second narrowly over Aaron Blomely. Former footballer Thayne Turley, a relative newcomer to BSCC road racing, brought home the rest of the field.

C grade was graced with the presence of a few juniors who saw the 40 km race as a great challenge. Senior riders Don Stewart, Peter Canny, Dave Peters, Ben Morrison and Will Maddams were not able to shake juniors Jasper Foley, Joshua Liston and Lewis Piccoli over the four laps, not even on the White Swan descent. Despite their restricted gears, Foley and Liston drafted in the pack, at speeds nudging over 70km/hr. The juniors came into their own on the ascent. Maddams cracked, and a small gap opened in front of Stewart – a gap that stayed open thanks to the four climbs. On lap two Canny, Piccoli and Liston had settled in at the front, with Foley looking like he had been ejected. Coming over the climb on the last lap, Foley was back in the mix and led a long way out. Piccoli was chasing Foley, with Liston and Canny in pursuit of Piccoli. Foley and Piccoli took the first two placings. Liston, with revs and youth on his side, just kept Canny from the minor place, with Morrison following Canny home.

In D grade, Victoria Snibson and Kylie Zelley had a duel of their own for 30 km. Snibson opened a winning gap on the determined Zelley, who persisted with consistent pace to finish the punishing climbing event.

Results: A Grade 50 km KOM, Glen Park

1st Jay Bourke
2nd Tony Mirabella
3rd James Crafter

B Grade 50 km
1st Charles Martin
2nd Jarrod Boyd
3rd Aaron Blomeley

C Grade 40 km
1st Jasper Foley
2nd Lewis Piccoli
3rd Joshua Liston

D Grade 30 km
1st Victoria Snibson
2nd Kylie Zelley

************

This Saturday's BSCC road race, July 3, will be held on the Long's Hill Road circuit. This is the race otherwise known as the Long's Hill World Championships. For the full story of last year's epic, click HERE, and you'll see how much things change in twelve months. This time last year, Mitch Brogden was riding B grade, Charlie Stebbing and Stuart Grigg were riding C grade, Micheal Veal was riding a road bike, and Doug Garley was smashing everyone. Not everything changes.

This year Rob Doyle and Ben Clark are having collarbone-enforced rests, so the race is wide open. Be there!

Tour insights: after the TTT

Michael Veal writes:

Poo on your head

When my three-year-old wants to put you back in your place, he says with an explosive P, " I am going to poo on your head!"

Is there any doubt that Cadel awoke today in his French hotel room to find a funny smell and a nice warm dropping planted square between those furry eyebrows? In the corner was Lance pulling up his Astana strides and high-fiving a giggly gang of schoolboys. Kloedi was laughing, Dimitry was laughing, Levi was having a girlish giggle, Yaroslav was standing slightly apart looking guilty. Alberto was hoping to have the next go.

Cadel didn't race the Oz Champs, missed the Tour Down Under, skipped the Giro, rode the Tour of Romandie under duress. Fulfilled his second-again destiny at the Dauphine, and it was all for the Tour. Whenever asked, he always replied smugly that being good in ........ does not translate to being good in July.

Well Cadel, tell it to the counsellor. Call Jan and get her number. The nightmare is only likely to continue when we hit the Pyrenees on Friday. I predict Astana to smash ‘em like bugs just for the hell of it. I have always said that the thing that makes Lance different to all the others is not his physiology, but his sick and twisted brain. He has never lost. Cadel has never won.

I just haven't figured out how Lance will dispose of Alberto. For ideas I am going to watch the three-year-olds’ favourite cartoon, "My Goldfish is Evil," about a sociopathic megalomaniac fish. Somehow he looks a bit like Lance.

Jay's Bay Classic

BSCC's Jay Bourke writes:

I only raced two of the Bay Classic Crit Series, the Saturday and Sunday Geelong Botanical Gardens courses. With Nationals, my main goal, so close to Bay Crits this year, it would be difficult to do both well. I was asked to ride for one of the pro men's teams during Bay Crits and had to turn this down, regretfully, due to the reasons above. This was hard, but hopefully a good ride at Nationals will make it worthwhile.

Saturday's crit was raced on the long Geelong Botanical Gardens circuit. For those that don't know, it is 2km of bumpy, root-riddled coarse bitumen with a small climb over the back of the circuit. It is also the least technical crit, so I thought this would be a safe form-finder before Nationals. I started the race slowly at the back of the 120-rider group, with the idea of finding my legs in the first 30mins before working my way to the front with 3 or so laps to go. On lap 2 I had a minor interruption to that plan when I had a front blowout on the rolling descent at 75km/hr! All good though, as the neutral spares car picked me up, squashed me and my bike in the back of a little Ford Focus, and I chilled out at the pits for a lap. The racing was pretty rough and physical, as the slow course meant that the large peleton kept bunching and slowing up the narrow climb. As I made my way to the front with 3 laps to go, new local Reece Gillett went off the front. I wasn't going to chase another local down, so I waited for others to do the work, but Reece was riding hard and it wasn't until a lap to go that he was reeled back in. So I waited to hit it that last time up the climb, but it was tough as about 30 other riders had the same idea. My heart rate peaked at 193 in this final spurt, and I was in the top 10 ready to push over the hill, when a Specialized rider reached out and I copped a solid shove! Those that know me know that I am a hulking mass of 60kgs, and so in no time I was 3m off the road and into the corrugated gravel! I stayed upright, and regained my momentum, but it was race over. It could have been a lot worse though; the same Specialized rider grabbed some bloke's helmet in the final 30m of sprinting, resulting in 4 riders heading to hospital. Oh the joys of the Bay Crits Sheep Stations Championship. Anyways, I rode back to Torquay, went for a bodysurf, ate 2 large pizzas, and got ready for the next one....

Sunday's crit was on the shorter, windier and more technical Geelong Gardens loop. The short sharp climb to the finish of each lap is deceivingly hard, and meant that it was only 15mins until the 120 strong peleton was whittled away to just 15 riders. The remaining 30mins were great fun with riders going off the front repeatedly. I was feeling a lot stronger than yesterday, so I was really enjoying pushing my body - attacking off the front hard; looking back to see who could respond; cringing when the group reeled me in with apparent ease; struggling to raise the tempo and hook onto a wheel again; before taking a look to see who was breathing harder than me, and attacking again! In the end 2 riders got a gap and stayed away. My legs finally called it quits with half a lap to go, and I couldn't go with the final attacking move. I finished about 10th with an average heart rate of 181bpm, while Reece Gillett came in 8th and didn't have to ride home. (If Reece doesn't finish a crit he rides home to Ballarat. Tough as nails!)

Then it was back to work. I only have a short week at work in the lead up to Nationals, which I really appreciate. It means I get to go for a cruisy ride each morning instead of sneaking it in at some unreasonable hour before work, snooze on the couch, and eat like there is no tomorrow... tough life!

Other things I will do this week:
- sleep lots - best training / recovery tool
- drink lots of water + eat lots of fruit, veg, and carbs - really set my nutrition up before the race
- organise my food for the race, and get some good mates to help feed me - my mates and girlfriend love getting involved, having a few beers and helping me out during the race; and it is a great mental distraction during the race to see them having fun each lap
- getting my bike all sorted - it cops a fair bit of abuse over this course with harsh front ring changing and sticky gels and drinks going everywhere.

Best of luck Jay! - and also to all the other BSCC riders doing the Nationals.

Rob's National Champs TT

It's all here:

http://doyletime.blogspot.com/

Rob tells us that his blog has achieved cult status. Stay here on the Cycling Ballarat web site & be ahead of all the trends ...

Spokes Festival and Clubroom opening

To co-incide with the Spokes Festival this weekend, all members, family and friends of the BSCC are invited to the official opening of the clubrooms. It will be a great opportunity to catch some of the states best track racing.

When: Saturday 11th February 3pm
Where: Marty Busch velodrome Sebastopol

This will follow the Spokes Festival Track Carnival U17 State Madison Championship with our own Angus Lyons and Josh Liston Racing.
The Women's and Men's Senior State Madison Championships with Liam White and Doug Garley follow in the evening from 5.50 and 6.30pm respectively.

After some great racing you'll want to stick around for the Ballarat Cancer Research Centre Social Tea - Pasta Bake - 3 varieties with Soft Drink / Juice and Raffle. Cost will be not more than $15.00. (Costs dependant on numbers) 6.30pm onwards. If you know you will be in attendance please RSVP your head count to Chris Liston on 0437318251.

MTB State XC Series #3: Phil again!

It was another grand day for BSCC at round 3 of the state XC series at Bendigo. Phil Orr showed he's back from a bout of over-training and ready for the Odyssey with a win. He took the highly competitive Veterans' race by 11 seconds, and gave the spectators something to cheer about by doing it all on the last lap. There were other placings by BSCC riders too. Clinton Lemaitre was 6th in the same race, which had a lot of DNFs due to the heat. Guy Falla was a storming 3rd in the Super Masters race, riding faster than a lot of riders half his age, as always. Shane "Jedi" Cody continued his ascent with 3rd in the Sport race. If you've been watching the Small Dog criteriums, you know to put your last cent on this man to rip it up at the Odyssey. Joel Hossack was 6th in the same race. Please click HERE for full results.

Two out of three ain't bad

Chris Liston writes:

Race Results –Junior State Track Championships, 2010

Two out of three ain't bad!

Dylan Bilston and Rochelle Liston were the only two BSCC sub juniors to make the trip to DISC in Thornbury to contest the State Track Championships. Both entered the Sprint, Time Trial and Scratch events. Bilston, in U13 Boys, claimed bronze in the time trial and was runner up in the scratch race, making it two medals from three events. Dylan and Rochelle have competed in most of the open races on offer over the long and hot summer season and showed great form. Liston, in a small field of six U11 girls, finished just outside the podium places.

Road: Drenched Dog - 8 Dec Small Dog Crits CANCELLED

You guessed it: this week's Small Dog criteriums are cancelled. Not only is it raining, but some of the course is under water. Tell me again about that drought ...

Ballarat-Sebastopol CC approves merger with Ballarat Veterans CC

A merger between the Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Cub and the Ballarat Veterans Cycling Club, in the works for many months, achieved its final seal of approval tonight, when the members of the Ballarat-Sebastopol CC voted in favor of the merger. The merger was approved by the membership of the Ballarat Veterans club at a special meeting on November 13. For a number of years, avid veteran racing cyclists have been welcomed as members of both clubs. Now Ballarat-Sebastopol CC formally welcomes all the former members of the Ballarat Veterans CC, and invites them to become members of the merged club for 2009. It's expected that the united club will have over 200 active members. This will lead to a greater variety of racing for all members, with more a larger pool of volunteer safety marshals; more opportunities for development and mentoring for all the club's riders, young and old; and a single, strong voice for cycling advocacy in Ballarat. Lots more opportunities to get involved with the sport we all love! More soon ...

Track: The 2012 Ballarat Madison

Roger Bade, madison maestro, writes:

Plans are starting to unfold for the big 2012 Madison carnival.

Please check out the developing website HERE. Please let 82,111,103,101,114,32know what you think. (And yes, we know: the Spokes Festival web site is not up yet.)

Richard Lyons has very kindly offered to assist with financial aspects of the carnival, including budgeting. We have a big head start this year with $10,000 being provided up front via the City of Ballarat and the Spokes Festival (the Ballarat Cancer Research Centre)

I am now looking to bring in a small number of people to form the organizing committee for this event.

In particular I need people to:

1. Help with sponsorships
2. Help with assigning volunteers for on the day duties
3. Assist Richard with catering - which will be provided by the Ballarat East Men's Shed, but some help will still be needed
4. Oversee presentations - I want to get in a pro to actually do the presentations, but we need someone to set it all up
5. Oversee results - I am working with Paul Mathers on an edited version of his MTB results database. It is brilliant and I'm sure we will have a vastly superior system this year which will enable results to be published via the website within hours of the meet ending. - I need someone to do results entry on the day and to learn how to use the system.
6. Assist Cycling Victoria with the madison

Also, Richard and I have been discussing buying a good coffee machine and selling the coffees ourselves. If we get a good machine we could do this every week and make money for the club. It could even generate a bit of income for someone if they want to become the BSCC Barista!

Let me know by EMAIL what you'd like to help with.

PS: How good do the club rooms look? It's all thanks to Volker Hegert, Peter Martin and Malcolm Calloway. Volker has done much of the work through his building company, Peter has utilised a vast range of tradies and suppliers through his role as regional manager for Denis Family Homes (DFH), and Mal has volunteered huge amounts of time just because that's what he does. Peter has been the overall project manager, and DFH have been the registered commercial builders for the project. If you haven't seen the product it's worth a look - amazing really.

Road: BSCC Handicap Entry Policy

Here's a reminder about the club's entry policy for handicap races. Entries are due to 68,111,110,32,83,116,101,119,97,114,116 by 5 PM on the Friday before the race. It takes Phil and Don several hours to figure out the handicaps for each race, and to do so they must have the complete start list.

So if you show up to a BSCC handicap race without entering the Friday before, you'll get a ride, but you'll be riding in the bunch behind the one you usually ride with. This isn't being nasty: an extra rider in your bunch requires Phil and Don to re-jig the gaps between bunches on the spot, or it gives your bunch an unfair advantage. This way you get a ride, and the handicapping isn't thrown out. And you'll probably remember to enter next time ...

Conversly If you enter and then not participate, this also throws the handicaps off. Once we understand, but please don't do it regularly. In the interests of creating balanced handicaps to allow for differing ability levels to compete, please do your part. Thanks.

Chris Liston, on behalf of the race committee.

State and National Team Financial Support

BSCC offers financial support to members selected to represent Victoria or Australia. Please click HERE for the details.

Road: Tri Series - BSCC Wins the Battles but Geelong Wins the War

Updated: it's official - Geelong CC won the Tri Series, breaking Ballarat's recent stranglehold. The series points tally is HERE, and the individual standings are HERE. Geelong's C-grade king, Ben Andrews, was the top individual rider across the series. Congratulations Geelong! The keys to Geelong's win were their performances at Cape Clear, where they had a lot more riders in the points in all grades than BSCC, and their dominance of the C-grade racing, where BSCC was under-represented. BSCC had more wins than Geelong, but Geelong got a lot more points. Like Petacchi vs. Cavendish. There is a gallery of photos from the Beeac race HERE, thanks to Geelong CC's Simon Masters. (Clive won by miles!) Simon is also responsible for tallying the series points (in great detail - check out the links above), and was third in the overall series standings, by far the most consistent rider in B-grade. Simon's view of the series:

"In my opinion this was a pretty fun series to ride in (though if I was out the back each race I might have looked at it a little differently!). We had over 80 individual riders racing across the 3 races, probably a pretty good indicator that the format is right. The courses were varied and each circuit had its own attributes, so the aggregate is a good indicator of those riders that performed well across all terrain."

We agree. Thanks to all who made the series happen.
*******

The third and final round of the Tri Series of road races was held at Beeac this Saturday, hosted by the Colac Cycling Club. Scott Keating scored a clever breakaway win in A-grade, with Damien Keirl bringing the bunch home for third, and Phil Orr amongst the placings. Clive Silcock took a gutsy win in B-grade, after riding a third of the race solo. Jarrod Boyd took a strong third, and BSCC took four of the remaining top ten placings, but the unofficial word is that Geelong's consistent top-ten placings, especially in C-grade, gave them the overall series win.

Racing was on the flat, exposed Beeac - Warrion - Ondit circuit. The A-grade race featured a flurry of attacks from Geelong and Colac riders for the first two of three laps. Phil Orr and Damien Keirl tirelessly chased them down, to set up a bunch finish for proven sprinters Keirl and Scott Keating. It appeared that a stalemate had been reached on the third lap, but on the last rise near Ondit, Keating skipped away with a Geelong rider, and the pair held their lead to the finish. Keating sprinted to the win, with Keirl unsurprisingly the fastest in the bunch, and Phil Orr (who had ridden the 80 km to the race) not far behind. Phil was last seen riding back towards Ballarat ... Castlemaine Six-Hour MTB competitors, look out!

BSCC's B-grade crew - Thayne Turley, Jarrod Boyd, Clive Silcock, Charlie Stebbing, Scott Bilney and Jonathan Lacey - were determined to grab as many series points as possible, despite the absence of sprint gun Charles Martin on a sprinters' course. The strong Geelong contingent, led by the in-form sprinter Simon Masters, were equally determined to maintain their series lead. The race was a stop-start affair, like the race at Meredith. After a series of attacks on the cross-wind Beeac-Warrion sector on the second lap, Bilney and Lacey had a dig on the corner after Warrion, creating a springboard for a ferocious attack from Clive Silcock. Masters decided to let Silcock dangle in the headwind from Ondit to Beeac, but despite steady work from four Geelong riders, the gap to the courageous Silcock remained at 35 seconds as the field started their final lap. A massive blast in the crosswind from Geelong's Belgian triathlete strongman Steve Vander Bruggen, chased by Turley and then by the bunch powered by Masters, reduced the gap somewhat. After a brief rest, Vander Bruggen went again, this time pursued by Boyd. Boyd reached the flying Belgian, and the pair crossed to Silcock just before Warrion. Masters declared himself content, the Ballarat riders agreed, and the chase stopped. Up the front, Silcock still had enough to counter several more attacks from Vander Bruggen, and then to hold him off in the long, headwind sprint to the line in Beeac, with Boyd a close third. A minute or so later, after a final motor-pace session from the super-strong Turley, Bilney took the long way around the outside into the wind to uphold his legendary family name* and take the bunch sprint from Lacey, with Stebbing and Turley also up there.

Official Beeac results, including C grade, and overall Tri Series results, will follow soon.

* We never tire of telling people that Scott Bilney's father, Ray, sprinted to 4th place at the 1964 Olympic road race in Tokyo. 12th place in that event went to a Belgian cyclist named ... Eddy Merckx. There are a lot of cycling Bilneys in Ballarat and they are all fast. - ed.

***********

The third and final round of the Tri Series of road races will be held at Beeac this Saturday, August 7, at Beeac. The race will be hosted by the Geelong Cycling Club. Start time is now confirmed: 1:30 PM. Click HERE for a course map, thanks to Geelong CC. It is the same circuit as last year's race: flat and very exposed.

Entries have been extended to noon Thursday, so drop 80,104,105,108 a line now.

Here's more Tri Series info, from Simon Masters at Geelong CC:

I have updated the points from round two of the Club Challenge Road Series (Tri Series). Here are the links:

Club leader board

Individual Aggregate (all grades combined)

Points are allocated as follows: 1st 10 points, 2nd 9 points, 3rd 8 points..... 9th 2 points, 10th 1 point.

Thanks Simon, and congratulations on leading the individual aggregate!

2009-10 Small Dog senior criterium aggregate

During the 2009-2010 Small Dog criterium series, Phil Orr kept a tally of who did what in the senior races, and awarded points for placings in each grade. Points were awarded as follows:

1st place = 5 points, 2nd place = 3, 3rd place = 2, intermediate sprint win = 2. Riders got 1 point for starting each race.

Here are the results. Congratulations to the aggregate winners, Damien Keirl, Stuart Brien, Dave Peters and Craig Firman.

Small Dog senior A grade 2009-2010 criterium aggregate

1. Damien Keirl

2. Jay Bourke

3. Rob Doyle

4. Rhys Gillett

5. Phillip Orr

Small Dog senior B grade 2009-2010 criterium aggregate

1. Stuart Brien

2. Shane Cody

3. Matt Smith

4. Jeremy Doolan

5. Michael Veal

Small Dog senior C grade 2009-2010 criterium aggregate

1. Dave Peters

2. Lewis Piccoli

3. Peter Hayes

4. Hugo Tolliday

5. Scott Denno

Small Dog senior D grade 2009-2010 criterium aggregate

1. Craig Firman

2. Josh Liston

3. Angus Lyons

4. Andrew Stinchcombe

5. Emily Wordie-Thompson

BSCC September MTB race

Dale Boucher writes:

MTB Race Report 8th September

16 riders headed to the Gong Reserviour for September's BSCC mountain bike race. Our MTB races are still attracting new blood, with four riders buying 3 race licences, and road racing gun Ciaran Conaughton coming out to try out a different form of racing. With permission from Central Highlands Water, riders took on a new course around the parklands and hills at the Gong carpark.

This course was developed by Shane (Jedi) Cody and Vince Mader, and is our most challenging yet. It's a shorter course than the ones we have used so far, but it was packed with technical climbs, drops and lots of rocks to contend with. The course starts with a very steep climb on a sandy, rocky track, then levels out on a plateau for 1 km, then comes a very technical descent through narrow single track that included steps, switchbacks and even a footbridge.

Otway Odyssey star Simon Ellis rode his first MTB event with BSCC, and straight away laid down the challenge with a convincing win from Shane Cody (2nd) and Guy Falla (3rd).

Thanks to Jedi and Vince for organizing the race and a BBQ and drinks post-race. Our next race will be held in early October (course yet to be determined).

Phil Orr was using his new head mounted camera. Unedited video footage of the race is here: it's a long video. Edited highlights of the technical downhill plus other hairy parts will be posted here soon.

Road: Marshals Needed for Herald Sun Tour

Mitch Kibby from USM Events, the promoters of the Herald-Sun Tour, writes:

We need volunteers for the Jayco Herald Sun Tour and the Victorian Schools Cycling Champs, on Wednesday 12th October, to assist with course marshalling.

There will be a donation to the club for each volunteer. Snacks and all equipment will be provided.

If you're available to help out, please contact 77,105,116,99,104,32,75,105,98,98,121 by email.

Road: Herald-Sun Classic - A Grand Day Out

Thursday October 7

In raving about the success of the Herald-Sun World Cycling Classic, it was remiss of us not to mention the person and organization most responsible for its success: David McMahon and the Ballarat City Council. We regard the City as the biggest supporters of our sport, bar none: after all, they are the ones whose backing brought the Oz Champs to Ballarat, along with the Herald-Sun Tour start last year, the Oz Masters, and now the big one, the Herald-Sun Classic. The City's support allowed the renovation of our track, and will enable our new club rooms (coming soon). The City is behind the road closures that enable the Small Dog crits in Vic Park, all the bike lanes around here ... the list is endless.

These are all fine concepts. David, the City's Tourism and Events guru, is the man who makes them happen, from arguing for cycling events in committee meetings to putting up crowd-control barriers with his own hands in sub-arctic conditions at 7 AM on the morning of the Melbourne to Ballarat, and everything in between. David is the patron saint of cycling in Ballarat.

Recently we have been something of a dog in the manger on the subject of rain-induced pot-holes on race courses - in Vic Park and Blowhard for the Oz Masters, and on the Yendon roads for the Herald-Sun Classic. All these events occurred within five days of one another, following the most torrential rain for over a decade. It's a fair bet that we were not the only ones asking for holes to be fixed around here, and an even better bet that some of the other roadworks affected more people than the ones we were asking for. Despite this, in all cases, David delivered. All the dangerous holes in question were patched in time for the relevant races, and all the road and traffic aspects of the races went off smoothly. On top of this, David is also the person who bears the brunt of it when Buninyong residents, quite reasonably in our view, object to their town being shut down, filled with uptight, skinny white people, and littered with bottles and gel wrappers for yet another day, for our benefit.

We sang David's praises earlier for his good works in Victoria Park (see the September 24 and 25 entries here), and now, belatedly, we're doing the same for his work behind the scenes in making the Classic such a treat for us cycling fans. Thank you, David. Your job is a like a wicket-keeper's: usually, the only time anyone notices it is when they don't like what they see, and then they scream. That's no fun. We notice, and we like it a lot.

6 PM, Sunday September 26

The Herald-Sun World Cycling Classic today answered all the promoters' prayers: perfect weather, a real race, the big names going head to head. And storming performances from Rhys and Pat.

We're a little short on information on the progress of Ballarat riders Chloe McIntosh and Angela McClure in the women's race. We believe both were in the main peloton through most of the race, but were victims of the ferocious pace in the final stages that resulted in a chase group almost catching the break of four, and whittled the bunch down to twenty or so riders.

Rhys Gillett and Pat Shaw both played major roles in the men's race (coming soon to cyclingnews, we're sure). The start list was changing almost until the last minute, and the final field was probably larger than the 142 riders on the list handed out at the event. Rhys Gillett started what turned out to be the decisive move of the day, when he caught and attacked a Genesys rider on the first trip up the Midland Highway. Rhys went solo for a few minutes, then was joined by an Italian-led group that made up the dozen that stayed off the front for almost the entire race. For us mere mortals, the thrill of being chased down on our home roads by the strongest national team in world cycling is hard to imagine. Rhys was in this group for two laps, working in with the world's best, then dropped back, exhausted, to the bunch. He briefly lost contact, and as he made his way back on through the caravan of team cars came another thrill: he looked over his shoulder and saw Sylvain Chavanel on his wheel. Rhys jumped from car to car and back into the bunch, taking the hope of French cycling with him. The thanks he received is probably motivation enough for an entire season.

Pat Shaw rode a fabulous race, showing all the benefits of his European experience, together with his tremendous talent. He was always near the front of the chase group, and in the top six riders as the final charge was made on the KOM climb on the last lap. The sight of our club-mate matching the likes of Simon Gerrans and Edvald Boasson Hagen at full power was a real treat. And Pat was right up there in the frantic bunch sprint for 5th place, so much so that we believe he was the most highly-placed Australian rider in the event. Well done, lads!

4 PM, Saturday September 25

Fabian Cancellara is a late entry for Sunday. He will join the full Italian, Belgian, Norwegian, French and Australian men's teams, and a similarly impressive women's field.

2 PM, Saturday September 25

Start lists are now up for the Herald-Sun Classic at Buninyong on Sunday September 25. The men's list is here, and the women's is here. BSCC's Pat Shaw, Rhys Gillett and Chloe McIntosh are all there, along with Angela McClure, a BSCC member until recently, now living in Adelaide. You'll also see a decent fraction of the worlds fields. This is far and away the strongest field we've ever seen in Ballarat, and even if the big guns won't lay all their cards on the table, we're in for a treat.

A group of Ballarat riders checked out the course this morning, in the hope of seeing some of the stars doing the same thing. Not a sign of them, but they did see a very gravelly corner between Yendon #2 and Yendon #1 roads, and, more worryingly, a few sharp-edged, rim-breaking potholes on Yendon #1 Road. Sharp-edged potholes + big bunches + carbon rims = emergency room + head injuries. This is one of our least favorite equations. The Ballarat riders were alarmed to see workers putting up bunting to keep spectators off the lawns of Buninyong's top rate-payers on the hill, and no workers fixing the pot-holes. We are hoping for another Victoria Park miracle overnight.

***********

More information is gradually coming to light on the Herald Sun World Cycling Classic in Buninyong on Sunday September 25, a week before the Worlds. Here's a press release from Cycling Australia, with some of the starters. Here's a bit more from the sponsors, the Herald Sun newspaper, with more starters.

The latest unofficial news is that Ballarat's two top women cyclists, BSCC member Chloe McIntosh and recent former member Angela McClure, have both been invited to the women's Herald Sun World Cycling Classic! We haven't seen much information on the start list for the women's event, but the Courier says the worlds teams from Belgium, Norway, Spain, Italy, USA, France, the Netherlands and Australia will ride the men's event. If the women's event attracts a similar line-up, this means Chloe and Ange will be racing against the Netherlands' Marianne Vos, the extraordinary rider who has won the world road, cyclo-cross and points championship. The experience of a lifetime!

And finally, click HERE to see a map of the course. We like it! And there are probably a number of masters riders who wish their race was on this course too ...

See you out there!

******************

26 August update:

Ride the Worlds

It seems that not enough people were willing to pay $300 to ride the Worlds road course the morning of the event, even with the promise of a closed course with the barriers up, howling crowds massing on the climb and at the finish, a transponder so you find out again exactly how much slower you are than the big kids, showers afterwards, and proceeds to the Amy Gillett Foundation. So here's the new deal: if nine BSCC members sign up, the club gets one free entry. If the spoils are divided equally, this means each of the ten riders gets a 10% discount, so it costs them $270 each instead of $300. The man with all the info is 77,97,114,107,32,66,114,117,116,121 at Cycling Australia, and the official web site for the event is HERE.

*****

Herald Sun World Cycling Classic Ballarat

Last time we looked, the official web site still has no further info on the course.

15 May update:

We still don't have any details of the course for the worlds lead-up race, except for what was in the original Herald-Sun story & City of Ballarat press release:

"Starting and finishing in Buninyong, the course will travel a 16km circuit, with the final lap following the course used for the national men's elite road race."

The 16-km circuit will be a different one from the Nationals circuit - something easier, we imagine. Perhaps something like the Nationals TT circuit. Just a guess.

11 May news flash: today the Herald-Sun newspaper announced this:

Many of the world's leading cyclists, all coming to Victoria for the Road World Championships in September and October, have requested a lead-up race in preparation.

And with growing global interest in the Buninyong course used for the Australian championships, the Herald Sun World Cycling Classic was born.

As the countdown to the world titles began in earnest with the weekend's start of the Giro d'Italia, organisers of the world titles have fielded requests from some leading teams to have a warm-up before the big event in Geelong.

The race, to be confirmed in Ballarat today, will be held on Sunday, September 26, in conjunction with the Australia masters titles that have already attracted 800 entries from around the world.

While no national teams have officially entered teams, it is understood road powerhouses Spain, United States and Great Britain are among those to have inquired.

This creates the likelihood of the cream of world cycling tackling the streets of Ballarat and the famous Mt Buninyong a day after the AFL Grand Final.

Starting and finishing in Buninyong, the course will travel a 16km circuit with the final lap following the course used for the national men's elite road race.

Wow! The full Herald-Sun story is here. And the Courier's version is HERE. Stay tuned ...

*****

The Worlds - the 2010 UCI world road cycling championships, to give them their full name - are in Melbourne and Geelong, 29 September to 3 October this year. This will be just huge. Doug "Hard Rider" Garley, who has not only seen a few worlds but ridden at two of them, tells us that even the most rabid Euro-cycling nut must experience the worlds first-hand to understand how big it is. It will be on our doorstep before we know it! From the race organizers, here's a call for volunteers.

We are sure you are aware that the 2010 UCI Road World Championships will be held in Melbourne and Geelong from September 29 to October 3 this year. The Worlds are run outside of Europe only once every seven years, so this presents cycling clubs with a rare opportunity to experience a World Championship event firsthand.

The Melbourne 2010 Organising Committee invites members of the Ballarat-Sebastopol cycling club to support the event by registering to become volunteers.

Remember, members can volunteer as individuals or as a group of up to twenty, so why not make the next club excursion a trip to the World Champs? To find more about group applications or to become a volunteer, please CLICK HERE.

We thank you for your support and look forward to seeing you at the World Championships. For any further enquiries regarding the event or volunteer program, please contact us.

Robert Knott & Melissa Dovey
M2010 Volunteer Team Coordinators
118,111,108,117,110,116,101,101,114,115,64,109,101,108,98,111,117,114,110,101,50,48,49,48,46,99,111,109,46,97,117

Track: it's on again, starting Thursday Oct 14!

Updated 7 October:

With Country Championships fast approaching, official BSCC track training, run by Damien "King" Keirl, will be offered each Monday between 5 PM and 7 PM. The first session will be Monday October 11.

This training will be targeted at juniors and riders new to the track. During these times the track will be closed to riders not participating in the official session. Training will cover all aspects of track racing including starting, bike position, speed/power, motor pacing, race tactics and more.

Damien has trained and raced with some of the best track riders in the world, and was once one of Australia's top five sprinters, winning many state, national, and Oceania medals. Damien also spent three years racing with the Victorian institute of Sport before retiring from pro compitition in 2006. There is no charge for his sessions, but riders are expected to be ready to go by 5 PM, and to refer to Damien as "Sir." (We made some of that up. - ed.) If you need any further info, please 99,111,110,116,97,99,116,32,68,97,109,105,101,110,32himself.

Roger Bade adds:

Recent rain has meant that line-marking stopped before any paint was applied to the track. We hope that the track will be ready for Damien's first session on Monday, but stay tuned.

Roger Bade, BSCC track tsar, writes:

Here's a flyer publicizing the 2010-2011 BSCC track season. Please send it to all your friends. Here's more track info. The part about returning club track bikes is updated, with one important change (underlined).

Line marking work on the track will be completed over three days, October 5, 6 and 7. During that time there will be no access to the track.

Official BSCC track training, run by Damien "King" Keirl, will be offered each Monday between 5 PM and 7 PM. This training will be targetted at juniors and new riders. Adults are welcome. During these times the track will be closed to riders not participating in the official session. More details will follow from Damien. The first session will be Monday October 11.

Because of the line marking, the first afternoon of track racing has been put back one week, so it's Thursday October 14.

Doug Garley is organising three Saturday afternoons of track racing between now and Xmas: Saturdays November 6, November 20 and December 4. Each will begin at 2.00 PM. Please note the dates in your diaries and stay tuned for more info.

The club desperately needs any riders who are NOT going to ride track this season with loaned club track bikes to return them as soon as possible, and no later than Monday October 11. Please call Roger on 0400 059104 to organise this.

And, for the record, here are the September track committee meeting minutes, at which most of this was decided.

***********

Please click HERE for the August 2010 minutes of the BSCC track committee.

Warren Faneco wins MTB enduro

Antanas Spokevicius, race organizer, writes:

Nerrina MTB Race 4/10/09 – A hit with the riders

Sunday October 4th saw eight MTB riders make their way to Nerrina to take part in the next installment of the BSCC MTB series. This round was a little different from previous rounds, with riders facing a more challenging course than usual, and a "111" format, where riders raced against the clock to see how many laps they completed in 1 hour and 11 minutes. This is the standard format for so-called enduro mountain bike racing. The course challenged both the skill and strength of the riders, with the 3 km distance throwing 130m of vertical elevation at them, including some gripping downhills (The Washing Machine) and heart-pounding uphills (The Phil Orr Wall). Racing was heavily favored towards the pointy end of the field, with five of the eight riders fighting it out in A grade. After lap 1, racing was tight in A grade, with Warren Faneco and Shane Cody level pegging as they crossed the line in 12 minutes, but by the completion of lap 2 Warren had pulled away and built up a handy lead. Warren maintained his rampaging form to the end, even after stopping to fix his loose front wheel, completing six laps. Similarly in B grade things were tight during the first lap, with Peter Walker and Phil Timpano coming through together, but as in A grade, Peter put his foot down during lap 2 and built up a lead that Phil could not peg back. Peter finished first in B grade with 5 laps.

After the race, the riders all converged on the BBQ for a bit of a feed and a chat about the day's racing, with much of the talk focusing on how many times they climbed (or didn’t climb!) The Phil Orr Wall.

Please click HERE for full results.

Thanks Antanas for organizing this race! - ed.

Road: Pub to Pier RecTTT - Saturday Dec 3

Peter Canny, RecTTT ruler, writes:

Our inaugural Pub to Pier (RED LION HOTEL TO LORNE PIER ) takes place in three weeks.Here is what we and you need to know.

Firstly it is not a race but an organized ride.There are no marshals and no signage on the course, and all road rules must be obeyed.
Teams are asked to stay in their own bunches and not amalgamate with others, for safety reasons - and besides, who would want to be seen riding with the Yabbies or the hillbillies from Mt Clear and Mt Helen?

SO
1 Form teams/bunches of 2 to 12 and elect a team manager.
2 Team Manager, please forward this week to me the confirmation of participation so appropriate drug testing can commence.
3 Bunches will depart from 6.30 am in 5 minute intervals from the Red Lion car park (just north of the Hilton on Main Road)
4 Bunches can organize their own tail car if they feel the need, and bunches may decide to ride as a relay team with individuals riding as much of the course as they desire.
5 Sledging of bunches utilizing the above relay technique is encouraged.
6 The finishing point is at the bar of the aquatic club at Lorne Pier. If you are not sure where to go, just look for where the Turret and Racers Cafe bunch have put their bikes. A bunch is not deemed to have finished until all members of their team are abreast of the bar. An official will be present to valid all claims and settle any disputes.
7 A BBQ and frivolity at the aquatic club will follow, with a return bus leaving at 4.30 PM from Lorne to return to Ballarat (if numbers suffice). This bus will also pick up any stragglers who have lost interest around Deans Marsh and gone to the antique stores or Martians Café.

What we need this week from the team managers is who is participating, how many roughly in your team ( this can be updated as we get closer to the event), who will be at the BBQ, and who would like to avail themselves of the bus for the return to Ballarat. When I get rough numbers, I will give you rough costs.

For those staying on the coast, a ride along the Great Ocean Road will take place on the Sunday for those so inclined.

More details on the course and organizational matters will follow in the next few weeks, but the course is roughly 135 km and goes out through Buninyong, then f**##g Mt Mercer, Shelford, Winchelsea, Deans Marsh, over Benwerrin, and into Lorne. So some up, some down and some flat bits.

So entries please, particularly bus numbers - by email to 80,101,116,101,114,32- and let the games begin.

Track: Training for Novice and Junior Riders

Roger Bade, BSCC track tsar, writes:

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club will hold novice and junior track training at the Marty Busch reserve on the following dates:

• Monday November 14, 2011 5pm - 6pm
• Monday November 21, 2011 5pm - 6pm
• Monday November 28, 2011 5pm - 6pm
• Monday December 5, 2011 5pm - 6pm

The program will be overseen by club member and AustCycle instructor Jenni White. Jenni will be assisted by a panel of coaches who will rotate through the different sessions.

Training is particularly aimed at younger riders, and will cater for complete novices through to those with a couple of seasons under their belts. The sessions are not designed for elite senior riders (although you can come and help!).

There will be no cost for these sessions. After the final training session, riders and parents will be invited to give feedback to Jenni. This will be used to determine the sort of training and coaching that will be provided into the future, and what costs will be associated with it.

We urge all of our younger riders to come along and take part in this training.

If you have questions about the training please call Jenni on 0408104936.

And check out the latest from the track at the new BSCC track web site.

Track: Saturday racing, November 6

Angus Lyons, star student, speed demon, and cadet track racing journalist, writes:

Saturday brought sunny skies and the first of BSCC's 2010-2011 Saturday Racing Series. As an unknown quantity it was fantastic to see the support from the senior trackies, added to by the appearance of Stu Vaughn, recent World Masters Track Champion, who drove up to Melbourne for a pleasant afternoon of racing. None were disappointed. The match sprints were particularly hard fought, all but one going down to the 3rd heat.

Excitingly, there were three "Come and Try" riders - all seniors! Ray Isaac, Ben Morrison and Brett Martin all took to the track, and by the end of the afternoon Ben was feeling good enough to have a crack at the elimination race.

All are looking forward to the next Saturday afternoon session in 2 weeks.

Results

20 lap Scratch
1st Stu Vaughn
2nd Scott Townsend
3rd Liam White
4th Angus Lyons
5th Matt Smith

20 lap Motorpace
1st Liam White
2nd Stu Vaughn
3rd Scott Townsend
4th Matt Smith

Elimination
1st Steve Vaughn
2nd Scott Townsend
3rd Angus Lyons

Match Sprints
Stu Vaughn defeated Scott Townsend 2-1
Liam White defeated Matt Smith 2-1
Angus Lyons defeated Greg Nunn 2-1
Scott Bilney defeated Paul Amos 3-0

********

Doug Garley, the Hard Rider, is organizing the first of several Saturday afternoon BSCC track racing sessions on Saturday November 6.

Are you curious about track racing? Interested, but not available on Thursday evenings? This is for you! There will be some proper racing on Saturday, but if you've never ridden a fixed-gear bike, or never ridden on a velodrome, there will also be a decent chunk of time in the program for you to ride around and see if you like it. Doug, and a number of the club's other experienced track riders - people like Damien Keirl, Greg Nunn, Rob Doyle, Scott Townsend - will be on hand to help you set up a bike and have a go. Thanks to Roger's ingenuity in fund-raising, the club has a host of track bikes for hire, so no problem if you don't have one. Bring your pedals from your road bike, and your measurements (bottom bracket to saddle top, horizontal offset of saddle nose behind BB, saddle nose to top of bars), and we'll set you up.

If you watched the Commonwealth Games track racing (wasn't that just the Australian track cycling and swimming championships, moved to Delhi ...? - ed.), you'll know that there's more to track racing than just match sprint racing between gigantic blokes with lots of fast-twitch muscle. In other words, there's a lot of fun to be had in club track racing, even if you're not Damien, Charles, Matt Smith and Scott - just as you don't need to climb like Jay or Rhys, or time trial like Andrew or Grant, to have fun and be competitive in club road races. And as we've said before, if nothing else, racing on the track does wonders for your road riding: bike handling, sharing the pace efficiently at speed, pedaling efficiency, and above all, dealing with high intensity.

For those already bitten by the track bug, here's something to aspire to. Doug has plans to run the first six-day race in Australia for decades, here in Ballarat, early in the new year. The event, tentatively named the Sebastopol Six, will be run as six sessions over a number of consecutive Saturdays. The format will generally be endurance track racing - points races, maybe some motor-pacing, miss'n'out, and so on. Riders will accumulate overall points at each session, and the winner will be the one with the most points at the end. The details will become clearer over the coming month or so - but the point is: get your racing legs going! This will be something you don't want to miss. If you're curious about the unique world of the sixes, Wikipedia has a decent introduction. Edmond Hood at Pez has occasional articles (in English) that really get inside the six world, like this one.

On Saturday November 6, the events start at 2 PM. No need to enter beforehand: just show up. Details of the racing part of the program will be revealed, but be sure that Doug will come up with some novel races, probably with a Belgian flavor. (In case you didn't know, Doug lived in Belgium for several years in the 1980s and raced at the very top level there, with cycling legends such as Phil Anderson, Greg LeMond and Sean Kelly.) And, in true six-day tradition, expect a Euro techno soundtrack. Be there!

(Earlier we mistakenly referred to this Saturday, implying Sat Oct 30. The races are on Saturday Nov 6! Just as well, because it poured on Saturday Oct. 30. Sorry for any confusion - ed.)

Track: Results, 4 November

Roger Bade, track tsar, writes:

BSCC Track Racing Results

Thursday November 4, 2010

Thoughts of sunny skies and a gentle warm breeze were but a distant memory as 30 or so hardy souls braved arctic conditions at Marty Busch this week. Charles Martin dominated the senior racing, and with a couple of strong riders absent, it was up to the master and his apprentice (Doug Garley and Angus Lyons) to provide the challenge. Racing was hard with the easterly wind making the back straight a tunnel of pain, particularly in the higher speed motor paced races. It was great to see the return to the track of Victorian team member Emily Wordy-Thompson, who joined up with fellow “Big V” rider Emma Bilston to keep the boys honest. We look forward to seeing more of our female riders back at the track over the next few weeks.

New riders Nick Liubinas, May Thomas, Charlotte Cowley and Bethany Simpson all made impressive debuts, whilst Courtney Mannix and Angus Cocking shared the honours in F grade. Harriett Pickersgill and Clancy Dickson battled hard all night in E Grade, whilst D grade was a melting pot of more experienced younger riders with the new breed of school riders from BGS who are making a big impression as they learn the trade. Nick White and Jack Stewart shared the wins but they were pushed all the way by Jake Sears, Jack Thompson, Declan Dickson and Pat Cosgrave.

Click here for Roger's photos from the Thursday's races.

RESULTS

F Grade

Scratch Race (3 lap)
1st Courtney Mannix
2nd Adam Begbie
3rd Rochelle Liston
Elimination
1st Courtney Mannix
2nd Adam Begbie
3rd Nick Liubinas

Handicap
1st Angus Cocking
2nd Daisy Pickersgill
3rd Vivien Mannix

E Grade

Pursuit (4 lap)
1st Harriet Pickersgill
2nd Clancy Dickson
Scratch Race
1st Clancy Dickson
2nd Harriet Pickersgill
3rd Courtney Mannix

Match Sprint
1st Harriet Pickersgill
2nd Clancy Dickson

D Grade

Scratch Race(5 lap)
1st Nick White
2nd Jake Sears
3rd Pat Cosgrave
Motor Pace
1st Nick White
2nd Jake Sears
3rd Jack Thompson
Handicap
1st Jack Stewart
2nd Declan Dickson
2nd Jack Thompson

A and B Grade

Scratch Race(15 lap)
1st Charles Martin
2nd Angus Lyons
3rd Doug Garley
Motor Pace (B)
1st Callum Bodie
2nd Emma Bilston
3rd Joel Hossack

Motor Pace (A)
1st Charles Martin
2nd Angus Lyons
3rd Doug Garley

Points Race (60 lap)
1st Charles Martin
2nd Angus Lyons
3rd Doug Garley

Track Schedule:

Mondays 5pm to 7pm - Club Training
Thursdays 4pm to 7pm – Club racing
Saturday racing will be run on selected Saturdays. See the on-line calendar for details.

2009-2010 Small Dog Criteriums, round 1

The first round of BSCC's 2009-2010 Small Dog Criteriums happened at Victoria Park on Wednesday, November 4. Please click HERE for race reports and results, thanks to Jay Bourke (A), Michael Veal (B) and Peter Hayes (C), and to Phil Orr as editor-in-chief.

The Race Results page on the left-hand menu has been neglected recently. It will be re-vamped in the coming weeks - stay tuned.

Meantime, please remember that there's a new marshalling procedure for the Small Dog criteriums. For each race day, one set of corner marshals has been rostered for the junior races, starting 5 PM, and another set of corner marshals has been rostered for the senior races, starting 6 PM. Details of the races and marshals are listed on the on-line calendar on this web site: click on Calendar on the left-hand menu, go to November, and then click on "Crit" on the Wednesday you're interested in. The same information is also on the downloadable race fixture. You'll find it at the top of the Calendar page. Please click HERE for the club's marshalling rules.

Track: New committee needed

The BSCC welcomes those interested in being part of the Velodrome Track Committee.

With Roger bowing out after several years of dedicated involvement and foundation work –(Thanks Roger)
The BSCC has some important work to keep up and events to build on like, The Spokes festival, State Madison Championships along with junior, Senior and novice weekly track.

The novice schools track, fixie bike management, and a number of other key social and cycling initiatives are on the drawing board.
So if you are keen and passionate about track cycling, If you want to be involved, with some ideas or skills to offer then please do not
hesitate to contact us for the 2012/2013 Summer Season.

First point of contact can be made to Chris Liston @ 99,104,114,105,115,108,64,100,117,110,115,116,97,110,102,97,114,109,101,114,115,46,99,111,109,46,97,117, m 0437318251 or BH 53364586
A tentative date for a gathering at the club rooms is on Monday the 14th May. Please RSVP your replies or your interest.

The Hardriders Memorial Book

It was a simple, fantastic day that Saturday …… we will look back and remember with pride that we went for that ride!

Chris Liston writes...

Shawry on the dirt track, Listo on the bike, Jedi and the tube, The Turley Bros, Nunny gliding past – thanks Phil/Greg, KOM Clark, two little ones up the front.
Then we Chased a few “White Rabbits” around the bar at the Mallow, the last ones to Turn in – Turner and Wallis.

We shared a great time with each other and Doug would be proud!
Personally and I hope speaking for all - It was a very nice time – thanks Doug for bringing out the best in us!

On the inside cover of Doug’s book there is this little piece -

May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind always be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
and
May we always treasure the memory of how you used to race

“Outsiders”, Members and friends are welcome to sign or write in something for Doug that we will offer to Jenny, Jack, Ruby and Eddie.
The Book will do the Rounds over the next fortnight and will be with Phil at Gove’s and at racing etc until Sunday the 20th.

May the memory of Doug take us to a special place.
Chris L

Road: Gilbert does a Cancellara at Haddon

The BSCC club road races on Saturday May 1 were held on the Haddon Triangle circuit. Conditions were sunny, but the strong north-westerly wind, a crosswind on the exposed Kopke's Road leg, led to crashes in A and C grades. Fortunately none of the riders involved - including Charles Martin, Peter Kiel and Colac visitor Cameron Shaw in A, and BSCC vice-president Don Stewart in C - were seriously injured.

A grade: Tony Mirabella writes:

Saturday 1st May at the Haddon triangle circuit. 7 laps with a total of 50 km. There were ten starters in A grade. The north-westerly wind made it a difficult ride with side winds. In total five riders came down, luckily with only minor injuries.

Scott Keating attacked on the first climb, but failed when all riders chased him down. There were a number of riders trying to break the field, but all attempts failed. Tony Mirabella and Joel MacAllister managed to break away for almost a lap, but with Cameron Shaw’s strength and speed, were caught as the bunch sat on him in the tail wind.

It was the last lap that saw Scott Townsend attack, and Tony Mirabella stayed on his wheel. The two broke away, but it was Mirabella who put in a surge to ride away and cross the line first, giving him his first win for the season. The powerful Townsend was second, with Doug Garley tailing them for third. The remaining riders crossed the line one at a time, as they were all exhausted after trying to chase the leaders.

In B grade, star triathlete and new BSCC member Grant Gilbert did as Fabian Cancellara did a few weeks ago at the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) and Paris-Roubaix: he simply demolished the field. Gilbert went to the front at the top of the Sago Hill climb on the first of seven laps, and lined the 15-rider field out into the crosswind. Colac's Zac Shaw, grandson of Ballarat's 1978 Melbourne-to-Warrnambool winner Dennis Shaw, skipped away on the climb the second time, but the field reeled him on Kopke's Road. Gilbert lined the field out in the crosswind again on the second and third laps, stretching the elastic holding the bunch together with increasing effect. He started the climb the fourth time with a small gap. The in-form Charlie Stebbing went with him. Consistent attacker Clive Silcock was the next to go off the front. When strongman Warren Faneco jumped across to Silcock, the rest of the field recognized the danger and started a serious chase. The chase caught Stebbing, Faneco and Silcock, ejected Silcock, and created a selection consisting of Stebbing, Faneco, Ben Clark, Stuart Brien, Jason Haire, Bilneys Les and Neville, Joel Hossack and Jonathan Lacey, chasing Gilbert the time-trial machine.

While this group is a long way from the firepower of the Paris-Roubaix poursuivants (poncy French word for chasers - ed.), it's a strong, evenly-matched group, who were immediately motivated and organized. Nine against one sounds like a mugging, right? It was, but not the way the numbers suggest. At the end of Kopke's Road the 4th time, the gap to Gilbert was just under 20 seconds. It got close to 10 seconds on the 5th climb, but no less. Like Fabian, Gilbert was in another league. The chase continued at full power for the 6th lap, but by then the gap was over 30 seconds, and it was clear that, barring a crash or a complete collapse, the chasers were riding for second place. Consequently the last lap was more tactical. Faneco, arguably the strongest rider in the chase group, but wary of the top-end speed of Brien and Haire, and the acceleration and guile of the Bilneys, blasted off on the climb, to be dragged back by Clark, with Haire and Lacey hanging on by the skin of their teeth. First Faneco and then Clark went again on Kopke's Road, and were again collared. Haire, recovered from the climb, started the real finale in the tailwind a long way from the finish line, and the exhausted bunch shattered. Criterium maestro Brien got past Haire for second, and Haire's strong ride was rewarded with the third place. After the race, several of the vanquished said that Glbert's ride was the most impressive they had seen in a BSCC club race for some years.

C grade - Craig Lightfoot writes:

10 people saluted the starter in the C grade Haddon triangle race. Some of us for the first time, some old hands, some young bucks, but one consistent factor: a nice little hill followed by a nasty cross-wind. Would we all be kind to each other for at least a little while? The first time up the hill, with Sam Edwards riding a nice tempo, seemed to keep everyone comfortable and get the legs warmed up, then we hit the cross wind.

For the next two laps, everyone worked together, with the odd small surge. Sam, Thayne Turley, Paul Crack and Killian Plastow (the young guys) did most of the work out front, though a theme was developing along the cross wind of Kopke's Road.

Things hotted up when Roger Bade decided it was time to test the legs up the first part of Sago Hill, stringing out the bunch and putting a couple including Melissa Keirl in real trouble. Everyone was scared of the Keirl name and sprinting. At the Kopke's Road corner, first Peter Canny then Craig Lightfoot took over to try and string things out even further. There certainly was no riding “up the road” - everyone was hanging on to a wheel in the gutter in the cross wind. The inevitable happened: Don Stewart hit the immovable object, the brick on wheels, Peter Kyatt. With Don in the dirt, and Paul, Sam and Ben caught in carnage, the lead five were away.

Some inspired riding by those caught in the crash saw them reach the leaders at Kokpe's corner for the last time. Sam et al. not only caught the lead group, but then had the audacity to attack. The decisive move of the day would follow, with Thayne making a break half way along the cross wind about 3 km from the finish, never to be caught. Don, despite his crash, managed to finish, minus a few bits of bark.

Roger led a charge of the remnants, with Pete Canny and Craig, trying in vain to catch Thayne on the down wind reach, but it was all in vain. A great win on the back of a brave move.

Roger Bade's summation of the day: “You know, I learned something today: next time I feel like attacking up a hill, I won't - I’m too old!” Better keep that in the memory bank, everyone.

D Grade: Kylie Zelley writes:
Oh my goodness, I think there were actually enough starters in D grade to call us a “peloton!” Seven keen, eager and able cyclists lined up to battle it out around the Haddon Triangle. D grade were to complete 5 laps of the 7 km circuit.

The group worked really well, committed to seeing the bunch stay together for as long as possible. We hit Sago Hill for the first time and I don’t know about anybody else but I thought I was in for a hard day. As we flew around the corner, we were hit head on by the wind straight in our faces. The smaller riders certainly appreciated having Bjorn and Will in the bunch to protect us from the wind during the rotations, but boy did we feel it when we took our turns out the front.

Meg unfortunately dropped off, to reduce the bunch to six - still a bigger group than I have ever had the pleasure of racing with. Racing down the back straight, you forget the climb ahead, and then you round the roundabout and it comes back at you, not just once but for another 4 times.

Bjorn and Mark, who reportedly was only out for a "time-on-seat" ride, but nevertheless rode really well, were the next casualties of the hill. The group was now down to 4 – Will, Wendy, Molly and Kylie. On the back straight of lap 4, the B grade riders caught us, and Will made his move, which left the girls to scramble. Wendy and Kylie worked to reel in Molly, who stayed out the front until just before the turn up the hill for the last time. Up the hill we went, around the corner, and the game was on. Wendy attacked into the wind but the group managed to stay together. Into the back straight we went, tail wind prevailing, and at least 1 woman (Kylie) had no idea what to do next. I have never been in a sprint to the finish. The pace increased, I hoped I had the power to stay out the front. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. In an exciting sprint for 2nd - Will had already gone through for the win - Molly and Wendy put the pedal to the metal and managed to push past Kylie to claim 2nd (Molly) and 3rd (Wendy). Not quite a photo finish but an exhilarating end to a great race.

Thanks to chief marshal Matt Smith, and to marshals Dean "Austral" Taylor, Shannon Gration, Andrew Stinchcombe, and Scott Kramer.

Official results, senior A-D grades:

A Grade
1st Tony Mirabella
2nd Scott Townsend
3rd Doug Garley

B Grade
1st Grant Gilbert
2nd Stuart Brien
3rd Jason Haire

C Grade
1st Thayne Turley
2nd Craig Lightfoot
3rd Peter Canny

D Grade
1st Will Madams
2nd Molly Hegert
3rd Wendy Ross

Sport Psychology research

My name is John Scott-Hamilton and I am a PhD student currently doing research in Sport Psychology at the University of New England, Armidale NSW. As part of my doctorate I am running a survey called Buddhism on a Bike: Tailoring Mindfulness-Acceptance to Promote Flow in Competitive Cyclists. As a researcher and passionate competitive cyclist (member of the Armidale road cycling and New England MTB clubs), I am appealing to fellow competitive cyclists for their help by participating in this survey which will take approximately 40 minutes to complete.

The survey, and the research stemming from the results, relates to a new area of Sport Psychology underpinned by a 2500 year-old Buddhist practice called mindfulness-awareness, and the psychological construct of flow. Inspired by promising research showing the effectiveness of mindfulness training on the enhancement of sports performance, my research proposes to extend limited existing knowledge by specifically examining mindfulness, flow, sports-specific anxiety, and performance enhancement within the domain of competitive cycling.

The ultimate aim of my research is to development a tailored 8-week mindfulness protocol training competitive cyclists to use mindfulness-acceptance skills (meditation, mindful-yoga, mindful-spinning) to reduce concentration anxiety disruptions by increasing their present-moment focus (i.e., attention and awareness of prevailing sensations and emotions) on the task at hand to promote peak experience (flow) and optimal performance. Beyond the enhancement of physical and mental skills on the bike, this research also seeks to promote the enhancement of psychological well-being in all domains of life.
It is my hope that the aforementioned protocol will eventually be available for all cyclists. However, we first need to trial and examine this program. Consequently, and as part of the survey, participants are asked to disclose their general locality so that I can determine if there is enough interest in a given region.

Although there is no threatening content in this survey, due to ethical constraints this survey is only open to competitive cyclists aged 16 years and above. Interested juniors aged between 16 and 18 are strongly advised to obtain parental or guardian permission before accessing the survey questionnaires.
Survey link: http://unebcss.us2.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bpIazJQL0Y4ebsw
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Regards,
John Scott-Hamilton BPSYC(Hons)
Contact: 106,115,99,111,116,116,104,97,64,117,110,101,46,101,100,117,46,97,117 or 02 6773 5017 or mob 0422541389

MTB: BSCC Riders in Mt Beauty 6hr

The 2011 Mount Beauty 6 Hour enduro was held on Saturday, 5th March, with a number of solid performances from BSCC members. Here's a summary of their results

Solo Men

1st Phil Orr, 15 laps in 6:21:03 (a whole lap in front of next rider)
11th Jason Hegert, 11 laps in 5:55:36
12th Matt Turner, 11 laps in 6:04:21

Solo Women

6th Jacqui Clynes

Solo Men 40+

7th Craig Sinclair, 9 laps in 5:52:39

Well done to everyone!

Road: Ballarat Masters Open at Burrumbeet

Last weekend saw the third edition of the Cycling Victoria Ballarat Masters Open road races, presented by BSCC. The club was well represented. Here's a report on the B-grade race, from Stuart Brien.

The promised rain stayed well away, save for a drop of two (or was that someone emptying their nasal passages...?). The arctic weather was playing right into the hands of the local riders, with these city riders expected to wither with discomfort, or so we hoped. That wasn’t to be the case, but the initial 5 km was almost pedestrian, with nobody keen to lead into the wind. The small Weatherboard climb was the first test, with Warrigal rider Darryl Anderson taking the front and putting it to the B graders, with a few hitting oxygen debt for the first (and not the last) time in the race. Still the group remained tight, and any attacks of substance were short lived, with the group shutting them down.

That was until David Anderson of Hawthorn launched a probing attack into the wind on his own that no one seemed interested in following. He dangled 100 or so metres off the front for several km, threatening to put in a greater gap, constantly looking back to see if he was going to get some help. He didn't wait long! Darryl Anderson (his long-lost brother?) found the front again on the false flat half way up Mt Misery and threw out an almighty turn. Trevor Coulter from Carnegie-Caulfield and BSCC rider Stu Brien were lucky enough to have his wheel as he powered up the rest of Mt Misery as though he was trying to get away from the police. It all nearly came to an abrupt halt when a local farmer in his tractor pulled out in front of them, and they braked to avoid running into the tractor. This allowed Peter Bolton from St Kilda just that little bit of time he needed to get on the Anderson train as it took off again.

Once they got to the crest of Mt Misery, Darryl Anderson and co. had put a gap of 500 m on the bunch and were reeling in David Anderson. After not too long, four became five, and all worked hard to continue the good work of both Andersons. The rest of B grade cleared the climb and started working together and tried valiantly to stay in touch, and at the right hander to Langi Kal Kal, had kept the breakaway within touch. Then came the head wind…again!

It was hard going around the back part of the course, and it took its toll on the leaders and the follows with tired legs getting the better of Bolton in the breakaway as he sat up and 5 became 4. The chasers too were not without their challenges, as fewer and fewer riders were contributing to the efforts and the cohesiveness broke down. This allowed the front bunch to get about 1.5km on their pursuers, sealing their fate.

As the leaders hit the corner of Black Bottom & Ercildoune Roads, the sight of the Commissaire’s car on their tail lifted their confidence that they were far enough in front to hold off the field. All four riders from different clubs were very cohesive right throughout, but it was obvious there were some very tired legs with 5 km to go. As they hit the tail wind for the final straight, the foxing began. Brien tried to conserve as much energy as he could, avoiding the front like it was going to give him some kind of communicable disease, and attempting not to make the mistakes of the past on this course by leading from 2 km out. As the finish line loomed into view, Coulter found himself at the front with about 1 km to go. Almost as though he knew his fate had been sealed, he took off at what seem three-quarter speed, putting a small gap on the others. Having none of this, Brien crossed over, taking the other two with him, until 200 m out where Darryl and David Anderson exploded past Brien and Coulter, to take 1st and 2nd place respectively, from Stu Brien in 3rd and Trevor Coulter in 4th place. Matt Smith lead the chasing pack in a sprint to take out 5th place.

A very hard but a fantastic race!

Congratulations to Don Stewart, who invested many hours organising this race, and thanks to all the marshals and commissaires who made it safe on the day.

Results: Ballarat Masters, B grade

1. Darryl Anderson – Warrigal Cycling Club
2. David Anderson (no relation) – Hawthorn Citizens Cycling Club
3. Stuart Brien – Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
4. Trevor Coulter – Caulfield Carnegie Cycling Club
5. Matt Smith – Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club

Road: Open Handicaps

Don Stewart, BSCC vice-president and handicapper, writes:

We (Phil and Don) realize that there were some tough handicaps for BSCC riders in the Fred Icke race. The Cycling Victoria handicapper did not contact either of us to ascertain the current form of any BSCC rider before this race. He did contact Phil to ask about a couple of riders in the Masters Race, so it does happen. No reports on club races are sent to the CV handicapper. (Maybe he reads them here! - the ever-optimistic ed.)

Handicap races are a unique feature of Australian cycling. Another unique feature is the absence of an objective (points-based) grading system. Every other major cycling nation has one. Instead in Australia we have handicappers. Their job is difficult and thankless. Handicapping a club race of 50 riders usually takes Phil and Don two hours. The state handicapper's job is far more complex: there were 140 riders in the Icke senior race. But we need consistency and fairness in the outcome, otherwise riders will get dejected and stop racing. And a points-based system is not going to happen any time soon at Cycling Victoria.

So here's what we'll do. Start lists are usually published on the Cycling Victoria web site on the Tuesday before a race. Please check your mark or grade when they appear. If you believe that you're way out of position, please (a) contact CV directly, and if so please do so politely, and as long as possible before the race; or (b) contact Don. The latter is our preferred option, so that if there are several BSCC riders out of position, we'll discuss these with the state handicapper in one go. Again please contact Don as soon as the marks are published. This will allow more time for justice to be done!

Handicapping was discussed at this week's Race Committee meeting. It was agreed that, in an ideal world, all Cycling Australia cards would be "personally chipped" with all of each rider's results. But as I said before, that is not going to happen any time soon!

(I used to have a 1989 British Cycling Federation license - a piece of blue card - with all my race results from that season filled in on the back, with a pen, old-skool style. The points from these results determined what category (grade) I raced in. Something like this has been happening in every other major cycling nation for decades. - ed.)

Please feel free to email me regarding any issues arising from this.

MTB: Club Race - Saturday 5th June (Updated)

Registration for juniors is at 9 AM, with racing at 9.30 AM. Juniors will do a shortened version of the senior circuit, which will still include lots of fun stuff. Senior riders will pedal off at 10.30 AM for the 2-hour enduro.

Not sure if you will complete the two hours? Come and have a go. If you need to stop earlier then that is totally fine. Do as many laps as you feel comfortable with.

We’ll also be using the new timing software so riders will know how fast or slow they’re completing each lap.

When: Saturday 5th of June
Where: Nerrina – Little Bendigo Primary School
What: 2-hour Enduro Course
Map: Garmin Link

For more information please contact 68,97,108,101,32,66,111,117,99,104,101,114

New Grade and Name changes

The committee has added a new grade “D” grade which will sit below the other three grades. This level is for recreational cyclists who feel that C grade is a little too fast. We’ve also changed the grade names to standard MTB classifications:

Elite – previously A grade
Expert – previously B grade
Sport – previously C grade
Recreation – D grade

Reflections on the Race

The MTB committee would like to thank everyone who came along and participated in Saturday’s race. This race was recently added into the calendar as a pre-trial for the interwinter series. We did make mistakes however it’s better to make mistakes on a pre-trial than on the interwinter series.

A couple of riders were upset by one resident and we intend to deal with this issue professionally. We’ll be placing a public notice in the Courier leading up to the interwinter race and we’ll organise more “caution cyclists” signs around the course. We’ll also have a number of marshals scattered around the course to increase presence and prevent course markers being tampered with. If you know anyone who might like to assist with marshalling or even walking around the course then that would help us to increase our presence around the course.

The biggest positive out of today’s race was the course designed by Antanas. We received great feedback on the course and it will be a super challenge to ride for 3 hours on this course.

The committee is having a meeting this Tuesday 8th June at 6pm in the Brewery Lecture theatre, SMB campus. We welcome riders to come along and offer feedback or offer assistance on race day.

Antanas will also be having another course tidy up next weekend. Further information will be sent out in the next few days.

Race reports from Gordon

A grade

Jay Bourke writes:

Sorry to everyone for the lateness of the A grade report from Gordon. It has taken this long [5 days: ed] to thaw out my numb limbs.

It was a true winter day at Gordon on Saturday, so close to snowing, but somehow more depressing that it wouldn't snow. Regardless, 9 riders saddled up to start A grade. The distance of the race changed 4 times in several minutes as the group discussed the pros and cons of racing 2 or 3 laps in tough conditions. At the last minute, the group collectively hardened up and took off on the first of 3 laps.

James Mowatt, Team Cycle City's 1300 watt sprinter, leaped away from the bunch immediately - not to play a tactical card, but to merely warm his body up! (Welcome to Ballarat Jim!) The main group showed no interest in chasing, and soon Mowatt was out of sight. The only action in the group was as Scott Keating did a u-turn, calling it a day, barely as the race had begun, and Jonny Townsend who punctured soon after. This was all before reaching Mt Egerton for the first time.

Bombing down from Mt. Egerton to Ballan, Rhys Gillett, who you would swear has been riding a bike before he could walk, skipped over every mud-filled pothole, looking around to question what was the concern, and tilted down the mossy descent faster than even passing cars were willing to go. With that Gillett rode off in search of his teammate, and the remainder of the peleton did what they could to limit their loses, but all knew that two strong riders were now clear.

Climbing up to Ballan, the peleton split under the pressure of Jay Bourke, and turning back to Gordon it was three (Bourke, joined by Doug Garley and Peter Kiel) chasing two (Gillett and Mowatt) into the headwind. It just shows how tough this Club Championship loop can be, with the riders strung out all over the course in a matter of 25 km. The chasing trio worked well and just as Johnny Townsend rejoined the chase in Gordon, the gap had been closed considerably, 100 m at most. It looked like it would all come back together, and riders started planning their next move.... But no, Mowatt and Gillett crested Mt Egerton still in front, and they bolted down the descent again, this time for good. With the attackers out of sight, the chase lost motivation, just as quickly as it looked like their work had been worth it.

With that, the race for first was sealed. Bourke stepped off after 2 laps, put on his winter thermals and started a lone, soaked ride home. [Medical opinion is that Jay is still ill after his epic ride in the Fred Icke - ed.] This course was really giving it to the riders! James and Rhys continued to put time into the others, and in the final uphill drag to the finish, Gillett took honours. Hard man award goes to Doug Garley, who outlasted another tough nut, Kiel, to take 3rd place. Cold and frozen to his bike, totally spent, but happy to place, Garley was lifted off his bike and placed into his warm car - and reportedly was carried from the car to bath and then couch! The Gordon Championship course strikes again.

A grade results:

1: Rhys Gillett

2: James Mowatt

3: Doug Garley

B grade

B grade club racing is a big success story for BSCC this year. Large fields of very evenly-matched riders produce hard, exciting racing. As a result of these races and structured training programs, the standard of riders' fitness and tactics has lifted noticeably. Rides that would have won a B grade race last year now result in a mid-pack finish. The Fourth of July race on the Gordon circuit was no exception. Over 20 riders started, despite persistent, cold rain. The pace was steady up Mt. Egerton, and the first real aggression came, surprisingly, not from a climber but from by far the fastest sprinter in the field, Damien Keirl, who shot off the front on a rise on the Ballan-Egerton Road. Ruse or genuine move? Nobody was willing to call the big man's bluff and leave him out in the wind, and a flurry of counter-moves resulted in a split as the field turned onto the Geelong-Ballan Road. Danger-men Mitch Brogden, Ben Clark, Harry Bade, Matt Albiston and Matt Smith, and the ever-cunning Les Bilney, were in the front group, and Keirl and others in the rear. A huge turn from strong man Neville Bilney closed the gap, and amazingly the field remained largely intact.

The pace was relentless on the drag up to Gordon, and as the road kicked up at the end of the first lap and around the corner, the elastic was stretched, and Mitch Brogden broke free. Jonathan Lacey went across to him, and for a few moments this looked like a Longs-Hill-esque decisive move, but the alarm bells rang in the bunch, and titanic pulls from Matt Smith and the super-strong Neville Bilney brought the field back together once more. As the tired riders dragged themselves up the rollers towards Ballan one more time, the attacks started again. This time the instigator was a surprising Tim Oliver, who produced several blasts of acceleration that left the field gasping. The legend of Oliver's days as a national-level rower and triathlete, and a Ballarat Vets scratch rider, are spreading. We will see more of this rider at the sharp end of races this year. Although the non-sprinters in the field were aware of Keirl's persistent presence at the back of the bunch, they had learnt from the previous lap that the only grades of the Old Melbourne Road decisive enough to cause a split came at the very end. So it was that, once Oliver's last rocket was retrieved, a temporary truce was declared, and the pace slowed. But as the outskirts of Gordon were reached for the last time, climbing specialist Ben Clark went to the front and drove the pace. The elastic snapped for good, and shattered riders were ejected from the front one after another. At the end of the steep section past the football ground, with 600m to go, the front group consisted of Clark, still driving, Brogden, Bade, and Albiston, with Oliver the last to be spat out. The gap looked big enough that the winner would come from this group, but we heard this story five weeks ago at Mt. Emu. And once again, Damien Keirl was winding up. As the front group hit the dip before the last rise, with 200m to go, they eased, and Keirl made contact after his trademark searing final kilometer. Was it to be Mt. Emu all over again? One difference was apparent: a steep uphill finish at Gordon, instead of Mt. Emu's flat last 2 km. Another difference was hidden. Keirl crashed heavily in training over the Queen's Birthday weekend and was off the bike for several weeks. The third decisive difference was simply that the front group was stronger. Keirl reached for the afterburners and found nothing, just as Brogden powered away from Bade for an impressive win. Matt Albiston, after many kilometers of hard attacking in every race this year, was a popular third. The championships on this unforgiving circuit in September will be races to remember.

B grade results:

1: Mitch Brodgen

2: Harry Bade

3: Matt Albiston

Here's a report on the C grade race, from Michael Veal:

Whackety-whack fest at Gordon. The C-grade bunch is being corrupted by weekly scratch racing into a bunch of b*#tards who given the chance will wallop one another repeatedly until they puke. This is not the gentlemanly "roll around 'til the bunch sprint" philosophy we are used too. Stormin' Peter Norman is a relentless machine who won't let anyone fly the coop. Craig Lightfoot is tapping out a tempo to discourage all dreams of breakaways. Jason Haire is unable to help himself. Mick Veal just loves to berate the gang. Don Stewart was absent this week but is harder to drop than heroin. Roger Bade is not a sneaky tactician, he is just plain cold. But alas what can we do against the the terrible twosome? Stebbing and Murphy attack just the once and crush our souls. Any hill is a launch pad, and they just keep going like energiser bunnies. Please, Phil, save us from ourselves.

Here's another perspective on C grade, from Jason Haire:

A cold, wet and windy day greeted a small C grade field, some looking concerned about the severity of the weather and the number of hills in the course. The race started off at a friendly pace with everyone happy to find their groove, check out the wet road and have a bit of a chat. It was not long until Michael Veal and Peter Kyatt took over the pace setting and lifted it through to Mt. Egerton. The pace stepped up again through the undulating hills with a nice tail wind. Into the breeze everyone settled back into a steady pace with a fair share of turns on the front being taken by all. Sam Edwards decided to sit on the front into the wind and everyone else was happy to sit and wait to see when the duo of Charlie Stebbing and Darryn Murphy would launch their attack, as in previous weeks.

As we passed the 1 km to go sign on the first lap, it was Jason Haire who launched the first attack of the race. It lasted until the railway lines on the way back to Mt. Egerton, where Michael Veal joined him, and Peter Norman not long after with the rest of the field. This change in pace saw a few riders dropped, not to get back on. While the attempted breakaway group caught their breath, it was Stebbing and Murphy’s turn to go again with everyone ready to bring them back. A few small attempts followed, and Roger Bade was looking strong. However, into the tail wind section, somehow the team of Stebbing and Murphy managed to get away again, and make a substantial gap to the rest of the field. The remaining crew of Veal, White, Norman, Bade and Haire worked in time-trial formation to bring them back with about 2 km to the finish line. From there the order of Murphy, Haire (trying to get some kind of wind relief behind the jockey), Veal and Stebbing would take it down to the wire. Murphy dropped away just before the finish line, leaving Charlie Stebbing to time his sprint perfectly, with Veal coming over the top of Haire for second place. It was a hard, cold day's racing, but a great race, with everyone happy with their efforts.

C grade results:
1. Charlie Stebbing
2. Michael Veal
3. Jason Haire

D grade report is still to come.

D Grade results:

1st Aaron Blomeley

2nd Michael Colville

3rd Kylie Zelly

Tour insights: Gerro and the Donkey

Yes, folks, it's Dr. Michael Veal. Here's his short essay on one of our fave pro cyclists.

Gerro and the donkey

For the last week all I have heard is how unfortunate Simon Gerrans was to be left out of the tour for Inigo Cuesta. Blah, blah, blah. Sure, Gerro is in form, and since he got his braces off, he is much smilier. But why does that make him invaluable to the team?

I am sure that you are all aghast. But, but, but he's an Aussie. But, but he won a stage in last year's Tour. But, but he's from a country town and has a certain home grown charm. Do you know what else has home grown charm? Tobias Steinhauser, and more specifically, donkeys.

After riding the penultimate stage of the Giro clad in rosa [2002: ed], Cadel Evans moved to the only team that raced in pink all the time, T-Mobile. He was the next big thing. Then Jan came back to the fold after Team Coast/Bianchi folded and Cadel was unselected for the Tour [2003: ed]. Many said that was reason Jan lost that tour, a lack of mountain domestiques. Interesting to note that the entire T-Mobile team at that time we now consider blood doping fiends. Did Cadel ever study at Frieburg University?

So who went to the Tour instead of Cadel? Tobias Steinhauser. Every time the cameras went arriere le peleton there he was. Suffering, panting, dying, rolling in ten minutes after presentation. Why?

Because thoroughbreds are flighty beasts and when they bring the Arabian stallion out to race the Melbourne Cup each spring, who shares the shipping crate? Usually a donkey. Who gets photographed acclimatising to the Flemington roses? Racehorse and their childhood friend pet donkey. It makes great headlines. Tobias Steinhauser was Jan Ullrich's pet donkey, and is in fact now his brother-in-law. Google for Tobias' palmares and compare to Inigo Cuesta. So if Gerro wants to race the tour I suggest he learns some soothing bedtimes rhymes, en espanol.

Gerro is the master of his destiny and could have stayed at AG2R. He would have had their number 1 dossard, perhaps even carried off the brown shorts, but he chose to go to a top-ranked team, and will race the Vuelta.

Venga venga Gerro!

Stay tuned for more Tour exclusives here.

Oz Champs 2010: Saturday update

Updated Saturday evening: BSCC's top M23 and women road riders did us proud again in their road races today in very difficult conditions. Mitch and Clive, supported by drinks boy James Crafter, hung on as the early steady pace ramped up to the usual M23 frenzy. They both lasted into the second half of the race in their Buninyong debuts, and both will be back for more next year. Rhys was motivated by his first race outing in his new Fly V jersey, and extra motivated because today would have been Amy's birthday. He featured in a number of early attacks. When the business end of the race arrived, he was in the front group, but seriously outnumbered by Jayco-Skins (formerly SA.com) and Drapac riders. He gamely covered their attacks for several laps, and made an attempt to bridge across when the final selection happened, but was worked over by the superior numbers on Yankee Flat Road on the second-last lap, and ejected. He did well to be among the handful of riders who finished the race.

Conditions were even tougher - hotter and windier - for the women's race, and the caliber of the field was equally hot. Beth Canny was an early casualty. The half-way mark saw Ange McClure in a small group chasing the big hitters' group, and Chloe McIntosh in another small group a little further back. Chloe's group disintegrated, and she fought on solo, within reach of the finish, until the extra-diligent race officials pulled her off the course. In front of Ange, the contenders consolidated, and her chase group blew apart. Unlike last year's race, where the small group of winners was selected early and the chase group rode a steady pace, the front group shuffled and re-shuffled until the end of the race, at very high speed. So Ange was faced with the horrible prospect of a solo chase into a howling, hot wind for 40 km. To her huge credit, she stuck it out, holding off a larger group behind her and passing a number of big-name riders ejected from the front group, to record another top-20 finish. This is a big confidence-booster as Ange prepares to set sail for 5 months in the US with the all-powerful Webcor squad.

Updated Thursday evening: Ballarat turned on the weather, and BSCC riders did us proud in the Oz crit champs tonight. Mitch was unlucky to be caught down the back in a hectic start in the M23 race. Beth and Chloe Mac suffered the same fate in the women's race, in which the first 4 laps were even more hectic. The depth in Australian women's racing was very evident. Both chased bravely, but unfortunately were pulled off the course. Frustratingly, the pace slowed down for a while after that.

The BSCC highlights for the evening were the rides of Damien Turner and Rob Doyle in the open men's criterium. As always, the pace at the start was ferocious, as Fly V, Drapac and Praties, the teams with the numbers, reshuffled the field until a break was established that they were happy with. Damien Keirl put up a good fight, but along with about half the field, he eventually succumbed to the pace. Rob and Damien Turner both started near the front, and hung tough in the early stages. Both were in several versions of the front group, and were well positioned in the chase group when the eventual break went away. Both got stronger as the race went on, and were constantly thorns in the side of Fly V's attempt to strangle the chase. With a strong, co-ordinated break of nine riders up the road, the strangulation was eventually successful, and the chase group were unlucky to be pulled out of the race with a lap to go, and not allowed to sprint for 10th place. If the sprint had been allowed, both Damien and especially Rob were contenders. Well done lads! Photo of Rob fighting hard from Kate Grigg:

The word on the street is that Patrick Shaw has carried his form from the Tour of Bright and is all set for a serious tilt at the open championship on Sunday. Damien T is clearly ready to defend his KoM title, Jay is the big occasion specialist and this is his biggest occasion, and Johnny Townsend is always ready to surprise us. Rhys will be showing off his new Fly V kit on his home course in the M23 race on Saturday morning. Be there! And don't forget the all-comers hammer session on the course on Sunday morning.

*******

Damien Turner finished in the top 10 in today's senior men's TT! Wow. Three of the riders ahead of him are euro pros, and one is a rower with multiple Olympic medals. Not bad, eh? And Rhys Gillett was in the top half of the fiercely-competitive M23 TT field. Stay tuned for more.

Updated: click HERE for the complete (updated) start list. (The cyclingnews one seems to be more recent than the Cycling Australia one we posted earlier.) Ballarat riders include:

Time trial (Wednesday): Damien Turner (M), Rhys Gillett (M23)

Criterium (Thursday evening): Rob Doyle, Damien Keirl, Damien Turner (M): Mitch Brogden, James Mowatt (honorary BSCC member) (M23); Beth Canny, Angela McClure (past BSCC member), Chloe McIntosh (W).

Road race: Jay Bourke, Rob Doyle, Patrick Shaw, Jon Townsend, Damien Turner, Will Wettenhall (M, Sunday); Mitch Brogden, Rhys Gillett, James Mowatt (honorary BSCC member), Clive Silcock (M23, Sat AM); Beth Canny, Angela McClure (past BSCC member), Chloe McIntosh (W, Sat PM).

******

Don Stewart has done a top job of rounding up volunteer marshals. He now has the crew he needs. Another sign that the event will be upon us soon is the official program of events. Click HERE to download it.

******

In June, it was announced that the Australian road cycling championships will be held in Buninyong until at least 2015, and also that the Australian criterium championships will be held in Ballarat as part of the road champs. This is a huge boost for cycling in Ballarat, and for BSCC. It means the most prestigious and most spectator-friendly one-day cycling event in Australia is on our doorstep for us to watch. Lucky us! It also highlights Ballarat throughout the cycling world (yes, the Oz Champs get world-wide attention) as the cycling capital of Australia, and brings more riders, spectators and sponsors into the sport and to BSCC.

The Buninyong version of the Oz Champs has transformed the way we think of road racing in Australia. It proves that Australian road races need not be frozen, windswept affairs attended only by the riders and their dogs. The mountain (up and down) in the summer make the Oz Champs at Buninyong a spectacle of color, speed and excitement, and ordinary sports fans turn out in their thousands to see it. Top marks to Caribou's John Craven, the man who championed the course that defines the race, and makes it all happen. It's something for us at BSCC to aspire to.

In order for the Oz Champs to continue as the success they are, our help is needed. Caribou need lots of race marshals over the 4 days of racing (Jan 6-10). The race marshals provide two crucially important functions:

1. Safety. This one we all understand: marshals prevent pedestrians, motorists and the racing cyclists from colliding.

2. Public relations. This is just as important. The race is a major inconvenience for the people of Buninyong. Marshals like us who are passionate about the sport defuse frustration, and in the best case turn it into interest in the races. Even if the safety record of the race is perfect, the race will go away if we don't keep the local residents on side. We, BSCC, have more to gain (and lose) here than Caribou.

For the 2010 Oz Champs, BSCC vice-president Don Stewart has put his hand up to organize BSCC's volunteer marshals. Don already puts a lot of time into the club. He's taking extra time off work in January to do this. Thank you Don! Now over to you.

Don Stewart, BSCC's main man at the 2010 Oz Champs, writes:

Marshals are required for the Australian Road Championships at Buninyong on the days of Wednesday 6th January 2010 (all time trials), Saturday 9th January (Under 23 men and all womens road races). Both these days have events in the morning and the afternoon and we need a shift of marshals for each session. The men's road race on Sunday 10th January at 11.00 AM, following the recreational ride around the course between 8.00 and 10.00 AM, will require only one shift.

Caribou require up to 18 marshals for each event. They pay BSCC for our services. The proceeds are ploughed back into club events and to improving club resources. Please volunteer without being coerced, so that this event runs smoothly. We would like to know by next Sunday, December 6, that you're available to marshal. Please email 68,111,110,32,83,116,101,119,97,114,116 or phone 5333 3914 after hours and let us know what times you will help. You will have the option to pick the location on the course at which you would like to marshal. Your cooperation in this matter will be much appreciated.

All marshals must attend a briefing at Sebastopol Bowling Club on Tuesday 5th January from 5.30 to 6.30 pm, or an hour before the start on each race day. At the briefing, you will be given your instructions, safety vests and other material. Caribou will also supply you with a package of sponsors' hats, water bottles, energy bars, etc . The BSCC tent will be set up on the hill on Saturday and Sunday, with BBQ and drinks free to marshals (and at a small cost to non-marshals). BSCC is also looking at supplying volunteers with a Club polo shirt to be worn on the day to give our club a higher profile.

Please get behind this event so that the whole racing carnival goes off smoothly. This will help to engender a positive outcome for everybody involved and help keep the Championships at Buninyong for the long term. I look forward to hearing from you.

Road: Marshals needed for upcoming season

Reminder!!! Road racing begins in less than 2 weeks and we need you to nominate your availablity to marshal. For all the road members this is your opportunity to put your hand up to help make club racing possible.

Road Racing Members.
Marshalling season 2012

Hi all,

We have been trialing a new system for marshalling this Crit season using a local special interest club, this was to be rolled out into the 2012 Road Racing Season, unfortunaly this club is having trouble finding members willing to help out and are currently evaluating their position regarding supplying four members per week for our marshalling needs. If you know of another group that is fighting for funds please pass their contact details onto us, it will be mutually beneficial to both groups.
We the racing committee are asking you for the next two or three weeks to consider your availability and self-nominate your preferred date for marshalling, by emailing Scott Denno at 115,101,114,118,105,99,101,64,112,114,111,106,101,99,116,120,46,99,111,109,46,97,117 with your date(s), as per past years you will be nominated at our discretion (out of a hat) to fill in spots that are not taken if you don’t self-nominate.
Members that DO NOT self-nominate will be the first members used in filling gaps on the second round of marshalling, so it pays to self-nominate. Remember, we all need to do our bit to help the club work, without member help we will not be able to put races on.

Regards,
Road Racing Committee.

Road: License renewal

With the 2012 road season about to get underway, we know many of you are itching to get out and race. New lightweight wheels? Check. Polished derailleurs? Check. Polished legs? Check. Race license? Oh dear...

Its not too late, please make sure you have renewed your license with Cycling Australia.

You can do it all online by going here:
For those puchasing a license for the first time make sure you select Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club as your club to join through. There are a range of different categories and levels of CA membership. So just make sure that if you want to race you select the membership category that will allow you to do this.
Alternatively you can see Phil Orr at Gove Cycles to complete a membership form in person.

It may take CA a couple of weeks to send out your new card but in the meantime you can use the emailed receipt of purchase as proof of membership.

Road: Tour of Bright

updated with stage 3 report

2011 Tour of Bright – Stage 1 & 2 review by Stuart Grigg

A magic day north of the divide greeted the 550 riders for the start of the 2011 Tour of Bright. Blue skies and slight north westerly and no need for anything other than nicks and a jersey – this is God’s country!
I’ll give a brief overview of A Grade, C Grade and the masters classes and focus on the battles amongst the 60 plus riders in B Grade which includes 5 BSCC riders and a commissiare who took all bar 2 of the B Grade riders (Brad Clarke and myself have some local knowledge of the course and waited for the pelotons return!) for a brief trip up the TT course on stage 1.
A grade looked to be a battle of the 2 big teams with Search to Retain and Drapac Porche putting in big teams in the 60 strong field. BSCC is represented by Jay Bourke and we will claim Matt Clark (although racing under the Wangaratta CC name). Search had a real crack with Jay Bourke and his team mates putting in some huge efforts leading up to the sprints to get their men in the best positions. The winner of Stage 1 and current GC leader smashed it up Toowonga Gap to lead the pursuants by some 3 minutes at the top. Jay had a hell of a battle with the 2nd place getter in Stage 1 to finish just 3 seconds behind in 3rd position. Then some the TT machines came out to play. It was interesting to watch a large portion of the A Grade field on the TT course just ticking the legs over in order to be in the best condition to ride Hotham tomorrow. It’s amazing to see Jay’s average speed of 42.4km/hr, finishing in 22:13 gets him 21st in Stage 2! Matt ripped out a 23:08 with an ave spd of 40.7km/hr to move up the leader’s board to 33rd position – great effort amongst this group of riders. Jay currently sits 8th, 2:35 down on GC and heads back into his stomping ground – the hills for Stage 3!
C Grade went off to start Sage 1 at 8:35. This is a huge field of around 100 riders representing BSCC are Ben Clark and Sam Edwards. Clarke tried to get in a breakaway after the first sprint at Boyntons Winery, put in some solid efforts but to no avail. There was no way this field was letting anyone get away. I’m informed the tempo up Rosewhite Gap was solid but kept the group largely together. Clarke crested the climb in 6th position to miss out on KOM points by 1 spot! They held it together along the Keiwa Valley and hit the Tawonga climb hard. There are some really strong guys in this grade (they could easily race B Grade) and the speed they climbed at was impressive. Clark came across the line in 20th position and Edwards in 45th. They hit the Stage 2 TT after Masters 1-2-3 at 4pm. A tail wind was assisting on the outbound run and the headwind for the way back dropped a little. Edwards got up on the blocks only to be questioned “are those TT bars legal length?” I’ve looked through the time sheets – he’s been credited with a very solid 24:22, ave spd 38.66km/hr, top effort. I hear Sam was a bit toey after the TT, no need to worry Sam. Clark hit the course and smashed a 23:55 out with an ave spd of 39:38. Clark sits in 20th and Edwards made up some ground to be at 38th in GC.
Roger Bade is the lone BSCC entry in Masters 4-5. I hear there were some others supposed to be racing with Roger but they missed the entry cut off. This year the Tour filled in around 3 weeks, hint – for anyone planning on entering next year get your entry in within the first week otherwise you will miss out! It’s only going to fill up quicker in the future. Roger is sitting 69th in GC after some solid rides over Stage 1 & 2. Andrew Weightman has completed Stage 1 but there isn’t a listing for the TT – not sure what happen there? I don’t have any further info on this grade.
Masters 1-2-3 has been a big grade in the past for BSCC but this year only Simon Ellis is representing us in one of the larger field of 90 odd riders. There were some strange happenings in this grade along the Rose White road, the group let about 20 or 25 riders get away by stinging a group of riders across the road in a double line section which is quite narrow effectively neutralising the rest of the peloton. Anyone trying to overtake these sandbaggers was told they would be disqualified for crossing double lines and sent to the back of the peloton. There were some very unhappy riders in this group. Simon’s currently sitting 24th in GC. Ellis smashed out a great TT finishing the 16km in 23:27 at an average speed of 40.15 km/hr.
Now for the B Grade race. Go and grab a coffee and strap in – this one has it all. BSCC is represented by 5 riders, Warren Faneco, Aaron Blomeley, Liam White, Brad Clarke and myself (Stuart Grigg). Stage one we roll off the start line, racing is neutralised until we get out of town (as it is for all grades) and the race route turns left through the industrial estate at about 500m…………..but not today! The lead car decides to take all bar Brad and myself for a roll out to Wandi! In all the confusion one poor bloke has a stack as he knows you should turn left and the whole peloton is confused. After much yelling, the lead car does a U turn along with 58 other riders and heads back. We yell out to everyone to stop as the poor bloke has pulled his tubular off the rim and bent his breaks. We stop for a little while until the lead car decides he’s keeping on going and so does the peloton. Luckily the spares bike got him up and going to resume the race with us just before the neutralised zone ended.
A breakaway just after the sprint turns out to be a stroke of genius. We pedalled along at a leisurely pace through the Ovens Valley to Ovens and ticked out way out to Rosewhite. Half way along the Rosewhite road the commissaries pull us over (on a section of road with double lines!!) for the Master’s 1-2-3 break to pass us and then their chasing peloton. Many of us took the opportunity to take a nature break! We resumed racing knowing that our break was likely to be in front of the Masters 1-2-3 breakaway and we had no way of catching them unless they were overtaken. We caught the Master’s 1-2-3 Peloton and we were again neutralised. After a few km’s, just at the start of the Rosewhite Gap climb there was a crash at the back of the Master’s 1-2-3 Peloton and we were again stopped by the commissaries even though only 2 guys were involved the road was clear. The tempo up Rosewhite Gap was solid and everyone stayed together.
Along the Kiewa Valley about 15 riders attempted to get some rolling turns happening but many of the group were disinterested and this soon failed – the breakaway had it in the bag. Just after the feed zone, at the top of the small crest, a car somehow became entrenched in the middle of the Peloton. One bright spark decided to try and squeeze through a small gap alongside me only to run into the back of that car, just knock me on the way down and scrape carbon fibre, skin and lycra all over the road while at the same time taking down 3 others behind him including Brad Clarke – fortunately Bard landed on top of them, cushioning his landing! He got up and finished the race albeit a little peeved.
Then came the final ascent. It’s everyone for themselves and the climbers came into their own. Faneco and Blomeley took off at the 1km mark heading for the leaders and leaving the flat landers behind. The road is in pretty ordinary shape after a top dressing of bitumen went wrong back in April. We all made it to the top with Faneco getting the BSCC honours just over Bromley. After a brief catch-up and waiting for other grades to finish it was time to recover for the afternoon stage.
Now for the flat landers time to shine. The wind was similar for us and C Grade with the head wind dropping slightly on the way back in. Liam White had a real crack, finishing 14th, putting in a ripping ride of 22:58 and ave spd of 41.0km/hr. Next was myself in 30th at 23:36 and ave spd of 39.9km/hr, followed by Clark in 36th 24:07 and ave spd 39.1, Faneco in 42nd at 24:42 and ave spd of 38.1km/hr and Blomelely in 52, 24:56 ave spd of 37.8km/hr.
But wait for it……. once the times are added there is now only 2 minutes over the 5 BSCC riders. As we head back into mountain goat country tomorrow it time for the flat landers to dig deep and climbers to make their mark.

To be continued!

Tour of Bright Stage 3.
The final stage reports are somewhat sketchy but here’s a bit of a run through.
The day started out with a stiff and brisk South Easterly greeting us all as we lined up on the start line. Looking up the valley we could see a few white clouds lapping at the tops of the larger mountain peaks. Was going to be a chilly one up there!
But wait…… rumours were flying around of a shortened finsh……….but how short, why would the race be shortened, was it only a rumour. On the start line it was confirmed. Winds were too strong up the top to make racing safe and the wind chill was very high. So that was it, we were now racing to the ticket box (finishing before the 3 final climbs). Some were happy not to climb the extra 500 odd meters; others thought the race had changed out of the favour; tactics had to be quickly changed. The stage would now finish after the 10km flatter mid-section of the Hotham road.
A Grade.
A Grade was off first with Jay and Matt looking to make up some time. Could Jay crack the top 3? My report has it that a break got away on the road to Harrietville. Where was Jay? Where was Matt? All I can confirm is that coming out of the last bend to the slightly up hill finish only Jay and one of the Drapac riders were left. The road dipped coming into the sweeping left hander and rose slightly into the last chain fitting bay before the ticket box where the makeshift finish line had been erected. Both sprinted for the line with Jay being narrowly beaten to the line. The result rocketed Jay up the GC into 4th position – what a brilliant result. Matt had a great tour coming 27th in the GC in what was an extremely competitive field, filled with riders from the domestic peloton.
B Grade.
We were off second, how would the race play out? Would anyone be able to get away before Harrietville? As soon as the flag dropped it was on, one attack after another until Germantown. None were allowed to get away. The slight rise out of Germantown was where it had to happen but, alas, it wasn’t to be. Once everyone realised there was to be no breakaway it was a steady tempo to Harrietville. Then the climb began. I had to hit the climb with a run-up, the first pinch out of Harrietville really hurts us flatlanders. I got half way up before the procession roared past, Faneco, Blomeley and White included. About 50 made it up the first pinch, the peloton maintained a steady tempo and slowly shelled a few of us. We slogged it up and over The Meg and small groups formed as those dropped, grouped together for sympathy. The climb flattens out at about 10km, it was then time to try and make some ground up. 2 of us could see a small group in front and dug deep to get across. Struth we’d caught Faneco and White. The peloton had split up after The Meg. We now had to make up as much time as possible knowing there weren’t any more hills. We all drove hard but the front groups had too much on us. Our group finished a bit over 2 minutes back with a storming Blomeley a minute or so up the road. Aaron had a blinder and showed us all the boy can climb.
Blomeley took out the GC best placed, BSCC B Grade rider with Fenaco and myself slugging it out to the end, Fenaco pipping me by 1 second. White came in less than a minute behind Blomeley and Clark just a few minutes further back.

What a tight struggle it was and it shows how even the group of riders are – we look forward to some good racing next season.
C Grade.
As the peloton lined up they too heard the news, the ticket box….. how far up is that? Clark’s knee was playing up but that wasn’t going to stop him as they headed into his favourite stomping ground. Could he claw back some time? Edwards was keen after a ripping TT. Again the group stayed together until the climb out of Harrietville until the road headed skywards. Reports have it the peloton began surging in an effort to select only the toughest mountain goats. The pace up until The Meg has been reported to be around 20km/hr (not bad for C Grade riders!). Clarke got dropped around The Meg and was joined by only a few others. There were only a dozen or so left in the lead group at this stage. Looking at the finish times the whole peloton had been fairly splattered all over the road! Clark’s storming charge out of Harrietville saw him finish 12th in the stage and skyrocketed him up the GC leader board into 15th position overall. Edwards continued his impressively stong weekend to finish 36th in the GC – awesome effort in a really strong field.
Master’s
The reports from both Masters 1,2,3 and Masters 4,5 are even more limited. All I can say is Simon Ellis must have loved the hill as he finished 22nd for the stage and 22nd in the GC climbing all over riders in front of him on the leader’s board. And this reporter is not sure what happened to Roger.
For those concerned about Andrew Weightman, rumour has it he was bitten on the knee by some sort of flying critter while racing Stage 1 and his knee blew up like a balloon. You don’t have to be dead to be stiff!
We would all like to thank all the Alpine Cycling Club personal, volunteers, police, ambulance staff, CSV and especially the 2 tireless BSCC officials Chris Liston and Gerard White for putting on such a well-run and safe event which we all love and for some reason keep coming back for more.
Remember – anyone thinking of entering next year get in very, very early. Places fill in quickly.

MTB: Golden Triangle Epic

From the pen of MTB committee member Jacqui Clynes

A handful of Ballarat MTB-ers made the trip over to Bendigo on Sunday for the 5th annual Golden Triangle Epic, a 105 km mountain bike marathon, with a 60 km option for those less keen, or more sensible. The race was originally planned for early September but was rescheduled due to wet weather at the time. Conditions in December were much improved, but the course still had many muddy sections and wheel-grabbing bog holes (with more rain in the lead up, again).

The day was warm and humid, the first race this season with really warm conditions. This was bound to be testing for the riders, despite numerous feed stations along the way. The course was a mixture of fast sections, with some fire road and fast, flowing singletrack, combined with slower going through the muddy sections. The course was not overly technical, but riders did have to contend with repeated pinchy climbs that really drained the energy.

The muddy sections slowed everyone down, with average speeds generally below expectations. The heat of the day may have played a part in that as well. There was a significant number of DNF's, and most of the finishers seemed very relieved to be done. The final 10 km included a lap of the infamous Bendigo enduro course - think rocky climbs, rocky downhills, rocky berms, and just plain rocky sections. Quite difficult to negotiate at the end of a long day! Well done to all Ballarat riders who completed the event. It's fair to say a tough day was had by all.

Results:
Phil Orr - 3rd Open Men 105km
Jason Birch - 14th Veteran Men 105km
Matt Turner - 1st Sport Men 105km
Jacqui Clynes - 1st Veteran Women 60km

BSCC MTB sub-committee 2010: call for nominations

Call for MTB Sub-committee 2010

Do you have ideas and a passion for making XC mountain bike racing big in Ballarat?

Nominations are now being accepted for a Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club MTB sub-committee. The subcommittee will be made up of four members:
• Board Member – Reports to executive about MTB operations
• Secretary – provide meeting agendas and minutes
• Finance – Collect fees on race day and deal with any fee-related issues
• Membership – The contact for membership queries.

All positions are available. The committee will meet quarterly and each position will be valid for 12 months. The main roles of the sub-committee will be to:
• Establish a MTB racing calendar
• Develop a roster for race setup and marshalling
• Investigate major title races being held in Ballarat

If you would like to nominate yourself, please send a request to 84,105,109,32,79,68,111,104,101,114,116,121. Please tell Tim which position you would like to nominate for. Nominations close on Friday 18th December.

Tri Series racing at Haddon

Entries were down a little due to post-Melbourne-to-Ballarat malaise, and the Tour of Gippsland for the big kids. Despite this, there were senior A, B, C and D grade events, and a variety of junior events. BSCC fielded more than half the riders in most grades, so not surprisingly took many of the placings. Here are some reports, with full race results at the bottom.

Juniors - Chris Liston, junior racing giant, writes:

First-Time Success to Stewart

New Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club member Will Stewart had a great debut race. In the Junior A handicap on the Haddon Triangle circuit, Stewart started in the second scratch group with seasoned state campaigners Emily Wordie-Thompson and Victoria Snibson. Angus Lyons and Joshua Liston were the scratch pair some 4 minutes behind. Stewart and Wordie-Thompson disposed of Snibson and claimed the limit riders, Meg O'Doherty and Dominic Geoghegan, with a lap to go. In the final lap Stewart moved away from Wordie-Thompson and came home to take victory in his first cycling race. Lyons and Liston sprinted for third with Liston taking the place and fastest time by 1 second in a great fight for the line.

In Junior B, Nicholas White set about his task from scratch and picked up limit rider Harriet Pickersgill with 300m to go in the 13km event. Declan Dickson came in third, with Patrick Cosgrave fourth. Emily Oliver and Tim Geoghegan had a duel for the remaining positions. In Junior D, Clancy Dickson and Olivia Oliver took the top end places from the limit riders Rochelle Liston and Beatrice Pickersgill. Dickson came through the field from scratch, and the wind and drizzly conditions allowed Oliver to finish strongly in second. Liston matched it with her brother for third. Max Oliver was the youngest rider in the event. Chaperoned by his mother [Navajo’s Country Road Champion Gail Oliver – ed.] he completed the 6 km course and showed off his style at the finish line.

Junior Results:
Junior D 6 km Handicap
Clancy Dickson 1st & f/t 14:17
Olivia Oliver 2nd
Rochelle Liston 3rd

Junior B 13 km Handicap
Nicholas White 1st & f/t 27:30
Harriet Pickersgill 2nd
Declan Dickson 3rd

Junior A 27 km Handicap
Will Stewart 1st
Emily Wordie Thompson 2nd
Joshua Liston 3rd & f/t 48:35

Senior races

A grade - Tony Mirabella writes:

There was a good turnout for A grade -18 starters - but only 2 local representatives, Scott Keating and Tony Mirabella. Their work was going to be cut out for them with strong representation from Hawthorn, Geelong and Colac.

The event consisted of 7 laps of the Haddon “triangle”, each lap being just over 7 km. Conditions were windy but the rain held off until after the race.

After the first lap one of the Hawthorn riders, Darren McCallum, made a break. The Wettenhall brothers tried unsuccessfully to bridge to the break. Each time further attempts were made to bridge the gap, the Hawthorn team in the peloton would slow the pace down to ensure their breakaway rider stayed away.

There were several attacks throughout the race and it wasn’t until the second last lap that three riders got clear, but they were not strong enough to reach the front man. Cameron Shaw (Colac) and Tony Mirabella (Ballarat) put in a great effort on an uphill stretch to surge and successfully join the chase group of 3, however the rest of the peloton stuck to them and also joined the group.

Hawthorn's Darren McCallum crossed the line some 2 minutes ahead of the rest of the competitors. The sprint for second place started some 400m from the finish line with Colac rider, Cameron Shaw, finishing second and a close third to Blake Hose from Geelong.

Average speed for the peloton was 37 km/h in windy conditions.

C grade - Peter Kyatt writes:

It was a typical August Saturday, with a cold & blustery north-westerly blowing. Six laps of the Haddon Triangle were called for. First thing noticed was the absence of Jason Haire, who was on the entry list, thought he may catch a chill if he raced in such conditions - too wet!

The race started in dry conditions and there was only a few moments of drizzle all race. The first lap was quite controlled, including an easy warm-up pace up Sago Hill. The second time up Sago, Michael Veal & Peter Norman attempted a break, though most of the group managed to hang on, the only victim being junior rider Killian Plastow.

Steve “Kanga” Kennedy managed the first ever recorded accidental breakaway, after the turn into the wind on Kopke’s Road. The group seemed to have a focus on making sure the young Colac junior Zac Shaw [grandson of Ballarat cycling legend Dennis Shaw - ed.] didn’t get a chance to get off the front. Kanga accidently rode off the front of the group into the wind. He did not know that the group had drifted 200 metres behind. He continued giving “Hole!” and “Gravel!” signals to nobody as he rode on alone. Incredible perception and awareness. [A gentleman is someone who uses a butter knife even when nobody is watching.- ed] Luckily the next turn was an acute angle and he could not help but see how far ahead he was!

After the turn onto the Haddon-Windermere road, it was too much for Liam White who jumped off the front and managed to cross over to Kanga. The group seemed happy to let another Ballarat boy out the front while Zac Shaw stayed with the group.

On the next lap Peter Norman had had enough and made an attempt to cross over to the leaders and was joined by Sam Edwards. They put up a gallant effort but Kanga & Liam were too far away.

In the following laps Zac Shaw made several attempts to join the leaders, the group hung on but would not help at the front. On the 5th time up Sago he put in a big effort to get away and managed to drop Pete Kyatt off the back of the group. Luckily for Pete it all slowed down a little and regrouped. Zac continued strongly and managed to drag the group up to Pete Norman and Sam Edwards as they hit the bell.

Kanga & Liam had 1st & 2nd wrapped up by this point, with the main group in a race for 3rd. In the end Liam managed to outsprint Kanga for 1st place after spending several laps on Kanga’s tail. The sprint for 3rd had Pete Norman leading out Pete Kyatt early. They thought they had it wrapped up but as usual, age before beauty, as Don Stewart kicked hard with 50 to go and left all in his wake.

Final standings were Liam White 1st, Steve “Kanga” Kennedy 2nd and Don Stewart 3rd, with special mention to the big effort put in by Zac Shaw.

Official results:

A Grade

1st Darren McCallum HCC (Hawthorn)

2nd Cameron Shaw CCC

3rd Blake Hose GCC

4th Marcus Wettenhall GCC

5th Will Wettenhall BSCC

B Grade

1st Ciaran Conaughton BSCC

2nd John Burt GCC

3rd Steve DeGallo GCC

4th Stuart Grigg BSCC

5th Joel Hossack BSCC

C Grade

1st Liam White BSCC

2nd Steve Kennedy BSCC

3rd Don Stewart BSCC

4th Peter Norman BSCC

5th Peter Kyatt BSCC

D Grade

1st Vincent Glynn GCC

2nd Sean Lee BSCC

3rd Kylie Zelly BSCC

4th Jenny White BSCC

5th Wendy Ross BSCC

Road: Ross Bush Memorial RR

A few BSCC riders went to Geelong CC's 2010 Ross Bush Memorial Road Race on Saturday Sept 4. The race went ahead, despite the weather. To read the full report, from Geelong CC's Rudy Schmidt, click HERE. Rob Doyle, after a mere three weeks back on the bike in a season almost completely wiped out due to injury, amazingly pulled off fastest time, and second place. This is quite a feat on a course that does not lend itself to "faking it." Rob's got some talent! (Now tell us something we don't know ... ed.) Rhys Gillett also rode off scratch with Rob. Rhys' ankle is OK when he's pedaling normally, but anything requiring sideways motion is a problem, and unfortunately a bumpy corner caused him some trouble yesterday. Scott Keating, James Crafter and Chloe McIntosh were also there, and reports and the photos in the Geelong report suggest that they survived.

Rob writes:

It was a hard day all round. We had no idea where we were at the finish. We thought we were going just for fastest time. The guy who won must be a hard man - I couldn't imagine riding 80 km mostly solo. Weather was better than Ballarat - it only hailed once. Scratch lost a whole heap of riders in the first 10km, but after that combined well. The field fell apart a little on the false flat before the last climb.

I'm extremely happy with how I went, considering my lack of riding and the weather. I've been called up to race the Goulburn to Citi next weekend, which should be interesting to say the least.

Rob Doyle does a Cipollini for 2nd place and fastest time at the 2010 Ross Bush Memorial. Photo by Martin Stolz.

We're not sure how many of the club's other big hitters are going to Goulburn next weekend. Other than this, the next event for the guns, the Launceston to Hobart - traditional curtain-raiser for the fearsome Tour of Tasmania - isn't until Tuesday Sept 14. So it might be that we have some or all our stars (other than Rob) - Pat Shaw, Rhys Gillett, Jay Bourke and Damien Turner - at the club championships at Gordon on Saturday. Yet another reason to be there!

**************

Rudy Schmidt, Geelong CC, writes:

I'm glad to extend our offical invitation to the Colac, Ballarat and Footscray cycling clubs for the 2010 Ross Bush Memorial Road Race, on Saturday Sept 4. It's our big race for the year, and will feature $1000 in prize money. For maps, maps, directions, distances, prize money, please click HERE.

Entries close with 80,104,105,108 on Wednesday September 1.

This is the same day as the BSCC Windermere points race, but it's an epic course and a worthy cause. BSCC's riders from the 1980s and 90s remember Ross very fondly. So if you're after one final major hit-out before the club champs, consider this. - ed.

Road: Australian Masters Road Championships

6 October:

One last thing before we consign the 2010 Oz Masters Champs to the history books. What did you like & not like about the events? What would you like to organizers to keep doing, start doing, stop doing? The Hard Rider has started a discussion of this subject on the forum on this web site. Let us know what you think by next Wednesday, October 13, and the club will pass our ideas on to the powers that be.

30 September:

Official road race results are now up on the Cycling Australia site. Highlights for BSCC:

- Damien Turner 3rd and Damien Keirl 6th in MMAS1.

- Peter Kiel top 20 in MMAS5

- Jenny White 6th in WMAS5

- Doug Garley in the bunch in MMAS6, after the infamous incident in which the commissaires pulled the whole field over when a handful at the front rode near the middle of the road in the crosswind. This used to be a legitimate tactic ...

- Phil Orr 6th in MMAS2, Scott Townsend and Scott Keating in the bunch, after Scott K crashed.

- Tavis Baker and John Polkinghorne in the bunch in MMAS3

- Adam Smith just outside the top 10 in MMAS4, the Stephen Fairless show, and the event with the highest average speed for the day. Jonathan Lacey further back.

- Melissa Keirl 6th in WMAS2.

- Gail Oliver 6th in WMAS3. 6 seems to be our lucky number ...

Well done all!

7 PM, Tuesday 28 September

It's all over now, bar the shouting, as they say. The good news is that we have seen a printed document that is allegedly the real official TT results (different from the ones on the Cycling Australia web site, linked below), showing that - as we hoped - the bronze medal in MMAS4 goes to ... Andrew Weightman! Congratulations Andrew! Most of us know that nobody works harder out training or on the TT bike than Andrew. Quote of the day from Andrew: "Now all I need to do is find that bloke who has MY medal ..." We suspect said medal will be in the mail very soon.

The MMAS4 and WMAS1-3 road races were held this afternoon, in what Adam Smith described as old-school conditions. One minute sunshine, the next minute hail, with a howling south-westerly wind and low single-digit temperatures at all times. Adam reminded us that before the drought (mid-90s and earlier), Ballarat would experience a good handful of early spring days like this each year. All BSCC's "feature" races - Brookman, Collier, Club Champs - used to be at this time of year, and it was a sure bet that most of them would be held under these conditions. Such delights will probably become more common as the drought ends. Needless to say the Queenslanders were not happy this afternoon.

Participants and spectators at the MMAS4 race witnessed the Stephen Fairless juggernaut in all its fearsome power. It did not take a genius to predict the outcome of the race (for example, scroll down to the bottom of this piece): Fairless smashed the field of 70-odd into small pieces in the crosswind on the Maryborough road on the first lap, smashed the front group some more on the second lap, then rode away from them on the third lap to win solo. BSCC's entrants, Adam Smith, Andrew Weightman, Charlie Stebbing and Jonathan Lacey, did their best to change the outcome, but to no avail. Smith and Lacey, despite knowing Fairless from the first time around, in the 80s, and with the benefit of some knowledge of the dark art of racing in big bunches on small roads, found themselves behind the third group on the first lap. Smith powered his way into the group in front on Blowhard, then across the gap to the second group, and here he stayed. This plus his sprinting prowess was enough to put him in the top ten. Lacey finished in the third group. Weightman and Stebbing, worn down by hard rides in the time trial and criterium, and short of big-bunch experience, called it a day after the second lap. More good news: as far as we know, our dire predictions about crashes in this race were incorrect.

A few more snippets from the Masters road races:

BSCC's Melissa Keirl rode the same distance as the MMAS4s, under the same conditions, and scored an (unofficial) 5th place in what she describes as the hardest race she's ridden.

Gail Oliver, in the WMAS3 event, had her rivals strung out on Blowhard, but they came back to her on the descent and in the howling tail-wind. She finished in the bunch for a storming 6th place. An anonymous source inside the Gail Oliver camp says she is "looking forward to 12 months of power training." (Does anyone really look forward to max-effort intervals ...? - ed.)

The Hard Rider, Doug Garley, who needless to say loved the conditions, was hauled over the coals by Cycling Australia commissaires for riding on the (left) edge of the road in the right-to-left crosswind and declining to let his fellow competitors shelter behind him. It is rumored that, after the race, he received further official cautions for training, riding too fast in a race, sprinting at the end of the race, and having talent. (OK, we made the last part up.)

Scott Keating had a crash in the MMAS3 race, but neither he nor his bike were seriously damaged. We haven't heard about the condition of the person on whom they landed.

Stay tuned for more details as they come to light. Please 101,110,108,105,103,104,116,101,110,32,117,115 yourself if you're inspired to do so.

10 AM, Tuesday 28 September

Cycling Australia now has the crit and TT results posted on their web site. (The links are at the top of the page.) We're a little confused by the TT results. For example, Andrew Weightman's time is the third-fastest one listed in MMAS4, but his listed average speed is the 4th-fastest, so he's listed as 4th. Maybe he rode a shorter course than the others ...

And regarding the start times for today's events: Cycle Sport Victoria rose to the challenge and sent text messages to all the riders in the relevant events last night with some clarification. Well done CSV! The start times listed on the CSV page are the correct ones. And Cycling Australia took the listed start times off their web page.

We're told that there are no road closures for the Masters road races. Not even rolling closures on the narrow east-west roads. Narrow, open roads + tractors and horse floats and farm trucks + fields in the >60 range + most riders with little experience in bunches of this size = scary. If the Oz Masters are held in Ballarat again, maybe we'll do a few things differently.

5 PM, Sunday 26 September

We notice that the Cycling Australia and Cycle Sport Victoria web pages have different start times for the Tuesday afternoon events. We've asked for clarification, but we don't have mobile numbers for any of the relevant people, so we will make our plans around the earlier times.

Regarding the results, today we heard rumors that there have been problems with the timing system. Perhaps this is the reason we haven't seen any results.

We also have a brief report on BSCC's progress in the MMAS3 criterium yesterday. Our sole representative was Matt Smith. Matt, who has some form, rocketed out of the bunch on the last lap and closed the gap to a lone breakaway. A handful of other riders came across to him, and stepped up the pace. Matt dropped back to the bunch, which then came to life and mowed down the front group. Unfortunately Matt's effort in jumping the gap meant he had nothing left for the sprint, and he finished mid-field.

9 PM, Saturday 25 September

We're not the only ones wondering where the results are. This evening, after the Voices of Cycling gig at the Ballarat Golf Club, we spoke with several people from Cycle Sport Victoria (CSV). They are not happy. Because this is an Australian (not Victorian) championship, it's run by Cycling Australia (CA). The company doing the timing is contracted by CA, so their responsibility is to deliver the results to CA. The deal is that CA will then post the results on the Oz Masters page on their web site. CSV gets the results from CA. Problem is, the last crit finished over five hours ago, and the last TT rider finished almost 30 hours ago, and we haven't seen any results from CA. Perspective: we're taking about a bike race between a bunch of old blokes here, and nobody has died as a result of this, but there is some frustration. Stay tuned.

4 PM, Saturday 25 September

Damien Keirl took the silver medal in the MMAS1 Australian criterium championships in Victoria Park a short time ago, in a nail-biting finish. Initially the plan was for the two youngest men's fields, MMAS1 (30-34) and MMAS2 (35-39) to race together, but the MMAS2 field was large - about 50 riders - so they were run separately, and the much smaller field of MMAS1 riders were distinguished by a colored band around their helmets.

For most of the MMAS1 race, the pace was stop-start. With about three laps to go, a lone rider went off the front. The main field was down to under ten riders, riding tactically, but the gap stayed under 100m. On the bell lap, the tactics continued, and with a kilometer to go, nobody was willing to take on the chase and the field seemed resigned to ride for second. With 600m to go, Keirl exploded out of the bunch at full power, immediately leaving them for dead. The task of collaring the leader seemed impossible at first, but Damien was closing in at massive speed, and the man in front was tiring. With 100m to go, the crowd was roaring, and it looked as though Keirl might pull off a feat like Cavendish's miraculous 2009 San Remo win. But the leader just found enough to hold on, and Damien took silver.

BSCC was represented in the MMAS2 race by Scott Townsend and Shane "Jedi" Cody. Townsend was the first to attack out of the seething field, and from that moment, the pace was on. For the first half, Townsend sat comfortably in the first ten riders. When a dangerous move formed about half-way through the race, Cody rode powerfully to get across to it. A few laps later, there was a re-shuffle, and Cody ended up back in the bunch, with four riders off the front. As the bunch lined out at high speed, Cody found himself towards the back. Unfortunately a gap opened a few riders in front of him, and despite a huge chase, he ended up in a small group behind the main field. Townsend initiated and followed a number of moves aimed at crossing the gap to the breakaway, but they were unsuccessful, and despite the gap closing down to a handful of meters on the line, the break stayed away, and Townsend finished in the main field.

Earlier in the day, in the MMAS4 race, a group of three riders, powered by former Australian open champion Stephen Fairless, fought out the finish. Tony Mirabella was unlucky enough to puncture as they went away. He re-joined the bunch after the permitted lap out, but his chances of getting to the break were gone. Four-time BSCC club champion Adam Smith led the bunch home for 4th.

1:30 PM, Saturday 25 September:

Another miracle: the Great Russell Street Traffic Island Disaster has been averted! In a smart move, the race organizers send the riders around the outside (right-hand side) of the traffic island. We're not sure if the credit goes to David McMahon at Ballarat City Council or Ballarat's Doug Armstrong, Cycling Australia's main man on the ground, but full marks, anyway. We now regard the course as pretty safe. It's not fast or, in our view, interesting, but we like safety.

We still don't know where to find the TT results. We've asked CSV, so stay tuned. All we have so far is this from the Courier. And anecdotal confirmation that Shane Miller went Fabian-fast, as he did in our club champs TT last week. We heard that BSCC super-star Damien Turner was up there in the TT results - no surprise. Also that BSCC's Andrew Weightman and Shepparton's fearsome Stephen Fairless were up there in the MMAS4 TT, but that, somewhat surprisingly, the event was won by someone else.

We'll have reports on some of the races. (If you're willing to write one about an Oz Masters event that you watched or did, we'd love to have it. 76,101,116,32,117,115,32,107,110,111,119.) We saw the end of the MMAS6 crit this morning, featuring BSCC's Don Stewart and Doug "Hard Rider" Garley. The race had a decent-sized field, about 40, and the pace looked solid but not enough to cause any significant selections. Doug found himself off the front with 4 laps to go, and pressed on, hoping that a rider who had spent the previous few laps off the front would join him. But instead he was reeled in, and positioned himself well for the finale. Unfortunately inside the last 500m, another rider took him off the road into the gravel. Doug stayed upright but his race was over. His run of good form and bad luck in big events this year continues: the pace of the sprint looked like something that Doug would have handled with ease. Don, up against a number of riders with a decent fraction of Doug's experience and credentials, did well to hang in for the whole race.

**********

Updated 9:40 PM, Friday 24 September:

Well, it has begun. The TT was today. We weren't there due to work commitments. And we don't know where the results will be posted. The Cycling Australia site refers us to the event home page, hosted by Cycle Sport Victoria, but neither seems to have a Results page. If you know anything, please 116,101,108,108,32,117,115,46

News flash: the rim-breaking potholes on the crit course have been fixed! Hooray! A big thank you to David McMahon of the Ballarat City Council. When David runs for president of the Republic of Australia, we will campaign for him. And in case you were wondering, BSCC's Major of Major Events, and our liaison with David and the Council, Stu Brien, already runs the country. Quietly.

******

15 September:

The Cycling Australia 2010 Australian Masters Road Cycling Championships will be here in Ballarat between Friday September 24 and Tuesday September 28. Entries closed a few weeks back, and we found out recently that late entries closed last Friday. So if you're not in now, you won't be.

Start times for all events except the time trial are now up, and start lists are up too. The Cycling Australia site seems to have more info than the CSV one, and the champs are a Cycling Australia event, so this is probably the place to look for updates. The course maps are back too. (Look carefully: all the links are in green). Also check out the rules about podium presentations. It seems we're going for the ProTour look. If so, that means tights and thermal cycling top are OK on the podium (visitors: in Ballarat we wear thermals 10 months of the year), probably running shoes too - just no civilian clothes.

Start lists: a few quick observations:

The fields are big! And there will be a range of abilities, so stay near the front.

Lots of BSCC riders - hooray!

Including Damien Turner. Hooray again! Podiums here we come. We did a double-take when we saw his name listed: we're not used to thinking of Damo as a Master. But as long as the UCI persists with the idea of MAS1 = 30-34, yes he is. And so are Damien and Melissa Keirl.

Courses: Here are our views on the current conditions of the crit and road race courses.

The criterium course is in Victoria Park, which has the advantages of being central but without heavy traffic, so closing it will not cause great disruption. The flip side of this is little traffic = little road maintenance. It's not the same course as we use in our Small Dog criteriums: it's anti-clockwise around Oak, Elm and Poplar Avenues, and Russell Street. More a kermesse than a crit. This course only has two corners to speak of. The rest are sweeping bends that the riders will hardly notice.

David McMahon, Ballarat City Council's Special Events maestro, and the patron saint of Ballarat cycling, has done his best with the road, but it's a tough gig unless you rip them all up and start again. (We were hoping ...) Most of the course is chip-and-seal, with rough, gravelled edges that riders will probably get to know quite well. Thanks to the recent torrential rain, on Wednesday morning there were two guaranteed rim-breaking pot-holes on the right hand side of Poplar Avenue near the corner with Plane Avenue - exactly where the field will be riding if the wind is from the north, as it is about half the time. (24 September update: they are fixed! See above. - ed.) This stretch is the place to be if you regard criterium racing as a blood sport. The pot-holes are followed by 20m of loose gravel (now also fixed - ed.) , then one of the only two actual corners on the course - Poplar onto Russell - which has a concrete traffic island just as you come out of the corner. This will wake you up in a hurry. We believe the finish is on Elm Drive, where Military Drive intersects. Good call: one of the wider, straighter and smoother parts of the course.

It's a longish course - probably 5 minutes at race pace, so you won't see the traffic island all that often - and it's as flat as a very flat thing. Nothing selective about it except that traffic island. Probably races of attrition, with the Hushovd types (power sprinters) fighting it out. Bring: engine, lead-out train, strong wheels, durable tyres. Don't bring: non-Roubaix-proven carbon wheels, climbing legs, technical skills (except for the traffic island).

The road race course, at Miners Rest, is similar in spirit to the crit course: tough but not selective, and not one for the super-light equipment. Once again the Council have done their best with the road surfaces: last we looked, the rim-breaking potholes on the way down Blowhard hill on the Ballarat-Maryborough road had been patched, but there's still lots of rain-induced broken pavement on this road and Gillies Road. The back of the bunch is not the place to be, and those sub-kilogram carbon wheels might not be the best choice. Elevation: not much. There are a few small rollers on Gillies Road, and Blowhard on the way back, a descent to the corner, then it drags slightly uphill all the way to the finish on Kennedys Road, which we believe is at the members' entrance to Dowling Forest race course. These are drags, not climbs - enough to hurt everyone but not really selective. It's always windy, and about 1/5 of the course is sheltered. So we make the same recommendations as for the crit.

See you out there!

**********

In less than eight weeks, the Cycling Australia 2010 Australian Masters Road Cycling Championships will be here, in Ballarat. If you're old but not quite clapped out, think about having a go.

The championships will be held between Friday September 24 and Tuesday September 28. There will be an individual road time trial, criteriums and road races for all masters age groups, men and women. All the gory details are HERE, and entries are open. It will be the perfect segue into the World Champs in Geelong the following week.

BSCC has strong contenders in a number of age groups, and the Tri Series road races are giving us practice riding in support of team-mates. We encourage all regularly-racing masters riders to consider having a go. But a word of warning: we want expectations to be set realistically. OK, these are the old guys, but we're talking about the national championships of the 4th-ranked cycling nation in the world, so these races will not be a cake walk. For example, in the MMAS4 age group (men 45-49), we expect the field to include Stephen Fairless and Eddie Salas. Between them, these two hold a good handful of Australian road championships and a lot of big wins from the 1980s. Fairless, from Shepparton, started racing again recently. He rode off 3rd scratch in the Fred Icke and finished in the top ten. He is still regarded as something like Jens Voigt, except bigger, and without the smiley interviews afterwards. Eddie Salas is much the same, but a faster finisher. The scary thing is, Salas rode the Oz Masters last year - and came third. We're in for some fun.

We will have plenty more to say about these races in the coming weeks.

Road: Victorian Schools Cycling Champs finals

Chris Liston writes:

Five of Ballarat’s schools were represented on the podium of the Victorian Schools Cycling Championships (VSCC), in the racing category, for students who are members of cycling clubs, and the novice category. The top result was gold for Emma Bilston of Loreto College, in the W15 race. Bilston got past her season rival Courtney Field of Melbourne, and club mate Emily Oliver of Ballarat Clarendon College (BCC), to take the race convincingly, on the newly built Geelong criterium circuit.

Emily Wordie-Thompson and Angus Lyons claimed medals for themselves and BCC. Wordie-Thompson rode with club mate Victoria Snibson, also from BCC, in the W17 division, and held off the bunch to take third after two riders escaped to take gold and silver. Angus Lyons rode a determined race that saw him riding solo off the front in the M15 5-lap 11 km race. Joshua Liston of Sebastopol College also got a look at the front of the field coming in to the bell lap. The thrilling contest between the state’s best U15 cyclists saw Lyons relegated to runner up by the fast-finishing Braeden Dean of Bendigo, who shot out of the filed in the finishing straight to collar Lyons.

The M15 podium: Angus Lyons (Ballarat, 2nd), Braeden Dean (Bendigo, 1st), Jay Castles (3rd)

BCC’s Thomas Hamilton and Liam White raced in the fiercely competitive M17 race, with over forty starters. White looked promising and worked hard throughout 7 laps of the 2.2km course. He, like Liston, was in the prime spot on the second-last lap but was swallowed by the bunch as his legs faded in the final charge to the line. National criterium champ Hamilton was out-positioned and took fourth. Hugo Tolliday found the pace in the opening laps ferocious and placed midfield.

In the U13 boys' racing class, Dylan Bilston of Urquhart Park Primary School hit the line together with the bunch following their 3-lap event, and was unlucky not to place. Bailey and Tyson Cody represented St James Primary school as state finalists in the same race. Kate Lyons and Rochelle Liston were up against some stiff competition in the U13 girls' race, and finished down the order.

A sprinkling of Ballarat riders appeared throughout the novice divisions. Felicity Liston, swapping her pointe shoes for racing cleats, danced on the pedals to a bronze medal in the U13F novice 3-lap race for St James primary school.

Felicity Liston with her bronze medal. (Put your head on the side to look at this one ... - ed.)

Ben Huggett also took bronze in the M19 novice category for Ballarat Grammar. Star triathlete Huggett looked strong throughout the event but was unable to capture the sprint. Holly Williamson of Ballarat Secondary College finished in the top ten, with 8th in the W19 novice event. In the super-fast M19 racing class, James Crafter of Ballarat Grammar and Ciaran Conaughton for St Patrick's College, looked poised for good results, but the pair, in Cycle City team colours, missed the podium places as the fast-paced bunch galloped for the line.

Ballarat Grammar won the Central Highlands School zone points aggregate, thanks to strong entries and points accrued in the Zone final in Ballarat in August.

Victorian Schools Cycling Championships - Ballarat podium results:
U13F – Novice 3 laps
3rd Felicity Liston – St James Parish Primary
U19M – Novice 9 Laps
3rd Ben Huggett – Ballarat Grammar
U15F – Racing 5 laps
1st Emma Bilston - Loreto College
U15M – Racing
2nd Angus Lyons – Ballarat Clarendon College
U17F – Racing
3rd Emily Wordie-Thompson – Ballarat Clarendon College

***************

BSCC will be well represented at the Victorian Schools Cycling Championships today, the curtain-raiser for the women's race at the UCI World Road Championships in Geelong. Here's the Cycle Sport Victoria press release about the VSCC. Stay tuned for results and reports.

Road: October RecTTT at Moonambel

Ray Isaac reports on the October RecTTT:

28 riders headed out from another drizzly, windy and grey Ballarat Sunday morning to a windy and grey, but not drizzly Moonambel Sunday morning. They were there for one of the highlights of the RecTTT calendar - the annual Moonambel ride and Taltarni BBQ.

Our ever ready starter Tim O’Doherty valiantly tried to convey some last minute safe riding instructions as the starting time drew nearer, but the adrenaline was flowing and very few other than our eager new rider Scott paid him much attention. We’ll come back to Scott later.

The Goddesses core team was at the start line. Regular readers will be familiar with their names – Marg, Donna, Karen (the loud one), Karen (the quiet one), Fiona (the even quieter one), Trudy and Sue.

The Goddesses were acting like they had detected the scent of battle. Given that there is no battle (it’s not a race after all) that’s not really possible.

But they did scorch off the start line, provided you agree that a team that averages less than 24 km/h could actually be said to scorch. Their scorching may have been because the need for a nature break was building before they started. In their time-honoured fashion they answered that call just after they passed through Navarre. None of this is newsworthy to regular readers, but it was to Scott.

At the very moment the Goddesses succumbed to the pressure, Scott and his new friends from the Saxons cruised on by. Neale Goad had enlisted Scott to ride with himself, Mark, Brian, Trevor and Gary. Crusty old team captain Neale was spreading sunshine and joy amongst his team with cheerful words of encouragement. It’s amazing how the simple delights of a RecTTT ride so often brings the analogy of a boat anchor to the Neale’s lips.

It wasn’t through a lack of effort that the troops were failing to please their captain. Scott had demonstrated his commitment to the cause by travelling up to Moonambel a week earlier to reconnoitre the route for the team. Well played sir!

Neale had earlier tried to demonstrate some of the higher level RecTTT skills to the troops as the team from the Turret edged past them around Barkly. Unfortunately only Mark had been capable of dropping with him into the slipstream that the Turret provided. The stern words of discouragement dispensed by yours truly may have dissuaded their efforts and the Saxons were left to ride to their imminent gynaecological education by the Goddesses

The Turret’s riders were a disparate lot. Old heads Bruce, Rob and Ray were joined by Crampy Peter and Dave Peters, remnants of the once-great Dennis Family Homes team, and two new riders, Jason and Paul.

Bruce is never afraid to mix up his training and attempted a longer than usual taper leading up to this ride. He appeared to have overdone the taper and underdone the training as he experienced a monumental implosion as we turned at Navarre and headed for home. Bruce toughed it out to the finish with the help of his team. He could serve as a model to some riders.

Rob must have decided that he was too fresh for the ride and had self prescribed and administered some form of PHD (Performance Harming Drug). He got to bed at 2 am after the school ball and did well to get out of bed, let alone ride a tough 50 km RecTTT ride. Like Bruce he needs to continue the fine tuning of his training.

The four new riders were all excellent additions to the team. As far as the riders new to RecTTT go, Paul will be scary good at the Roleur role in the team with a few months riding under his belt and Jason has some bike riding tricks that could make your jaw drop.

You may recall that 28 riders had assembled at the start. Of those, four were Yabby Divers. Ffloyd, The Old Timer, Engine and Lever had fronted up to try to restore the Yabby reputation. Once Engine realised that Buzzard, the Lad and Simon from Retail weren’t there to draft behind he quickly abandoned ship and joined the BSCC road race.

This obviously left three to represent the Yabbies. In another first for RecTTT riding only one of them, Lever, actually completed the course. Ffloyd and The Old Timer were on the course warming up at the moment the starter called “Go” and thus only one Yabby rolled off the line. He was joined some miles up the road where the other two had waited to rest up.

With that unconventional start we may have hoped for better. They caught the Goddesses and the dumbstruck Saxons (by then they had witnessed the infamous nature break) just before they in turn were reeled in by the powerful Racers team.

What follows is a heavily edited version of the shameful events that transpired next. Our QC has advised that, although truth is the ultimate defence in any libel case, the Yabbies have notoriously deep pockets and we could find ourselves mired in the courts for years were we to report the facts as they happened. Thus the names have been cunningly concealed to protect the guilty.

Racers raced up to and passed the Yxxxxxs. The Yxxxxxs momentarily ceased their pathetic moaning and latched on behind them. Heroic deeds were being performed by Les, Simon and Mark from Racers into the wind up front. Down the back, the two Peters were choking on bar tape they had gnawed off their handlebars. Lxxxx from the Yxxxxxs made a couple of half hearted attempts to do a turn and was joined in that endeavour by Fxxxxx whenever there was some gravity to help. All the while Txx Oxx Txxxx rode sweep at the back of the group.

This bizarre circus continued until the final hill was crested and, thanks to a powerful drive from Simon, the limpet-like Yxxxxxs were shaken loose just before the finish line. So were the remainder of the Racers team, but that’s a mere trifle.

At the completion of the ride most RecTTT riders assembled behind Peter Canny’s multi-purpose vehicle which had been transformed into a mobile hospitality vehicle for the day. After the teams completed their rides they formed a perfect echelon behind the vehicle while they enjoyed a nice cold beer. Thanks again Peter.

We got to witness another close race finish in which Liam White (former Yabby but now firmly a Racers Café man) narrowly prevailed.

It was at this point that Scott cemented his claim for the CSC award. We’ve all unclipped on the wrong side and then fallen helplessly to the opposite side, but most of us haven’t done it in front of 27 other people that we had just met for the first time. Well Scott has.

We then adjourned to the Taltarni winery for a few convivial wines and BBQ. Thanks to all who helped out with that and a special thanks to Charlie Stebbing for putting out the markers that defined the route.

The average velocities and the change from last year’s results are as follows:

Goddesses 23.52 km/h (down 2.16 km/h)
Saxon House 27.64 km/h (down 1.98 km/h)
Racers Café 35.83 km/h (down 0.83 km/h)
Yabby Divers 33.82 km/h
Turret Café 33.73 km/h

So with Taltarni safely behind us all thoughts turn towards the next big RecTTT challenge – the Pub to Pier ride. Reports are in that the Myer Group has dedicated its training for the past several months to this one event, so a big turn up and fast time is expected from them. Details will trickle out over the next few weeks so get your teams ready for the highlight of the RecTTT calendar for 2011.

**********

Peter Canny, RecTTT ruler, writes:

It is only a couple of weeks to the next RACE OF TRUTH, and we all know how the truth hurts, so we want you to be prepared.
When: October 30 (Sunday)
Where: Downtown Moonambel.
Registration: 9 AM. Allow an hour to drive there.
Start. 9.30 AM
Lunch at the Taltarni Winery to follow.
Teams of 2 to 9.
Great course, and always good weather.
We hope to see you there.

Recreational Team Time Trialling: Serious Fun For Road Bike Riders.

Road: Liam Doubles Up at Taltarni

Updated: click HERE for Chris Liston's action shots from the Taltarni race.

Liam White won BSCC's final road race for 2011, the Taltarni handicap, at Moonambel today. Liam, last year's winner, also took the fastest time.

Despite a strong turn-out for the RecTTT held on the same course, numbers for the road race were way down. Vic Snibson and Nicholas White started off limit, pursued six minutes later by the biggest group of the day, consisting of Josh Liston, Craig Lightfoot, handicapper Don Stewart, and Brackenbury mastermind Michael Veal. The handicapper intended that this group would be followed 90 seconds later by Peter "Engine" Walker and Jonathan Lacey, and that this pair would have a three-minute lead on scratch. If the Walker and Liston groups combined, they had a chance of holding off the scratch bunch of Liam White, Tour of Timor stand-out Jeremy Doolan, and former triathlete and MTB star Simon Ellis, in his first road race for years. Unfortunately Walker missed his start by 30-odd seconds, Lacey waited for him, and the frontmarkers' fate was sealed. Walker battled gamely in the headwind to take Lacey across the gap to Liston's group, and was taking time out of them, but the scratch group was motivated and evenly-matched. Scratch caught Walker and Lacey before Navarre, and Liston's group soon thereafter. Liam White put the hammer down on the first rise on the return leg, leaving only the three scratchmen, Liston, and a gasping Lacey in contact. This group mowed down the "Nic and Vic" combination, took over the lead, and set sail for home.

On the last rise, Liam took off again to claim the KOM, dropping Lacey. Liam eased over the top, and Ellis took Doolan and the tough Liston across to him. So it was a race between four riders, with Liston likely to struggle on restricted gears in a tailwind finish. Doolan and White were fighting not only for the race, but for the BSCC aggregate too. Doolan, increasingly finding his feet as a finisher, decided to chance his hand against the notoriously fast White in a sprint. Doolan led out, White kicked past him, Doolan fought back, but Liam was too strong, and held on to win by half a bike-length. The hard-charging Ellis, a few days off a top-20 finish from over 700 riders in a gruelling four-day MTB stage race, was third, from the gutsy Josh Liston.

Stay tuned for the final aggregate scores ...

BSCC Taltarni handicap, 2011: unofficial results

1. Liam White (scratch) (fastest time)

2. Jeremy Doolan (scratch) s.t.

3. Simon Ellis (scratch) s.t.

4. Josh Liston (4:30) s.t.

5. Jonathan Lacey (3:00) ~1:00

BSCC Vice President and handicapper Don Stewart writes:

BSCC's final road race for 2011, the Taltarni handicap, will be held this Sunday at 10 AM at Moonambel. As always, you'll find a course map in the 2011 road race fixture.

The October RecTTT will be held a little earlier on the same course.

The race will be followed by a BBQ at the Taltarni winery. The BBQ will be at a small cost - it will be subsidized by the club - and you'll have a chance to augment your home wine cellar, with discounted wines on sale. For the last few years, the weather for this event has been warm and sunny. We're hoping for more of the same this year.

Entries close 5 PM Friday with Don. Click 72,69,82,69,32to email him, or call or text 0400 33 22 09.

See you there!

Track: 3 November 2011 Race Report

Click HERE for the complete report & results, thanks to new track correspondent Angus Lyons.

Track: 2011 Country Track Championships - entries close SUNDAY

2011 COUNTRY TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sat 13 & Sun 14 November

Entries close November 7

Categories:      J11, W/M13, W/M15, W/M17, W/M19, M23, Elite, Masters
Fees:                  Per Championship:
                                J11, W/M13 - $10,
                                W/M15, W/M17 - $13,
                                W/M19, M23, Elite, Masters - $25
Entries:              Enter Online here
Start:                  9am
Location:           DISC Velodrome, Thornbury. Google Map. Mel 31 A7
Details:              Saturday – Individual Pursuit & Time Trial, Sunday – Sprint & Scratch.
                            Format will be determined by entries.
                            The winner of each individual Metropolitan Championship will receive free entry into the corresponding discipline at the Victorian Track Championships.

Info: CycleSport Victoria 03 8480 3000

MTB: Victorian Enduro Series Round 3

Orr, Ellis and Falla grace the podium at the latest round of the VES at Mount Beauty.

The Big Hill Mountain Bike Park has always been held in high regard amongst dirt worshippers of the downhill and cross-country variety, for its challenging technical nature, its eye-watering fast descents, and seemingly endless network of singletrack laced over Big Hill like an intricate spider web.

The words ‘Big Hill Mountain Bike Park’ and ‘6 hour enduro’ when used in the same sentence conjure a different reaction. Awe, intimidation, pain and suffering are some of the reactions that immediately come to my mind, although from past experience racing this event I know that getting through to the finish line after 6 hours of climbing up and down this hill brings one of the most rewarding feelings and a sense of achievement that often eludes the competitive cyclist.

Each 9km lap features 250m of climbing, most of which is done in the first half of that distance. Roughly ¾ of your lap time is spent grinding up steep technical climbs trying to save as much energy as possible although this is hard to do when you’re already in the granny gear by lap 2. Then you have an incredibly fast downhill, although a multitude of loose switchback corners and some rock gardens will have you hard on the brakes to get through safely. The shear physicality of the descent means that recovery is limited before you pass the timing point and head back up the hill again.

I had the misfortune of suffering a crash after 2 and a half hours after puncturing my front tyre on my way down the hill, and had to limp back to the pits to sit the rest of the race out. This provided me with a different perspective on the unfolding of a 6 hour race, watching all the riders come through transition, the solo and team riders, and seeing how everybody is holding up with every lap that they complete.

I’ll give this to you straight. Phil Orr, Simon Ellis and Guy Falla barely slowed down as they came through transition. They stopped to grab a new bottle say every second lap, but looked completely unphased and kept the gas on the whole time. They were finishing all their laps in very consistent times, ultimately dropping any close competitors who had gone too hard early on then blew out as the day progressed.

I had a chat to Guy before the race. He was sitting on a deck chair having a coffee with his wife still fully dressed and looking about as relaxed as a professional retiree. It was 9.30 and the race started at 10. Everyone else was madly arranging their feed stations and warming up the legs. There is a mass start on a short bit of fire road before hitting the singletrack climbing, at which point there is little opportunity to pass, so the pace is on from the gun. This didn’t seem to concern Guy, and as it turned out he didn’t need as much preparation as us lesser mortals, he did just fine.

Craig Sinclair, although not having an ideal lead-up to the race, in true gritted teeth enduro style he willed his body through the six hours to finish yet another consecutive VES round, before packing up and driving for 6 hours to get home so that we could both drag ourselves to work the next morning in order to pay for our weekends frivolities.

Seeing all the weary bodies come through with slumped shoulders and mutterings of self-deprecation, I gained a new appreciation for just how hard these events are, and no matter whether you finish with 12 laps or 6, everybody is doing it tough. Most likely their mental fortitude exceeds their physical ability at some point and the sheer will to finish takes over. And that’s what I love about these enduro races, it brings out the best in people. Even the likes of Phil Orr sometimes have to turn themselves inside out to hang in there, but the same could be said for the guy who is having his first go and does it on a $700 bike. He finishes with a smile on his face, and as soon as he can walk straight again, he’ll be thinking about signing up for the next one.

A (mostly) successful day out for the Ballarat boys as you’ll see from the results below. And if there are any mere mortals out there reading this, I can tell you that our placegetters were hurting when they finally permitted their bodies to turn off and they went from graceful singletrack wranglers to limping hunchbacks. Nothing more sexy than that.

Mens Solo Open
Phil Orr 2nd place 14 laps 6:11:52
Matt Turner 4 laps DNF and lucky last.

Mens Solo 40+
Simon Ellis 1st Place 12 laps 6:00:05
Guy Falla 2nd place 11 laps 6:00:07
Craig Sinclair 9th place 9 laps 5:52:07

Full results are here.

Series standings are here.

MTB: Intermediate Skills Training

Do you ever follow Phil Orr or Clinton LeMaitre on a MTB and wonder why you can’t ride like they can? Well wait no more!

Clint and Phil will be sharing their bike riding secrets at the intermediate MTB skills training on Sunday 30th May.

They’ll cover areas like bike set up, suspension and rebounds, techniques for drop-offs, jumps, log hopping and hill descending.

Participants will need to have an MTBA licence so that you are covered by insurance. To provide maximum skill development opportunities, we’re capping the training to 30 participants so if you’re interested then move fast as this will sell out quickly! Location and time will be sent out to registered riders closer to the date.

To register your interest contact 74,97,99,113,117,105,32,67,108,121,110,101,115

Road: Vic Park crit results Feb 22nd

Junior Results

Felicity Liston squared the gender ledger with the boys in E grade criterium taking her first win of the season in the Scratch start Sealed handicap. Liston rode to her time by mere seconds in 11:20. Brayden Maurer missed taking Greame Frislie as he slid out; he finished however he allowed Frislie to take second. Zac Stinchcombe placed third.
Ziggy Lee continued his dominance of podium places in the F grade 3 lap sub junior race. He rode 9:42 over 3.9km (3 laps) of the Victoria Park circuit taking a win from Chloe Stinchcombe by eleven seconds who improves week by week.

E Grade 4 lap Sealed H’Cap 5.2km
1st Felicity Liston
2nd Graeme Frislie
3rd Zac Stinchcombe

F Grade 3 lap H’cap 3.9km
1st Ziggy Lee
2nd chloe Stinchcombe

Senior results
Strong Sprinters take the points!
Paul Humphries packed all his eggs into one basket claiming the top points at the final sprint in the B Grade point race criterium. Shane Cody was working on a strong win taking the points from the first sprint with a gap to the field and then leading the bunch on the second sprint. Joel Hossack took an early grab of two points in the first off the bunch following Cody. Ryan Kerr featured in the points and Jim Crumpler stepped up in the last sprint to be third overall taking four points. In the end it was Humphries with a win in the last and two sprint thirds that secured his 8 point victory.
Three separate sprint winners in the three intermediate sprints left the final finishing sprint and double points wide open. Michael Pierce won the first from Jay Bourke with Brad Clark sneaking in for 1. As the pace ebbed and flowed over the ensuing laps it was open for someone to take charge. Bourke claimed the third sprint with Angus Lyons getting off the bunch for second and Pierce featuring again for third. Coming ti the fourth and finishing sprint it was Bourke who kicked well clear of the field and took 6 points, Pierce second and Hugo Tolliday third in the sprint. The final positions placed on points declared Bourke the Winner, Pierce runner up and Angus Lyons fastest in the last sprint third overall and equal on point with two others.
C grade saw new rider Matthew Angus take double points for third overall on the final sprint. The race was dominated by Stephen Border who took the win in three sprints finishing on 12 points. Craig Lightfoot was second, third and second respectively as the young rider of Dominic Geoghegan finished fourth overall after challenging for the second sprint taking the two points.

A Grade 25 min + 2 laps 4 Sprint
1st Jay Bourke 11pts
2nd Michael Piearce 8 pts
3rd Angus Lyons 3pts

B Grade 25 min + 2 laps 3 Sprint
1st Paul Humphries 8pts
2nd Shane Cody 6pts
3rd Jim Crumpler 4pts
4th Joel Hossack 4pts

C Grade 20 min + 2 laps 3 Sprint
1st Stephen Border 12pts
2nd Craig Lightfoot 7pts
3rd Matthew Angus 2pts
4th Dominic Geoghegan 2pts

Road: Vic Park crit results Feb 29th

A Grade 25 min + 2 laps 4 Sprint
1st Liam White
2nd Michael Pierce
3rd Hugo Tolliday

B Grade 25 min + 2 laps 3 Ssprint
1st Paul Humphries
2nd Joel Hossack
3rd Jim Crumpler

C Grade 20 min + 2 laps 3 Sprint
1st Stephen Border
2nd Craig Lightfoot
3rd Dominic Geoghegan

Track: 3 March 2011 results

Roger Bade, BSCC track tsar, writes:

BSCC Track - Thursday March 3, 2011

BSCC senior numbers are still low, but our junior riders' appetite for track racing remains strong. Here are the results from last Thursday night's racing.

Race 1 - Scratch
F Grade

1 Vivien Mannix
2 Rochelle Liston
3 Angus Cocking

Race 2 - Scratch
E Grade

Declan Dickson
Maurice Koelle
Courtney Mannix

Race 3 - Scratch
C Grade

Andrew Pearson
Will Stewart
Jack Stewart

Race 4 - Scratch Race
Novice

Matt Elliott
Will Crafter
Imogen Dale

Race 5 - Elimination
F Grade

Vivien Mannix
Rochelle Liston
Angus Cocking

Race 6 - Scratch
E Grade

Bessie Baker
Clancy Dickson
Harriet Pickersgill

Race 7 - Elimination
D Grade

James Burge
Pat Cosgrave
Courtney Mannix

Race 8 - Elimination
C Grade

Josh Liston
Nick White
Jack Stewart

Race 9 - Scratch
Novice

Will Crafter
Matt Elliott
Imogen Dale

Race 10 Points
E and F Grade

Rochelle Liston
Clancy Dickson
Angus Cocking and Harriet Pickersgill

Race 11 Points
D Grade

James Burge
Maurice Koelle
Pat Cosgrave and Declan Dickson

Race 12 Progressive Points
C Grade

Liam White
Will Stewart
Josh Liston

Race 13 Elimination
Novice

Will Crafter
Imogen Dale
Matt Elliott

Road: The 52nd Fred Icke Road Race

Updated with reports from our stars: 2nd overall Liam White, and 2nd-fastest Jay Bourke - both of whom did it the hard way.

Liam White took second place, and the coveted First Ballarat Rider trophy, with a brilliant ride in the 52nd Fred Icke road race at Creswick today. Since his first taste of success in senior racing at last year's John Collier race, Liam keeps stepping up to higher and higher levels, and success in a race as long as hard as this one adds yet another string to his bow.

On a perfect early winter day, it is no surprise that the race was won by front-markers. The bunch of thirty-odd that fought out the finish had riders in it from the front five groups - 36, 28, 24, 20 and 16 minutes. Read Liam's report below to find out how they all came together. The short story is: Liam crossed the last part of the gap with only two others - hard man style. (We had it right on Saturday night - thanks Don! - then got confused on Sunday morning, with some new information. Now right again - ed.) Scratch worked steadily for the first two laps, but disintegrated on the last climb of Sprintmount, leaving Jay Bourke and Stuart Smith to chase down second scratch - as Jay tells us in his report. The sprint for the win was a long, long drag race, luckily without the crashes of last year, and in the end only one rider got past Liam White.

Stuart Smith led Jay across the line a number of minutes later.

While the senior race was on, after the junior race finished, the Creswick community staged a family cycling festival, including Penny Farthing races. The weather co-operated, for the first time in years, and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately the brilliant idea of moving the finish line 400 metres south, to put it right in the middle of town, and ensure that the crowd of riders' family and friends was close to Creswick's cafes and restaurants, did not come off due to a last-minute mishap with permits. This will be sorted next year, and we'll see a finish as exciting as Casterton's.

Full reports from real, actual cyclists are below, and so are unofficial results are below.

But first, a brief note about handicapping in open races. Cycling Victoria sometimes consults club handicappers in devising the handicaps for open races, but not always. In any case, the final handicaps are the sole responsibility of the Cycling Victoria handicapper. This is a very difficult and thankless job! In our experience, Cycling Victoria is quite responsive to polite requests before the race to re-examine handicaps. The key phrases here are "polite request" - not stroppy demand - and "before the race" - not when you go to collect your number. If you're going to have a chat with the handicapper, please remember that this is a conversation about a bike race. Sometimes we forget ...

Here's the story from the front of the race, by Liam White:

I started in the 20-minute bunch will three other Ballarat riders: John "Polkie" Polkinghorne, Guy Falla, and Aaron Blomley. We got off to a quick start, sitting on between 25 and 30 km/h up the first climb, not even 5km into the race. We got to the top of the climb and started working quite well together, doing smooth turns on the front. At the end of the first lap we had dropped about 2 riders but also picked up a couple of riders from the other bunches up the road.

Just before Smeaton on the second lap, the 16-minute bunch caught us, so the bunch grew to about 40 riders. At that stage I was sitting comfortably in the middle of the bunch, just trying to recover a bit, because there were a few people sitting on the front doing all the work.

Then we came to the bottom of the Springmount climb for the third and final time. I was sitting in the middle of the bunch, when I realized that there were gaps appearing up the front. I made a move up the side, soon to realize that I was in ‘no man's land.’ I was thirty meters off the front of the bunch, and 70 meters away from Charles Martin. It was all or nothing now. For about 1km I was chasing by myself, then I finally latched on to Charlie. We got together and worked to catch the two that broke away. We were doing solid turns on the front going into Newlyn. I worked very hard and managed to bridge the gap, but unfortunately Charlie was not with me.

I was now in a bunch of three, working turns, slowly making my way to the limit riders, who were two minutes ahead. By Smeaton we were 40 seconds off the limit riders, then we finally latched on to limit at Allendale.

By that time my legs were shot. When we caught limit, I sat in and conserved my energy for as long as I could. With about 3 km to go, I started to a little better, meaning that I could go with all of the attacks off the front in the final kilometer. Then 500m from the end, I sat second wheel back, and kicked with 150m to go, just getting edged out with about 10m to go.

I think this is the hardest race I have done to date.

Here's a report from the scratch bunch by Jay Bourke:

Immediately upon waking, I knew it was going to be hard for scratch to get to the front of the race. The sun was out, not much wind, a 36 minute gap to make up, and some very handy groups of riders in between. Scratchmen really require the conditions to be more intimidating so as to further slow those in front. Every group of riders is capable of close to 40 km/h with no wind. It is when conditions are tough (cross- or head-winds) that scratch maintains its pace when others faulter, and as a result make up time. Over my morning coffee, I was on the phone to the likes of Michael Pierce and Charles Martin. I thought these guys in the 16-minute bunch had a really strong group and a good mark with only half the gap to the front. As it turned out I was pretty spot on; and no rider had yet pinned a number on!

Scatch did not have any real fire power, no David Pell or Patrick Shaw to marshall the troops to the front of the race, but our Search2Retain team had two riders in scratch, one in "block" (2nd scratch) (short for "the chopping block" - a tough place to be - ed.) and one in 3rd scratch, so we were inspired nevertheless to take out fastest time. On the first lap we went hard, very hard. The group was strung out up the first climb, no talking, and then never below 45 km/h. This was largely due to the trio of young, keen VIS riders in our scratch group of ten. Too fast, I thought, for the first lap of three. So fast that one rider sat on from the start. Getting time checks along the way, we had nearly halved our gap to second scratch at the end of the first lap, and taken 12 minutes from the front of the race.

Beginning the second lap, the VIS boys were again keen to attack the Springmount climb. Myself and my Search2Retain teammate (and our main sprinter) Charles Howlett, continued to roll through up the climb, but the other experienced heads in the bunch were put off by this aggressive approach. The young boys were clearly set on kamikaze pace that would win the race but at a cost to all but the fittest riders. This caused friction within the group: "why should a rider roll through to the benefit only of rivals?" With that, the momentum of scratch was lost as less than half of the group rolled through consistently. Our speed was not smooth. I recall doing mutiple double-turns as the 'link' in the chain that is the rolling echelon was broken on several occasions. As a result, we began losing time to all of those in front of us. The second lap is also mentally challenging. You are in no-man's land, neither close to home, the finish, nor to seeing the other groups yet; and after 90 minutes of chasing, it can be demoralising to see no tangible results for all that effort. That's right, we had gone out too fast and become our own worst enemy, self-combusting. Our race for overall victory was lost with half the race to go.

Lap three of three, and for something different the VIS trio attacked up the climb again. This time it was more like a proper attack in a scratch race rather than a surging of the pace. Our scratch bunch was scattered all over the 4km climb, with only three VIS riders and two Search2Retain riders surfacing at the top. Many, in fact, just turned around and took the trip back to the start/finish area at the base of the climb. Now, with some 40 km still to race, it was like proper teams racing as Stuart Smith (VIS) attacked solo immediately after the climb and his teammates attempted to block and let him go up the road. I crossed to the move, while Charles, Search2Retain's sprinter, saved his legs for the counter attack. I remember yelling at the VIS as I crossed the gap, being frustrated that they had used their energy in such an explosive fashion when perhaps we could have combined our efforts for a greater goal. Then, while sitting at 50 km/h and tucked safely on Smith's wheel after my effort, I reasoned with him that I would work with him only if his teammates behind were to let us go. He was unsure of his teammates' plans, but we at Search2Retain came to work for Charles as our fortunes would inevitably lie in a sprint finish, so I was actually hoping that the others would bridge the gap too and bring Charles with them. Within a couple of kilometres it became apparent that we were going away from the rest of the scratch bunch and so the race for fastest time was down to two riders.

If I were to have any hope of rolling Smith in the finish, I knew that I needed the help of my teammate Tom "Diesel" Donald, riding in the the 2nd scratch bunch ahead. We set about chasing down 2nd scratch, and, importantly, made contact with them before turning into the head wind on the returning side of the circuit. This allowed both Smith and I to share the wind with other riders and save some energy for our dash to the finish. "Diesel" did an awesome lead out, stretching his bunch out into single file for the final 5 km of 130 km. I tried to do everything right to give myself the best run at the finish. Tom was in front, breaking the wind at over 50 km/h, Smith was behind me so that I had a length 'headstart' on him. I sprinted as late as possible; I even sprinted under Tom, forcing Smith to pass me on the windy side.... But the best laid plans cannot make up for these scrawny twigs that are my legs, and Smith flashed past me comfortably to take fastest time by a length.

JAY'S STATS:
max power - 934W
avg power - 275W
avg hr - 163bpm
avg speed - 41.4kmh
max speed - 78kmh

Unofficial results: 52nd Fred Icke Road Race, Saturday 4 June, 2011. 133 km

1. Robert Mann (28:00)

2. Liam White (20:00, same time)

3. Michael Saunders (28:00, s.t.)

4. Matthew Lane (28:00, s.t.)

5. Eric Jones (28:00, s.t.)

6. Liam Dove (16:00, s.t.)

7. Kendelle Hodges (36:00, s.t.)

8. Tom Walker (28:00, s.t.)

9. Mark Scouller (28:00, s.t.)

10. Stephanie Ives (28:00, s.t.)

Fastest time: Stuart Smith (scratch) (to be confirmed)

*****

BSCC and Cycling Victoria present the 52nd Fred Icke Road Race, an open handicap, at Creswick on Saturday. The Fred Icke is our equivalent of the Tour of Flanders: it's long, hard, windy, and usually run in dreadful weather, though this year's forecast is for mildness. Luckily it only has three climbs, not 17, and no cobbles. Check out this epic account of the 2009 race from hard man Jay Bourke.

Click HERE for the start list and handicaps. Here's what the handicapper (thankless job ...) has done to our riders:

- Jay is our sole scratch man. He has form, and he likes this course.

- Ouch: Joel Hossack off 12 minutes, with Stu Grigg (ride well at the Tour of Bright and your open handicap career is over ...) and 2009 winner Fergus MacLachlan. Joel is capable of riding off this mark - Stu too - but Phil and Don are usually kinder.

- Dual Country Masters champ Scott Townsend is four minutes in front of them, along with Michael Pierce, Charles Martin, Tony Mirabella and first-time open rider Sam Turley. This is a strong group.

- The 20-minute group features Liam White, Guy Falla, John Polkinghorne (who likes this race), and Aaron Blomeley. This is potentially a very strong group, if Liam and Aaron cope with the last lap.

- 24 minutes has Jeremy Doolan, Sam Edwards and Peter Kiel. Sell your BHP stock now and put the whole lot on these guys. And don't tell the handicapper. Jeremy nailed the Otway Odyssey and Kiely has done two of the 240-km Alpine Classics, so no problems with the distance. A mild day is bad for the scratchies, and the firepower of the 2008 debacle isn't there anyway.

- Simon Wallis, Bob Braszell and Thayne Turley are off 28 minutes, along with Nick Jehu, who will win the race by ten metres if he's there at the finish. (Drop him, Bob!)

Good luck, all ...

Road: Pat Shaw is the Long's Hill World Champion!

Pat Shaw, who looks set again this year to be Australia's dominant domestic pro cyclist, took a controlled but decisive win in today's BSCC A-grade scratch race. The race was the second in the 2011 King of the Mountains series. The reputation of the Long's Hill circuit for producing titanic battles has earned this event its nickname, the "Long's Hill World Championships." Jeremy Doolan and Angus Lyons were equally convincing winners in B and C grades. Click HERE for a vast gallery of photos, thanks to Phil Orr, Stu Brien and (updated) Kate Grigg. (The link is working now - ed.) Race reports are below the results. We now have B and C.

BSCC Senior Scratch Races, Pootilla - Long's Hill circuit. KOM Round 2

A Grade, 5 laps

1. Patrick Shaw

2. Aaron Blomeley

3. Stuart Grigg

4. Bradley Clark

5. Charles Martin

B Grade, 4 laps

1. Jeremy Doolan

2. Peter Kiel

3. Doug Garley

4. Peter Walker

5. Shane Cody

C Grade, 4 laps

1. Angus Lyons

2. Rob Forsyth

3. Charlie Stebbing

Here's a report on the B grade race, from a special correspondent

Seven riders lined up in B grade, with all eyes on Jeremy Doolan, who's been doing a secret climbing program. More about this later. The pace was typical of a scratch race: starting into a head wind, we were sitting in the mid 20s km/h. When we hit the tail wind on Maddens Road, the pace lifted into the mid-40s, and got faster as we turned into Clarks Road and passed the White Swan reservoir. We clocked 75 km/h on the descent, before we hit Longs Hill Road for the first time.

Shane "Jedi" Cody set the pace up the climb, with others hoping no one would attack. As we crested the climb and caught our breath, the group bunched back together. At this moment, Doug Garley decided it was time, and off he went into the head wind. Brave man. We kept him close. At the junction with the Creswick-Bungaree Road, Doug and the chasers were stopped for traffic, so Doug was caught. When we turned onto the Creswick-Bungaree Road, Jedi attacked. He opened up a gap, which grew as he hit the super-fast Maddens and Clarks Roads. The group kept working in the tail-wind to keep him within their sights, with speeds once again reaching the mid-70s past the White Swan.

As we climbed again, Jeremy Doolan, Peter Kiel, Shane Butler, Peter (Engine) Walker and Doug Garley turned on the gas and closed the gap to Jedi. Nev Bilney then got into his TT position and led us along the flat section of Longs Hill Road, with Kiely's little legs doing a good turn into the wind. Turning onto the Creswick-Bungaree Road for the third time, Jedi and Jeremy had a move in mind. They took off, and had the field strung out. Nev Bilney and Shane Butler were off the back, trying to get back on.

Turning onto Maddens Road, the group once again went nuts with big speed, and we said bye bye to Shane and Nev, or so we thought!
So we were down to five riders - Jedi, Jeremy, Doug, Kiely, and Engine. As we climbed Longs Hill for the third time, Jeremy, Kiely and Peter were setting the pace. Doug was off the back a little, but had enough to rejoin the party as we went past the start-finish line and started the last lap.

Heading towards the Creswick-Bungaree Road, Nev Bilney was sighted behind us. He was chewing on his head stem in the wind to get back on. Someone saw he was nearly back with us and decided it was time to go. I heard someone say, "See ya, Nev" as we turned onto Maddens Road. This was a cruel move for sure.

For the last time we sped down Clarks Road, with Jedi in front pushing the group, and Jeremy on his wheel, waiting to let the special climbing training take over. As we turned on to the last climb, Jeremy exploded up the hill like he was chasing a whippet, and he was gone. The race was between the old guys for second place now. Jeremy was over the line with ease and Kiely, Doug and Peter "Engine" Walker were grinding their old bones. As we crested the rise, Kiely went, with Doug right on his tail, and Peter on Doug's. The little legs of Kiely got him to the line for a strong second, followed by Doug and Peter in that order. All three did a stellar job all day. Jedi was dangling off the back like a sheep's dag, and Nev did an awesome job to finish on his own after the cruel blow earlier.

Has any one heard of whippet training? If you see a cyclist racing a small but fast whippet up to the Water Towers on Sundays, you will learn the key to whippet training, and to Jeremy's success.

This write-up may contain some fictional material, as it is very hard to remember what goes on during a race.

Charlie Stebbing writes:

‘C’ Grade Race Report - Four laps of the dreaded Long’s Hill circuit

Due to late arrival (missing the start of the ‘B’ grade race), Rob Forsyth was an attention-grabbing ‘C’ grade starter, and was welcomed with open arms by the other ‘C’ grade entrants…….not really.

At the start Michael (aka Dr. Fuentes) Veal’s plan was to hit the group very hard. He proceeded to send most of the group into the ‘red zone’ almost immediately (well me anyway); I can confirm the start of this race actually felt like a finishing sprint. After the first climb the good doctor had succumbed to his own tactics and promptly vanished from the race, taking young Vic Snibson and Terry Goldie with him.

Now it was to be a battle of tactics and brute strength with the remaining competitors, and it was apparent early into the 2nd lap that the young guns of Josh Liston & Angus Lyons were going to use tactics (being well coached), and leave the attempt at brute strength to Rob Forsyth and Ryan Kerr (possibly not so well coached!), who both continued to work hard into the strong head winds at the top of the course with Bruce Stewart, Dave Peters and Charlie Stebbing doing their best to hang on.

The 2nd climb was owned by Angus Lyons, tapping out a steady pace, testing the older guys' heart/lung capacity, and to see if they had the legs to go with him. The junior brigade obviously hatched a plan pre-race to attack into the wind at the first opportunity, with Josh Liston the first to go up the road, and when the bunch reeled him back Angus Lyons hit the older guys again. Fortunately Rob Forsyth & Ryan Kerr were able to drag the others back into contact.

The third climb was at a steady pace (well by my standards anyway) with Stebbing attempting to inflict some minor hurt onto the young guys but really only inflicting psychological damage to himself. This became apparent when he surveyed the group at the top of the hill and Peters, Stewart, Lyons, Liston, Forsyth and Kerr all looked as if they wouldn’t blow a candle out, while he was gasping for oxygen…..

This triggered a futile attempted attack up the road into the breeze by Stebbing but no-one seemed keen to join him in the wind, so back to the group he went. On the fast decent towards the penultimate climb, the senior group of riders all thought they had the young guys in trouble with the high speed and their locked down gears; how wrong they were……..

At the foot of Long’s Hill, the group came back together for the last time, and all thought that the race might turn into a 200m sprint after cresting the top. Angus Lyons put that theory to bed when he decided to attack the bunch. His attack splintered the group, with Dave Peters the first to respond, trying to keep in contact. This was in vain as his legs gave out about half way up Long’s Hill, leaving Forsyth & Stebbing to chase for the placings.

Angus Lyons cruised to a well deserved win ahead of Rob Forsyth, with daylight to Stebbing third, followed by Dave Peters, Ryan Kerr, Bruce Stewart and Josh Liston all close behind.

MTB: InterWinter - Round 3 (edited)

Once again BSCC was well represented with 12 riders attending. While the numbers were a little down on the previous rounds it is school holidays with alot of people heading north to get away from the cold and rain in Victoria.

Phil Orr was BSCC only member in A grade, for good reason. A bigger than normal contingent of elite riders turned up for the event, but Phil still managed to place 6th and what is more he was riding a DUALLIE !

In B grade Shane Cody was 4th, Jason Birch 11th, Antanas 20th, Matt Albiston 24th, Jeremy Doolan 27th, Craig Sinclair 34th and Paul Mathers 37th.

In C grade Magnus Baker was 10th, Ben Baker 33rd, and Georgette and Elizabeth Baker equal 37th.

*************

The club has organised a 12 seater bus for any rider planning to enter the 3rd round of the InterWinter series at Castlemaine this Sunday. Our bikes will be securely transported (scratch free) in a trailer specifically designed for this purpose.

The details of the bus are:

Meeting Place: Kirks Reservoir Car Park (opposite the gong gong reservoir)
Meeting Time: 7:00am
Cost: $20 per seat (approximately depending on numbers)

To book your place, contact Phil at Navajo on 5331 3185 or his mobile 0409359778, but be quick last time the places filled fast.

See you there.

Beware: Bike Thieves Are Around

Another update, 5 January:

All Murray's bikes have now been recovered by Sergeant Berry from the Ballarat police. Hooray!

Update from Sergeant Berry, 4 January:

We recovered the Cyfac in Mt. Clear. It only had a damaged rear tyre, otherwise was in good condition. (Bike snobs of Ballarat, rejoice! - ed.) The green Avanti road bike is still missing.

Sergeant David Berry, Ballarat Police, writes:

Murray Bardwell, "The Buzzard," had his garage broken into on Thursday night, December 30. The thieves took three bikes: a green Avanti road bike, a brown Cyfac road bike, and a silver Cannondale mountain bike. The Cyfac, in particular, is a very distinctive machine.

The thieves only took the bikes, and left a vast amount of other gear. It looks as though the thieves wanted only bikes, and knew they were there. It may be that someone is watching cyclists and identifying targets.

If you are approached to buy one of Murray's bikes, please 99,111,110,116,97,99,116,32,109,101 here at the police station (phone 03 5336 6030), or simply ring '000'. Please be aware of the possibility that any one of us may be a target for these mongrels.

2010 MTB Australia membership information

Shane "Jedi" Cody, MTB mogul, writes:

Well, it's 2010, and as promised, BSCC has become affiliated with Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA). Here is some information on the pricing for memberships.

Cycling Australia plus MTBA "value add"

If you're planning to do some MTB racing as well as road, track and/or criterium racing, this is the way to go. First get your Cycling Australia (CA) license, to cover all the "pavement" racing, as usual. For details on what to do to get a CA license, please click here. This is done on-line.

Once you have the CA license, you then purchase an MTBA "value add" license for an additional $45. The process for MTBA membership is described at the MTBA web site here. For new MTBA members, this involves a piece of paper. To get the $45 membership, your CA licence must be shown when you sign and hand over the MTBA membership form. Give the completed form and fee to Shane Cody, or 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114 at Navajo Cycles. (Note that Phil has a new email address. The ncable one doesn't work any more.) The club will gather the payments and forward the appropriate cut to MTBA.

When you have both CA and MTBA licenses, you're entitled to race in any and all road, criterium, track and MTB races in Australia during 2010.

MTB Racing Only

For those only interested in MTB racing - no road, track or criterium racing - you need to complete the MTBA form (from their web site) and send it and payment to Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, or give the completed form and money to Shane Cody or Phil at Navajo. The fees are:

Senior membership $115 (includes $25 club fee)

Junior membership $75 (includes $10 club fee)

Recreational rider $55 ( includes $10 club fee)

This sounds complicated, but it's not too tricky. For all queries, please contact Shane "Jedi" Cody on 0400 190 219, or see Phil at Navajo.

Rob's Bay Classic summary

Rob's blog is here. More BSCC inside insights from the Bay Classic and the Oz Champs coming soon. Meanwhile, best of luck to all the BSCC riders at the Champs!

Track: weekly results

BSCC Track Racing Results
Date: 2/2/2012

Sun and blue skies heralded the first week of the aggregate series as well as the first real week of racing for 2012. The 15 riders were spread across three grades all of which showed incredible talent and skill.

C grade showed a range of skills, winners coming from sprinters, pursuiters as well as tactical genius. Race 1 was weekly scratch race which was taken out by the ever present Rochelle Liston followed by Harrison Callaway and Angus Cocking. The 3 lap race was over in seconds with Rochelle taking the win by about half a bike length. The Italian Pursuit was once again a nail biter, the Ballarat team looked to take the race by an easy 40m at the completion of the third rider but Jerome didn’t give up and completed a flying lap that put Shane Perkins to shame, pulling back the 40m to equal the Ballarat team, Jerome pulled home a dead heat that no-one had a hope of calling. The Match sprints and Derbies were a highlight as always, the riders often matching experience against pure determination. Callaway ran away with the first race, Cocking giving him just a little too much head-start before winding up down the bank. Racing continued with the familiar rivalry of Graeme Frislie and Rochelle Listion firing up again, Liston made the fist move with just over a lap to go going into the final bend with Frislie hard on her wheel but a burst of speed by Frislie gave him the win with half a second to spare. The third sprint battled the experience of Clancy Dickson against the young hotshot of Jake Ashmore. Dickson lead out once again with a lap to go Ashmore not challenging. With half a lap to go Ashmore kicked out of Dickson’s slipstream and looked to be making his way around Dickson into the final bend however with 30m to go Ashmore’s blistering speed began to fade and Dickson held on to the lead to take fist place. The Derbies were run in a similar fashion the winner taking off with a lap to go, Frislie took the first race from Callaway and Dickson in a tight sprint for the line. Ashmore took the second from Rochell and Cocking, once again showing his sprinting prowess.

B grade rode a five lap scratch before combining with C grade for the rest of the night. Graeme Frislie held off Clancy Dickson and Harriet Pickersgill by a few bike-lengths to take top place.
A grade was hotly contest with a mixture of junior and senior rides trying to take the races out. The 15 lap scratch race was calm until an attack by Liston at the halfway mark, Lyons worked hard to bridge the 15m gap and the duo rode away from the bunch until 4 laps to go as Will key and Garley started to come back but never quite made the bridge. Lyons took first from Liston and Will key. The handicap was fast from the gun, the bunch coming together towards the end of the 6 laps with Lyons taking first from Ashleigh and Will. The point’s race over 30 laps showed the true abilities of Liam White who took the opportunity to attack on the first sprint lap, breaking away and taking the sprint. Lyons bridged the gap but spent too much and never took out a sprint. White and Lyons took a lap with White claiming top podium place with first in every sprint.

Racing is on again next week, with the College and Grammar students joining the already climbing numbers. The term of racing is looking promising. The Ballarat Spokes Madison Festival is on next Saturday with races for all ages including the junior and senior state Madison championships so enter before entries close on the 5th. Racing for Seniors is now an official part of Thursday racing so feel free to come along. Be sure to check out the aggregate results on the track website.

Track: Results, 3 February, 2011

Roger Bade, BSCC track tsar, writes:

February 3, 2011: The Sebas Little 6, Day 2

Junior riders reaped the benefits of the early start when they completed most of their race program before the storms struck. The seniors were not so lucky. All of Day 2 of the “Little 6” races were postponed to Feb 10. Despite this it was great to have so many “out-of-towners” up for the racing. Certainly Doug Garley is on a winner with the teams racing format, with riders coming from Geelong, Ararat, Melbourne and Castlemaine to compete.

The junior racing benefited greatly from the participation of two of Melbourne’s top under 17 riders – Liam Hood and Tyson Breen. The two boys came up with Brunswick coach (and well known CSV personality) Cam Macfarlane to practise for the upcoming State Madison Champs, and while they were here they competed brilliantly in C grade and gave lots of assistance to the F, E and D grade riders. It was well appreciated.

The strongest performances this week came from F grade stalwart Adam Begbie, who is surely close to promotion, from occasional racer Maurice Koelle, who looks like he could achieve greatness if consistency improvements were made, and from Jake Seers, whose sprinting power would challenge many of the senior riders.

RESULTS

F Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Adam Begbie, 2nd, Angus Cocking, 3rd, Rochelle Liston
E Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Courtney Mannix, 2nd, Declan Dickson, 3rd, Maurice Koelle
D Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Jake Seers, 2nd, Jack Stewart, 3rd, Dominic Geoghegan
C Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Liam Hood, 2nd, Tyson Breen, 3rd, Josh Liston
F Grade Elimination: 1st, Adam Begbie, 2nd, Rochelle Liston, 3rd, Angus Cocking
E Grade Points Race: 1st, Maurice Koelle (15 pts), 2nd, Declan Dickson (13 pts), 3rd, Courtney Mannix (11 pts)
D Grade Points Race: 1st, Jake Seers (15), 2nd, Nick White (13), 3rd, Jack Stewart (7)
C Grade Motor Pace: 1st, Liam Hood, 2nd, Tyson Breen, 3rd, Josh Liston

Track Schedule:

Mondays 5pm to 7pm - Club Training
Thursdays 4pm to 7pm – Club racing
Ballarat Madison – Sunday February 13

News flash: Harry gets gold!

Updated 10 Feb: click HERE for the Courier's telling of the story, complete with a photo from Liz.

Updated 6 Feb., with information direct from the Adelaide Superdrome:

Harry Bade's Victorian M19 pursuit team has won the Australian M19 team pursuit championship! This follows Harry's 12th-place ride in the individual pursuit on Monday, in the same session in which Dale Parker and Jack Bobridge demolished the M19 and open (post-Superman) men's world records, respectively.

All four of the Young Vics rode the 3000m M19 individual pursuit qualifying round on Tuesday, amid some drama. Harry's team-mate Brent Nelson rode against Dale Parker in his qualifying round. Brent knew he was up against a superior rider, and his goal was not to let Parker catch him. As the history books now record, Parker demolished Michael Hepburn's 3000m world record in his qualification, and in doing so caught Brent with a few laps to go. The officials judged that Brent did not back off after Parker caught him, so he was disqualified from the individual pursuit competition.

Things started in a more straightforward way in the teams pursuit qualifying round on Thursday. Each team rode on the track alone, and the M19 and open teams rode their qualifying times in the same session. Victoria did not have an open (senior) men's team, due to the unavailability of Sean Finning and Glenn O'Shea, so there were only three senior men's teams in the race: NSW, SA and WA. Harry's M19 Vics rode their qualifying round perfectly to plan. The months of systematic training at the Darebin Indoor Sports Centre over the winter showed, and the result was a very fast time of 4:18.4. This was in the top four of all the men's times, faster than all the M19 teams. So in order to create a bronze medal ride-off for the senior men, Harry's team was awarded the M19 gold medal, Australian championship and the Bill Young trophy on the basis of their qualifying time. The SA and WA M19 teams, the next-fastest M19 qualifiers, rode off for M19 silver and bronze. The WA and SA open teams rode off for the open gold, championship and Southcott trophy; and Harry's M19 Vics rode off against the NSW open team, the other top-4 qualifier, for a shot at a second medal, the open bronze. (Got all that ...?)

Once again, the history books record the result of the open men's gold medal race - South Australia's extraordinary tactics, and a result that would have won an Olympic gold not so long ago, with two 17-year-olds in the team! In the bronze medal ride-off, Harry's team suffered several mishaps. Their lead-off man, Oliver Le Grice, was not released immediately by the starting gate, so they lost several seconds right away. On the other side of the track, a worried NSW made the fastest start of the championships - faster even than Glasspool's kilo start for SA in the gold medal race. With the big boys breathing down their necks, the Young Vics regrouped and hung on gamely, but a miscommunication in the last kilometer saw small but crucial gaps open between them, sealing their fate. They were caught by the flying Light Blues near the finish. But nothing will take the M19 gold and the Bill Young trophy from our lads. Click here for a picture of Harry and his happy team-mates with their medals and the trophy.

CSV will decide tonight (Saturday) whether Harry or dual M19 gold medalist (sprint and keirin) Maddison Hammond, son of the fabulous Gary Hammond, will take the second Victorian spot in Sunday's M19 omnium championship, alongside Brent Nelson.

An Australian champion in Ballarat! It just keeps getting better ...

We're scratching our heads to remember the last time Ballarat had an Australia cycling champion, of any description - road or track, any event, any age group. The absurdly-talented Cameron McKinnon had a juvenile (olden days' equivalent of M17) scratch race title in about 1987. And Greg Nunn might have been the sighted half of an Australian visually-impaired tandem sprint championship in the early '90s. Unfortunately your correspondent has a small gap in his Ballarat cycling history, between 1989 and 2008 ... Any since? If you know, please contact the 119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121.

BSCC Board: Positions available

In February 2012 the tenure period of a couple of our board members will be up and we will be looking to find suitably skilled and motivated club members to step up and take an active role. Specifically we are looking for a treasurer and a secretary so obviously anyone with those kinds of skills would be highly valued. Other than these roles we are also interested to hear from anyone keen to be a general board member.

This is an opportunity to be actively involved with the running of the club and to help make decisions on our future direction, and to continue and grow the success of our established cycling disciplines.

Apart from board positions we are also looking for somebody to look after the club clothing. BSCC has an arrangement with cycle clothing company Champion Systems to provide all our customized club kit. We need somebody who can be the contact person for receiving and making orders on behalf of club members.

To register your interest email the 119,101,98,32,100,111,109,101,115,116,105,113,117,101,46

December 2010 BSCC Board Meeting

Karen Snibson, BSCC secretary, writes:

Agenda - December meeting
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
ABN: 81 823 158 455
7 December, 2010. Red Lion Hotel 7pm

1.0 Attendance:
Board members:
Apologies:
In attendance:
2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report:
3.2 Road report:
3.3 Track report:
3.4 BMX report:
3.5 MTB report:
3.6 Secretaries report
4.0 General Business
4.1 Board election of executive
4.2 Marty Busch – working party and master plan
4.3 BMX update (political promise) and funding agreement with City of Ballarat.
4.4 CSV delegate
4.5 Finalise Ongoing dispute
4.6 Master planning for clubrooms
4.7 Damage to velodrome
4.8 Bunnings best member: junior, senior
4.9 Sub- committee AGMs and quorum
4.10 Madison
4.11 Meet the stars function (AORCC)
4.12 Traffic controller training possibility City of Ballarat

Track: Results, Saturday 4 December 2010

Doug "Hard Rider" Garley, Saturday track supremo, writes:

A lovely sunny and calm day presented a nice laid-back feel to the final Saturday afternoon of BSCC track racing for 2010. The theme for the feature race was 'Keirin Kulture,' with sake (日本酒), Kirin beer and (for the juniors) jams and pickles up for grabs. Phil (Yoshi) Orr was the pacer for the Keirin (ケイリン) event, with the win going to the fast-finishing Scott Bilney from 1980s champion Malcolm Calloway, Paul Pickersgill, and present-day champion Victoria Snibson.

The rest of the afternoon's events were Flying Lap, scratch races, and motor pacing, with all riders improving on the flying lap times posted two weeks ago.
Scott Bilney 16.6
Paul Pickersgill 17.3
Malcolm Calloway 17.7
Victoria Snibson 18.6
Harriet Pickersgill 22.0
Daisy Pickersgill 29.4

(Remember, these are 250m times, not the usual 200m used for sprint qualifying - ed.) These were some of the times posted. After scratch racing, the final event on the day was one to test the endurance, a 30-lap motor pace race, paced confidently by Geoff Braszell, another 1980s champion. Geoff lifted the pace as the race progressed, losing Malcolm Calloway in the process. When Scott Bilney made his move at two laps to go, Victoria Snibson showed initiative and nearly grabbed the winning wheel, getting caught out on her own. Paul Pickersgill got his absolutely huge gear wound up to hunt her down, just pipping Victoria on the line for second. Malcolm Calloway also showed initiative by putting his Keirin prize in the club's fridge and sharing his spoils with the rest of us. Very pleasant indeed.

Thanks to Bill Groome (Sid Patterson's former soigneur - ed.) , Karen Snibson, and motor-pacers Geoff Braszell and Phil (Yoshi) Orr.

Round 2 of summer MTB series

How many of today's club members were born when Matt Smith's mountain bike was made? And how many of them will he lap? What will Ken Heres do this time when Dr. Veal overtakes him on the descent? Does Phil's bike ever get dirty? Be there or you'll never know for sure. All the details are here.

Road: Tri Series Standings

Updated 6 August, after Round Two.

The Round Two points were:

A grade: BSCC 8 (1st and 5th), Geelong 8 (2nd & 3rd), Colac 2 (4th)

B grade: Geelong 12 (1st, 3rd & 4th), Colac 6 (2nd & 5th), BSCC 0

C grade: Colac 9 (1st & 4th), BSCC 6 (2nd & 5th), Geelong 3 (3rd)

So the round 2 totals are:

Geelong 23

Colac 17

BSCC 14

And the overall tally after round 2 is:

BSCC 49

Geelong 35

Colac 24

BSCC needs a strong Round Three to take the 2011 Tri Series. We need numbers! Especially in B grade. See you there.

*******

The Tri Series is a teams race: BSCC vs. Geelong vs. Colac. After Round 1, the senior points are:

BSCC 35 points

Geelong 12 points

Colac 7 points.

Here's where these points came from. In each grade, points were given to the first five place-getters: 7-5-3-2-1. So the points for each grade are:

A grade: BSCC 12 points (1st + 3rd + 4th), Geelong 6 points (2nd + 5th)

B grade: Colac 7 points (1st), BSCC 7 points (2nd + 4th), Geelong 4 points (3rd + 5th)

C grade: BSCC 16 points (1st + 2nd + 3rd + 5th), Geelong 2 points (4th)

The C grade event showed that having lots of riders in the race is a very good start! So we're looking for a big turnout at Beeac this coming Saturday. It's a decent drive, so please get together with your team-mates and travel down together.

Bring on Round Two!

Road: Grigg Wins Big at Beeac

Mild, calm conditions and a flat circuit meant bunch sprints were the order of the day in almost all the events in Round 2 of the 2011 Tri Series. With a strong wind, the exposed Beeac circuit is often selective, but under calm conditions, splitting the field is difficult.

The exception was the senior A grade race. Stuart Grigg, Sam Turley and Aaron Blomeley were waving the flag for BSCC against a large and strong contingent of Geelong riders, plus Zac Shaw, the sole Colac representative. Zac, a noted sprinter, was not interested in working with the BSCC riders, so Geelong launched attack after attack against BSCC. A Geelong rider got away solo on the first lap, and Turley and Grigg put in a huge effort to bring him back. This unleashed a series of Geelong counter-attacks, and again Turley and Grigg took turns to close them down. Near the end of the second lap, Grigg chased down Ben Andrews from Geelong, and opened up a gap. Grigg and Andrews drove hard, and when the bunch drew close on a few occasions, they rode harder, and Turley rolled to the front and slowed down the chase. With a handful of kilometers to go, Grigg dropped Andrews, and rode to an impressive solo win. Andrews stayed away for second, and Turley put in a top sprint to take fifth, with only guns Rudy Schmidt and Shaw getting past him. With results like these, it’s easy to forget that both Grigg and Turley have only been racing for a few years, and it's exciting to realize that they both get stronger with each ride.

BSCC put up a good fight in B grade. After a nervous and at times aggressive race, the whole bunch arrived at the finish together. Matt Smith, returning to form after a break, chanced his hand with a flyer with 1.5 km to go, but was swamped by the bunch. Doug Garley and Thayne Turley led out Joel Hossack and Guy Falla, who narrowly missed the placings.

C grade was also a tactical event. BSCC’s numbers were down compared with last week. It soon became evident that no team was strong enough to split the race permanently, but the elastic was stretched constantly. Strong men Charlie Stebbing, Paul Crack and Scott Denno chased down everything, and Stebbing in particular spent kilometer after kilometer riding a solid tempo on the front to discourage other attacks. Denno was claimed by a mechanical before the finish. With a few kilometers to go, Geelong MTB machines Jess Douglas and Ben Culton took over to set up Geelong’s sprinter, Colin Smith. Smith took off early, and Jonathan Lacey fought for his wheel. Smith poured on the power, Lacey squeezed past him with 50m to go, but both were blown away by a blindingly fast sprint from Colac’s rising U19 star Hamish Middleton. Middleton was a long way back when Smith took off, but his vastly superior talent ensured an emphatic win. Charlie Stebbing capped off a top day with a strong 5th place. Paul Crack just missed the points in 6th.

Thanks to the Colac Cycling Club for organizing a top day of racing, and a lavish afternoon tea after the races.

One of the highlights of the day for BSCC riders was the trip to and from the race in the team bus. Don Stewart, as usual, organized everything, including post-race drinks and food, and drove both ways. On the bus were Doug Garley, Sam and Thayne Turley, Stuart Grigg, Aaron Blomeley and Jonathan Lacey. All of them thank the club for sponsoring the bus, and Don for making it happen.

Official Results:
A Grade 66 km
1. Stuart Grigg (BSCC)
2. Ben Andrews (Geelong)
3. Rudy Schmidt (Geelong)
4. Zac Shaw (Colac)
5. Sam Turley (BSCC)

B Grade 66 km
1. Anthony Reyntjes (Geelong)
2. Tony Lepino (Colac)
3. Grant Blake (Geelong)
4. Nick Lanner (Geelong)
5. Chris Kane (Colac)

C Grade 44 km
1. Hamish Middleton (Colac)
2. Jonathan Lacey (B-S)
3. Colin Smith (Geelong)
4. Warwick Bott (Colac)
5. Charlie Stebbing (B-S)

Junior handicap
1. Chris Warden
2. Hendrick Warden
3. Peter Barry
Fastest time: Chris Warden

Road: "Come & Try" Event, Saturday 1 October

Chris Liston writes:

Cycling come and try days!

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club (BSCC) welcomes boys and girls to road cycling participation events. Give it a go! - for fun or off-season fitness for another sport.

Road event for children 7-17 yrs, Saturday 1 Oct. More details will be posted here soon.

A BMX event has already been held.

An MTB event is scheduled for September 17. Click HERE for more details.

BSCC – Passion, Perseverance, Pride, Just Ride!

Charlie Braszell, BSCC Life Member, Rest in Peace

With insights from Geoffrey and Neil Braszell.

BSCC Life Member Charlie Braszell died on Saturday, August 29, at the age of 83. This is the end of an era. Charlie was never one for the limelight, but he was a central figure in Ballarat cycling for decades, as a rider, a bike shop owner, a mechanical wizard, and especially as a coach and mentor.

Charlie’s father worked on the railways, and as a boy he moved all over Victoria until his family settled in Echuca during his high school years. After high school, he came to Ballarat in the 1940s to do his apprenticeship as a fitter and turner at John Valves, then located in Armstrong Street South. At this time Australian cycling had two almost parallel organizations, professional and amateur, and Ballarat had separate professional and amateur clubs. Charlie raced with the pros, the organization that at the time ran the Fred Icke, the Melbourne to Warnambool, and what was then the Sun Tour, now the Herald-Sun Tour. He raced both road and track, as almost all riders did in those days. All his life Charlie was ferociously competitive, and took his cycling very seriously.

After nearly 20 years at John Valves, Charlie left to open and run Super Elliott Cycles, in Sturt Street, a few doors east of where Navajo is now. He was driven by a desire to use his brain at work, as well as his hands. By this time he had stopped racing himself, and was established as a coach of a number of local riders, starting with his very talented sons, Geoffrey and Neil. Training Charlie-style consisted of steady road mileage, supplemented by motor-pacing behind his car at an increasingly frenzied speed, ending with a flat-out sprint back into town. Stories abound of the lads in Charlie’s training bunch, including Geoff and Neil, the Webb brothers and the young Dennis Shaw, battling for the best position behind his car.

In the late 1970s, Super Elliot closed, and Charlie moved his stock of bike parts and tools, and his wizardry as a bike mechanic, into the garage of his house at the top of the hill on Norman Street. He lived in this house until late last year. Until not many years before this, a steady stream of cyclists dragged themselves up the hill to the garage to seek his advice on their bikes, their training, and race tactics. Charlie also applied his mechanical skills to harness racing equipment, and he was as well known in trotting circles as he was amongst cyclists. This is probably the phase of his life where Charlie’s cycling legacy was cemented. His fierce competitiveness was channeled into a desire to see the riders he helped reach their potential. This was the time when he coached Cameron McKinnon to Australian junior track championships, and the great Peter Townsend, Scott's late father, to a clean sweep of every Australian veteran title, from sprint to road race. Each one of the many cyclists he worked with from that era has a story about Charlie’s generosity. A rider would turn his back for a moment before a big race and Charlie, without a word, would be fitting a super-light set of wheels to his bike.

After so many decades in the bike game, Charlie’s instincts for the finer mechanical points of cycling were legendary. One rider from that era, as a teenager, asked Charlie to set up his position on the bike. This was done with a glance and a few quick adjustments. The same rider, starting racing again several decades later, paid a lot of money to an internationally-reputed bike position guru to spend hours on intricate biomechanical measurements. The result: a position on the bike identical to Charlie's, to within a few millimetres.

In the days before cycling became the new golf, Australia's racing cyclists were a close-knit tribe. The vast majority of cyclists were cyclists because their dad or uncle was, or had been. Ballarat's cyclists were part of the tribe, and like most tribes with deep roots, we were not always one big happy family. Passions ran high, and often boiled over. But like a tribal leader, Charlie was one of those who kept Ballarat’s cyclists together. He was a man of few words, but he showed by his actions that while he cared deeply about the sport he loved, there are things in life more important than bike races.

Charlie Braszell is survived by his sons Geoffrey (Ash's father) and Neil (Tony Mirabella's coach), his nephew Bob, six other grand-children, and the many cyclists whose lives he touched. The club extends its deepest sympathies to Geoffrey, Neil and family.

Ross Bush Memorial road race: Footscray sweeps

Ross Bush was a much-loved member of the Geelong Cycling Club in the 1980s and 1990s, well known to Ballarat cyclists of that era, and a national-level road rider and triathlete. On a training ride in 1998, he was struck by a car and killed. To read more about Ross, please click HERE. Since his death, the Geelong club has held an annual senior handicap road race in his memory. This year's race was two laps of a circuit around Sutherlands Creek. Most of the circuit consists of the flat and windswept Steiglitz and Geelong-Ballan Roads, but the race is elevated to classic status by the two steep, twisting climbs on Thompson Road, the second preceded by the 70 km/h plunge into the Steiglitz gorge. The race was run in textbook spring classic conditions: cool, windy, with the constant threat of torrential rain. Riders from the Geelong, Ballarat Sebastopol and Footscray clubs made up the field. BSCC was represented by Rob Doyle, Phil Orr, Andrew Weightman and Tony Mirabella off scratch; John Townsend off 4 minutes; Peter Kiel, Jonathan Lacey and rising stars Mitch Brogden and James Crafter off 8 minutes; Brookman winner Chloe McIntosh off 15 minutes; and Ben Lohse and Charlie Stebbing off 18:30. Limit was 32:30. For once, BSCC riders were in the minority. The powerful Footscray club almost doubled the field, and pushed the number of un-upgradeable Italian dream bikes in the race well into double figures. Many things have changed since Footscray was the hard-scrabble pro club of Dennis Shaw in the late 1970s.

The handicapper read the tea leaves with clarity. The scratch bunch rode at a steady, relentless pace, and mowed down the leaders just after the last ascent from Steiglitz, with a few kilometers to go, so that riders from throughout the field contested the finish. In the chaotic downhill, tailwind bunch gallop, Footscray rider Dom Dudkiewicz took first and fastest. Mitch Brogden rode powerfully all day, and waved the BSCC flag with a strong 10th place. Chloe McIntosh was edged out as first woman by her namesake Chloe McConville, also of Footscray.

Results:

1. Dom Dudkiewicz (scr)

2. Steve Pilson (scr)

3. Mark Bellew (scr)

4. Stuart Morgan (4:00)

5. Adam Murchie (scr)

6. Jason Costin (10:00)

7. Rudy Schmidt (4:00)

8. Darren Gray (8:00)

9. Mark Micallef (18:30)

10. Mitch Brogden (8:00)

First woman: Chloe McConville (15:00)

Road: Inside the 2011 Melbourne to Warrnambool

Jay Bourke reports:

The Melbourne to Warrnambool is a beast to say the least. 262km, enough said. To even consider racing it commands respect within cycling circles.

My specific preparation for this race started after the Tour of Tasmania a month earlier. This included some big solo rides of up to 220km. For those interested, I did most of these long rides snaking my way around Cape Otway. The roads of Lorne, Forrest, Lavers Hill and Apollo Bay are simply spectacular for cycling and provided a valuable distraction during those long days in the saddle. Nutrition is such an important factor for The Warni and I used these long rides to practice what I would eat and drink on race day. In the days preceding the race it was a matter of sharpening up on the bike while loading the body with carbohydrates. It was amazing how much I had to actually eat to load properly.

Race morning was up at 4:30am and pasta for breakfast. Not exactly a life of luxury but it gets the job done. It was wet and windy - perfect! Simply, you can discount many riders in dull conditions as they turn to survival instead of racing. Our search2retain team managers had a spread of Balance Nutrition products in the back of the truck for us to stuff our pockets with - bars and gels, along with some secret sports food - jelly beans and Mars Bars. A short meeting with the boys to confirm our plans for the day before a quick kiss goodbye to loved ones and I was off to warmup and open the pipes before the start. It would be a good 8hrs on the road today.

The start was relatively civilized, the block headwind somewhat containing any hot heads. It would be suicide to push into such a wind for the entire distance. The narrow back roads through Little River and around the outskirts of Geelong did provide some intermittent excitement however, as every 90* corner was a potential opportunity for the wind to cross across the road, push riders into the gutter and split the race into echelons. There was no major split at the front, only those poorly positioned blew out the back of the race. Search2retain was particularly attentive during this first 50km, always near the front but never on the front. The race could not be won here, but it could certainly be lost. I don't think I ever felt the wind on my face so I tucked in and used this time to continue to fuel up for the race to come.

A break of 4 riders finally pushed forward just before the first feed zone at Inverleigh and immediately the peloton slowed for a nature break - these riders were unlikely to ride away from a 100 strong peloton, into a headwind with more than 200km to race. During the 70km from Inverleigh to Lismore the racing was quite negative. The block headwind did not invite anyone to lift the pace. Importantly, I spent all this time in the small chainring to save my legs. Search2retain still used one rider on the front, our 'Diesel' Tom Donald, just to ensure that the pace was kept respectable. As a result, the break never got more than 4mins up the rode - not a threat at all (for example, last year, a larger break had 15mins at Lismore, in similar conditions, yet the energy they used to forge ahead meant it took less than 40km to reel them in.) Again, I used this time to continually top up on food and drink, knowing that the race would begin at the feed in Lismore where the road turns south and we would have some 100km (!) of crosswinds. As we caught the breakaway coming into Lismore I dropped back to our Search2retain team car to stock up on full bottles before the feed, just in case some sneaky cats decided to attack through the feed.

As predicted, Genesys put the race into the gutter immediately as we turned south. You could see and hear many riders panic as they dropped off the road into the gravel, touched wheels or hit a pothole with that familiar sound of cracking carbon! Within minutes the peloton fractured into multiple echelons stretching across the full width of the road. I was relaxed, still in the front echelon with 2 of my teammates, still out of the wind, the race was going according to plan. The reason I was safely protected from the wind was I was trailing Kyle Marwood, arguably one of the strongest guys in the race and he is a hell of a lot bigger than me. As a testament to how strong Kyle is, he unfortunately broke a chain, right in front of me, immediately losing all his momentum. I was now less relaxed! This filtered me back to no-man's land off the back of the first echelon. No worries, the next echelon was not far behind. However, the following echelon was was not running smoothly, with many riders reluctant, or unable to pull through. I was one of them, I had teammates up front so I had no reason to work. I gambled that others could brings things back together, or at least hold the deficit.

Coming into Camperdown, the race crests the only 2 hills on the course. As those rolling turns began to really sweat, suffer and generally look ragged, I knew I had to cross to the front here or my race would be over. There was a little protection from the wind on the successive climbs so I gave myself the challenge that I had to reach the front before the top of the 2nd climb, otherwise I would waste too much energy in the wind. Luckily, I had Mark O'Brien to share turns with so that we caught the front just as they crested the 2nd climb and my teammate, Charles Howlett ran 3rd in the Vic 200km Champs. Of the 15 or so riders in that 2nd echelon, only Matt Lloyd was able to sit on and cross the gap with Mark and I.

60km to go, 25 riders in the race, and I gave my search2retain teammates a pat on the back to let them know that with 3 of us, we had a strong position. Only Genesys with 4 riders had more. This group rolled turns fairly evenly for some 15km to consolidate our position and to again top up with food such as Mars Bars and Coke. As the rain began to fall solidly, it was both literally and metaphorically, the calm before the storm. With 40km to go, riders started eyeballing to suss out each others level of fatigue. I remember seeing Pat Shaw do the biggest power spew I have seem, while other riders locked up with full body cramps. From here, attacks were launched off the front repeatedly for some 25km. 50kmh - 20kmh - 50kmh - 20kmh. It was like a crit race! As the kms ticked off, the gaps were getting larger and larger, while fewer riders were actually racing, most were just hanging on the back, relying on others to do the work. Each time a Genesys rider scratched their nose, a search2retain rider pounced, and vice versa. Initially I just followed wheels, hoping that others would run themselves into the ground. Search2retain rider, Luke Fetch was getting tired after earlier commenting that he had never ridden more than 210km! I gave the young apprentice a shove as I told him that others were worse off than him (the spewing etc was continuing) - it was the perfect time to attack...properly! Fetchy launched with an aggressive move and was away into the mist. Only one rider was prepared and able to go with him, previous winner Joel Pearson. If they chase Luke, I would attack. If they chase me, Charles had the sprint power. Our plan was unfolding as prepared.

Some tried to reel Fetchy back, but each time they looked over their shoulder for some help with the effort, they sunk as they saw our search2retain jersey right on their wheel. It was a good position to be in. Nearing the finish, Fetchy unfortunately began to lock up and lost Pearson's wheel. Others would not know, but each time I stopped for a toilet break, Fetchy broke the wind for me on the way back. Or if I wanted food, Fetchy got me a drink. He probably ended up covering an extra 10km! Pearson went on to win his 2nd Warni, but for Fetchy to hold onto 3rd, knowing all the extra work he did, deserves huge praise. Nathan Haas pipped Fetch for 2nd after attacking 4km from home with Sam Davis from PlanB. Back in the main group, less than 30secs behind, I rode the final 2km on the front to lead out Charles in the sprint for the minor places where he finished just outside the top 10. With 3 of search2retain in the top 20 and Steve Robb leading the 2nd bunch over the line, only a few minutes down, we had done enough to place 2nd, behind the professional Genesys team, on Teams Class. Along with Fetchy's 3rd in his first Warni, this was a huge result for the team considering we only started with 5 rider when other teams had a full roster of 8.

Race stats:
Dist- 260km
Time- 7hr 25mins
Avg Speed- 35kmh
Max Speed- 73kmh
Avg power- 270w
Max power- 1334w
Work- 7817kJ (!! - ed.)

Big Day!

A big thanks has to go to our support crew:
- Chris Steffanoni and Mark Isaacs in the team car calling the shots and handing out precious bananas and Coke.
- Our feed crew of team owner Peter Shandon, young gun on the team Jake K, and the gorgeous Jane. All the crew gets up at 4am and has a long day, just like the riders. It would be cool to hear their version of events or get a video of their day as I hear of alot of rally car driving and silly stories at feed zones waiting for the riders to come through.
- our sponsors search2retain, Balance Nutrition, Felt, Kask, Salice and Diadora

If anyone is interested in supporting search2retain to go Continental in 2012, please consider our proposal: http://www.search2retain.com.au/files/80SN9RH2OP/search2race_PartnerSponsor.pdf

Road: Wallace handicap results

The unappealing weather didn't deter the 20 or so riders who gathered at the Wallace pub today in the Winter-like conditions to contest the third race in the BSCC road series.

Phil Orr reports...

Five bunches were formed with a nine minutes gap between Limit and Scratch. To the Scratch-men's advantage, Doug Garley missed his bunch start and his contributions to the scratch bunch added the fire power that helped Scratch catch 2nd before the start of the second lap.

The 2nd limit bunch caught limit just before the Pootilla corner with approximately 10km left in the race. Tim Lucas and Scott Denno contributed to the lead pace before it was left to Bilney, Canny, Rushton and Stebbing to finish it off.

The chasing groups of Scratch, second and third had the leaders in sight, but couldn't close the gap in time with Les Bilney out sprinting Andrew Rushton for second and Peter Canny finishing third.

Big thanks to the Marshals from Linda Brown Kindergarten, Chris Liston for course set up and Don Stewart for brilliant handicapping.

1st Les Bilney
2nd Andrew Rushton
3rd Peter Canny
4th Charlie Stebbing
5th Paul Humphrey

Fastest Time Phillip Orr

MTB: You Yangs Gazebo Series

Three Ballarat-Sebas MTB members contested the final round of Geelong MTB Clubs Gazebo series at the You Yangs on Saturday. With a 9:00 am start, an early and wet departure from Ballarat raised some doubts as to whether this was going to be a good idea. But as days for mountain biking go, it turned out to be fine.

Round two of the series last month had been a dry and dusty day/night affair in the Kurrajong plantation, so a little occasional drizzle wasn’t going to be an issue. Only in the last lap did things start to get a bit squishy. The course ran out of the Stockyards area and utilized some of the newer track, constructed since last years flood damage. Parks and Geelong MTB Club have created some great rideable track to ascend (Rockwell Run), to combine with the fast and sometimes challenging descent (Lactic). You can’t help but have fun on a circuit like this!

Final results for the day for BSCC riders: A Grade Will Goer 7th, Carl Maroney 12th. C Grade: Craig Sinclair 4th.

Full results can be found here.

Series results: A Grade: Will Goer was awarded 3rd after a countback as he tied for points with second (15th, 2nd, 7th) C Grade: Craig Sinclair was awarded 2nd, being ineligible for the series win,not having contested the first round(DNS, 2nd, 4th)

Club AGM minutes

The club AGM was held on February 21st where a new board for 2012 was elected, including several new members.

Minutes from the meeting can be found here:

A special meeting was held the following week to vote on executive positions within the board.

The minutes from that meeting can be found here:

Congratulations to Phil Orr, our new club president!

Updated board member contacts can be found here.

BSCC 2009 criterium champions crowned

Chris Liston writes:

2009 BSCC Small Dog Criterium Championships

A license transfer from South Australia to Victoria hours before the 2009 Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club’s 2009 Small Dog Design senior criterium championship proved to be a great move for Rhys Gillett, who went on to take a big win. The conditions were cold, and very gusty wind made the going tough, but the pace was on as soon as the field left the line. Gillett moved away from the bunch early, and powered for more than half the race on his own in the lead. Jay Bourke worked hard to cross the gap, but eventually succumbed to the peloton. Gillett won the championship, 25 minutes plus 2 laps, by an unprecedented margin of 300m, and the field sprinted for the minor placings. Track star Damien Keirl took second over Herald-Sun Tour rider Jason Hegert, who has returned to the bike after several weeks off.

In contrast, the fields in the supporting senior B and C grade events stayed together until the bottom corner on the last lap. In B grade, former European pro Doug Garley moved ahead of the field to take the win in B grade, from Don Stewart and Michael Veal. The Senior C race was taken by Clive Silcock, with former motocross star Shane Cody second. The pair out-maneuvered the favourite, Jason Haire, who claimed third following a positioning error rounding the corner for the sprint.

Over forty juniors braved the cool conditions to put in some good racing in their 2009 championships. Conor Carey claimed the U9 win from Rochelle Liston. In the U11 girls, Olivia Oliver won from Kate Lyons. Clancy Dickson showed his strength to take the U11 boys title. Darcy Waller worked hard but had to settle for third as Ryan Polkinghorne took the runner-up position. The U13 boys’ race was very competitive, as the field circulated in a bunch for five laps. In the finale, Nicholas White was at his limit to keep Dylan Bilston at bay. White took the championship on the inside, with Bilston second and Patrick Cosgrave coming off the front the bunch for third. Emma Bilston continued her success, taking the U13 girls championship. She put in a huge effort with a steady pace. Harriet Pickersgill, Athalie Lawrie and Felicity Liston did battle for the minors, and that remained as the finishing order.

Victoria Snibson broke from Madeline Plastow to win in the U15 girls. In the U15 boys’ race, the group of six that started were put under pressure when Hugo Tolliday put in an attack down the back straight a couple of laps in. Joshua Liston and Angus Lyons took up the chase but ended up as three riders on their own and finished in that order. Tolliday took a well-deserved championship, weeks before his national track title campaign.

The strong young men of the club battled it out over 8km for the U17 title. Ciaran Conaughton and Charles Martin broke as a pair off the front, and the bunch was meters behind. In a very close duel, Conaughton narrowly took the win from Martin. The in-form Liam White finished off a great race taking third by a quarter of a wheel from Andrew Pearson. The evening’s racing was a highlight of BSCC’s year so far. It was made possible by Small Dog Design, proving that every dog has his day.

Results
Senior championship, 25 minutes plus 2 laps
Champion: Rhys Gillet
2nd Damien Keirl
3rd Jason Hegert

Senior B Grade 20 minutes plus 2 laps
1st Doug Garley
2nd Don Stewart
3rd Michael Veal

Senior C Grade 15 minutes plus 2 laps
1st Clive Silcock
2nd Shane Cody
3rd Jason Haire

U17M
Champion Ciaran Conaughton
2nd Charles Martin

3rd Liam White

U17W
Champion Molly Hegert
2nd Meg O’Doherty

U15M
Champion Hugo Tolliday
2nd Joshua Liston
3rd Angus Lyons

U15W
Champion Victoria Snibson
2nd Madeline Plastow

U13M
Champion Nicholas White
2nd Dylan Bilston
3rd Patrick Cosgrave

U13F
Champion Emma Bilston
2nd Harriet Pickersgill
3rd Athalie Lawrie

U11M
Champion Clancy Dickson
2nd Ryan PolkingHorne
3rd Darcy Waller

U11F
Champion Olivia Oliver
2nd Kate Lyons

U9
Champion Connor Carey
2nd Rochelle Liston

February MTB event: summary

Dale Boucher writes:

MTB "Event"Summary – 28th February

Twenty-one enthusiastic mountain bike riders hit the dirt in Canadian Forest on Saturday to challenge themselves on a 3.75 km circuit with flowing downhill singletrack and a 70 vertical metre climb back to the start. A grade completed 5 laps, B grade 4 and C grade 3 laps. Over 50% of the riders are not yet BSCC members. They enjoyed the short, informal format of the event. After the race everyone had a dusty smile on their face and there was much interest in future MTB races. The BSCC Race Committee was happy with the turnout and decided to extend the MTB series for another three races. The next three races will be held on:
•    Saturday 28th March
•    Saturday 18th April
•    Saturday 16th May
More details will be posted here soon. Meantime, the dates are marked on the on-line (non-downloadable) calendar HERE.

Editor writes: many thanks to Dale for designing the course and organizing the event, and to Tara Hossack for taking photos: see HERE.

Oz Champs for the rest of us

The morning of the open men's race at the Australian Road Championships, a recreational event will be held - ride the course for two hours with Phil Liggett! Here's the story from the Oz Champs organizers, Caribou:

Ride the Championships Course !
At the Scody Australian Open Road Cycling Titles
Join Phil Liggett [the Voice of Cycling in the English-speaking world, cycling journalist and race promoter since 1967, former top amateur cyclist - ed.] and Mike Tomalaris [soccer and cycling journalist and commentator since 1992 - ed.]. Enter now to ride the famous Buninyong Championship circuit with two stars of the SBS Tour de France commentary team.
8.00 a.m. Sunday, January 10 (two hours on the course before the men's open road race at 11 AM).

Please click HERE to download the entry form for the event.

Magic touch

We don't usually put advertisements on Latest News ... but the exception proves the rule. If you're looking for a sports massage to get some life back into your legs, here's someone to consider: Brendan Wilson. Brendan is at 109 Moola St., Ballarat North. His phone numbers are 5334 4917 (corrected 18 Jan, previously wrong due to an editorial error - ed.), or 0400 063 755. His email address is 104,101,114,101. He will do a deal for BSCC members and other cyclists, so don't forget to mention that you are one.

If there are other Ballarat-based massage therapists whose services you recommend for fellow cyclists, please send their name, address, email and phone number to the 119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121 and they will be posted here too.

Road: Ride with Karen Munro

Damien "King" Keirl writes:

Charity ride with Karen Munro this Saturday, February 5

Karen Munro is riding from Adelaide to Melbourne at the moment to raise money for lung cancer research, and to raise awareness about the disease. Karen has smoked not once in her 40 years - in fact she was a Masters national champion cyclist - but was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer, meaning it's inoperable. She wants to spread the message that lung cancer doesn't just happen to smokers.

She will be leaving Beaufort at 8 AM this Friday, and will arrive around 10 AM at the entrance to Sovereign Hill. If you'd like to ride in with Karen, just pop out along the Western Highway.

On Saturday morning, Damien Keirl has organised for her to leave the Sovereign Hill entrance at 8 AM. We want as many Ballarat riders as possible to ride with her out of town to Gordon. Karen is also raising money. Please donate through Karen's website, or we will be collecting on the morning of the ride at the Sovereign Hill entrance from 7.30 AM. Please show your support and inform as many riders as you can. If you're a non-rider, we would still you to come down and say hi and make a donation.

There's more information about Karen at her web site, and here's the story about her meeting with Lance Armstrong before she started. If you need any more info about the rides or if you want to help out, please contact 68,97,109,105,101,110.

MTB: VSS 2012, Round 1 - Report

BSCC MTB hosted the first round of the 2012 Victorian State Series at a club members property in Elmhurst. VSS is Olympic Cross Country (XCO) distance which races on a 4-6 km loop for approximately 90-120 minutes. Your fitness and ability determines the category and the number of laps you complete so Elite men completed 6 laps while Super Masters covered 2 laps. XCO events have been declining in popularity over recent years possibly due to riders preference for endurance events. Some say the decline is due to the intensity of XCO events and the fitness level and technical skills required to be competitive whereas endurance racing is more accommodating for the social MTB rider.

The Baker’s property in the Pyrenees is a working vineyard (Wimmera Hills Winery) and they have constructed a technical trail network on their 600 acres. Being in the Pyrenees, this course has big climbs and descents, beautiful established gum trees and plenty of rocks.

This course is different to most mountain bike trails we ride today. MTB trails are generally smooth, well groomed and bedded in by thousand of tyres going over the same trail. The Baker’s trails are ‘old school’. Some tracks are narrow, tight and off-camber. Then add sharp rocks all over your line and you know you’re in for a tough time. Other sections include slippery grassy tracks, some fire road and a few log rollovers. There is one serious drop-off that some riders tackled and several fell during the day. Overall the technical riders loved it and the less-skilled found it pretty tough.

To see a video of the course click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNLfjrw6fq8

BSCC had 14 riders out of a field of 65 and all members represented BSCC gallantly. Four members of the Baker family took advantage of the home course with Georgette winning U15 girls, Besse placing 2nd in U17 girls, Magnus finished 5th in U19 men and Ben finished 9th in super masters.

Hayden Emery (the pre-race lap record holder) competed in U17 and finished third against some tough competition, while Sam Smith had rear derailleur trouble and finished in 7th place.

In the female category Kat Martin and Melissa Keirl finished 2nd and 3rd in Womens Vets over 3 laps. Kat Martin had a crash in her warm up trying to descend the challenging drop-off during practice. Melissa Keirl (an accomplished road cyclist) had her first real MTB hit out and fell a couple of times during the race but still had a great time.

The veterans category was racing over 4 laps with Joel Hossack, Matt Turner and Grant Palmer competing against a classy field. Grant Palmer finished in 10th place for his first ever VSS event, while Matt Turner had some bike trouble on the first lap but punched out some seriously good times to finish 8th. Joel Hossack who is in seriously good riding form had a negative split in the second half of the race to finish 5th. Club Mud member Clinton LeMaitre who is preparing to be a dad hasn’t been training and finished 6th with 4 consistent laps.

Andrew Watson being a downhiller found the course to his liking by winning the ‘Sport’ category over 3 laps and Dale Boucher won ‘Expert’ category over 5 tough laps.

A full results and lap times can be found at the Baker’s Bash link in results: http://www.cyclingballarat.com.au/results_archive/mtb_results or directly summary and details

Finally I would like to thank a number of people who made this event a great success. The Baker family worked extremely over the past 6 weeks getting the course into shape. Hayden Emery for assisting on the day and making an awesome video, Richard Emery for assisting with course works and marshalling, Kat Martin and Grant Palmer for bringing up the trailers, Craig Sinclair for assisting throughout the day and the Mather’s girls for ‘impeccable timing’. Thanks also to the MTB committee for working tirelessly on another major event for BSCC.

Road: Round 3 crit results

BSCC Senior Criteriums Rnd 3 - Nov 30 -2011

Turley tops the Grade!
Sam Turley was a man on a mission in the A grade criterium. From the outset of the twenty five minute plus two lap race Turley applied the pace. From the fifteen minute mark he looked like he was going to go away with the event. Aaron Blomeley crossed the gap and the pair looked like they may open up a decisive lead. With five minutes to run the field were back together. Hugo Tolliday worked on the front as Jeremy Doolan and Joel Hossack lurked at the rear. Coming to the line it was a very tight sprint. Turley pipped Tolliday by millimetres with Liam White taking third.

B Grade saw last weeks winner Jim Crumpler elevated to the bunch. Crumpler had a workout with John Polkinghorne looking strong and doing the windward turns up the finishing straight. Crumpler put paid to the grade taking another win from Will Geor and Dr Michael Veal.

C and D grade commenced their event as one bunch and after three laps there was a definite split. Paul Humphries took the grade C grade race with junior U17 rider Nicholas White taking second after a strong set up by Gerard White. Bob Morely snuck in to upset the White plan for third.
Mountain bike rider Hayden Emery worked a fair amount pulling D grade and at the business end of the event was the winner from Adam Baker and Pual Borchers.

Senior Results

A Grade 25 min + 2 laps
1st Sam Turley
2nd Hugo Tolliday
3rd Liam White

B Grade 25 min + 2 laps
1st Jim Crumpler
2nd Will Geor
3rd Michael Veal

C Grade 20 min + 2 laps
1st Paul Humphries
2nd Nicholas White
3rd Bob Morely

D Grade 20 min + 2 laps
1st Hayden Emery
2nd Adam Baker
3rd Paul Borchers

Pub to Pier 2011

From the pen of Peter Canny

What a day !
It started with lights and sirens and shonky tactics. There was blatant cheating and more substitutions than a Fine Cotton
Horse race. There were snakes and apparently foxes and unscheduled urination stops that split the field.
All along the course there were wounded warriors with cramp and double cramp and one poor pommy soldier with the never before heard of triple cramp.
The Otways took many prisoners some never to be seen or heard of again as uncle Jed Pyers and the Myer Hillbillies enjoyed the familiar sounds of the dueling banjoes and the squealing pigs . Ah Good Times !
There were heroes and villains but we all made it safely to the pier and the real stories began to be told and some were about to be made.
The beer and wine flowed freely ( and for two particular Yabbies with not a cracker of conscious or money between them I mean this literally ), and the war stories began. There was stories of luck and bad luck and stories of cheating and misadventure and inflated averages.
As the day went on the stories became bolder and louder. There was the story that someone had seen Saint Craig Schepis bless the Lorne fishing fleet and then walk back across the water to the aquatic club and continue drinking his VB. There was the story that the Saxons had left Beth on the front of the bunch for the whole way and the unbelievable tale that John Ives stopped talking on the approach to the Otways. There were stories of implosion and explosion and stories that were just stories. There was the discussion that the Lad’s sunnies would need to be surgically removed by evenings end and vigorous debate on how long would it be before the legal profession charged $10 a page for photocopying.
George, Ffloyd and the Lad continued to question the ability of the Stu Sanders Team and scoffed that they never caught them. Pat Shaw made notes on his I Phone.
John Ives talked but no one listened, Ray talked but no one cared and Don talked and no one understood.
Silvio Bigarelli eyed the beaches for pretty ladies.

All the while the Thinking Man’s Bunch ( Turret/Racers )enjoyed mingling with the commoners and continued to feel good about themselves all under the watchful eye of their grandfather figure Bob Brazel who still looked pretty happy with himself after his recent tour of Tasmania. All the men bunches were envious as many had not done that tour for a long time.
All will be revealed in Ray’s ride report. In the meantime if you have any photos for posting please send them to me.
Thanks again to everyone for making it a great day and for many of us a great evening as well. I myself woke up pretty dry but Saxon Vice-Caption Chris says It was a sign I hadn’t drunk enough the night before and gone to bed thirsty. Thanks Chris I’ll pass the advice on to help others.
Special thanks to Kathy for starting duties, and Ray for being Ray , Michael Unwin for the wine tasting and Ross for organizing the buses.

Recreational Team Time Trialing Serious Fun.

24 hours

An alarming number of Ballarat cyclists, some present BSCC members and some who aren't yet members, have signed up for February’s Otway Odyssey 100-km mountain bike race. For Phil, this is a fun Saturday morning trail ride, and for everyone else it's a seven-hour death march. In preparation, some spent last weekend at the Kona 24-hour mountain bike event at Forrest, the finish area for the Otway Odyssey.

The mountain bike was invented in the US in the late 1970s. The sport boomed there in the early ‘90s, and then faded to the point where nobody remembers the last time an American male was on the podium of a World Cup cross-country race. 24-hour races have saved the sport in the US: ten years ago the country had a handful of obscure ones, and now they are everywhere and attract thousands. A typical event is held on a circuit that takes mortals about an hour to lap, and the start-finish-pit area is set up as a campground. The event starts at noon Saturday. Most laps by noon Sunday wins. The solo competitors get the attention, and there are worryingly many of them, but the big numbers are in the relay categories: two-, three-, four- and five-rider teams. In each category there is a hard core who are riding to win, at the cost of many hours of hard riding and major sleep deprivation. Everyone else is there for a bit of fun. As a result, the spirit of 24-hour races is a surprise to most tarmac riders. The Forrest event featured a bar, many outfits that wildly contravened the Euro-style guidelines, and several nude laps. At the other end of the spectrum, there was a Felt team (featuring Trent Lowe) whose small and middle chainrings will last them a lifetime.

Forrest, a former logging hamlet in the Otways between Colac and Apollo Bay, faced extinction when logging in the Otways was ended, and has transformed itself into a genuine contender for cross-country mountain biking capital of the world. Marin County, California, where the sport was born, boasts proudly of its 15 km of custom single-track; Forrest has sections winding through the forest that seem to go on forever. The trails are Aussie egalitarian stuff: gently rolling, twisty, non-technical – cruise around, or make it exciting by going at it faster. There’s so much of it that the 24-hour race used one course on Saturday afternoon, another at night, and a third on Sunday morning. Variety, and less chewed-up trails – everybody wins.

There will probably be BSCC riders doing more of these kinds of events over the next few months: stay tuned.

Emily and Victoria get trips!

The CSV announcement is HERE. And here is the official BSCC press release. Stu Brien writes:

Two of Ballarat’s Promising Junior Cyclists off to the Nationals in September.

Announced yesterday, Victoria Snibson of Buninyong and Emily Wordie-Thompson of Gordon, both members of Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, have secured coveted positions in the 5-person Women’s Under 15 squad to compete for their state at the Australian junior road cycling championships in Canberra in September this year.

This is a fantastic result for the club and cycling in Ballarat, but more importantly it is a terrific result for the two girls. As class mates at school, they share the same passion for cycling and while their friendship is solid, their rivalry is evident and they make no bones about their desire to beat each other when they’re competing.

Victoria took up racing less than a year ago and had hopes of making the Nationals by the time she was 17 years old, but at just 14 years of age she has accomplished this feat much sooner than she expected. “I was stoked to get in, I’d hoped to make the Nationals in the next year or two but this is awesome,” says Victoria. She hopes to do well in the time trial discipline, and with good reason, given her performance at at the Victorian Junior Individual Time Trial Championships on July 25. Victoria’s bronze medal was only 7.63 seconds off silver, which was taken by her best friend and fellow squad member Wordie-Thompson.

Meantime, the results of the state junior aggregate have also been announced. Chris Liston writes:

Emily Wordie - Thompson claimed runner-up in the Junior U15 Women's state aggregate, with 3 BSCC riders finishing 7th in their respective state divisions. These riders were Ciaran Conaughton in M17, Joshua Liston in M15 and Victoria Snibson in M15.

The next generation of BSCC cyclists

Updated again 5 April: Phillipa Sophie Genevieve Veal was born early on Easter Saturday, April 3. All well. Mother was in fact so well that she went for a run around the lake two days after giving birth. (Yes, I am biased. - ed.) Phillipa, at 4.5 kg, is almost as heavy as some of Dad's bikes. A rider for the spring classics, perhaps.

Updated 16 March: the baby boom continues! Isobel Sophie Albiston was born at 1:35 PM yesterday. All well. Congratulations to the Albistons.

***The BSCC baby boom is on. Thirteen weeks ago, Ben and Kerrie Clark welcomed the safe arrival of Jack. Just over two weeks ago, Warren and Emily Faneco welcomed Cooper. It is rumored that Emily's labor was induced by the excitement of having three BSCC riders in the break at the open men's Australian Road Championship. The latest news is that on Saturday 23rd January, Stuart and Kate Grigg were very excited to have Eamon Mackenzie Grigg arrive safe and sound.

All boys, you'll notice. Next arrivals expected are to Matt Albiston and his partner, and then to Michael Veal and Elizabeth Lacey, and to Shannon and Katherine Meadows. (Rumors of Shannon's retirement from cycling, by the way, have been exaggerated ...) Maybe they will swell the ranks of BSCC's women riders.

- with reporting from Kate Grigg

Junior road racing starts this weekend

BSCC's race committee, in consultation with the club's junior riders and their parents, have added junior races to the 2010 road racing fixture. Junior racing starts this Saturday at Dunnstown.

Please click HERE for the updated 2010 fixture. Junior races are shown as E, F and G grades. The updated fixture will be available for download from the on-line calendar soon. And a draft of the whole year's race fixture will follow soon too.

Road: Windermere Points Race is CANCELLED

From Phil Orr, head of BSCC's Road Racing Committee

At 9:30 AM on Saturday 4 September, we decided to cancel all of BSCC's races today, due to the dangerous weather conditions. The Bureau of Meteorology has issued two severe weather warnings for the Western District today - one for flash flooding, and one for destructive winds. So in line with the club's race cancellation policy, we're calling the races off. Safety of our riders is the top priority, and we don't want riders blown off the road or into oncoming traffic by the winds. We're also concerned about standing water on the roads concealing dangerous holes or debris, and about low visibility during heavy rain. We hate to cancel races, but we also like being alive.

If you have any questions about this decision, or about BSCC's race cancellation policy, please contact 80,104,105,108.

See you at the club championships next Saturday at Gordon.

Jay wins Fleche Windermere

Bourke makes in two in a row in a thriller

Jay Bourke made it two in a row by winning Saturday's BSCC senior A-grade road race. The race was a points score, run over four laps of the Cuthberts Road circuit. Points were awarded for a sprint at the end of each lap, double points for the last sprint, and the rider with the most points at the end of the race was declared the winner. This format is often used in track races, especially in the blue-ribbon madison, but it's a novelty in road racing. It opens the possibility of a rider with few placings in the intermediate sprints crossing the line first at the end of the race and not being the winner. With his fellow elite riders Rhys Gillett, Rob Doyle and Phil Orr at the Tour of Tasmania, Jay Bourke was the strongest rider in the race, but with the presence of young gun Mitch Brogden and former international Doug Garley, not the most fancied sprinter.

With a south-easterly wind, the left turn from Smarts Hill Road onto Cuthberts Road put the riders into a cross-head wind, with shelter on the left. This was the place to attack, and Bourke did so to perfection on the first lap, hard on the left-hand side of the road. Within a few kilometers, the only riders left in contention were Bourke, Brogden, James Crafter, Ciaran Conaughton, Neville Bilney, Peter Kiel, Stuart Grigg, Stuart Brien and Jonathan Lacey. Bourke noticed with relief that Garley, still feeling the effects of being hit by a car last week, did not make the split. After a ferocious pace in the tail-wind on the Haddon-Windermere Road, Brogden, who along with Grigg and Crafter is in his first season of road racing, marked himself as the man to beat by taking the first sprint. Bourke was near the front but the fast men were a critical bike length ahead across the line. Bourke stuck to his guns and continued to stretch the other riders with probing attacks on the second lap, which saw another strong win to Brogden. On the third lap, with some riders starting to tire, in-form strong man Neville Bilney attacked on the Cuthberts Road rise and, in an impressive ride, just held off a charging bunch to take the third sprint and put himself into contention. Brogden showed great judgment, along with his trademark power, to lead the bunch in and maintain his lead.

Bourke appeared to falter crossing the line at the start of the last lap, and opportunist Lacey took off, taking Crafter with him. But in fact Bourke, with far superior endurance, was just getting started. He accelerated again onto Cuthberts Road and jumped across the gap, taking Crafter with him and leaving Lacey for dead. The bunch held him at 15 seconds, but he was not coming back. In the tailwind, he went away from Crafter, and Brogden in the chase bunch smelled blood and ramped the pace up to a frenzied level. Crafter was collared on the last corner, with 300m to go. He had enough strength to lead out his school-mate Brogden for second place. The double points on the last sprint left Bourke and Brogden tied on points, and Bourke the winner because of his higher place in the last sprint. Neville Bilney was a deserving third place.

Results - senior A grade points race, 44 km:

1. Jay Bourke

2. Mitch Brogden

3. Neville Bilney.

B grade (updated with corrections)

Don Stewart writes:

With numbers tailing off at the end of the season, the B grade 3-lap event started with a small field of seven. The first part of the first lap was a gentlemanly affair, with everybody taking turns at the front and warming up their legs. Even the first time up the Cuthberts Road rise was quite civilized, but on the tailwind Haddon-Windermere Road the heat was on. Mountain bike specialist Shane Cody drove the train, ably helped by Chris Cashin Memorial winner Jason Haire. Strong man Peter Kyatt missed the sudden change of pace and did not recover. Cody accelerated out of the sharp turn 300m from the line, followed closely by Joel Hossack, another MTB specialist, and power sprinter Don Stewart. Stewart hit the front with 50m to go but was pipped on the line by Hossack, with young gun Liam White shading Cody for 3rd.

The paced slowed dramatically for the next kilometer and the field re-grouped. Cody and Haire then ramped the pace back up, especially on the Cuthberts Road rise, to soften the legs of the sprinters. Up-and-coming under-17 rider Liam White, riding the restricted gearing stipulated for his age group, led around the last corner before the line, but again Cody cranked it up, taking Hossack with him. Hossack, showing a sprinter's instincts to complement his well-known dirt skills, waited until the last second to come out into the wind and take the sprint by a tyre width, with Stewart holding off a fast-finishing Haire for third.

At this point the canny Tim Oliver, who had not scored any points so far, accelerated away and opened a gap of 300 metres. In the bunch, the same hesitation that saw Cadel Evans take the world championship on Sunday ensued, and Oliver stayed away for the next 6 km, until the group got organized and chased him down half way up the hill. Cody then put in a huge effort and strung the group out over the crest. He led almost to the turn, but again the remaining group got organized and rode him down before the tail wind trip home. In a smart move, Haire accelerated into the tailwind and opened a gap of 100 metres, which he maintained all the way to the finish, taking the double points. Stewart slid out on the last corner and did well to stay upright. This left Cody and Hossack to fight it out as they had done in the previous two sprints, with the same result.

The overall winner was Joel Hossack, Jason Haire was second thanks to his last-lap effort, and Shane Cody third. Riders enjoyed the format, and it's expected to feature again next year.

Results - senior B grade points race, 33 km:

1. Joel Hossack

2. Jason Haire

3. Shane Cody

C grade (updated with corrections)

Don Stewart writes:

C Grade had a cast of willing riders in Kylie Zelley, Jane Faneco, Clinton Young, Victoria Snibson and new rider Mike Colvell. Unfortunately this report is being written by somebody not in this group, so details are sketchy. New rider Mike Colvell had a great start to his racing career by taking out all three sprints and therefore the top place on the podium. Jane Faneco was second in all sprints and overall. Victoria Snibson, the youngest rider in the race, was 3rd on the lap one and two sprints but was beaten into 4th overall due to Kylie Zelley taking out the double points for the last lap and winning the countback.

Road: Tour of the South West

BSCC riders Competitive in the Tour of Warrnambool (Tour of the South West)

The inaugural Senior and Women’s Tour of Warrnambool saw several BSCC riders compete over 3 stages.

Victoria Snibson placed fourth in the General Classification women while Hugo Tolliday finished 10th overall in B grade. Brad Clark took 14 overall and Sam Palanca also competed and finished the gruelling 3 stage south west event. Tolliday took multiple podiums, third in the stage three intermediate sprint, third in the last road race and third in the overall sprint championship.

In A grade Jay Bourke won an intermediate sprint and placed fifth with Matthew Clark taking sixth in the sprint Championship.
Bourke finished the Tour in the top twenty with over 65 riders in the group. Matthew Clark was a few positions out from Bourke.

Full results found here.

Road: Wal Smith Casterton 50

The 67th Wal Smith Memorial Casterton 50 is to be held on Saturday 19/5/2012.

Don't let the name fool you, its actually 80km.

For all entries please click on the link http://www.vic.cycling.org.au/default.asp?id=16045

Download flyer here.

Victorian Schools Cycling Championships

Online entries to the 2012 Victorian Schools Cycling Championships are now open via the VSCC page on the Cycling Victoria website. Entry prices are $18 per rider for Road and MTB events. We are really looking forward to working with everyone and building upon last year's numbers.

Remember, the VSCC is on Facebook, Twitter, and You Tube - where you can check out interviews with Leigh Howard and Glen O'Shea!

BSCC Remembers ANZAC Day 2011

Chris Liston writes:

Here are some photos of the wreath placed by BSCC at the Sebastopol Cenotaph on ANZAC Day 2011.

Road: Amy's Gran Fondo

The Amy Gillett Foundation announces Amy's Gran Fondo, a 120 km "competitive event" (race) on completely closed roads (yes!). Lorne - Skenes Creek - Forrest - Barwon Downs - Deans Marsh - Benwerrin, Sunday, September 18.

The good news: almost everything. One of the most scenic rides you'll do in Australia. In the spring. Supporting the Amy Gillett Foundation. Completely closed roads! 3000 riders. On-line entries are open now. Nobody is pretending it isn't a race. It's a proper course - serious climbing and a semi-technical descent. The Great Ocean Road - completely closed! Phil Anderson will almost certainly be there. The descent from Benwerrin into Lorne. OK, that's not part of the race, but did we mention that the roads will be completely closed?

The other news: it's the day after the club championships. Bugger.

Road: Il Gruppo, a New Euro Racing News Site

There's a new web site covering Euro pro road racing: Il Gruppo. Here's its description of itself:

"Developed as an antidote to hackneyed cycling reportage, Il Gruppo brings a fresh approach and a frontier spirit to the coverage of professional cycling on the Web.

From breaking news to lively commentary, unexpected Q&As to entertaining columns, Il Gruppo is the last word on cycling.

Edited by Tim Collins, Il Gruppo was developed for a savvy, international readership hungry for cycling coverage that is served straight up with a dash of panache."

Let's see how it shapes up.

Smith & Liston win in the west

Chris Liston writes:

Smith and Liston win in the West
Sam Smith took his first championship title in the U13 scratch race at the Western Region Track Championships in Hamilton on the weekend. Smith endured a 2000m duel with Ashleigh Hocking to take the title. The pair edged ahead of the field with each one making moves off the front. In the final sprint Smith kept ahead and took a well deserved win. Felicity Liston claimed third to take the Bronze medal.

Clubmate Joshua Liston also came home with a win, in the U15 Western Region scratch race title, following on from his U13 title in 2008. The first few laps of his race saw the field settle in to a solid pace. Liston made a decisive attack with three laps to go and opened a gap over Port Fairy cyclist Nathan McClaren. From there he extended his lead to finish with an 80m gap. Madeline Plastow rode a tactically sound race in the same division and took third place. Molly Hegert was pipped by a tyre width for the silver medal in the U17 scratch race title. The only girl representing BSCC in the more advanced women’s age groups, Hegert rode a steady paced race against interstate rider Sam Dwyer (SA) and Victorian South West club representatives. Hegert was in full contention for a win, and had front position at the start of the bell lap, but was taken by Dwyer, and then and pipped for second by Blake Hocking of Warrnambool.

Seven-year-old Rochelle Liston rode her debut open track event. She took a win in the 800m 2 lap handicap, as the field closed in right on the finish line. Sister Felicity took third in the same event. Matt Smith, father of U13 champion Sam, raced competitively in the senior division, taking third in the B-grade scratch race, qualifying for the wheelrace final, and racing well in the 16 km Championship scratch race.

Results:
U13 Western Region 2000m Scratch Race Championship
Sam Smith: Gold
Felicity Liston: Bronze

U15 Western Region 4000m Scratch Race Championship
Joshua Liston: Gold
Madeline Plastow: Bronze

U17 Western Region 4000m Scratch Race Championship
Molly Hegert: Bronze

Support Scratch Races
U13 Sam Smith 1, Felicity Liston 3
U15/17 A Grade Joshua Liston 2
U15/17 B Grade Madeline Plastow 3

Support Handicaps
U11/13 400m Sam Smith 1, Felicity Liston 3
U11/13 800m Rochelle Liston 1, Felicity Liston 3
U15/17 800m Joshua Liston 1, Molly Hegert 3
U15/17 1600m Molly Hegert 2
Senior B Scratch 15 lap Matt Smith 3

David Sidebottom, Rest in Peace

Updated 4 January:

The Ballarat Courier reports that the Ballarat cyclist killed at Drysdale on Sunday morning was David Sidebottom, 53, of Lake Wendouree.

BSCC extends its deepest sympathies to David's family and friends.

*********

The Ballarat Courier reports that a Ballarat cyclist was struck by a car and killed at Drysdale on Sunday morning, January 2. It's believed that the cyclist had been for an early-morning ride with friends, and was riding alone to his holiday home when he was struck from behind by a car. Ballarat riders taking part in Amy's Ride at the time, only a few kilometers away, were unaware of the accident.

Vic Madison Champs cancelled

The latest estimate says the upgrade work on our velodrome will be done by late February. Unfortunately this means BSCC won't host the Vic Madison Champs this year. Roger Bade writes:

In late December, the club received an update on the construction work being done at our velodrome. The result of this is that we are forced to cancel our Feb 14, 2010 track carnival. Here are the main points in regard to this unfortunate situation:

The track work was originally meant to be completed by September 30. After the first contractor withdrew, a second round of tenders led to an extension of the completion date until Dec 31. The current works completion estimate is mid-Feb, but once the work on the track surface is complete, fence works and line markings still need to be done. We see no chance of the track being ready to race by Feb 14.

Our back-up plan has always been to use the Maryborough track. We had a number of conversations with the Central Goldfields shire, but we now find that their track is booked by another group (human powered vehicles). After a good deal of thought we do not believe that either Ararat or DISC are suitable venues to which to shift the event. After looking at the crowded CSV calendar and discussing the matter with key players at the club level and with Commissaires Doug Armstrong and Laurie Norris, we believe that canceling the carnival is a better option than delaying it or trying to find an alternative venue. We have lined up a good number of local sponsors for the event, and do not want to ruin our relationship with them by holding the event somewhere they will not get a return for their investment. We believe it is far better to keep the relationships strong and start building now for next year.

BSCC is absolutely committed to making this event a major carnival on the annual calendar. We do not want to be seen as doing it in a half hearted way. Once we made this decision we felt it important to get the message out as quickly as possible. We announced the cancellation at the Bendigo track carnival, and again at Shepparton. Cycle Sport Victoria has been notified of the cancellation, but their web site has not yet been updated.

For more information on the schedule for the track upgrade, click Track Upgrade > Latest Updates on the left-hand menu.

Amy's Ride: view from the bunch

Sunday morning: the 5th edition of the annual Amy's Ride, to raise money for the Amy Gillett Foundation, and to raise awareness amongst cyclists and motorists of the need for us to coexist peacefully. As is now the tradition, the ride is held before the second stage of the Bay Classic criterium series, and a number of the elite riders here for the crits turn out for Amy's Ride. The chance to ride with the big guns is another incentive for local cyclists to show up for the ride, and BSCC was well represented. The front group featured Cadel Evans, showing off his BMC rainbow jersey for the first time; the ever-popular Robbie McEwen, back from serious injury; new Saxo Bank signing Baden Cooke; and most of the elite women's field. Riders were sent off in waves of about 100. Rhys Gillett and Rob Doyle complied with the request of commentator and Giro stage winner Dave McKenzie (who grew up in Ballarat and was a BSCC member in the 1980s) and rode with one of the later groups. Most of the non-elite BSCC riders there crowded into the front group, where the pace was solid but steady as long as the Euros were there. Robbie declared it to be home time after a few hours, and the pace noticeably lifted, driven by the likes of Guy Falla, Simon Gillett, Shane Butler, and Australia's most successful classics rider, Phil Anderson. One notable pace-setter was 14-year-old Craig Firman, on his first 120-km ride. Look at this photo, and you'll see Craig on the start line in his BSCC jersey, just over Baden Cooke's left shoulder. This is about as far from the front as Craig got. Impressive.

Other observations:

- Cookie has his new Saxo Bank team issue bike, shoes, socks, helmet and sunnies, but he's still wearing his old team's jersey underneath. Make him an offer and it's yours, I bet.

- Cadel has new shoes, and they're black. Remember black cycling shoes? Maybe for shoes, black is the new white. Ivan Basso has though so for a few years, as have style leaders Lance Armstrong, Adam Smith, and James Crafter.

- Robbie: usually we see him on the TV in the last 200m of a race, and he's all over his bike. But if you rode with him on Sunday you'll see that the rest of the time, he is a silky-smooth pedaler, even by Euro standards. And he's absurdly flexible: when he's on the drops, his hands are about 5 cm below his knees.

- He is also a natural leader. A combination of quiet chats and a bit of yelling on Sunday and the bunch did exactly what he wanted: "not too fast, the race is this afternoon!" And a freaky bike handler: he repeatedly removed his rain jacket and answered his phone, while sitting in a bunch of amateurs on twisty wet roads, no problem.

- Those guys have BIG legs. Yes, McEwen and Evans are midgets in civilian clothes, but ride behind them and the engines are very evident.

All of this is first-hand. What other sport lets hacks play with the big guys for free? Love it.

BSCC's quinella at Victorian Christmas carnival

By Chris Liston, with additional reporting and photos from Roger Bade:

Quinella of Wheelrace Wins for BSCC

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club riders secured at least one wheelrace win in each day of the four-day Victorian Christmas track racing carnival. The events, run in Horsham, Maryborough, Bendigo and Shepparton for four consecutive days December 27 to 30, saw good quality racing in tough, hot conditions, for riders from U11 junior through to seniors and masters.

Participants from all over Australia competed in scratch, handicap, elimination, sprint, motor pacing and keirin events. Liam White claimed a heat win on the first day in Horsham and backed this up to win the overall U17M A&B grade wheelrace.

In Maryborough Angus Lyons clambered to the front of the field to take a win in the U15M A&B grade wheelrace, relegating club mate Nicholas White to second at the finish line.

As the competition settled in, so did the weather. In hot conditions on the fast-paced Bendigo track Dylan Bilston got up to win the U13M A&B Grade wheelrace, taking the sash and prize money. Rounding out the wheelrace wins of the junior carnival, in the second last junior event Joshua Liston held out from Angus Lyons to take the U15M A&B final wheelrace in a spectacular finish. Lyons and Liston came to the line with Liston under Lyons; the judges awarded the win, which includes the SCC glass trophy, to Liston by less than 2 cm.

After his Masters World Championships campaign in September was ruined by illness, Scott Townsend had a night to remember at Bendigo. He was 3rd in the thrilling final of the Lindsay Harrington Wheelrace, won by Horsham’s Sam Witmitz, ex BSCC coach and Ballarat University student, and 2nd to frequent Ballarat visitor Xavier Gstrein (Camperdown). Scott was took a hard-earned win in the frontmarkers wheelrace and another win in the C grade scratch race the same night. Damien “King” Keirl won the A grade Bendigo motor-paced race, and picked up minor places in several other events over the series, including third in the men’s keirin in Shepparton, and a close second to world champion Glen O’Shea in the Bendigo keirin. Scott Keating, an elite road sprinter for decades, showed he still has the legs and track skills, finishing on the podium in the B grade scratch races in Maryborough and Bendigo. Matt Smith had been working up to a big finish of the series in Shepparton. He went off the front early to win the Men’s C grade scratch race in spectacular style. In the all-in mixed scratch race, a nasty crash saw his campaign end with a trip to hospital that will cost him several weeks with a fractured collar bone. Rising speedster Charles Martin rode well, particularly in the keirin at Bendigo, where he lined up against the great Danny Clark, great-to-be Dale Parker, and King Keirl.

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club was well represented and its members placed well considering that they have had no summer racing at the home track, due to upgrade works. Emily Wordie Thompson, Emma Bilston, Victoria Snibson, Molly and Chloe Hegert, Rochelle Liston, Craig Firman, Harry Crothers-Bade and the Dickson brothers – Clancy, Declan and Conor – rounded out the Ballarat contingent and picked up various placings and personal best performances over the four day series that contained over 250 race events.

Craig swings up

Luckily there's no speed limit on the Bendigo track

Hugo is firing

Hugo Tolliday, in his first year as an M17, was judged the best male rider at the recent Cycle Sport Victoria Echuca-Moama junior track carnival, and brought home a swag of wins. The carnival was the same weekend as the Australian road championships. On the first day, Hugo won every event in his category, M17B: scratch race, wheelrace, points and kieren. On the second day he was promoted to M17A, and scored a 3rd place in the points race, along with a 4th and a 7th place in other events. Hugo is now coached by Ballarat's Pat Shaw, recently returned home after several years of racing in Italy. What will Hugo get up to next year, when he's a year older and has a newly-resurfaced home track to train on?

BSCC was well represented by other junior riders at the carnival. Rochelle and Joshua Liston, Dylan and Emma Bilston, Emily Wordie-Thompson, Victoria Snibson and Craig Firman were all in the thick of the action, and brought home a number of wins and placings between them.

This report was cobbled together from incomplete snippets from several sources, and the CSV web site. We know it's incomplete. This just shows how much we usually rely on Chris's junior reports! If important details are missing, please don't be offended. Please let the 119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121 know what changes are required, and it will be fixed.

BSCC's first dirt criterium

BSCC held its first mountain bike race since its affiliation with Mountain Bike Australia - a series of dirt criteriums on a course near Mt. Clear College. Phil Orr and John Carmody were the winners. Organizer Antanas Spokevicius writes:

Last Tuesday evening saw the first official club race as part of Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club Mountain Biking section: a criterium-style race in the forest near Mt Clear Secondary College. Thirteen riders braved this new form of racing for 25 dusty minutes in both A and B grades. For full results, go to the Race Results > MTB Results page on the left-hand menu. See you next Tuesday!

BSCC cleans up at Hamilton

Chris Liston writes:

Western Region Cycling Shield is coming to Ballarat Sebastopol CC!

The junior aggregate points shield for the Western region track cycling championships is coming to Ballarat for the first time. Ciaran Conaughton, Molly Hegert and Joshua Liston all scored points for Ballarat Sebastopol CC, ensuring the local club will almost certainly have its name engraved into history. Conaughton took the U17 Western region pursuit title and gold medal, while Molly Hegert in the same classification rode a great race to take third and the bronze. Joshua Liston was runner-up in the U15 division, with the championship win going to Zac Shaw of Colac CC, grandson of Ballarat’s Dennis and nephew of Ballarat’s Italian-resident professional cyclist Pat Shaw. With one round of championship scratch races to come in March, and following on from Conaughton’s and Liston’s points from the Sprint round in December, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club will almost certainly likely hold out and take the shield against Hamilton, Colac, Port Fairy and other Western region clubs.

Support events to the pursuit championships saw Madeline Plastow take close wins in the 800m and 1600m handicap wheelraces. Plastow managed to keep ahead of the field as the back-markers closed in at the finish line. Conaughton picked up two more wins in the Junior A Grade scratch races, and as scratchman placed in the “all-in” U15/U17 handicap. Molly Hegert claimed two wins in the B grade scratch races, and placed twice in the two handicap events, giving her a place in every event. Josh Liston claimed two thirds, one in the handicap race and one in the 2400m scratch race.

Results: Western Region Open Track Championships

U17 2000m Pursuit Gold: Ciaran Conaughton

U17 2000m Pursuit Bronze: Molly Hegert

U15 2000m Pursuit Silver: Joshua Liston

Track: Results, Thursday 2 December 2010

Roger Bade, track tsar, writes:

BSCC Track Racing Results

Carnival Description: Marty Busch Carnival
Date: December 2, 2010

New Riders Make a Big Impression.

Storms circulated on every side of Marty Busch Reserve, but never did one drop land on the track. Our meteorological good fortune meant another night of excellent racing.

The big performers this week were the big men of the track. Scott Bilney continues his domination of A Grade, but ex-vet rider and track novice Don Stewart is beginning to show his “Flying Scotsman” heritage. The Superman position may be banned but that’s not stopping Don from progressing every week. Don and Scott made some errors in the shorter Elimination event, allowing Joel Hossack, Danielle Nyikos and Emma Bilston to fight out a thrilling finish, but in the endurance event of the night, the 40 lap points race, it was these two plus young Will Stewart (no relation) who fought out every sprint.

We look forward to seeing everyone back next week for a night of pizza and prize money!

RESULTS

E and F Grade combined Scratch Race, 1st, Declan Dickson, 2nd, Nick Liubinas, 3rd, Courtney Mannix
D Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Jake Seers, 2nd, Jack Thompson, 3rd, Jack Stewart
C Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Will Stewart, 2nd, Josh Liston, 3rd, Paul Amos
E and F Grade combined Handicap, 1st, Vivien Mannix, 2nd, Nisa Bedggood, 3rd, Rochelle Liston
C and D Grades combined Handicap, 1st, Jack Stewart, 2nd, Jack Thompson, 3rd, Jake Seers
A and B Grades Combined Scratch Race, 1st, Scott Bilney, 2nd, Will Stewart, 3rd, Don Stewart
A and B Grades Combined Elimination, 1st, Joel Hossack, 2nd, Danielle Nyikos, 3rd, Emma Bilston
A and B Grades Combined Handicap Points Race, 1st, Scott Bilney, 2nd, Don Stewart, 3rd, Will Stewart

Track Schedule:

Mondays 5pm to 7pm - Club Training
Thursdays 4pm to 7pm – Club racing
Saturday racing will be run on selected Saturdays. See the on-line calendar for details.

Care & feeding of road rash

There are two types of cyclists: those who have crashed, and those who have not crashed yet. Our friends at Priceline Pharmacy, 1010 Sturt Street, have some advice on what to do when you join the first group, or renew your membership. Here it is.

BSCC cleans up at Maryborough

This will be on CNN soon, but read it here first ...

Ron Rivette, rest in peace

Ron Rivette died last week. His funeral service was today, Thursday December 4, in Bacchus Marsh.

Terry Collie writes: Ron rode with the Ballarat Vets for four or five years in the '90s, and he won the C grade club championship in 1999. He also served on the Ballarat Vets' committee for a couple of years, and although he had not raced for a few years, he still took a keen interest in the club. During his time on the Vets' committee, there was a race or two held down in Bacchus Marsh which Ron organised. He was actually a very good junior rider, and won junior championships with the Footscray club, and was highly placed in the Victorian Schoolboys Championships and a member of the Victorian schoolboys team in 1953. He raised a lot of money for the Bacchus Marsh hospital through various charity rides. In 2000, he and Mark Jones rode the entire 525km of the Murray to Moyne, in spite of the elephants that were on the road in the early hours of the morning. Apparently Ron went to sleep on John Faulkner's shoulder, and they laid him over the bonnet of the support vehicle to warm him up so he could get back on the bike. Ron was also the driving force behind a team that rode in the Port to Port each year. Anybody in Bacchus Marsh who needed a bit of a hand Ron would know of, and he'd organise some form of assistance. Originally Ron was a painter, and then floor sander and polisher. He was a proud tradesman, and very particular about the detail that results in a job well done. He set the tone for the group that ride together here in Bacchus Marsh and will be sorely missed.

Thank you, Terry. Ron took his own life. Even those of us who are blessed with a great passion in life, such as cycling, are not immune from despair. Please, smile at someone today: it might make a big difference. If you're worried about someone in particular, please encourage them to phone Ballarat Psychiatric Services on 1300 661 323, or Lifeline (volunteers) on 13 11 14, or the Suicide Helpline (professionals) on 1300 651 251, or for info see beyondblue.org.au. Rest in peace, Ron.

July 2011 Board Meeting

Karen Snibson, BSCC's hard-working behind-the-scenes secretary, writes:

Click HERE for the minutes of the July board meeting.

***********

The July 2011 meeting of the BSCC Board will be held at Jaala Pulford’s office, 15 Main Rd, Ballarat (between Sturt/Victoria St & Humffray St Sth), at 7:30 PM on Tuesday July 19. All members are welcome. Please click HERE for the agenda.

Get Well Soon, Brett Martin

Gerard White writes:

Brett is on the slow road to recovery. A truck jack-knifed in front of his van, and the good news is that he has no head injuries. He has a cracked bone in his neck, broken legs and a broken foot. He's had a few surgeries so far, and there are a few more to come. He's in the trauma unit at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne (Commercial Road, Prahran). Despite all this, Brett is in good spirits, and wants to express his thanks for all the well wishes he is receiving from club members.

Road: 2011 Tri Series Round One, Rokewood

Updated 9 August, with full results (thanks to Geelong CC), including corrected B-grade senior results. Thanks to Stephane Vander Bruggen of Geelong for pointing out earlier inaccuracies.

The 2011 Tri Series started on a high note at Rokewood on Saturday July 30. The turnout was excellent, with a total of 57 senior riders across three grades, and lots of juniors too.

Before the race, riders listen to the briefing. Thanks to Chris Liston for the photos

Conditions were overcast and windy, but dry, and mild for this time of year. The Rokewood course was popular with riders, thanks to its combination of head-wind grinding, fast crosswind gutter groveling, a short climb, and flat tailwind drag racing.

Junior reports from Chris Liston

Max Koelle and Graeme Frislie took equal points and a shared win in the first round of the junior Tri Series race hosted by BSCC at Rokewood against Geelong and Colac. Koelle came third in the 4 km stage one time trial to Graeme Frislie and Jake Ashmore. In stage two, a 10km sealed handicap road race, all riders headed out together, not knowing their handicaps. In this event, Koelle finished second to Brayden Maurer, a new BSCC member, with Frislie third. The omnium point score left Koelle and Frislie on 5 points each, with Jake Ashmore third and Gillespie fourth.

Eight U15 and U17 riders took part in their two-stage omnium, with Angus Lyons dominating in the 10km TT.. Victoria Snibson was second, with Geelong's Will Key third, and Jack Stewart fourth. Having blitzed the TT, Lyons' handicap in stage two, calculated from his TT performance, worked against his overall points score. Shantelle Maurer won the sealed handicap, with Ashley Gillespie second and Will Key third. Nick White and Maurice Koelle performed well, but found the U17 contingent tough opposition. The omnium points saw Geelong’s William Key take the win on 6 points, with Ashley Gillespie second and Angus Lyons third.

Results:
U11/13: 4 km TT placing, 10 km sealed handicap road race placing, Omnium points, overall placing
Jake Ashmore: 1st, 4th, 5, overall 2nd
Graeme Frislie: 2nd, 3rd, 5, overall equal 1st
Max Koelle: 3rd, 2nd, 5, overall equal 1st
Rochelle Liston: 4th, 5th, 9, overall 3rd
Brayden Maurer: 5th, 4th, 6, overall 4th

U15/15: 10 km TT placing, 28 km sealed handicap road race placing, Omnium points, overall placing
Angus Lyons: 1st, 7th, 8, overall 3rd on count back
Victoria Snibson: 2nd, 6th, 8, overall 4th on count back
William Key: 3rd, 3rd, 6, overall 1st
Jack Stewart: 4th, 4th, 8, overall 5th on count back
Ashley Gillespie: 5th, 2nd, 7
Maurice Koelle: 6th, 8th, 14, overall 2nd
Shantelle Maurer: 7th, 1st, 8
Nicholas White: 8th, 5th, 13

In the senior A grade race, a group of five riders got away on the climb out of Rokewood Junction on the first lap. They drove hard in the tailwind, with Will Wettenhall doing the lion's share, and quickly opened a decent gap. BSCC and Geelong were both well-represented in the break, and so the main field had little motivation to grind up the hill on the second lap. In fact, most of the chasers called it a day. The lead group kept up a hard pace all the way, and in the end Sam Turley had enough left to take a popular and well-deserved win from Nick Squillari (Geelong), with Liam White squeezing past Wettenhall on the line for 3rd.

A full report on the B grade race will follow soon. As with C grade, the hard slog into the headwind was decisive. Tim Van Der Schans (Colac) led out early at the finish, and Doug "The Hard Rider" Garley came at him fast, but the judges gave the win to Van Der Schans, to put Colac into the points.

Thanks to Chief Marshal Scott Denno, and marshals Don Stewart, Gerard Cosgrave, Trevor Snibson and Sam Smith from BSCC, and the lady from Geelong, whose name we unfortunately don't know, who did the Dereel corner. Chris Liston and Paul Pickersgill were results coordinators.

Click HERE to see the Tri Series standings at the end of the first round.

A grade

1 Sam Turley (Ballarat)
2 Nick Squillari Geelong
3 Liam White Ballarat
4 Will Wettenhall Ballarat
5 Leigh Clifford Geelong
David Lunn Colac
Daryl Suter Geelong
Steve Young Geelong
Nathan Aston Geelong
Ben Andrews Geelong
Aaron Blomeley Ballarat
DNF Cameron Shaw Colac
DNF Zac Shaw Colac
DNF Guy Falla Ballarat
DNF Jeremy Doolan Ballarat

B grade

1 Tim Van Der Schans Colac
2 Doug Garley Ballarat
3 Tony Ross Geelong
4 Ben Clark Ballarat
5 Jarrod Evans Geelong
James O’Keefe Warrnambool
Matt Lane Warrnambool
Daniel Lamb Geelong
Larry Nocera Colac
Shannon Bell Colac
Arno Van Der Schans Colac
Warrick Bolt Colac
Peiter McDonald Colac
Noel Symons Colac
Tony Luppino Colac
Hamish Middleton Colac
Joel Hossack Ballarat
Thayne Turley Ballarat
John Polkinghorne Ballarat
Matt Smith Ballarat
Stephane V.D. Bruggen Geelong
Erik Holt Geelong
Daniel Alban Geelong
Grant Blake Geelong
Nick Langham Geelong
Adrian Little Geelong
Phil Spark Geelong

Here's a report on the C-grade race.

On the start line, it was clear that BSCC had the numbers in the C-grade event, with roughly half of the field. Geelong CC was streets ahead in terms of quality, thanks to the presence of world 24-hour solo MTB champion Jess Douglas. Yes, that's world champion. And yes, that's 24 hours, solo. We are not worthy, on several counts.

The first part of each lap, the grind uphill to Dereel into a "block" headwind, was like the first week of the Tour de France: it was very unlikely that anyone would win the race here, but a number of people would probably lose it. And so it was that, at Dereel on the first lap, thanks to steady pressure from Douglas and a few Geelong team-mates, plus Charlie Stebbing, there were only about ten riders left. Stebbing and Will Stewart attacked as the field turned into the cross-wind at Dereel, and were brought back, but this served as a springboard to launch Douglas, Craig Lightfoot and another Geelong rider off the front. Lightfoot did not share the pacemaking, because his captain, Stebbing, was back in the bunch; but the Geelong pair drove steadily up the climb out of Rokewood Junction, opening a gap of about 20 seconds. Thanks to a solid pace on the climb from Will Stewart, the chase group as the road flattened out was entirely BSCC: Stebbing, Stewarts father (Bruce) and son (Will), Dave Peters, and Jonathan Lacey, in his first race since a broken ankle in January. Amazingly, Jess Douglas's MTB protege, Ben Culton (previously mis-spelled as Cullen - apologies - Ben is not a vampire! - ed.), who was dropped by Stewart on the Rokewood Junction climb, closed a 30-second gap solo on the flat road to bring the chase group up to six riders. So at the end of the first lap, it was two Geelong and one BSCC chased by five BSCC and one Geelong.

As the second headwind grind went on, the gap to the leaders gradually came down, and their fate was sealed when they dropped Douglas on a steeper section. On the same section, Culton dropped back 20 metres or so, and the BSCC crew started feeling confident. If Lightfoot was tired after his time in the break, Dave Peters would become the designated sprinter, with Will Stewart as the wildcard. These plans, however, did not account for Culton. He chased back on with ease when the road flattened at Dereel, and then launched a ferocious attack in the cross-tailwind. Culton's performance was remarkable. For about 5 km from Dereel to Rokewood Junction, he set a blistering pace on the front, positioned perfectly on the edge of the road so that only Douglas was sheltered. His relentless attacking dropped everyone except Douglas, Will Stewart, Stebbing, Lightfoot and Lacey. They knew, though, that Culton would struggle again on the Rokewood Junction climb, so Will Stewart, showing race smarts well beyond his years, blasted up the climb and was gone. Stebbing and Lacey were next over the top, followed by Lightfoot and Douglas, pursued by Culton. Stebbing and Lacey did not have the firepower to get across to the flying Stewart, but the super Culton caught Douglas and Lightfoot, and dragged them across to Lacey and Stebbing. Here, the cruelty of road racing became evident. Sprinters Lightfoot and Lacey sat back and let first Culton and then Douglas bury themselves to catch Stewart. Douglas caught him with 800m to go, dropping the exhausted Culton. Stewart somehow found enough to stay with Douglas, and with 300 m to go, Lacey took off. Lightfoot waited just long enough, and then pounced on Douglas, dragging the impressive Stewart past her too. So BSCC played the numbers game to advantage, and took the four of the first six places, with the remainder going to the strongest riders in the race.

C grade, official results

1 Jonathan Lacey Ballarat
2 Craig Lightfoot Ballarat
3 Will Stewart Ballarat
4 Jessica Douglas Geelong
5 Charlie Stebbing Ballarat
6 Ben Culton Geelong
Paul Crack Ballarat
Dave Peters Ballarat
Bruce Stewart Ballarat
Gerard White Ballarat
Vince Mader Ballarat
Jaime Leigh Edwards Geelong
Lyndel Dew Geelong
Cassie Phillips Geelong
Gerard McHugh Geelong
Ashleigh Key Geelong
Colin Smith Geelong
DNS Chloe McIntosh Ballarat
DNS Rebecca Luppino Colac

**********

The Tri Series begins THIS SATURDAY, July 30, at Rokewood, not August 6 as we said previously.

Updated 26 July:

The meeting location for the race is in the main street of Rokewood, in the park over the road from the pub on the Rokewood-Shelford Road.

The starting location will be on the Colac-Ballarat road, just north of its intersection with the Rokewood-Shelford road.

Entries close at 5 PM Friday, as usual, with Don Stewart.

*****

The 2011 Tri Series, three "combine" road races involving Ballarat-Sebastopol, Geelong and Colac Cycling Clubs, starts on Saturday July 30 at 1:30 PM with BSCC's race, at Rokewood. Each leg of the Tri Series includes senior graded scratch races, A, B and C, and junior events. In recent years, the tradition has been that Ballarat's leg involves some climbing (though not the Galibier), Geelong's is rolling, and Colac's is flatter but usually windy. Recently, Ballarat's leg has been run from Cape Clear, on the Devil's Kitchen circuit. Last summer's floods washed away parts of the road on that course, so this year we will use the Rokewood Junction circuit, used in our club race on June 18.

All the details are, as always, on the 2011 Road Race Fixture, including a map of the course.

Victorian Schools Cycling Championships, 2011

Alan Mok, Cycling Australia, writes:

The 2011 Champion Systems Victorian Schools Cycling Championships commences on Tuesday August 2 at Wangaratta.

Cycling Victoria would appreciate it if you would spread the word to all junior cyclists to let them know about the 2011 Champion Systems Victorian School Cycling Championships, and to ask their teacher to enter them, or go online and enter themselves.

Online entries and information are HERE.

Each year the Victorian Schools Cycling Championships attracts over 1200 students. See you there!

Road: Pat does it again!

Updated: it's all on cyclingnews now. When was the last time you had a club-mate as the headline in their main story? And now it's even better: an interview with our club-mate is the top story. He's in the Courier too, but remember, you read it here first. Congratulations Pat!

News flash: Pat Shaw just won the Tour of Gippsland! He went into Sunday's final stages with a slender 14-second lead over Drapac's Joe Lewis. It was enough. Together with his win in the Tour of Toowoomba earlier in the season, this probably puts Pat on top of the National Race Series rankings. Stay tuned for more details as they come to hand.

Road: Updated Junior Road Fixture

Paul Pickersgill, BSCC junior race co-ordinator, writes:

In addition to the 4-race Junior Hillclimb Series described earlier, BSCC has made some more changes to the spring 2010 junior racing fixture. Please click HERE for the latest version of the road race fixture. It's also at the top of each page of the on-line calendar. Like the previous version, it includes both senior and junior road races for the rest of the 2010 road season. All the changes are shown in red. They all affect junior races only: there are no changes to the senior fixture. The most significant change is that the BSCC junior club individual time trial championships will now be held on Saturday 11 September, the day before the junior and senior club road race champs. Previously they were scheduled for Saturday 18 September, the same day as the senior club ITT champs.

Junior parents: if you do your planning from a printed version of the fixture, please download and print out the new one, and recycle all the old ones now! Nobody will be happy if you show up at the ITT Champs a week late.

Road: State Club TTT entry fees

Some riders still owe Phil their entry fee for the State Club TTT Champs, the day after the Melbourne to Ballarat. If you signed up to ride, your entry fee is due, whether or not you actually rode on the day. We know where you live ... Please drop in to Navajo Monday to Friday and settle up with Phil. Thanks.

MTB: Dirt Girls Monthly Ride

Wash the mud off your bike, grab your winter woolies and come along for our monthly womens social ride. Find some new trails, ride something tricky and have a chat with other MTB girls!

Where: Mt. Clear Secondary College Car Park
Date: Saturday 7th August
When: 8am
Finish: 10am
What to Bring: Warm Woolies and a rain jacket

We'll be riding in the Canadian forest on some lovely singletracks with the odd bit of climbing. Last month's social ride was also at Canadian, its flatter and a bit easier than the rides we've been doing at Nerrina. So if you've been putting it off, now is the time to get out and build your skill base in a fun and relaxed environment. All abilities catered for.

For more information or to register your interest, contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or email: 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117

Track: Rochelle Liston, Treble State U11 Champ!

Chris Liston reports:

Victorian Sub Junior Track Championships, 19 March 2011: Hat-trick for Liston

Rochelle Liston dominated the Under 11 Girls Victorian Track Championships held in conjunction with the Brunswick Track Open at Darebin Indoor Sports Centre (DISC) on Saturday 19 March, taking three wins from three title races. Liston posted the fastest time in the 200m sprint. She went on to post another fastest time, 51.082, for the 500m (two-lap) time trial.

Rochelle's third championship came in the 2000m scratch race, the only mass-start event of the three titles. Rochelle positioned herself well. Liston shared the pace on the front early, and in the second half steadied herself. With two laps to run, Liston came around the field and committed to the last 250m out the front. The field came at her, but she held onto a small margin. She topped off a huge day of racing with a third place from scratch in the girls' handicap.

Fellow club member Courtney Mannix was the only other BSCC club member to go to the Brunswick carnival. Courtney raced well in the U15 Women’s, taking a second place in the handicap event. She found the core group of Brunswick girls tough to get past in the points and scratch events, and took fighting fourth places in both.

Results:
JU11F 200m Track Sprint
Gold Rochelle Liston
JU11F 500m Time Trial
Gold Rochelle Liston
JU11F 2000m Scratch Race
Gold Rochelle Liston

Road: Ross Bush Memorial Entries Close THURSDAY

Geelong CC invites BSCC riders to the annual Ross Bush Memorial road race this Saturday, September 3, at Meredith. Entries close on THURSDAY evening, September 1, with 68,111,110,32,83,116,101,119,97,114,116. (Geelong CC extended the deadline by a day.)

This is posted just before entries close due to a mix-up between Geelong and BSCC, with the result that our official invitation to the race went missing, and we only realized today that it's on! - ed.

Click HERE for all the details, from the excellent Geelong CC web site. In short, the senior race is an 80 km handicap, two laps of a very tough circuit - not quite as hard as the Cape Clear Devil's Kitchen circuit, but similar - starting at 1:30 PM. It clashes with our Windermere scratch races, but it's a worthy cause - BSCC riders from the 80s and 90s remember Ross with great fondness - and just the ticket if you're looking for one last smashfest before the club champs.

Click HERE for a report on last year's race, with links to the previous year's event.

Road: Windermere Unofficial Event

A collection of hardy senior riders went out to Windermere and had an unofficial race, despite the cancellation. The riders agreed that this was not an official event, so we had no marshals and no "Caution - Cycle Race" signs, and we were fully responsible for our own safety. It was run as a points race, 5-3-2-1, one sprint per lap, double points on the last lap, over four laps of the Cuthberts Road kermesse circuit. On the unofficial start line were Jay Bourke, who had already done a punishing session earlier in the day; Phil Orr and Joel Hossack, days away from leaving for the Tour of Timor; Doug Garley, and visiting track monster Hamish Taylor; local track monster Matt Smith; strong man Ryan Kerr; and Jonathan Lacey. Young gun Josh Liston joined in part-way around.

It was the sprinters - Garley and Taylor - versus the stayer, Bourke, with Phil as the spoiler. Taylor won the first two sprints, was unhitched on the third lap in the howling headwind, and re-joined in time for the 4th and final sprint. All the big guns were involved in various sorties off the front, but all finished together, along with the flying Liston and the groveling Lacey. The irrepressible Liston was contesting the tailwind sprints on U17 gearing, at about 150 rpm against the big boys' 90-odd. Another notable performance came from Matt Smith, who did a monster turn to drag Taylor, Liston and Lacey back to Garley and Orr after the climb on the third lap.

Here are the results, tabulated by Doug "The Hard Rider" Garley, who is capable of organizing the peloton, contesting the sprints and adding up the points in his head simultaneously. Needless to say, he was in his element.

Hamish was the winner with 20 points, Phil was 2nd with 12, Doug was 3rd with 11, Jay 4th with 10 points, and Josh Liston 5th with one point. A grand time was had by all. Special thanks to Bill Groom, who looked after us all, unofficial event notwithstanding.

*******

News flash: Saturday Sept 3: today's race had been cancelled due to high winds, in line with BSCC's policy. It's too dangerous for juniors to race in these conditions.

MTB: Racing is Back for 2010!

It’s been a little quiet on the MTB scene with cold weather and heaps of rain holding back some events. But don’t worry, things are about to hot up very soon.

On the calendar page you will find the latest version of the MTB calendar, and we’ve packed in heaps of weekend races, dirt criteriums, social rides and endurance rides leading up to the Otway Odyssey in mid-Februrary 2011. We’ve also developed a spring series and a Christmas novelty race on December 19th.

Speaking of racing, the board has given the MTB club permission to purchase a new count up - count down digital timer to make racing more fun. The timer will be large enough to see from a reasonable distance and will compliment the staging of local races and major events.

On the trail front, the trail advocacy group has held a number of meetings with DSE, Parks Victoria and local councils. All groups understand the importance of a trail network to attract riders to Ballarat, and hopefully in the coming years, we’ll have a great trail network for riders.

Our next race is on the 19th September at the Gong Gong Reservoir. It’s a short, steep and challenging course and one of my favorite tracks from last year. Can’t wait to get there.

Thanks

Dale Boucher
MTB Committee

MTB: Spring Race 2 - Canadian, October 9

Results

(from the pen of Matt Turner)

The second round of the Spring MTB season was held in yet another location in Canadian forest, this time on some lesser known and surprisingly fast and flowing trails.

The course consisted of two loops, each with a long twisting descent weaving in and out of trees so fast and close that you brush them with your elbows. The exhilaration of that was then paid for by a grinding climb back to the top, first up a gravel double track, and lastly up a lengthy stretch of fire road to return to the timing point.

The enthusiasm was high with a few new faces turning up to race, and some old faces turning up with the old excuses, “I haven’t touched the mountain bike all winter.”, or “I’m just out for a bit of a spin today.” Such phrases are usually followed up by an absolute smashing of their fellow competitors who have been diligently training through the wettest and coldest winter in 10 years.

The un-technical nature of the course meant that the race was mostly a battle of the fittest. Assuming that you didn’t hit the brakes (much) during the descents, a fast lap time really depended on how deep you could dig on the climbs and keep the intensity going all the way to the top. Of course, pedalling down the singletrack at 40kmph without skidding into a tree didn’t hurt either.

Although this type of enduro racing can be a bit solitary, it was great to see and hear all the spectators around the circuit cheering you on. Although I couldn’t help feeling that most of the spectators were congregating around the sections of the course where they may have been expecting to see some crash action.

There was a glitches with the timing system after the one hour was up, so anyone coming in after the allotted time may not be totally accurate, but it doesn’t really matter, you know you all went fast by the way your quads were burning and lungs were trying to leap out your throat.

I’ve also been asked to point out that Paul Mathers punctured, but can’t use the broken collar bone excuse anymore after Dale raced with a shoulder fracture and still came home second in the elite.

Race results are available in both Summary and Detail formats

Picassaweb:
http://picasaweb.google.com
Login information:
Email: ballaratsebascycling@gmail.com
Password: ballaratcycling

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ballarat-Mountain-Bike-Club/105038572863358

Race Details

Our next MTB race is on Saturday 9th October and this circuit - Foos Lane - has some of the best downhill trails in the Canadian Forest. It has two fast downhill sections then a long climb back to the top.

Seniors: Four grades will be racing for 60 minutes over a 3.5 kilometre loop. Registration begins at 1pm and racing starts at 1:30pm.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/kml/episode.kml?episodePkValues=7609490

Juniors will be racing over a shorter circuit and we’ve developed a great little track for this event. Registration will begin at 2:30 pm with racing at 3pm. The race will be timed over 25 minutes.

Getting to the course can be done in two ways. The easiest way is through Clayton St Ballarat east or the alternative is via Foos Lane from Yankee Flat Road. Click on the map link above, then expand it for directions.

Movember - Team MoCiclista

Tim O'Doherty writes:

If mo(stache) growing was a handicap race, then limit and most bunches have gone, and scratch has been called up to the start. It's the 3rd of Movember.

Movember is about raising much-needed funds and awareness for men’s health – specifically prostate cancer and depression in men. Important when you learn that close to 3,000 men die of prostate cancer each year in Australia and one in eight men will experience depression in their lifetime - many of whom don’t seek help.

The more people that get on board, the more awareness and money will be raised, and so Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club is asking you to join the team and either grow a moustache as a Mo Bro, or sign on as a Mo Sista and help out with raising funds.

To join the BSCC Movember team 'MoCiclista' go to the Movember Site and follow the steps listed there. Once you're registered, you’ll be sent all the information you need to get donations and get growing as part of the Movember team.

2009 is Movember’s sixth consecutive year. If you are interested in learning more about the work that is being carried out as a result of Movember funds, check out the details here.

I hope to welcome you to the BSCC - MoCiclista team shortly. Meantime, enter to win a Malvern Star Oppy C6, worth $3500. Click Here. to register for your chance to win. This an Australia-wide competition sponsored by NIB Health Insurance as part of Movember.

MTB: Club Race, April 2012 (updated 3-May-2012)

ANZAC Race Report (from the pen of Grant Palmer)

Just under 40 riders turned up to battle it out for the clubs traditional ANZAC race in the Canadian Forest on Sunday.

The senior event consisted of a two hour enduro using a sweet loop around 5km in length which featured some great single track sections (particularly those heading down), tight corners, sharp pinches and technical log crossings. Numbers were evenly split amongst A, B and C grades which meant nothing in the bunch start which moved straight on to a climb. The first lap saw the entire A grade field lay down their credentials with all coming through to complete Lap 1 within 60 secs of each other and ahead of the rest. This group was lead through by Jason Hegert with Hugh Ingram for company and others close behind. The rest of field displayed less discriminatory tendencies and mixed it up a bit between the Grades with the pacesetters being John Carmody (B Grade), Michael Bloomfield (B) and Anthony Favaloro (C grade). By the time the first riders came through on the second lap it was clear Jason Hegert was setting a hot pace. Hugh Ingram was still close, along with Neville Bilney, Dale Boucher and Andrew Watson.

In B and C grade there was plenty happening as riders of the calibre of Rob Smart, the van Raaphorst’s Ron and Gerard, Micheal Bloomfield, Anthony Favaloro and others kept churning them out. By the time the third lap came around Jason Hegert had opened up a couple of minutes on his rivals and kept adding to this as the race wore on. This didn’t deter the riders behind who kept putting in the power to try to catch a glimpse of Jason in the distance, with Dale Boucher and then Neville Bilney and Andrew Watson getting closest. Hugh Ingram was doing well until a mechanical ended his quest. In the end Jason had a clear win with 8 laps (2.08h), followed by Neville (8 laps, 2.17h) and Andrew Watson (8 laps, 2.18).

In the other grades racing remained tight in the middle sections but opened up towards the end as racers abandoned thoughts of reserving energy and went for it. John Carmody was flying and gained enough ground to take out B-grade (and second overall). Michael Bloomfield, Rob Smart, Ron and Gerard van Raaphorst and Tim Oliver all did well to finish within a couple of minutes of each other in completing 7 laps. Anthony Favaloro did a John Carmody and raced above his grade in C to complete 7 laps in 2.09 hours. Matt Kirwan-Hamilton and Dom Geoghegan rode well to finish with 6 laps.

Special mention goes to rider 132 (Harry Hislop) for his spectacular crash on the corner approaching the finish line. To set the scene, there I was sitting at attention in the tent waiting eagerly for the next rider to come around the blind corner so I could astutely put down a 3mm pen mark in the lap tally column in a row decided by the appearance of a yellow plate tied haphazardly to a riders bars with no respect for the enormity of my task. Now this flurry of activity was usually initiated by the sound of chain slap as a rider negotiated a decent puddle on approach to the corner. Usually this caused a raise of the eyes to see who it was that was deserving of that precious mark in the lap tally column. But rider 132 (as determined later) decided to make the task of recording his number difficult for me by laying his bike and himself on the dirt at speed (and damn hard based on the noise behind the blind corner) and enter the finishing straight by chewing dirt in pursuit of his bike which preceded him around the corner by a few metres. While I tried to deal with the dilemma of whether to leave my post to obtain that precious plate number and if penalties should apply to rider 132 for interfering with my ability to detect race numbers as riders rounded the corner, he took some deep breathes and rode off, no apologies, nothing......Great effort Harry, really put the new titanium hardware to the test!

Well, hopefully the seniors sounded exiting, but it was nothing compared to the Junior and Novice race, which kind of morphed into an adventure race involving several riders and runners heading in different directions to try to stop a couple of hard core junior racers with energy to burn beyond what could be contained in the Junior racing loop. Family groups were the go with the Bouchers (Emily and Joel), Codys (Bailey and Tyson) and Jans’ (Zach and Jake) joined by Nick King, Nick Butler, Felix Moore and Campbell. The juniors smashed out 4 laps (littlest kids) and 6 laps in no time. Joel Boucher and Campbell Palmer showed good skills and pace around the course to lead in the two groups with very little separating riders in each category. Honourable mention goes to the two siblings with race faces on who strayed from the set course and set about racing across Canadian Forest which made things interesting for a while given the Canadian Track network. Despite a scattering of adults, they made their own back to the course, no doubt racing all the way!

{Original Article}

The April Club Race on the 29th April 2012 in the Canadian Forest on our traditional ANZAC course. Senior racing will commence at 10.00am, with registration from 9.30am. For Juniors and Novices, racing will start at 1:00pm, with registration from 12.45pm.

Where: Canadian Forest, corner of Spencer and Long Street. (Spencer St is the street that Pax Hill is in, so drive past Pax Hill until there is a T junction and find a park).

Who: Everyone, including visitors. Racing categories will include Grades A, B & C, Novices and Juniors. Club races exist for the enjoyment of club members and our guests, so get involved and add to the atmosphere (even if only as a supporter!).

Format: Seniors will be racing on a longish loop around 7-10 km in length with the target duration being around 2 hours (getting ready for the 3hr Interwinter race to follow!). This course is a great mix of up and down, single track and fire road, rough and smooth. A modified course length will be used for Junior racing

Senior Race Details (Grades A, B & C)

Registration: 9:30 to 9:55
Race Start: 10:00am
Format: 2 hour enduro
Cost: $5 for MTBA members, $25 for non members

Novice Race Details

Registration: 12.30-12.55pm
Race Start: 1.00pm
Format: 1-2 laps (racing will be approximately 30-60mins)
Cost: $5 for MTBA members, $25 for non members

Junior Race Details

Registration: 12.30-12.55pm
Race Start: 1:00pm
Format: racing will be approximately 30 minutes
Cost: $3 for MTBA members, $20 for non members

Cashin postponed, ride in memory of Doug

With respect to all the emotions and thoughts of the current times, the BSCC wishes to advise - The 'Chris Cashin Memorial' will be postponed, to a date to be confirmed.

The BSCC would like to host a ride that makes a time available for "all" starting from the Velodrome Track – to fulfil Doug Garley’s great loves – Everyone else, (Cycling) -Track, Dirt, Road and beer.
As Sunday is Vets Race day, the day of the BAD ride, our normal BSCC time of 1.00pm Saturday will be a time for support and sharing on any bike with brakes. An approximate 30km (up to 2hr) roll is planned, that takes in some dirt on the rail trail. A social and drink at Doug’s favourite watering hole the “Mallow Hotel” will follow at approx. 3.00pm.
Please feel most welcome to ride in the vivid memory of the "Hard-Rider" style in lieu of club racing.
A combined ride with the Eureka Veterans coordinated by Adam Smith will also take place from “Racers” at 8.30 am Sunday.

Further to this the BSCC wishes to advise that there will be a farewell ride with "Doug G" on his wheels in the near future.
As these arrangements are confirmed by the family the BSCC will let you know.

“Whoever understands how to do a kindness when he fares well would be a friend better than any possession”

Beach Road ride to honour Doug Garley

Glen Pearsall, manager of Cycling Victoria and Carnegie Caulfield Cycling club, invites all to a Beach Road ride to honour Doug Garley this Saturday.

Glen writes:

We are very saddened to hear that Doug Garley was killed yesterday whilst on a training ride in Ballarat. Doug made great contributions to both the Carnegie Caulfield and Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Clubs.

Doug was a true gentleman in life and in sport.

A memorial ride is being organised for Saturday May 5th by Zeth Romanis and Marcel Lema starting at Black Rock at 8:30am and returning to St Kilda.
RIP Doug Garley (7/7/1955 – 1/5/2012).

http://www.carnegiecycling.com.au/2012/05/03/rememberance-rides-for-doug-garley/

Ballarat Uni Needs You! And You Need Bigger Numbers

You heard about the mysterious torture tests conducted on some of your club-mates at Ballarat Uni last year, and you saw how much faster they went afterwards. (Or slower in my case - ed.) Now here's your chance to further sports science and frighten your training mates.

Jarrad King writes:

The University of Ballarat's School of Human Movement and Sport Science is calling for volunteers to make themselves available for a study into cycling VO2 max performance.

Volunteers will be required to participate in three different VO2 max tests to assess cardiovascular fitness during the months of May, June and July. The results will be analysed to determine if a novel reverse testing protocol identifies higher VO2 max values.

As a participant, you will be provided with all your results, which will enable you to precisely calculate training zones, areas in need of improvement, and generally improve your understanding of your body and its performance levels. (And most importantly, to frighten your training mates - ed.)

If you wish to be involved in this study, or if you'd like more information about the study (entitled "Does a decremental protocol produce higher VO2 max values?"), please contact senior researcher Dr. Brendan O’Brien (by 69,77,65,73,76,32or on 5327 8677) or Jarrad King (by 69,77,65,73,76 or on 0437 719 484).

Brad Clark, who administered last year's infamous tests, writes:

What Jarrad is looking at is whether or not a new form of VO2 max test protocol allows subjects to achieve a higher VO2 max value. Current theory is that VO2 max is limited for the most part by cardiac output - how much blood the heart pumps in one minute. However, a group of sport scientists from South Africa is going against the trend and suggest that it is more likely limited by central governors in the brain. By using a different protocol, they have been able to get their participants (runners) to achieve higher scores for VO2 max than with a normal step protocol (what was used in my study).

The testing involved with Jarrad's study is nowhere near as intensive or involved as my study, and those who submit themselves will only have to perform VO2 max tests, not the dreaded lactate test or 30 second max sprint test, so overall, it will be a much more enjoyable experience (or at least, less unenjoyable - ed.)

Road: The Geelong Tour, 14-15 May

Just like the old days! Almost. In the 1980s, the highlight of many BSCC riders' seasons was the Geelong Tour, five stages, held in always-arctic conditions on the Queen's Birthday long weekend. In those days, Geelong was much stronger than Ballarat, and we always copped a beating through the gorges of Meredith and the dreaded Rokewood Junction.

Now, thirty-odd years later, the Geelong Tour is back! This time it's a more manageable three-stage, two-day tour, in hopefully less wintery conditions in a few weekends - May 14 and 15. It's being run by Geelong CC, and BSCC and Colac CC riders are invited. Click HERE for all the details, at the excellent Geelong CC web site. As any Euro pro will tell you, nothing gets you in race condition like stage racing. Perfect prep for the Collier and the Fred Icke. So be there!

Road: Nic White & Rochelle Liston - State Champs!

Chris Liston reports:

State Junior Hill Climb Championship, 1 May 2011: Gippsland Junior Experience White-Washed!

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Clubs U15M rider Nicholas White upstaged the field to take a win in the State Hill Climb Championships at Outtrim near Leongatha as part of the “Junior Experience” open tour. White placed in every event of the card that included criterium, sprint, 700m time trial, the championship event, and a handicapped road race. Nick claimed his first individual State Gold Medal and a win plus fastest time in the handicap from scratch.

Sub-junior Rochelle Liston took a win in the U11 girls' time trial by half a second and was runner up in the Hill Climb Championship. Liston took a majority of second placings in the other events.

In the competitive U17M division, Angus Lyons and Joshua Liston faced off for the first time this season. Lyons finished time trial and climb titles in 6th place, with Liston 8th. Liston placed fourth in the 36km handicap, with Lyons in the next bunch.

Results
U15M 2.5km State Hill Climb Championship
Gold 1st Nicholas White
U15M 20km Handicap
1st Nicholas White (f/t)
U15M 700m TT
3rd Nicholas White 49.52
Criterium 10 minute+1 lap, 2 sprints
3rd Nicholas White
4.9km Scratch Race
3rd Nicholas White
U11G 1.5km State Hill Climb Championship
Silver 2nd Rochelle Liston
U11G 700m TT
1st Rochelle Liston
U11G Straight Line Sprint, 1.4km Scratch, 5mins+1 lap Criterium, 4.3Km Handicap
2nd Rochelle Liston

Road: The 2010 Chris Cashin Memorial road race

3 May: updated with photos, thanks to the tireless Chris Liston. Scroll down through the senior and junior articles to see them.

Senior race

Les Bilney writes:

The annual Chris Cashin Memorial handicap race was held on Saturday, 24th April. The race was contested on the infamous Mount Misery circuit – the type of tough course that Chris loved to race on. Chris was a very well respected member of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club and Ballarat Veterans Cycling Club, when his life was tragically taken in a training accident. He was not only a dedicated and talented cyclist, but also a positive role model for the Ballarat cycling community.

Fifty one riders greeted the starter, with a gap of 30 minutes between scratch and limit. As usual, prior to the start, there was a lot of animated discussion regarding who the favourites were and which bunches might dominate the race. Many whispers were around the strong 7 and 9 minute bunches, and a little-known “smoky” who had recently joined the cycling club.

Wendy Ross and Molly Hegert, starting from limit, set off into the wind first, followed by Scott Denno chasing a 4 minute gap. Next followed the 20-minute bunch led by the in-form and determined Gail Oliver, the former Gail Cashin, and an improving Melissa Keirl, from the mighty Keirl-Robinson cycling dynasty. The scratch bunch consisted of Rob Doyle, Phil Orr, Damien Keirl, and Jon Townsend, in his last race with BSCC before he relocates to New Zealand.

All bunches were working hard over the initial stages, as the wind was strong and the weather was rapidly deteriorating. The limit riders had the best of the conditions over Mount Misery. The back markers copped the worst of the weather with strong wind, driving rain, and even reports of some hail.

As the gaps started closing, it appeared the winner would come from the front markers, or the fast-moving 7-minute bunch, which was being driven by a very strong Grant Gilbert, ably supported by longer-term club members Peter Kiel and Scott Townsend, and the impressive youngster Charles Martin. They bridged the gap to the 9-minute bunch which included form horses Charlie Stebbing and Neville Bilney. A very strong alliance of nine riders now set their minds to closing down the bunches in front.

Meanwhile second scratch, with Tony Mirabella, John Polkinghorne and Guy Falla, were working hard but not making up a lot of time. Although scratch looked strong on paper, and the tough conditions certainly suited them, they were not combining as expected. A dominant Rob Doyle was causing a little havoc with his explosive turns that the others found hard to match, and so their average speed was not as high as expected.

When the riders turned at the Ercildoune corner, the 7 and 9 minute bunches were quickly put into serious pain when leading triathlete and now part-time road rider, Grant Gilbert, went to the front and stayed there for around 10 kilometers at a reported 43 kilometers per hour. At this pace, the bunches up the road were quickly reeled in. First the 11 minute bunch with Liam White and Tavis Baker and then the 14 minute bunch with Craig Lightfoot and Matt Albiston were caught. With the increase in speed, one long line of riders was formed along the road.

Peter Kiel leads Grant Gilbert, Charles Martin, Scott Townsend and the combined chase group onto the finishing circuit.

While all this was unfolding, the out-markers continued to work hard. Molly Hegert in particular was riding strongly. However, a very determined Scott Denno started to take control of the race, and opened up a gap that proved to be the winning move.

At the final corner, the race for first and second was already decided, as Scott and Molly powered towards the finish line in that order.

On the top corner leading into the long finishing straight, there was suddenly chaos among the chasing riders when Bob (Muncha) Morley fell. Shortly afterwards the bunch fragmented as the riders went down the side of the road.

In the end it was Scott Townsend who greeted the chequered flag for third place, followed closely by Charles Martin. There were only 8 riders left in the main bunch as the high pace of the race took toll on the legs of most riders. Rob Doyle easily out sprinted the scratch bunch to take fastest time.

Congratulations are extended to our place getters Sott Denno (1st), Molly Hegert (2nd) , Scott Townsend (3rd ) and of course to Rob Doyle for riding the fastest time.

Thanks to all members of the Cashin family for their continued support for this very important day of the cycling calendar in Ballarat. The magnificent trophies crafted by Chris’s dad are always a highlight of the day. Thanks also to Powercor for being the major sponsor of the race in memory of Chris.

Senior podium, L to R: Rob Doyle (fastest time), Scott Townsend (3rd), Scott Denno (winner), Molly Hegert (2nd).

Thanks to our marshals for the day: Peter, Karen and Beth Canny, Matt Turner, Jenni White, Sean Lee, Bruce Bilston, Mark Templeton, Chris Liston, Peter Martin and Dean Wells.

Chris would have been amused as riders fought their way through the rain and wind. May he continue to rest in peace.

Final Placings:

1st – Scott Denno
2nd – Molly Hegert
3rd – Scott Townsend
4th – Charles Martin
5th – Tavis Baker
6th – Charles Stebbing
7th – Craig Lightfoot
8th – Liam White
9th – Peter Kiel
10th – Les Bilney

Fastest Time – Rob Doyle

Junior races

Chris Liston writes:

The worst weather to grace a BSCC club race for years came in with the Chris Cashin memorial handicap. In the F grade junior 12 km handicap race, Felicity Liston went solo from limit as the field set off in tough conditions around the Avenue circuit at Burrumbeet. Emily Oliver and Harriett Pickersgill paired up midfield, in front of soloist Clancy Dickson, with Declan Dickson and Dylan Bilston chasing him from scratch. Emily and Harriett closed in and caught Liston, and Oliver put in a burst that saw her take the win. Clancy worked hard to stay away, and overtook Harriett to claim second. Harriett, finishing in the rain, kept scratch at bay by seconds as Dylan Bilston broke from Dickson to take the fastest time 300m out from the line.

The E grade 32 km race saw Madeleine Plastow leave her starting partner and put time into the field. Midfield markers Nicholas White and Patrick Cosgrave kept scratch and second scratch at bay. Craig Firman and Emma Bilston had their three minute gap shut down by Angus Lyons and Joshua Liston at the 20 km mark, and shortly after, Lyons was on his own as Liston broke his chain. Plastow stayed away for a big win, with White taking second and Cosgrave third. Lyons, underlining his strong form, took fourth place and fastest time.

Junior riders negotiate the treacherous corner onto the Avenue circuit.

Results:
F Grade 12 km handicap
1st Emily Oliver
2nd Clancy Dickson
3rd Harriett Pickersgill
4th Dylan Bilston Fastest Time

E Grade 32 km handicap
1st Madeleine Plastow
2nd Nicholas White
3rd Patrick Cosgrave
4th Angus Lyons Fastest Time

BSCC observes ANZAC Day 2010

Here are some photos of BSCC's observation of ANZAC Day 2010, thanks once again to Chris Liston. Ian Nunn (BSCC Life Member) and Josh Liston represented the club at the Sebastopol Cenotaph.

Road: The Monuments of Cycling

Jonathan Lacey writes:

On a business trip to Europe, with help from the Icelandic volcano, I’ve been lucky enough over the last few weeks to make some life-long dreams come true, by riding the decisive parts of the Milano-Sanremo and Liege-Bastogne-Liege courses. And Fleche Wallone – being there for Cadel’s win, and riding the course the next day – was icing on the cake. Here are some impressions.

My favorite races in pro cycling are the so-called Monuments: one-day races, 80+ years old, 250+ km long, and laden with legend. In order through the season, the Monuments are: Milano-Sanremo (Milan - San Remo in English), the sprinter's ultimate goal; the Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders) and Paris-Roubaix, the cobbled races; Liege-Bastogne-Liege, "La Doyenne" (the Old Lady - the oldest of them all), and in October the Giro di Lombardia (Tour of Lombardy). The Monuments favor skilful, fearless riders who generate enormous power in repeated 5-minute blasts over 6+ hours, unlike the Grand Tours, won by calculating, consistent riders who climb and time-trial strongly for 20-60 minutes at a time over three weeks.

Three years ago Michael and I saw the cobbled Monuments, and rode the last 100 km or more of the courses. That is another story. Now Sanremo.

The climb to the Turchino pass, at the 140-km mark, is not selective because there’s still 150 km to go (!), and because the climb is just not that long or steep. Like the top part of the Lorne side of Benwerrin, with a view back down the valley. The tunnel at the top, though, is dark, narrow and slippery – no wonder it’s crash centrale – and the descent down to the coast is worthy. The coast road from Genova to Sanremo is part Beach Road (Melbourne), through St Kilda-like down-at-heel beach resorts, and part Great Ocean Road. So again, the climbs are hardly the Stelvio.

The legendary Cipressa and Poggio climbs, where the final selections are made, are each about 4 km long, again Benwerrin-like gradients, with steeper sections like the part through Lorne. Big ring all the way for the heads of state. The descents are everything I dreamed of: the most hair-raising pieces of road I’ve ridden, especially the Poggio, with 5 or 6 off-camber Periero bends: vertical drop from the edge of the upper road directly onto the lower road. Frank Schleck will never win this race. Riding down the Via Roma, the old finish, the sprinters’ Mecca, past the casino and the palm trees, even after five hours in the rain and traffic, was goose bumps all the way. So many giants have won here.

Now cut to the Belgian Ardennes, after a long day on several north-bound trains to Liege. Fleche Wallone is not a monument - on a Wednesday, "only" 200 km long - but bear with me. The Fleche finishing circuit (the last 30 km) is straightforward – rolling but nothing serious, some exposed sections like, say, the Learmonth Windmill circuit, but lots through the woods, not too twisty, not too narrow, not too much road furniture, and on Wednesday it was mostly dry, even if it only got to 10 degrees briefly. Straightforward except for the Mur de Huy. The flamme rouge ("red flame" - banner indicating 1 km to go) is before the Mur proper, but it’s the longest kilometer I’ve ever ridden. The two left-right S-bends, and the part on which Cadel went, are like San Francisco's worst, just laughably steep, no Australian equivalents that I know of – after which 12% or so (Dana Street) is a relief.

The race itself: barriers almost all the way up the Mur, but the road is only three meters wide, so the racers climb into a tunnel of screaming fans. The Schlecks’ fan club, very large and very vocal, staked out the primo spot at the top, with picnic benches and a table to stand on, overlooking the finish line. As Kloeden, Anton and then Contador punch it and Andy fades, his fans turn back to their beers, and a viewing spot opens up. I leap onto the table, and just about break it jumping up and down as Cadel blows Contador away right in front of me. The Luxembourgers graciously shake my hand. Podium observations: there is no love lost between Nicole Cooke and Emma Pooley. Marianne Vos (world cup leader and my fave woman rider) in person has that Merckx-like aura: I belong on the podium. Alberto does not like coming third, but he treats Cadel like an equal (with much bigger legs), and Cadel himself is gradually getting used to smiling. He gets a lot of respect in the Belgian press.

Friday was the day for all the pros (and me) to ride the last 80 km of Liege-Bastogne-Liege. Local boy Phil (Gilbert) has a stalker: a car painted up with “Fan club P. Gilbert” was glued to the Lotto team car. Jens looks HUGE on the bike, and skeletal at the same time. Scary. (Saxo were about 500m behind Lotto – I suspect Viking psychological warfare). Yes, Andy Schleck is very skinny, and Saxo looked tense.

The course is like the Swiss-Italia, except the villages are closer together, the climbs are two or three times as long and occasionally steeper, it’s more twisty, and the trees are different. The famous La Redoute has a few pitches almost like the Mur de Huy. Most of it is a mere 10%, but it seems to go on and on. And “Phil” is painted on the road about 5000 times. From there on, it gets blurry. They don't call it the Climber's Classic for nothing. There are only a few more listed climbs before the finish, but the infernal fluoro-yellow-on-black course-marking arrows just keep pointing me up, and down, and up again. This year’s version of the Roche des Faucons, the climb where A. Schleck vanished last year (modified due to road works), is just heartbreaking. The grumpy old men in their camper vans, two days early to get the top spectator spots, don’t even look up from their cards. Saint-Nicolas, the last selection, is even more gritty than it looks on the TV. Ans, the finale, is like Sydney Road, Brunswick, except with buses instead of trams; older, taller and more decayed buildings; and no hipsters. And uphill. On the earlier climbs I felt again the spirit of all the legends that have been made there, but not here. Exhausted, starving, dehydrated, just like the lads will be.

Now one more monument course to go - Lombardia, the most beautiful - and I will die happy.

Downloadable 2009 BSCC road race fixture

Editor's note: we know that people are often frustrated because it takes too long to find the info they need about upcoming races. During May, changes will be made to the web site design & organization to address this. Meantime, thanks for your patience.

To download the BSCC 2009 senior road race fixture and race marshalling roster (updated 19 April 09), please click HERE.

For information about BSCC's 2009 junior road races, please click HERE.

To read more about BSCC's 2009 senior road race marshalling procedure, please click HERE.

To enter any BSCC club road race, please contact Phil Orr by 5 PM on the Friday before the race, at email phillip@ncable.net.au or phone 0409 359 778. This is especially important if the event you're entering is a handicap race. Phil needs to have the complete entry list to figure out the handicaps.

To see maps of the course for this month's race, please click on Notice Board on the left-hand menu, and go to the article called This Month's Road Race Courses.

Brief details of each race for the next month are on our online calendar on this web site - click here - or click CALENDAR on the left-hand menu. This calendar is not designed to be downloaded. To see brief details of a particular road race, click on its entry on the calendar and the details will pop up. There is less information about each race here than in the downloadable complete road race fixture document (see above), and the online calendar is only completed for next month, whereas the complete road race fixture document covers the entire season.

Phil is undefeated

There have now been two rounds of the 2010 Victorian state enduro MTB series, and Phil Orr has won both of them. By a long way. Here are the results from the Mount Beauty six-hour. It was last Saturday. This means that, between this enduro, the Otway Odyssey, and the You Yangs enduro, Phil has clocked 17 hours of hard dirt bike racing in 13 days. Many of us would be happy to log that much training over that period. As we have pointed out before, Phil doesn't just cruise around the circuit in enduros. He charges the whole way. The man is fit.

MTB: Dirt Girls July Report

From the pen of Jacqui Clynes

The July Dirt Girls ride saw a record 14 women heading out to brush up on their skills and have a spin on their mountain bike. We had lots of first timers looking a bit worried about what they might be in for (could have been talk of log rollovers that did that...) but hey, there's a first time for everything! We split into two groups with myself and Kat each leading a group, and had a skills session on basic position, unweighting the front wheel, correct cornering technique (no front brake ladies!) and even the dreaded log rollover. And we are happy to say that every single dirt girl was confidently riding the log rollover on the crit track by the end of the session! Impressive!

We rejoined into our big group for a quick ride and headed for the trails behind the crit track, where we rode some great fun singletracks. Once again I was impressed with how well everyone was handling their bikes. The sun was shining, the trails were in perfect condition, people were having fun, it was really beautiful... there weren't even too many uphills, although I did claim 'its all downhill from here' quite incorrectly a few times. Apologies for that...

The ride finished with a coffee/cake/muffin at the Krooze In Cafe and everyone made it along, which was great to see! The post-ride coffee shop stop has actually become my favourite part of the ride... I'm sure that's a good thing. All in all, a fantastic morning out with a great and very diverse bunch of women. Well done to all who attended and we look forward to seeing you in August.

For more information on the Dirt Girl rides contact 74,97,99,113,117,105 via email or on 0457 223 211. All riders are welcome. We have a huge range of ages and abilities coming along. And no, you won't know anyone at first, but by the end of it you will!

Road: Voices of Cycling in Buninyong

Updated 18 December with kids' price.

Stuart Brien, Major Events maestro, writes:

Meet the Voices of the Tour – Liggett, Tomalaris & Keenan

We are very excited to announce that Phil Liggett, Mike Tomalaris and Matt Keenan will be attending a casual cocktail party at the Buninyong Golf Club at 6 PM on Saturday 8th January, 2011. The Voices of the Tour will give a presentation and sign autographs. All proceeds are going to BSCC largely due to the generosity of the City of Ballarat, our biggest supporters.

Tickets are only $40 per adult, $25 for kids 15 and under. Tickets include cocktail finger food, a drink on arrival (additional drinks will available to purchase over the bar) and the entertainment for the night - a chance to get up close to the most recognizable voice in world cycling!

Tickets are on sale NOW by calling 5341 3217, or drop into the Buninyong Golf Club, but hurry because numbers are strictly limited. Of course, if you volunteer to marshal at the Oz Champs, your ticket will be discounted, or even free.

See you there!

Road: BSCC at the Bay Classic Crits

Updated Monday January 3:

Our riders did us proud in Stage One of the Bay Series. Chloe McIntosh waved the flag in the women's event. The BSCC team hung tough in a men's support event field that was filled with mature full-time pros bumped down from the over-filled elite event. In the elite men's event, Damien Turner spend some time off the front solo. The full story, as always, is at Cyclingnews. And there's a very fetching photo of our lads in the Courier.

Chris Liston writes:

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club in the Bay Crits

The young men of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club will represent the club, the city and local businesses as they compete as a team in the support races in the 2011 Jayco Bay Cycling Classic criteriums starting in Geelong on Sunday. Ciaran Conaughton, James Crafter, Mitch Brogden, Aaron Blomeley, and Clive Silcock, all of whom have come through BSCC’s U15 or U17 ranks, will don specially-created jerseys that heralds BSCC's inaugural step into major league cycling, offering a development pathway for regional junior cyclists through to the elite level of the sport. The Jayco Bay Cycling Classic criteriums, known informally as the Bay Series or the Bay Crits, are a feature event on Australia’s cycling calendar. They run over four days: Geelong (Eastern Park), Portarlington, Geelong (Eastern Beach), and Williamstown. The event promoters describe them as "the world's fastest criterium series."

BSCC’s entry into such a prominent event in the Australian cycling calendar was made possible by sponsors Cycle City, City Oval Restaurant and Bar, Racers Café/Bar, McDonalds Bakery Hill and Central City Motor Inn, with additional financial support from the club. “The Ballarat community is very proud that we have this talent and more to cheer on in the elite cycling arena. To have five under-19’s and one under-23 offered places in this type of event is unprecedented, ” said Gerard White, BSCC Treasurer. Ballarat has a rich history of past champions and high-level achievers in cycle sport, and is continuing to develop some of the best male and female junior riders in the state.

Ciaran Conaughton took a win in the U19 Victorian 100km championship in Port Fairy in mid-2010, and proved he is a climber and tactical accelerator. Ciaran is joined by U19 club champion James Crafter. The gritty Clive Silcock, fresh from his grueling Tour of Bright at the start of December, adds to the mix of Stuart Sanders' Cycle City team. Mitch Brogden, part of the Cycle City team in 2009, filled in his gap year as a sponsored cyclist in Europe, developing his riding in criteriums, kermesses and intense stage racing in Holland and Belgium. Aaron Blomeley, another rising star, fills out the team.

The team will be flying under the radar until the first stage is run. The team members' club-mate Liam White is riding in another team, sponsored by Melbourne's Degani Café, in the same event. White earned his place in the Degani team with his consistent performances throughout the 2010 season.

Whatever the outcome of the Bay Series, BSCC found all the right gears in 2010. The club is active in road, track and mountain bike riding and racing. Mountain biking in particular is developing a strong contingent of riders showing promise and success. BMX, about to become BSCC's fourth arm, has a new committee, and a new race track will be ready in early 2011. The velodrome has undergone its $350k redevelopment and is now in full use again, with new club rooms coming soon. BSCC's Damien Turner took the bronze medal and King of the Mountains title in the open men's national road championship in January. This was followed by three National Junior medals in track and road in 2010, including Harry Bade's M19 gold medal, amongst a host of other tour and open race victories, and the 100th staging of the iconic Melbourne to Ballarat road race. BSCC is is proudly seeing out 2010, and starting on top in 2011.

Track: BSCC at the Christmas Carnivals

Chris Liston writes:

Christmas Track Carnivals 2010

BSCC was well represented at the three-day Victorian Christmas Track Carnival series in Horsham (December 27), Bendigo (December 28) and Shepparton (December 29). Official Horsham results are here.

Day 1 in Horsham saw Rochelle Liston as one of the stand-out performers: she took a win in the scratch race for the U11 mixed field, and claimed third place from scratch in the wheelrace. Victoria Snibson won the W17 wheelrace, with club-mate Emily Wordie-Thompson taking second in the elimination event. Nicholas White, Patrick Cosgrave and Declan Dickson all rode in the highly competitive U15M division and found the pace ferocious. Emma Bilston claimed third in the U15W scratch race, as Courtney Field of Melbourne and Kiara Dundas of Cairns made tough work of that division's races. BSCC's Courtney Mannix made her debut open outing among the highly-charged field and rode well.

Horsham W17 wheelrace podium: 1st Victoria Snibson, 2nd Ruby Greig-Hurtgig (Carnegie-Caulfield CC), 3rd Lara Batkin (St George CC, NSW).

Angus Lyons, Joshua Liston and Hugo Tolliday raced together in U17M at Horsham. Tolliday secured a third in the 2000m wheelrace, and teamed up with other Victorian U17 cyclists to form a squad of four who, despite lagging behind for most of the race, came through to narrowly win the team pursuit from the “interstaters”. Liam White, racing with the open men as a first-year U19, took a strong win in the second qualifying heat for the wheelrace final, and positioned himself well to claim 3rd in the B-grade scratch race.

With increased entries, day two in Bendigo saw fast-paced action on the flat elliptical track at the Tom Flood Sports Centre. Rochelle Liston placed third in her scratch race. Nicholas White needed a touch more in his legs as he placed just off the podium . Liam White returned home to Ballarat a tired young man after six starts both days. He qualified for the night-time wheelrace final and was on line for a good finish having closed in to the frontmarkers. In the final laps as the field came together he was "hooked" and averted a near catastrophe. This took some of his momentum and left him out-positioned and boxed in for the final charge to the line.

Angus Lyons and Hugo Tolliday were in A Grade U17, with Lyons leading off the front in one event before the field swamped him. Josh Liston found the tough going in a four-man breakaway in the B-Grade qualifying final. He faded from contention as the backmarkers devoured those in front.

Rochelle Liston on second wheel during the Bendigo U11 Wheelrace

The final day of the 2010 carnival in Shepparton saw Hugo Tolliday take a strong win in the U17 A-grade scratch race. Angus Lyons and Tolliday made it through to the wheelrace final, held late in the day in 33-degree heat. Victoria Snibson became the sole female BSCC representative and continued to race in the U17W events, but the strong field kept her from the podium on the last day.

Christmas Rec TTT report

Here's another gem from Ray Isaac, joint winner of the award for editor's favorite web submission for 2009. This is Ray's report on the Recreational Team Time Trial held in conjunction with the Christmas Classic road race.

Thirty riders looking for some serious, but fun, riding attended the club’s fifth and final RECTTT ride for the year.

The teams assembled at the Gong car park, registered and made their way to the Bungaree oval for the start. What was that about anyway? A ten km ride to the start is way too serious a warm up and not sufficient fun for a recreational rider.

Four of the teams are settling down into recognisable rosters, with the Saxon House team appearing to still be in a state of flux. The Saxons were represented by Mark Blomeley, Roger Simpkin, John (I’ve been everywhere man) Cotter and John Ives, three of whom have not ridden as Saxons before.

Tim O’Doherty has been a stalwart as our starter this year; a role that has proven a valuable learning one for Tim who was previously accustomed to the more predictable approach of the club’s racers.

This time he was confronted with the Goddesses’ bikes all bearing aerodynamic improvements. Their inexorable search for ways to shave those elusive seconds had led them to some high-tech wind tunnel testing facility. The outcome was some fairings that looked remarkably like Christmas tree baubles and candy canes. Tim took the matter under advisement and allowed them to start.

Next off was the Dennis Family homes team which was demonstrating new and improved power just leaning on their bikes. Jon Ives apparently liked the look of the team assembled on the start line and tried to take his place with them. Despite the fact that his recent training has begun paying dividends and he is now, by his own admission, fading away to a giant, his kind offer to join the Dennis boys was quickly dismissed and they set off after the Goddesses.

The Turret was supplemented by Craig Lightfoot and Brenton Keats making their first appearances.

The revamped Saxons, with John Ives safely on board, were next to leave, followed by the Riding on Principal team.

The details of the next hour or so are pretty sketchy in my memory. I suspect I pushed too far into the pain cave, because at one point I saw an apparition tempting me to stop with an ice-cold Crown Lager.

I do know that a certain Tony Mirabella was tagging along at the rear of the Turret group as a warm up for the race that was to start after the RECTTT riders were all away. Apparently the pace got too quick for him as he was dropped at the Wallace corner. Fortunately this coincided with the moment they caught the Goddesses, so Tony was able to limp back to the start with them. Tony was impressed with the way they were riding and even gave them a few pointers. Heaven knows how we will stop them if the Goddesses take his advice to keep pedaling when they are going downhill.

Like most of the riders I was quite happy to see the finish line.

At the line, the Goddesses treated a bemused Tim O’Doherty to a stirring rendition of Jingle Bells, in all likelihood another first for Tim at the cycling. That apparently got him into the Christmas spirit, as the velocities he calculated for all teams were a bit higher than anyone’s bike computers showed.

Those results showed that every team improved their average velocity. The Saxons, in particular, made a tremendous improvement, and, with the Principals, remain one of the two teams to have improved on every outing.

Most riders stopped to watch the conclusion of the A Grade race before rolling back to the Gong. There most riders stayed for a BBQ and a few refreshments. Thanks to the club for providing the food and especially to the people who prepared it.

The coveted CSC Award had several nominations.

A particularly strong commendation came for a hirsute Mark Smith who was reported as doing a power of work into the wind for the Dennis boys. He was ultimately overlooked for the award on two levels. The first was that he had fitted his bike with the Goddesses’ performance-enhancing aerodynamic baubles and candy canes. The second was the beard. Move on Mark, Movember’s over and it’s time to lose those whiskers.

Tony Mirabella also came under notice for his on-the-ride training tips he gave the Goddesses.

John Ives attempt to join the powerhouse Saxons was mentioned in dispatches.

But the winner could really only ever have been Peter Martin. Which other riders would be ready to sacrifice their own ride just so they could help their team improve its average speed. Well played sir! In receiving the award for this ride Peter becomes the second rider to receive it in absentia, although he was remarkable visible and audible for most of the day!

Footnote. It is with great sadness that the RECTTT riders record the passing of one of their own. Steve Smith had only ridden with us the once, up at Moonambel, but had wholeheartedly embraced the notion of serious fun on a bike.

For those of us who knew Steve away from cycling, he was a genuine person, respected and liked by all he met. Steve Smith was a good bloke and the world is a worse place because he’s not here. Rest peacefully Steve.

MTB: Crazy6 - Geelong

The Crazy6 Enduro is less than 2 weeks away on Saturday 12th February so it's time to commit!

It will be the first race in the 2011 Victorian Enduro Series and it will be a great way to start the series. The Kurrajong is recovering from the rain so find yourself a team or do it solo.

There have been some questions about categories, so to clarify:

You can enter as a Solo male, Solo female or Solo male 40+, Male pairs, Female pairs or Mixed pairs, Male triples, Female triples, Mixed triples, 40+ triples (all riders in this category must be over 40) or a Junior team (teams of 2, 3 or 4 riders under 19yrs can enter the Junior category, but Junior 4s would not be eligible for VES series points)

Extra categories may be organised on the day if there are sufficient entries.

Online entry is via Entryzone - $50 per rider, $25 for junior riders, and while you are there get yourself a cool Crazy6 T for only $20. Online 'Earlybird' entries will close Wednesday Feb 9th, on the day entries will cost you extra.

More info at www.gmbc.com.au

Road: 2011-12 Small Dog Criteriums, Round 9

Here are the results from the four senior races, and a full report on the B-grade race. Junior results and other reports will follow.

A grade

1st Jay Bourke

2nd Harry Bade

3rd Liam White

B grade starting list

Aaron Blomeley

Craig Lightfoot

Paul Crack

Stuart Brien

Thayne Turley

Lewis Piccoli

Will Goer

Ryan Kerr

Dave Peters

A well-timed sprint by Stuart Brien sealed victory in B grade for the second of the Small Dog Criteriums for 2011. Brien surprised the field to win by a comfortable three lengths from Dave Peters and Lewis Piccoli.

At the start of the race, young gun Aaron Blomeley shot out of the blocks to put 15 seconds into the bunch for a good 3 laps, pushing the average speed up to nearly 38 km/h. He was dragged back by some solid efforts from Thayne Turley, Paul Crack, Brien and Will Goer. The catch was made around the 10-minute mark. Within another few minutes Blomeley attacked again, but with less success: the rest of the field were more attentive, and keen to position themselves for the sprint home.

First-time racer Ryan Kerr was hanging on well, and Dave Peters looked strong, considering he had a mild heart attack late last year. Craig Lightfoot was also looming ominously around the perimeter, fresh from his charity ride to Adelaide last month.

But in the end, Brien took to the outside on the last turn, and with 150 meters to go jumped the field. Peters was alert and showed why he was the winner of the C-grade event at the end of last season: he took second place comfortably from Piccoli, who conserved his energy well by staying clear of the front until the sprint home.

B Grade results

1st Stuart Brien

2nd Dave Peters

3rd Lewis Piccoli

C Grade

1st Ben Fay

2nd Brett Willmont

3rd Will Stewart

D Grade

1st Nicholas White

2nd Jack Thompson

3rd Jake Sees

Kevin Douglas remembered

Kevin was known to many at the BSCC through his business and the cycle city team. He supported the club in many ways and together with Stewart and Andrew helped develop the aspirations of juniors cyclists into the Cycle City team and colours over the last few years. His contribution to our club and wider community will be missed. We the BSCC members are proud to have been able to meet and know him as a selfless man. R.I.P Kev.

The Courier article here.

BSCC stars at Country Track Champs

Words by Chris Liston. Updated with photos by Liz Crothers and captions by Roger Bade.

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club members competed brilliantly at the Country Track Championships held in Maryborough last weekend, despite being interrupted with wet weather. Liam White rode a great race in the U17M scratch race to take home his first individual State Medal, a bronze – a testament to his ongoing passion and perseverance with cycle sport.

The young man worked hard to cross the gap to the leaders, bringing the field with him, in what was one of the best scratch championship races of recent time. He then forged into contention as a place getter off the back of Hugo Tolliday who took the Silver Medal. Tolliday added the scratch silver to his time trial silver as a first year U17M cyclist.

A Ballarat and Clarendon College trifecta! Thomas Hamilton (now Ballarat "local") and Ararat District CC member) with mates, Hugo Tolliday and Liam White, M17 Scratch Race.

Harry Crothers-Bade took back to back Gold medals in his U19M 3000m Pursuit, the event which earned him his first ever individual medal in 2008. He also claimed the scratch race title and runner up in the Time Trial.

Harry leads Brendan Schulz, Trev Griffiths and Silas Fisher in a four man break in the M19 scratch race.

Dickson brothers Clancy and Declan took home four medals between them. Clancy bagged three Silvers as runner up in the U11M Scratch, Time Trial and Sprint, with a bronze in the Pursuit. Rochelle Liston competed with Declan Dickson as the only BSCC sub-junior girl. Declan Dickson matched his brother with a bronze in the U13M pursuit. Dylan Bilston took state country titles over Dickson in the same division winning gold in the U13M time Trial and Sprint.

The U15M titles were dominated by Bendigo rider Brendan Dean, with BSCC rider Angus Lyons taking silver in the 500m Time Trial and backing that up with a 2:56 in the 2000m Pursuit to take another silver. Lyons placed third in the scratch race behind Joshua Liston adding a bronze to his haul. Liston’s runner up in the scratch race added a silver to his silver in the 200m Sprint the day before.

Angus Lyons drives the bunch in the M15 scratch race.

Molly Hegert, as the club’s only U19F competitor, placed runner up in two events, taking silvers in the pursuit and scratch races. Emily Wordie-Thompson placed over club mate Victoria Snibson in the U17W division. Emily finishing her contests with three bronze medals, only missing a place in the time trial. Emma Bilston in the U15W division claimed three gold medals and one silver. Bilston dominated in the 200m sprint, 2000m pursuit and scratch race, and she narrowly missed the time trial win, taking silver, proving she has the form of her previous season as a first year U15W.

Emma Bilston drives to the line to take gold in the W15 scratch race. [ed: photo of the year?]

Scott Townsend and Alan Cureton stepped up as masters riders for the weekend. Townsend worked hard but was pipped in the Sprint and Scratch race, and so settled for two silver medals.

Results - listed as time trial, sprint, pursuit, scratch race.:

U11M
Clancy Dickson Silver Silver Bronze Silver
U13M
Dylan Bilston Gold Gold - -
Declan Dickson - - Bronze -
U15F
Emma Bilston Silver Gold Gold Gold
U15M
Angus Lyons Silver - Silver Bronze
Joshua Liston - Silver - Silver
U17F
Emily Wordie –Thompson - Bronze Bronze Bronze
U17M
Hugo Tolliday Silver - - Silver
Liam White - - - Bronze
U19F
Molly Hegert - - Silver Silver
U19M
Harry Crothers-Bade Silver - Gold Gold
Master 1
Scott Townsend - Silver - Silver

Small Dog Criteriums 2009-10: round 5

Phil Orr writes:

Here are the senior results from this week's Small Dog criteriums. Some of our usual reporters are heading up to the Tour of Bright this weekend, so full reports will be delayed.

A Grade

1st James McCallum

2nd Evan Oliphant

3rd Jon Townsend

(Motor bike impersonation award: Jay Bourke - ed.)

B Grade

1st Matt Smith

2nd Joel Hossack

3rd Scott Bilney

C Grade

1st Lewis Piccoli

2nd Dave Peters

3rd Peter Hayes

D Grade

1st Craig Firman

2nd Josh Liston

3rd Molly Hegert

29 November MTB event: results

Dale Boucher, MTB maestro, writes:

MTB Race Summary – 29th November

Maybe we should have stayed home, but we didn’t. After 100 mm of rain, a group of 10 hardy souls (or weidos) came out to Buninyong to see how many laps could be done in 60 minutes.

The rain started when the green flag dropped, and each lap became harder to keep the bike upright. Some steep uphill sections became unrideable. As XC MTB riders it’s a great challenge to ride in all conditions, and we look forward to some exciting rides in 2010.

Warren Faneco headed the pack (complete with muddy Movember moustache), followed by Dale Boucher and Phil Orr. We also welcomed new rider Simon Mennie, who had bike issues on the day.

To see some photos of the event, go to www.picasaweb.google.com (it’s really worth a look). (Links are temporarily not working ... so just type this into your browser - ed.)

Details of the next MTB race will follow soon.

Reach for the Stars Roller Derby - are you in?

Chris Liston, track cycling entrepreneur, writes:

We want to run a "Reach for the Stars" track event on January 8, the rest day in the Oz Road Champs - but we won't have a track by then. How about a roller derby? If you're interested in particpating in a competition roller derby spectacle on January 8th - details to be determined - please let 67,104,114,105,115,32know. Or if you'd just come for the entertainment, let 67,104,114,105,115,32know about that too.

Crude research at last night's crits suggests there is not enough support for a "Reach for the Stars" roller night that would include competition, drinks, nibbles and a visit from some of the Elite cyclists. So if you are up for it, please tell 67,104,114,105,115. Or if you have some other Reach for the Stars ideas, please participate in the discussion on the Forum. Thanks.

Road: Team Bus to Beeac

Travel to Beeac on the BSCC team bus on Saturday!

Meet at 11 AM at Don Stewart's dental practice, 11 Drummond Street South. There's parking there. We'll use the club trailer for bikes. This way we reduce our carbon footprint, plot our cunning tactics on the way down, and celebrate our efforts on the way back! The club will pay for the bus, so there's no charge to travel on it.

Please sign up ASAP so we have a big enough bus. Contact Don if you're on the bus. Click 72,69,82,69,32to email him. And don't forget to enter the race too ...

MTB: InterWinter Series Wrap Up

BSCC riders star in MTB Interwinter series

The first year of the Interwinter series has been deemed a huge success by the hosting clubs and riders. Ballarat, Geelong, Woodend and Castlemaine were the four hosts and this series held a variety of different race formats on a variety of courses across central Victoria.

The final leg was held last Sunday in the You Yangs mountain bike park. The You Yangs is a MTB paradise with a variety of trails ranging from easy (green) to hard (black). Add in rocks all over the course and you’ve got a great challenge.
The final race consisted of three small races, a time trial, cross country race and a criterium.

11 BSCC riders heading to the You Yangs including Guy Falla, Jeremy Doolan, Wil Goer, Phil Orr, Dale Boucher, Brendan Olver, Shane Cody, Andrew Pearson, Jason Birch and the Baker family. After three races, Phil “Orrsome” Orr and Shane “Jedi” Cody were leading A grade and B grade series points. All they needed to do is finish ahead of their rivals and they would take out the series.

The overnight heavy rain made riders nervous (Phil Orr spent the whole night looking at the BOM radar image and panicking) however there was no need to panic. The You Yangs is formed by granite rocks and the trail surface is granite which drains well. After all the rain the course held up extremely well with the odd puddle throughout the course.

Race 1 – Time Trial

The first race was a MTB time trial and Jedi had a fantastic time trial winning by 1 second in B grade with a time of 12:27. Other riders in B grade were Dale Boucher in 13.08, Jeremy Doolan in 13:14, Jason Birch in 13:49 and Guy Falla in 13:56. In A grade, Phil Orr had a minor setback with the series second place opponent finishing two places ahead of Phil in a time of 17:56, and Will Goer had a DNF. In C grade, Andrew Pearson came in 5th in 8:56, Brendan Olver rode a time of 9:16, Benjamin Baker a time of 9:56 and Elizabeth Baker rode a time of 11:45.

Race 2 – Cross Country XCO

The cross country race was a fantastic course with some steep climbs and a great decent down ‘lactic acid trail’ A, B and C grades all rode the same course but the number of laps varied for each grade. Again Jedi showed everyone in B grade how it’s done by taking out his second win for the day in 55:27, other riders in B grade were not so fast, Dale Boucher in 58:30, Jeremy Doolan in 58:33, Guy Falla in 58:40 and Jason Birch in 59:38.

Phil Orr also finished had a great XC ride and finished 4th in 1:07 and two places ahead of his main rival. All he needed to do was have a strong ride in the final criterium. Will Goer finished 15th in A grade in a time of 1:18.

C grade race two laps of the same course with Andrew Pearson finishing third in 43:09, Brendan Olver in 47:05, Benjamin Baker in 61:17 and Elizabeth Baker in 68:18.

Race 3 – Criterium

After two races, It’s down to the MTB criterium. Again Shane Cody starred by finishing second in the final in B grade. Jedi has had a great series after a slow start. Second place in the criterium gave him the win for the day and the series in B grade.

Phil Orr was definitely under pressure but all the experience of riding criteriums at Victoria Park paid off as rode a tactical race and finishing second. With second place secured in the criterium, Phil won the series in A grade.

Andrew Pearson also showed his track experience strength and winning the criterium race.

To see the results of round 4 click here:

http://www.gmbc.com.au/results/results.html

To see photo’ of the races from photographer Steve Rowe click here:

http://www.mtb-images.com.au/

Road: Jeremy Doolan Wins 2011 Senior Aggregate

With his strong second place at Taltarni on Sunday, Jeremy Doolan won the BSCC 2011 Senior Aggregate. Well done Jeremy!

Here are the final points:

Jeremy Doolan 34
Liam White 29
Jay Bourke 27
Stu Brien 24
Ben Clark 24

Jeremy will be presented with his trophy at the Christmas social event on Sunday December 18.

**************

Charlie Stebbing, aggregate aggregator, writes:

On the eve of the Taltarni road race, the last of the season, Jay Bourke is leading the 2011 BSCC senior road aggregate. Points so far are listed below. Points are awarded pretty much the same way as last year: for handicaps, 8-6-4-3-2 for 1st to 5th, and no points for fastest time; for scratch races, 4-3-2 for 1st to 3rd; and one point for competing or for marshalling.

Here's the exciting part. Current leader Jay is riding the Melbourne to Warrnambool on Saturday, not we probably won't see him at Taltarni. The winner on Sunday will get 8 points, so there are ten riders who might win the aggregate on Sunday, all listed below. Stu Brien is still returning from injury, Michael Pierce will be at the Noosa triathlon, so that leaves eight contenders. Taltarni will be exciting!

Our tips: it's in the handicappers' hands, but we say look out for Jeremy Doolan, Ben Clark, Stu Grigg and Tony Mirabella on Sunday. - ed.

BSCC 2011 senior road aggregate standings as of 29 October

Bourke Jay 27
Doolan Jeremy 26
Brien Stuart 24
Clark Ben 24
Turley Sam 23
Pearce Michael 21
White Liam 21
Blomeley Aaron 20
Grigg Stuart 20
Mirabella Tony 19
Turley Thyane 19

***********

Here’s an unofficial tally of the BSCC 2011 senior road aggregate so far. It includes points from all 2011 BSCC club races up to and including the Rokewood Junction race on June 18. Points are awarded pretty much the same way as last year: for handicaps, 8-6-4-3-2 for 1st to 5th, and no points for fastest time; for scratch races, 4-3-2 for 1st to 3rd; and one point for competing or for marshalling. The club’s steam-powered super-computer is still checking all this, so it’s not official yet, but here’s how the top ten or so probably looks. It’s very close, as usual. Liam White, the Philippe Gilbert of BSCC, is a mere point ahead of a gaggle of riders, including perennial handicapper’s favorite, Stu Brien, and the handicapper himself!

White Liam 15
Brien Stuart 14
Clark Matt 14
Stewart Don 14
Turley Sam 14
Bourke Jay 13
Palanca Sam 12
Turley Thayne 12
Doolan Jeremy 11
Edwards Sam 10
Faneco Warren 10
Keirl Melissa 10
Pearce Michael 10
Stewart Will 10
White Gerard 10

Road: We Need a Vic Park Senior Criterium Reporter

If you're planning to be at most of the 2011-2012 Small Dog senior criteriums in Victoria Park, and you're willing to write a report about your race, and persuade others to write about the other races, we need you!

The tireless Chris Liston will continue to report on the junior and sub-junior races (5-6 PM). So we're just looking for help with the senior races (6-7 PM).

If you're interested, please contact the 114,111,97,100,32,119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121.

Track: It's All Happening!

BSCC track tsar Roger Bade writes:

Last week we had our first (dry) night of track racing for the season - it was wonderful!

For the first time we used the completed pavilion, the renovated storage kiosk and the resurfaced track. We had a heap of junior riders, we held presentations for last season's champions, and we had an info evening where the boys who represented the club in this year's "Tour de Timor" mountain bike race gave a slideshow and talked about their experiences. The whole thing was brilliant, and in no small part due to the great new facilities we now have.

Come and join us down there one Thursday (or sunny Sunday) arvo if you have the chance. Even if you don't want to ride, the action is great to watch, and if it's your first visit to the track you get a coke and hamburger (cooked on our new BBQ) on us!

We have constructed a new track website which will be linked to the main BSCC site very soon and which will contain all the info, results, pics and video you might want to see about our track racing. Click HERE to check it out.

MTB: Spring Race 3 - Gong Gong, November 6

Date: 6th November
Where: Gong Gong

Riders, if you like great courses with climbs and sweet flowing downhills, technical elements and heaps of single track then do not miss this race this Saturday 6th November. We’ve made the Gong Gong course even better this year a longer course and even more single track.
If you haven’t seen the course then check out Phil Orr’s helmet cam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiMKkMLga1s

Juniors:
Will be racing over a shorter circuit and we’ve developed a great little track for this event. Registration will begin at 1:00 pm with racing at 1:15pm. The race will be timed over 30 minutes.

  Registration: 1:00pm
  Race Start: 1:15pm
  Duration: 30 minutes
  Format: Enduro
  Cost: MTBA members $3, MTBA Day Permit: $15

Seniors:
Four grades will be racing for 60 minutes over a 3.5 kilometre loop. Registration begins at 2:00pm and racing starts at 2:30pm.

  Registration: 2:00pm
  Race Start: 2:30pm
  Duration: 1 hour
  Format: Enduro
  Cost: MTBA members $5, MTBA Day Permit: $15

Marshals: Joel Hossack and Adrian Kenny

BSCC MTB is affiliated with MTBA, which means all riders must present a current MTBA membership card during registration. Membership provides insurance coverage for both the rider and the club in the event of an incident. Non MTBA members have two options, 1) annual membership, (see the Membership page for more details) or 2) purchase a $15 Day permit, which is valid for the whole event and available on the day, but we ask that you arrive early to fill in the paperwork.

Thanks, Small Dog

The BSCC web site was off the air briefly due to a hardware problem. A big thank you to Ash Veal and the crew at Small Dog, our sponsors, for slaving away over the glorious sunny weekend to get us back online. Not only did Small Dog prove that they deal with these rare events very quickly, they also showed that their backup system works a treat. The web site is exactly as we last saw it.

Thanks again to Small Dog. And remember, people, let's support the people who support us.

MTB: Social Ride on 10th April

You might have noticed a number of our social rides refer to ORCA, no this is not a killer whale. ORCA stands for Off Road Cycling Adventures. ORCA is considered Victoria’s definitive mountain bike guidebook describes 37 exciting rides covering over 1,250km of trails. This month we will be following ride 7 from ORCA, the "Hepburn Spa Tour"

Being a social ride the whole thing will be fairly relaxed without much planning going into the whole affair, however the key guidelines the committee are working with are:
- we will meet at a location with ample free car parking,
- as people arrive carpooling can be organised,
- we will drive to destination in convoy,
- when we arrive at the trail head (depending on numbers) we can break into groups that match rider abilities (slower riders or riders just starting out please don't worry about slowing the group down, its a social ride no-one is there to break land-speed records!),
- on the way home we will go for coffee and/or lunch,

With these points in mind and following has been decided for this ride.

Meeting Place: Kirks Reservoir Carpark
Meeting Time: 6:00am (to allow for carpooling organisation)
Stopping Where on the Way Home: Daylesford, for lunch and a drink
Expected Duration: 2 to 3 hours (plus travel time)
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

2010 BSCC senior road aggregate

After three BSCC senior road races this season, Ciaran Conaughton leads the aggregate from Jon Townsend and Sam Turley.

Last year's aggregate was won by Stuart Brien, and nobody knew he was leading until the end of the season. This year, we'll published an updated aggregate tally every month. Please click HERE for the tally after the three March events.

Group rides over Easter

Here's what we know about local group rides over the Easter long weekend.

From in front of Myer, on the south side of Sturt Street:

7:30 Friday

6:30 Saturday

7:30 Sunday and Monday

The Turret group:

7:30 Friday from the Turret, cnr. Sturt St. and Errard St. Nth

7:30 Saturday from the Lake View Hotel

8:30 Sunday and Monday from the Turret

Road: Round 2 of the Tri Series - Cape Clear

Round 2 of the 3-round Tri Series of road races was held today at Cape Clear. John MacLachlan's dominant win in B grade was the highlight for BSCC, amongst a number of strong performances.

Click HERE to see a large album of Kate Grigg's photos from the day's racing. Username (email) is ballaratsebascycling@gmail.com, password ballaratcycling. Thanks Kate! (You'll also see albums by Tara Hossack from BSCC mountain bike events.)

A, B and C grades each raced over two laps of the tough Cape Clear circuit. The circuit is rolling throughout, exposed to the wind for about one third of its distance, and features passages through three steep ravines each lap. The third and hardest, known as Devil's Kitchen, has a high-speed set of bumpy chicanes at the bottom, on which riders have come to grief in previous editions of this race. We're pleased to report that we know of no crashes in today's event. The race was conducted in milder conditions than last week's race at Meredith, but with a significantly stronger wind, behind the riders on the last leg of the course.

In A grade, BSCC's solo winner from last week, Andrew Weightman, was absent, as was last week's "captain on the road" Phil Orr (marshalling this week). John Polkinghorne and Doug Garley were also absent, but Stuart Grigg and James Crafter joined Tony Mirabella, Scott Keating and Damien Keirl. BSCC's bid for a second win got off to a shaky start when Keirl discovered shortly before race start that his cycling shoes were at home. The level-headed Keirl kept this quiet, taped the running shoes he was wearing to his pedals, and concealed the evidence with shoe covers. His Geelong and Colac rivals were none the wiser until after the race.

The field split going through the ravines on the first lap, as expected, and gun climber Crafter launched himself off the front with Geelong's Richard Jerimah. Crafter slugged it out through the headwind with Jerimah until well into the second lap, where he dropped back to the main bunch. The field had Jerimah, the solo leader, in sight on the last climb out of Devil's Kitchen, and attacks from Grigg and Mirabella brought them tantalizingly close, but in the end Jerimah prevailed, in an impressive ride. Mirabella's bid for the win took him out of contention for the sprint for second place, in which Keirl did a great job, despite the significant loss of power from his non-optimum footwear and a course much hillier than he prefers, to take 5th place. BSCC took most of the remaining top ten places

BSCC's representatives in B grade included MacLachlan, Thayne Turley, Charles Martin and Jonathan Lacey from last week, with Charlie Stebbing, Stuart Brien, Tavis Baker and Jarrod Boyd replacing Aaron Blomeley. The BSCC riders went into the race determined to work more closely together than last week and improve their performance against Geelong. After a cautious start, the field splintered on the first two ravines, under the pressure of an explosive attack from last week's winner, Simon Masters of Geelong. After the first ravine, the front group included MacLachlan, Masters, fellow Geelong riders Daniel Standen and Steve Vander Bruggen, and BSCC's Stebbing and Turley. There was a re-shuffle on the second ravine, which followed soon after the first, with Stebbing and Turley dropping back and Charles Martin bolting across the gap. At this point Lacey, BSCC's self-appointed captain, made the first of the poor tactical decisions that almost certainly resulted in fewer BSCC riders in the top five than their form might have allowed. He ordered the BSCC riders in the second group to stop chasing. Geelong, with three strong riders out of five in the lead group, made the same decision. Colac had no riders in the front two groups, so it was a two-team race. After five minutes or so, the gap between the first and second groups grew to almost a minute. It took this long for Lacey to realize that Martin, a powerfully-built track specialist, was not certain to survive in the lead group on this tough course. In response, Lacey and Boyd set out to cross to the lead group to bolster BSCC's numbers. Lacey's second tactical mistake was to leave strong man Turley out of this pursuit. As it was, the duo rode at full power and got to within 15 seconds of the leaders at the start of the Devil's Kitchen climb. Here Lacey made his third and perhaps most telling mistake. Forgetting that the tailwind section after the climb is 6 km long - long enough to give the flying Boyd a fighting chance of crossing the remaining gap on his own before the headwind - he asked Boyd, the far superior climber, to wait for him on the steep section. Sure enough, the gap was back beyond 30 seconds as the second lap started.

BSCC's fortunes went from bad to worse when the exhausted Martin, dropped by the leaders, was caught and passed by Boyd and Lacey. Soon afterwards, Boyd took the only remaining option and left Lacey behind on the ravines. Boyd got very close to the leaders, but the wind was too much. Thankfully for BSCC, and no thanks to their captain, MacLachlan was flying in the front group. He and Masters rode away from the other two before Devil's Kitchen the last time. The in-form Masters, a far more accomplished sprinter, hung on, but MacLachlan smashed his way to a strong win.

Further back, the pursuers - Stebbing, Brien, Baker and Turley, with Geelong's Anthony Reyntjes riding shotgun and Lacey hanging on for dear life - caught Boyd as they crested Devil's Kitchen for the last time. A surge from Turley took himself, Stebbing and Boyd away from the other four and put Boyd in 5th place. Without the handicap of the poor tactics imposed on them, Boyd, Stebbing and Turley might have been fighting for the win.

A full C grade report will follow. The race ended in a bunch finish, with last week's winner, BSCC's rising Lewis Picccoli, in 4th place.

Many thanks to chief marshal Col Smith, and marshals Trevor Snibson, Jason Haire, Matt Albiston, Kylie Zelley, Peter Canny, Scott Bilney and Phil Orr.

Tri Series Round Two, Cape Clear: Results

A Grade

1st Richard Jerimah - GCC

2nd Steve Del Galo - GCC

3rd Mathew McDonough – GCC

4th Tom Paton - GCC

5th Damien Keirl - BSCC

6th Stuart Grigg - BSCC

7th Scott Keating - BSCC

8th Daryl Suter - GCC

9th James Crafter - BSCC

10 Tony Mirbella – BSCC

B Grade

1st John MacLachlan – BSCC

2nd Simon Masters - GCC

3rd Daniel Standen - GCC

4th Steve Vander Bruggen - GCC

5th Thayne Turley - BSCC

6th Charlie Stebbing - BSCC

7th Jarrod Boyd - BSCC

8th Stuart Brien - BSCC

9th Anthony Reyntjes – GCC

10th Jonathan Lacey – BSCC

C Grade

1st Tim Van der Schans - CCC

2nd Mario Del Giudice - GCC

3rd Ben Andrews - GCC

4th Lewis Piccoli - BSCC

5th Phillip Spark - GCC

6th David Rhodes – GCC

7th Darryl Tonkin - GCC

*********

Round 2 of the 3-round Tri Series of road races is on this Saturday at 1 PM at Cape Clear. Geelong CC did a bang-up job of running Round 1 at Meredith last Saturday. BSCC is running this round, so we want to bring out all our available talent and turn on a fun race. And this week we'd like to bring home A and C grades, as we did last week, and B-grade too!

All the details of the start location and course are on the on-line calendar (thanks again Phil Orr, the Google map master). See you there.

Track: Junior state and regional championship results

Ballarat Sebastopol Cyclists returned home from The State Junior 15 / 17 Track Championships and the South West Regional Championships with several medals and high ranking results in amongst the states best up and coming talent pool.

Courtney Mannix claimed a Silver medal in the JW15 Scratch race finishing strongly to Brunswick’s Greta Curran. She also placed fifth in the Time Trial and seventh in the divisions pursuit standings. Emma Bilston took gold in her favourite event the pursuit, after qualifying fastest in that divisions group. Bilston was nudged out of top places in the Time trial and the scratch race taking a fourth and silver medal respectively.

Angus Lyons rode the tough and competitive JM17 division Pursuit and Time Trial. As a “pursuiter” Lyons managed to post a 2:28 over 2000m to place sixth in the state several seconds from the Top seed. Lyons was vying for a P.B around 35 seconds in the time trial and was a little bemused by his posting of a 37.349 two seconds from the top seeds.

Joshua and Rochelle Liston claimed minor medals at the South West Championships in Hamilton. In repressive heat over two days the duo competed in mixed gender U17 and U13 divisions. Joshua took a silver medal in the U17 6600m scratch race behind Port Fairy’s Nathan McClaren and placed a very narrow fourth in the time trial by 0.02 of a second. He qualified in the sprint with a 13.18 on the flat outdoor track with gusty northerly winds and was edged out of the sprint for the bronze medal by Warrnambool’s Sam Lane after the tie break 3 heat sprint. Liston was pipped on the line for a win in the Barker Families Memorial 1600m wheelrace final.

Sister to Joshua, Rochelle showed she could mix it with the males and other riders from Hamilton, Mt Gambier, Ararat and Castlemaine as she was narrowly edged out of the podium places in the sprint and time trial in fourth. She turned the tables in the A grade U13 scratch events taking two seconds. In the last event of the weekend for U13 Liston found herself leading with a 15m Gap as the field went into the Bell lap of the 2.6km scratch race. Fronting the last 75m Liston was in for top of the podium with a gap to the chasers. The field closed quickly and the race took toll on her legs. She took a very determined third with the Bronze medal in the Southwest Sub Junior Championship.

Great article featured in The Courier here.

State Jnr 15/17 Track Championship Results – DISC Indoor
Event 37: JW15 Scratch Final
1. Greta CURRAN (BWK)
2. Courtney MANNIX (B-S)
3. Emily DUNK (BWK)
Event 39: JW17 Scratch Final
1. Courtney FIELD (CAR) 5:35.60
2. Emma BILSTON (B-S)
3. Nina GREIG-TOWERS (CAR)

Event 1: JW15 Time Trial Final
5. Courtney MANNIX (B-S) 44.727 +4.23
Event 3: JW17 Time Trial Final
1. Courtney FIELD (CAR) 38.195
2. Emily APOLITO (BBN) 39.256 +1.06
3. Chloe BAGGS (BBN) 39.656 +1.46
4. Emma BILSTON (B-S) 40.629 +2.43

Event 4: JM17 Time Trial Final
9. Angus LYONS (B-S) 37.349 +2.74
Event 5: JW15 Pursuit Qualifying
7. Courtney MANNIX (B-S) 3:15.768 +28.92

Event 7: JW17 Pursuit Qualifying
1. Emma BILSTON (B-S) 2:43.244
2. Nina GREIG-TOWERS (CAR) 2:44.203 +0.95
3. Chloe BAGGS (BBN) 2:48.498 +5.25

Event 8: JM17 Pursuit Qualifying
6. Angus LYONS (B-S) 2:28.168 +5.14
Event 14: JW17 Pursuit Gold Final
1. Emma BILSTON (B-S) 2:45.699

South West Regional Championships - Hamilton
U17 – 6.6km Scratch Race
2nd Joshua Liston
U17 – Sprint and 500m Time Trial
4th Joshua Liston
U13 – 2.6Km Scratch Race
3rd – Joshua Liston
U13 – Sprint & 500m Time Trial
4th – Rochelle Liston

BSCC at Wangaratta

BSCC was represented at Cycle Sport Victoria's Wangaratta Sports Carnival on January 23 and 24 by Scott Keating and Craig Firman. The carnival consisted of combined athletics and track cycling events on Saturday, and a series of criteriums in the town center on Sunday. The full results for Saturday and Sunday are at the CSV web site. Scott took home two placings, and Craig's upward progress continues. Scott took second in the men's B-grade scratch race on Saturday night, and repeated with a very close second in the equivalent criterium on Sunday. Craig came 4th in his 1000m handicap and 5th in the 2000m handicap on the track. On Sunday at the criterium, Craig had the misfortune to come up against a rampaging Alex Morgan (Blackburn), who lapped the entire M17 field at least once, lapping some of the slower riders 3 or 4 times. Craig rode valiantly to finish 7th.

Inside Pat Shaw's Nationals preparation

One of the many benefits to Ballarat cycling of Pat Shaw's return from Italy is that we will hear from him more often on this web site. Pat was an occasional writer in his Italian days. This year we're planning to hear from him regularly. Here's his account of his preparation for the Australian Road Championships.

After an enjoyable but unfortunate season in Italy for 2009, which consisted of so many great rides and so many times riding well above myself, but never finishing in the top 3 (I was 4th 5 times and 5th 4 times), I prepared for the last race of the season, the Vic Herald Sun Tour.

I cruised through the prelude criterium, which was on a difficult circuit in Sturt Street. Legs felt great. I was confident of a great week ahead, and motivation was extremely high with the first two stages in and around Ballarat. However, as the story usually goes, things didn't turn out quite as planned. With the faults of other riders, who weren't concentrating in the difficult sections, I crashed after only 6 km of the first stage. I quickly picked myself up and chased. I got back on half way up the climb into Creswick, but I knew it was only a matter of time, and as Garmin and Fly V smacked it in the gutter I was way too far back in the group, and paid the highest price. .. being hooped! Gruppetto for the day... nothing worse. With much of the same the following day, my Tour was finished early with possible elbow fractures and an extremely swollen shoulder.

Now for the offy (off-season - ed.), short as it may be...

After enjoying a few weeks off the bike and getting my pains and aches sorted out, it was time to start 2010 pre-season training, which would consist of 3 rides a week for two weeks, then 5 rides a week for 2 weeks, then a 600+km week and then off to training camp in Bright with the VIS guys, topped off with the Tour of Bright. Training camp at Bright is always a fantastic way to start the real training of your pre-season, but this year was the best by far. We were a small but strong group of riders, with mixed form, but respect, and so all riders on the camp came out of it with an excellent base. For the week including the Tour of Bright, I finished with 880 km. Solid ... During the week I did Falls Creek twice, Hotham twice, Tawonga Gap six times, Rosewhite three times, but never Mt Buffalo, which I was happy about. I dislike that climb a lot.

The Tour ended up being quite successful, but after 30 km of the first stage it didn't seem so. The front group of 7 riders had over 7 minutes' advantage. After Rosewhite, with 90 km to go in the stage, I launched an attack, mainly to see what reaction would come. A group of 12 riders joined me and this set up a great group. We rode a solid tempo to try and reel the front group in. By the time we reached the town of Tawonga (65 km to go), we were joined by another group of 4, which included Rhys Gillett. This strengthened the chase and was exactly what was required for the short term to gain more momentum. At the turn-around at Bogong (40 km to go), the gap was down to 2:30, so we were within striking distance of the front group, but I could see the chase group was tired. The strength was no longer there and the group was no longer united, so it was time to change the tactics a little. At the base of the Tawonga Gap climb, with 25 km to go, the front guys had 1:45, and I rode away from the chase group to catch them. With the help of a Praties team rider, I got to 1:15 at the top of Tawonga Gap. It was going to take a superb decent to catch them, which didn't happen. At 2 km to go in the stage, I caught eventual Tour winner Andrew Roe, who was 3rd on the road. I beat him in the sprint for third, and finished 40 seconds behind the 1st- and 2nd-placed riders. Not a bad day at the office.

Time trial was next. I rode well, but top 20 wasn't good enough, so I went into the final stage with a deficit of 48 seconds to first and 42 seconds to second place. We were racing to the top of Mt. Hotham. It was straight out of the gate, and the first 12 km was driven by the Drapac team at over 50 km/h. Things settled down, though, after they conceded that they were only damaging themselves ... The first section of the climb was very cruisy, but at the mid-section when we hit the famous "Meg" (a steep pitch - ed.), an acceleration made lactic rise dramatically. This meant that on the flatter section until the gates to the Mt. Hotham ski area, I would struggle hugely and risk losing contact with the main group. I kept fighting through this difficult section, knowing that a good ride on the last part of the climb would claim the overall. I saw Daniel Brausteins (the tour leader) in trouble, and so I made my move, riding away from the main group and chasing the break of 4 riders. I was then joined by the remains of the main group which had dwindled to 12 riders. I continued to apply pressure, with the help of some non-GC contenders. I was successful - I rode away from the two top GC leaders - but at the finish line I was 3 seconds too slow to claim 2nd place and 26 seconds from claiming the overall. Despite this, I was very happy with the effort, and enjoyed riding such a competitive final stage.

I then had a recovery week and started my Nationals preparation, which consisted of a total of 65 laps of the Buninyong course in 4 weeks! The story of Buninyong race day is to come ...

Thanks everyone for all the support over preparations for 2010 and at Race Day for nationals.

Pat Shaw

Road: The 41st Les Brookman Memorial Road Race

Updated 31 August

41st Les Brookman Memorial junior events

Chris Liston reports:

The 41st Les Brookman Memorial handicap was held at Snake Valley with three grades of junior racing. Kevin Brookman started the 7.6 km sub-junior event. Bailey Cody and Rochelle Liston set off from the limit mark. Tyson Cody and Jake Ashmore followed after two minutes, with Graeme Frislie riding alone from scratch. Bailey Cody put in a gap to Liston as Frislie crossed his 40 second gap to the pair ahead by the half-way mark. Bailey Cody managed to hold on to the win as Frislie took the fastest time and second place. Ashmore claimed third with Liston and Tyson Cody bringing home the field.

In the U15 handicap, held over one lap of the 32-km Mount Emu circuit, Patrick Cosgrave was joined by Ryland Bird of Geelong on the limit mark. Emma Bilston and Nicholas White were chasing them, and worked together over Cemetery Hill at Carngham until the Streatham road turnoff. White dropped Australian pursuit champ Bilston, who has been ill, and had to fight hard to chase the limit pair alone. Cosgrave was beaten in the sprint to the line by Bird. White took the fastest time and third place.

A strong contingent of U17 riders were part of the senior Brookman field, though their race was judged separately. Ashley Gillespie from Geelong joined with Victoria Snibson in the senior limit group. Five minutes back was a group that was entirely U17 riders: William Key also of Geelong, Jack Thompson, Jack Stewart and Joshua Liston. Further back again were Angus Lyons and Mark Kelly from the Bendigo club. Following the first lap of 32 km, limit were caught by second limit, and the gaps between all the other bunches came down by at least half. Lyons and Kelly found themselves in a strong group of around 20 seniors with 10km to go. This group, including the senior scratch riders, swept up all before it. Key and Thompson managed to put in a gap just after the Mt Emu hairpin turn as the super group loomed in the rear view. They almost took the event outright, but were caught on the 2-km flat section before the finish by scratchman Jay Bourke who claimed the senior win. Key was the U17 winner, with Lyons second and Josh Liston third.

All competing juniors received a memorial trophy on the day, as a tribute to the late Les Brookman who was tragically struck by a truck driven by a drunk driver back in the late 1960’s, a timely reminder of the need to share the road, and for a common respect of riders and drivers for one another.

Junior Results:
Sub-junior U11 7.6km handicap
1st Bailey Cody
2nd Graeme Frislie
3rd Jake Ashmore f/t
4th Rochelle Liston
5th Tyson Cody
U15 32 km handicap
1st Ryland Bird
2nd Patrick Cosgrave
3rd Nicholas White f/t
U17 placings in the senior 64km handicap
1st William Key (Gee)
2nd Angus Lyons f/t
3rd Joshua Liston

Senior event

Jay Bourke smashed the field to take first and fastest in the 41st Les Brookman Memorial Road Race on the Mount Emu circuit at Snake Valley today. In perfect early spring conditions, Jay, Josh Collingwood and Sam Turley bolted off the scratch mark and caught the powerful second scratch bunch, including Tony Mirabella, Doug Garley, Aaron Blomeley and Warren Faneco, before the hairpin turn on the first lap. This group then mowed down the third scratch group near the end of the first lap. Further out in front, the 6:30 group of Charlie Stebbing, Rob Forsyth, Les Bilney, Angus Lyons, Bendigo young gun Mark Kelly and Jonathan Lacey combined well, and caught the 9-minute group, including Gerard Cosgrave, Roger Bade, and Stewarts Will, Bruce and Don, at the top of the climb into Snake Valley the first time. This combined group did not gel, however, and even if they had, there was no stopping the Bourke express. Jay rode off the front after the hairpin turn approaching the finish, was caught by Aaron Blomeley and most of the combined backmarker's group, and then took off for good. There was some confusion at the finish, with two junior riders finishing immediately behind Jay. They were in a separate event. Tony Mirabella, in a top ride, led home what was left of the bunch to take second, with Ben Clark from third scratch next.

Here's a report from the man himself, Jay Bourke:

A big field was greeted by fine weather for the 41st Les Brookman Handicap. The Mt. Emu circuit is a popular one, something for everyone: a hill, that if used correctly, can give the hill climbing fairies a chance; a flat fast run to the finish that means any cagey sprinter is always in the equation; and a safe 30km loop that encourages the frontmarkers to go it alone.

Riding off scratch, I was giving my girlfriend Jane Faneco, along with some wise-looking juniors on limit, a 25-minute head start. A lot to make up. I gave Jane a few secrets on how to ride on the day (but not all of them!), and limit set off with the wind at their back. Waiting for our turn to start, it was predicted that the large 2nd scratch and 3rd scratch bunches would join to form a powerful super group of strong, wise heads and that would be the race.

We in scratch knew that we had to ride smart to get amongst it. A group of three scratch-men chasing six riders on second scratch should be a foregone conclusion. Luckily for Sam Turley and myself, we had the wise old diesel of Josh Collingwood marshalling us from the very start. We rode as a team, rather than a bunch of individuals, for the greater good of hopefully getting to the front of the race. We talked constantly, monitoring our effort for the greatest average speed possible. This meant deliberately riding slowly at some points of the course, to save our energy for other places where greater time gains could be made. Such was the direction of Josh, that we had closed a 2-minute gap and had second scratch within our sights all within 5 km! We decided to not catch 2nd scratch immediately, but rather to let them tire into the headwind on the back side of the course - sorry boys!

Second scratch looked disjointed, with individual riders probing off the front of this group even at this early stage. Just as we in scratch had gained a lot of time, so too had third scratch, reportedly taking almost a minute out of those immediately behind. Meanwhile, the front-markers had reportedly split up, again with riders taking the gamble to go it alone. Scratch caught second scratch at the hairpin at the furthest point from home on the circuit, as we picked up a light tailwind to push our speed well above 50 km/h leading into the climb for the first time. Josh "The General" Collingwood swung off on the early slopes but still barked orders to Sam Turley and me as to which gear to ride.

Everyone begun to swing through for turns as we began lap two.

The combined scratch and second scratch bunches cross the line at the end of lap one. Warren Faneco, Aaron Blomeley, Tony Mirabella (red helmet), Doug Garley, Grant Gilbert, Jay Bourke and Sam Turley. Thanks to Chris Liston for the photo.

Tony Mirabella and Grant Gilbert were eager to attack the hills of Carngham, but the wise head of Doug Garley rallied the troops behind to use their energy in a more graduated fashion as we bombed down the descent, engulfing Mirabella and Gilbert before swooping onto the back of the next group ahead as we rounded the corner towards Mt Emu. Only a couple of young guns from the front mark remained in front with some 20km still to race. Those out in front were all separated from each other, however, so it was only a matter of time before the combined bunch would run them down in the rising winds. Knowing Jane was still out in front and that the other riders often expect scratch to lead the charge, I let Sam in on the joke, before going to the front and riding on the brakes, backing the bunch off so that Jane had a head start for the climb.

It was not to be, however, as Les Bliney, Don Stewart and Grant Gilbert stretched the bunch to accelerate past all but two junior riders on the fast slight downhill that led into the final climb. Doug Garley and the brothers Thayne and Sam Turley all tried to get a head start on the climb, but the pace was held high so that nothing would stick. As the climb began, I managed to get away with Warren Faneco, before Aaron Blomeley shadowed Angus Lyons as he crossed the 50m gap as if it were flat. I had heavy legs, as did Faneco after instructing a spin class that morning, so we were just surviving up the climb. Blomeley too was breathing very hard. This gave Ben Clark a sniff as he just about managed to latch onto the back of this breakaway. All the while Lyons just floated up the climb with a suppleness like the great Pozzato!

Over the top of the climb there were still two juniors out in front with less than 2km to race. I selected the biggest gear and surged with one last effort that thankfully managed to dislodge the other climbers, to hold 50 km/h all the way to the finish. This was just enough to pip the junior riders for the overall win. Tony Mirabella paced his effort well on the climb to reel in the climbers for second, while Ben Clark hung on for 3rd not far behind.

Stats:

avg speed: 41km/h
max speed: 73km/h
avg power: 300W
max power: 917W

41st Les Brookman Memorial senior handicap

1. Jay Bourke (scratch) (also fastest time)

2. Tony Mirabella (2nd scratch)

3. Ben Clark (3rd scratch)

4. Warren Faneco (2nd scratch)

5. Aaron Blomeley (2nd scratch)

6. Shane Cody

Full official results and reports will follow soon.

**********

The 41st edition of the Les Brookman Memorial Road Race, one of BSCC’s coveted annual trophy races, will be run on Saturday on the Mount Emu circuit at Snake Valley. Entries close at 5 PM Friday with 68,111,110,32,83,116,101,119,97,114,116.

It’s difficult to make meaningful predictions about the outcome of the race without seeing the handicaps - and they will be finalized after entries close on Friday night - but an entertaining finish is a solid bet. We have a good handful of middle- and back-markers who have been winning at will recently, including Liam White, Stuart Grigg, Sam Turley and Jeremy Doolan. Doug Garley, Peter Kiel, Rob Forsyth and Charlie Stebbing are also riding strongly; and newly-crowned state TT champion Victoria Snibson is capable of an upset.

Click here for the story of last year’s race, the first to be held on the Mt. Emu circuit, and some history of the race. The Brookman family attended last year’s presentation at the Snake Valley Hall, and we hope to welcome them back again this year.

BSCC Needs a New Major of Major Events

Stuart Brien has stepped aside from his role as Major Events co-ordinator on the BSCC board. Stu created this role a few years ago, and since then has been led BSCC's involvement in the Fred Icke, Melbourne to Ballarat, Australian Masters Road Champs, and the Australian Road Championships. Stu has done a huge amount of work behind the scenes to make these events successful. Thanks Stu!

This means we're looking for a new Major Events co-ordinator. We need someone who likes organizing things, and promoting cycling and the club, and is comfortable being BSCC's major liaison with some of our most important partners, including the City of Ballarat, Cycling Victoria, Cycling Australia, and the Ballarat Courier. This is a chance to do a lot for the club and for cycling. If you're interested, or know someone who might be, please contact club president 86,111,108,107,101,114,32,72,101,103,101,114,116.

Road: Oz Masters - Volunteers Needed

Updated 31 August: don't forget - entries for the Australian Masters Championships close on Sunday, September 5, with Cycle Sport Victoria.

We've asked CSV to publish the start times of events as soon as possible. We all need to know whether we're taking the whole day off work, or just the morning, or just the afternoon. Stay tuned ...

From Cycle Sport Victoria

Volunteers Wanted: Australian Masters Road Championships

The 2010 Australian Masters Road Championships will be held in Ballarat from September 24-28. (In case you've been holidaying on another planet for the last year ... - ed.)

CycleSport Victoria (CSV) is looking for volunteers to assist with the conduct of the event. Roles will include:

- Registration & information assistant ("Actually, this is warm weather for Ballarat. Yes, it's always this windy. No, we don't like smooth roads." That kind of thing. - ed)
- Marshals
- Parking attendant
- Logistics crew
- Support vehicle assistant

Volunteers can work on any or all days of the event.

Interested individuals are asked to contact 66,101,99,107,121,32,72,111,108,98,114,111,111,107 via email or at the CycleSport Victoria office on 8480 3000.

BSCC's three medals at Vic Masters

Chris Liston writes:

“Silver is White’s Colour”

Ballarat Sebastopol Club showed its continuing development by placing three women on the podium at the Victorian Masters Championships in Newstead on August 23. New club member and local recreational rider Jenny White (mother of young guns Liam and Nicholas, and wife of BSCC Chancellor of the Exchequer Gerard - ed.) took silver in the Master 5 60km women’s road race. White battled over two laps of the Newstead - Guildford circuit, and was outdone by St Kilda CC rider Philippa Read. White was joined on the podium by BSCC clubmates in other divisions, with Kylie Zelly making her debut into open class championships in the Master 3 race. Zelly also finished as runner up, this time to Helen Lawson of the Coburg club. Fellow BSCC rider and long-time competitor, supporter and sponsor of BSCC, Gail Oliver, had to settle for third place and the bronze medal in the highly competitive Masters 1 / 2 60km event. Oliver had trained hard and prepared carefully for the event, but missed out on the day to Trudy Stevenson of Shepparton Cycling Club. Oliver, a versatile cyclist, will meet her competitors again over the summer in criterium and track races.

The local women have set the stage for a local showdown at the BSCC club championship weekend on September 12 and 13. The championship promises to be a spectacle as cyclists from under 9 to over 60 compete for championship glory.

Support the Amy Gillett Foundation

Simon Gillett writes:

I am doing two fundraising rides for the Amy Gillett Foundation, a one day Goulburn to Sydney ride in September and the main one which is Canberra to Melbourne in November.

We are aiming to raise over $200,000 for the AGF while trashing ourselves on the bike.

The second ride starts in Canberra on Mon 23rd and finishes in Melbourne on Sat 28th.

The route is Canberra-Jindabyne-Khancoban-Bright-Mansfield-Healesville-Melbourne. (Guess who designed the route?)

We have 20 maniacs/enthusiasts signed up (each participant is required to raise/underwrite $10,000) to do the ride. Please click HERE for a flyer with a little more information.

We will be joined on various stages by current and retired professional riders to make the journey a little more interesting.

I hhope you will spare some dollars to support the cause. The Amy Gillett Foundation has deductible gift status from the federal government, so donations are tax deductible.

THIS link will get you to my fundraising page.

Please forward this information to anyone you think of who might be interested in supporting the cause.

Thanks for your help.

Simon Gillett

04 1994 2004

MTB: Tour de Timor

Roger Bade writes:

Here's a report on my experiences at the Tour de Timor. And here's a link to a photo album. The event was a sensation. Gee, I would love to see BSCC send a strong team next year. I imagine Phil and Rob Doyle and Jedi and friends giving it a bit of a nudge. $100,000 prize money is up for grabs, and then there's the adventure. Jeff and I would love to go back, and maybe we will. Gerard White and I are keen to continue the relationship with Klibur Domin too. They appreciated our support enormously.

Hamilton track carnival Feb 2010

Dean McLaren of the Hamilton CC writes:

The Hamilton Cycling Club would like to give notice to all members, supporters, riders and any interested parties of their 2010 track carnival, to be held on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 February, 2010. In conjunction with this carnival, the club will be holding a ceremony to honour the re-naming of the Hamilton velodrome as the “Wal Smith Velodrome.” The Wal Smith Velodrome opening ceremony will be held on Saturday February 20, in conjunction with the weekend's racing. There will be a carnival for all to enjoy. On Saturday evening, please join us at a special testimonial dinner in Wal’s honour. The dinner will be a chance for old and new friends to come together to talk about days of old and further celebrate with Wal. Seating is limited, and tickets will be sold until they run out. More information will be available soon.

To receive updated information, please register your interest with 60,115,116,114,111,110,103,62,68,101,97,110,32,77,99,76,97,114,101,110 by email or on 03 5571 1792 AH.

Road: Updates to Group Road Rides

Check out the Group Rides page on the left-hand menu. It's had a few updates and additions lately, including a new Sunday road ride that will be of interest to racing people.

30 October update: click HERE for the route for the next three weeks.

Road: Small Dog criteriums - your help is needed

The 2010-11 Small Dog criteriums in Victoria Park start on Wednesday week, November 3.

30 October update: concerns have been raised recently about the condition of the course, after the very wet winter and early spring. Gerard White has been working with the Ballarat City Council to make sure the course is safe. In the last few days, the course has been swept, potholes filled, and a big recessed section has been fixed. Phil Orr rode the course last night and pronounced it to be in much the same condition as last year, and therefore ready to race. We'd still like to get the edges of the road attended to, and Gerard is discussing this with the Council - stay tuned. But the edges are no worse than last year, so we're ready to go! Thanks to Gerard, and to the Council, the biggest supporters of cycling in Ballarat, hands down.

To make the crits happen, we need your help. We're still looking for a course co-ordinator, to close off the circuit each week.

Criterium Racing Course Coordinator

You probably know that the Ballarat City Council has given us permission to completely close the roads on which we hold the Small Dog crits. We need someone to physically do this each Wednesday evening we're racing, then open them again when we're finished. This involves closing and opening three gates, and setting up and taking down 8 large signs, at about 4:30 PM and 7:30 PM respectively. And we need to be absolutely sure you'll be there each week, or that you'll organize a substitute. Some incentive (but don't give up your day job - ed.) and the club vehicle are available. Please contact 67,104,114,105,115,32,76,105,115,116,111,110 on 0437 318 251 as soon as possible if you're willing to help.

Crit Marshal nominations are now open.

At any time that a Small Dog crit is running, we need two marshals, so 15 races x 2 marshals x 2 "shifts" per race day (early & late) = 60 marshal places across the season. You know how it works: if we don't have the two marshals in place by 5 PM, the junior races don't start, and ditto for the senior races at 6 PM. So running the crit series requires a collective club effort. If you're racing the crits, please prepare now to take up your turn marshalling. Pick a date that suits you, or our new 2010 marshalling co-ordinator Scott Denno will pick one for you. This season, we're happy for senior people to marshal the junior races, and junior parents to marshal the senior races, if that's more convenient for you. Let 83,99,111,116,116 know what date suits you. The marshalling roster will be released in late October.

MTB: Social Ride - Buninyong 4-Dec

Date: 4th December, Saturday
Registration: 7:45am
Ride Start: 8:00am
Ride End: between 10:00 and 11:00am, with quick coffee or cool drink afterwards
Where: Buninyong, (cnr Hastie St & Innes Ln)
Duration: 2 to 3 hour
Cost: MTBA members Free, MTBA Day Permit: $5 (for insurance)
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather

We will be riding some of the same trails that the regular "Hard Men of the Hill" ride each Sunday morning, which consist of fire trails and single tacks to the South of Geelong Rd, then up Mt Buninyong and then into Union Jack Reserve.

Anyone can come and join us on social rides, you don’t need to be a BSCC member. If you don’t have a MTBA licence then you will need to pay a $5 charge (and fill in a form, so arrive a little early) for insurance cover.

Phil Orr, 2009 Victorian Enduro MTB Champion

Updated with details, thanks to Chris Liston, who submitted this to the Courier:

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club’s road champion and senior road racing co-ordinator Phil Orr has taken another incredible win: the Victorian State Mountain Bike Enduro championship! The seven-race series required riders to complete at least five of the gruelling six-hour circuit races in the series. Orr broke his collarbone in a heavy crash in the Otway Odyssey in February, and missed the first two events of the series. From there he took a second, a third and two wins, leaving him 17 points behind the leader going into the seventh and last event. In the last race, Orr’s plan worked out: he not only beat his closest rival but lapped him, to stamp his name into history with authority on the State Enduro Championship.

The mountain bike (MTB) discipline of cycle sport is now an integral part of the four main categories of riding offered by the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, namely road racing, track (velodrome), BMX and cross-country MTB.

Ballarat riders star at MTB XC State Series

BSCC and Ballarat were well represented at last week's round 1 of the Victorian Cross-Country MTB State Series. Phil Orr won the Veterans, with Clinton LeMaitre 6th. Scott Kramer was 3rd in Expert, and Shane "Jedi" Cody won the Sport class, with Joel Hossack 4th.

Cross-country racing is the blue ribbon event in "non-gravity" mountain bike racing - the most prestigious, the most fiercely-contested, and since 1996 the Olympic event. Cross-country races are massed-start races held on circuits typically 5-8 km in length, with a mix of climbing and technical descents, tight singletrack and open fire road. Top-level races are typically two to three hours long. Drafting is less important than in road races, but the opportunities to overtake other riders are limited, so most successful racers start extremely fast, then ride the whole race just below anaerobic threshold. A number of top cross-country racers have made the transition to the top level of road racing, most famously the 2009 world road champion Cadel Evans, who won the 1998 and 1999 cross-country MTB World Cup. Evans is typical of top cross-country riders: technically skilful, and strong time-triallists and climbers.

XC races typically have Elite (professional and semi-pro), Expert and Sport class races, along with junior age groups and Veteran (35-39), Master (40-49) and Super-Master (50+) events. The Victorian State Series is the top competition in the state, and one of the strongest in the country. The first round was held at Bendigo on Sunday Nov 22. Full results are here.

MTB: Social Rides for Everyone in Creswick

Michael Veal writes:

Social Ride This Weekend

To celebrate the relaunch of the Goldfields Track this weekend, and join the buzz surrounding the Fred Icke road race in Creswick, Creswicktrails.com and the BSCC Dirt Girls are having social MTB rides starting from the Lemon Tree Cafe, in the main street of Creswick (hte Midland Highway), on the east side, at 9.00 AM Saturday. Arrive earlier for a quick coffee.

Date:   Saturday 4th June
Time:   9:00 AM
When:   Lemon Tree Cafe, Midland Highway, Creswick
Where:   Creswick
Who:   Both girls and guys, each doing their own thing

We will ride sections of the Goldfields track and some other areas in the regional forest. The trail from Buninyong to Bendigo has just been launched as MTB friendly for its whole length, and Creswicktrails.com will be working with BSCC and local stakeholders to make sure we upgrade all the sections locally to sweet, sweet singletrack. This project will make Forrest's trail network look small.

Also the Creswick community is getting behind your cycling club in a big way, so come out this weekend and join them in supporting the roadies in the Fred Icke road race, one of the hardest races on the Victorian calendar. Weather is always suspect in Creswick in winter, but wait until you see them come back down from Kooroocheang!

There will be a farmers market and a day of activity including Penny Farthing races, so get the family to come out, and bring your warm change of clothes for afterwards.

MTB'ers, please bring mud tyres and spares. We will ride for about two hours. The course will be decided on the day based on the weather and the condition of the trails. We do not support riding wet single track that will become muddied and eroded.

MTB: April Race

Now that the criterium season has finished, it’s time to begin our longer weekend races. Our longer races are not as physically intense as criteriums, but they require a higher level of endurance fitness. This Sunday the 3rd April, we’re off to our favourite Canadian course (Foos Lane Loop), which has some of the best downhill trails in Canadian. It has two fast downhill sections then a long climb back to the top.

Seniors: Again seniors will be racing the clock, with A grade racing for 70 minutes, B grade 60 minutes and C grade 50 minutes over the fast 3.5 km loop.

Registration begins at 9:30 AM and closes at 9:50 AM, with racing at 10 AM sharp.

Juniors: Junior racing will be held over a shorter circuit and we’ve developed a great little track for this event. Registration will begin at 11:15 am with racing at 11:30am. The race will be timed over 25 minutes.

Date: 3rd April, 2011
Senior Registration Time: 9:30am
Senior Duration: 70 to 50 minutes depending on grade
Junior Registration Time: 11:15am
Senior Duration: 30 minutes
Location: Foos Lane, Canadian

Where is Foos Lane?

Getting to the course can be done in two ways. The easiest way is to follow Clayton St., Ballarat East, and the alternative is via Foos Lane from Yankee Flat Road. Click on the map link then expand it for directions.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/57829215

2010 Macquarie Camperdown Classic RR

Entries are now open for the 2010 Macquarie Camperdown Classic road race, on Saturday April 10. It's the same date as our race at Dunnstown, the first road handicap of the season, and the state omnium championship. For more information, please click HERE, or contact race organizer 69,114,105,99,104,32,71,115,116,114,101,105,110.

Road: Cosgrave Wins at Wallace

Senior racing

Stuart Brien reports:

Official Results
1st Gerard Cosgrave
2nd Thayne Turley
3rd Rob Forsyth
4th Angus Lyon
5th Shane Cody
FT Stuart Grigg

Gerard Cosgrave took out one of the sprinters’ favourite races with a good minute or so to spare from Thayne Turley and new rider Rob Forsyth. Stuart Grigg showed why he was 4th in B grade at the Bendigo Tour by taking out fastest time.

There was pandemonium at the start line, with numerous entries on the line throwing the handicapper’s plans up in the air. The result was 2nd scratch being broken into two groups. Limit headed off with a 21:30 advantage over scratch, and given the strong northerly wind, most felt that the back markers would reel them in.

Limit disintegrated gradually over the 60 km course, but they managed enough cohesion to stay in front of the 14:30 (second limit) bunch that included Gerard White, father-son assault Bruce and Will Stewart, talented youngster Angus Lyons, and Geelong rider Terry Goldie.

Behind these guys was the 9:30 bunch. They looked like the pick of the day, with such names as Cody, Butler and Turley (of the Thayne variety), rounded out with the up-and-coming Rob Forsyth, Ryan Kerr, Simon Wallis, and Charlie (I’ve got the flu) Stebbing for good measure. Kerr was dropped on the second lap, and Simon Wallis went down like he’d been shot with a cramp about 15 km later. Despite losing these two, the 9:30 bunch swallowed up the 14:30 guys just in time to fight it out for the sprint.

As Vic Snibson and Pete Kyatt became unhitched after two laps, limit were looking like getting overrun by second limit, but Scotty Denno and Paul Pickersgill did enough work, along with Cosgrave, fitter than expected after his stint in hospital (Gerard had pneumonia - ed.), to keep the wolves at bay.

Meanwhile, further back, one part of the separated second scratch group left 3.30 before scratch. Aaron Blomley took a leave of absence in the first few kilometres, which brought them down to Guy Falla, Ben Clark, Sam Palanca and Peter Kiel. Pulling track turns, they found the going tough and didn’t really make great inroads into their “other half,” the 5:30 group that included Doug Garley, Pete (Engine) Walker, Stu Brien, Sam Edwards and “Nifty” Nev Bilney. These guys worked extremely well together, despite a suffering Engine, and they rolled over in tight succession to keep the pressure on the back makers. As they crested the rise into Wallace for the second time, a rider was noticed lying on the ground. This turned out to be Simon Wallis, struck down by a severe cramp. Stu Brien pulled up to see if the rider was OK, and after a quick check of his vital signs, decided to depart the scene as quickly as possible and leave Wallis to fend for himself. By this time his bunch was long gone, and with Walker struggling, their demise was imminent.

Scratch – Sam Turley, Stuart Grigg, Michael Pearce, Liam White and Grant Gilbert – wound up the motor and caught the 3:30 bunch on the last lap heading out of Wallace. The combined bunch pushed hard along Springbank Road to catch third scratch 5 km from the turn at Pootilla. Sam Turley decided he didn’t need any help in the strong northerly, so he threw the bunch into the gutter, and only a lucky few hung on, including Michael Pierce, Stuart Grigg, Guy Falla and Stu Brien. As they hit the downwind section, the pace touched 60km as they rode like demons to catch the front markers, but, alas, it was too late. Gerard Cosgrave had ridden away from his limit counterparts with some blistering pace to win by over a minute from the fast-finishing combined 9:30 and 14:30 bunches. Thayne Turley put in a huge effort to hold off Rob Forsyth for second place, from Angus Lyons and Shane Cody. Stuart Grigg was outstanding all day and out sprinted Sam Turley to take the fastest time.

Junior racing

Chris Liston reports:

Windy Wallace Handicap

As the road season progresses, the competitiveness of BSCC's sub-junior riders is increasing. The time gap between limit and scratch has come down from 4:30 earlier in the season to only three minutes on Saturday, while the race distances have actually increased, to the U11 championship distance of 8 km.

In windy conditions at Wallace on Saturday, Rochelle Liston turned the tables on her previous club form to take a strong win. Liston put time into the chasing riders. She rode a consistent tempo as Jake Ashmore and Graeme Frislie closed in. A field mouse who darted onto the circuit at an inopportune time was dispatched to heaven by 650c x 1.25” tyres. Bailey and Tyson Cody were caught by Ashmore and Frislie, who claimed second and third.

Nine riders made a strong contingent of U15 and U17 racers. Shantelle Maurer had a fellow female, as Courtney Mannix returned from a niggling injury. Dominic Geoghegan had a tough assignment at limit with the strong winds testing all capabilities, as Joshua Liston started from scratch, a massive 25:45 behind Geoghegan. Geoghegan took fourth overall as middle-markers Jack Thompson and Jack Stewart moved through the field. They caught and dispatched the girls, along with Pat Cosgrave and Geoghegan. William Key from Geelong raced his debut BSCC road race and shook off Nicholas White, who had relegated Key to fifth in the junior Fred Icke race at Creswick a few weeks ago. Key took fastest time as the conditions made it difficult for Liston, the lone scratch rider, to cross the gap.

Our next races are at Glen Park - the legendary "Long's Hill World Championships." Racing starts at 2 PM for all grades. The senior races feature Round 2 of the 2011 King of the Mountain series.

Junior Results
U11 8km Handicap
1st Rochelle Liston (Limit)
2nd Jake Ashmore (1:00)
3rd Graeme Frislie (3:00) 18:28
U15/17 40km Handicap
1st Jack Thompson (18:00)
2nd Jack Stewart (18:00)
3rd William Key (Geelong CC) (21:00) 1:11:21
4th Dominic Geoghegan (Limit)

MTB:DirtGirls Saturday Ride

When: Saturday 3 July,

When: 8am

Where: Canadian forest – meet at Mt Clear Secondary College

Thought we might go somewhere other than Nerrina for a change of scenery, there are some neat trails with some interesting sections out at Canadian. We’ll do a loop for an hour or so of riding, and stop and practice anything more technical.

All levels of riding ability welcome! Come along for a spin and a chat. And maybe the odd hill.

For more info or to register your interest contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

Road: Pat Shaw Wins Tour of Toowoomba

BSCC's Pat Shaw won the inaugural Tour of Toowoomba on the weekend. The Tour is part of the National Race Series, the top level of road racing in Australia. Congratulations Pat!

Here's the Courier's take on the story.

Special offer for club members

Emily Smith writes:

My name is Emily Smith, and I run a waxing business here in Ballarat called Emily Is Good At Waxing. I would like to offer members of Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club 30% off waxing services as an introductory price. Please contact me on 0434 588 976, or visit my website, www.emilyswaxing.com. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

[Ed: we don't usually run advertising, but this doubles as a test of a combination of your vanity and your pain threshold, so we are making an exception ... ]

Road: The 101st Melbourne to Ballarat

30 July: Jay Bourke's brief report from the scratch bunch is below the results. Thanks Jay!

24 July: check out Kate Grigg's photos below - thanks again Kate! - and an updated thank you list above the results.

Updated 23 July, 5 PM

The weather gods smiled on the 101st Melbourne to Ballarat Classic, and therefore on the front- and middle-markers. A huge bunch arrived at the finish together after the 15-minute bunch caught the leaders at Gordon. Scratch was only a few minutes behind, but the front group was unstoppable. Scott Townsend (18 minutes) rode a tactically astute race, and was perfectly positioned when the pace went through the roof at 1 km to go, and only Shannon Johnson (18:00) of Preston CC got past him. Jeremy Doolan (18:00) continued his meteoric rise to take third, and Stu Grigg (15:00) and Tony Mirabella (18:00) (we had their marks reversed earlier, as per CV's provisional start list - ed.) rose to the big occasion, as always, to take 6th and 7th respectively. Warren Faneco (21:00), Doug "Hard Rider" Garley (18:00), Guy Falla (18:00) and Peter Kiel (18:00) were all animators in the last few kilometers, and finished just outside the top ten.

The finish of the 101st Melbourne to Ballarat

BSCC's 101st Melbourne to Ballarat top-ten place-getters: Tony Mirabella, Jeremy Doolan, Stuart Grigg and Scott Townsend

Liam White, Michael Pierce, Sam Turley and Aaron Blomeley all rode strongly from 12 minutes, but their bunch did not catch the 15-minute group before they caught the 18 minute group and formed the winning juggernaut. Pat Shaw, Jay Bourke and Damien Turner rode from scratch, and Pat's Genesys team-mate Steele Von Hoff took the fastest time, despite a strong challenge from Jay, whose confidence in bunch finishes is steadily increasing. Von Hoff and his team-mates dedicated their fastest time to a friend and fellow cyclist who was struck by a car and killed yesterday.

All reports from the race are of a top event, and flawless organization. The left turn onto Wendouree Parade, in particular, was very well received, by riders and spectators. This has the potential to become the Via Roma or Champs Elysee of Australian cycling - the iconic finish line. Stu Brien's Magic Carpet on the tram tracks was especially popular. Thanks to the Victoria Police, who make the race possible. Thanks and congratulations to all the marshals, and to Stu, Gerard White, Don Stewart and above all David McMahon from the City of Ballarat, who made it all happen. As well as being the brains behind the concept of Ballarat as the cycling capital of Australia, David gets his hands dirty to make sure his ideas become real. So David was out in the cold and dark putting up barriers early this morning, and then taking them down after the event. Well done all!

101st Melbourne to Ballarat Classic, senior handicap road race: official results

1. Shannon Johnson (18:00)

2. Scott Townsend (18:00)

3. Jeremy Doolan (18:00)

4. Jeremy Cooper (18:00)

5. David Woolsey (24:00)

6. Stuart Grigg (18:00)

7. Tony Mirabella (15:00)

8. Paul Nyko (18:00)

9. Hayden Eynaud (21:00)

10. Lachlan Davidson (27:00)

Fastest time: Steele Von Hoff (scr)

First woman: Chloe McConville (21:00)

Here's the view from the scratch bunch, from BSCC's Jay Bourke, riding for the Search2Retain cycling team. Jay wrote this from the team bus, on the way to the Tour of Gippsland, so it's in bullet point form!

- It was a strong scratch bunch, 20-odd riders

- The bunch blew to pieces up the Pentlands as Pat Shaw instructed his Genesys teammates to line it out to drop Rico Rogers, who had the fastest kick. Unfortunately most of Genesys was dropped, and there were only 7 riders left, including all 4 of my Search2retain teammates.

- This group worked well. We did not go outside our lane but we got some motorpace assistance from passing cars by keeping a tight group (and going very fast! - ed.). We did not go under 50 km/h for 15 minutes midway through race.

- We caught a large group at Gordon, and our average speed dropped. It was now a race for fastest time. Genesys were either trying to send a rider up the road, or work for their sprinter if it came back. Search2retain had a similar plan, so we were effectively canceling each other's moves out.

- In the sprint I had Steele Von Hoff's wheel, trying to lead out our sprinter, who punctured at the Aquatic Centre roundabout. I was then unfortunately chopped by someone who came over me as I was turning into Carlton St, and then who braked too much, so the gap was big. I came under this rider, which wasn't ideal, but I did close the gap as I exited Carlton St onto Wendouree Pde, but Steele was gone and I sat up before the line. I recorded over 1000W in the sprint, and ended up 5th fastest, 3 lengths back.

- Great fun hanging around post-race telling & listening to war stories with everyone else. It is the only time I see some faces all year. I'd be sad if this race was lost for this fact alone.

PS: get Jay's even briefer updates from the Tour of Gippsland on Twitter

*********

Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Club & Cycling Victoria present the 101st Melbourne to Ballarat open handicap race, and the junior Ballan to Ballarat, on Saturday July 23. Click HERE for the Cycling Victoria Melbourne to Ballarat page, HERE for our report on the 2010 race, and HERE and HERE for 2009. (The last link, to Jay Bourke's account of his 2009 race, remains one of our favorite pieces on this site. - ed.)

Please note that the finish is different from last year. Last year, we turned right from Carlton Street onto Wendouree Parade, and did almost a complete lap of the lake. This year, we'll turn left from Carlton Street onto Wendouree Parade, and finish soon after. There's a course map on the Cycling Victoria web site, or click HERE. Click HERE for more maps.

Regarding the finish, Stu Brien (BSCC Special Events) writes:

"Left on to Wendouree Parade, over the tram tracks, finish in front of McDonald's Bandstand about 100m south of Pipers. We are closing Wendouree Parade, and having some carpet laid over the tram tracks and secured. It will be very safe."

Entries closed on Sunday, so handicaps will be up soon. If you don't like your handicap, please read THIS.

Ballarat riders, would you like a ride to the start line in the BSCC team bus? (It will also function as the sag wagon during the race.) The bus will leave Ballarat at 9 AM on Saturday, from the Gold Bus Depot at 9-11 Martin Drive, Delacombe. Bookings are essential as the trailer takes a maximum of 16 bikes. To book a seat please email 83,116,117,97,114,116,32,66,114,105,101,110 before 5 PM on Thursday.

BSCC at Tour of Gippsland

The cyclingnews coverage is here. BSCC is represented by Rhys Gillett and Jay Bourke in team Cycle City (along with honorary BSCC member James Mowatt), Rob Doyle in the Prime Estate Buyers' Agent team (also known as Team White Shorts), and Damien Turner in the Total Rush team. Stay tuned for insiders' reports.

Track: Sebas Little 6, Day One, January 27

The Sebas Little 6, Day One

Senior racing - Doug Garley, Six-Day Impressario, writes:

The first night of the inaugural Sebastopol 'Little 6' was run under perfect conditions, watched by a large crowd of spectators. The first session consisted of three events: a flying lap time trial, a 30-lap motor-pace, and a 50-lap madison with sprints every ten laps. All events were conducted in pairs. The time trial was a flying lead out. Some teams chose to have the lead rider sling is his team-mate. In each event there were 5 points for first place, 3 for second, 2 for third and 1 for fourth. Each sprint in the madison attracted the same points, and the final madison sprint was double points.

The team to beat was clearly Harry Bade, current Australian M19 teams pursuit champ and the most accomplished endurance track rider in the event, and Charles Martin, the fastest sprinter. But the pairing of the relentless and rising endurance rider Liam White and fast-man Ryan Worn, recovering from knee surgery but capable of pushing Martin, was a threat, as was the vast experience of Doug Garley (he didn't write that - ed.) plus the big engine and huge heart of James Crafter. The dark horses were Shane "Jedi" Cody, fairly new to track racing but with another huge engine, and his partner Dallas Jones from Camperdown. (That's Dallas on the red and black Fuji in the photos).

Here's how it panned out on the first night. After the first two events, it looked like Harry and Charles would have everything their way, and Liam and Ryan would take all the silver medals. But in the madison, Doug and James took the second sprint. Harry and Charles are the leaders, but we're set for a very exciting finale next Thursday. Don't miss it! See you down at the track.

Meantime, HERE'S a gallery of photos from night one. The photos are by Gary Mannix (with Roger's camera). Thanks to commissaires Brad Clark and Bill Groom (Sid Patterson's former soigneur).

FLYING LAP T.T.
1. H. Bade/Martin, time =15.4s (5pts)
2. Worn/White, time =15.8s (3pts)
3. Crafter/Garley, time =16.6s (2pts)
4. Cody/Jones, time =16.8s (1pt)
5. R.Bade/Lyons, time =17.3s

30 LAP MOTORPACE
1. Bade/Martin 5 pts
2. Worn/White 3pts
3. Crafter/Garley 2pts
4. Cody/Jones 1pt

50 LAP MADISON
(points: sprint 1, sprint 2, sprint 3, sprint 4, final sprint: total)
1. Bade/Martin (5, 3, 5, 5, 10: 28pts)
2. Worn/White (3, 2, 3, 2, 6: 16pts)
3. Crafter/Garley (2, 5, 2, 3, 4: 16pts)
4. Cody/Jones (1, 1, 1, 1, 2: 6pts)
*all teams on same lap

FINAL STANDINGS, after night one of two:
1. Bade/Martin at 38pts
2. Worn/White at 22pts
3. Crafter/Garley at 20pts
4. Cody/Jones at 9pts

Junior racing - Roger Bade, BSCC Track Tsar, writes:

The last track afternoon for the school holidays was held in perfect summer weather. The grass was green, the sky blue and the racing red hot!

The seniors were all focused on the first night of the inaugural Doug Garley “Little 6,” but for the juniors it was racing as usual. Last week we had very small numbers, and those who did turn up got some very skill-specific training. This week they reaped the benefits of that by putting in some career-best performances. Angus Cocking and Courtney Mannix are certainly our big improvers at the moment, but the Pickersgill girls, the Dickson brothers and Adam Begbie are all on the improve. It will be interesting to watch when the school riders return over the next two weeks and the momentum builds toward the Ballarat Madison Carnival on Sunday Feb 13.

JUNIOR RESULTS

F Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Angus Cocking, 2nd, Adam Begbie, 3rd, Vivien Mannix
E Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Courtney Mannix, 2nd, Declan Dickson, 3rd, Clancy Dickson
F Grade Elimination: 1st, Adam Begbie, 2nd, Daisy Pickersgill, 3rd, Angus Cocking
E Grade Elimination: 1st, Declan Dickson, 2nd, Courtney Mannix, 3rd, Clancy Dickson
E and F Grade Combined Handicap: 1st, Daisy Pickersgill, 2nd, Harriet Pickersgill, 3rd, Adam Begbie
E and F Grade Combined Team Pursuit: 1st, Team Sebastopol, 2nd, Team Ballarat,

Track Schedule:

Mondays 5pm to 7pm - Club Training
Thursdays 4pm to 7pm – Club racing
Ballarat Madison – Sunday February 13.

National Champs Dinner

STOP PRESS...... STOP PRESS....... STOP PRESS

Caribou Enterprises are offering a great deal for The Preview Dinner to the National Road Championships... At Cost Price of $45.. Normal price $85.

This takes place at Eureka Ballroom, Mercure Hotel, 613 Main Road. At 6.30 pm on Friday 6th January.

The line up is Fantastic,
Mike Tomalaris as Compere.. Phil Liggett.. Alan Peiper ( tour de France rider and New Director of Garmin-Cervelo.

Gerry Ryan ( owner of greenEdge Australian Team )...... Matt Lloyd ( KOM Giro Italia 2010)

Cameron Meyer ( Tour Down Under Winner 2011 etc etc)

Jack Bobridge. ( Aust. Road Champ 2011 and World Record holder Track Pursuit )

The cost covers a 3 course meal and refreshments.

A Great oppurtunity to see and hear the Main Players in the " Battle of Buninyong "

Phone around and get a table together of your riding mates... BUT BE QUICK.... Caribou Need to know numbers by Monday 2nd January 2012.
Contact Don Stewart on 5333 3914 or email dst26511@bigpond.net.au
BE THERE!

Road: 2012 race fixture now available

The BSCC road race committee has completed the race calendar for the 2012 season. There have been several significant changes to the calendar which are part of an initiative to increase the social atmosphere of racing as well as maximising Ballarat's great weather and abundance of country pubs. A significant amount of time has been spent crunching the numbers over the past years and looking for trends and we have based the new calendar around these observations.

2012 road race fixture here:

Some key points to note in the new calendar are:
• an early start to the season to maximise on our great weather;
• race locations associated with facilities (typically pubs) with the aim to create a meeting point before and after racing, to enable the typical 'post race debriefing' out of the weather with the ability to get a drink or a bite;
• some old courses are coming back (ti-tree at Dunnstown) and some new courses are being introduced (the avenue at Learmonth but with a new start/finish point) and a Wallace -Dunnstown-Gordon-Dunnstown-Wallace loop;
• there is an even distribution of the club classics throughout the season with a new requirement.....you must race at least two handicaps prior to a club classic, this is to ensure marks are correctly determined prior to our major races. There will be more posted on this to ensure people have enough notice to ensure that this criteria is achieved;
• race start times will be 2pm as usual until the end of day light savings, post this date race start times will move forward to 1pm to ensure people can still grab a drink and have a yarn post race before heading off and not having to worry about running out of light if you are riding home;
• race fees have not changed in many years, in 2012 the club will be supplying most race marshalls from a local social group. This does not come cost free however this does enable more club members to race rather than marshall. As such race fees for the 2012 road season need to increase to $10. This will be effective from race 1 of the season;
• a running tally for the club aggregate will be maintained on line with new approaches to enable points, such as intermediate sprint points, standby for further information on this;
• we are still in communication with Colac and Geelong to confirm the proposed dates for the tri-series, any changes will be announced as soon as they come to hand;
• the race season will finish earlier than usual, this is based on the attendance trends;
• the last races of the season will be the road race and time trial championships, becoming the 'grand finals' of the season
• race courses will be mapped and put up on line soon;
The new calendar should offer a mix of racing (handicap and scratch) as well as mixture of courses. As always the race committee is open to feedback at any time of the season. If you feel passionate about a topic (good or bad) please feel free to forward it to 98,101,110,99,108,97,114,107,55,53,64,104,111,116,109,97,105,108,46,99,111,109

MTB: IMBA to visit Creswick

Exciting times ahead for Creswicktrails.com and BSCC

Creswicktrails.com are chuffed to confirm that with the financial support of BSCC we have been able to source additional sponsorship and will be sending Antanas to Sydney this week to represent our organisations at the national tracks and trails conference. The Novotel Forest Resort in Creswick providing accomodation costs.
Whilst there we hope to further discussions about the opportunities for improved walking, cycling and running trails linking Ballarat to the expansive forest areas around Creswick. Locally we have had a series of meetings with stakeholders and land managers where the concepts have been well recieved.

So much so that DSE have proactively nominated some underused trails for their mtb potential near Ballarat. Applications have been submitted and we hope to see the September race held there so we can all check out this exciting new location.

Additionally Nic Bowman from the International MTB Association (www.imba-au.asn) will be visiting Creswick in september to look over a number of potential trail projects that could commence this year. Amongst all of this good news we are still actively seeking permits that would allow the running of the Brackenbury mountain bike epic on the 23rd of October. This race promises in years to come to be a substantial fund raiser both for community and the BSCC as well as helping all of us enjoy and protect the forests we live within.

So get involved and get informed about trail advocacy for all users

MTB: Results from Round 7 of VES

from the pen of Craig Sinclair

Round 7 of the VES was contested at Castlemaine on Sunday by 3 BSCC members: Phil Orr, Will Goer and Craig Sinclair. Matt Turner, though featuring well in series points, chose not to race, but instead to adhere to his strict training progamme, with his focus firmly on Tour de Timor. A crisp bright morning bode well for the upcoming six hours+ in the saddle. As ever, Castlemaine Rocky Riders were great event hosts at their Jubberland track. The Castlemaine terrain is synonymous with rocks; loose ones, sharp ones and big ones, and always presents as a challenge of not only endurance, but technical ability to ride in its entirety.

A last minute event format of a running "Le Mans" type start down a hill didn't meet with everyone's approval, and in the melee, Phil was unable to immediately mark the front men. He did however quickly settle into his usual metronomic pace, working his way forward, crossing the line after the fist lap in fourth, but still unsure exactly where he was in the scheme of things. At the end of the day, Adrian Jackson had established a creditable gap on our current series leader and defending champion, finishing some 21.5 minutes ahead of Phil, both being the only two riders to complete 11 laps of the 11Km circuit. Phil has an all but unbeatable hold on the State Enduro title now for the third year in succession.

Will Goer had a productive day on the bike, finishing strongly in 7th, in about the same time as Phil but one lap in arrears. By doing so, he has firmly cemented himself in the top ten in the series, currently 6th one place ahead of the absent Matt Turner.

Craig Sinclair had a shaky first lap with some minor issues of an unresponsive shifter (and body!), compounded by a heavy fall through a coming together with a rider who faltered in a technical rock section. Back on the bike after some swearing and bleeding (and lamenting of scratches to carbon fiber frame), he got back to the task of focusing on the next five and a half hours or so. The reward after 8 laps was a top 10 finish (10th) and elevation on current points to 3rd in the series in class (40+)

The final task for all competitors is to clean the DUST off the bikes - a welcome change from mud!

Chloe Mac wins the Brookman

Here's the official race report, as submitted to the Ballarat Courier, from Chris Liston:

Cycle turns: Chloe McIntosh wins Brookman

Chloe McIntosh rode her way into history by upstaging her male counterparts to become the first woman to win BSCC's “Les Brookman Memorial' 55 km handicap road race classic. McIntosh rode off 17 minutes with six others in a field of over forty entries. In tough, windy conditions, the field left Hewitt and Whitty’s corner carpark, and headed out to Snake Valley, around the Hope’s Lane circuit, through Hillcrest to Smythesdale, then along the Glenelg Highway to Haddon, finishing on Greenhalgh's Road. The high winds made the work hard for the limit riders, and as the more experience bunches clambered up through the field, the strong crosswinds made a tough finish for all the riders. Liam White was the first U17 rider home, while Rob Doyle, Andrew Weightman and Dale Scarfe were the three riders at scratch, chasing riders with a head start of up to thirty and a half minutes. Doyle shook off the other two to claim the fastest time. The Les Brookman Memorial is held in honour of the Ballarat cyclist and athelete who was tragically killed in 1968. Les’ brother Kevin Brookman presented the trophies and prizes for the event, which in 2010 will be honoured with a perpetual shield.

From left to right : Liam White (1st U17), Chloe McIntosh (1st), Kevin Brookman (Les Brookman's brother), Rob Doyle (fastest time), Mitch Brodgen (3rd), Stuart Brien (2nd).

Results:
1st Chloe McIntosh
2nd Stuart Brien
3rd Mitch Brogden
Fastest time: Rob Doyle

1st U17 Liam White

********

Here's a brief report on the senior race.

The Brookman was run in sunny but windy conditions. The scratch riders, Rob Doyle, Andrew Weightman and interstate visitor Dale Scarff, faced a tough task: a 9-minute gap to the large and powerful second scratch group. This group in turn had a 5:30 gap to third scratch (14:30), led by Doug Garley, on his way back from a serious infection of his Melbourne to Ballarat injuries, and also featuring young guns Mitch Brogden and James Crafter. The next bunches set off in rapid succession. The gap was 1:30 to the bunch containing Stuarts Brien and Grigg and Ben Clark (16:00), and a further 1:00 to the group of Chloe McIntosh and Peter Canny (17:00). Then a bigger gap to the second limit bunch. Motocross star Jane Faneco, in her first road race, was the lone limit rider.

The 16-minute bunch started fast, powered by Stuart Brien, one of this season's big movers. They gathered up the 17-minute bunch before Carngham, and with the big man's hard work aided by co-markers Stuart Grigg, Ben Clark and Charlie Stebbing, and Peter Canny and Michael Veal from the 17-minute group, caught second limit the second time through Carngham. Jane was collared on the drag up towards Hillcrest, and at this point the pace slowed, as the early hard work took its toll and the numbers were whittled down. Liam White, Peter Kyatt and Chloe Mac contributed to the pace-making, along with the tireless Stuarts, but as the leaders negotiated the Haddon roundabout, Garley's group had them in sight. The Hard Rider himself was on the front, despite having punctured earlier in the race and chased back on.

Sago Hill was decisive, as it usually is. In the rides of the day, first James Crafter and then Mitch Brogden blasted out of the 14:30 group, crossed the gap solo, and joined the leaders. At the top, the lead group was eight riders. Peter Kyatt made the crest of the hill with the leaders but was unhitched in the run towards the line. At the finish, Chloe's national title-winning acceleration, sprinter's instincts, and fresh legs triumphed over the huge engine of Stu Brien, with Mitch, an impressive Stu Grigg, and James rounding out the top five. The scratch group worked evenly together all day, and saw very few other riders. Rob Doyle, on top form, dispatched the others on Sago Hill and rode solo to the finish to take the fastest time.

Road: White Rampages at Kingston

Updated with photos from Kate Grigg, and some factual corrections.

Liam White scored a trademark dominant win in the BSCC handicap run in perfect autumn conditions at Kingston today. Thanks to textbook handicapping from Don Stewart and Phil Orr, the entire field was within sight of one another as the 2-km uphill drag to the finish started. Victoria Snibson, who put in a top ride from limit, was collared only a kilometer or so earlier. White launched himself out of the second-scratch bunch on the drag and rode through the field to finish a Gilbert-like ten meters clear. Only a few lengths separated the next seven places, and then it was only another few seconds back to another young gun, Charles Martin, who took fastest time.

Liam has plenty of time for a look around to survey the damage.

Welcome to visitor Ron Kelly, and to new BSCC members Ben Howell and Bruce Stewart.

Here's a report from the mysterious Dr. Fuentes, entitled "Goading the handicapper."

One week until the club's first big handicap race, the Chris Cashin, and the handicapper was present in the 9 minute bunch at Kingston.

There's Don, just behind 2010 aggregate winner Craig Lightfoot. Michael Veal is taking care to make it look difficult

The weather was sublime, yet Doug Garley was wearing a scarf and beanie, coughing into a hankie. Peter Keil was seen to be using a walking stick. Bam Bam said he had three types of cancer.

Despite all their ailments, the scratch bunch looks fast and organized

Spread across the 32 starters were numerous maladies, including the dreaded "creepin'". Victoria Snibson needed the assistance of a surgeon just to lead out the limit bunch.

On the course, Jason Haire was riding two flat tyres, and new boy Ben had his infusion running. Don was having none of it and rode strongly. Clearly Craig Lightfoot believes in whatever protective charm he has over the handicapper, as the club aggregrate champion was powering on his way to a seamless fifth place.

Shane Butler didn't get the memo about making it look difficult for the handicapper, but Stu Brien did

Second lap had the front bunch in sight. Despite Mick Veal trying to blast the nine minute bunch through, we were joined by Gayle who will claim to be riding squares, but there was no hiding the silky-smooth turns of Melissa Keirl, who was flying.

Melissa and Gail, stylish as always, plus some blokes

Limit were caught at Smeaton and it looked as though this would be the front bunch. The large four minute bunch kept their powder dry for next week and did not involve themselves in what is always a tough finish.

But hang on, where the hell did Liam come from? 450 meters to the line, and there was Liam alone, riding into the lead bunch. Unable to help himself, Liam had crossed alone, and easily cleaned up the uphill sprint. Goading the handicapper, who came in third himself? Vic Snibson had held well and found herself amongst the placings.

Also begging for the wrath of the gods was an awesome ride by Charles Martin who took the fastest time and was only one hundred metres from joining the lead bunch. All in all, five of the six bunches were placed in the top ten. An excellent job by the most esteemed, kind and generous handicapper.

A good job too by the marshals, who seemed to be limping, coughing, snoring and talking non stop about how they hadn't touched the bike all weekend.

BSCC Kingston Handicap: 2 laps of Collier circuit

1. Liam White (2:30)

2. Jason Haire (9:00)

3. Don Stewart (9:00)

4. Melissa Keirl (9:00) (first woman)

5. Craig Lightfoot (9:00)

6. Victoria Snibson (19:00)

7. Michael Veal (9:00)

8. Peter Kyatt (13:00)

Fastest time: Charles Martin (scratch)

Thanks to marshals Mark Templeton, Ryan Kerr, Peter Walker, Rohan Allen, Scott Townsend and Matthew Smith. Jonathan Lacey was chief marshal.

Road: Matt Smith wins the 2010 Brookman

Updated 5 September with Chris's junior report (below).

2 September: we're still not sure that we got places 6-8 right. Chris wrote the official results on a piece of paper - you'll see him doing it in one of the photos below - and then the piece of paper went missing ... But we're pretty sure that we had them wrong in an earlier version of this report, which unfortunately was sent to the Courier and, we hear, published (though it's not in the on-line version). This version also had a number of people in the wrong bunches, and some of the marks wrong. Apologies to those who might have been demoted! If the results below are still not right, please 108,101,116,32,117,115,32,107,110,111,119.

Matt Smith won the 2010 Les Brookman Memorial senior handicap on the Mt. Emu circuit at Snake Valley today. It's still August, but the race was conducted in true spring classic conditions: temperatures easing into double figures, patches of sunshine, a few early swooping magpies, and the smell of freshly-mown grass at the start, combined with freezing rain squalls at various points during the race. Due to the unique orientation of the Australian road cycling calendar, the season of new beginnings signals the impending end of road racing for the year, but that's another story.

Thanks to more stellar handicapping by Phil Orr, the whole field finished within a minute of one another. Matt Smith's 10-minute bunch, the eventual winners, started with Ben Clark, in his return from injury, Scott Bilney, returning from a break, form rider Craig Lightfoot, the consistent Matt Albiston, and Simon Wallis and John Carmody. .

16-minute (limit) riders Scott Denno, last week's runner-up, and Gail Oliver, the eventual 9th-placed rider, on the Carngham-Streatham road.

Smith's group stayed together, and maintained their pace well enough over the second lap to sweep up the 12-minute group - MTB maestro Matt Turner (in his first road handicap), last week's winner Gerard White, and Ben Lohse - and the limit riders, Gail Oliver and Scott Denno - and just hold off the charging 6-minute (third scratch) group, led by Doug Garley.

Part of the winning 10-minute bunch. Craig Lightfoot (left) and Matt Albiston are making it look way too easy. Scott Bilney comes from generations of dealing with handicappers, so none of that from him.

Garley's six-minute group, consisting of Peter Kiel, first-year dads Stuart Grigg and Warren Faneco, rising star Thayne Turley, and Jonathan Lacey, started hard. Their goal was to quickly collar the 7:30 bunch of Neville Bilney, Charlie Stebbing, Sam Turley, Tavis Baker and Liam White. Liam White's mechanical misfortune near the start was a gift to Garley's group: they picked White up before Carngham, and he made an immediate contribution before the mechanical gremlins struck him again on the Streatham-Carngham road. By this time the 7:30 bunch was in striking distance, but just before the groups combined, Neville Bilney punctured and was out of the race. This was probably decisive. The catch was made on the Mortchup - Mt. Emu road corner on the first lap, resulting in a bunch of nine riders. The numbers looked promising, but the fast start had taken its toll on Garley's troops, and without Neville Bilney's engine, the increase in numbers did not lead to a major increase in pace.

Garley's group chased hard on the second lap, and caught dropped front-markers one by one, but Smith's group in front persisted, and on the Streatham-Carngham leg on the second lap, the chasers were losing rhythm. Hard men Garley and Kiel were very motivated - Garley in particular after his misfortune at the Melbourne to Ballarat - and they along with Thayne Turley put in some huge turns of pace.

Behind them, the scratch riders, Jay Bourke, Phil Orr, Damien Keirl and Andrew Weightman, were closing on the 3-minute group of Scotts Keating and Townsend, James Crafter, John Polkinghorne, Adam Smith, Shane "Jedi" Cody, and Grant Gilbert, in a welcome return to racing after a health scare at the Melbourne to Ballarat. The groups combined on the Mortchup - Mt. Emu road corner. At the start of the climb into Snake Valley for the last time, the scratch-second scratch group had both Garley's group and the leaders in sight.

In Garley's group, Thayne Turley drove hard on the climb, and Kiel lifted the pace even higher at the top, cracking Grigg, Baker, Stebbing and Lacey. Scott Bilney and then Gail Oliver dropped back from the lead group, leaving four riders in front - Matt Smith, Clark, Albiston and Lightfoot - chased by Garley, Thayne Turley, Warren Faneco, Peter Kiel and Gail Oliver. From the back, Jay Bourke set sail at a ferocious pace and mowed down the stragglers. But Smith's group was too strong, and took the first four placings, with Smith's decades of sprint experience guaranteeing the win for him.

Ben Clark crosses the line in second place.

Close ... A few tens of seconds back, Phil Anderson's former lead-out man Doug Garley wallops his fellow six-minute riders for 5th place. Peter Kiel (left) battles Warren Faneco, with Thayne Turley behind Peter, and Gail Oliver (in red) 9th. That blur in the background is the Jay Bourke express.

A few interesting historical snippets from Chris: this was the 40th running of the Les Brookman Memorial; and Matt Smith is now one of few riders who have won all of BSCC's "feature" races - the Brookman, the Collier and the Christmas race - perhaps the only one.

Many thanks to the Brookman family for over thirty years of support of this race. Club members were very pleased to welcome the Brookman family to the presentation at the Snake Valley hall after the event.

2010 Brookman winner Matt Smith accepts the perpetual trophy and thanks the Brookman family. With Matt are (L to R) Doug Garley (5th), Craig Lightfoot (4th), Matt Albiston (3rd) and Ben Clark (2nd).

Thanks to chief marshal Roger Bade (who also doubled as photographer), and all the marshals, including Peter Kyatt, Wendy Ross, Ian Nunn (who rode this race in 1982!) and Rob Doyle.

2010 Les Brookman Memorial Road Race - Senior 60 km Handicap: unofficial results

1. Matt Smith, 10:00

2. Ben Clark, 10:00, s.t.

3. Matt Albiston, 10:00, s.t.

4. Craig Lightfoot, 10:00, s.t.

5. Doug Garley, 6:00, about 20 seconds back

6. Peter Kiel, 6:00, s.t.

7. Warren Faneco, 6:00, s.t.

8. Thayne Turley, 6:00, s.t.

9. Gail Oliver, 16:00, s.t.

10. Jonathan Lacey, 6:00, about another 10 seconds back

11. Tavis Baker, 7:30, s.t.

12. Jay Bourke, scratch, s.t. - fastest time.

Chris Liston writes:

Junior report and results

Bailey Cody took a strong win in the sub-junior 6 km Les Brookman Memorial Handicap. Baily improved his time on the relatively flat out and back course by four minutes compared to the previous week. Daisy Pickersgill held onto a twenty-second gap from Rochelle Liston to claim second, and Harriet Pickersgill took fourth and fastest time after a few week off the bike.

Nicholas White was unlucky again, and just missed securing a win after his near-miss at Miners Rest last week. White, from third scratch, caught Patrick Cosgrave, and the pair worked together along the Streatham Road on the Mt. Emu circuit. Backmarkers Josh Liston and Angus Lyons were chasing hard in their last race before the national junior road titles in Canberra this coming week. Lyons closed a three-minute gap to Liston, and then the pair chased down White and Cosgrave on the Mortchup - Mt. Emu Road. Lyons kicked hard at the top of the hill and shattered the group. On the slightly downhill run to the finish, all riders were practically in the same straight. Lyons ended up the clear victor, in the fastest time, with Liston second, then a slight gap to White who jumped away from Cosgrave.

The sub-junior podium

The junior podium

Official Results:
Brookman Memorial Sub Junior 6 km handicap
1st Bailey Cody
2nd Daisy Pickersgill
3rd Rochelle Liston
F/T Harriet Pickersgill 13:57

Brookman Memorial Junior 32 km handicap
1st Angus Lyons (fastest time)
2nd Joshua Liston
3rd Nicholas White

*************

The 2010 Les Brookman Memorial senior handicap, and junior races, will be held this Saturday, starting at 2 PM at Snake Valley (not Miners Rest as we said earlier! - editorial brain malfunction ...). The Brookman, along with the John Collier road race, is one of BSCC's two annual feature races. Both have been running as handicap races since at least the early 1980s. Last year's Brookman, won in fine style by Chloe McIntosh, was the last to be run on the Carngham - Hopes Lane - Hillcrest - Haddon - Sago Hill circuit, because of increasing traffic on the Glenelg Highway. This year the race will be run for the first time on the tough Mt Emu circuit at Snake Valley. The circuit was used earlier this season for a club handicap, and last year for scratch races.

Entries close with 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114 at 5 PM Friday. The presentation will be hald after the race in the Snake Valley hall. The club has organized soup and sandwiches. Riders, please bring a plate of fruit or dessert. And we need one more marshal. If you're available, please contact 87,101,110,100,121,32,82,111,115,115 on 0408 170 410.

Timor Leste: Your Donations at Work

Roger Bade writes:

As Gerard White explained at the Brookman presentation on Saturday, BSCC has raised $1000 to furnish a new building at a hospital called Klibur Domin, in Timor Leste (East Timor). $800 of the money was originally raised in February 2009, in support of the Black Saturday bushfire appeal. By the time the money was collected, the Black Saturday appeal was closed, so the board instead decided to donate the money to Klibur Domin. Since then, the club has raised an additional $200 to bring the total to $1000. There's some more information about Klibur Domin HERE. This is the information that was handed out at the Brookman presentation.

Roger is going to Timor Leste later this month to ride a mountain bike stage race - a huge adventure in itself! - and during the race he will visit Klibur Domin and see what our donations were used for. Roger is going as part of a team that will represent BSCC. The team includes mountain bike member Jeff (the Kaiser) Filip, and Ballarat expatriate Rob Owen. Given that our efforts to recruit more highly fancied riders like Phil Orr, Charlie Stebbing, Andrew (Haggis) Howard and Peter (Engine) Walker failed, we are not anticipating returning with any of the US$80,000 prize money. Maybe next year BSCC will field a range of stronger teams.

Stay tuned for further reports.

Track upgrades: latest news

To see the latest updates on the track upgrade, please click HERE, or go to Track Upgrade > Latest Update on the left-hand menu.

Gary's Excellent Adventure

Gary "Gus" Gullock writes:

To all those interested in taking on one hell of a challenge: back in 1986 on our honeymoon, we had a stay on Maui for a few days and decided to take a bike ride down an extinct volcano called Haleakala. I heard at the time that there is a race to the top every year and also a race to the bottom on every full moon. So this year for Tara’s birthday, our anniversary and just for the hell of it, we thought we would make the trip to Maui again and do the race to the top. Beautiful place, just like far Nth Qld. Volcanoes years ago formed four islands, the largest being Maui. The flights all worked out and we stayed 2 km from the race start in a little town called Paia at a great little resort called the Inn at Mama’s Fish House. The restaurant would rate as one of best eating experiences we have ever had. Arrived Fri., got the bike together and rode up to the bike shop to collect entry stuff. Very helpful shop and a little bit of maintenance after the trip was no problem. Had a mid-morning ride Sat up the first part of the climb, 10 km, and I wondered what I had got myself in for. Besides being very windy from the side it was a pretty good gradient. Thankfully I put a 12-25 on because I was on the bloody 25 most of the time! Anyway, Sun morning came and off to the 6.30 am start. The race is limited to 200 riders and this year they had 180. After a light shower overnight the weather was perfect for the start of a 60 km climb from sea level to 10,000 ft. It took off like a h/cap race, and I was just hanging on to the back of the lead bunch (20 riders) after 10 km when we came to the first of the steep bits, everyone out of the seat wrenching. This is where it helped to be 50 - 60 kg. Like the rest of the group. I must have looked like a gorilla amongst little monkeys. Anyway, after this bit it flattened out for 2 km or so (big ring), and then just kept going up. Obviously I had lost touch at this point and resigned to the fact it was still a long way to the top. From there it was just a long hard day in the saddle. The country had changed from coastal to rainforest to towering gums (yes, I had time to take it all in), and then into alpine scrubby stuff, and eventually rock and lava and cinder. I recall going past the halfway mark, thinking that I might not make this, and then I thought plenty of others have, so up we went. Slowly! Time went on. 3 support stations and into the national park area at 8000 ft. Still a long way to go. 15 km at 15 km/h, giving the 25 a real good work out! It was such a relief to see the last mile marker, but the worst was yet to come. Last half mile was probably like a steep Dana Street, 14% they say. Nasty ! Anyway, I made it in 3:22, survived one of the hardest things I have ever done and would recommend it very highly to

MTB: Major Pain Race Report

Round 9 Victorian Enduro Series, Shepparton, ‘Major Pain’.

{from the pen of Matt Turner}

Site laps of a mountain bike course can normally induce one of two emotional responses. You can feel that you can approach all trail features and obstacles with confidence and ride comfortably within your ability, or you can be left feeling that the next day will surely produce carnage and bloodshed all over the side of the hill on a scale not seen since William Wallace led the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.

Our site lap of Mount Major the day before the race left Craig and I feeling ample doses of both. The course and the tracks were fantastic but six hours of racing around them was going to require total physical and mental focus. We searched every pharmacy in Shepparton but couldn’t find where to buy this anywhere.

Allow me to paint a picture: Mount Major is a treeless grassy mound rising 200m above the race village set up at the bottom. It is clad in long grass and rocks and several telecommunications towers crown the summit. It is windy and barren, and home to free ranging flocks of sheep, goannas and snakes. World Trails have laid out a network of single track that drapes over the hill like a spider web and takes in all the natural features and contours. Some tracks were as simple as a strip of grass that had been poisoned along the contour of the hillside producing the mother of all off-camber corners which were initially covered in loose dead grass until a line had been worn in after a couple of laps. There was 300m of climbing per 10km lap, (at 11 laps for the winner, you do the math) with around a dozen technical rock gardens to negotiate in an uphill fashion. The main descent was named ‘roller coaster’ which either followed the contour in an off-camber manner or plummeted straight down before bottoming out on a sharp turn and shooting you back up the hill again. Speeds of up to 50kmph were claimed here, and with each lap that was safely completed one could become more brazen with their speed each time, letting gravity do the work and saving the legs as much as possible for the long climb back up the hill.

It was a unique course in that you could see large sections of the track in front and behind which meant riders that you were trying to catch or gap were often well within site, creating psychological gameplays. Either that or it just meant that Craig and I could wave to each other, or we could see how long it would be until Phil lapped us. And it was damn quickly! The young man put in as good a performance as any for the year, in spite of it being the final 6 hour race in what has been a very long year of big races. And Craig’s perseverance finally paid off as well, celebrating his 20th consecutive enduro round with his first win in the 40+ category. Will Geor also put in a customary solid ride, looking strong throughout the day, but relieved like the rest of us when it was all over.

So now a three month hiatus before the series resumes again with Ballarat to host the first round. With the home ground advantage we should all be out there in Canadian getting to know every inch of the course and getting ready to tear it up!

Mens Open
Phil Orr 1st place 11 laps 6:22:01
Will Geor 5th place 9 laps 5:59:17
Matt Turner 6th place 8 laps 6:01:34

Mens 40+
Craig Sinclair 1st place 8 laps 6:20:57

RIP Doug Garley

It is with the heaviest of hearts that the BSCC passes on the tragic news that we lost Doug Garley “The Hardrider” in a road accident yesterday just before 4.00pm.

Doug was a true gentleman in life and in sport. He was an international and club cyclist with a passion, perseverance and pride, that some of us will only ever have a small percentage of.

He was a great mate and marvellous mentor, husband and father. Our thoughts and prayers are with Jenny and the boys.
We can all say he was taken doing something he loved but we would prefer to have his love, company and passion still amongst us and our children.

As we learn a bit more and begin to overcome our shock we may wish to post some notices on the web of our thoughts and memories of Doug.

Jenny and family will need comfort and support long into the future. As Doug was so well regarded please respect and appreciate their needs for time and space in our compelling desire to offer comfort and peace to them.

MTB: The 2010 InterWinter MTB Series

Dale Boucher writes:

MTB Interwinter Series

Imagine travelling to some of the most exotic trail centres in Victoria, to compete in the coolest MTB race series around! The infinitely insane Ballarat, the exhilaration of the Castlemaine Pinies, the ‘wow factor' of Woodend, and the super-groomed MTB masterpiece of the You Yangs. Tyre-scraping, brake-shuddering, fear-inducing, white-knuckle racing (roadies, this is what MTB racers call fun - ed.) doesn't come in any purer form than the InterWinter Series, by four premier clubs in Victoria.

The theory behind it all is to ride different trails, different formats, with different clubs, all with a fun, laid-back approach, just enjoying the singletrack. Come out, show your club colours, and watch as the Presidents do battle for the President's Cup. There will be A,B, & C-grade categories, on-line entry, series points, and a series champion in each category. A true sign that MTB clubs in Victoria rock and know how to deliver an awesome product: the smile on your face.

Enter just one race or enter all four - everyone is welcome. The tracks are suitable for all standard of mountain bike riders. It will be a fun and inclusive mountain bike series.

The events:
16 May – Woodend (Wombat MTB club) - 30km loop
20 June – Ballarat (BSCC) – course to be announced
4 July – Castlemaine (Central Vic Rocky Riders) – XCO format
1 August – You Yangs (Geelong Mountain Bike Club) - 3-stage race (GMBC Club Championship Round)

Entries:
Online entries are available at Big Hill Events - please click HERE. It's $25 per event, or enter the series of 4 big events for only $90. Online entries will close on the Friday immediately prior to each event. On-the-day entries will cost you an extra $5.

First aid course for race marshals

Chris Liston writes:

BSCC Race Committee are planning to host an in-house Certificate 2 first aid course, run by our own Kylie Zelley. This course is aimed at our Chief Marshals, so that they have the skills to deal with medical issues that might arise while they are marshalling. But of course we all do our marshalling duty, so ultimately the plan is to extend a similar course to all of us.

The plan is for the initial course to have 20 places. The dates will be determined by popular demand. The course takes two days, split over two weekends. The course will cost BSCC members nothing except their time.

If you're interested to participate in this initial course, please tell Chris, by 101,109,97,105,108,32or on 0437 318 251. Please let him know what dates work for you.

MTB:Dirt Girls Saturday Ride

Dirt Girls March Ride

Join the girls and come out for some nice singletrack, a social chat and some work on your mountain bike skills, all at the same time! This month's ride is led by the lovely Kat, who has been a regular attendee at the Dirt Girls rides and knows a thing or two about riding a mountain bike (just don't follow her over the A-lines - unless you want to!). The ride will take in some of those sweet trails in Canadian forest, including some laps of the BSCC dirt crit circuit.

Ride Details

When: Saturday 5th March, 9 AM start
Where: Mt Clear Secondary College. Meet at the car park, off Recreation Road
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning

New in 2011
There is a small change to the structure of the monthly rides this year. They will now fall under the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club social riding structure. This means that riders will be required to either hold a Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) membership, or purchase a Day Licence on the day for $5. An MTBA membership for social riding costs $70 or a full racing licence can be purchased which costs $125. Both run for 12 months and include membership of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club (check out the club website www.cyclingballarat.com.au).

Why are we making this change? Basically for insurance purposes. An MTBA licence covers social ride participants in the event of accident or injury. Full details are available on the MTBA website www.mtba.asn.au.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

Track re-opening ceremony

To see photos from the track re-opening ceremony, click HERE, or go to Track Upgrade > Latest Update on the left-hand menu. We're almost ready to start racing again!

Mitch is off to Europe!

BSCC's Mitch Brogden is about to head to the Netherlands to race kermesses for six months! This is thanks to Mitch's recent strong performances plus an introduction and recommendation from Pat Shaw, recently returned from several years as a pro cyclist in Italy. As we reported here, Pat was very impressed with the young BSCC talent he saw at the Taltarni road race back in November. Read all about it in the Courier.

BSCC cycling is going from strength to strength in recent months, with Pat's return and huge ride at Bright, Damien Turner's heroic podium at Buninyong, Harry Crothers-Bade's Australian championship, and now this. Mitch will follow in the footsteps of Pat himself, and a number of Ballarat riders who have tried their luck at the big time in Europe. The blindingly fast Darron Muir, now living in Geelong, was in the Netherlands in 1986. Greg Nunn was in Spain about the same time. Of course The Hard Rider, Doug Garley (then with Carnegie), rode the big pro races in and around Belgium, including the world championships, for two years, again in the mid-80s. Stuart and David MacKenzie, both of whom started cycling with BSCC, raced in France and Italy in the '90s, culminating with Dave's legendary solo stage win in the Giro in 2000. Stay tuned for more from Mitch ...

Photo galleries from recent events

To check out these photos, go to http://picasaweb.google.com, and log in using email BallaratSebasCycling@gmail.com, password ballaratcycling. Have a look at the ones from Saturday's mountain bike event at Canadian. You'll notice:

- yes, Guy wll kill you if you get in his way

- Jonathan is grimacing and disguising it as a smile (years of practice)

- Engine is really smiling

- Joel is going WAY fast around that corner

- Dale designed the course so he would win. It worked.

Thanks Tara!

Heard before the race: Q: Who's that bloke riding up the road with one hand? Wow - he's going faster than I'm going to race up there ... A: That's Phil. He lives!

Road: Arch to Arch TT Cancelled

Cycle Sport Victoria has announced that the Arch to Arch open time trial event, scheduled for Sunday June 6, is cancelled. Here's the CSV release:

Arch to Arch IRTTs cancelled

CycleSport Victoria and the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club regret to announce that the Arch to Arch Individual Road Time Trials (IRTTs), scheduled for Sunday 6 June, have been cancelled.

CycleSport Victoria is very disappointed that the event has been cancelled as this year; we were excited to improve and expand the IRTT series and believed that this would have been a great event.

The Arch to Arch in fact received the highest number of entries that any CSV stand-alone Open Time Trial had previously ever received.

As the event was being held in a central location, the traffic management required to receive approval for the event was quite significant, in comparison to other Time Trial events. Approximately 1 week ago, the club received notice that the traffic management required for the permit would increase in cost 3-fold.

Furthermore, the major sponsor for the event pulled out late last week, putting even more financial pressure on the club.

The club worked closely with CSV to help reduce costs of traffic management and all race costs, but this proved to be not enough.

CSV is currently working on a replacement event to be held in the next few weeks and should be in a position to announce this by the end of the week.

While we regret making this decision, going ahead would have put the club in a position that would have resulted in significant negative impact.

We apologise to those that entered the event. We will refund your entry fee into your CSV credit account for you to use to enter events in the future.

BSCC Inside the Bay Classic

Promoters of the 2009 Jayco Bay Cycling Classic (formerly known as the Bay Series) bill their races as "The World's Fastest Criterium Series." BSCC has a gaggle of riders on the start list, and some of them will be giving us their views on what the race feels like from the inside. Stay tuned - and keep your eye on Rob Doyle's blog "What's the Time?" (Answer: it's Doyle time ...)

Latest: Rob is staying at the only hotel in the western world without internet access for its guests ... so until he returns to civilization, here's his report on today's proceedings, phoned in, just like in the old days:

The elite men's race started almost 2 hours late, thanks to a delay to Robbie McEwen's flight. The riders weren't too happy, but Robbie is Robbie ... so they waited. The course has fast straights, and a slalom through a tight roundabout, with a short cobbled section thrown in for good measure. Especially hairy down the back of the field. A break including Simon Gerrans went away early, and hung just off the front for the whole race, despite a wicked pace in the bunch. Rob and his team-mates spent much of the race surveying proceedings from the back, but when Rob rubbed his front rim against another rider's shoe, he decided it was time to take the team closer to the front. Clearly our man Rob is on fire - "I'm fitter than I thought I was," he says - because he rode from the back of the field to the front at the business end of the race. He even lost a few of his team-mates in the process. As if by magic, he found himself on the wheel of Matt "Bjarne's darling" Goss, half a dozen from the front of the bunch, with a handful of laps to go. At this point the break was still away, but only just, and the cavalry charge was winding up. Rob was banging elbows with the best of them when there was a very loud BANG - his tyre. Rob held the bike up, and so did everyone else, but that was his race over for today. The break just stayed away and Gerrans got the win. Rob is planning a different finish to tomorrow's race.

Stay tuned - for more from Rob, and more from BSCC riders in the women's race and the men's support race.

Track: State Country track results

BSCC State Country Track - Nov 27 -2011

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club was represented by a small contingent of Junior and Sub Junior riders who made up in numbers by the quality of their performances. The girls Rochelle Liston and Emma Bilston rode superbly to bring home the top of the podium finishes as first year riders in U13 and U17 Female respectively at the indoor Velodrome at Thornbury. Rochelle Liston took a Trio of gold winning the 500m Time Trial, 500m Pursuit and 200m Flying 200m with Match sprints.
Bilston dominated the U17W taking the 500m TT and her favourite; the 2000m Pursuit putting in over 10 seconds to her rivals in qualifying. Emma qualified for the Gold medal round in the sprints and missed out in the final to Shepparton’s sprinter Kate Boyd. Joshua Liston and Angus Lyons represented Ballarat Sebas in the JM17 division. Lyons and Liston ended up in the Bronze medal ride for the 2000m Pursuit with Lyons taking the medal posting a 2:30.127. Liston claimed Bronze in the Sprint from Hamish Haynes of Shepparton. U13M Graeme Frislie made debut open track ride and his first ride on indoor track. He rode well and placed fourth to fifth over the divison and will develop as a cyclist across all disciplines.
Hugo Tolliday was the clubs oldest age representative for the meet. The bottom age (1st Year) JM19 took a clean sweep of silver medals runner up to the Champion from Colac Cycling Club Zac Shaw. Tolliday renowned for his fast spin posted an 11.735 in the sprint qualifiers, 0.59 seconds behind Shaw. With the State Country Clubs Track Championships being the season opener it is predicted that these Ballarat Cyclists, among others will put in some great rides as the season develops over the summer racing, culminating in the State / National Championships and The Ballart Maddison in February.

Club skin suits

If you would like to order a club skin suit please contact 71,101,114,97,114,100,32,87,104,105,116,101. The skin suits will cost approximately $160 each.

Road: State Club TTT Champs

Updated 2 August: click HERE for Paul Pickersgill's photos of the BSCC junior teams in action, and the junior presentations.

Updated 30 July with corrections to the team line-ups.

Chris Liston writes:

With cycling history in the making in France, the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club heralded the great events by running perhaps the nation’s first cycling race following Cadel Evans' sealing of his victory in the Tour de France. All manner of media have reported that interest in road bikes has jumped as a result of the excitement surrounding the Tour, and Australia’s success.

Capturing the spirit of determination and team racing, 35 teams containing 106 junior cyclists, plus 31 teams of 115 senior riders lined up to race the annual Victorian Club Teams Time Trial championship, held for the first time on the Durham Lead Road at the home of cycling and the national titles, Buninyong. The new course was a challenging out-and-back affair. After heading outwards to the south, with a slight tail breeze over the hills towards Mt Mercer, riders turned at the half-way point at 3 km, 10 km or 25 km, dependant on their division, to ride back into a head wind compounded with rising climbs all the way to the finish line.

BSCC fielded 11 teams in almost every junior and senior division. With the new course, fierce competition, and ever-increasing entries, the BSCC results were very favourable. Felicity Liston and Jake Ashmore were runners-up in the J11 State Championship by 15 seconds, to a trio from Echuca-Moama. U15 Girls Emily Oliver and Harriet Pickersgill also took silver to Carnegie Caulfield CC. Under 15 Boys Nicholas White and Patrick Cosgrave finished strongly, posting the time on the second rider to cross the line, as their team-mate Maurice Koelle came in with a slight gap. They took the Bronze medal for the 20km event.

M19 riders Liam White and Aaron Blomeley backed up from a hard Melbourne to Ballarat on Saturday, and joined with Will Stewart to make the required trio. They placed third over 50 km in 1:28:37. Carnegie Caulfield took the title with minutes to spare over the field.

BSCC entered a team in the men’s “Masters 135” category, for teams of three riders with a combined age of 135 years or more. Charlie Stebbing, “Hard Rider” Doug Garley and Vince Mader posted a time of 1:25:35, placing fourth out of the ten teams in the division. In the men’s Masters Open division, Neville Bilney, Guy Falla, Tony Mirabella and Grant Gilbert ran fifth out of nine teams in the classification, posting 1:19:10 for 50 km.

Two BSCC “Elite” (open) teams rounded out the contingent of BSCC competitors. BSCC’s #1 team, comprising the massive combined power output of Jay Bourke, Josh Collingwood, Damien Turner and Phil Orr, saw off a friendly internal club rivalry, posting 1:17:08 and out-placing the BSCC #2 squad of Stuart Grigg, Sam Turley, Ben Clark and Michael Pierce, who finished just over a minute behind in 1:18:22. The teams were fifth and seventh overall respectively.

Clubs from Port Fairy to the La Trobe Valley, and from Echuca to St Kilda competed, and so podium places were at a premium. In past years BSCC has claimed several gold medals, including the coveted Elite men’s medal. However in 2011, all those involved were excited that they were sharing in the spirit of the yellow jersey in France in a tough but fun day out for all.

For full official results, please click HERE.

BSCC Results:
U11 6km Jake Ashmore, Rochelle Liston, - Silver
U13M 6km Angus Cocking and Graeme Frislie 6th
U15M 20km Nicholas White, Patrick Cosgrave, Maurice Koelle, - Bronze
U15W 20km Emily Oliver, Harriet Pickersgill, - Silver
U17M-1 Angus Lyons Hugo Tolliday, Victoria Snibson. 4th
U17M-2 Jack Thompson, Jack Stewart, Emma Bilston N.R
U19M Liam White, Aaron Blomeley, Will Stewart. - Bronze
Mas 135+ Charlie Stebbing, Doug Garley, Mader 4th
Mas open 50km Neville Bilney, Guy Falla, Tony Mirabella, Grant Gilbert 5th
Senior Elite #1 50km Jay Bourke, Josh Collingwood, Damien Turner, Phil Orr 5th
Senior Elite #2 50km Stuart Grigg, Sam Turley, Jeremy Doolan, Michael Pierce 7th

Updated 20 July

Here’s the list of BSCC teams for the Victorian club TTT champs. Thanks to Chris Liston and Gerard White for lots of hard work over several months to put these teams together.

Chris Liston writes:

Please check the start time for your team on the Cycling Victoria web site later in the week, and be early for your team’s start.

If you won’t make it, due to some last-minute emergency, please notify Phil, and please line up another BSCC member of the appropriate age to ride in your place. Everyone in your team is relying on you.

Most of all, have fun as much fun as possible on the day!

BSCC teams

Elite men 1: Jay Bourke, Josh Collingwood, Damien Turner & Phil Orr
Elite men 2: Stuart Grigg, SamTurley, Michael Pierce & Ben Clark
Masters men: John Polkinghorne, Neville Bilney, Tony Mirabella & Grant Gilbert
Masters men, age restricted: Charlie Stebbing, Doug Garley & Vince Mader
M19: Liam White, Aaron Blomley, Will Stewart & Ciaran Conaughton
U17 1: Angus Lyons, Hugo Tolliday &Victoria Snibson
U17 2: Jack Stewart, Jack Thompson & Emma Bilston
U17 3: Dominic Geoghegan, James Burge & Hayden Emery
U15 boys :Nicholas White, Pat Cosgrave & Maurice Koelle
U15 girls: Harriett Pickersgill & Emily Oliver
U13 boys: Angus Cocking & Graeme Frislie
U11: Jake Ashmore & Rochelle Liston

Updated July 13

Please click HERE for a map of the course for the Victorian Club Team Time Trial (TTT) championships on July 24. The map (thanks to Phil Orr, yet again!) shows the start-finish point and the turn-around points for the various distances.

Updated July 10

BSCC is once again hosting the Victorian Club Team Time Trial (TTT) championships on July 24, the day after the Melbourne to Ballarat. This is one of the small handful of Cycling Victoria open events hosted by BSCC, so it's a big day for us, and a huge weekend. As the host club, we're keen to field TTT teams in every category. The categories are Masters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, men and women; "elite" (open) men and women; and junior U19, 17, 15, 13 and 11, male and female.

As we mentioned earlier, the club is paying the entry fee for all club teams. So it's free! And if you need to get fired up about team time trials, click HERE to see the irrepressible Jonathan Vaughters (Garmin-Cervelo boss) on the subject.

Here's what you need to do:

1. Get your entry in to Gerard White (not Chris Liston, as previously advertised) by Sunday July 17 at the LATEST. Earlier is better. Click 72,69,82,69 to email Gerard. Please let Gerard know if you want to ride, even if you don't have a complete team organized, and he'll fit you into one. For example, it's OK (we believe - to be confirmed) for Masters teams to include riders from an older age group. We're very happy to have team members with MTB and BMX licenses too.

2. Wear a club jersey in the TTT. This is a must. If you don't have one, let Gerard know and he'll arrange for someone to lend you one.

Updated 25 June

Chris Liston writes:

The club is sponsoring teams - that is, paying their entry fees. We want our teams sorted out soon, so that team practice starts. Some age divisions require three-person teams, with the time taken on the second rider; some require four riders. See the Cycling Victoria web site.

So please let Chris know who's in your team. Also please let Chris know if you want to be in a team.

********

BSCC is once again hosting the Victorian Club Team Time Trial championships on July 24, the day after the Melbourne to Ballarat. As the host club, we're keen to field teams in every category. The categories are Masters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, men and women; "elite" (open) men and women; and junior U19, 17, 15, 13 and 11, male and female.

It's some way off, but please get together with others in your category and put your team together soon. Find Chris at road races each week and tell him who's in your team. If you want to be in a team, also please tell Chris. We're happy to have team members with MTB and BMX licenses too.

MTB: Wrap-up of the Vic Enduro Series Round 6

Victorian Enduro Series Round 6

from the pen of Matt Turner:

The Gippsland Mountain Bike club set out to impress first time riders in the Heyfield area with their staging of the mid-winter round of the 6-hour enduro series. And racers and spectators alike were definitely not disappointed. The promise of a mud free all weather circuit proved to be true and 13km of the fastest flowing singletrack of the year awaited the 200+ competitors who had descended upon this little country town for the weekend.

The BSCC representatives headed up there Friday night in order to have a relaxed day to reconnoitre the course and unravel the mysteries of the much talked about ‘Trigg Point Hell’, a technical rock climb and descent which was the crux of the course. Aided by local knowledge we all soon learnt how best to clamber our way up there and bounce our way down in relative safety. Of course race day was a different storey with traffic banked up here on the first two laps with most people off and walking, and I’m sure more than a couple of ‘over the bars’ moments for some.

The night before the race was very cosy indeed in front of the open fire while the ritualistic gorging of carbs was a shocking sight to behold. Not to be outdone by Phil Orr, Jason Hegert put himself into the red zone trying to consume his body weight in pasta after Phil had casually put away a bucket full of scientifically formulated gruel. Shortly afterwards he was spotted sniffing around the kitchen for desert. Was this to be the winning move? Well part of it. The second part began at 7am with a two hour time slot to fill any remaining voids in our furnaces with anything else that could be used to burn as fuel for the day.

And it was to be a very long day. With the course being relatively flat with around 190m of climbing per 13km lap, the race was fast and there was very little let up on the power output. No major climbs meant no major freewheeling descents so we had to pedal the whole way. The frontrunners ended up covering 140km with over 2000m of elevation gain with an average heart rate of around 80% of maximum.

Coupled with the unusual warmth and humidity the course started to claim its victims with riders creeping along, salt encrusted all over their face, barely hanging on to finish their lap. Despite the mostly smooth nature of the course it was incredibly taxing on the body, but overriding the fatigue was most definitely the fun factor of this course.

Mens Solo - Open

1st place Phil Orr 10 laps 6:16:05 and second place overall
12th place Matthew Turner 9 laps 6:44.23
16th place Will Geor 8 laps 6:06:09
27th place Jason Hegert 7 laps 4:52:48 (lost his quick release out on course after fixing a puncture!)

Mens Solo - 40+

11th place Craig Sinclair 8 laps 6:35:45

MTB: Impromptu Creswick Social Ride, Sat 6-Aug

Creswick trails and the BSCC are hosting the Brackenbury Mountain Bike Epic coming up in October. Come out this weekend for your first taste of the course.

Meet at the Forest Resort 10.30am and expect to be back about 2.30pm

This will not be a beginners speed but will involve plenty of catch up and some trail work along the way.

Road: BSCC Stars at Shepparton

BSCC riders Chloe McIntosh and Clive Silcock scored gutsy top-ten placings at Saturday's Keith Esson Memorial, a 150-km Cycle Sport Victoria open race. Chloe took second in the women's race, and Clive was 8th in B grade. In cold, wet, windy conditions on a tough circuit, both riders fought their way into several breaks to score their placings. Clive, in particular, has been quietly racking up placings in big races this season. This is another indication that the tactical advice both riders get from guru Stuart Sanders, manager of the Cycle City team, is still worth its weight in gold. Both riders are due for big wins very soon. Click HERE for full results.

It's been a big weekend for BSCC, with Pat Shaw's win at Gippsland, three BSCC juniors in the state team, solid results at the local derby at Cape Clear, and these results at Shepparton.

MTB: Club Race - March 2012

race report written by Grant Palmer

A select crew of riders shunned the non-existent speculation of a cruel April’s Fool hoax to take part in the much-anticipated race using Bowden’s Water Race trail. The sight of a dry track made for a cheery group on the startline, with much of the pre-race nerves having been kept at bay by tales of last year’s slip ‘n’slide race here. With racers taking multiple warm-up laps it was readily apparent that this was a course to enjoy!

A bunch start on the road saw riders jostle for best position to enter the single track – position is key on this circuit as there are very few opportunities for overtaking. Dale Boucher lead the group into the single track and on to the course at good pace as the train of riders disappeared down what was later described as one of the “best bits of downhill in the region”. Dale put down a 13 minute opening lap on the 4.7km creating a bit of dust for those following – interestingly, the fattest lap last year on the same track in the wet was over 16 minutes. Chris Quain put his skills on display to also put the first lap in the bag in under 14 minutes and was closely followed by Antanas Spokevicius, Russell Shaw, Craig Sinclair and Nathan Gallacher. All got the pedals pumping past the startline and on to the downhill appreciating a bit of relief after the technical and constant nature of the water race section. As the race wore on many battles for places were playing out. Dale maintained a good lead in A-grade throughout, although Antanas kept the pressure on. Peter Walker after flatting within the first few hundred metres on lap one was smashing out some impressive lap times as he set about making up his lost time. B-grade was a close tussle and Chris rode well to stay in front, with pressure from behind coming from Russell and Craig (who were within 20 secs of each other throughout) and a minute or so back was Tim Oliver. In C-grade, Melbourne visitor Michael Bloomfield (thanks for making the trip Michael!) showed a liking for the country, mixing it with some of the B-graders and staying out in front throughout. Gail Oliver stayed close and Rachael Nuttall rode a gutsy ride (busted hand and all!).

In the end the gold went to Dale in A-grade (6 laps, 83 minutes), Chris Quain in B-grade (5 laps, 72 minutes and Michael Bloomfield in C-grade (4 laps, 63 minutes).

Following the seniors race, the Juniors and a small field of Novice riders joined the fun for a couple of laps of the circuit. This course is pretty technical in places, but the Juniors weren’t fazed and attacked it from the start. Coming in first in the ‘big’ Juniors was Joel Boucher who was almost giving his Dad’s lap times a nudge, while the ‘small’ Juniors were led in by Jake Jans, continuing his good form from the Dirt Crits. In the Novice category Sam Smith did well to come out on top – a good effort giving he had already completed a number of laps during the senior racing!

When the dust had settle fond stories were shared of the course, which must be considered one of the best on our calendar. Note to self, mark it down for next year! And do yourself a favour, get along to this month’s social ride which is going

Original News Article

Fools Gold!

Don’t be fooled this April 1, there’s gold to be had at BSCCs April Club Race at Bowden’s Walk No.2 at Smythesdale. And what with an extra hour shut-eye thanks to the end of daylight savings everyone should be fresh and keen. Those travelling a bit further to check out racing BSCC-style surely must be tempted also (and most welcome!). Racing will be XCO format; each grade will be assigned a different number of laps to keep everyone racing for around 90 minutes.

The old gold diggers may not have had MTBs to get some fun out of their hard work; that’s where we come in! Our last race on this circuit in September 2011 was a blast, with the wet conditions giving rise to a contemporary meaning for ‘water race’. Recent reports are the trail is dry and fast!

The trail follows Bowden’s Walk No.2* in Enfield State Forest. The trail runs along the top of the earthen banks of an ancient water race system from the gold-mining days for a major part of the 4.5 km circuit with some fire road and single track sections thrown in, including a flowing downhill stretch carving its way along a drainage line.

*Huge thanks to DSE for allowing access to the track for this event. The use of traditional dedicated walking tracks for riding is a fantastic outcome for the BSCC MTB club, and the reward for a great amount of ongoing lobbying by the club.

When: 1-April-2012
Where: Smythesdale, Bowden Walk No 2 (see attached map)

Directions
Head out from Ballarat along the Sebastapol-Smythesdale Road and turn left into State Forest Rd after passing through Ross Creek. Turn right into Wades Lane and travel straight to the course. The track we’re using is Bowden’s Walk Number No.2

Senior Race Details (Grades A, B & C)

Registration: 9:30 to 9:55
Race Start: 10:00am
Format: Olympic Cross Country, with each class completing a set number of laps. A grade = 6 laps, B-grade = 5 laps, C = 4 laps
Cost: $5 for MTBA members, $25 for non members

Novice Race Details

Registration: 11:45 to 11:55
Race Start: 12 noon
Format: 1 lap (racing will be approximately 30 minutes
Cost: $5 for MTBA members, $25 for non members

Junior Race Details

Registration: 11:45 to 11:55
Race Start: 12 noon
Format: 1 lap (racing will be approximately 30 minutes
Cost: $3 for MTBA members, $20 for non members

Road: National Junior Mountain Climb Championship

National King of The Mountain!
Angus Lyons of Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club won the National Junior 10.4km U17M IRTT by 1.8 seconds from fellow Ballarat and Clarendon College Schoolmate Lucas Hamilton of Ararat and District Cycling Club.
Hamilton went on to win the National Junior Mountain Climb Championship 67km roadrace with Lyons taking third and the Bronze with over 50 entries in the field. Lucas' brother Thomas Hamilton won the national title for the U19M Individual Road Time Trial and placed fourth in the road race. Liam White, Dominic Geoghegan (U19M), Victoria Snibson (U19W) along with Joshua Liston (U17M) also competed in the gruelling roadrace challenge.

Road: Learmonth scratch race

Jay Bourke, Paul Humphreys and Ashley Key were all victors during the Ballarat Sebastopol's 6th race of the Mulcahy & Co Aggregate Series staged in Learmonth this weekend.

The small rises in elevation around the Avenue circuit proved to be just enough for Jay Bourke to take go about taking the A grade field apart one by one. By the fifth and final lap the field had been reduced to four, one last effort saw Bourke ride away and win the race with Stuart Grigg 40 seconds behind in 2nd and Aaron Blomeley not far behind in 3rd.

The first lap in B grade started off in a controlled manner before John Polkinghorne and Doug Garley stretched their legs in the tailwind sections on lap two, from this point on many moves were attempted but none succeeded. At the end of the five laps it all came down to a bunch sprit with Paul Humphreys taking the win with Doug Garley second and Jonathan Lacey third.

C grade was much more civilised, with everybody happy to keep it together till the end. In the last 300 meters the winning move was made, Ashley Key jumped away to win the race, his brother Will Key was second and Shantelle Maurer was third and the first female.

Aggregate results after 6 rounds here.

Road: Junior John Collier results

BSCC Junior John Collier Classic Sat March 24 – 2012

Cody and Key claim Collier Victories!

Bailey Cody claimed the “Collier” junior 6km Club Classic at Kingston.
Cody set off from limit with Rochelle Liston. At the turnaround he was riding solo and being chased by Graeme Frislie whowas off at scratch with Tyson Cody in between. With the course on the Kingston Avenue it was a slight downhill run.Frislie was chasing furiously and missed Cody by seconds. Tyson Cody reeled in Rochelle Liston for third.
The debut ride of the clubs newest member in U17 Jake Hopkins proved fruitful. The young man had a tough assignment off at limit some twenty minutes out from scratch. William Key and Joshua Liston rode a tempo of 37km/h for the short course 28km circuit. Hopkins looked as though he was going to take a comfortable win. Key kicked off from Liston at Smeaton with 6km to run. He claimed Hopkins within the last 500m for the win

Junior John Collier 6km H’Cap
1st Bailey Cody
2nd Graeme Frislie
3rd Tyson Cody
U17 Junior 28km
1st William Key
2nd Jake Hopkins
3rd Joshua Liston

Road: Junior State Criterium Championships

CV Junior State Criterium Championships Sun March 24 – 2012

Ashmore Takes Silver!

Jake Ashmore took his first State Cycling medal in Castlemaine at the State Victorian Criterium Championships. Ashmore who raced and won the U9 club titles last Wednesday, rode right on the wheel of Carnegie’s Jack Throssel for the ten minute plus one lap U11 Boys event. Ashmore finishing in his characteristic sprint for second.
Graeme Frislie U13M along with Joshua Liston U17M both missed the podium for places taking fourth. The U17 race also saw clubmate Angus Lyons push determinedly to break up the pack from Carnegie Caulfield’s Jack Hickey ultimately claiming sixth in the main bunch.
In U19 Liam White was right on the pace in a very fast event over thirty minutes. On bell lap White was looking to come home at the front of the field. He was squeezed at corner two losing momentum that was hard to regain through the down hill corners three and four. Dave Perters was the only Master Class entry from BSCC and raced well. The pace of that event up the climb from corner one to two taking its toll lap after lap.

Victorian U11 Criterium Championships
U11M
2nd Silver – Jake Ashmore
U13M
4th Graeme Frislie
U17M
4th Joshua Liston

Ride Hard To Breathe Easy Strava challenge

RHTBE challenge set to a roll out in April

Australia’s Ride Hard to Breath Easy and Strava are hosting the first ever month-long international cycling challenge starting on 1 April this year (it’s not an April Fools joke).

This free internet-based event is designed to encourage cyclists at all levels to get on their bikes at whatever level – whether a raw beginner or commuter wanting to gain fitness, or a competitive cyclist.

Ride Hard to Breath Easy is a non-profit organisation which raises awareness for lung cancer sufferers through cycling, and Strava is like Facebook for cyclists.

RHTBE is the brainchild of Victorian cyclist Karen Munro, who suffered from lung cancer and passed away in September last year.

Karen had never smoked, but made it her mission to raise awareness of the fact you don’t have to be a smoker to suffer from lung cancer.

In February 2010, a year after her diagnosis, Karen rode nearly 800 kilometres from Adelaide to Melbourne off the back of the Tour Down Under to raise awareness for lung cancer, and funds for the Australian Lung Foundation.

The Strava RHTBE Challenge is calling on cyclists to match or better Karen’s 800km ride in one month.

It’s a free challenge for anyone in the world to get involved in by registering with Strava at http://app.strava.com/challenges/rh2be.

Participants will need a smart phone (with the free Strava app) or a Garmin in order to track their kilometres.

There are heaps of prizes to be won, including a signed jersey from Australia’s track champion and UCI Track World Champion Kierin cyclist Shane Perkins as well as RHTBE cycling kit and other prizes.

To find out more about RHTBE, log on to www.ridehardtobreatheeasy.org or check out the face book page: www.facebook.com/rh2be.

For more information contact Caroline Page 0433 251 633

About Karen Munro
Karen Munro was a late-comer to cycling and was a member of Warragul Cycling Club.
Within a few short years Karen had made a large impact on the Warragul and Masters track and road cycling communities.
She competed and medalled at National and World Masters Track Cycling competitions.
Karen was a strong advocate for cycling and her passion was infectious as she was also responsible for resurrecting Warragul Cycling Clubs’ track cycling component and her legacy is a strong group of now more than 20 junior cyclists and more than 15 seniors.

Road: Final junior crit rseults

BSCC Junior Criteriums Final Rnd 14 March 28 – 2012

Two teams of juniors lined up for the final event of the 2012 criterium season.
A reverse circuit relay. Ziggy Lee and Chloe Stinchcombe were the captains and pulled the first three laps. Bailey Cody and Rochelle Liston put in a lap and the teams were within four seconds over 5.2km. Zac Stinchcombe and Felicity Liston had a duelling lap followed by Jake Ashmore and Tyson Cody. Anchor riders for both teams were Graeme Frisilie and Jake Hopkins. In the final lap Chloe’s team with new rider Jake Hopkins as the Anchor took the team time by eight seconds. Nonetheless all participants had a great ride in a cohesive team environment.

Chloe Stinchcombe
Rochelle Liston
Felicity Liston
Tyson Cody
Jake Hopkins
(d)
Ziggy Lee
Bailey Cody
Zac Stinchcombe
Jake Ashmore
Graeme Frisilie

2010 dirt criteriums wrap-up

Here are final reports from the last few BSCC dirt criteriums of the 2009-2010 season, held in late March.

The dirt crits on Tuesday evening March 16 broke all attendance records: 31 senior and junior riders participated. To see photos of the junior riders that evening, taken by Tara Hossack, click HERE, and use sign-in email BallaratSebascycling@gmail.com, password ballaratcycling.

The following week, Tuesday March 23, records were broken again - 33 riders! Please click HERE for race results and aggregate standings, or go to the Race Results > MTB Results page on the right-hand menu, and look for Summer 2009-2010, Mount Clear Dirt Criteriums.

MTB: Trail Gurus Come to Ballarat

On Tuesday the 27th of September site visit took place at Black Hill Reserve which included the City of Ballarat, BSCC MTB, Club Mud and World Trail to design and map a 1km purpose built MTB trail that could be used for the racing, skill development and community recreation. The proposed trail is to be located in the flat area at the top of Napier St, taking in the valley to the south, the summit to the east and the bushland to the north (adjacent the grassy slope on Chisholm St). From a BSCC perspective this would be used for our weekly Dirt Crits and junior development programs and would hopefully attract new riders to the sport with the prospect of world class trails right in the heart of Ballarat. As well as weekly events over the daylight savings period, the trails would be open to community all year round for cycling and walking.

For those who are unfamiliar with World Trails, they are undoubtedly the best mountain bike trail construction organisation in the world. World Trail boast over 250 Mountain bike projects in 18 countries and they’re the most sought out organisation for constructing sustainable trails. Good examples of their work can be seen at Mt Buller and Forrest so it was great that we could get them to come along.

During our site visit World Trail director and trails guru Glen Jacobs and his colleague Gerard McHugh asked lots of questions about our trial requirements and scoped the site with us for 90 minutes. To say he was excited about the prospects for Black Hill as mountain biking destination would be an understatement. To Ballarat residents, Black Hill is a pretty run down, full of noxious weeds and old gold mines, but to Glen, this area has huge potential to engage the community through dirt based cycling. At one point Glen showed us how different trail designer see Landscapes. We walked to an area best described as ‘a broken uneven slope covered in weeds with the odd pine tree here and there’ and Glens first reaction when he saw it was ‘Beautiful’. Here are some quotes from Glen:

“Just the flow of the land will give you spectacular trail”

“Spectacular riding”

“Lots of Shapes”

“Fantastic elevation”

After the meeting we all left Glen and Gerard to spend the afternoon to map and mark the trail that will become BSCC feature criterium track and junior trail for Tuesday nights as well as a recreational asset for Ballarat.

We will keep members updated on any progress and hopefully have a map of the course up soon. If you are keen, head out and check the alignment; it has been marked with orange tape.

Discussions with Glen, Gerard, City of Ballarat, BSCC and Club MUD at Black Hill regarding the proposed trail.

Jay Bourke is 2009 Hillclimb Champion

This article was mistakenly headlined "Jay Bourke is 2009 King of the Mountain." In fact the BSCC King of the Mountain is a series of road races with uphill finishes. The final stage of the KOM will be held on October 10, finishing at the top of the Learmonth "Wall." The event that Jay won last Saturday is correctly referred to as the Hillclimb. Thanks to Chris Liston for pointing this out. This was an editorial error - ed.

Senior Hillclimb

BSCC has been running an annual hillclimb from Buninyong village to the top of Mt. Buninyong for at least thirty years. The event has always been run as a tactics-free time trial, the "race of truth," with riders starting at one-minute intervals. It's believed that Peter Taylor's Buninyong record of about 12 minutes, set in the mid-1980s, still stands. The trophy for the BSCC club road champion, awarded to this day, carries the name of Peter's late father, Kevin. Reduction in bicycle weight since Taylor's era translates to a huge time gain, 30 seconds or more, for a rider of his weight, and more astounding is the fact that Taylor, though lightly built, was known as a sprinter, not a time-triallist.

Mid-winter conditions, the long season, and a local dislike of climbing and time-trialling, despite the importance of these skills to an well-rounded cyclist, meant reduced numbers. Almost twenty senior riders greeted the starter. Heather Niehoff was persuaded by her friend Gail Oliver, road and track champion and owner of BSCC sponsor Navajo Cycles, to make the hillclimb her first bike race. Heather rode an impressive 17:40 to comfortably take the women's Queen of the Mountain event. Her time was among the fastest of the day until motivated climbing specialist Ben Clark exploded out of the starting blocks to set a time of 15:20. All-round strong man Neville Bilney rode almost the same time as Clark, and only four riders, all A-grade regulars, went faster than these two. The eventual winner was top seed and national-level climber Jay Bourke. Despite a month of illness after his super Melbourne to Ballarat, Jay was more than a minute faster than the next rider. Second went to top masters rider and breakaway specialist Tony Mirabella, and third to motocross star Warren Faneco, rising rapidly in his first road racing season. Ex-international Doug Garley, hit by a car out training on Monday, gave another of his quiet lessons in cycling and character by beating a number of younger, un-bruised riders.

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club 2009 hillclimb, Mt. Buninyong: senior overall results

1. Jay Bourke 13:24

2. Tony Mirabella 14:42

3. Warren Faneco 15:09

4. Will Wettenhall 15:16

5. Ben Clark 15:20

6. Neville Bilney 15:21

7. Phil Orr 16:09

8. Jon Townsend 16:20

9. Dale Boucher 17:02

10. Doug Garley 17:07

11. Jason Haire 17:19

12. Sam Edwards 17:20

13. Jonathan Lacey 17:35

14. Heather Niehoff 17:40

15. Michael Veal 18:17

16. Gail Oliver 18:32

17. Jane Faneco 19:20

18. Kylie Zelley 20:59

19. Sean Lee 26:31

Women's hillclimb

1. Heather Niehoff 17:40

2. Gail Oliver 18:32

3. Jane Faneco 19:20

4. Kylie Zelley 20:59

Junior Hillclimb

Chris Liston writes:

Perseverance pays off on podium for Plastow

Killian Plastow not only reached the top of Mt Buninyong in atrocious conditions in BSCC's annual hill climb, but the unassuming rider also claimed an outright place as runner-up in the U17 event. He does not often featurie in the top of his ferociously-contested classification, but today Plastow’s miles of training and racing paid off to give the young man a podium position. Ciaran Conaughton, a highly-rated climbing specialist who would have threatened many senior riders had he ridden their event, took the under 17 classification, while Andrew Pearson, Mt. Buninyong resident, placed third on his home turf.

Emily Wordie-Thompson arrived at the event in the nick of time to post a winning time in the 4km W15 event. Victoria Snibson was runner-up, and Madeleine Plastow third. Angus Lyons continued his good form, taking the M15 race ahead of Hugo Tolliday and Joshua Liston. Emily Oliver claimed runner-up in the U13 girls and bagged more points for her overall KOM series score, while Emma Bilston took the girls U13 win. U9/11 riders Rochelle Liston, Kate Lyons and Olivia Oliver raced a short-course 1.2 km climb, with Oliver taking the title.

Junior hill climb time trial, Mt. Buninyong

U17M 4.2 km
1. Ciaran Conaughton 11:21.30
2. Killian Plastow 14:23.51
3. Andrew Pearson 14:41.11

U15M 4.2 km
1. Angus Lyons 12:16.15
2. Hugo Tolliady 12:31.50
3. Joshua Liston 13:07.40

U15F 4.2 km
1. Emily Wordie Thompson 14:37.02
2. Victoria Snibson 16:43.60
3. Madeleine Plastow 19:36.12

U13F 2 km
1. Emma Bilston 7:05.76
2.Emily Oliver 8:26.11

U11 1.2 km
1. Olivia Oliver 6:02.87
2. Kate Lyons 7:32.18

U9 1.2km
1 Rochelle Liston 8:02.54

Road: Round 2 crit results

BSCC Senior Criteriums Rnd 2 - Nov 23 -2011
Bourke Blitz's Field!
Jay Bourke took to the A grade field in the second senior round of the Summer Criteriums. Bourke managed to break away from the field and the “reverse” direction course which had a sharper pinch to it with a slight rise up the back straight suited his style and he stayed away for the most part of the twenty nine minute event. Michael Pierce, Hugo Tolliday, Liam White, Sam Turley and Aaron Blomeley, Jeremy Doolan and others were the chase group and left their organisation of pace to the last several minutes effectively allowing Bourke to take the race. In the bunch sprint for the line Hugo Tolliday stole third from Turley just behind Michael Pierce who placed second.
B Grade was a strong race with attacks coming from John Polkinghorne, Joshua Liston and Will Goer. In a tough race in the wind in reverse the bunch came to the line. Liston had the sit and was lining up for a win when Goer on the outside stole the race. Simon Wilkinson took a consecutive third as he did last week. Jim Crumpler took the win in C grade.

Senior Results
A Grade 25 min + 2 laps
1st Jay Bourke
2nd Michael Pierce
3rd Hugo Tolliday
B Grade 20 min + 2 laps
1st Will Goer
2nd Joshua Liston
3rd Simon Wilkinson
C Grade 20 min + 2 laps
1st Jim Crumpler
2nd
3rd Ben Oman

Junior results.

Flying Frislie takes race!
Graeme Frislie started in the midfield bunch of six with Jake Ashmore, Clancy Dickson, Tyson Cody, Angus Cocking and Max Koelle in the junior E grade handicapped criterium. Together with Dickson Frislie split up the bunch and went after the outmarkers of Bailey Cody and Zac Stinchcombe. The scratch markers of Harriet Pickersgill and Courtney Mannix made in roads into the main field and finished within in touch; with Mannix dominating Pickersgill. However it was Frislie who took a sprint win over the experienced Dickson and Zac Stinchcombe placed third.
Tiny Chloe Stinchcombe took a well deserved win after three laps in the F grade juniors. Chloe was mentored over her journey by BSCC elite woman cyclist Chloe McIntosh. Finishing right behind Chloe was Emily Smith and Elizabeth Baker. This duo started together and reeled in Ziggy Lee and the 2:45 starting gap.
D grade was missing the fast finishers from the previous week and two new members along with Tom Dridan filled the gap in their debut rides. Paul Borcher and Jarrod Andrews took on Dylan Bilston at the rear of the B grade field. Bilston had the form over the others and took a strong win at the line. Borcher took second with a gap to Andrews.

Junior Results
F Grade 3 laps 3.9km
1st Chloe Stinchcombe
2nd Emily Smith
3rd Elizabeth Baker
E Grade 4 laps / 5.2km
1st Graeme Frislie
2nd Clancy Dickson
3rd Zac Stinchcombe
D Grade 15 Min + 2 laps
1st Dylan Bilston
2nd Paul Borcher
3rd Jarrod Andrews

Track: Rain and BSCC Track Racing

Roger Bade; track tsar, writes:

The new surface of the Colin Smith Velodrome is more resistant to rain than the old one was. It dries out more quickly. For example, last Thursday, November 25, it rained during the day, so most people assumed there would be no racing and didn't show up. The few who did show up found that a few hours of sunshine and breeze in the afternoon had dried the track out perfectly. They had a decent ride.

So unless it's actually raining at race time, be optimistic!

Road: Big Races Coming Up

Don Stewart, BSCC Vice-President, writes:

BSCC has some big road races coming up.

On Saturday, June 4, we're running the Fred Icke open handicap on Saturday at Creswick. (The Fred Icke is our equivalent of the Tour of Flanders: it's long, hard, windy, and usually run in dreadful weather. Luckily it only has three climbs, not 17, and no cobbles. Check out this epic account of the 2009 race from hard man Jay Bourke. - ed.) Entries close with Cycling Victoria (the organization formerly known as Cycle Sport Victoria) on May 29.

On Sunday June 5, the day after the Fred Icke, anyone who finished it will be lying around groaning. For everyone else who is sufficiently senior, we're running the Ballarat Masters Open, another Cycling Victoria open, at Burrumbeet. It has over $2000 in prize money! This year, we're using a new circuit - an extended version of the Mt. Misery circuit. Check out the 2011 Road Fixture for all the details. Entries for this one go to Cycling Victoria too.

See you there!

MTB: Dirt Girls Ride - Saturday 5th June

Yes it's that time again - time for the women of Ballarat to dust off their mountain bikes and hit the trails (not literally, we promote staying on your bike) for some singletrack fun with other women riders...

And even better - there is a MTB race on the same day! So, we will hold our women's skills session on the same course that will be used in the race. The super-keen-beans can practice the course, and then show off their skills in the club race.

Here's the facts:

When: Saturday 5 June, 8am
Where: Little Bendigo Primary School
Race: 10.30am start for seniors

Bring some extra water and food to keep you going for the race.

* You will need an MTBA licence to race (not for the social ride). For info on licensing follow this link http://www.cyclingballarat.com.au/news/mtb_membership_info. A day licence can also be purchased for $15.

For more info or to register your interest contact 74,97,99,113,117,105

Funding boost for local MTB trail

Dale Boucher, MTB maestro, writes:

Funding Boost for local MTB trail

The Goldfields Track section of the Great Dividing Trail, between Buninyong & Bendigo, has received $500,000 in Federal Government “TQAL funding” for track upgrades to improve the trail for mountain bikers and walkers. Conservation Volunteers Australia work crews will be on the track during 2010, progressively removing the green painted hardwood posts and replacing them with unpainted cypress pine posts with a gold top and revised logos. If you’re a MTB rider, it’s possible you will encounter some tracks sections during 2010 where work is in progress, where signage is unclear and where the track route is slightly changed. Please bear with us during this upgrade, and make sure you always carry a Great Dividing Trail track map.

The first section to have work undertaken is the Poverty Gully water race (near Castlemaine), which has had vegetation cleared, a new bridge, a section of trail near the Monk rerouted and the new sign posts installed. Arrows are not yet on the new posts, so please be careful with navigation, especially near the Monk. Please 101,109,97,105,108,32,109,101 any feedback on the work completed, or parts of the track you think require extra attention, and I will pass it on to the Goldfields Track Committee.

State Jnr & Masters Crit Champs: slice of silver

Chris Liston writes:
State Masters and Junior Criterium Championships, 2010: Slice of Silver for Oliver

Fourteen Ballarat Sebastopol cyclists competed at the State junior and masters criterium championships in Castlemaine on Sunday in pleasant overcast conditions. Following a strong home Small Dog Criterium season, the club bagged several minor placings, and narrowly missed three gold medals and titles. Gail Oliver took silver in the women’s masters event, missing out to Helen Lawson from Coburg in a tough thirty minute plus one lap event over two sides of the town circuit block including an uphill finish. Dylan Bilston also took silver in the U13 boys event. He worked hard off the front of the bunch from the opening lap and dictated the pace. The field broke up under his pace, leaving a main group of five serious contenders. Coming into the final corner, Bilston was out-positioned by Nicholas Simpson of the hometown Castlemaine.

Silver looked like it might be the order of the day, however in a camera decision Emily Wordie-Thompson had to settle for bronze in the women’s U17 race, as she narrowly missed getting over Ebony Clarke of Brunswick. Emma Bilston, a first year U15 rider, rode a solid race in the U17W due to a lack of entries in U15W. On restricted gears, she stayed with Wordie-Thompson’s lead bunch to finish fourth outright. Victoria Snibson had to deal with an ill-timed flat tyre, while Madeleine Plastow fought to stay in the race. Rochelle Liston took bronze in the U11 ten minute plus one lap race, bringing the club’s medal tally to four.

Angus Lyons and Josh Liston rode an attacking style of race in the fiercely competitive U15M twenty-minute event. The Ballarat duo were in contention throughout the event and did a disproportionate amount of work at the front trying to force a break. Lyons, in the main bunch rounding the last corner, took fifth, with a gap back to Liston.

BSCC’s masters men were represented by Matthew Smith in Masters 3, with Tim Oliver and Alan Cureton in Masters 4. The tough one block course with the uphill length following turn one, leading into two downhill legs after turns two and three, made for a gruelling event. The men were outdone on the day by a strong representation of cyclists from Melbourne and Bendigo.

Results:
U11 10 min + 1 Lap
Bronze: Rochelle Liston
U13M 15 min + 1 Lap
Silver: Dylan Bilston
U17W 25 min + 1 lap
Bronze: Emily Wordie-Thompson
Master 3 Women 30 min + 1 lap
Silver: Gail Oliver

BSCC MTB Facebook page

Dale Boucher, MTB maestro, writes:

BSCC MTB division now has a facebook site for social networking and communicating with members and fans. Thanks to Adam Lewis for setting up the site.

The first item added is Phil Orr's helmet cam taken on the 16th February at the criterium track. The page is HERE.

BSCC riders star in Jayco track aggregate

Despite the lack of a home track this season, BSCC riders featured prominently in Cycle Sport Victoria's 2009-2010 Jayco track aggregate competition. Aggregate points were awarded in the traditional Victorian Christmas Carnivals at Horsham, Maryborough, Bendigo and Shepparton, the Godfrey Family Women’s Omnium and the Jayco Men’s Omnium, Scotty’s Twilight Track Carnival, Echuca-Moama Junior Carnival, Wangaratta Sports Carnival, Brunswick Track Open, Junior & Senior Austral Wheelrace, Ararat Classic Cycling Carnival, Melbourne Cup on Wheels, Sid Patterson GP, and Preston Junior Track Carnival.

The full results are HERE. BSCC placings included:

U11/13: Dylan Bilston equal 4th

M15: Joshua Liston 10th

W15: Emma Bilston 2nd

M17: Craig Firman equal 10th

W17: Emily Wordie-Thompson 3rd, Victoria Snibson 10th

This is an impressive result for our riders, and a wonderful testimony to the support from parents to get them to all these events. Well done all!

MTB: Albury 6hr

On Saturday 26th June a small group of BSCC competed in the Albury 6hr which is Round 5 of Victorian Enduro Series 2010.

In the Men's Solo category Phil Orr came 2nd, behind a much younger competitor, which is becoming a pattern. Matt Turner was in the same category and came 18th. Craig Sinclair was in the Men's Solo 40+ category and came in at 9th position.

Well done boys.

In the overall standings for the series Phil is on top of the points board and cannot be beaten with 168 points more than his nearest rival, with only 2 rounds to go and a maximum of 80 points each round, which means he doesn't even need to turn up! But I am sure he will. Matt Turner is sitting in position 25. While Craig Sinclair currently sitting 4th in the Solo Master Men category.

Attracting Major Cycling Events to Ballarat: Your Ideas Are Needed!

Stuart Brien, BSCC Major Events co-ordinator, writes:

Here in Ballarat, we're the envy of cyclists all over the country, thanks to Ballarat City Council's massive support of cycling, and major cycling events, in Ballarat. The Austlaina Champs, the Masters Champs, the Melbourne to Ballarat, the Herald-Sun Tour ... And, bless them, they want more! Click HERE to see a letter from the Ballarat City Council to all the sports clubs and associations in Ballarat.

As the letter says, the Council will have a discussion with the club next week, to hear our suggestions on what additional cycling events we'd like to see in Ballarat. I (Stuart) will represent the club and its membership in this discussion. Please send me your ideas! I'm interested in ideas for road racing events for the Council to bring to Ballarat, but especially ideas on events in other cycling disciplines about which I know less: recreational road events, Audax, track, mountain bike racing (downhill and cross-country), BMX, cyclo-cross, trials, alley-cat fixie races for hipsters ... Please educate me. And let's think big. After all, if Geelong (Mendrisio, Salzberg, Verona ... Geelong?) has the World Championships, anything is possible! Drop me a line by 101,109,97,105,108. I need your ideas no later than Tuesday 3rd Aug.

BSCC Injured List, January 2011

Updated 27 February:

Guy Falla, former Australian-representative rower, more recently Australian Masters road TT champion, and always the terror of group training rides, fractured his pelvis in a crash on a road ride near Apollo Bay in mid-January. After reducing the front group at Amy's Ride on January 2 from thirty-odd to four, Guy joined Gary Gullock and a few others the following weekend for an epic road ride on the coast, through Skeins Creek, Apollo Bay, Lavers Hill and Beech Forest. During this ride, Guy was clipped by a car and went down.We're please to report that Guy was back on the bike not long after this incident. We're not surprised. Guy copped a chain-ring in the head one icy morning a few winters back, and was at work later the same day. So it takes a lot to stop him. We expect to see him racing again soon when the road season starts.

Matt Albiston is being added to, and almost removed from, the injured list in one go. Matt cuddled a tree on one of the Otway Odyssey training rides in January, the tree said no thanks, and Matt ended up with a cracked bone in his shoulder. He was back on the trainer in days, and on the road bike within a week, but he'll be cautious out of the saddle for a few more weeks. And riding on the dirt is out for a bit longer too. This meant no Otway Odyssey for Matt - frustrating for him, but a big bonus for all the BSCC Odyssey riders, who benefitted from Matt's calm presence in the transition area.

**************

Cycling does sometimes involve crashes and injuries. In particular, sharing the road with motorized vehicles involves risk, and very occasionally, the outcome for the cyclist is devastating. But let's think about that risk for a moment. BSCC has well over 200 members. Right now, five are injured. That's about 2% of our membership, and anecdotal evidence suggests that this is an unusually high percentage. (For example, this is Lacey's first broken bone in almost 30 years of racing.) Let's compare this to other sports. Runners don't crash too often, but the rate of over-use injuries, some of which become career-ending, is high, even amongst those who prepare carefully. A lot of our members are retired runners. The contact team sports have much higher rates of injury: 10% is probably typical for the football codes. The extreme sports are a different story again. So cycling has risks, but so do most things in life.

Craig Lightfoot reports that Peter Kyatt is suffering from a few cracked ribs. Just after Christmas, a motorist decided that the parking space was more important than a cyclist. A quick overtaking move followed by a sharp turn in front of Pete left him high-siding. While PK's ribs copped it, reports are that the car is a write-off. A few days later Peter thought it might be a good idea to go for a training ride with Gary's group. This is challenging at the best of times. Peter is now pursuing a more conventional recovery.

Jonathan Lacey got tangled up with Josh Liston while practicing madison changes after track racing last Thursday night (important note: the racing itself was 100% crash-free), and ended up with a fractured ankle. He's expected to be off the bike for six weeks. Lacey's decrepitude (Josh bounced, Lacey cracked) means Doug Garley is urgently looking for a partner for the Sebas Six next Thursday, preferably one who has at least a few clues about madison changes. (Unfortunately Josh, whose changes are flawless, already has one.) It also means Michael Veal is looking for someone else to humiliate in the Otway Odyssey. We have suggested he start taunting Phil Orr. The records will soon say the Doc beat Phil, and everyone else, in the dirt crits last night (Jan 25), so we suspect the trash talking will start soon. In fact the Doc, who did see this patient, is threatening to publish a "true" account of the incident to warn people about what happens if you bury your head in the sand and don't seek medical advice immediately after a crash.

Simon Gillett and Josh Hawkes were on a mountain bike ride in the Creswick State Forest with Jason Hegert just before Christmas, when they fell foul of a rutted descent. Simon has two torn ligaments in his right knee, and one of them will need surgery. He has a car rally coming up (yes, Simon drives rally cars too) and he's determined to do it, ligaments or not. He's already back in the gym. Josh wound up with concussion and three cracked ribs, but he's recovering quickly. We wish we had a more cheery story about Josh and Jason to welcome them back to these pages, in which they featured many times 3 years or so ago. At least Jason didn't come off. Once again, best wishes to Simon and Josh for a speedy recovery.

Speaking of riders who were often in these pages recently, we've just received an update on Rob Doyle. Rob, who has had a miserable run of injuries the last few years, had some very major surgery the first week of December to repair a damaged shoulder. We're talking really major: hours under anaesthetic, bits taken from one part of his body to repair another - the whole nine yards, as they say. The surgery was successful, but no sooner was Rob starting to recover than he got the flu. One of these days, Rob will have some luck go his way. Soon, we hope.

August BSCC Board Meeting

Updated with extra info in item 4.6, thanks to Karen.

BSCC secretary Karen Snibson writes:

Agenda - August Meeting 2010, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Red Lion Boardroom 7:30pm
1.0 Attendance:
Board members: Gerard White, Volker Hegert, Peter Canny, Stuart Brien, Chris Liston , Dale Boucher, Karen Snibson, Wayne Jolly.
Apologies: Phil Orr, Roger Bade, Don Stewart
In attendance: Doug Armstrong, Scott Bedggood.
2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
Were presented and these were accepted as true and correct
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report:
Gerard White tabled the report. Seconded Karen Snibson. Passed
No issues were raised in relation to the finance report.
3.2 Road report:
Phil was absent and no report was tabled. Chris raised the following issues in relation to road racing over the last month.
There have been good levels of attendance at races, except for last week which only had 11 entrants. The weather was a likely contributor, however there was a good number of rec riders.
Marshalling remains an issue.
The question was raised whether there was merit to a scheduled break during winter and the possibility of a paid chief marshal.
There was positive response to the junior hill climb series.
3.3 Track report:
Roger was absent and there has not been a track sub-committee meeting. The following issues were raised.
The development of the clubroom facility is still being explored. It is likely the tiered grand stand structure will remain.
The track is likely to be ready for the start of the track season, we need to start to promote this prior to the next meeting as the next meeting falls very close to the school holidays.
3.4 MTB report:
Dale was presented his report Seconded Gerard White. Passed
MTB have been approached to host a state endurance round in 2011
MTB have applied to Community Grants to host 3 social rides. These would be used to induct new riders to the discipline. This seems to have support from the City of Ballarat.
The Inter Winter race was a successful event and made a profit.
MTB needs a count down clock to run its races.
Dale moved a motion that:
1) MTB source and purchase a clock up to the value of $1000.
2nd by Gerard White, passed unanimously.
Given the volume of work, MTB have established a trails committee.
MTB needs to explore strategies to ensure that they undertake commissaire training.
Dale moved a motion that:
2) BSCC purchase an IMBA membership.
2nd Chris Liston, passed unanimously.
3.5 Secretary's report:
The report was tabled by Karen Snibson. Seconded Volker Hegert. Passed.
The volume of mail has been enormous this month.
BSCC board needs to give consideration to new online memberships. We don’t want to do this at this stage, there are inconsistencies with CSV management of this.
A great deal of mail surrounding the track review and petition.
3.6 BMX Report:
Wayne Jolly tabled the report. Seconded Stuart Brien. Passed
Items arising from the report.
David Ronaldson from the City of Ballarat has sought information 1) regarding the initiation of the BMX subcommittee. Karen has fwd details of this to Roger and 2) regarding the structure of the BMX subcommittee. (Previous recommendations has been to include chair, treasurer, membership and secretary.)
There was acknowledgement that prior to the development of the BMX track, there might be an interim re-establishment of the old BMX track. Des Hudson is interested in the progress of this.
Doug Armstrong has contact details for Karen Jones who may be able to share her expertise in the area.
BMX has gained council permission to stock-pile on the site for the re-establishment of the track.
Wayne will continue to liaise with David Ronaldson.
4.0 General Business
4.1 Melbourne to Ballarat - thanks. The board and club would like to acknowledge the contribution of stake holders which made this race a success. Stuart has commenced this process.
4.2 Marty Busch reserve master planning. The City is about to undertake work with the development of master planning. We would like consideration to be given to BMX, MTB and Road Race provision in the area.
4.3 Membership – was discussed in the secretary’s report. The club doesn’t wish to pursue new online memberships at this stage.
4.4 Law suit. The BSCC has received correspondence from the Bilston family solicitor. This letter was circulated to all board members. CSV board has asked for further elaboration of the issues raised. There has been no reply at this point.
4.5 Petition: Doug Armstrong gave a brief in relation to the petition. There was no CSV board vote on the petition. A reply is on the way from the department of justice. The issue remains ongoing.
4.6 Echuca - Buninyong schedule conflict: the draft of the summer racing carnival shows no change in the scheduling of the Echuca junior track carnival. The carnival still clashes with the Australian Open Road Champs at Buninyong. It is believed that our letter (requesting a change to the scheduling of the Echuca carnival) did not receive due consideration by the CSV race commission.
4.7 Social event. There is a guest speaker, at this point this is a secret. Club championships will be held on the same day. Presentations will be made on that night but will take up only 15 minutes of the evening program.
4.8 Buninyong Gold King: There was no festival at the start of 2010, new committee for 2011. There was discussion about the possibility of hosting a king of the mountain for road and MTB disciplines.
4.9 Financial support for riders: The board would like to continue to support those riders who have been selected to represent their state at national level. However the board believes that additional consideration needs to be given to the way that the funds are distributed. With this in mind the following amendment was proposed:
1) A rider seeking financial assistance to support their participation at a national event (upon selection for a state team) should write to the treasurer of the BSCC board. The decision to award the funds will be at the discretion of the board and will not be paid retrospectively. Riders will be able to apply for a maximum of $150 per discipline (ie road, track, mtb, bmx) per calendar year.
Proposed by Gerard White, second by Stuart Brien, passed unanimously.
4.10 Oz Masters Support Event: Stuart Brien informed the board he has been approached to assist with running a warm-up event for the masters’ championships. This assistance would probably be in the form of provision of marshals. We could recommend assistance from other community groups.
4.11 Masters championships BBQ - we have been requested to host this. Chris will be the contact for this.
4.12 Peter Martin has expressed an interest in joining the board.
Gerard passed the motion that Peter join the board. This was seconded by Karen and passed unanimously.
4.13 DISC events: CSV Track forum has identified 5 or 6 Saturday night track events to be held at disc. If we are interested in hosting one of these we need to do an expression of interest. Karen to let Roger know
4.14 Track inter-clubs: Doug let the board know that Caulfield Carnegie and Brunswick have expressed an interest in holding inter club track events. We need to let our track committee know this.
4.15 Assistance for VSCC - volunteers are needed for this Thursday.
People to help are Gerard, Chris, 2 CSV staff, Carol Armstrong, Roger and Geoff Carey.
Meeting closed: 9:30

**********

Agenda - 17 / 8 /10 meeting of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office 7:30pm
1.0 Attendance:
Board members:
Apologies:
In attendance:
2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report:
3.2 Road report:
3.3 Track report:
3.4 Club development report:
3.5 MTB report
3.6 Secretary's report
4.0 General Business
4.1 Melbourne to Ballarat thanks
4.2 Marty Busch reserve redevelopment
4.3 Membership reporting & online memberships
4.4 Bilston solicitors' correspondence
4.5 Doug Armstrong petition update
4.6 Echuca carnival update
4.7 Club social event
4.8 World’s warm up event

MTB: Vince In the News

Vince Mader made it into Southern Exposure's latest eNewsletter for all the world to see and wons tickets to the AusBike Expo for this efforts. See article below.

Beeac Tri Series: BSCC strong, Colac rules

BSCC junior cyclists were strongly represented, as always, at the Tri Series race at Beeac today. Reports and results from the junior races will follow. BSCC senior numbers, by comparison, were down. Mitch Brogden and James Crafter, pulled back to 3 minutes (2nd scratch) after their superb rides at last weekend's Les Brookman memorial, did BSCC proud. They both worked strongly in the windy conditions to gather up the two bunches in front of them, and hold off the scratch bunch until the start of the 3rd and final lap. In a big peloton on narrow roads with strong winds, the front of the bunch was the place to be, and both riders had the courage and the legs to stay there as the numbers were steadily reduced. The limit riders were mown down with 5 km to go as the heavens opened. James survived the ensuing chaos, and finished strongly in the top ten, in a straight-line downhill finish dominated by Colac's big sprinters. Mitch, who might well come to specialize in these types of finishes in the near future, was unlucky to miss the final selection, and finished a few seconds back.

Stay tuned for official results.

MTB: 2010 BSCC MTB Fixture

Updated 29 April.

The link in the article below is now fixed. Click on it and you will actually download the 2010 MTB fixture, which hasn't changed since it was released in March.

People, when you notice missing or broken links, factual errors, or other problems on this web site, please 60,101,109,62,116,101,108,108,32,117,115! We do intend for this web site to actually be useful. Please help make it so. Every article has a link at the bottom to the email address of the 60,101,109,62,119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121. - ed.

*****

Dale Boucher, MTB maestro, writes:

MTB Fixture 2010

Please click HERE for the first edition of the MTB racing fixture for 2010. The first few BSCC events are on the on-line calendar on this web site. The fixture includes:

- BSCC XC MTB events approximately every 3 weeks, for seniors and junior. BSCC will be conducting these events under full MTBA requirements, so riders from all MTB clubs are welcome. Non-members are also welcome, but require a day licence.

- Other major XC MTB events including State XC rounds, 6hr Endurance races (Enduros), and other major XC MTB races around Victoria.

- The marshalling roster for 2010 BSCC MTB events.

Marshalling at BSCC MTB races

All BSCC MTB events will have a chief marshal and an assistant to set up the course, collect fees and record riders. Chief marshals and assistants are listed for each BSCC MTB race on the fixture and the on-line calendar. MTB marshalling will use the same rules as road events. It will be your responsibility to find a replacement if you’re unable to marshal and you will not be permitted to race MTB events until your marshalling duty has been performed.

BSCC Junior Races

Juniors riders will race prior to BSCC senior MTB races. Most BSCC MTB events will have a junior loop which removes some technical elements on certain courses. We will keep the junior races to around 30 minutes race time.

Parents are very welcome to come along and encourage the juniors as we would like to make the junior races and enjoyable experience.

We hope to conduct some skills training for juniors in the coming weeks. These will include bike set up, cornering, gear selection and braking.

Social MTB Rides

We will be offering a number of social rides throughout 2010 on courses in Canadian, Nerrina and Creswick. These courses will be marked out and the first lap is guided, then it’s up to you. Riders can ride for a little or as long as they like.

The social rides are not formally associated with Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, they are aimed at getting MTB riders together and going for a ride. You don’t need to be a BSCC member to participate in social rides.

Juniors may be able to attend but we may need some assistance from parents. Stay tuned for more details - dates, locations, start times.

Skills training

We will be offering skills sessions in the coming weeks to both senior and junior riders. The aim of these sessions will be to improve your ability to corner fast, controlled braking and general bike control. (Highly recommended for roadies! - ed., a roadie) Stay posted for further details.

XC MTB Summer Criteriums

Every Tuesday night until 30 March, XC MTB Criteriums are held at Recreation Road, Mt Clear (next to Mount Clear College). Action Starts at 5:45 pm for juniors and 6:15 pm for seniors. All the details are here, and the results so far are here.

Race fees for BSCC XC MTB Events

Adult MTBA and BSCC Member - $5 per race

Adult MTBA Member - $10 per race

Adult BSCC Member - $15 per day licence

Adult/junior non member - $15 per day licence

Junior member - $3 per race

Ride Days to Other Clubs

We are planning to travel to nearby MTB clubs to participate in local races. Geelong and Castlemaine offer regular racing too. We’ll keep you posted.

Maps of MTB trails around Ballarat

Coming soon on this website, the soon-to-appear XC MTB section will have links to our regular loops and trails in and around the Ballarat area. Stay tuned!

Vintage Bike Show, 8-9 May

From Dale Boucher

Vintage Bicycle Collection

Ballarat’s annual Heritage Weekend is on May 8 and 9, and there is one collection and exhibition that will interest cyclists. A showcase of over 160 vintage bicycles from pre- and post-1900’s will be on display at the Mining Exchange, 8 Lydiard Street North. Entry to the exhibition is free. Come along to see how they were made and why we love them. For more information please click HERE.

BSCC riders in the news

BSCC criterium champion Rhys Gillett took a solo win in the final road race stage in A Grade at the Tour of Southern Grampians last weekend. This is a huge achievement! - up against full-time pro riders with years of racing under their belts. We will be hearing more of Rhys. BSCC riders Jay Bourke and Damien Turner were also up there in A Grade, as was Beth Canny in the women's race. Andrew Weightman and state crit champion Harry Crothers-Bade flew the flag for BSCC in B grade, as did Clive Silcock, Scott Bilney and Mitch Brogden in C, and James Crafter, Darryn Murphy and Roger Bade in D. Please click HERE to read Jay Bourke's account of the A-grade race.

Anyone who has seen Ciaran Conaughton climb will not be surprised to hear that he starred in the State junior mountain climb and time trial champs up at Mt Buffalo on the weekend. CSV lists Ciaran as second in the M17 Stage 1 TT. Roger Bade writes: "Ciaran has to be the best non-sponsored junior in Victoria at the moment!" Ararat CC member Thomas Hamilton won Stage 2, the race up Mt Buffalo, and took second overall. Chris Liston writes: "In the J15 event at Mt Buffalo, Joshua Liston finished 3rd in the time trial and 3rd in the mountain road race, which gave him the same placing overall in his category. Dominic Geoghegan, who has been struggling with illness and form over the summer, hit his straps in his speciality event, climbing. He finished the 23.5 km Mt Buffalo climb in fifth, leaving behind several highly-rated riders, and finished his tour in 6th overall."

BSCC observes ANZAC Day

Chris Liston writes:

To honour the memory of those who made sacrifices to give us the freedoms we have to participate in sport, this wreath, made by Rebecca and Chris Liston, was laid on behalf of the club at the Sebastopol Cenotaph by Ian Nunn (BSCC Life Member), Chris Liston and Josh Liston. The small symbol of our remembrance had the flowers threaded into a bike wheel. The message on the back read, "For the freedoms we now have, may we be forever grateful for the sacrifice."

Lest we forget.

BSCC riders are invited to Colac CC club races

From the Colac Cycling Club:

Colac Cycling Club Saturday winter road racing commences Saturday May 2nd, 2009, and runs every Saturday until September 5th.

Where: every race starts and finishes at Beeac Hall and Recreation Reserve, 55 Lang St, Beeac, VIC 3251.

When: register at 1:00 PM for a 1:30 PM start.

What: every race is a handicap, and all races are on a flat course around Beeac. Separate senior and junior races are held each week.

Please enter in advance, by the Thursday before the race, with Clare Jehu (106,101,104,117,64,119,101,115,116,118,105,99,46,99,111,109,46,97,117, or phone 03 55951088),
Cameron Shaw (99,97,109,101,114,111,110,115,104,97,119,64,97,97,112,116,46,110,101,116,46,97,117), or the handicapper, Jillian Warton (phone 03 5265 1378). Entries on the day are accepted.

All holders of a current Cycling Australia racing license are welcome.

We of little faith

At 1:26 AM today, Ballarat time, at last, the cards fell Cadel Evans' way. His attack at the foot of the last climb left the favorites looking at one another, and a handful of minutes later a bemused-looking Evans crossed the line to become the 2010 world champion, the first Australian to do so.

We have known for some time that Cadel has the gifts and the ambition to become Australia's most successful cyclist. We know he's clean: any dope would make it look easier than he does. We also know that he does not fit any of the standard Aussie sports hero molds - the laconic hard man (Bradman, Stuey), the super-talented larrikin (Warnie, Robbie), and more recently the AIS-polished glamor machine (a hundred swimmers, Brad McGee). Two years ago, Evans was the underdog who cracked the Tour podium. July '08 he was in yellow, wound up like a spring, and at war with his rivals, his team, the press and the world. All our doubts surfaced. He's ours, and we want him to win, but ... he has no tactical sense, no leadership, no sprint. This July, some of us restrained ourselves from saying I told you so. Some of us did not, even some who have met him, and seen his intellect and his will at close quarters. More of the same in Spain. OK, he doesn't give up, but the real winners make their own luck.

Yes, they do. And if it doesn't come, they keep fighting. They learn, but they do not pretend to be what they are not. After Spain, he did not give up his dream, but he did loosen his grip on it, and something somewhere moved.

Forgive us, Cadel. We doubted you.

Road: the 2010 UCI Road World Champs

28 October: one last post-script on the worlds. Check this out. Yes, it's in Italian. Scroll down the bottom and you'll see a photo of our own Mike Bigarelli.

The front-page headline in Monday's Age was "Cadel Evans Loses World Title." That's one way to look at it ... Most of us (including the Age journalists) were pretty pleased with it. Geelong turned on the weather, John Trevorrow turned on some brilliant courses, the organizers turned on a flawless event, the volunteers turned on their enthusiasm all day, and the riders gave us thrilling races. Phinney and Durbridge; Cancellara in a league of his own; Matthews, the latest from the seemingly bottomless well of Aussie male cycling talent; Vos and Bronzini vs. Cooke and Arndt, the most exciting finish, for our money; Gilbert vs. the sprinters, Hushovd vs. Breschel, and Pozzato vs. the finish line. Wow! That was once in a lifetime, folks.

The future of Ballarat XC MTB racing is BSCC

Dale Boucher, BSCC MTB maestro, writes:

In June 2008, Phil Orr invited BSCC members to a cross country (XC) mountain bike race in Invermay. The aim was to see if members were interested in this form of racing. 16 members came out and had great fun slopping around in the Invermay mud. Post race members wanted more MTB events.

We now hold monthly MTB races, which have attracted a number of new members to the club. However, for MTB racing to grow in Ballarat, we needed to be affiliated with MTBA (who overseas all MTB racing in Australia) (see below for more details- ed.). A meeting was held on Monday night to discuss and vote on the best way to promote MTB racing Ballarat.

Three options were discussed:
1. Establish a new MTB club.
2. Establish a XC subcommittee at Club Mud (the existing Ballarat MTB club, now focused on downhill racing - see below - ed.)
3. Establish a MTB subcommittee within BSCC, and affiliate with MTBA

We are proud to announce the riders have voted to have a MTB racing section within BSCC. This recommendation will now go to the BSCC executive for approval.

Being affiliated with MTBA will allow the club to host major MTB races, issue day licences and invite other MTB clubs and riders to participate in club races.

There is the potential to pick up a further 25 to 30 new members, and give new and current members options across all three disciplines: BMX, Road & Track, and MTB.

Dale put a huge amount of work into co-ordinating the MTB races so far, and in setting up this discussion. Big thanks to him, and also to Tim O'Doherty, who facilitated the discussion on Monday night. The discussion was very level-headed, and everyone at the meeting agreed that no matter what was decided, the core group would stick together and work for the future of XC MTB racing in Ballarat. This represents the new gold standard for bringing new groups of cyclists into BSCC! The decision to go with BSCC is, in our view, a huge win for the club. The group of cyclists coming into the club bring a new perspective on the sport we love, a huge wealth of experience in organizing events (our opinion: organizers of road events would learn a lot by attending a state series MTB event), and bike-handling skills that most of us would not believe. Welcome! - ed.

*******

The Future of XC MTB Racing is in your hands

We all know the Ballarat district and cross-country (XC) mountain bike racing are a perfect fit. Now it’s your turn to determine the future direction of Ballarat’s MTB racing.

Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) is the governing body for all MTB racing in Australia. They will allow another Ballarat cycling club to be affiliated with them. The idea of having a second MTB club in Ballarat has arisen because Club Mud, Ballarat's original MTB club, will continue to specialise in downhill racing.

Currently BSCC monthly MTB races are being under Cycling Australia (CA) jurisdiction. This places some limitations on these races. If regular XC MTB races were run in Ballarat by a club with MTBA affiliation, this would allow:

- Major MTB races to be held (eg. 6-hour events)

- Members of other MTBA clubs to be invited (eg. Castlemaine & Geelong). That is, the races could be run as "interclubs" or "opens" in CA (road racing) terms

- Day licences could be purchased by non-members for $15, allowing them to race

MTBA membership, allowing entry into any MTBA race, is also much cheaper through an MTBA-affiliated club then through a CA-affiliated club.

Here are the options that would allow MTBA cross-country races to be run in Ballarat:

1. Have a MTB racing arm of BSCC (affiliated with MTBA, not CA)

2. Develop a new Ballarat XC MTB club

3. Encourage Club Mud to develop a XC section.

A meeting will take place on Monday 26th October at SMB campus, Room T032 in the Brewery building (T) from 7:00pm. Please click HERE for a map of the meeting location. All Ballarat MTB riders (including non-members of BSCC), please come along and have your say about your preferred way forward. At the end of the meeting, we will have a vote. All BSCC members and 3-race permit holders who have raced at least one BSCC MTB race will be eligible to vote. If the vote is in favor of option 1, a recommendation will be made to the BSCC board. BSCC's Tim O’Doherty will mediate the meeting. See you there.

BMX is back in Ballarat

Here's the press release that Stuart Brien sent to the Courier:

BMX Back in Ballarat

After an absence of 10 years, BMX is getting a new lease of life in Ballarat with today’s announcement that Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club has formed a new sub-committee to spearhead the development of a competition-grade BMX track at Marty Busch Reserve, adjacent to the club’s velodrome. Wayne Jolly, an Australian Masters BMX gold medalist and self-confessed BMX nut, approached BSCC about developing a BMX division within the club and building a track that complies with BMX Victoria standards, to enable Ballarat to host state-level BMX competitions.

“Our aim is to seek council approval to redevelop the track and create a membership structure under the banner of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, and have monthly or fortnightly club races,” said Wayne. In the 1980’s, when BMX was at the height of its popularity, Ballarat was home to two BMX clubs that boasted some three hundred members combined. Wayne says that emulating a quarter of that success for this new venture would be an outstanding result.

Wayne approached the BSCC committee in August to float the idea and there was unanimous support. “This further strengths the club’s position as cycling's representing body in the Ballarat region, and we’re very excited to expand down this path,” said BSCC committee member Stuart Brien. “It gives kids a chance to get into the sport on some great facilities and compete at a level not seen here in Ballarat for many years.”

Membership details will be developed over the coming weeks and posted on the club’s website (this one! - ed.), and it’s hoped that the BMX track upgrades will be completed by Christmas. Enquiries can be made via the website or by calling Wayne Jolly on 0408 946 742.

*****

What the Courier published is HERE.

This is very exciting! With the imminent formation of a cross-country mountain bike racing arm of BSCC, the club will soon cover road, track, XC MTB and BMX racing. The opportunities for bringing new young riders into the sport have now expanded considerably.

And by the way, when you think BMX, don't think ET and suspensions for performance-degrading substances. Think Robbie McEwen, Leigh Egan, Sven Nys - the Eddy Merckx of cyclocross, the most dominant and for our money the most exciting cyclist of the modern era - and of course Alan Cureton. Wanna know where that explosive sprint comes from? Soon you won't have far to look. - ed.

Road: 2010 BSCC Senior Road Aggregate: The Winner Is ...

From Charlie Stebbing, aggregate aggregator:

After long deliberations, and many checks and re-checks by the BSCC super-computer, we finally have a result for the fiercely-contested BSCC 2010 Senior Road Aggregate. And the winner is ... Craig Lightfoot!

It went right down to the wire. Liam White's superb ride at Taltarni almost did it for him, but Craig's second place there (by a few centimeters) was enough to give him the coveted trophy. Here are the final standings:

Lightfoot, Craig 32
White, Liam 31
Turley, Thyane 27
Grigg, Stuart 26
Stewart, Don 26
Zelley, Kylie 25
Bade, Roger 24
Blomeley, Aaron 24
Gilbert, Grant 24
Keirl, Damien 24

Congratulations Craig! We expect to see your Jodi Lee Foundation profile updated almost immediately.

Remember, the points system we used this year was:

BSCC handicap races: 1st=8, 2nd=6, 3rd=4, 4th=3, 5th=2, Marshal=1, Start=1
BSCC scratch races: 1st=4, 2nd=3, 3rd=2, Marshal=1, Start=1
One extra point is allocated each time you race in your club jersey, or your sponsor's jersey if you have Cycling Australia-registered sponsors.

You'll notice that no points are awarded for fastest time in handicaps, so this points system means the aggregate is not aimed at our elite riders. This has been the topic of some spirited discussion on the forum.

****************

Late October - Charlie Stebbing, aggregate aggregator, writes:

According to officially verified calculations, here are the current standings in BSCC's 2010 senior road aggregate. It's exciting enough that we have three riders tied at the top of the standings with one race to go. But there's more. We give 8 points for a win in a handicap race, and an additional point for wearing a club jersey. So if a rider who currently has 26 - 9 = 17 points wins the Taltarni handicap, with a club jersey on, and the rest of the placings at Taltarni are such that nobody else has more than 26 points after the race, the Taltarni winner would win the aggregate on countback. The list below shows that, if this calculation is right, we have no fewer than 20 (yes, twenty!) riders capable of winning the aggregate! (The list below is in points order, and includes everyone with 17 points or more.)

It's a fair bet that the field will be large and the racing brisk at Taltarni on Sunday November 7. See you there!

BSCC 2010 senior road aggregate, as at Sunday October 17 (after the Wallace handicap)

[Lastname Firstname total points so far]

Grigg Stuart 26
Lightfoot Craig 26
Turley Thayne 26
Stewart Don 25
Zelley Kylie 25
Gilbert Grant 24
Keirl Damien 24
Bade Roger 23
White Liam 23
Blomeley Aaron 22
Martin Charles 22
Clark Ben 21
Denno Scott 20
Ross Wendy 20
Cody Shane 19
Edwards Sam 19
Mirabella Tony 19
Snibson Victoria 19
Keirl Melissa 17
Townsend Scott 17

Points system:

Handicap races: 1st=8, 2nd=6, 3rd=4, 4th=3, 5th=2, Marshal=1, Start=1
Scratch races (all grades): 1st=4, 2nd=3, 3rd=2, Marshal=1, Start=1
One extra point is awarded to each rider who races in a club jersey.

Small Dog criteriums: start times for senior races

Phil Orr, road race co-ordinator, writes:

With increasing numbers of riders in the senior-masters Small Dog criteriums on Wednesday nights, we're now running four grades, A-D. Last Wednesday we ran C and D first, then A and B. So we had A and B grades racing on the same circuit at the same time. We start the two races half a lap apart, and the objective is to keep the two races separate. Last Wednesday, the A and B grade races became entangled. It didn't affect the outcome, but we want to avoid it in future.

So from this Wednesday, December 2, onwards, we'll start senior B and D grades at 6 PM, and senior A and C grades at 6:30 PM. See you there!

BSCC 2009 senior road aggregate

Throughout BSCC's 2009 road season, race committee member Charlie Stebbing has been quietly keeping a tally of senior aggregate points, to identify the most consistent senior rider. Now that the Taltarni road race is over and the 2009 BSCC road season is done, we have a winner!

But before we reveal the winner's identity, here's the points system that was used. Points were awarded as follows:

For BSCC senior handicap races: 1st = 8 points, 2nd=6, 3rd=4, 4th=3, 5th=2.

For BSCC senior scratch races: 1st = 4 points, 2nd=3, 3rd=2.

For all senior races, riders were awarded 2 points for marshalling and 1 point for starting. So the points system rewards the most consistently-placed riders in BSCC club races during the season, with a strong bias towards high placings (not fastest time) in handicap races. There are many ways to run an aggregate, and there's a discussion on the forum on this very topic, but this is the way it's been done this year.

OK - enough suspense. Here are the top 20 (or so) in the points tally for the 2009 BSCC season:

1. Stuart Brien 32
2. Darryn Murphy 32
3. Alan Cureton 31
4. Tony Mirabella 30
=5. Matt Albiston 27
=5. Terry Collie 27
=5. Jason Haire 27
=8. Mitch Brogden 24
=8. Rhys Gillett 24
=8. Joel Hossack 24
=11. Phillip Orr 23
=11. Don Stewart 23
=13. Neville Bilney 22
=13. Peter Kyatt 22
=15. Rob Doyle 21
=15. Stuart Grigg 21
=17. Peter Kiel 19
=17. Wendy Ross 19
=17. Charles Stebbing 19
=20. Peter Canny 18
=20. Douglas Garley 18
=20. Damien Keirl 18
=20. Andrew Weightman 18

Darryn was unfortunate enough to break his collarbone in a crash and miss the last part of the season. So the aggregate winner for 2009 is the rider of the top two with the highest placing in the last race of the season - Stuart Brien. Congratulations Stu!

The top part of the tally contains a mix of riders, as we'd hope: new and experienced, young and ... seasoned, men and women (well done Wendy!), front-markers and scratch riders.

A big thank you to Charlie for doing the numbers. Next season we will keep the aggregate tally posted throughout the season, and we'll do the same for the Small Dog criteriums, starting soon.

MTB: Mont12 Race Report

from the pen of David Eldridge

Last weekend, 23-24 April 2012, nearly 3000 riders converged on Kowan Forest near Canberra for the 20th Mont 24 Hour Race.

It’s a teams’ event. My brother James, a keen 24 hour solo competitor, recently turned 50 so he invited me and a couple of mates - Trevor, a regular rider in big events such as the Mountains to Sea, and Rob, a strong road rider who owns a mountain bike - to be an over 50s team – Bonza BookKeeping. On Friday afternoon we camped and took a tour of the circuit. After so much recent rain the organisers had contingency plans to abandon, but this week the wind blew, sun shined and the circuit, albeit sticky in places, was magnificent. 18.6 km of long, flowing single track connected by stretches of fire trail, steady climbs wending up the hill and along the top of the forest, then a dynamic series of downhills and the inevitable climb returning up to the mid-point before trecking through more forest and swooping down to the event centre.

By Saturday morning organisers, spectators, sponsors and riders packed the site. Event Pirate Radio pumped out rock music and announcements. From rider briefing 600-odd starters congregated at the toilets for a 300m run up to where their bikes waited, held by team-mates.

The first few sprinters flew off but then the pedestrian traffic crawled. James ran creditably in the first fifty but 3km into the first lap he was already five minutes behind, such was the traffic jam. Trevor rode our second lap then, powered by banana, coffee and Gu, it was my turn. Pleased to be overtaking more riders than passed me, landmarks from the day before came up rapidly. Through Native Patch, a pretty bush remnant, butterflies fluttering at the entry, back out along more fire trail and through the pines again. Here and there mud sucked tyres, there were a few tight sections of rocky single track, but for the most part the trails flowed as fast as I could pedal. The best bit came next – the long series of downhill culminating in Rolling Thunder. No-one passed me there! Back to transition and Rob took off on his first ever lap of mtb racing. Minew as just over an hour – almost 30 minutes quicker than our practice – so I went off to have a little sleep. The others churned through their circuits, until I rode into the dusk for my first ever night ride. Not so quick but still snappy on the downhills.

James and Trevor doubled up the next laps so Rob and I could sleep for nearly five hours then do our double share to dawn. After checking our times I slept, crawling out of my swag about 2am. At transition my borrowed lamp gave out, leaving only my new headlamp. It had to do. Handing the dud to Trevor to charge I rode into the stream of headlights bobbing along the trails. The track, which had seemed to be drying out with the traffic on my dusk lap, was damper and greasier in places. At a fallen tree I came off like a beetle, rolling over on my back, still clipped in - no harm done. Native Patch smelt like honey in the dark and I was doing ok with one light only. Up the top I could hear a steam train in the dark, or was it a party at the neighbouring Seismic Station? A bloke on a drum kit pounded out a powerful beat, whooping and hollering with the passing cyclists – a fine start to the downhill. Lap complete, transition to Rob, then an hour or so to kill. Unfortunately the light had not charged. I whacked my helmet-lamp on the charger, hoped for the best, before I took off into the almost frosty night. Now the sticky bits were oozing and it was harder going. Then – disaster! Somewhere between Native Patch and the drummer my headlamp expired. Pitch black on a narrow track, a passing parade of racers asking after me, but not much help to offer – not that I expected it. This was my problem and I would solve it – with my iPhone torch app! Holding it before me, over 10km to go, I struggled on one-handed, its meagre glow lighting a few black metres of track. Occasionally I would follow a properly lit rider but there was no substitute for a good beam, particularly on the downhill. On the way back up, a kind rider sat just in front and guided me the last 7 km. Now dawn was showing too so he and I rocketed down to transition. Our slowest lap would have been much worse without the good Samaritan – one of myriad tales of goodwill from the event. Our average lap increased overnight, but maybe we could get a 20th circuit in. James powered off then Trevor, doing another lap on a new demo dually, returned. My magnificent Epic was willing as was my mind, but my legs, lower back and saddle sores were debating. Certainly more riders were passing me than on my first lap. All that was cured by my final fling through the downhills. On the way back up a rider passed me saying “It’s over”. With 5 km and 15 minutes to go perhaps he was right, but then there was 3 km of downhill to the finish. Just as the transition came into sight I heard the PA. countdown to noon - 20 seconds too soon! I kind of felt disappointed but Rob looked relieved and we were all happy to finish together.

How did we go? Not bad, seeing there was no over-50s category. Bonza BookKeeping came about 11th in the male over-40s and we were the oldest average age of all the teams. Check out the Mont 24 hour website for more detail. This is a great race. Enter early for next year. You can be on our team if you are old enough!

MTB: April Dirt Girls

This month we're heading back to the sweet, and slightly technical, trails at Creswick. They're incredibly fun. What better way to spend a Saturday morning than enjoying time on your bike, with a bunch of like-minded gals, and finished off with a coffee. And cake... Come along!

All levels are welcome. Yes, it is a slightly more technical ride, but one of our aims is to improve the riding ability of the women who come along. And that means learning how to ride the more technical stuff. We will teach you how!

Ride Details

When: Saturday 2nd April, 9 AM start
Where: St Georges Lake carpark, Creswick
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

New in 2011
There is a small change to the structure of the monthly rides this year. They will now fall under the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club social riding structure. This means that riders will be required to either hold a Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) membership, or purchase a Day Licence on the day for $5. An MTBA membership for social riding costs $70 or a full racing licence can be purchased which costs $125. Both run for 12 months and include membership of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club (check out the club website
www.cyclingballarat.com.au).

Why are we making this change? Basically for insurance purposes. An MTBA licence covers social ride participants in the event of accident or injury. Full details are available on the MTBA website www.mtba.asn.au.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

Track: The Weather Gods Smile on the BSCC Madison

BSCC track tsar Roger Bade writes:

BSCC Club Madison Championship and End of Season Carnival, Sunday March 27, 2011

The weather gods shone down on us for this one, with the most perfect day imaginable dawning on the Marty Busch track for our final senior event of the year. The Mannix family went to a huge amount of trouble to produce a catering spread not seen at the track for many years: a barbecue, cakes, slices, drinks and friendly service meant we were extremely well looked after. All the food was donated, so it the feast was also an unexpected fund raiser for the club. This was greatly appreciated!

Racing was hot all afternoon, with exciting events across all divisions. In D Grade, wins were well spread, but it was young Angus Cocking who produced the most stunning win with a powerful sprint in the final straight to take out the first event of the day.

Amongst the women we saw quality racing from the likes of Under 17 strong woman Vic Snibson up against recently-crowned Under 15 national pursuit champion Emma Bilston and a string of younger riders. Vic took out the first race in a sprint to the line but in the second Emma used all her pursuiting skills to smash the field. In the wheelrace we saw the most thrilling battle of the day, as middle marker Harriet Pickersgill rode through the field to take the lead with a lap and a half to go. Scratch rider Snibson looked completely out of it with two to go. Yet by the final turn the two girls were shoulder to shoulder, and all the money was on Vic - but Pickersgill would not give in and the battle down the final straight did justice to any elite wheelrace. The photo gave the money to Snibson by the narrowest of margins.

In B grade we saw a battle of young versus old with Josh Liston in particular showing he is about to make his mark in senior racing. Nick White too displayed excellent bike skills and great determination to push his Under 15 gear to the absolute max. A and B Grades also benefitted from the presence of Colac riders Ron Kelly and John Hunt, and indeed it was Kelly who made a mockery of his handicap to take out an easy win in the “money race”; the 6 lap handicap.

Rob Doyle returned to the track, amidst rumours of secret high-speed training behind the motor bike. Elite mate Rhys Gillett loaned Rob his BT flying machine for the day, and was there to offer encouragement in person, so Rob was always going to be hard to beat. In the opening scratch race this was exactly what played out. With a trademark Doyle attack only a couple of laps in, and absolutely zero effort to chase from anyone else bar tough man Liam White, Doyle took an easy win. It was also clear that some riders with more social activity than training under their belts were keen to “keep their powder dry,” and so we saw that unfold with Ciaran Conaughton taking an easy win in the Progressive Points. In the wheelrace, Liam White outfoxed Harry Crothers-Bade, who left his run to the line way too late and gifted young Whitey the money.

It was the madison the big boys had really come for, so it was with great anticipation that riders and spectators awaited the final event. The pressure was on the combo of Rob Doyle and Harry Crothers-Bade, the two strongest riders on the track, to deliver the win that was expected of them. The minor placings were far less certain. Doug Garley, the most experienced rider, a madison maestro and no mean sprinter, was paired with the feisty Liam White, a rider almost as aggressive as Doyle. They were up against the huge pursuit engine of Ciaran Conaughton, and rapidly-rising young star Josh Liston. The dark horses were the experienced Colac pair of handicap winner Ron Kelly and John Hunt; and Roger Bade and Paul Crack.

As expected, Doyle and Crothers-Bade went on the attack right from the start. They timed their attacks well, and their lead was never seriously threatened. The battle for second place was close and ferocious, and went right down to the end of the race. Liston, who looks stronger every time he rides, was on fire, and took several sprints from Garley, a rare feat, often assisted by massive slings from his much larger partner Conaughton. But in the end Garley's perfect positioning and changes and the relentless attacking of Liam White sealed the silver medal for the pair, with Liston and Conaughton a fighting third. Kelly and Hunt made it look easy in fourth place, and Bade senior and Paul Crack were an evenly-matched fifth.

All in all it was a top day at the track, for riders and spectators alike. This was the last BSCC senior race for the 2010-2011 season, and what a cracker season it’s been, with the Saturday afternoon series, the Sebas Little Six, and the spectacular Victorian madison champs.

The very last race of the season will be the club track championships, run on Thursday week, April 7.Click HERE for all the details.

RESULTS

Race 1: D Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Angus Cocking, 2nd, Adam Begbie, 3rd, Rochelle Liston
Race 2: Women A Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Victoria Snibson, 2nd, Emma Bilston, 3rd, Courtney Mannix
Race 3: B Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Josh Liston, 2nd, Paul Crack, 3rd, Roger Bade
Race 4: A Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Rob Doyle, 2nd, Harry Crothers-Bade, 3rd, Liam White
Race 5: D Grade Progressive Points (Handicapped), 1st, Beatrice Pickersgill, 2nd, Harrison Calloway, 3rd, Rochelle Liston
Race 6: Women A Grade Progressive Points (Handicapped), 1st, Emma Bilston, 2nd, Vivien Mannix, 3rd, Harriet Pickersgill
Race 7: B Grade Progressive Points (Handicapped), 1st, Nick White, 2nd, Josh Liston, 3rd, Tim Paton
Race 8: A Grade Progressive Points (Handicapped), 1st, Ciaran Conaughton, 2nd, Liam White, 3rd, John Hunt
Race 9: D Grade Handicap, 1st, Harrison Calloway, 2nd, Beatrice Pickersgill, 3rd, Angus Cocking
Race 10: Women A Grade Handicap, 1st, Victoria Snibson, 2nd, Harriet Pickersgill, 3rd, Courtney Mannix
Race 11: B Grade Handicap, 1st, Ron Kelly, 2nd, Tim Paton, 3rd, Josh Liston
Race 12: A Grade Handicap, 1st, Liam White, 2nd, Harry Crothers-Bade, 3rd, Doug Garley
Race 13: A Grade Madison, 1st, Rob Doyle and Harry Crothers-Bade (66 points), 2nd, Doug Garley and Liam White (-2 laps 30 points), 3rd, Ciaran Conaughton and Josh Liston (-2 laps 21 points), 4th, John Hunt and Ron Kelly (-3 laps 12 points), 5th, Paul Crack and Roger Bade (-3 laps 2 points)

Track Schedule:
Thursday April 7, 4pm to 7pm – Junior Club Champs

MTB social ride, Sunday 28th March (supported by Navajo)

MTB maestro Dale Boucher writes:

In January and February, we conducted some successful MTB social rides in Canadian, Nerrina and Creswick, in the lead up to the Otway Odyssey. These events were very popular, with many new faces coming along and riding new trails.

Our next social ride is this Sunday, 28th March, at 8 AM, beginning at the dirt criterium course off Recreation Road, Mt Clear. We’ll be taking riders around Phil Timpano’s Canadian super loop which is 17 kms long. Here's a link to a map:

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/21950611

Ignore the start point on the map. Start point is at the dirt criterium track.

Our social rides are designed to satisfy MTB riders of all abilities, so we’ll break up into slower and faster groups to keep everyone happy. You don’t need to be a BSCC member either, any rider is welcome. You’ll have insurance cover too, as club sponsor Navajo Cycles has insurance cover for social rides (shop rider insurance).

Recce de Chris Cashin circuit, Sun 28 March

Here are brief results from BSCC's third road race for the 2010 season. Marshals for the event were:

Chief marshal Tony Mirabella. Marshals Scott Keating, Ben Morrison, Darryn Murphy, Andrew Pearson, Dave Peters. Thank you all! Remember: no marshals, no road racing ...

Numbers in A grade were depleted due to the state masters criterium championship and (for Phil Orr) a mountain bike stage race. The word was that Andrew Weightman, Jon Townsend, John Polkinghorne and Ciaran Conaughton were heading out on a "training ride," but we all know what happens when a few blokes, especially these ones, put numbers on. A team time trial was the order of the day, driven by strong men Weightman (on his "B" bike) and Conaughton (on his new one). Conaughton's relentless rise continued as he pipped Townsend in a sprint finish. This might be Jonny's last road race with BSCC: he is about to move to Hamilton, New Zealand, to teach the Kiwis a thing or two about cycling. His perfect pedalling form and somewhat twisted but never-failing sense of humor will be much missed. Good luck, Jonny!

Before the B grade race, warnings circulating amongst the old hands about the strength of star triathletes and new BSCC members Grant Gilbert and Bungaree winner Sam Turley. The race started sedately, but soon the field was left in no doubt as to Gilbert's intentions. He hit the front into the strong headwind on Weatherboard Hill, lined the field out, and amazingly stayed on the front until Addington. The pace ramped up on the gentle slopes of Mt Misery, until Sam Turley blasted off the front. He was eventually pegged back by hard chasing from Ben Clark, Stuart Brien and dangerman Charles Martin. Soon enough the A grade express train blasted past, and in the confusion Turley cleverly attacked again. This turned out to be the decisive selection. Brien and an increasingly strong Charlie Stebbing went with him. Martin zipped across the gap solo, annointing himself as a firm favorite for the win. Ben Clark hesitated for a moment, realized he had gapped Gilbert and Jonathan Lacey, so gritted his teeth and dragged himself across the gap alone.

For the next 15 km, the front group rode at full speed. A few feared a late attack from Gilbert. Martin, by far the best sprinter, gambled that punishing the climbers Clark, Stebbing and Turley on the flat would maximize his chances of staying with them on the short climb before the finish. Martin's tactics proved superior. Gilbert, in a huge effort, unassisted by Lacey, rode himself back onto the front group before the last rise, but this was his last significant effort for the race. The expected attacks did not come on the rise, so Martin, suffering more than his rivals knew, hung on. Instead the final attacks came on the flat run-in towards the finish. Stuart Brien took his trademark Fabian Cancellara flyer with 2 km to go, into the banked right-hand bend. Turley missed the bend, and with the composure of someone with far more road racing experience, calmly rode through the grass and gravel, onto the road, and threw down his last ferocious attack. It unhitched the exhausted Brien and Stebbing, gapped Clark, and served as a perfect lead-out for Martin, who clinically dispatched Turley with 150m to go. Clark hung on for a well-deserved third.

C grade - Don Stewart writes:

Seven racers rocked up for the C-grade race around the modified 45 km Mt Misery loop from Burrumbeet Hall. Weather was almost ideal, overcast and cool . There was a moderate northerly wind which slowed down the pace for the first 10 km of the race but really helped for the final sprint.

The field had a natural split in age and, to a certain extent, experience. Liam White, now a seasoned racer , MTB star John Carmody, who was having his second road race, and Thayne Turley, who has recently joined the club made up the "Young Turks," while the "Old Boys" consisted of 1980s gun and multiple club champion Geoff Braszell (making a welcome return to racing), Craig Lightfoot, Roger Bade and Don Stewart.

The pace was fairly sedate for the first 10 km as the group hit the head wind and climbed up the Weatherboard Rd rise and out to Addington School. On the flat before the Mt Misery climb, Liam White made a surge and opened up a gap of 50 m, which he held to the first step up Mt Misery. On the downhill stretch to the turn at Black Bottom Rd, the group rotated, taking equal turns at the front, and was clocking up over 50 km/h. They swept up Meg O'Doherty and Sean Lee, who had dropped off D grade and enjoyed the higher speeds for a short while.

From then on the pace was high heading back to Burrumbeet. Inexperience saw Thayne Turley and Craig Lightfoot taking long turns on the front. At the rise about 4 km from home, Craig Lightfoot (who has declared he is no sprinter) decided to crank up the pace to try and shake off the sprinters. However, everyone was now very attentive to any move, and it was shut down very quickly. With 1 km to go, Craig made another huge surge, which did break up the group. John Carmody jumped across quickly and got Craig's wheel, and Stewart managed to get over too. Lightfoot proceeded to keep his head down and the speed up in order to dislodge the other two. The chasing group was led by Braszell but couldn't quite bridge the gap of 30 m. So it came down to judging the final lunge for the line. Carmody made the first move with 200m to go but Stewart had his wheel and pressed past him for the win, with Lightfoot having enough in the tank to keep out the chasing group for 3rd.

Refreshments of pies, cake and drinks were enjoyed at the Hall with the other grades, and overall it was a great practice session for the Chris Cashin Memorial Race on April 24.

Results:

A grade

1. Ciaran Conaughton

2. Jon Townsend

3. Andrew Weightman

B grade

1. Charles Martin

2. Sam Turley

3. Ben Clark

C grade

1. Don Stewart

2. John Carmody

3. Craig Lightfoot

D grade

1. Melissa Keirl

2. Nicholas White

3. Kylie Zelley

*************

From Kylie Zelley

The sun is warm on the backs and faces of the hopeful contenders, the bikes (and their riders) primed and ready for the challenges of the road before them. As the eyes of the racers continue to search the skies for signs of foul weather and beneficial wind direction, the friendly banter disguises the mind games that are an integral part of the pre-race warm up. “Geez, shouldn’t have had that last drink last night.” What race are we watching unfold? No, it’s not the Tour de France, not even the Tour of Bright. We’re watching the elite and the not-so-elite (myself included) preparing to tackle a reconnaissance of the “Chris Cashin Memorial”.

This weekend, BSCC has changed the course to take in the initial lap of the Chris Cashin Memorial circuit, also known as the Mt. Misery circuit, but it has a hitch: the race will skip ”The Avenue” (I say yay to that!). As the peloton heads north from Burrumbeet Hall, we will continue north along the Burrumbeet-Ercildoune Road, past the normal turnoff to the right, up around the bend to the west and yes, you guessed it, we’re going north up Weatherboard hill. That’s it, the one on the right as you turn the corner. It’s not that bad: I remember the expletives when I reached the top of the Pimple two weeks ago. From here we continue until we take the Chris Cashin turn off to the left (Weatherboard-Addington Rd). Not too many hills but some nice undulations (from what I can remember: the mind goes a bit vague after about an hour into a race – maybe that’s why we can keep punishing ourselves). All in all a pleasant ride – but as a race it’s not for the faint hearted.

Are you up to the challenge? Do you want the chance to suss out your rivals? Take the opportunity this weekend to race the circuit and plan your attacks for the major race. Which of your compatriots do you need to become more familiar with?

Racing starts at 10 AM Sunday, 28th March. I know who I need to watch out for – do you?

CSV Masters at Burrumbeet: BSCC rules

Official results and reports will follow soon, but here's a taste. In A grade, Phil Orr countered after a trademark huge attack by country champion Andrew Weightman, and a break of three riders was formed. Phil, on major form after last week's enduro win, towed the break around for the last several laps and easily overpowered them to win the sprint. In the B grade event, John Polkinghorne launched the attack of the day, and a furious chase by all the non-Ballarat riders in the race was required to bring him back. This largely took the sting out of the field, setting the race up for another perfectly-executed sprint from Alan Cureton, the Oscar Freire of Ballarat. BSCC called the shots in C grade as well. After a promising early move by Tim Oliver and Michael Veal was chased down, the terriers Darryn Murphy and Charlie Stebbing broke loose at the start of the last lap. The pair rode at a ferocious pace to ensure a BSCC victory, with the canny Stebbing taking his second win in a row. Tim Oliver, returning to the form that saw him ride off scratch with the masters a few years back, edged out Michael Veal for the bunch sprint for third. And to cap off the day, another newly-crowned country champion Gail Oliver took a close second in the womens' race.

Don Stewart, the event promoter, writes:

Here's an event that is not on our club road race fixture, and if you don't check the Cycle Sport Victoria (CSV) calendar, you will not be aware of the it. Entries are through the CSV website and entries close this SUNDAY, June 21.

On Sunday June 28, BSCC is hosting a series of masters graded scratch races around the Avenue circuit. The events start at Burrumbeet Hall at 10.00 am. This is a CSV open event, like the Fred Icke or Melbourne-Ballarat, and cannot be entered by the usual channel through Phil Orr. Entries must be lodged through the CSV website. Entry costs $40, but the prizemoney is $200 for the winner of each grade. Places paid in each grade will depend on entries, but we expect to award prizemoney down to 3rd place. Grades will not be assigned based on age, but rather on recent race performance. The event is open to all holders of CSV Masters licences. We will run at least 4 grades, A to D, and up to 6 (E and F) if we have enough entries. We encourage all BSCC members of masters age to enter.

Please see the CSV website for full details, especially on the entry process. Please note that entries close this Sunday, June 21, so please enter now.

This is a new event on the CSV calendar. We would like to see a big turn-out from BSCC masters-age members. If you're not racing, please consider volunteering to marshal. We need six marshals. Please contact Don Stewart if you're available to marshal, or if you have any other questions about the event: phone 5333 3914 or email 100,115,116,50,54,53,49,49,64,98,105,103,112,111,110,100,46,110,101,116,46,97,117 .

BSCC strong but empty-handed at Casterton

Updated: the official story and results are now posted on the Cycle Sport Victoria web site.

A number of BSCC senior riders made the long trek to Casterton on Saturday, June 27, for the 64th running of the Wal Smith Casterton 50, an 80-km (50-mile) handicap. Although this race is at the wrong time of year to attract today's Euro stars, it has a proud history, with legends Russell Mockridge and Sid Patterson on the fastest time list, in 1956 and 1959 respectively. Ballarat riders are part of its history, too. Dennis Shaw was first and fastest at the height of his powers, in 1980, and since then Rod Hetherington (1998), James Pugh (2001), Scott Keating (2007), and Bob Braszell (2008) have been winners.

This year, Ballarat riders rode strongly, but came away empty-handed. Tavis Baker, last year's winner Bob Braszell, the in-form Scott Townsend, and Jonathan Lacey started on the 18 minute mark, chasing three front groups including a 30-minute limit group. With the calm, dry, sunny conditions, even over the tough Casterton course, the middle-markers needed a few strong, inspired riders to give them a chance. Their odds dropped when Scott Townsend, one such rider, punctured minutes into the race. The 18-minute group was caught with 25 km to go by the 14-minute group, including Scott's cousin Jon Townsend, and this improved the chances of both groups, but by this time the three front groups had combined and were gone, with no Ballarat representation after the flying Darryn Murphy decided to save himself for Sunday's masters race. Damien Turner rode his usual powerful race from scratch, and drove his group to catch the 4-minute group, but they were far from the middle-markers' group, let alone the lead. Turner was overpowered in the fastest time sprint by the strong Titans team, centered around Bendigo's evergreen Tim Decker.

Most of these Ballarat riders will now re-load for the Cecil Shore Memorial Hamilton 75, a similar but longer race in two weeks, and the Melbourne to Ballarat in three weeks.

Road: Marshals needed for Cape Clear

We need two more marshals for our leg of the Tri Series road races at Cape Clear on Saturday. After Geelong did a top job running their leg of the Tri Series last Saturday at Meredith, we want to make sure our event runs at least as smoothly. So if you're available, please contact Wendy Ross by 101,109,97,105,108 or on 0408 170 410. Thanks!

Road: BSCC Juniors Star at State Road Champs

Chris Liston writes:

Emma Bilston secured another championship win, taking the Victorian W15 10 km road time trial championship at Wangaratta. She narrowly missed the double, as her main rival and good friend Courtney Field (Carnegie-Caulfield CC) took the sprint in a thrilling finish of the road race title, leaving Bilston the silver medal.

M19 Victorian 100-km champion Ciaran Conaughton rose to the occasion, taking runner-up in the M19 time trial over 18 km. Ciaran missed the championship by a mere three seconds. He along with BSCC’s James Crafter were in the hunt for the M19 road race championship too. Conaughton was in the first bunch of eight riders that made a break. In the final kilometres the front group swelled to sixteen. In a tough fight for the line, Conaughton placed seventh, a great effort after four gruelling laps of the Glenrowan Taminik Gap circuit.

Angus Lyons took bronze in the M15 TT and placed fifth in the 35 km road race. Clubmate Joshua Liston was right beside Lyons at the line in the road race, settling for sixth. Nicholas White slid out on the turn in the time trial, and came in mid-field in the road race that contained over thirty riders. Patrick Cosgrave, in his debut hit-out at the state titles, finished not far off White, and enjoyed the experience of racing in a large group of the state's best riders.

In the M17 championships, Liam White continued a strong year, finishing sixth in the time trial, and in the main bunch in the road race following a late breakaway of two riders. W17 riders Emily Wordie-Thompson and Victoria Snibson made their field of women earn their road race medals and were unfortunate not to be in the places. Both finished in the top six.

Sub-juniors Dylan Bilston and Rochelle Liston represented BSCC in the boys-13 and girls-11 races respectively. Bilston found his legs again in steadily improving form. He took fifth in the time trial, and finished off the 15 km road race with a great bunch sprint to take bronze. Rochelle placed fifth in both the TT and road race.

Please click HERE for the official results.

Road: Final BSCC 2011 KOM Scores

27 September update

Following the final round of the BSCC 2011 King of the Mountains competition at Learmonth, we have a winner! Stuart Grigg is the A-grade KOM winner, Ben Clark wins B grade, and Angus Lyons wins C grade. Congratulations to the Kings of the Mountains!

Here are the scores. The format is NAME Round1Placing Round1Points Round2Placing Round2Points Round3Placing Round3Points Round4Placing Round4Points TotalPoints. 27 September update - we had some A-grade Round 3 points wrong - now corrected. Grant Gilbert gets second place by one point!

The points system is copied from the one used in the Victorian MTB Enduro Series:

1 80
2 65
3 55
4 48
5 43
6 38
7 33
8 29
9 25
10 22
11 20
12 19
and so on in one-point increments.

A Grade

STUART GRIGG 5 43 3 55 3 55 3 55 208
AARON BLOMELEY DNS 0 2 65 1 80 6 38 183
GRANT GILBERT 7 33 6 38 2 65 4 48 184
JAY BOURKE 1 80 DNS 0 DNS 0 1 80 160
MATT CLARK 2 65 DNS 0 DNS 0 2 65 130
TONY MIRABELLA 4 48 7 33 DNS 0 7 33 114
PAT SHAW DNS 0 1 80 DNS 0 DNS 0 80
WARREN FANECO 3 55 DNF 0 DNS 0 9 25 80
BRAD CLARK 8 29 4 48 DNS 0 DNS 0 77
SAM TURLEY 9 25 DNS 0 DNS 0 5 43 68
LIAM WHITE DNS 0 DNS 0 4 48 DNS 0 48
CHARLIE MARTIN DNS 0 5 43 DNS 0 DNS 0 43
MICHAEL PIERCE 6 38 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 38
JOSH COLLINGWOOD DNS 0 DNF 0 DNS 0 8 29 29
PHIL ORR 10 22 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 22

B Grade

BEN CLARK 1 80 DNS 0 1 80 1 80 240
SAM EDWARDS 5 43 DNS 0 3 55 2 65 163
JEREMY DOOLAN 2 65 1 80 DNS 0 DNS 0 145
PETER KIEL DNS 0 2 65 2 65 DNS 0 130
NEVILLE BILNEY 7 33 6 38 DNS 0 3 55 126
DOUG GARLEY DNS 0 3 55 DNS 0 DNS 0 55
SAM PALANCA 3 55 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 55
GUY FALLA 4 48 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 48
PETER WALKER DNS 0 4 48 DNS 0 DNS 0 48
SHANE CODY DNS 0 5 43 DNS 0 DNS 0 43
SHANE BUTLER DNS 0 7 33 DNS 0 DNS 0 33
DAMIEN KEIRL 8 29 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 29
THANE TURLEY 9 25 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 25
JOEL HOSSACK 10 22 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 22
STUART BRIEN 11 20 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 20
MATT SMITH 12 19 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 19

C Grade

ANGUS LYONS DNS 0 1 80 1 80 1 80 240
JOSH LISTON 2 65 6 38 3 48 2 65 216
RYAN KERR 3 55 4 48 DNS 0 DNS 0 103
BEN MORRISON 6 38 DNS 0 2 65 DNS 0 103
JACK THOMPSON 5 43 DNS 0 DNS 0 3 55 98
CHARLIE STEBBING DNS 0 3 55 DNS 0 5 43 98
BRUCE STEWART 4 48 7 33 DNS 0 DNS 0 81
WILL STEWART 1 80 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 80
DON STEWART 8 29 DNS 0 DNS 0 6 38 67
ROB FORSYTH DNS 0 2 65 DNS 0 DNS 0 65
JONATHAN LACEY DNS 0 DNS 0 3 55 DNS 0 55
WILL KEY DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 4 48 48
DAVE PETERS DNS 0 5 43 DNS 0 DNS 0 43
SIMON WALLIS 7 33 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 33
MICHAEL VEAL DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 7 33 33
TERRY GOLDIE DNS 0 8 29 DNS 0 DNS 0 29
CRAIG LIGHTFOOT 9 25 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 25
GERERD WHITE 10 22 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 22
PAUL CRACK 11 20 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 20
PETER KYATT DNF 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 0

Lunch at The Herald Sun Tour Finish Line

Lauren Mann from KIDS Foundation writes:

This year the KIDS Foundation (KIDS) is hosting a function in Ballarat to be held in conjunction with the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. KIDS are fortunate to have been selected as a Charity for the Tour.

We are partnering with Ballarat Regional Tourism to host a corporate lunch on Wednesday 12th October, 12 noon until 2.30pm, at Pipers on the Lake. We would love to see you there! HERE is the flyer.

Why support KIDS Foundation?
The words FUN SAFE LIFE are synonymous with the KIDS Foundation programs. The KIDS Foundation works to redress the startling childhood injury statistics. Every day, more than 5,000 Australian children are injured unintentionally and of those, more than 100 require hospital attention. More children die from injury than from disease. Yet safety education is not embedded in school curriculum, and post-injury support services in Australia for children are virtually non-existent, or poorly funded.

Injury Prevention: Active nationally through pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, the Kids Foundation delivers highly commended interactive safety education programs that reach in excess of 100,000 children annually. It is all about keeping children SAFE for LIFE.

Injury Recovery: For 19 years, KIDS Foundation has been working with children and families surviving the impact of life-changing childhood injury, with a specialization in recovery from severe burn trauma. For the children assisted through KIDS Foundation, every day is a victory. When young lives are interrupted by long-term on-going rehabilitation and medical procedures, KIDS Foundation injury recovery programs seek to make LIFE a little easier. Programs include peer-to-peer support networks, mentoring and residential camp experiences.

If you would like any more information, please click HERE to go to our web site.

2010 National Masters Road Champs are in Ballarat

Please click HERE for Ballarat City Council's press release about the National Masters Champs. HERE is Cycle Sport Victoria's version of the story. And HERE is what the Courier wrote. Do we know those two good-looking cyclists in the photo ...?

The gist of the story is this. The Australian Masters Road Cycling Championships will be held in Ballarat between Friday 24 September 2010 and Tuesday 28 September, 2010. This is the UCI-affiliated championship, not the competing one with which the old Ballarat Vets club was aligned. The masters champs are the week before the big one: the 2010 UCI world road championships, which, in case you have been on another planet for the last few months, will be held in Melbourne and Geelong between Wednesday September 29 and Sunday October 3, 2010. The Australian Masters Road Cycling Championships will be hosted by Cycle Sport Victoria, Southern Vets and BSCC.

Note that the courses for the Australian Masters Champs have not yet been decided. What are your votes? Discussion on the forum is coming soon.

There will be a lot more discussion of this over the coming months. It will be a very big event for Ballarat cycling. All you old dudes, start training now!

MTB: Retro Racing Criterium this Tuesday

Ah, remember when mountain bikes had steel frames, no suspension and dodgy rim brakes. This Tuesday’s criterium, we’re turning back the hands of time so you can pull that old bike out of your shed and come retro racing. Bring your old trainer, single speed, cyclocross, mud basher or your Gove townie.

Last week we banned lycra and leading up to Christmas we want to offer different racing for the next three weeks. Modern bikes will be permitted if you don’t have an old retro bike.

Wanted: club kit for kids

Shane "Jedi" Cody writes:

Hi - just wondering if anyone has some children's BSCC uniforms they no longer use and would like to sell. I would love to get my kids in club gear and would rather buy pre-loved as they grow out of them so fast. Please contact me via the forum, or at 106,101,100,105,64,105,110,116,101,114,110,111,100,101,46,111,110,46,110,101,116. Thanks.

Road: All-Ages Team Sprint, Saturday May 29

27 May update, from Chris Liston, event coordinator:

We will run this year's event as a combined-ages team time trial, from slowest rider to fastest, with a gap between teams. A selection of "goodies" will be awarded to team members.

(See below: this is a basic outline. The event will be modified on the day, dependant on entries and competencies. Just show up and enjoy it! - ed.)

**********

Next Saturday's BSCC road race, May 29, will be a repeat of last year's inaugural All-Ages Team Sprint event. All of last year's participants enjoyed it.

Chris Liston, inventor of the event format, and this year's event coordinator, writes:

The All-Ages Team Sprint event is a fun event, designed to bring all age groups in the club together for a common points race objective. Here's how it works. All the entrants are placed into eight or so groups of roughly equal ability, from "big, fast riders" - the club's elite members - all the way through to our youngest U7-U11 riders. We create teams of eight or nine riders, one from each group, with the "big fast rider" as the team captain. Then the fun begins. The event is conducted on the 7-km Triangle road circuit at Haddon. All the riders from each team start together. On the first lap, team members shepherd their youngest riders around the course, and at the end of the first lap, the little ones have a sprint for points. They then stop, and the next lap is a sprint between the second riders in each team, the U13s, who end up riding a 14-km (2-lap) event. Team members, who might not know each other before the event, work together and encourage the nominated team member to complete his or her lap. This continues for seven or so laps until only the "big, fast riders," the team captains, are on the course to contest the last lap. the scratchmen bring home the final lap and collective team time after 7 or so laps. Points are awarded for each sprint, and the team with the most points at the end of the event is declared the winner.

This is a basic outline: it will be modified slightly on the day, dependant on entries and competencies.

The event starts at the Haddon primary school at 2 PM on Saturday, May 29. Please enter as usual with 80,104,105,108 by 5 PM Friday. Please direct questions to 67,104,114,105,115, who will be the coordinator on the day.

**********
Here's a reprint of the report from last year's event:

The Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club conducted its first ever combined junior – senior club teams race on Saturday April 18, around the 3 km Mag Dam circuit in Snake Valley. The event brought together Masters, Seniors, Juniors (U13, 15,17) and Sub Juniors (U9 and U11) into teams of eight and nine riders. The exercise was predominantly a fun event designed to bring all age groups together for a common points race objective. Another goal was to find out who is the “Mr Cycling” of Ballarat, as team captains Rob Doyle, Scott Keating, Scott Townsend, Matthew Smith and John Polkinghorne mentored their brood of cyclists on race day.

The first section was a combined team time trial, where the four or five youngest riders in each team set the pace over the first few laps, with the team supporting them. The young riders then dropped off, and the U15/17 riders brought their teams home on lap four. Each team was awarded points for their placing in the time trial. Angus Lyons brought home Matthew Smith’s team for the maximum points with their time of 28:57, Emma Bilston delighted team manager John Polkinghorne as runner up in 29:36, and Joshua Liston had his team in third in 30:50. Rochelle Liston and Beatrice Pickersgill, the smallest two riders in the club, worked hard for teams Keating and Doyle respectively.

The second section of the event saw senior, master and women riders regroup and start a team points race. After two neutral laps, there was a sprint each lap, with each team’s number four riders contesting the first sprint, number three the second, number two the third, and the big guns contesting the fourth and final sprint. A strong lead-out from captain Keating saw Chloe Hegert win the first sprint from Gail Oliver and Kylie Zelly. On the second sprint, Liam White sprinted with a vengeance for the line but was second to Peter Kyatt. As the top-seeded riders came to the fore, race strategy came into play, but young gun Mitch Brogden showed that youth and strength often triumphs over age and cunning when he took the penultimate sprint from Jonathan Lacey and Neville Bilney after leading for the entire lap. The final sprint by the team captains and top seeds saw track strong man Scott Townsend get over Rob Doyle and Matt Smith with Scott Keating and John Polkinghorne in close contention.

In the end Team Smith gained enough points to take the event outright from the Keatings, with Polkinghorne taking third. The minors went to teams Townsend and Doyle respectively. Race organisers Chris Liston and Tony Mirabella were pleased with the outcome. “We have proved we can do combined racing that involves everybody and is good racing. It is an engaging spectacle and develops relationships between riders and spectators. The club now has a base model we can refine and tune and the membership enjoyed the ride! – that is what we are about,” Liston said, and for the record, Mr Matthew Smith might be the current BSCC “Mr Cycling.”

The John Collier Road Race: updated

Go to the on-line calendar, go to May, click on RR on May 23, and you'll see a link to the Collier report & results. This is the way we'll be posting all our race results from now on. The old Club Racing > Results page is now an archive for results of races before May 23.

Introduction to Google maps

Google map tips

On each Google map, the race course is shown as a blue line.

To move around on the map, click the arrows in the top left-hand corner of the map, or put your cursor down anywhere on the map, hold the left-hand mouse button down and drag the map in the direction you want to move. Release the mouse button when you've finished dragging.

To zoom the map out (e.g. to see the race course and your house on the same map), click the minus (-) sign at the bottom of the vertical bar at the left-hand edge of the map. Click the plus (+) sign at the top of the bar to zoom in for a close-up.

To see a Google Earth aerial photo of the race course instead of a map, click the "Satellite" box in the top right-hand corner of the map.

To see contour lines, click the "Terrain" box in the top right-hand corner of the map. [Editor's note: the contour intervals are 200m, so even Buninyong and Warrenheip look flat. Google is based in northern California, one of the geologically newest places on the planet, where a ride or hike is regarded as flat unless it has >1000 m of climbing. Australia is geologically the oldest and hence the flattest continent, which is why we do not produce many climbers ...]

Each map has labelled balloons showing the start, finish and meeting point.

Thanks Phil for making the maps (among many other things ...).

MTB skills session for juniors and beginners

From Dale Boucher

If you ride mountain bikes, you’ll know that staying upright and going fast requires a degree and range of bike handling skills not seen in other cycling formats. To help improve your MTB skills, we are offering a free skills session for juniors and beginners this Sunday at 10 AM at Recreation Road, Mt Clear (where the dirt criteriums are held). The skills session will be run after the social MTB ride.

The skills training will go for 1 hour. It will cover some basics of MTB riding, including bike setup, braking, skidding and cornering. The training will be coordinated by Clinton Lemaitre, who is one of Ballarat’s leading cross country and downhill MTB racers. At the end of the training you’ll have more confidence to go riding in the bush.

Anyone who has a MTB is free to come along and learn about improving their bike handling skills.

Ballarat Madison Championship 2009

Ballarat Madison Championship 2009

1^st Damien Keirl and Harry Crothers-Bade(Sovereign Hill)

2^nd Sam Witmitz and Thomas Hamilton (Holden HCC)

3^rd Ciaran Conaughton and Joshua Vicino (Ballarat Sebastopol CC)

The final night of track racing for 2009 saw some great action on the Colin Smith velodrome. Katie Lyons, Craig Firman and Hugo Tolliday took out the three junior wheelrace finals all sponsored by the Ballarat Cancer Research Centre. In the A grade men’s warm up motor pace the speed was on from the start and form rider Reese Gillett was too strong - taking it out from the fast finishing Horsham rider Sam Witmitz and Camperdown elite junior Xavier Gstrein.

With this being the final carnival before the federally funded $280,000 track upgrade (due for completion September 09) it was appropriate that the feature event be one that offers so much potential and excitement for the club going into the next few years. The madison is the king of track races so it was no surprise that the race drew riders from as far afield as Melbourne, Horsham, Camperdown, Colac and Ararat. Perhaps even more exciting was the fact that so many of our juniors and seniors were up to the challenge of competing with the invading riders. Youngsters such as Conaughton and Crafter did the club proud with their courage and track-craft as they navigated the slings and attacks of the more experienced rivals. Adopted Ararat rider Thomas Hamilton showed tremendous maturity to team with Horsham UB student Sam Witmitz and challenge for the lead through the entire race. The Gstrein brothers raced hard from the start and made a mockery of their recent focus on road rather than track. Ciaran Conaughton had recruited well during the week, somehow convincing state team member and mate from Melbourne, Josh Vicino to make the trip up the highway. Together they were a fearsome combination proving hard to chase and even more difficult to get away from. In the end it was the traditional combination of the gasping but explosive sprinter and the constancy of the in-form enduro rider that brought home the first prize. Keirl was at his dynamic best in the early laps and seemed to come from nowhere when the big points were there to be won. Crothers-Bade chased down every gap and made certain that hard won points were never given away. It was a popular win for the club champion and runner-up, a duo that seem to have gelled well across the 2009 season.

Great thanks go to all the sponsors of this final night. We look forward to seeing them, the riders and lots of supporters back at Marty Busch in November on what will be the best outdoor velodrome in Victoria.

Event sponsors

Body Torque, Europa Cafe, Navajo Everything Cycles, Kelly Coaching, Ballarat Bicycle Centre, Ballarat Cancer Research Centre, Pack and Send, Priceline Pharmacy

Full results can be found here

Madison Riders

#

Riders

Sponsor

1

Reese Gillett and Angus Riddoch

Pack and Send

2

Jarron Gardiner and Evan Hull

Ballarat Bicycle Centre

3

Damien Keirl and Harry Crothers-Bade

Sovereign Hill

4

Doug Garley and James Crafter

Hillman Cycles

5

Sam Witmitz and Thomas Hamilton

Holden HCC

6

Scott Townsend and Ash Braszell

Blue

7

Chris Jehu and Joel Macallister

Navajo Everything Cycles

8

Ciaran Conaughton and Josh Vicino

Ballarat Sebastopol CC

9

Xavier Gstrein and Matthew Gstrein

WHK Day Neilson

MTB: Vic Enduro Series, Albury

Victorian MTB Enduro Series Round 5 – Albury

(from the pen of Matt Turner)

Last weekend four BSCC members made the trip north of the border to contest the 6-hour solo category at the popular Nail Can Hill mountain bike park.

With three MTB races in the last five weeks being run in complete mud quagmires, all eyes were on the heavens as the day on the hill began in foggy and brisk conditions. We were promised a dry course and thankfully that was to be the case, but as the sun emerged the 200 riders began to sweat and as if in rebuke, the hill itself began to weep moisture and presented to us a few slippery off-camber corners.

The 10km course had three distinctive sections. Firstly was the ‘intestine’ loop, a lengthy and technical rock strewn singletrack. Riding through this required constant changes in tempo, cadence and gears as you slowed down to negotiate a rock garden on a hairpin corner, or sped up to take advantage of a dip before a pinch climb. Finally, as with most intestinal journeys, you were spat out the other end and into another smelly situation.

In this case it was 2 km of fireroad climbing where we were offered respite from the previous mental challenge and could now relax and chew on something, like our stems for instance. The climb gradient gradually increased up to around the 20% mark and by the third or fourth time around the granny rings were being dusted off and many poor souls were reduced to walking.

With legs burning but the summit in sight, gears were shifted up and the initial descent began. A short section of high speed rock garden negotiation ensued as an initial test before the point of no return as you were shunted down ‘the glock’. It was like having someone shoot at your feet and being told to dance until they had run out of bullets. ‘The glock’ was a descent at what felt like 45 degrees with four 90 degree bends in it and was generously paved with jagged pyramid shaped rocks. You know when you came to the end because there was nothing in front of you but a chasm to the hillside below and photographers on either side hoping to catch that special moment.

Once that was out of the way the rest of the circuit was gravity fed and aptly named ‘dirt luge’. It was as fast as you dared to go. More rocks, more sharp and steep corners, some boulders you could jump over, then a few switchbacks before landing back into the narrow and hectic feed zone.

As usual with these kind of races, the field soon spreads out and you never know where you are sitting in relation to the rest of the riders in your category. You just have to keep on pushing for six hours with the mindset that every minute counts, and every lap you complete brings you closer to the end. I think we were all feeling a bit underwhelmed at the beginning of the race and not sure if our legs were going to carry us through, and it was easy to let thoughts of pulling over at the end of the next lap enter your head. Strangely, Phil, Craig and myself seemed to feel better as the race drew on, and by the four hour mark were starting to pick up. Unfortunately for Will he was sliding downhill and was unable to hold his breakfast down, and by the five hour mark had to pull out due to malnourishment. Of course up until that point he was setting some blistering lap times and still placed well.

Phill Orr placed 2nd in Open Mens with 12 laps at 6.04.

Matthew Turner 15th place in Open Mens with 10 laps at 6.06.

Will Geor 19th place in Open Mens with 9 laps at 5.18.

Craig Sinclair 9th place in Mens 40+ with 9 laps at 6.21.

To give you an idea of the workload undertaken by the pointy end of the field, Phil’s 12 laps equated to 115km distance with over 2000m of vertical gain, over the kind of terrain that wants to throw you over the handlebars at every turn. Needless to say, the immediate post-race recovery period is always most enjoyable, when you attempt to replace the calories and fluids lost throughout the day, and try to numb the pain in your twitching quads just enough to be able to get to sleep that night, in spite of a system pumped full of sticky energy supplements!

The next round of the Victorian Enduro Series will be held at Blores Hill in Heyfield on July 31st.

Road: June Rec TTT

Ray Issac, our favorite roving reporter, writes:

Pre-emptive apology from the scribe: To those new riders who braved the terrible conditions last Sunday and haven’t been mentioned below, my apologies. The registration sheet was drenched by my bike clothes in the car boot and I can’t read any names on it. Come to our next ride and I promise you the recognition you deserve!

37 riders who are clearly impervious to the effects of cold winds, driving rain and misty fog for some reason assembled at the members' gate to the Ballarat Racecourse on Sunday 20 June for the Miner’s Rest RecTTT ride. The occasion was touted as the final RecTTT ride before the winter break. I can attest that this was the wintriest RecTTT ride ever and couldn’t have provided any worse conditions if it was held in the depths of winter.

One RecTTT favorite who attended but wasn’t riding was Cath McLennan, back for the first time since her terrible accident the day before the Snake Valley ride. It was great to see you up and about, Cath, and the Goddesses will undoubtedly welcome you back in a few months time! All RecTTT riders please note that Cath was a marshal at Miner's Rest. You are encouraged to put your hand up for this thankless but important task.

Given the shocking conditions, it was no surprise that the numbers were slightly down from our recent events. Even so, some of that can be ascribed to the absence of the Myer group. Their patron, Mike Bigarelli, had just touched down from his extended Fabio/Gran Fondo/Giro trip, and in his absence the group had obviously degenerated into a leaderless rabble. Time to crack the whip, Mike, and get them organized for the Burrumbeet ride in August.

After some confusion (who would have guessed), the course was set for three laps of a 23 km loop taking in Kennedy’s Road, Gillies Road, the Creswick Ascot Road and the Maryborough Road back to Miner’s Rest.

All the other teams from Snake Valley had re-assembled for the battle. The Goddesses have a mortgage on the first departure. As ever, they found novel ways to reduce their average speed. Marg Crocker attempted to take off with her front wheel fixed to her front forks by a Velcro strap. That minor difficulty overcome, they headed off. They may have had trouble mustering enthusiasm for a second lap as, after completing the first lap, three of their seven starters suffered some undefined mechanical difficulty and pulled out. Trudy and Chris Charleson were two of those three. They put their spare time to good use by firing up the BBQ and making sure the snags were good and black by the time the RecTTT teams were finished.

The remaining Goddesses pressed on, but the need for a natural break proved too much to resist for three of their team. This is a growing trend with this team. All following RecTTT riders should obviously adjust to the possibility that there may be a middle-aged woman behind any tree whilst on a RecTTT ride, and the usual rules of etiquette apply.

The eight-strong Saxon House team headed off next with John Ives, one of Ballarat’s best known financial planners, back in the fold. John is a fair-sized unit, despite his punishing training regime, and the Saxons seemed to relish the chance of sitting in his considerable wake. He added serious oomph to their team. Last ride’s CSC winner, Trevor Smith, cruised below the radar, anxious to avoid another tongue-lashing from team leader, Neil (Adolf) Goad.

In a demonstration of the sort of commitment Neil is looking for from his team, he drove himself to the point of puking as they climbed Blowhard for the last time.

Unfortunately this lesson was lost on Ivesy. True to the financial planner’s dictum, he diversified his portfolio when the powerful Yabby Divers cruised past, by latching onto their train. This investment strategy provided a satisfactory return for all. The Yabbies were unaware he was back there, and Neil was glad to regurgitate in peace without him. Of the five teams whose average speed was lower at Miner's Rest than Snake Valley, the Saxons’ speed reduced by the smallest amount. I hope that’s not damning by faint praise.

The Turret Café team welcomed Les Bilney and Stu Brien into their team. You might remember Stu from one of his earlier films. Stu and Les helped the team to a very impressive first lap. As they caught and passed the Saxons in the driving rain along the Maryborough Road, Stu was on the front, creating a bow wave that threatened to swamp the Saxons team.

However the pace was beginning to tell on some of their less experienced riders, and as they turned off Gillies Road for the second time, they were passed by the flying quartet from the Lake Health team. A momentary attempt to match their speed was brought to a crashing halt when Stu punctured his front tyre. In the true spirit of RecTTT riding the team stood off at a distance in a downpour while Stu repaired the tyre and resumed the battle. It was a bedraggled group of Turreteers that eventually limped to the line.

The Dennis Family Homes team of five included their spiritual leader, Peter Martin. The rolling hills apparently suited their roster as they eventually recorded the second –fastest time of the day. Unfortunately the curse of failed equipment struck the hapless Dennis Homes team for the second time in two rides. Fergie had to abandon again after another mechanical issue. Talk about unlucky.

The good news was that Peter Martin managed to get through the ride without cramping. The bad news was that he didn’t have any dry clothes to change into and showed up at the after-ride coffee looking like nothing so much as a hip middle-aged fixie rider from Oxford Street. Shudder!

The five Yabbies who arrived included at least two new RecTTT riders- Brad and the Old Timer, Gerry White. George announced that this was in fact the Yabbies' “A Team,” fresh from their Giro training camp, and so it proved, with a strong showing put up.

In a disappointing departure from previous Yabby efforts, however, these Yabbies were professional and debonair and did nothing to embarrass themselves or their fellow Yabbies. If they had not all got into the one car to get changed into some dry clothes after the ride, I would have struggled to write anything about their attendance at all.

The tyros from the Lake Health were mentioned earlier. They had added two boys named Huggett to their team. I am predicting illustrious RecTTT careers for these young men. That is not just based on their excellent bike riding – theirs was the only team to increase their average speed from the previous ride – but the fact that that increase was just 0.01 km/h. Improvement, but not so much that further improvement is impossible. We applaud this skill in those so young!

The results were:

Goddesses 23.95 km/h (down 0.75 km/h)
Saxon House 28.79 km/h (down 0.27 km/h)
Turret Café 32.48 km/h (down 3.56 km/h)
Dennis Family Homes 34.25 km/h (down 0.74 km/h)
Yabby Divers 34.15 km/h (down 1.17 km/h)
Lake Health 37.45 km/h (up 0.01 km/h)

We tried to enjoy the BBQ, the coffee van, the cold drinks and the company, but it was really a bit chilly for such frivolity.

The CSC Award was hard fought, with most of the shenanigans mentioned earlier coming under notice. However a very popular winner was the Starter and Timekeeper, Tim O’Doherty. He unilaterally decided that two laps of cold and wet were sufficient for all the RecTTT hardheads that day. This decision is not, strictly speaking, Courageous, Stupid or Cunning, but no one seemed too worried by this technicality, and Tim was warmly applauded for his wise choice.

*********

Peter Canny, Rec TTT ruler, writes:

Thanks to the hard men and women who turned out this morning in conditions that could only be described as challenging. We had over 40 riders, with teams from Saxon House, Lake Health, Dennis Family Homes, Goddesses, Yabbies and the Turret. Ray's report will follow soon

Thanks to Wendy, Don, Cath, Trudy and Chris for assisting with today's event and Tim, Ray and Pete Martin for organizational matters. Special thanks to all marshals, who were doing it harder than the riders.

Our next event is August 15 from the Burrumbeet Hall. We would love to see old and new riders and teams.

Thanks again to everyone for a great morning of Serious Fun.

********

We're looking forward to seeing old and new teams. Remember - it is not a race but some serious fun in equaling or bettering your average speed from last time.

While for some teams it has become a ride of shame, and I don't want to name names (Yabbies and Dennis Family Homes), it is our last hit out for two months and a last chance for some to gain some fraction of respect before our winter break.

******

For some, it's time to get organized; for others, time to start training, for a few, time to fine-tune; and for others - and you know who you are - time to start sledging and making up excuses.

While some have been to Italy to find inspiration (and God knows they needed it ), and some have had therapy in the mountains of South America, others have attended courses in map reading and simple comprehension, and the majority of us have quietly been going about our training for the next big event. Remember, it is not a race, but a chance to either establish an average speed or improve on your average from last time.

We hope to see all the teams from our last event, including Lake Health and Myers, and the the old hands of the Goddesses, Turret, Yabbies, Saxons and the domestiques of Dennis Family Homes. We would be very pleased to have any other bunches out there who enjoy great riding in a fun and very social environment. You only need four to make a team, so phone a friend.

When: Sunday June 20

Where: Miner's Rest. See the on-line calendar for a map of the course and the start: click on "Road" on June 20. As the map shows, the meeting point is at the entrance to the members' carpark in Kennedys Road, Dowling Forest, off Gilliies Road.

What time: registration is at 8:30 AM. Goddesses are off at 9.10 AM. Others are off from 9.30 AM, at 5-minute intervals.

What does it cost: $5, unless you're a member

Distance: a little over 60 km - 2 laps

Attitude: serious fun.

Road: Masters Racing at Burrumbeet

This Saturday, June 26, BSCC presented inter-club scratch races at Burrumbeet, on the Avenue circuit, for masters riders. Numbers were way down on last year's first running of the event, and in fact lower than many BSCC club road races. Race promoter Don Stewart speculated that this was partly due to the decision to run the event as an inter-club, promoted solely by BSCC, whereas last year's event was a Cycle Sport Victoria open race, with CSV's promotion machine behind it. In any event, one non-BSCC rider showed up to race, and the total number of starters across all grades was little more than 20 riders. This, combined with the miserable conditions, made the racing a far cry from events earlier and later in the season with this many riders in each grade.

Full reports and official results from all grades will follow soon. Here's an account of the B-grade race.

A disappointing field of six riders started the B-grade race, 5 laps of the Avenue circuit, in cold, showery weather. The field consisted of Bob Braszell, the hard rider's hard rider, who has raced rarely this year but rode very strongly in last Saturday's Casterton 50; a steadily rising Charlie Stebbing; track specialist Matt Smith; MTB gun Shane "Jedi" Cody; the ever-powerful Peter "Engine" Walker; and Jonathan Lacey. The small field and non-selective circuit meant the tactical options were limited. Braszell laid on a trademark surge on the first passage of the Avenue, and the field dangled him ten or so seconds off the front until the turn into the headwind on the Weatherboard-Learmonth Road. This set the cautious tone for the day: probing but not fully committed attacks, closed down quickly. Nervousness about Matt Smith's sprint was also a consistent theme. On the last lap, Stebbing and Walker opened a small gap on the Henderson's Road rise. Braszell, Cody and Lacey sat back and forced Smith to chase. When Smith, in his first race back after a break, began to tire, first Lacey and then Cody and Braszell jumped across the gap. Smith chased gamely for the length of the Avenue, but didn't have enough to take on five riders alone.

The rest of the field contained no recognized sprinters. Shane Cody took to the front with over a kilometer to go, with Stebbing glued to his wheel. Cody accellerated with 600m to go, and when nobody came past him, he steadied. This prompted a strong kick from Walker with 300m to go, and finally the sprint was on. Cody kicked again, drawing level with Walker and then surging past him, dragging Stebbing and Lacey along. Stebbing fought hard but Cody was far too strong, and took an impressive victory. Walker was unlucky to be pipped on the line by Lacey for third, with Braszell fifth, and a fighting Matt Smith not far behind.

B grade results:

1. Shane Cody

2. Charlie Stebbing

3. Jonathan Lacey

4. Peter Walker

5. Bob Braszell

6. Matt Smith

Other results:

A grade

1. Scott Townsend

2. Tony Mirabella

3. Peter Kiel

4. John Polkinghorne

5. Guy Falla

C grade

1. Greg Nunn

2. Craig Lightfoot

3. Don Stewart

4. Tommy Gray (Footscray CC)

D grade

1. Jenni White

2. Kylie Zelley

Road: Noel Smith Memorial Bendigo to Echuca

Clint Flanigan, president of the Echuca Moama Cycling Club, writes:

On behalf of the the Echuca Moama Cycling Club, I would like to invite BSCC riders to participate in the 2010 Shamrock Hotel Noel Smith Memorial road race, on Sunday August 22. This event is a 93 km handicapped road race, starting at the Huntly Hall in Bendigo, winding its way through the Whipstick national park, Lockington and Kotta, before finishing on the outskirts of Echuca. Entry is $10 per rider, payable on the day, but we ask riders to pre-enter via our web site by Wednesday 18th August.

For those who are travelling to Echuca, the Quest Apartments have provided us with special rates for this event. If you need accomodation, please contact me at 105,110,102,111,64,101,99,104,117,99,97,109,111,97,109,97,99,121,99,108,105,110,103,99,108,117,98,46,99,111,109 for more information.

Please click HERE for the event flyer.

Club Vests, Anyone?

There has been some discussion about adding vests (or gilets) - those sleeveless, zip-fronted wind-breaker things - to the list of club clothing. The idea is that many riders like to race in a vest over their jersey on cold days, but of course this covers up the club sponsors' names and logos, and defeats the purpose of wearing a club jersey. If we had vests printed up in club colors, like the pros do, the problem would be solved. Apparently the manufacturer of our club clothing does make vests, but as usual, the price depends on volume.

Interested? If so, drop a line to 71,101,114,97,114,100,32,87,104,105,116,101, the club clothing czar. Let him know what you'd pay for one, and what number you'd buy at that price. He'll get back to us on whether we have enough interest to get them made.

27 June BSCC time trial: results, report & photos

For full results and reports, thanks to Rob Doyle, please click HERE. Photos are on the Gallery: click on Gallery on the left-hand menu. The photos came from Rob Doyle and Roger Bade. Thanks gents.

Roger wrote:

It was a good turn up (I'd guess 20 seniors and 15 juniors), perfect conditions, and Rhys Gillett was too good for all except the Melbourne riders. Jono Lovelock (VIS) took out A Grade, with Rhys the best of the Ballarat boys. Harry Bade won B Grade, Gail was quickest of the women.

It was great to see a mix of men and women, young and old at the start and observe the disc wheels, aero helmets, TT bars and skin suits lining up next to drop bars and 36 spokers. The one thing all had in common was a heap more toughness than those who today chose not to pull on the lycra!

BMX: Retro Racing - 31-July

Ballarat is having a retro race meet on 31st July.

Trophies for o/40, u/40 , u/30, u/20.

Pre 1985 bikes is mandatory for retro racing.

When: 31st July
Where: Marty Busch Reserve, Sebastopol
Registrations: 1pm
Racing Start: 2pm
Cost for Retro: $18
Cost for Normal Classes: $6

Ribbons for all other classes.

MTB: Social Ride at the You Yangs (edited)

written by Antanas Spokevicius:

The Wrap Up

Last Sunday saw 16 BSCC MTB head down to the You Yangs to take on some of the best single track around, and the You Yangs didn’t disappoint! Sunny weather and good company met with some challenging and fun trail action culminating in a big smile session for all. The riders broke off into two groups, the novice group lead by Anthony Rogan and the expert group (although this might be pumping up some tires) lead by Antanas Spokevicius, and took on trails that would best suite the rider skill. For the expert group this meant taking on a few black diamond runs while for the novice group blue runs were the flavor of the day.

Both groups took off from Drysdale rd car park on the Stockyards side and headed up track 1 with the expert group quickly heading back down the hill on track 9 and the novice group continuing along track 4, 11, 6 and 1 before crossing over to the Kurrajong plantation side via track 14. Once at the bottom of boulder the expert group went back up the hill via track 2, 6 and 1, back down again on track 7 (although some opted against this and went down track 13) then headed over to the Kurrajong via track 1 and 14. At the Kurrajong both groups hit the jumps on tracks 15 with Clinton inspiring all with his extended time in the air (I think they picked up at air traffic control at Avalon), before heading back to Stockyards via the road to take on track 13 and 5 to finish up where they all started 1 ½ hrs later. Apart from a few flat tires and a snapped chain all got through unscathed.

Overall the morning was worthwhile and all agreed that we should be heading down there more often. The car park was filled with cars, the track full of like minded MTB riders (Who aren’t afraid to ask how things are going!) and the trails themselves full of what it is to mountain bike; challenge, fitness and fun. The You Yangs is truly a MTB Mecca!!

Personally, I had only ridden the You Yangs in competition and it was inspiring to head out on these trails, without the pressure of a racing, and have a great time with great people. This is what mountain biking is all about!

**************************

Have you ever wondered what the You Yangs MTB trail network was like? Have you been before and want to get another taste of the sweet single track? Keen to get a bit of practice before the final round of the mighty Inter Winter series…..

Well, wait no more as BSCC MTB will be heading to the You Yangs for their next club social ride on Sunday the 25th of July.

Ride details

Those wishing to head to the You Yangs are advised to meet at 8am at the Eureka Stockade car park on Rodier St, Eureka on the morning of the 25th of July. The club trailer will be there (can take 12 bikes) and club members will be encouraged to volunteer their vehicles to transport riders and bikes to the Stockyard carpark at the You Yangs. Alternatively you can meet at the Stockyards at 9:30am. Once there, riders will self seed into two groups, fast and slow, for a 2hr group ride on some of the best single track in the state. It is anticipated that riders will be back in Ballarat by 1pm.

The cost will be a $5 donation to the fuel fund which will be distributed to those kind members volunteering their vehicles for for BSCC & MTBA members or $10 for non-members, $5 to fuel fund, $5 for MTBA social day license. Riders will be required to bring their own drinks and food as well as basic trail repair kit (pump, spare tube, chain breaker, chain link, etc).

For further details and to RSVP please contact 65,110,116,97,110,97,115,32,83,112,111,107,101,118,105,99,105,117,115

Road: Weightman leads BSCC clean sweep at Meredith

Updated: not only did the Geelong CC put on a smoothly-run event on Sunday, but their web site has a very complete report of the event, including photos. Click here to see it. You'll read all about Lewis Piccoli's win in C grade too!

Andrew Weightman led Damien Keirl and Scott Keating to a clean sweep of the A-grade podium at the first round of the Tri Series road races involving Ballarat-Sebastopol, Geelong and Colac cycling clubs at Meredith. In cold, overcast conditions with light wind, Weightman pulled off the hard man's ride that is his trademark. He attacked a mere 2 km from the start, and joined forces with Geelong's Marcus Wettenhall, brother of BSCC's Will (who is currently racing in Belgium!). Together the two rode away from the main field. Relentless pressure from Weightman on the rolling circuit eventually cracked his break-mate, so Weightman rode the last of three laps solo. Behind him, his club-mates Phil Orr, John Polkinghorne, Doug Garley and Melbourne to Ballarat star Tony Mirabella shut down attempts to chase Weightman, and looked after gun sprinters Keirl and Keating. Fueled by his disappointment after last week's close call in the Melbourne to Ballarat, Keirl made no mistakes on the slightly uphill finish and led the main field home by a Cavendish-like margin (check out the photo), with a resurgent Keating just behind him to complete BSCC's clean sweep of the podium.

This is a very encouraging set of results for BSCC. The super-talented Keirl's motivation is the highest it has been for many years, and surely a big win is coming his way soon. Weightman, too, is showing all the right signs. Another ride like today's would give him a fighting chance of a win at the Australian Masters Road Championships at Miners Rest in September.

In the B grade race, BSCC was represented by the in-form Charles Martin, Thayne Turley, Charlie Stebbing, Aaron Blomeley and Jonathan Lacey. Martin was under orders from coach Keirl to give himself a hard ride, and the entire field agreed that he succeeded. Martin attacked a number of times, was in a dangerous break with another of the strongest riders in the race for much of the last lap, and then skipped off the front again with strong man Turley and one other on the tough run back to the finish. Despite Turley and Martin holding nothing back, their group was collared inside the last kilometer, and Martin still found enough to finish a close 4th in the sprint, won by Geelong's Simon Masters. The other BSCC riders all finished in the front group, not far behind Martin. Aaron Blomeley's ride was particularly impressive: he finished ahead of a number of far more experienced and more highly-credentialed riders in a finish that, on paper, does not suit his talents as a climber.

Check out the Geelong CC site for C grade results and report. Congratulations Lewis!

BSCC C-grade riders, if you're willing to give us a Ballarat perspective on the C-grade race, please send it to the 119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121.

*********

The Tri Series, three road races involving Ballarat-Sebastopol, Geelong and Colac cycling clubs, starts this coming Saturday, July 24, with races at Meredith, thanks to the Geelong CC. Please see the on-line calendar or the downloadable road race fixture, at the top of the calendar page, for details. See you there!

MTB: Final Round of InterWinter

Just a reminder that the final round of the very successful Interwinter Series will be run at the You Yangs, Sunday August 1st. Online entries open at Entry Zone, $25/rider. On the day entries will cost $5 extra, MTBA or Day Licence required.

The 3 stage race format will be lots of fun– Time Trial, XC Olympic (multi-lap) and XC Criterium - and a great way to test yourself. Remember Series points are up for grabs and we already have over $2000 in the series prize pool!

Rego: 8:00am to 9:45am

Start: 10:00am

Location: Drysdale Road, Stockyards, You Yangs

Format: 3 stage race format (as below)

Time Trial event - each grade will have a different course - higher grade = more technical
XCO - all competitors will race around the same course, suitable for C grade riders - higher grade = more laps
XCC - short course event where each grade will race for a set time (eg C grade 10mins + 1 lap)

See Geelong MTB Club's website for more details.

Road: aggregate points after round 2

Updated!!!
We made an error in results last week. Micael Pierce finished in 4th placeat Learmonth, not Mick Veal. Sorry to both Micks!

Weekly aggregate points will be tallied and posted online shortly after each race. Here's the latest...

Rider Name     First Name     Points     # of Races
Shaw                 Pat                      12              2
Wilkinson         Simon                 6                1
Geor                   Will                     5                2
Humphrey         Paul                   5                2
Snibson             Victoria              5                2
Pierce                Michael              5                2
Garley                 Doug                 4                2
Palanca             Sam                   4                1
Bilney                 Les                     3                1
Blomeley           Aaron                 3                2
Bourke               Jay                      3                1

Points are allocated as follows:

Hcp Points             Scr Points
1st Place 8             1st Place 4
2nd Place 6            2nd Place 3
3rd Place 4             3rd Place 2
4th Place 3
5th Place 2
Sprint Points 1
Marshal 1 Marshal 1
Race Competitor 1

Track: BSCC Has Another Two Vic Champs - Scott Townsend and Doug Garley!

Last weekend, Doug Garley and Scott Townsend joined BSCC's other 2010-11 Victorian track champion Emma Bilston when they won Masters Victorian scratch race championships in their age groups at DISC. Check out the full official results and photos from Cycle Sport Victoria. The word is that Scott was on super form and beat Cam Shaw, who is not at all slow, by 5 lengths. Doug also got a silver medal in the Masters 6 keirin, and Scott was 4th in the MMAS1-2 keirin final. Scott was unlucky to miss out on a second medal: he was the 3rd MMAS2 rider, but his age group was combined with the younger MMAS1 age group. Congratulations Scott and Doug!

A few readers noticed that until today (Sunday), this piece mentioned Doug's win but not Scott's. Our apologies to Scott. Several club members emailed the web lackey email address (below) to let us know that we had two winners, but for technical reasons (unlikely to happen again) these messages were not received until today. So thanks to those who sent us the good news - please keep it coming! - and apologies again to Scott for unintentionally leaving him out of the limelight he deserves. - ed.

Track: 17 February Results

There was a full program of track racing at the Marty Busch Reserve on Thursday February 17. Here are most of the results, thanks to track tsar Roger Bade. You'll notice the return of another BSCC star of the 1980s, Malcolm Calloway, in race 6.

Roger wasn't there for the last race of the evening. If you were there, please 108,101,116,32,117,115,32,107,110,111,119,32what happened! Thanks - ed.

Race 2: Scratch, F Grade
Angus Cocking 1
Vivien Mannix 2
Rochelle Liston 3

Race 3: Scratch, E grade
Courtney Mannix 1
Maurice Koelle 2
Clancy Dickson 3

Race 4: Scratch, D grade
Nick White 1
Pat Cosgrave 2
Dominic Geoghegan 3

Race 5: Scratch, C Grade
Magnus Baker 1
Will Stewart 2
Josh Liston 3

Race 6: Scratch, 10 lap B grade
Magnus Baker 1
Will Stewart 2
Mal Calloway 3

Race 7: Scratch (20 laps), A Grade
Harry Crothers-Bade 1
Charles Martin 2
Liam White 3

Race 9: Elimination, F Grade
Vivien Mannix 1
Angus Cocking 2
Rochelle Liston 3

Race 10: Elimination, E Grade
Maurice Koelle 1
Courtney Mannix 2
Clancy Dickson 3

Race 11: Points Race, D Grade
Pat Cosgrave 1
Dominic Geoghegan 2
Bessie Baker 3

Race 12: Elimination, C Grade
Magnus Baker 1
Josh Liston 2
Nick White 3

Melbourne Madison: Hugo's podium, Harry's Houdini

Last night's Melbourne Madison - Sid Patterson GP track carnival was an eventful one for BSCC. Hugo scored a second place, and Harry pulled off an impressive escape. See cyclingnews: Hugo was second to Alexander Morgan of Blackburn in his 10-lap scratch race. And an amazing piece of bike handling from Harry was captured by the cyclingnews photographer. You've got to look at these in the reverse order to the way they're presented on cyclingnews: first Oliver throws Harry in, as per the textbook. Looks like it's hurting a bit. Then the bloke in pink decides to have a lie-down on the track in front of Harry. Harry somehow gets around him, and his tyres stay on. Harry is now heading for the middle of the track, at high speed, but he's upright. Well done Harry!

Updated with more details: Harry and Oli were hanging in there with the international six-day riders, on the same lap, when things got complicated on a change, and the rider in pink rode into the back of Harry's leg. This tipped the pink jersey off, took Harry's right foot out of the pedal, and entangled the other rider's bike with Harry's. Down the track they both went, and this is when the first photo was taken. As the photos showed, Harry stayed up, but one tyre was punctured. It took a while to change his wheel, and during this time Oli was in on his own. Needless to say the whole incident didn't do the team's standings too much good. But there was no serious injury.

In other (sketchy) news from the carnival, Scott Keating and Scott Townsend both showed impressive form in various senior races. Scott Townsend in particular will be a force to be reckoned with in the upcoming Victorian master's track champs. Stay tuned for more details.

Road: 2010 BSCC Road Aggregate: April update

Here's an update on the standings so far in the BSCC 2010 road aggregate, after the race at Kingston. Kylie Zelley now leads with 14 points, from a group of four riders on 10 points: Damien Keirl, Wendy Ross, Don Stewart, and Jon Townsend. Please click HERE for the complete top 20. Thanks to Charlie Stebbing, the numbers man.

More Guinea pigs wanted

Chris Brandner, an Honours student in Exercise Science at Deakin University, wants people on whom to do experiments, about the effect of cold water immersion as a recovery technique. This is a different project from Brad Clark's work at Ballarat University, discussed earlier on Latest News. Chris writes:

Project title: The effect of post-exercise recovery on heat acclimation

Description: The purpose of this project is to investigate the effect of cold water immersion (hydrotherapy), as an exercise recovery technique, on the process by which humans adapt to repeated heat exposure (i.e. heat acclimation). In this process we will examine exercise performance and numerous physiological factors before, during, and after a period of heat acclimation.

A total of 12-20 people will participate in this project. Participants are required to attend the laboratory on approximately 10 days (weekdays for two weeks) for a maximum of 2 hours on some days.

Volunteers must be:

o Males aged between 18-40 years old.

o Preferably endurance trained athletes.

o Actively involved in exercise training or competition on at least 3 days per week.

o Available to complete approx 10 consecutive testing days for a maximum of 2 hours on some days.

o Available to train in pairs; friends, family or a training partner.

If you're interested, please contact me via 101,109,97,105,108,32or mobile: 0422 117 274.

Regards,

Chris Brandner

B.App.Sc (Honours candidate), Deakin University. Strength and Conditioning Coach, Coburg Football Club

Latest News Updates

Check out all the pieces on the front page of Latest News. Some are dated back to early April, but all of them have been posted or updated in the last few days. The web lackey has been slacking - ed.

Marshalling, race entries, & prize money: update

Phil Orr, BSCC road racing ruler, and Terry Collie, marshalling maestro, write:

Marshalling

We're pleased with the success so far of the new 2009 BSCC road race marshalling policy. Please click HERE for a reminder of the policy. As you know, if you're not going to do your scheduled marshalling duties, it's up to you (not anyone else) to arrange a swap. Two new requests:

1. When you do arrange a swap, please let Terry Collie know by email (116,101,114,114,121,95,109,97,114,103,97,114,101,116,99,32,97,116,32,104,111,116,109,97,105,108,32,100,111,116,32,99,111,109) who will be standing in for you.

2. The safety of the racers depends on the marshals' alertness, judgment and responsibility, so the person substituting for you must be at least 17 years old.

Race entries

We've said several times (at the bottom of THIS piece, for example) that entries for BSCC road races are due to Phil Orr (0409 359 778) by 5 PM on the Friday before the race. This is particularly important for handicap races. It takes Phil some time to figure out the handicaps for each race, and to do so he must have the complete start list.

So - new edict: if you show up to a BSCC handicap race without entering the Friday before, you'll get a ride, but you'll be riding in the bunch behind the one you usually ride with. This isn't being nasty: an extra rider in your bunch requires Phil to re-jig the gaps between bunches on the spot, or it gives your bunch an unfair advantage. This way you get a ride and the handicapping isn't thrown out. And you'll probably remember to enter next time ...

Prize money

We are going to trial giving prize money out at each club race. It has been a long-held policy for BSCC not to do so, but we've been asked, "Where does the entry money go?" and we want to encourage people to stay around for the presentation after the races. So we've decided to give some of the entry money back to the racers directly, and use a little less of it to subsidize open entries, club clothing, the club's track bike fleet, and so on. It won't be sheep stations we'll be racing for, but just a bit more recognition for the people who cross the line in the first wave. Handicap races will be paid down to 5th, including fastest time, and graded scratch races paid to 3rd, depending on the number of finishers. We expect the placegetters to be at the presentation to collect their winnings, and say a few words on their race.

Road: Learmonth KOM

Updated 25 September

The fourth and final event in BSCC's 2011 King of the Mountains series was conducted in "spring classic" conditions at Learmonth today: occasional sunshine, a howling southerly wind straight from the Antarctic, gravel on the corners, and a steep climb at the finish. Heaven for the Hard Riders. Here are the official results:

A grade

1. Jay Bourke 1:24:45
2. Matt Clark @ 0:16
3. Stuart Grigg @ 0:25
4. Grant Gilbert @ 0:35
5. Sam Turley @ 0:50
6. Aaron Blomeley @ 3:48
7. Tony Mirabella @ 4:11
8. Josh Collingwood @ 4:38
9. Warren Faneco @ 5:23

B Grade
1. Ben Clark 1:25:01
2. Sam Edwards 1:25:11
3. Neville Bilney 1:25:23
4. Jonathan Lacey 1:25:39

C Grade
1. Angus Lyons 1:33:03
2. Joshua Liston 1:33:11
3. Jack Thompson 1:33:15
4. Will Key 1:33:25
5. Charlie Stebbing 1:33:26
6. Don Stewart 1:33:33
7. Michael Veal 1:33:35

A report on A grade will follow soon. Ben Clark won B grade in a tight finish from Sam Edwards, a man on the verge of big things, after both put in storming rides last weekend in Amy's Gran Fondo. Neville Bilney was a fighting third after an encounter with a tree on his mountain bike the day before the race. The revelation of last week's BSCC masters champs, Rob Forsyth, was unlucky to puncture.

In C grade, Angus Lyons looked to be heading for a solid win from the flying Josh Liston, with Jack Thompson a strong third, and Geelong's Will Key fourth. The next placings were contested between climbing machine Charlie Stebbing, one of the backbones of BSCC's Tri Series win in August, and classics specialists Don Stewart and Michael Veal.

Final 2011 KOM standings and points will follow soon.

Thanks to our tireless Chief Marshal, Chris Liston, and to his assistants Doug Garley, Peter Kiel, Michael McTigue, Ben Morrison, and Rob and Sue Parker. Quote of the day, from corner marshal Doug to the B-grade field (which Doug would have been smashing if he wasn't marshalling): "Ride faster! It's cold out here ..."

*****

This week's BSCC road race is the fourth and final event in the 2011 King of the Mountains series. Racing starts at Learmonth at 2 PM, not 10 AM as previously advertised. Please check the on-line calendar and the 2011 Road Fixture for details. (They are both now accurate! - ed.)

Click HERE for the KOM standings after the third round at Buninyong.

MTB: Race report for Beaconsfield

{from the pen of Craig Sinclair}

Three BSCC riders contested the 7th round of the State Enduro series on Sunday at Beaconsfield Upper, and all finished the day with a top 10 result. Conditions were near perfect to tackle the demanding 9k circuit.

Phil Orr continued his Series domination with an emphatic 1st place, one lap up on the field at the end of the day with 12 laps completed. Phil's win, despite a puncture and a "little get-off" cements his hold on the Enduro title for the third consecutive year. Phil's record in the Enduro Series for the last three years has been outstanding, with either a first or second placing in 17 of the last 19 consecutive rounds contested! (note: this performance comes a week after completing a 600km 22 hour week long race in the tropics.)

Simon Ellis fronted up to his third race of the year for his best result of 7th place in Open Category with 10 laps completed. Simon crossed the line in 5:59:56 and "respectfully declined" the suggestion of the timekeepers that, as the clock hadn't ticked over to 6 hours, he was eligible to go out and complete another lap! The punishing circuit bit at Simon as well, who donated some "claret" to it and left at the end of the day with a slight limp!

Craig Sinclair matched his best result of the season with an 8th place finish with 8 laps completed, and retains his current 3rd place in the 40+ Category in the series. A crash on lap 1 (with no-one else to blame this time) necessitated a delay for couple of mechanical adjustments, and was followed up with an encore crash at the same place two laps later! Craig felt a bit less of a "Gumby" on finding out after the race that it was at exactly the same place that Phil had gone down!

The last round of the series is in a month's time at Shepparton and we are looking at having a strong representation again from BSCC to wrap a successful year up.

Stolen Avanti Sprint Road Bike

Andrew Pekin, the owner of the missing bike, writes:

A bicycle that looks like the one in this picture was stolen on Friday October 21 after 5:30pm from Faversham Avenue, Lake Gardens.

The bicycle specifications are as follows:
• Black Avanti Sprint 2009 Model
• This frame is 56.5cm, and is not a common size.
• Black handlebar tape instead of standard white
• Cateye Velo 5
• Garmin Edge 500, 2.60.0.0 with a star crack on the screen and full memory
• BRAND NEW rechargeable Ay Up Lighting System in Red on the front handlebars.
• It has Shimano SL-5600 Pedals
• Topeak Pocket Master Blaster Pump
• The frame has a distinctive scratch on the chain guard bar.
• The rear light does not turn on easily and may need to be replaced.
Please contact Ballarat Police on 5336 6004 if you see the bike, hear about it, or come across someone who might be making enquiries about it or accessories for it.

Track: Bendigo Interclub, Sunday October 30

Syd Anstee from the Bendigo and District Cycling Club writes:

The Bendigo and District Cycling club is holding a track evening on Sunday October 30. Entries close at the Bendigo track at 5:30 PM. There will be at least three events - scratch races and handicaps - for senior and junior riders.

The main race for seniors will be the Precision Formworking Handicap, held over 2000m. There will also be the Dental Innovations handicap for women riders only.

If you need any more information, please phone me on 0419 130 735.

BSCC 2010 Annual General Meeting minutes

Karen Snibson, BSCC secretary, writes:

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Location - Offices of SJ Butler, First Floor 214 Mair St Ballarat.
Time: 7:30 PM
Date: Tuesday: 23rd November 2010.
Board members present:
Volker Hegert, Karen Snibson, Stuart Brien, Dale Boucher, Gerard White, Don Stewart, Chris Liston, Roger Bade
Apologies:
Peter Martin, Phil Orr, Jonathan Lacey, Peter Canny, Ian Nunn
In attendance:
Doug Armstrong, Greg Nunn, Katie Faulkes, Jenny White, Shane Butler.
1. Welcome: President Volker Hegert
Volker welcomed people to the meeting.
Apologies for the meeting were recorded; and these are listed above.
2. Minutes of the 2009 AGM
Minutes of the meeting were presented.
Chris Liston put a motion to sign the minutes as a true and correct record of the minutes
Seconded by Stuart Brien Carried
3. Treasurer’s Report
3.1 For the financial year ending 30th June 2010
The audit has been completed and it represents 20 months of club operations.
Points to note were the purchase of the vehicle, generator & tent. The club has a small stock of the club jerseys and shorts. The club remains in a strong financial position.
The final statement for the Melbourne to Ballarat race has not been completed. The club is likely to make a profit from this event.
The club has recently been successful in winning a small grant to go towards club uniforms.
BSCC has 5 VIP licenses available to 1st year junior riders.
No further discussion relating to the financial statement.
Presented by Gerard White Seconded by Chris Liston Carried
4. President’s report
Thanks to Shane Butler for providing the venue for the meeting.
The last 12 months have been busy. We acknowledge the opening of the velodrome as a significant milestone. Thanks to Roger Bade for his efforts in getting the facility up and going. It has been a long and difficult process.
We have won a grant to go toward the establishment of clubrooms at Marty Busch.
The Liberal Party has promised to upgrade the BMX track if they are elected.
The City of Ballarat is working on a blueprint for the Marty Busch space, which could include development of a criterium course and also a MTB facility.
The club has held a number of successful events. These include the 100th Melbourne to Ballarat, which included the junior Ballan to Ballarat. BSCC took on the running of the Fred Icke and again a junior event was included in the program.
MTB is growing quickly and this has become a dynamic part of the club.
The club has purchased a vehicle to assist with marshalling and to enable the club to run safe and successful events.
New board members Gerard Cosgrave & Peter Martin are welcome additions to the board. Both have indicated that they would be happy to continue in 2011.
Thanks to board members who have left. In particular we acknowledge the efforts of Wendy Ross with permits, and Tim O’Doherty for his focus on club development.
State and national representation has been a highlight. Harry Crothers-Bade won a gold medal at the national track championships. This was the first national championship gold medal for the club. Pat Shaw has also had a notable racing season. There are many others who have recorded outstanding results.
Thanks to Ray Isaac for taking over the management of memberships, & Jonathan Lacey for his involvement with the web site.
Thanks to Peter Canny for his work in the Rec TTT events. We believe this is an exciting component of cycling provided by our club.
Presented by Volker Hegert. Seconder: Gerard White. Carried
5. Election of board members
Half of the board positions are up for election annually. Therefore six positions will be vacated. Peter Canny has decided not to continue on the board due to personal commitments. There were no nominations submitted to the secretary and there were no nominations from the floor. The five other members are prepared to continue their work on the board and were duly re-elected.
We operate successfully with a board of between 10 and 12 members, so there is no pressure to fill the vacancy left by Peter. We thank all those people who have agreed to re-stand.
6. Comments, questions and discussion from the floor
- Question: How many mountain bike members do we have? Answer: 85. This justifies a further member on the board from MTB. The vacancy will be advertised on the web site. Karen will clarify the number of board vacancies.
- Comment: The structure of the current board is working well.
- Comment - club cycling clothing. Records show that sponsorship space on our jersey is an important source of revenue for the club. We will continue to seek a major sponsor for the club jersey. We want to ensure MTB members are being supported, and we will investigate the option of MTB gear.
- Volker raised the issue of funds from the former Ballarat Veterans' Cycling Club. The subsidy of Veteran licenses runs out this year.
- Update on clubrooms: contenders for the design and construction of the clubrooms:
1) A Melbourne company with experience in building council facilities, or ...
2) Club designed and built. Peter Martin and Volker Hegert are working on the options.
It is our objective to go with the option that will provide the best set of clubrooms. The figure to be used for the development is $109,000 and the club will put $5,000 into this fund. Volker will follow this issue up.
- Question: is the club facing legal action from a member. Answer: yes. This has been referred to CSV, and is currently pending resolution. This will be an agenda item for the next meeting.
- Jenny White mentioned that the club has received a grant that will go toward junior jerseys. We could investigate hire or loan of jerseys for these junior members.
- Planning is underway for the February track carnival. Roger is planning this event. We still need further sponsorship of this event.
Meeting closed: 8:55
Next board meeting: December 7, Red Lion, 7 PM. (Note changes vs. usual time and venue.)
7. Close

**********

The 2010 Annual General Meeting of the Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Club will be held at the offices of club sponsor SJ Butler, First Floor, 214 Mair St, Ballarat, at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, November 23, 2010.

Here's the agenda for the meeting:

Location- Offices of SJ Butler, First Floor 214 Mair St Ballarat.
Time: 7:30 (sharp) and close 9:00pm
Date: Tuesday: 23rd November 2010.

1. Welcome: President Volker Hegert
2. Minutes of the 2009 AGM (see below) (also an unofficial report is here - ed.).
3. Treasurer’s Report, for the financial year ending 30th June 2010
4. President’s report
5. Election of board members. As decided at the 2009 AGM (see below), some board positions are open for re-election. If you wish to nominate yourself or someone else for a position on the board, please email the nomination to 75,97,114,101,110,32by November 16.
6. Comments, questions and discussion from the floor. Please send specific agenda items to Karen via email by November 16. (83,110,105,98,115,111,110,46,107,97,114,101,110,46,97,64,101,100,117,109,97,105,108,46,118,105,99,46,103,111,118,46,97,117)
7. Close

*********

Minutes of the 2009 BSCC Annual General Meeting

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club Inc.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - MINUTES
24 /11/ 2009, SJ Butler, Mair St., Ballarat

Meeting commenced: 7:30 pm

1. ATTENDANCE
Members:
Matt Albiston, Roger Bade, Bruce Bilston, Stuart Brien, Shane Butler, Peter Canny, Ben Clark, Volka Hegert, Jonathan Lacey, Chris Liston, Vincent Mader,
Tony Mirabella, Tim O’Doherty, Phillip Orr, Paul Pickersgill, Karen Snibson,
Charles Stebbing, Don Stewart, Gerard White

Life Members:
Ian Nunn, Greg Nunn, Doug Armstrong

Apologies:
Dale Boucher, Terry Collie, Matt Smith, Wendy Ross

Other attendees:
Kylie Rippon

2. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS GENERAL MEETING
The minutes from the 2008 AGM were presented by the club Vice President Tim O’Doherty
Note: there had been one item previously held over in relation to the club having its financial records audited. This has now been completed.

Motion: That the minutes from the 2007 AGM is adopted.
Carried.

3. ORDINARY BUSINESS
3.1 Treasurer's Report
The treasurer's report was presented by the club treasurer, Gerard White.
Points to note;
The club is in a strong financial position.
Vet account still exists and moneys are still held here.
Audit has been completed.

Motion: That treasure’s report is adopted. Seconder Chris Liston
Carried.

SPECIAL RESOLUTIONS:
Tim explained the two proposals:
to expand the board to accommodate the disciplines of MTB and BMX
to make provision for BSCC books to be audited annually.
The amendments were worded as follows:

16.2. Composition of Board
(a) Until the end of the Annual General Meeting in 2010, the Board
shall comprise of thirteen (13) persons being:
(i) a President;
(ii) two (2) Vice Presidents;
(iii) a Treasurer;
(iv) a Secretary; and
(v) eight (8) ordinary Board Members,
being those persons whose names are entered in the Schedule.
(b) From and after the Annual General Meeting in 2010, the Board
shall comprise of between ten (10) and twelve (12) persons elected
and/or holding office in accordance with these Rules.

16.3. Tenure of Board Members
(a) The initial Board Members (as at the date these Rules are adopted)
shall be those initial Members named in the Schedule, who shall
each hold office:
(i) as to seven (7) persons (which must include one Vice
President, with the others drawn by lot at the first Board
meeting after these Rules are adopted) until the end of the
Annual General Meeting in 2010; and
(ii) as to the remaining six(6) persons, until the end of the
Annual General Meeting in 2011;
or until he or she resigns or is removed in accordance with Rule 16.7.

Add paragraph 19.2 (c) Authorities to deal with funds, accounts to be audited.
(c) after the end of each financial year from 2010 cause the accounts to be audited by a registered company auditor, or a person who is a member of the Australian Society of Certified Practising Accountants or the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, or any other person who is approved by the Registrar for this purpose, at the will or discretion of the Board

Motion: that the amendments be adopted moved by Roger Bade seconder Doug Armstrong
Carried.

3.2 Presidents Report
The club president , Volker Hegert, presented his report.

Motion: That the President’s report is adopted.
Carried.

Points to note:
The BSCC strategic plan needs to be updated to include the disciplines of MTB and BMX.

The club wants to move to a point of ongoing financial sustainability, to achieve this; the subcommittees will have an allocated budget.

Roger Bade acknowledged the contribution of previous Board members Andrew Howard and Shannon Meadows. Both were instrumental in achieving the amalgamation of the two clubs and held the vision that there should be one strong cycling entity in Ballarat. We have moved a long way toward achieving this.

4. QUESTIONS FROM THE FLOOR

How will MTB /MTBA affiliation occur?
This will happen as a matter of process. The two entities have a united purpose. This affiliation will bring additional expertise to the club and enrich cycling in the area. CA is the recognised parent body.

CLUB JERSEY and AGGREGATE points: there was discussion on this topic. It was recognised that a number of individual riders are sponsored and wear their sponsored kit at club events. It was felt that the road racing sub-committee should adopt a pro-active approach to this topic and reward those riders who do ride in our club jersey.

Question in relation to recording the history of the BVCC, Don Stewart will follow this up with Wendy Ross.

2010 Road race calendar proposal is to release this in segments and then amended to include allocated marshals. The plan is to use a roster system again. A draft calendar will be released before the end of the 2009. The 2008 road season is currently under review.

Summer Road Racing: Will the club offer this option for riders; the postings on the website were in favour of this. There will be some investigation about this topic.

Winter Road Racing: Should there be a break in the winter season. All previous survey responses indicated that members were not in favour of this.

Australian Championships: The event will be held over 5 days. BSCC is currently working in consultation with the Ballarat City Council to investigate a corporate marquee. The club will be asked to assist with marshals.

Australian Road Championships: The courses have been finalised for this, BSCC will be required to assist with marshalling. Officials will be supplied by Cycling Australia. This is likely to expand beyond a one year event.

VELODROME UPDATE: Roger Bade presented the progress of the valedrome proposal. Progress has been slow and there have been difficulties with the tender process. The City of Ballarat will meet to discuss and consider a proposal to accept the current tender. The board should know the outcome of this meeting on Thursday 26 / 11 / 09.

Meeting closed: 9:00 pm

MTB: DirtGirls - Last Women's Ride for 2010!

The December ride will be at Creswick - taking in some trails that I'm sure you won't have seen before. We'll aim to ride for 1.5 hours then head back into Creswick for a coffee and a cake (you will have earned it!).

Who: MTB women
What: Chatting/MTB ride/chatting/coffee/chatting
When: Saturday 4 December 2010 9am
Where: Meeting at St Georges Lake, Creswick
Why: Why not?
How: Any way you like. Just turn up with your bike, your helmet and a drink

For more information contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or
106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117

Ballarat Uni wants you!

26 May update: Brad's testing is now in full swing. He is very flexible with timing: he'll test you in the early morning, the evening, or on weekends. During the day is OK too. Just let him know what suits you. But he must finish testing by June 5. So please contact Brad today to schedule your tests.

Reasons to do Brad's tests:

- You'll find out your VO2max, power output (watts per kilogram) at threshold, lactate tolerance, and a whole lot of other data that will help you or your coach identify your natural strengths and ... opportunities for improvement as a cyclist

- On the open market, these tests cost about $350, but Brad's offering them for free

- You'll get three very high-quality workouts

- You'll help Brad finish his degree

Reasons not to do Brad's tests:

- The use of scientific training methods is forbidden under the Euro Style Guidelines, to which I adhere strictly. I believe that training must be based solely on "the sensations"

- I don't need a machine to tell me I'm hurting. Neither did Sid Patterson, and he was pretty good

- I don't want to know precisely how much weaker I am that Cadel Evans

- I already know precisely how much weaker I am than Ciaran

- I don't want anyone else to know my numbers because it might give them an edge over me in the Long's Hill World Championships

- Cycling indoors makes me sweaty, and I don't like that

- I don't like the sound of screaming, especially my own

- I think I'm busy for the next two weeks. And anyway, aren't these tests painful?

Go on, give Brad a call. 0431 447 926.

Brad Clark, BSCC coach and star of the 2009 Oz Road Champs in Buninyong, writes:

13 May update: Following a hiatus in testing due to equipment problems, I will begin testing again starting next Monday, May 17. To be a part of this study, you will need to make yourself available for three days of testing, each of approximately 1 hour’s duration. I need as many volunteers as I can get! Contact me at the email address below.

(Please consider signing up. You'll get some useful information about your cycling capabilities, and you'll help Brad finish his degree. - ed.)

The University of Ballarat’s School of Human Movement and Sport Science is calling for volunteers for a study into cycling time trial performance.

Volunteers will be required to participate in two 20 km cycling time trial tests and two fitness component testing batteries over the course of eight to ten weeks during the months of April, May and June. The fitness component testing will determine your VO2 max, lactate inflection point (anaerobic threshold), anaerobic capacity, leg muscle strength and lactate tolerance. The values for these tests will then be correlated to 20 km time trial performance in an effort to determine the fitness components and physiological variables most responsible for 20 km time trial performance.

As a participant, you will be provided with all your results, which will enable you to precisely calculate training zones and areas for improvement, and generally improve your understanding of your body and its performance levels.

If you have questions, or wish to be involved in this study, please contact the Principal Researcher, Dr. Brendan O’Brien, on 5327 8677 or at 98,46,111,98,114,105,101,110,64,98,97,108,108,97,114,97,116,46,101,100,117,46,97,117, or Brad Clark on 0431 447 926 or at 98,114,97,100,108,101,121,99,108,97,114,107,64,115,116,117,100,101,110,116,115,46,98,97,108,108,97,114,97,116,46,101,100,117,46,97,117,46,32

[Hmmm, real numbers. Let's place some bets on VO2max numbers. Guesses: Pat, Rhys, Rob, Gary G, Guy F, Bam Bam, Simon Ellis, Grant Gilbert, Ciaran: mid-70s. Calibration: Boonen, Hushovd: low 80s. Cancellara, Evans, Armstrong: high 80s. LeMond, Indurain, Merckx: low 90s. What's yours? -ed.]

Track: Final round report

It was a fine afternoon for the send off of the 2012 Summer Track Season. With just shy of 30 junior riders attending, it was the club championship night that symbolised the resurrection of Junior Track Racing.
The Junior Girls of E Grade showed enormous talent. While Rochelle Liston showed early form, she was soon boosted to Senior Girls, leaving the road open for a flying Helena Truebody. Tuebody took the Progressive points race in a tight race, just 1 point in front of Isabel Unwin who was a single point ahead of Jemima Robson. Eliza Truebody took the handicap from Lucy Mckay and new rider, Kirralee Hopkins.
The Junior Boys U11 was dominated by club rider Jake Ashmore who took out both the scratch race and the Progressive points race convincingly. Angus Stewart was able to hold him at bay to take first in the handicap, Ashmore got up from scratch to take second from Will McCallum.
The Intermediate Boys were a competitive field with almost all getting podium placing throughout the night. Darcy Robinson took the scratch in a tight sprint finish, while Angus cocking managed to hold second for both the Scratch race and the Handicap. Up and coming star Graeme Frislie took first in the Progressive points race but despite a Herculean effort he didn’t manage to make it from scratch in the handicap. Red Skelton took the win
The senior Girls racing was dominated once again by local club member, Rochelle Liston who took first in the scratch race from Imogen Dale and Jess Dinning. Liston and Dinning took out equal first in the progressive point’s race, both on 4 points.
The Senior Boys were blindingly fast. While Local club riders once again took the lead, many of the school riders were in the mix. Jerome Wallace took the honours for the scratch race in a sprint finish with Frislie and Tom McMellan. The Progressive points was once again fought out in an intense rivalry between Wallace and Frislie with Wallace once again taking pole position. McMellan and Alex Drew, tied for third.
Overall it was a spectacular end to what has been an exciting season of racing, in which many fountains of talent have been found. Track will be returning in Term 4 this year. VIP licences are still available for anyone who wants to continue on to race the read season. Contact Roger or Chris Liston via the Club website.

Full results here.

Glen Park road race

The Glen Park - Longs Hill Road circuit is part of BSCC's King of the Mountain series, but as Doug Garley, former Euro pro and one of the club's great living assets, points out, this is not a pure climber's race like Warrenheip. Its defining feature, the Longs Hill climb, is less than 4 minutes, and less than 10%, so the race is a kermesse, like the brutal circuit races that are the bread and butter of the Flemish racing scene that produced Merckx, Van Looy, Musseuw, and more recently Boonen and Devolder. The riders who win these races blast up power climbs, they time-trial, sprint, handle their bikes, and above all they deal with pain.

There was plenty of pain in the combined A-B grade event on Sunday. A grade were racing five laps, B grade four. With the club's other elite senior riders at the Country Championships or winning State Series 6-hour mountain bike races, Rob Doyle was the clear favorite. The question was, would the place behind Rob go to the pure climber, Joel MacAllister, head and shoulders above the others at Warrenheip; to the canny, in-form uphill finisher Jonny Townsend; to visiting track powerhouse Hamish Taylor; or to an all-round hard man like Garley or Guy Fella? The B-grade field featured a similar mix of talents. Climbers included Ben Clark and Warren Faneco; sprinters Matt Smith, Ryan "Ripper" Robinson and young gun Mitch Brogden; and all-rounders Matt Albiston and Peter "Engine" Walker. The race started at a pedestrian pace. Jonathan Lacey decided to trade his poor climbing for his greater comfort on the flat, and accelerated on the first turn. He was joined by powerhouse riders Matt Smith and Matt Albiston, who had the same thought. Their plan partially worked. Doyle led the charge up the climb the first time and flew past the trio near the top. Lacey clung to the back. The two Matts were not so lucky.

There was a partial regroup on the false flat, and then the Flatlanders' Plan was put into action again. Garley took off just before the corner, followed again by Lacey. This time it was on in earnest. Garley drove the escape at a furious pace towards the bottom of the climb, and waited for Lacey on the slopes. Once again, Doyle charged across over the top. This time, only two came with him, Townsend and MacAllister. Behind them, the field was in tatters. As the third lap began, the front group had different objectives: Doyle to remind the others who was boss, MacAllister and Townsend - the finishers - to keep out of the wind, Garley to hurt the finishers, and Lacey to stay away from the rest of B grade. Behind them, a small chase group had formed, and from this, in the most spectacular ride of the day, Taylor launched himself across to the front group at astounding speed. Just behind him, Faneco, Brogden and "Engine" Walker drew steadily closer. On the third climb, Lacey dropped from the front group back to the pursuers. At the start of the fourth lap, the five A grade leaders had 15 seconds on the four B-graders. On the front, Garley kept up the pace, assisted now by the huge engine of Taylor. The B-graders worked steadily, and did not lose ground on the front group, but did not gain either: fatigue had set in. On the climb for the last time, Faneco's inevitable acceleration came on the last steep section, and only Walker stayed with him. Faneco sped to a comfortable win, the first of many, we suspect. Brogden held on for a strong third. Ben Clark, a firm B grade favorite on this course under normal circumstances, put up a tough fight through a heavy cold to finish solo in fifth, with "Ripper" Robinson, also solo, behind him in sixth.

Meanwhile, the A grade leaders stayed together over the fourth climb, and started their final lap. Garley and Taylor sensed that MacAllister's climbing legs were struggling into the wind, and they attacked mercilessly and repeatedly. Taylor's last titanic acceleration split the group, with Garley and Doyle in front, MacAllister and Townsend behind, and Taylor himself falling back to the second group. On the final climb, Doyle finally set sail alone, and hard man Garley grimly held off a fast-finishing Townsend for second place.

Don Stewart writes:

The reputation of the Glen Park circuit had an influence on the entries for C grade. Peter Canny and Stu Brien mysteriously came down with a flu type virus in the last few days before race day. They both deny it was Swine Flu .. but we all know what they are like when they get on the front of a training group .. so I think it is hard to believe it wasn't the dreaded "Piggy Flu." [Stuart has produced a medical certificate ... ed.] Also Peter Kyatt and Jeff Filip actually insisted they marshal a corner on the day .. even when their respective wives offered to substitute for them! Craig Lightfoot although entered and didn't turn up, so we can only surmise what sort of nightmares he was having regarding the course. There were also quite a few members who decided to take part in the recreational ride instead of showing what they were made of and taking on Long's Hill.

So to the race itself and the gladiators who took up the challenge. Darryn Murphy, after a great ride at the Fred Icke, was promoted to C grade, along with Kylie Zelley. Wendy Ross and young Sam Smith (11 years old?) joined in to turn over their legs for at least a few kilometers. The race started off in perfect conditions for racing, with only a slight head wind, as the group headed north to Wattle Flat Road. Turning south towards the White Swan dam the speed lifted with a nice tail wind. Roger Bade did a strong stint at the front before dropping his water bottle and from then on was psychologically beaten. He lasted to the hill but had no legs to take him to the top, even with the weight of his water bottle gone.

Stuart Grigg led the pack up the hill for the first lap at a steady pace with Bade, Zelley , Ross and Terry Collie dropping off. Again there was a slackening of the pace until the the turn south. This time Peter Norman and Charlie Stebbing tried to stretch the group with speeds hitting 55 km/h. Michael Veal and Don Stewart used their superior weight to fly down the hill in front of the White Swan dam. They hatched a plan to ride abreast up the next climb with arms out wide to keep the climbers at bay. This worked until the top pinch where Grigg, Stebbing, Beth Canny, Rohan Allen and Murphy (the whippets) found the narrowest of gaps and took their chance to put some pressure on the heavyweights. This turn of speed stretched the pack again with with Veal and Sam Edwards just bridging the gap, but Stewart was left in the red zone and off the back.

This race really was the tale of the climbs. On the third ascent another heavyweight, Peter Norman dropped off, along with Veal. Edwards' younger legs just kept him in contact.

So it came down to the last climb. By then legs were starting to feel the early pace but the cream rose to the top, literally, with Grigg putting in a big effort at the front followed by Murphy and Stebbing. Beth Canny and Rohan Allen (built to climb) found the pace too much and watched from a distance the last struggle to the line. With only 500 metres from the top of the hill to the finish line, there was no time to catch your breath, so Grigg and Murphy decided to fight for the win from that distance out. Stebbing, having a bit more racing nous, decided to hang on and watch the dueling pair until closer to the line. When Stebbing made his effort, he made it big, and took the win by a tyre width from the courageous Murphy. Grigg rolled in for third a bike length away, totally spent.

In almost spring-like conditions, about 70 people hung around for the presentation and BBQ.

Ed: we also received another unofficial report on the same C grade race, from a correspondent who will remain anonymous. It is very brief and to the point. It is posted not for its factual content, but to answer those who say that cyclists are just pedal-mashing machines. It reads as follows: "The C-grade race was a mis-matched affair between some fair dinkum blokes, some ladies, and a bunch of magical teeny weeny little fairies who flew up the climb on the backs of ladybirds."

Please click HERE for a report on the recreational TTT that took place on the same day and course.

Junior Group Rides

Tim O'Doherty writes:

The junior group rides are back on after the winter break. Here's the new format. Both boys' and girls' rides are on Wednesdays at 4:30 PM. The rides leave from the Sails (Ballarat Yacht Club) carpark on Wendouree Pde. Brad Clark will be leading the boys and Chloe Hegert the girls. The leaders will take each group separately. These rides are for juniors to gain experience in bunch riding skills.

If you have any questions, please email 84,105,109,32,79,39,68.

Road and Track regional events

Apart from our own exciting cycling program coming up over the next month or so, here are a number of other great cycling events happening around the state. Here are a few.

Bendigo and District Cycling Club presents thesummer aggregate criterium series.

Beginning on the 08/01/2012.
Points will be awarded for each of the seven weeks of racing over three grades, extra points will also be awarded towards aggregate series for competitors that race and place in the top ten riders in the main handicap race on the track, every Thursday night, for further information please contact club officials. Club President Gary Pontelandolfo 0419311890 or Terry Schintler at Cycling Concepts 0354421853.

Start time will be 9:00am for c grade, 9:30 for B grade and 10:00 am for A grade.
In the near future these times may be changed to 30 minutes earlier if heat or larger entrants require.

C grade will be 20 minutes and 3 laps

B grade will be 30 minutes and 3 laps

A grade will be 60 minutes and 3 laps
For A only, this time may be reduced if heat or lower numbers dictate.

If in doubt as to your grade, arrive prior to 8:45 am or contact handicappers Peter Benjamin 0429978099 or Syd Anstee 0419130735, pre entries will be accepted, also club rooms will be open for those riders traveling that wish to shower before leaving at the Tom Flood sport centre.

Hamilton Cycing Club presents the 2012 South West Open Track Championships
When: 28, 29 January 2012
Where: Wal Smith Velodrome, King Street Hamilton.
What: The program consists of sprint, TT and scratch races.
More info here.

Riverina Rush Multi-Sport Festival

When:10-11 March 2012
Where: Narrandera NSW
Riverina Rush kicked off last year with tremendous success and is looking forward to even greater success in 2012.
The 2012 events include:
• the only inland Long Distance Open Water Swim held in NSW,
• a long distance running race through the beautiful Narrandera Flora & Fauna reserve,
• a 1.1km closed circuit Cycling Criterium in the Narrandera main street,
• the 70km 2nd Stage of the 'Tour De Riverina' Interclub road cycling championship,
• Sprint distance Triathlon with an open water swim leg and a closed road cycle leg.
There are also specific categories in each event that will cater for athletes who prefer participation to competition.
Registrations
To register online visit http://www.riverinarush.com.au/
Further Information
Email your enquiry to the Riverina Rush team at 110,97,114,98,117,103,64,104,111,116,109,97,105,108,46,99,111,109,46,97,117 or please visit our website at http://www.riverinarush.com.au/

MTB: Creswick Trails in the media

BSCC and Creswick Trails member Michael Veal recently spoke to The Courier about the enormous economic potential that the planned mixed-use trail network could bring to the region.

BMX: Track Update

Updated January 26:

A few people have been asking questions about the BMX track and when it is going to be ready. The good news is that all the major earth works have been completed and a concrete starting pad has been poured. However the rain keeps interrupting progress. The track is not ready for bikes yet, but it won't be long now. Jan 26 update: a week of dry weather really helped. We're almost there! We'll have a proper opening date for the BMX track soon.

BSCC will soon be affiliated with BMX Australia (BMXA) and will offer BMXA membership and BMX club racing for juniors and seniors. We will keep you posted as this progresses.

Road: Small Dog Crits Start Again Tonight

BSCC's 2010-2011 Small Dog criterium series starts again tonight at Victoria Park with junior racing at 5 PM, and seniors at 6 PM (B and D grades) and 6:30 PM (A and C grades).

For the record, here are the results from the last set of senior crits before the New Year recess.

Small Dog 2010-2011 senior criteriums, Round 7, 15 December 2010

A Grade

1st Ciaran Conaughton

2nd Charles Martin

3rd Phillip Orr

B grade

1st Michael Pierce

2nd Simon Ellis

3rd Shannon Gration

C Grade

1st Don Stewart

2nd Bob Morley

3rd Josh Liston

Pre-season road rides start Feb 2, too

Phil Orr writes:

BSCC's informal pre-season graded scratch road "training races" start next Tuesday, Feb 2, at Windermere. These informal rides are designed to get us ready for the start of the official BSCC road season on March 14. The 2010 road fixture is coming soon!

The Windermere pre-season events will follow the same format as last year:

- Every Tuesday night in February

- Start 6 PM sharp at Windermere

- Format will be graded scratch rides around the Cuthberts Road circuit

- Distances will be determined by riders' wishes on the night, but most races are usually 3 laps = 33 km

- Please click here for a map of the meeting point, start, circuit and finish.

- There will not be any junior events, but younger riders (e.g. M19, W19, M17, W17) are welcome to ride the senior events

- These are informal events. Riders do not wear race numbers, there are no marshals and no prize money is given

They are listed on the on-line calendar.

See you there!

Tuesday night mountain bike crits start Feb 2

MTB maestro Dale Boucher and the MTB Committee write:

MTB Crits Tuesday nights this summer

Now that Ballarat-Sebastopol Cycling Club is an MTBA-affiliated mountain biking club, it’s time to get into some racing. We will hold regular MTB criterium racing every Tuesday evening over summer, beginning Tuesday 2nd February. Details are below.

Who is the racing aimed at?

Everyone! We’re encouraging juniors, beginners and experienced riders to come along and try this experience. Juniors will have their own separate race prior to the seniors. Se below for details.

What format is the race?

You’ll have the opportunity to race as hard as you can for 15 minutes (juniors) or 25 minutes (seniors). Seniors riders will be graded if numbers are sufficient.

Do I need a MTB Membership or day licence?

Yes. All BSCC MTB racing is under Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA), so your Cycling Australia (CA) licence alone is not applicable. For information about MTBA memberships, value-add memberships and day licences, please click here. MTBA membership forms are here. We will be accepting membership payments on the night.

Details

The races start and finish at Recreation Road, Mount Clear. Parking is available at Mount Clear College. To see a map of the course, click HERE. It's a short, 2–3 minute single-track course. It has a slight incline/drop and no technical elements, jumps etc.

Junior race

Junior riders of all ages are invited to come along and give MTB crits a whirl. The course design is very simple but still challenging. You don’t need a special mountain bike to race - a BMX bike is suitable too.

Registration for the junior races is at 5:30 PM, and junior racing starts at 5:45 PM. Race time is 15 minutes. Race fee is $3.

Senior race

If numbers are up, senior riders will be split into two races. We’ll make a decision on the night. Registration is 5:45 – 6 PM, racing begins at 6:15 PM, and racing will be for 25 minutes. Race fee is $5.

Volunteers for lab testing

Ballarat University PHD candidate Brad Clark has conducted some infamous lab testing in the past. His latest diabolical scheme promises to instill fear and trepidation into the hearts of the bravest of self-flagellating cyclists. Interested right?

The School of Health Sciences at the University of Ballarat is currently seeking competitive cyclists to take part in an investigation into the reliability of a new measure of cycling performance.The School of Health Sciences invites you to take part in the above research project being conducted by Dr. Brendan O’Brien and PhD student Brad Clark of the School of Health Science at the University of Ballarat and Dr. Carl Paton of the Eastern Institute of Technology, New Zealand. This research forms part of Brad's doctoral thesis and is part of a series of investigations into cycling physiological assessment and training practices. The purpose of this study is to establish the reliability of a simulated cycling time trial completed over a course of dynamic gradient. Traditionally, time trial assessment of cycling performance has been conducted over simulated courses without any variation in gradient thus leading to a test of constant power. In contrast, time trial competitions are generally completed on roads with numerous variations in gradient and therefore required power output. As a participant in the study you will be required to complete four 20km simulated cycling time trials over the course of five weeks. The results of this study will be used to inform future training studies to be conducted later in 2012 and also in the development of testing protocols for competitive cyclists. If you are a competitive cyclist currently free of injury or illness and think you may wish to participate in this study please read the plain language information statement or alternatively contact Brad Clark at 98,99,108,97,114,107,64,98,97,108,108,97,114,97,116,46,101,100,117,46,97,117 or on 0431 447 926 for further information.

Kind regards,

Brad.

Road: Learmonth results

Despite the hot and windy conditions there was an excellent turnout for our second road race. It was decided to run a graded handicap which proved to be a popular choice amongst the riders. The heat took its toll and although the race started with 4 bunches there were several casualities within the first 2 laps. So by the start of the third lap all remaining bunches had come together. Doug Garley mounted a valliant break away with only 10kms to go and despite his efforts and confidence he underestimated Aaron Blomeley’s determination, who bridged the gap with only 4 kms to go. With a km to the finish Pat Shaw showed his class and opened the throttle to finish a convincing winner ahead of Simon Wilkinson and Sam Palanca.

Results
1st Pat Shaw
2nd Simon Wilkinson
3rd Sam Palanca
4th Mick Veal
5th Aaron Blomeley
6th Tony Mirabella
7th Doug Garley
8th Paul Humphrey
9th Paul Crack
10th Jonathan Lacey

Melbourne Madison & Revolution: Harry & BSCC get gigs

On the back of his recent Australian team pursuit championship, BSCC's Harry Crothers-Bade will team with fellow M19 national champion Oliver Le Grice in the Melbourne Madison on February 26 at DISC. The start list is HERE, and it features a number of international six-day stars. Hugo Tolliday, after some strong performances at open races on the track this season, was invited to ride in three Future Stars events at the Sid Patterson GP - Melbourne Madison carnival at DISC on Friday night, and three more at the Revolution carnival on the following Saturday night. Hugo follows in the footsteps of his club mates Charles Martin and Molly Hegert, who featured in last season's Future Stars program. Emily Wordie-Thompson and Victoria Snibson, frequent visitors to track podiums around the state this season, are also among the Future Stars.

VO2 max testing

The University of Ballarats School of Human Movement and Sport Science is calling for volunteers to make themselves available for a study into cycling VO2 max performance.

Volunteers will be required to participate in three different VO2 max tests to assess cardiovascular fitness during the months of April & May. The results will be analysed to determine if a novel reverse testing protocol can identify higher VO2 max values.

As a participant you will be provided with all your results which will enable you to precisely calculate training zones, areas in need of improvement and generally improve your understanding of your body and its performance levels.

Note: this is a free testing procedure, normaly worth hundreds of dollars, and provides valuable feedback for the training cyclist.

Participants need to be available for 2 days of testing. Approximately 2 hours on first day then 1 hour on the second day.

If you wish to be involved in this study please don’t hesitate to contact senior researcher Dr. Brendan O’Brien on (53 278677) or Mr. Jarrad King on (0437719484). Additional contact information is provided below if required.

If you have any questions, or you would like further information regarding the project titled (Does a decremental protocol produce higher VO2 max values?), please contact the Principal Researcher, (Dr. Brendan O’Brien) of the School of (Human Movement and Sport Science):

PH: (03) 5327 9677
EMAIL: b.obrien@ballarat.edu.au
OR
Jarrad King
PH: 0437719484
EMAIL: jpking@students.ballarat.edu.au

Road: Voices of Cycling in Ballarat

Updated 5:20 PM, Saturday 25 September:

The event is at the Ballarat Golf Club, 1800 Sturt Street, Ballarat. Not the Ballarat Gold Club, as previously advertized. This error originated in the Cycle Sport Victoria press release. Which might in turn have come from Cycling Australia. Whatever. It was a typo.

From Cycle Sport Victoria:

CycleSport Victoria is pleased to announce that we will play host to the ‘Voices of Cycling’ on Saturday September 25th at the Ballarat Gold Club, with Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin and Matt Keenan taking part in an interactive session.

Phil Liggett, Paul Sherwin and Matt Keenan are three of the best-known English-speaking commentators in cycling. All three will be in Ballarat for the Herald Sun Classic on September 26th.

There will also be great prizes available for participants on the night.

Tickets will be available at the door, or at registration for the Australian Masters Road Championships.

Event Details

Door Open: 7:00 PM

Interactive Session: 7:20 PM

Cost: $10

All welcome.

MTB: Surf Coast Race Report

{from the pen of Jason Birch}

The Southern Exposure MTB festival is billed as ‘a race that offers a race venue unparalleled in access, design, variety, and flow with a course winding its way around the cliff tops and through coastal bush’ and it does not fail to deliver in every aspect of that description. The day began with a very nervous eye on the radar as the storm clouds brewed around Ballarat, the thought of wet sloppy conditions and sand destroying running gear was not an appealing one. Once at Eumeralla just east of Anglesea the weather settled and the talk was of hard packed trails and dust was the only major concern. The exhausted faces of the 3hr competitors coming in with dust caked on their legs and faces confirmed that the track would be dry and fast. A very small contingent of Ballarat riders were in attendance lead by Jedi and his workmates in what appeared to be a very professional outfit complete with team mechanic.

With 123 competitors lining up for the six hour race the beginning was always going to be interesting, a slow start was assured for all but those at the pointing end, that was the last time I saw Jedi who put together some impressive lap times despite losing two bottles and going without hydration for two laps. The track was very quick with hard packed single track, open flat fire roads, quick downhill sections and plenty of twists and turns through the ti-tree to keep you on your toes, a highlight is after a steady climb you come out on the cliffs overlooking the ocean and Anglesea, it is a very impressive view. After the 2hr mark the tracks cleared and you could get into a nice rhythm and settle into the coming hours, at this stage you have to tip your hat to the 12hr guys who had been on course for 8 hrs at that stage and still plugging away, special mention to Tim Oliver for competing in the 12hr event.

The day light hours helped maintain the pace but with the impending night came the need to navigate through the scrub and ti-tree with the lights and the lap times did drop and those corners that were taken with ease had to be taken with a little more concentration and care. Unfortunately the writer did loose concentration and ended up connecting with a large tree and taking some damage. The great thing about the MTB community is that everyone is willing to help another rider, in the closing stages I needed someone to pull a badly dislocated finger back into place and a fellow rider stepped up after a couple of attempts by me to put it back in place this kind gent gave me the old look over there while I do this and pulled it back in before I could look anywhere, job done, back on the bike.

The final ride into a race village which is possibly one of the best around including pizza, BBQ, coffee, beers & pumping tunes is a very sweet feeling and after a spill even sweeter, this is one of the most enjoyable events around and the numbers at the event certainly indicate that it will only get stronger. Category results of the known Ballarat riders 6hr solo Jedi 10th, Jason Birch 15th, 40+ 6hr solo Vince Mader 11th, 12hr 40+ Tim Oliver 8th, father and son combo Roger Harry Bade came 3rd in the 6 hour team of 3.

Track: it has begun ...

Updated 25 October: click on the photo link below, and you'll find a few extra photos at the end, mostly from the team sprint. You'll see that the track is now properly marked! - except for the handicap marks, which will be fixed this week. So the track is almost at 100%! Get on down there.

One more thing: the results below say Hugo Tolliday won the D grade scratch race last Thursday. Two problems: Hugo was in Melbourne that day; and it's a long time since Hugo rode D grade! Thanks to an alert reader for pointing this out. Unfortunately this was published in the Courier before it was pointed out. Don't believe everything you read. Now all we need to do is to remember who actually did win D grade ... Please 104,101,108,112,32,117,115.

Roger Bade writes:

The first night of track racing for 2010 saw some great action on the Colin Smith velodrome. 28 riders ventured down to the new track and were only slightly inconvenienced by the incomplete line markings. Hopefully all will be finished by the next session.

HERE is a full set of results from the night's racing. And click HERE to see Roger's photos. No password or any of that fancy stuff required.

Standout riders in F grade were the much improved Rochelle Liston, Adam Begbie and first timer Angus Cocking. In E Grade Clancy Dickson, Emily Oliver and Harriett Pickersgill shared the honours in some tight racing. In D grade we had three first time riders from BGS and all showed great potential. Nick White dominated the results board with two wins although Will Stewart was showing great
strength and increased confidence to take out the final 9 lap scratch race. Experienced under 15 riders Josh Liston and Angus Lyons dominated C Grade.

A and B Grade combined for two longer races. Charles Martin and the hugely improved Liam White dominated racing throughout the evening. Charles looks strong and fast and Liam looks like he could time trial for as many laps as we can serve up. Andrew Pearson showed glimpses of form and Jim Crafter, who is doing VCE this year, looks like he’s spending more time on the books than the bike.

The completion of the line marking will mark the end of a very long period of inaction on the track. Now that things are ready for racing we would love to see all our old trackies and the first timers down there each week. BSCC coach Brad Clark says that getting into the high intensity of track racing is the single most efficient thing most roadies and MTB racers can do to take their racing to the next level. And it's a lot of fun too! See you down there soon.

Track Schedule:
Mondays 5pm to 7pm - Club Training
Tuesdays 4.15pm to 5.45pm – BAS Skill Development and Novice racing (BAS riders only Oct 19 – Nov 9.
Thursdays 4pm to 7pm – Club racing
Saturday racing will be run on selected Saturdays – see the club website for details

MTB: Southern Exposure SurfCoast results

BSCC members have performed extremely well in Southern Exposure's SurfCoast MTB Festival, with members winning or placing in the majority of categories. This event offered the choice of 3, 6 or 12 hours of torture with the majority of members going for the 6 hour option.

In the '12hr Male Pairs' category Tim Oliver and Jason Haire came 3rd.

In the '6hr Solo Male' category, Phil Orr was 1st and Shane 'Jedi' Cody was 3rd, Jeremy Doolan 9th, Clinton Lemaitre 11th, Jason Birch 12th, Chris O'Keefe 27th and Andrew Stinchcombe 33th.

Vince Mader was 6th in the '6hr Solo male 40+' category and Gail Oliver was 1st in the same category for women.

Jacquie Clynes was 2nd in the '3hr Solo Female' category.

Wayne Strong (BSCC MTB newest member) was 20th in the '3hr Sols Male 40+' category.

Well done to everyone who competed.

Track: Junior racing report

BSCC Track Racing Results
Date: 24-November-2011
Spirits were soaring as sunny skies greeted the riders, a welcome reprieve after four weeks spent with eyes glued to the heavens waiting for them to open. The good weather seemed to invigorate the riders, pushing many to astounding results.
The numbers were down but the two grades, despite an age difference of 12 years were often close. C grade began with a handicap, Jake Ashmore seemed to be in with the handicapper; starting off at limit he took off on what was to be a flying 3 laps. Despite the best efforts of scratch markers Graeme Frisilie and Clancy Dixon they never saw him. Rochelle Liston had another great ride, coming the closest to the motoring Ashmore to take second. Adam Begbie put in another solid ride to take third. In the elimination the powerhouses’ of Dixon and Frisilie shared the front, never leaving any doubt that they would come out on top. The rest of C grade battled it out behind them with Liston once again proving herself. The match sprints were exciting as always, the character of each rider shown through the way it is raced. After much consideration of past performances the handicaps were revised, with Graeme Frisilie taking top spot in a brilliantly timed move from the back, hopping between riders like a pro.
The usual A and B grades were combined to form a grade this week. The initial handicap was taken easily by Jerome Wallace, who once again seemed to be in with the handicapper. The midfield took the rest of the podium, Dominic Geoghegan and Ashleigh Key taking second and third respectively. The elimination was hotly contested; no one envied the judges that made the calls. William Key looked strong from the beginning; sitting on the front and brushing the 27km/h wind off like it was nothing. He took the race in a sprint-like last two laps from Joshua Liston. In a Herculean effort Nick White held off the sprint of Ashleigh Key to take third. The Sprint and Derby races were incredible to watch, the tactically minded often taking the race through a brilliantly timed move. The revised handicap was close, the backmarkers almost caught limit rider Dominic Geoghegan who took the race narrowly from second limit, Jerome Wallace. Liston came through in a sprint over Key as their close rivalry continued.
The tight streamlined Sebastopol team had a clear run at the finish with lessons learned by the defeated Ballarat team in the “all in Italian pursuit” who broke up in the early stages, exposing their riders to the wind.
Good luck to all those who are riding in the country championships at DISC on Sunday. After the past few weeks of racing the rest of the state will be looking over their shoulders. Racing is on next week for all those interested (1 Dec). It was great to see almost 10 senior riders come down for a spin behind the motorbike and get rid of the “square road legs”. Everyone is welcome to come down next week.

Full results go here.

BMX: Tonight's Practise is CANCELLED

Tonight's BMX practise session is cancelled. The track is under water!

Road: Scott Townsend wins the Collier

John Collier junior handicap

Chris Liston writes:

Siblings take Collier Wins

Lyons siblings Kate and Angus claimed victories in the F and E grade John Collier handicaps, respectively. The races were held at Kingston in cool, fine conditions. Kate Lyons returned to road racing and was limit rider in the F grade 12 km handicap. She showed that she still had form, working the undulating course to stay away from her in-form clubmates. Coming to the uphill finish, Lyons was alone. Clancy Dickson placed second, working through the field from second scratch. In the absence of Dylan Bilston, Declan Dickson became the scratch marker and was crossing the gap to his brother. He placed third, and took fastest time.

In the E grade 28 km U17 and U15 handicap, Patrick Cosgrave had worked his way to the front, relegating limit rider Emily Oliver to a minor position. But Cosgrave missed the left hand turn to Kingston, opening up the race. Oliver was being chased hard by Nicholas White and Angus Lyons. Lyons had put in a well-timed and determined attack to rid himself of Josh Liston and Conor Dickson on the climb out of Smeaton. Lyons, Liston and Dickson, the scratch riders, crossed a five-minute gap to collect Craig Firman and Dominic Geoghegan at the 18km mark, and move through as a trio shortly after. Firman and Geoghegan had moved away from Madeleine Plastow early in the race, and missed the presence of Emma Bilston who did not start. Angus Lyons capitalised on Cosgrave’s misfortune and powered to the lead, taking a win with an average over 35.5 km/h. Oliver came in second, with White third, and Liston and Dickson a minute off the pace.

Returning to the road race season, Connor Carey put paid to his days in G grade. The unknown quantity, from an estimated mark at scratch, blew away his rivals to take a win and the fastest time. Matched riders Daisy Pickersgill and Bailey Cody from limit were slowed markedly by the undulations of the Blampied road. Grace Mader and Rochelle Liston rode steady races to come in from midfield and place second and third respectively. Connor Carey's fellow scratch rider Tyson Cody was off form following a few days of illness that put paid to his race.

Junior results:
G Grade 6 km Collier Handicap
1st Connor Carey (f/T)
2nd Grace Mader
3rd Rochelle Liston

F Grade 12 km Collier Handicap
1st Kate Lyons
2nd Clancy Dickson
3rd Declan Dickson (f/t)

E Grade 28 km Collier Handicap
1st Angus Lyons (f/t)
2nd Emily Oliver
3rd Nicholas White

Senior race

Scott Townsend scored an emphatic victory at today's senior John Collier handicap at Kingston. In a repeat of last Sunday's cool but near-perfect autumn conditions, Townsend used his world-ranked kilometer time trial power to blow away his rivals on the uphill finish, after driving his 10-minute (3rd scratch) bunch into the lead on the third and final lap.

Over 40 senior riders greeted the starter, club president Volker Hegert. Wendy Ross, the lone limit rider, was first to leave, chased by two bunches with a total of a dozen riders. The fourth group to leave, the 16-minute bunch, looked dangerous, with strong men Clive Silcock, Tavis Baker, Jason Haire and Shane Butler, last week's solo winner Sam Edwards, the consistent Peter Canny, rising star Liam White, and last year's Brookman winner Chloe McIntosh, climbing her way out of a bout of over-training. This group had a five-minute start on an evenly-matched group of seven regular B-grade riders. One minute behind them was the third-scratch pursuit team of Peter Kiel, Scott Townsend, Stuart Grigg, Shane "Jedi" Cody and Ben Clark. The word from the riders before the race was that if this group started fast and combined quickly with the seven in front, the resulting combination would be hard to beat. Townsend's track power, combined with endurance from his brutal road training sessions with national champs hero Damien Turner, was agreed to be the key to the required fast start. Behind them were the heavy hitters, last week's fastest rider Damien "King" Keirl, young guns Ciaran Conaughton and James Crafter, super time-triallist Grant Gilbert, and the unstoppable John Polkinghorne. Last to start were three of BSCC's handful of true elite riders, Pat Shaw, Rhys Gillett and Andew Weightman, the club's other time-trial monster.

Townsend took command of the third scratch group, and with a combination of powerful turns of pace, encouragement and bullying, drove them off the mark at a ferocious pace. The larger B-grade group a minute in front started solidly, but Townsend's men, with smaller numbers, caught them not long after Blampied on the first lap, scarcely 10 km into the race. This jaw-dropping feat came at a price, but the two groups combined well, and under Townsend's command, the chase continued. The relentless pace on the drag back to the start at the end of the first lap, set by Townsend, the always-courageous Peter Kiel, triathlon strongman Shannon Gration, Charlie Stebbing, and evergreen Peter "Engine" Walker, ejected Stuart Brien. Soon afterwards Shane Cody was claimed by a mechanical failure, and Stebbing himself fell victim to stomach cramps. Nonetheless, the juggernaut rolled on, and caught Peter Canny's bunch before Blampied the second time.

Meanwhile, the scratch bunch did the same calculation, and realized that their only hope was to catch the larger second scratch bunch quickly. This is exactly what they did, with a blistering ride from Shaw and Gillett that left strongman Weightman hanging on for dear life, and which Shaw, after the race, described as one of his strongest rides in a handicap race. The two groups came together in about the same place that, further up the road, the Townsend machine mowed down Canny's group. The backmarkers continued their heroic chase, but their fate was sealed: nothing would stop the machine. On the third lap, Townsend's group caught the leaders on the fast section between Blampied and Koorochiang, and took the lead. The combined group was too large to work effectively, despite some pointed "coaching" from some of the veteran riders, so Townsend put his foot to the floor on the rise coming into Smeaton the last time, and blew away half the bunch. Surprisingly, though, the first rider over this climb was not Townsend but Liam White. The truth of the race was beginning to emerge. The front group was whittled down further when White, realizing that he would not beat Townsend in a head-to-head sprint, attacked again on the dip out of Smeaton. This formed an elite selection of White, Townsend, Keil and Gration, but wily veteran Les Bilney, from the 11-minute group, showed that his form is returning when he and Ben Clark dragged themselves, and a handful of other riders, across the gap.

As the now-exhausted riders turned onto the grinding, uphill, headwind finale, it was clear that it would be a race of attrition, and most were sure that they were racing for second place. Clive Silcock, in trademark style, attacked several times on the rise, dislodging more shattered riders. Townsend hit the front a long way out, and his first acceleration blew all his rivals away, except for the feisty White, who challenged him one last time before he, too, was swept away.

Thanks to Mike Colville for the photo.

Hard man Peter Kiel, who matched Townsend turn for turn all day, was rewarded with a gritty third place. Tavis Baker, Jason Haire and Shannon Gration were the next to collapse across the line. A few minutes later, Pat Shaw turned on the gas and splattered the remains of the backmarkers' group across the road behind him to take the fastest time.

Thanks to chief marshal Phil Orr, and marshals including Waren Faneco, Rohan Allen, Aaron Blomeley, Vic Snibson, and Scott Keating.

Junior results and report will follow soon.

2010 John Collier senior handicap, 85 km, at Kingston: final results

1, Scott Townsend

2. Liam White

3. Peter Kiel

4. Tavis Baker

5. Jason Haire

6. Shannon Gration

Fastest time: Patrick Shaw.

First woman rider: Gail Oliver.

***********

This Saturday is one of BSCC's two big annual "feature" road races, the John Collier handicap. Racing starts at Kingston at noon. That's right: the start time is noon, rather than the usual 2 PM. Entries close with 80,104,105,108 on Friday at 5 PM. The senior race is 85 km, three laps of the Kingston-Smeaton circuit. There are also junior races. For all the details, go to the on-line calendar and click on Saturday May 22.

The Collier family has been sponsoring a BSCC race for many years. By the early 1980s, the race was well established and run as a handicap over several courses starting and finishing at the Miners Rest tennis courts. It was fiercely contested in those days by a number of riders whose names will be familiar to today's members, including Adam and Matthew Smith and their father Frank, Greg Nunn and his father Ian, Dennis Shaw, Doug "Bronco" Armstrong, Barry Robinson (Ryan "Ripper" Robinson's father), Daryl Keirl (Damien's father), Geoffrey and Neil Braszell (Ash's father and uncle, respectively), the mysterious Peter Taylor - spoken of in hushed tones to this day by Mars riders - and won on several occasions by the late Peter Townsend, Scott's father and Jonny's uncle. Come out on Saturday and be part of Ballarat cycling history!

The Redeye 1000

We don't usually post advertisements, but the exception proves the rule. Here's some info about a 1000-km training week, 25-31 October, in the High Country. It's being run by Barry McCormack, whom some of you will have met behind the bar of the Bright Hotel. Baz was a world-ranked pro Ironman triathlete in the 1980s, and a tri and swimming coach in Melbourne in the '90s. He's married to Kim McCormack, several times Australian solo 24-hour MTB champion. Baz's event is called the Redeye 1000. Please click HERE for more info, and contact the man himself 100,105,114,101,99,116,108,121,32with questions.

Road: Crit champ results

Senior reports and photos here.

BSCC Junior Criteriums Rnd 13 March 21 2012

Two of the youngest cyclists to take to road cycling in Ballarat fought out the 2012 criterium U7 Championship. Sam Veal of Creswick pushed all the way in his longest race to date – 5.2km 4 lap. Ziggy Leee who has been developing over the 13 rounds took the Championship title.
Bailey Cody conceded some ground to Jake Ashmore in the opening two laps of the U9 Championship and worked his way into a good tempo to be on pace with Ashmore until the line. Tyson Cody and Chloe Stinchcombe claimed under 11 titles in the 2012 Championship over five laps.
The “Flying Frislie” claimed the boys U13 Championship title from Brayden Maurer and Zac Stinchcombe. Frislie was off the front leaving nothing to chance as Maurer and Stinchcombe looked like a strong duel for the runner up position. Maurer steadily moved out from Zac and took the silver medal position.
In a tough rivalry that has lasted the last few years, Angus Lyons and Josh Liston fought out the U17M Championship race on the back of B Grade. Liston and Lyons shared the work at a high workrate. Coming to the business end Liston lead out to head off the charge from Lyons. In the closest event of the night Lyons pipped Liston by less than a quarter of a wheel to take the Championship Title in U17 for 2012.

U17 Men Championship 25 + 2 laps
1st Angus Lyons
2nd Joshua Liston

U15 Women championship 5 laps
1st Felicity Liston

U13 Boy’s Championship 5 laps
1st Graeme Frislie
2nd Brayden Maurer
3rd Zac Stingchcombe

U13 Girls Championship 5 laps
1st Rochelle Liston

U11 Boy’s Championship 5 laps
1st Tyson Cody

U11 Girls Championship 5 laps
1st Chloe Stinchcombe

U9 Championship 4 laps
1st Jake Ashmore
2nd Bailey Cody

U7 Champion 4 laps
1st Ziggy Lee
2nd Sam Veal

Senior Results

A Grade Championship 35 min + 2 laps
1st Pat Shaw
2nd Jay Bourke
3rd Liam White

B Grade Championship 25 min + 2 laps
1st Shane Cody
2nd Paul Humphries
3rd

C Grade Championship 25 min + 2 laps
1st Peter Canny
2nd Don Stuart
3rd Gerard White

Women’s Championship 25 + 2 laps
1st Victoria Snibson

MTB: Social Ride, April 2012

The April social ride takes in the trails of Enfield. Theses trails are normally shrouded in mystique, but locals Chris Quain and Kat “Katdog” Martin have volunteered to share their intimate knowledge of the region and to host a BBQ at the end of the ride.

Where: Enfield, Grevillea Dr. Look for the white 'Combo' van and people on bikes

Who: Anyone with a reasonable level of fitness and who is interested in exploring a new area

When: 8am, Sunday 22-Apr

Expected Duration: 2 to 3.5 hours (depending on mechanicals and how talkative people are)

Ride Description: The riders will warm up with an easy 6-7 Kms on flat(ish) dirt roads and bush tracks, before diving into 15km’s of amazing singletrack, which can only be described as “Man’s Trails”! Make no mistake, the area is not known as Little Hard Hills for nothing. The ride will conclude with an easy flat 4 or 5 kms back to the start to spin the legs. The expected riding time will for this loop will be 2-3.5 hours (depending on mechanicals and how talkative people are). If this all sounds too intimidating, don’t worry, we are also offering a shorter option that takes in an amazing 6.5 km singletrack descent into the heart
of Little Hard Hills with an easy fire road climb back out.

PUMP Track Nation!

The event schedule also aims to make the most of Chris and Kat’s pump track, post ride. Don't know what a pump track is? Well come and have a try!

So feel free to bring something to throw on the BBQ, while waiting your turn to cut some laps on the pump track!

Female Youth Leadership Program

Cycling Victoria (CV) and Sport and Recreation Victoria (SRV) would like to invite you to attend the inaugural Female Youth Leadership Program (FYLP) to be held on Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 April 2012.

The program will be delivered by SRV, in partnership with the State Netball Hockey Centre (SNHC), Camp Urban and a further six different State Sporting Associations (SSAs). The delivery of the FYLP is important for you to be able explore the career pathways for young females like yourself, to participate in all aspects of sport.

The program is designed to provide a range of leadership skills, as well as a section of a 'Cycleskills' coaching qualification to those that attend the course. Cycling Victoria will provide those who attend the opportunity to complete the qualification on another occasion, as well undergo a first aid and officiating course. The program requires the girls to work closely with their respective clubs through volunteers work, where they will be able to put their new skills to use. Cycling Victoria will also provide opportunities for the participants to gain valuable experience as well.

The program is open to all U17, U19 and U21 females who are registered members of Cycling Victoria.

Further information can be found here and here.

Victorian Schools Cycling Championships

The 2012 Victorian Schools Cycling Championships (VSCC) have arrived! The VSCC is a unique series of junior cycling events that sees school students from across the state compete in road, BMX and MTB disciplines. Following on from a very successful 2011, CV has continued the growth of the BMX and MTB disciplines by adding new zones to each series.
The 2012 BMX series continues the partnership between CV and BMXV, and will include zone finals in Geelong, South Oakleigh and Bendigo, with the State Final returning to Knox Park. The MTB series will include zone finals in Geelong, Albury and Dromana, with the state final returning once again to Dallas Brooks Scout Park in Upper Beaconsfield. CV is excited about the upcoming BMX & MTB events and the addition of so many new venues is testament to the eagerness of BMX and MTB clubs to supporting the events.
The Road series will once again include 9 zone finals, however, new courses have been included to improve competitiveness and safety for riders. New zone final venues include Noreuil Park in Albury, the Bendigo Livestock Exchange, Yarra Bend Rd loop in Fairfield, and the Cloverlea circuit outside Warragul. Other previous venues that will be revisited include Victoria Park in Ballarat, the Belmont Criterium Track in Geelong, METEC Driving School in Bayswater, Casey Fields in Cranbourne, and the Wangoom Circuit in Warrnambool. The state final will return to the Belmont Criterium Track, used for the same event in 2010 with to great effect.
In November 2011, the VSCC won a VicSport award for ‘Best Development Initiative by an Affiliated Member.’ The award recognised the long-standing contribution the competition has made to the development of cycling, fitness, and sport in general, in schools for over 50 years. The VSCC was given the nod ahead of other fantastic development initiatives from GippSport, FFV, Yachting Victoria, Swimming Victoria, Basketball Victoria & the AFL Academy.
Cycling Victoria General Manager Kipp Kaufmann said: “We are looking forward to growing numbers for the VSCC in 2012, and I’m particularly pleased that we have local clubs involved in all our events. This will allow clubs to promote their activities and increase junior membership, and also give their members an opportunity to develop their event organisation skills. Also, the addition of further BMX and MTB events provides students across Victoria with plenty of options to choose from, and I hope to see many students take on more than one discipline in the 2012 VSCC”.
Entries open shortly, in the meantime checkout the Road, BMX and MTB events, or find us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube!

Track: championships

BSCC Track Championships
Date 22.03.2012
By Chris Liston

Gruelling Omnium gives Garley Championship Title!

BSCC local member and International track Cyclist from the European circuit Doug Garley, took out the BSCC Senior Track Championship in an omnium point score of 9 points. Garley rode a third fastest time in the 20000m Pursuit of 2:57.22 followed by a 13.83 in the Flying 200m sprint ranking second. With an event card of four with very little recovery time between sessions he secured second in the 2.5km 10 lap scratch and third in the 25 lap point score. Garley has been racing track for decades and is an avid supporter of Velodrome racing in Ballarat. With the conditions cool and the light on the track fading as the final event was run; the summer season drew to close with Garley as Senior Champion 2012.

BSCC teenage racing championships

Key, Lyons and Liston in titles success!

In a tough rivalry that has lasted the last few years, Angus Lyons and Josh Liston fought out the U17M Criterium Championship race on the back of the B Grade senior race division.

Report by Chris Liston here.

Road: The Collier results and RR aggregate

Results for the 2012 Collier handicap.

1st     Liam White
2nd    Pat Shaw
3rd     Aaron Blomeley
4th     Tony Mirabella
5th     Michael Pierce
          Stuart Grigg

Fastest time: Pat Shaw

Aggregate point tally after 5 rounds now looks like this.

Small Dog 2010 senior criterium championships

Chris Liston writes:

A smaller than usual but high-quality field set off to contest the 2010 Small Dog BSCC senior criterium championship, over thirty minutes plus two laps. Rhys Gillett led the charge, breaking up the field and taking a small group with him, including Ciaran Conaughton and super sprinter Damien Keirl. Gillett, fearing Keirl’s sprint, drove relentlessly, and at the business end he had a decisive gap and took the title for the second year. Keirl produced his trademark big sprint to take second, but the surprise was Conaughton, who moved with Keirl to make a gap and take third over the rest of the break, putting the U19 in elite company for 2010.

[A report on the B-grade event is below.]

Andrew Stinchcombe finally claimed a popular win in D grade. After settling for third several weeks in a row, Molly Hegert was his main rival. Molly raced competitively as her father Volker Hegert had his debut ride for the season and set up some family rivalry.

In C grade Dave Peters was able to shine as the fast U17 riders were removed from the race for the senior championship day. Peters took the win, with Simon Wallis as runner-up staying ahead of the thumping powerhouse of Scott Denno who rode his own steady tempo to finish strongly in third.

Results - Small Dog BSCC 2010 Senior Criterium Championship
1st Rhys Gillett
2nd Damian Keirl
3rd Ciaran Conaughton

B Grade
1st Stuart Brien
2nd Shane Cody
3rd Charlie Stebbing

C Grade
1st Dave Peters
2nd Simon Wallis
3rd Scott Denno

D Grade
1st Andrew Stinchcombe
2nd Molly Hegert
3rd Volker Hegert

B grade report: Stuart "Cancellara" Brien writes:

The weather was divine, the field was strong, so it stands to reason the racing would be hot, and that's exactly what the B grade race was! As the field headed out on their first lap, Stuart Brien took to the front. Moderate activity continued at the front for most of the first half of the race. Newcomer Sam Turley was edgy and watched every move until finally he made a threatening break with Shane Cody at the 13 minute mark. This was quickly bridged by Charlie Stebbing, but Stu Brien and another new member Jarrod Boyd were caught napping at the back of the field and didn’t join the breakaway until about a lap later. Another new member, triathlete Grant Gilbert, assumed the tuck position and pounded away to make up ground. Colin Smith and Lewis Piccoli both worked in vain to cross as the leaders pushed average speeds up to 40 km/h. Don Stewart chose to dismount and man a corner at this point!

The relentless attacks at the front from Turley eased as his legs tired, allowing the other 4 riders in the break to recover slightly. Gilbert made contact with the leaders after a sterling solo effort. Rounding the 25 minute mark with 2 laps to go, Boyd went to the front and stayed there for a full lap until Turley took to the front again at the top corner. Turley pushed up the pace once again, but this time the other riders were not going to allow any room to move, and Brien stuck to his wheel like glue. As the lead group hit the bottom corner, Brien sensed that Turley was tired, jumped immediately and put himself a length in front before the final straight. Shane Cody and Charlie Stebbing had other ideas and as they swung round the sweeping left hander to the final straight they closed in on Brien who appeared to be tiring, but another kick and the smell of victory was too great. Brien hung on to finally win by half a wheel, after a series of 2nd and 3rd places through the criterium season. Shane Cody was second and Charlie Stebbing 3rd.

Congratulation to all those who rode in the B Grade criteriums this year and helped to make it a fun, enjoyable and safe season.

Road: 18 June at Rokewood

The Rokewood Junction circuit, plus some attacking riding and clever tactics, provided exciting races on Saturday. Unofficial results: Matt Clark took A grade, Stu Brien snatched B grade from a gutsy Ben Clark in a cliff-hanger, and Will Stewart took C grade. We're having some very exciting racing this year, and some top race reports that capture it all. Here are a few more, plus photos from Phil Orr.

Junior racing

Chris Liston reports:

Graeme Frislie took line honours in the sub-junior 9.5 km scratch race from another new BSCC rider, Brayden Maurer. The pair set off with a small contingent of club members into a tough head wind on the Rokewood Junction circuit that has not been utilised by the club for several years.

The pair of Harriet Pickersgill and Emily Oliver practised their team time trialing as a duo for the upcoming state championship. They were joined for the opening kilometres by Shantelle Maurer and Jack Stewart, and the U17 pair went on to complete the full one-lap distance with the senior C grade riders. Maurer came home in the tail win to relegate Jack Stewart to runner-up, with results split from the senior bunch.

Six BSCC riders were away at the Shepparton Junior Tour. Emma Bilston took third in the JW15 points classification , finish with 130 points, as the winner took 155. BSCC riders were competitive in various grades, with the event being held on the same circuit as September's national championships. Rochelle Liston placed sixth overall in the boys and girls U11event. Joshua Liston was eighth in U17M B grade. Patrick Cosgrave and Nicholas White posted good times in the individual time trials, with Cosgrave 9th in U15M B grade and White ranking 11th in A grade. With many top riders participating in the tour as a forerunner to the nationals, the U17 A grade events, featuring BSCC's Victoria Snibson and Angus Lyons, were hotly contested.

Results
U11/13 9.5km
1. Graeme Frislie 20.31
2. Brayden Maurer 23.40
U15F
1. Harriet Pickersill 33.15
2. Emily Oliver 33.15
U17
1. Shantelle Maurer 52.20
2. Jack Stewart 52.30
Shepparton Junior Open Tour
JW15: 3rd Emma Bilston

Senior A Grade

Brad Clark reports:

A reduced A-grade field greeted the starter for Saturday’s club race on the old Rokewood Junction circuit.

The field set off with some trepidation, given most hadn’t raced over the demanding circuit before. Also in the back of their minds was the strong south-westerly wind that was sure to cause damage on the narrow roads at the back end of the race.

Grant Gilbert was the first to force the issue on the slight climb up to Dereel, and he was soon joined by the rest of the field in pulling strong turns on the front. Even-paced track turns with few accelerations were the order for the first lap, as everyone settled in and scoped out the challenges and opportunities for attacks later in the race.

Grant Gilbert leads Michael Pierce in A grade

In fact the first major attack of the race wasn’t made until the climb out of Rokewood Junction on the second lap, when Brad Clark went to the front to try and find a gap. However he faded as Matt Clark and Stu Grigg forced their way clear with strong riding up the climb. They were joined by Michael Pierce as they crested the short but steep climb, and these three looked to have it in the bag with a flat tail wind run into the finish.

However, strong turns from Sam Turley and Grant Gilbert brought the other three back into contention, as those in front started to play cat and mouse. As the groups turned onto the highway for the final kilometres to the finish, the three out front had a slender but winning 15-second lead over a the chasing duo of Brad Clark and Sam Turley, who had surged away from Gilbert. But as the front three started to look at each other, to see who would make the first move, Turley put in one last surge to close the gap down, allowing Brad Clark to surge across to the front three with under 400m remaining. He was the first to open up the sprint with 100m to go, but the younger of the two brothers, Matt Clark, eased past with Stu Grigg on his wheel to take first and second respectively. The elder Clark followed a few bike lengths behind in third, with Pierce on his wheel for 4th, and Turley and Gilbert not far behind in 5th and 6th.

B grade

This is Stu Brien's report on a thrilling B-grade race.

It had the makings of a John Wayne World War II movie, this race. Cunning, strategy, courage, leadership, and sheer determination.

The setting was a tough, uncompromising course: an 8km 2% climb out of Rokewood; winding roads along a ridge line that a breakaway could hide in, given the chance; a 6km flat section, where a cross-head wind whipped up, making the riding very hard; a 700m pinch at 5%; followed by a 7km downwind downhill run to the finish line. Something for everyone!

Only six riders lined up for the start - damp weather, a big MTB race the next day, and the mid-season blues narrowed it down to the hard core. Within 5 km it was obvious that Ben Clark had a strategy to give the flatlanders something to think about. He went off the front up the hill, hoping to take a possible suitor with him. Despite there being a couple of very capable climbers, Sam Palanca and Sam Edwards, in the bunch, none were interested, so Ben went it alone.

After about 8 km of sitting out on his own, Clark decided to sit up and wait for the bunch. But "the General,” John Polkinghorne, had worded up his fellow riders about the art of war when it comes to cycling, and all fell into line like ducks in a shooting gallery. Like a chess master playing an up and comer, the General barked his orders and the troops obliged.

"General" Polkinghorne and troops Sam Palanca, Stu Brien (the man really pulling the strings?) and Sam Edwards

We slowed down to keep our distance from Clark, but ensured we stayed in close enough contact to reel him in if we needed to. At one point we slowed down to 20 km/h on the flat, keeping him within 40 seconds. Finally, Clark had enough. With some words of encouragement from Phil Orr in the race director's car, he took off to chance his hand.

It took a little time to register, but the group took off to keep him in sight. As we approached the pinch at Rokewood Junction for the first time, Clark remained within sight, but A grade had slipped in between the B grade bunch and the breakaway. Clark put in his customary effort up the hill, and gained another 20 seconds on the bunch, pushing his lead out to a minute. The rest of the bunch was organised and motivated. Palanca, Edwards, Polky, Thayne Turley and Stu Brien were all of one mind at this stage, and with the leadership strategy of Polky, they worked cohesively. However they only managed to pull back 10 seconds in the downwind section of the first lap. This showed just how committed and courageous Ben's solo effort was.

As we turned for the last lap and hit the long hill again, the bunch was apprehensive, but committed to keep to the strategy. Knowing Clark is likely to gain more time up the hill, they worked together, helping each other and riding tight and offering words of encouragement along the way. Cracks started to appear: Turls found it tough, and young gun Sam Palanca, who survived the very tough B-grade tour at Bendigo only five days earlier, was keen to drag them up the last few inclines on his own.

By the time he hit the turn at Dereel, Clark had gained another 20 seconds, to have 1:10 on the chasing bunch. He started to believe he would win this race! However, as he turned into the teeth of the wind, the 30-odd kilometers on his own took its toll, and Polky's crew made inroads as they rolled through in quick succession. The twists in the road made it hard to know how far ahead Clark was, but when the road opened up, it was obvious that the chasers had made significant inroads into the head wind on Clark.

The strategy was the classic HTC-Columbia one: to keep Clark in the lead up the pinch at Rokewood Junction, then reel him in during the 8km downwind, downhill drag to the finish. What the chasers didn’t count on was the sheer courage and determination of Clark.

Ben Clark channels Johan Van Summeren

The pace was electric, and everyone contributed. Turls was spent, Sam Edwards was ready to pop, and Sam Palanca was still recovering from the Bendigo tour, but they kept working. Clark remained tantalizingly close, but he was a man possessed, and made the B-graders work extremely hard. The General of the day, Polky, sensed the danger, and his responsibility, and he took to the front and buried himself for a couple of kilometres. The result was that the catch was made within 500m of the finish line, setting up the sprinters for the finish.

Sam Palanca hit the front with Brien on his wheel, but the tough weekend at Bendigo took its toll, and Brien shot to the front with 250m to go and stayed there to take line honours. Sam Edwards was solid all afternoon, and held on for 2nd from Palanca, Polkinghorne, Clark and Turley.

A truly epic race.

Unofficial results: B grade
1st Stu Brien
2nd Sam Edwards
3rd Sam Palanca
4th John Polkinghorne
5th Ben Clark
6th Thayne Turley

Don Stewart reports on C grade:

Heading out to the race at Rokewood, the weather was looking decidedly wet and stormy. I passed Sam Turley , Michael Pierce and Sam Edwards cycling out. I was in the car ! Now I know why these guys ride A and B grade. Driving past Dereel and Corindhap, the clouds parted and blue skies appeared. They stayed around for the full race distance.

C Grade was an eclectic mix of masters, juniors, and relatively new riders. The pace early was sedate enough, but the long haul uphill past Corindhap to Dereel got a few riders into oxygen debt quite early. There was a "gentleman's" agreement to get around the first lap with the group intact. That wasn't such an easy job, as the younger legs were a lot more willing than the older legs. Will Stewart and Charlie Stebbing had to be reined in. Very soon after the start, B Grade, or at least Ben Clark, came whizzing past as though we were standing still!

Once at Dereel, the topography flattened and the group cranked up the pace a bit. Scott Denno, renowned for his diesel engine ability on the flat, strung the group out, ably helped by Bruce Stewart and son Will. The ride into Rokewood Junction was very cruisy thanks to a long downhill section, which aided the heavier members of the group.

C-grade, the biggest field of the day?

Scott Denno's mighty engine fires

More action from C grade

At the Junction there was a left hand turn followed by a sharp 300 metre pinch. This dropped Denno, but a huge effort saw him back on within the next kilometer . The wind was now at our tails and the group stayed together back to Rokewood. Jack Stewart (Bruce's other son) and Shantelle Maurier were in the group to do one lap only. They stayed with the group easily and could have possibly done another lap ..... Or that's what was said at the end.

At the start of the second lap Charlie Stebbing dropped a chain, which a few thought was a good chance to put him under pressure. But the gentlemanly elements of the group prevailed, and we waited for him. Vince Mader and Don Stewart (no relation to Bruce, Will and Jack) did a bit of work on the front up the long haul to Dereel.

Denno, having got the hill out of the way again, decided to put in a big effort to stretch the group, but Will and Bruce Stewart were quick to catch his wheel, and the group benefitted from the draft created by the leader. The bunch knew that the 300 metre pinch was going to be the decider. Denno trying to get there first to have a head start.

Young Will decided to see what the rest of the group were made of, and danced on the pedals a la Contador and Schleck. He opened up a 100 metre gap and also dropped off Mader and Denno. Stebbing, Bruce and Don Stewart combined to chase down Will. This took 3 km, but the pressure was kept up to prevent the tail getting back on.

So that left three Stewarts and one Stebbing in the lead group. Team Stewart was working together to try to break Stebbing, but he was having none of it. Bruce did a huge effort with 4 km to go, with the others sitting on as best they could. In a departure from his normal tactics, Don Stewart took over the train and tried to break up the group, but to no avail. With 300m to go, Will attacked, followed by Stebbing. Try as he might, Stebbing couldn't get over the Young Pretender, and Will took out a well-deserved win, with new rider Bruce third.

After the pinch out of Rokewood Junction when Denno and Mader got dropped, they had their own personal battle to the finish, with Mader virtually 30 metres ahead for the last 8 km. Vince knew he had to keep the speed up at 40 km/h to stay away from Denno's renowned time trial ability on the flat. He did so, and took 4th place from Scott. So much for cruising to the line once out of the money!

The presentation was hosted by the Rokewood Hotel owner Kerry Gawley, who is an ex-Sun Tour rider. The hotel has lots of 60s and 70s cycle memorabilia and photographs, including a shot of two riders on a dirt road heading steeply uphill from Jamieson. (Reminiscent of the strade bianche or white roads of the Eroica and the last few Giros.)

The general consensus of all riders is that it's a great circuit . This is the course on which BSCC will host the first race of the Tri Series on the July 30th. We're looking for a big turn-out for these races this year. Last year, everyone who rode enjoyed racing in bigger fields, and the social interaction with riders from other clubs. BSCC riders acquitted themselves well in A and B grades last year. We would like to see a few more C graders this year.

PS. After watching the MTB-ers racing the InterWinter 3 hour enduro on Sunday morning out in the forest at the back of Mt. Clear, the author has a new-found respect for these "Mud Gladiators." I have never before seen the likes of Pete "Engine" Walker, Nev Bilney or Shane "Jedi" Cody at a complete standstill, gasping for air, as they were when they crossed the finish line on Sunday. Huge congratulations to the MTB section of the club for hosting a great event, and to ALL members who rode in it.

********

Scott Denno writes:

Saturday 18th June at Rokewood.
The BSCC road race on Saturday June 18, originally planned for the Learmonth Windmill circuit, will now be run over two laps of the Rokewood Junction circuit. The race starts at Rokewood, heads north, back towards Ballarat, to Dereel, left to Rokewood Junction, back to Rokewood, and then we do it all over again. The finish is at Rokewood.

We have decided to try out the Rokewood Junction course for a regular club race because it has also been chosen to host our leg of the Tri Series, replacing the usual Cape Clear circuit because of the disaster that is Devils Kitchen!

To see a map of the Rokewood Junction circuit, please click HERE. Circuit maps are also on the 2011 road race fixture.

The race starts at 3 PM - not the usual 2 PM - and there will be a presentation and snacks in the bar at the Rokewood Hotel after the race. If you'd like to stay for dinner at the hotel, please let Don know when you enter.

In the 1980s, the highlight of many BSCC riders' season was the 3-day, 5-stage Geelong Tour on the Queens Birthday long weekend. The tour was a battle between BSCC and the Geelong cycling club. The queen (hardest and usually decisive) stage was the final Monday afternoon stage, and it was held on this very circuit - Rokewood Junction. The circuit is like the Cape Clear, in that the decisive feature is a technical descent into a gorge, and the climb out of it.

Photos needed!

Oscar Wilde said the only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about. Facebook and MySpace prove that the only thing people like more than reading about themselves is looking at photos of themselves. We want more photos on this site. Photos of club races, people out riding, the track renovations ... Send 'em in to the 60,115,116,114,111,110,103,62,119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121. For a while there, people were sending in photos, and a lot of them weren't being posted. This was due to a minor bug located somewhere between the web site and the editor. It's now resolved. If you gave up sending in photos, please start again! JPEG, < 1 MB strongly preferred, to 60,115,116,114,111,110,103,62,116,104,105,115 email address.

Update: there are a few new photos in the Gallery. Click on Gallery on the left-hand menu. Keep 'em coming ...

Oz Champs in Buninyong until 2015!

This is huge news for Ballarat cycling. The biggest one-day cycling race in Australia will stay in our back yard for at least the next six years. This means more big opportunities for all of us to grow our sport and our club, and to make this event even more successful.

Click HERE for the Ballarat Courier's article about the Champs.

Here is the full text of the press release from the Ballarat City Council:

Wednesday, 17 June 2009: Ballarat to host the AORCC for the next six years.

Ballarat City Council has secured a deal which will see the city host the Australian Open Road Cycling Championships for the next six years.

The new agreement is between Council, Cycling Australia and the event promoter Caribou Publications.

Under the agreement the Australian Open Road Cycling Championships will for the first time combine all three national road disciplines - the Time Trial, Road Race and the Criterium as part of the championship series.

The economic impact of the event is anticipated to be in excess of $4 million each year, representing an injection of approximately $24 million into the Ballarat economy over the life of the six year contract.

Ballarat Mayor Cr Judy Verlin said she was thrilled Ballarat had retained the nationally significant cycling event.

"Cycling Australia's decision to keep the Australian Open Road Championships in Ballarat is further reinforcement of Ballarat's capacity to host premier cycling events.

"Council has worked tremendously hard to cement its place as the home of Australian Road Cycling and I am delighted we will have the opportunity to continue to host the event and showcase our great city to the nation for the next six years."

"The inclusion of the criterium is a huge coup for the city. The event now boasts all three road race disciplines giving spectators the chance to witness a diverse program of road cycling at an elite level."

Championship event director John Craven from Caribou Publications said Ballarat's retention of the titles for the next six years was an exciting and welcome development for the region and Australian cycling in general.

He said the expansion of the Championships into a nine-event format, would make Ballarat a mecca for the Australian bicycling fraternity in January each year.

"Ballarat is now synonymous with top-level bike racing and Ballarat City Council should be congratulated for securing a long-term arrangement for the championships."

Cycling Australia Chief Executive Officer Graham Fredericks said Cycling Australia was delighted to formalise the arrangement for the Australian Open Road Championships to have a home in Ballarat.

"The event has grown in stature and prestige over recent years and the feedback that we have had from our members has been very positive.

"We are also pleased to confirm the criterium will be added to the cycling festival in Ballarat where the road races and time trials have been staged so successfully. It should be a spectacular festival of cycling for fans and supporters who flock to Ballarat for the event.

"We look forward to working with both the Ballarat City Council and Caribou Publications over the next six years as the event continues to grow and develop."

The Australian Open Road Cycling Championships will be held in Ballarat from Wednesday 6 – Sunday 10 January 2010.

Wednesday, 6 Jan - Time Trial (Buninyong)
Men's Under 23 Time Trial
Women's Time Trial
Men's Time Trial

Thursday, 7 Jan - National Criterium (Ballarat CBD)
Men's Under 23 Criterium
Women Criterium
Men's Criterium

Friday, 8 Jan - Rest Day

Saturday, 9 Jan - Road Race (Buninyong)
Men's Under 23 Road Race
Women's Road Race

Sunday, 10 Jan - Road Race (Buninyong)
Men's Road Race

June Recreational TTT report

Ray Isaac, regular recreational rides reporter, whose reports raise the bar for other ride report writers, writes:

Approximately 30 recreational riders showed up on Sunday 21 June for the second RECTTT ride. I say approximately because that’s as precise as anyone can be.

There were probably nine members of the re-badged Goddesses team that started. No one really knows how many, as the ladies were apparently overtaken with enthusiasm for the battle and began riding before Tim [O'Doherty - ed.], our stalwart starter had reached the start line. It seems there is a decided lack of respect for officialdom in this team, based on their starts at the first two RECTTT rides! At various points of this ride their numbers dwindled and were then magically restored at the finish. A steady improvement in their average velocity from the first ride was commendable, even if they employed unconventional tactics to achieve it.

There were definitely five Saxon House representatives. They went about their business in a most workmanlike manner, with Colin Fraser earning much comment about his effort in staying on the front for the entire course. Some of his team-mates expressed the sentiment that he might like to ride in the same pack as them next time. Nevertheless he earned the CSC Award**

Four Dennis Family Homes’ representatives hid their disappointment at the untimely departure of Peter Martin, their captain, just as they were about to head out. This didn’t augur well for them, and their numbers were soon reduced to two when Peter Hayes had a catastrophic chain jam and Bob Morley suffered an untimely puncture. Nothing could resolve Peter’s mechanical, but Bob’s ingenuity and a bit of backtracking soon had him re-united with his team-mates. Under these trying conditions they put up a sterling performance to improve their average velocity.

The Turret Café could also have felt let down when Peter Canny [motelier and psychologist to the stars - ed.] withdrew from their team, reportedly suffering from the flu. Their five riders, however, were far from disheartened by this development and set off at a tremendous pace, eclipsing their brave, if somewhat modest, result from the inaugural RECTTT ride.

A new team – Cycling on Principal – assembled under the tutelage of Les Bilney [whose brother beat Eddy Merckx. True story - ed.] . I’m not sure whether they lost their principles, or simply one of their principals, as there was one less rider when they finished. They established a first-up velocity that gives them plenty of scope to improve and that is, after all, the main point of the RECTTT rides.

The weather after the ride was fine and sunny, the BBQ was very popular (probably more so because it was accidentally free), the coffee van a great success and the free beers attracted some interest. All in all, a very satisfying second-up RECTTT ride was had by all.

** CSC Award. This name has been selected from the myriad suggestions received to replace the inelegant The Most Remarkable Effort by A RECTT Rider on the Day (TMREBARROTD) Award. It’s an anagram for Cunning or Stupid or Courageous. Keep your eye out on the next RECTTT ride for someone who might be worthy to receive the award. Details of the next ride are elsewhere on the web site.

Emily leads 2009 Vic Junior Road Series

Roger Bade writes:

After Sunday's Country Road Championships, BSCC's Emily Wordie-Thompson is the leader of the 2009 Victorian Junior Road Series. I don't remember BSCC having a rider in the lead of one of these aggregates before - it's a pretty amazing effort.

From Cycle Sport Victoria:

Wednesday, 24 June 2009
2009 Victorian Junior Road Series - Standings after Round 3.

After three events, the 2009 Victorian Junior Road Series standings are starting to take shape.

Current standings leaders are as follows:

M17 - Calvin Watson (Carnegie Caulfield CC)
W17 - Stephanie Hansen (Carnegie Caulfield CC)
M15 - Robert Oakenfull (Bendigo & District CC)
W15 - Emily Wordie-Thompson (Ballarat/Sebastopol CC)

The five-event aggregate points series will attract trophies for the category winners, both male and female. It will also assist in the selection of the Victorian Junior Road Team to compete at the 2009 J15/17 Australian Junior Road Championships in Canberra, September 11-13.

Melbourne to Ballarat: only the strong

Updated: photos from Gail and Olivia Oliver are up: see the Gallery. Thanks team Oliver!

The officlal results, story and photos are up on the Cycle Sport Victoria web site. Please click HERE for the story and photos, and HERE for results. You'll see that the author of the CSV story has come up with a new definition of the word "moderate:"

"Tivers clocked two hours, 20 minutes, 31 seconds in moderately windy conditions."

And Eddy Merckx was a moderately successful cyclist. Or we were in different races. But we agree on this part:

"Ballarat Sebastopol CC members filled three places in the top 10, with Jay Bourke the first hometown rider across the line in sixth position. Damien Turner was seventh, with 18-year-old Rhys Gillett ninth."

The results show another five BSCC riders in the top 50: a super ride from Chloe McIntosh; John Polkinghorne; Tony Mirabella; Peter Kiel; and Gary Gullock.

Well done, team! More stories from the race are coming soon.

******

Details of the race itself are sketchy at this point, because most survivors start shaking and muttering "no, no ..." when questioned closely, but in brief:

Scratch got up - no surprise in the vicious cross-wind.

Jay Bourke was a very happy first Ballarat rider, comfortably in the top ten.

His Cycle City team-mate Rhys Gillett was also in the top ten: impressive, considering how few of the scratch riders survived.

Chloe McIntosh put in a typically gutsy ride to narrowly miss the award for first woman.

Doug Garley, finishing in a small group a little behind the winners, was brought down 100m from the line. The Hard Rider climbed back on his bike and finished the race. Initial reports indicate no lasting damage to man or machine.

The race probably went something like this. Howling cross-winds and no shelter at the start, riders bouncing off the edge of the road and one another. The front two bunches split into groups of 6 or 8 riders, sealing their fate. 16 minutes was less disorganized than the other front bunches, and so caught the last of the small groups at the top of the Pentlands. 9 and 12 minutes combined, and caught the front group before Pikes Creek. The race was decided on the exposed sections above this climb, where the cross-wind was merciless. Any mental weakness was ruthlessly exposed. Further back, scratch mowed down the two groups in front of them, at a considerable price: of the 60-odd riders who started on these three marks, fewer than 15 were left by Gordon. But the conditions were such that these dozen caught the front groups comfortably before the finish. It was a very hard day.

********

On Saturday July 18, BSCC in conjunction with Cycle Sport Victoria (CSV) is running the Melbourne to Ballarat Classic road race. The entry list is posted on the CSV web site, and it includes a record 26 BSCC riders. There's a discussion on the BSCC forum about car-pooling to the race, and other details of interest to those racing.

We need volunteer marshals to help with the running of the race. Marshals will direct riders along the course, just as they do in our club races. If you're not doing the Melbourne to Ballarat yourself, please contact Doug "Bronco" Armstrong, chief race organizer, to volunteer. Bronco is on 5338 7200.

The Melbourne to Ballarat is a CSV open race, like the Fred Icke. This year will be the 99th running of the race, so it is one year younger than the Giro d'Italia, and the first Melbourne-Ballarat was held three years before the first Ronde van Vlaanderen (Tour of Flanders). The 2009 edition is a 96 km handicap, run along the Western Freeway from Ted's Roadhouse at Rockbank to finish on Learmonth Road in Wendouree. More details are HERE at the CSV web site. Cycle City's Stuart Sanders won the race as a fresh-faced teenager in 1983, and Jonny Townsend did the job in the late 90s. There is a trophy for first Ballarat rider, won by Ken Heres last year. There was a discussion about the present and future of this race on this web site's forum a few months back.

State Team Time Trial Champs: BSCC is #1

Updated: please click HERE for Rob Doyle's account of BSCC's win in the senior men's event, and other insights from the Man in the White Shorts.

Please click HERE for the report and photos at the Cycle Sport Victoria web site, and HERE for the official results. To quote from the CSV story: "The club honours went to Ballarat-Sebastopol CC, who claimed six championships in total." Six! Not bad, eh? And that includes winning the open men's event by almost a minute and a half.

********

On Sunday July 19, the day after the Melbourne to Ballarat Classic, BSCC is hosting another Cycle Sport Victoria open event, the state club team time trial championship. The road team time trial (TTT) was an Olympic and world championship event until 1996, the year that professional cyclists were finally allowed to compete at the Olympics, when it was replaced by the individual time trial. Until then, national teams of four riders contested the TTT over 100 km, with a number of teams, mostly from the Eastern bloc, cracking the magic 2-hour barrier. The TTT also used to be a regular event at the amateur national road titles, with state teams of four fighting it out. Colac's David Lunn, who rode the Fred Icke race in Creswick a few weeks ago, was a regular member of the Victorian TTT squad in the late 1980s. These days, the TTT in a slightly different format - nine riders rather than four, and a shorter distance - lives on in the Grand Tours, especially the national tour of France, where the Postal/Discovery "Blue Train's" dominance of this discipline played a role in Armstrong's victories earlier this decade. The TTT favors riders with a huge engine, the ability to listen to their team-mates (to avoid dropping them), and some well-honed bike handling skills. Those who followed the 2005 Tour will recall Dave Zabriskie's demonstration that steering a TT bike with your elbows in a paceline at 50 km/h is not straightforward.

The state championship is contested by club teams. Phil Orr has organized BSCC's senior and masters teams, and here they are. Combined wattage exceeds many power stations.

Elite team: Rob Doyle, Rhys Gillett, Phillip Orr, Damien Turner

Masters 1: Scott Townsend, Andrew Weightman, Jon Townsend, Tony Mirabella

Masters 2: Ben Clark, Timmy Oliver, Matt Albiston, Jason Haire

Masters 3: Roger Bade, Peter Walker, Jeff Filip, Charlie Stebbing

M19: Joel MacAllister, Harry Bade, Mitch Brodgen, James Crafter

Women: Gail Oliver, Wendy Ross, Kylie Zelley, Jenny White

Chris Liston organized the junior teams, and here they are:

U9
Rochelle Liston , Connor Carey

U11F
Olivia Oliver, Kate Lyons & Beatrice Pickersgill

U13F #1
Emma Bilston, Emily Oliver, Jaymie Haire

U13F #2
Athalie Lawrie, Harriet Pickersgill, Felicity Liston

U13M
Nicholas White, Dylan Bilston, Tim Geoghegan Emergency: Sam Smith

U15M #1
Josh Liston, Angus Lyons, Hugo Tolliday,

U15M #2
Craig Firman, Dominic Geoghegan, Edward Lawrie

U15F
Emily Wordie-Thompson, Victoria Snibson, Madeleine Plastow

U17F
Molly Hegert, Meg O'Doherty

U17M
Ciaran Conaughton, Liam White, Andrew Pearson, Killian Plastow Emergency: Charles Martin

Race organizer Doug Armstrong has asked the club to provide marshals on the day to help with timing, gear rollouts and corners. If you're not racing, please contact Doug on 5338 7200 to volunteer.

Severe Weather Event Cancellation

When the Bureau of Meteorology, via its web site and through the media, issues a Severe Weather Warning that includes the Western district (that's us), with wind averages at 60 km/h or more, and gusts exceeding 90 km/h, then all club events are cancelled for that day or until such time as the warning is lifted. The club has cancelled racing on two occasions this season (2009) - at Kingston and Snake Valley. Each time the Bureau had issued a warning for that day. It's the race committee's judgment that if the wind is predicted to gust up to 90km/h, then it 's not safe to race, or train in groups. We know race cancellations are disappointing, and none of us wants to be accused of being a wimp, but we don't want people being blown into cars.

The Race Committee will also cancel races when it judges that other forecast weather conditions will make racing unsafe.

Track: Preston Junior Track Carnival

Junior racing at the Preston Velodrome including J11/ J13 Victorian Track Championships.

Sunday 4th March. Good prize money, trophies and medals on offer!

See flyer for more information.

MTB: club race this Saturday

CANCELLED!!!! Due to total fire ban today.
From a safety point of view, we'd recommend all mtb riders not ride in our local bush tommorrow, as you'll never know if you are riding into a potentially dangerous situation.

Our next weekend mountain bike race will be held this Saturday 25 February in Invermay. The Akera Rd course is 3.5 km long and is our most established trail as it was used for the first BSCC mountain bike race 3 years ago.
Garmin profile here:

You probably can't see this graph very well, but the sharp pointy yellow thing near the end is a 22% grade climb.

Junior Race
This course is slightly shortened for juniors and includes gradual climbs and great single track. Juniors and Novice will be racing at the same time at 11.30am at the conclusion of senior racing with registration open from 11:00am. Chris Quain will determine the race format for juniors. But racing will be for a time period between 15 – 30 mins.

Novice Race
Novice will have their own separate race prior to A,B & C grades. Novice will complete 3 laps which will last for 45 – 55 minutes.

Senior grades A, B & C
These grades will race at 10am with registration open from 9:30am. Each grade will complete the following laps:
7 laps, A grade. (approx 70-80 mins)
5 laps B grade (approx 60 mins)
4 laps C grade (approx 50-55 mins)

How to Get there
The Invermay course is located in Akera Rd, Invermay. Akera Road can be accessed via Whiteswan Road or off Swinglers Road and Dawes Rd. Click on the Garmin link to see a google map of the course and location.

Road: Dunnstown race results

Race results and report from last weekends scratch race at Dunnstown.

A grade
1st Pat Shaw
2nd Jay Bourke
3rd Michael peirce
4th Aaron Blomely
Time: 1:16

B grade
1st Will Goer
2nd Doug Garely
3rd John Lacey
4th Rob Forsythe
Time: 1:26

C grade
1st Paul Humphrey
2nd Les Bilney
3rd Greg Nunn
4th Peter Canny
Time: 1:29

D grade
1st Vic snibson
The rest DNF
Time: 1:38

Marshals: Charlie stebbing, Shane Cody, Tony Mirabella, Andrew Rushton, Bill Moore, Joel Hossack.

B grade race report by Sam Edwards

A solid group of starters took to the line in Saturdays B grade season opener, around the infamous Dunnstown "Corkscrew" circuit. All were keen the test their legs, and it wasn't long before the first attempt to get away was made by Doug Garley with two more riders in tow, but the move was short-lived, and the group was brought back into the fold before the first corner.

An alliance was made before the Corkscrew (Based on nothing more than the coolness of 32-spoke old-school wheels I think) between Doug Garley and Sam Edwards to have a dig and try and get away, but Sam was caught snoozing when Doug jumped and succeeded in nothing more than dragging the field back to Dougs wheel, incurring the wrath of the Jedi master. Not content to just roll around in the group, Doug jumped once again, and this time the group was told to let him go under the instruction of "Le Patron" John Polkinghorne.

Not sure Doug was going to be caught, the field rolled turns in an effort to control the damage, finally reeling him in after a full lap. Non-sprinters such as Ben Clark and Sam Edwards were now forced into action to avoid a bunch kick against the likes of Jonathan Lacey and Will Geor, who had been flying under the Radar and sitting comfortably all day. Edwards tried his luck through the gully and up the overpass, but only succeeded in blowing himself to smithereens.

With a bunch sprint now a certainty, jostling for position had now begun with Matt Turner and Ben Clark going shoulder to shoulder into the last corner. A furious sprint opened up with Geor taking honours over second placed and Most Aggressive winner Doug Garley with Jonathan Lacey third.

Definite hard racing and fun to be had in B grade this year.

Road: Warnambool Cycling Club major events

The Warnambool Cycling Club is hosting a weekend of rad racing events for seniors and juniors on March 3rd and 4th.

Please see flyer for more details.

Track: weekly results

BSCC Track Racing Results
Date: 16-Feb-2012
from trackside reporter, Angus Lyons

The weather looked bleak as the 37 riders prepared to tackle the track. Despite it being the second track ride for many of the novice category riders it was quality racing that held everyone’s attention the whole night.

The novice riders rode a combination of scratch and handicap races most of which came down to nail-biting finishes as the hunger for the first win appeared. As always Roger’s commentary and advice was welcomed by many going into the second race. Most prominent improvement was seen by Roland Calvert who, after a tentative first race, went on to put a gap into scratch riders in the handicap.

The junior Club riders were in form with Clancy Dickson taking the scratch in a sprint from Graeme Frislie and young gun Jake Ashmore. The points race was hotly contested but the tactical moves of Graeme Frislie could not be ignored. Coming in equal second were Clancy Dickson and Angus Cocking. Adam Begbie took the handicap from the late arrival Rochelle Liston and Harrison Callaway. Frislie displayed his prowess once again in the elimination, taking it in an all too familiar rivalry with Liston.

Senior Club member numbers were down with just William Key and Sam Murphy arriving to complete the Match Sprint early in the night. Will Key took the first two sprints, claiming the series of 3. An elimination wrapped up the night with Angus Lyons taking the win from Key in a final lap dash with Andrew coming in third.

Full reults found here.

Racing will once again be on next Thursday, School riders are encouraged to stay a little longer. Seniors are welcome with official senior racing beginning around 5:00-5:30.

Murray to Moyne fundraising dinner

Now in its 25th year, the Murray to Moyne is a cycling relay event aimed to raise money for health services accross Australia.

Beginning in either Swan Hill, Echuca or Mildura, teams of riders must complete the 520km journey to Port Fairy within a 24hour time period.

In 2011 $1.3m was raised. The Ballarat team organised by the Rotary Club of Ballarat West and Young Ambition will again be supporting the Leukaemia Foundation. As part of their fundraising efforts a dinner will be held on Thursday March 15th at the Alexandria on Lydiard, featuring AFL legend (and quite the cycling afficionado I'm told) Peter 'Crackers' Keenan.

To make a booking or for more infor mation contact 82,111,115,115,32,72,117,110,103,116,105,110,103,116,111,110, or visit the Murray to Moyne website.

Track: the Ballarat Madison - BSCC Reaches New Heights

27 Feb update: it has been very tactfully pointed out that there were in fact three BSCC senior riders in the men's madison: Harry Crothers-Bade and Doug Garley, both mentioned below, and Will Wettenhall, who was not mentioned in the original piece below. Our apologies to Will. He & his brother were right up there in the placings too. We're looking forward to seeing more of Will this year. - ed.

Chris Liston reports on the junior events:

Beatrice Pickersgill scored a hard-earned win in the JW13 handicap wheelrace at the Cyclesport Victoria track racing carnival at Ballarat on February 13. Pickersgill led from start to finish, with the field descending on her as she rounded the last bend before the finish. Pickersgill held them off, and stood above some strong junior girls on the podium.

Emma Bilston took a win in the opening JW15 scratch race, but did not cross the gap to fellow club members in the handicap, with Courtney Mannix and Harriet Pickersgill taking second and third respectively. Victoria Snibson in JW17 and Rochelle Liston in J11 were the other two multi-place getting female riders for Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club.

In the junior male events, Nicholas White took two third places, while Joshua Liston and Hugo Tolliday competed well without taking top-three positions.

BSCC results:
J11 Scratch
3rd Rochelle Liston
JM15 Scratch
3rd Nicholas White
W15 Scratch
1st Emma Bilston
JW17 Scratch
3rd Victoria Snibson
JG13 Handicap
1st Beatrice Pickersgill
JM15 Handicap
3rd Nicholas White
JW15 Handicap
2nd Courtney Mannix
3rd Harriet Pickersgill
JW17 Handicap
2nd Victoria Snibson
J11 Elimination
3nd Rochelle Liston
JM15 Points Race
3rd Nicholas White
JW15 Points
2nd Emma Bilston

On Sunday February 13, BSCC and Cycle Sport Victoria presented the 2011 Victorian Madison Championships, and a full program of support races. It was perhaps the biggest day ever at our track, and a huge success for the club. The whole Marty Busch complex was packed with cars, the grandstand was full, the crowd was at least two deep all around the fence, and even the weather co-operated. Thank you Roger! - the promoter of today's event, and the driving force behind the velodrome upgrade that made it all possible.

The Ballarat Courier, a major sponsor of the event, has its usual excellent coverage: see here, here and here.

Thanks are also due to:

- Cycle Sport Victoria, who ran the event, including the extremely trick job of keeping track of points and laps in the day's three madison events (thanks Greg Nunn!). Special thanks to commissaires Doug and Carol Armstrong.

- Everyone in the club who helped out. Most of the board members, and a lot of other helpers, were at the track working early this morning, and some of them are probably still there now (Sunday 8 PM).

- The event's many sponsors, including The Ballarat Courier, Priceline Pharmacy, Mars Snackfoods, Sovereign Hill, Central City Motor Inn, Nova Pharmacy, Kelly Coaching, SJ Butler, Sovereign Park Motor Inn, Ballarat Essential Dental, Harcourts and Dennis Family Homes.

A full report on the races will follow soon. Meantime, here are a few highlights from the senior racing:

- The M17 madison generally - very fast, very skillful riders, and an exciting race - and BSCC's Josh Liston in particular, for holding his own, with his partner Lucas Hamilton, against riders who will be on your television very soon.

- Scott Townsend, the Man in Black, for a dominant win in the C-grade motorpace, against guns such as three-time world masters pursuit champion Stuart Vaughan. (More on Stuart soon.)

- Liam White, for a typically feisty performance in the final of the Mars Snackfoods men's wheelrace final, giving him fourth place behind the flying Stuart Vaughan. (Even more on Stuart soon.)

- Chloe McIntosh, for a very well-deserved silver medal, every bit as feisty, in the inaugural Victorian women's madison championship. Chloe and her partner, Hawthorn's Emy Huntsman, attacked from the gun, bringing with them the fearsome SASI pairing of Annette Edmonson (Australian omnium and scratch race champion) and Jessica Mundy. Edmonson and Mundy were at a different level from the rest of the field and tore the race apart. Chloe and Emy hung tough to keep Shannon McCurley and Laine Hammond, the more fancied pair, out of the silver medal. Chloe dug very deep, and richly deserves her medal. This might be the start of a breakthrough year for her.

Chloe is not holding back as she throws Emy in. Check out the computer taped to Emy's top tube. Photo by Liz Crothers

- Both of BSCC's representatives in the big event, the 40-km (160-lap!) Victorian men's madison championship, Harry Crothers-Bade and Doug "Hard Rider" Garley, did us very proud. The speed at which the race was conducted, right from the start, was simply astounding, thanks to the ferocious rivalry between the top two teams - Tim Decker and Glen O'Shea, and Alex Edmonson (Annette's brother) and Miles Scotson. O'Shea looks almost, but not quite, back to his best: when he put his foot all the way to the floor, his speed had to be seen to be believed. The timing of his attacks was perfect - immediately after a hard-fought sprint. But whenever he would blast off the front and take half a lap in the blink of an eye, the relentless Scotson and the amazing Edmonson would drag him back, and then mercilessly punish O'Shea's partner, Tim Decker, their coach.

The monsters, Edmonson and Scotson, at full power. Photo by Liz Crothers.

Harry's experience riding big madisons showed: he threaded his way calmly through the chaos that left many in the audience gasping at narrowly-averted disasters. As Edmonson and Scotson threw themselves off the front time after time, Harry and his partner Ed were a constant part of the floating lineup of half a dozen teams who kept them in sight, and reeled them back in when they calmed down. As the race wore on, the pace began to tell, and Harry and Ed went through a dark period when they found themselves in the dreaded no man's land between the leaders' group and the collection of teams toward the back of the race. When some teams might have capitulated, conceded a lap, swung up, rested, and jumped back in with the leaders' group, Harry and Ed fought on. Their reward was to be back in the main group in the closing stages of the race, as the monsters clashed over the last few sprints.

Ed slings Harry in, and Harry hits the "go" button. Photo by Liz Crothers.

In every hard-fought race, there are a few riders - often not the winners - who stand out for their courage and refusal to give in. In the 2011 Victorian madison championship, that rider, without a doubt, was Doug Garley. Doug was asked to partner Stuart Vaughan only a few hours before the race. So he went into the race more than a decade older than the next-youngest rider - Vaughan - and with more like three decades on most of the field, and with a less-than-ideal preparation after a late night. Not only did Doug and Stuart hold their own, but they attracted the most vocal support of anyone on the track when they stole points from the youngsters. And while many other exhausted riders were missing changes and making other mistakes towards the end of the race, Doug and Stuart kept up their smooth pedaling, clockwork changes and perfect positioning all the way through.

See how easy madison changes are ...? Photo by Liz Crothers.

Well done all! And thanks to Liz Crothers for the brilliant photos.

Roger Bade writes:

NEWS FLASH! Chloe McIntosh is now riding the women's madison, with Emily Huntsman, against some of the best trackies in the country - Annette Edmonson and Shannon McCurley. Get down there and support her!

BSCC is proud to announce the 2011 Victorian Madison Championships for men, women and under-17s, as well as a full program of support races, on Sunday February 13, 2011, at Marty Busch Reserve, Sebastopol.

Check out the Ballarat Madison home page HERE. And see below for the start lists for the main events, the madisons.

Tuesday update: It's looking so good that even Shane Kelly is coming! Get down to Marty Busch to meet the great man, and maybe pick up an autograph or a bit of ex-Olympic or World Champs equipment at a good price.

Wednesday update: here's Shane's list of stuff he will have for sale on Sunday: knicks, jerseys, skinsuits, shoes, shoe covers & other items of track clothing. Track cranks, pedals, shoes.

Australian Champions - at least 4!
World Champions - at least 3!

The 2011 Ballarat Madison

* more than $5000 of prizemoney!
* the most exciting events on the track cycling program
* We haven't seen anything like this in Ballarat for many years
* 100+ riders

Sunday February 13
Marty Busch

This is a big event and you need to be there. Sunday at Marty Busch Reserve, come along and see some of the best outdoor Track Cycling you are ever likely to come across:

Glen O'Shea - the come-back madison ride for the 21 yo who many say is the best in the world - bar none, not even Cam Meyer. Glen has won the last two Bendigo Internationals partnering Leigh Howard (both times beating the Meyer brothers) and after a 12 month break is now back in the saddle. He had his first races this week at the nationals - won the team pursuit (4 mins 2sec), silver in the points race behind Durbridge and bronze in the scratch race. Get out and see someone VERY special.

On Sunday Glen will partner Tim Decker - Senior coach at SASI (Coach of Bobridge), past winner (2 years ago?) of Melb to Warnambool, past winner of Bendigo International, two time World Masters track Champ.

Current (as in on the weekend!) Australian Scratch Race Champion and Silver Medallists respectively; Annette Edmonston and Shannon McCurley. You may see these girls in the Olympics next year - see them for free at Marty Busch!

Alex Edmonston and Miles Scotson - both national medallists.

Ed Bissaker; World M19 Team Pursuit Champion, partnering our own Harry Crothers-Bade

Stuart Vaughan; twice world Masters Pursuit Champion

The carnival includes the:

* Kelly Coaching Vic Under 17 Madison - first time ever!
* Mars Snackfoods Men's Wheelrace
* Sovereign Hill Women's Wheelrace
* Priceline Pharmacy Vic Madison for Elite Women - first time ever!
* Ballarat Courier Vic Madison for Elite Men

The carnival starts at 9.30am and the feature events from 2.30pm. BBQ, coffee van. Tell your mates. See you there.

Madison start lists

Men's madison

1 Tim Decker and Glen O'Shea
2 Alex Edmonston and Miles Scotson
3 Sam Crome and Jamie Crass
4 Tom Leaper and Adrian Hansen
5 Peter Ladd and Brendan Schultz
6 Ed Bissaker and Harry Crothers-Bade
7 Jay Callaghan and Damian Harris
8 Gavin Sittampalan and Tyler Spurrell
9 Mark Flood and Ryan Pontelandolfo
10 Marcus Wettenhall and Will Wettenhall
11 Brendan Bailey and Sean Hurley
12 Stuart Vaughan and Cam Woolcock
reserve1 James Crafter and Doug Garley
reserve2 Callum Fryar and Blair Smith
reserve3 Greg Brunt and Andy Burmas

M17 madison

1 Mitchell Bowry and Alistair Donahue
2 Tyson Breen and Liam Hood
3 Callum Scotson and xxxxx
4 Sean Mciver and Pierce Connor
5 Josh Liston and Lucas Hamilton

Women's madison

1 Annette Edmonston and Jessica Mundy
2 Shannon McCurley and Laine Hammond
3 Emma Waldron and Toni Abbisogni
4 Jane Robinson and Emmy Huntsman

Road: 2010-11 Small Dog Criteriums, Round 10

Chris Liston reports:

Olivia Oliver returned to the Small Dog Junior Criteriums in round 10, and mixed up the pace. Felicity Liston marked Oliver’s wheel, with Rochelle Liston following her older sister. The Liston siblings were unable to round Olivia at the sprint finish, and Olivia took the win from Felicity by half a wheel.

In sub-junior F Grade, Jake Ashmore took off the front to claim a decisive win over Max Oliver and new U9 member Ziggy Ashmore. The trio proved that you are never too young to compete in BSCC’s junior events.

Results:
E Grade
1st Olivia Oliver
2nd Felicity Liston
3rd Rochelle Liston

F Grade
1st Jake Ashmore
2nd Max Oliver
3rd Ziggy Lee

Updated: Liz Crothers and Roger Bade took lots more photos of the senior racing. Here are the links to their photo galleries. You don't need a password.

Roger's photos of A grade

Roger's photos of B grade

Roger's photos of C grade

Roger's photos of D grade

Stuart Brien reports on the senior racing:

Kel Jones took all before him in a breathtaking sprint to the line in the A-grade race in round 10 of the Small Dog Criteriums at Victoria Park. The Bendigo A grade rider was too powerful in the final sprint and took the honours by a wheel from local track star and Sovereign Hill team rider Charles Martin, followed closely by VIS rider Tom Hamilton in third place.

The A grade field just before the start.

Charles (2nd), Harry and Liam take the corner at speed.

Now it's Harry, Liam and Stu Sanders

Stu Grigg shows some cleavage

Tom Hamilton (VIS) eventually took third.

John Polkinghorne, who set a fierce pace on the front of the race for the first ten minutes, had enough left to make a bold move with two laps to go, putting 100 metres on the 16 man field. He was joined momentarily by last year's Fred Icke discovery Shannon Gration, before Gration stepped on the gas and took 50 metres from Polkinghorne on the bell lap. Gration hit the home straight on his own, but as the chasing bunch rounded the last turn, he was no match for the sprinters and was swallowed up within 25 metres of the finish line.

The B grade race played out similarly, with the real action left until the final lap. Last week's winner Stuart Brien was lurking toward the back looking for “Harry Potter’s cloak of invisibility,” hoping to find an opening at the right time. Don Stewart was also looming large after some good work on the track this summer, and Simon Ellis, two weeks away from the Otway Odyssey, was showing glimpses of his Iron Man form by pushing hard to soften the legs of the sprinters. Michael Veal, another Odyssey contender, saw a gap with 350m to go and led out early. However, it was Round 9’s antagonist, young gun Aaron Blomeley, who took the honours as he showed patience, persistence and a solid turn of speed to rip across the line in a tight finish from Brien in second and Ellis in 3rd.

The B-grade field before the start, including placegetters, from left to right, Stu Brien (foreground, 2nd, looking excited), Aaron Blomeley (1st), Simon Ellis (3rd).

“C” Grade Smash Fest

Scott Denno, the self-proclaimed "Mr. Inconstant," reports:

Thirteen riders lined up in “C” grade on a perfect night for summer racing. There were the usual suspects, a very good smattering of women putting their hand up, and the young guns out to show the oldies how it should be done while making their way to the top of their cycling world.

The C-grade field rolls off the start line. Everyone is focused on clipping in.

The pace was fair to easy for the first 5 minutes, followed by “The Josh” Liston up the outside. With the pace lifted small attack after small attack followed, but nothing like the lung-buster getaway of last week, which saw the weak off the back! Josh Liston, Gerard Cosgrave, Brett Williams, Bob Morley and Gerard White all had a flutter with the big gears and high heart rates, but none of that came to too much.

Gerard Cosgrave leads Emma Bilston and Melissa Keirl through the corner.

The pace lifted once again when the A Grade train made its way past and Cosgrave thought he would try his legs out at A Grade pace.

Gerard Cosgrave lines the field out

After normality was restored, we were given two laps to go by the judges, followed by a “sit up” by all riders looking for the bell. When the bell came, Mark Czulij took off like a cut cat. He was tracked by a courageous Terry Goldie leading a field of startled C Graders. Czulij was caught before the last corner and sent packing: his night was over.

Goldie led the field into the straight, followed by a very hungry bunch of riders looking for fleeting glory. Goldie used his time on the front early. Yours truly took over even as I felt the bunch on my shoulder. Going as hard as I could, I was overtaken by two riders: Josh Liston, rested after his earlier attacks, and then Will Stewart. Stewart, looking as fresh as a daisy, took the win from Liston, third Denno, followed by a large contingent of women riders, with a weary pack on their heels.

The C-grade finish: Will Stewart leads Josh Liston and Scott Denno.

Fun was had by all, good clean racing with a fantastic finish. A special shout out to Gail Oliver, Jane Faneco, Emma Bilston, Melissa Keirl, and Victoria Snibson. None of them gave an inch. We hope to see you all there next week. C grade’s average speed was down 1 km/h from last week to 37 km/h. Well done to all.

Fast, eh?

Results:
A Grade
1st Kel Jones
2nd Charles Martin
3rd Tom Hamilton

B Grade
1st Aaron Blomeley
2nd Stuart Brien
3rd Simon Ellis

C Grade
1st Will Stewart
2nd Josh Liston
3rd Scott Denno

D Grade
1st Nicholas White
2nd Jack Stewart
3rd Jack Thompson

MTB: Cross Country Trails at Black Hill

Recently the representatives of the MTB sub-committee and Club M.U.D. met on site with City of Ballarat to discuss the possibility of developing cross country trail infrastructure at the Black Hill reserve. In a first for cross country MTB in the region, the City of Ballarat agreed to the proposal, and have begun working with both clubs to establish what an urban MTB park right in the heart of the city. Council have a grant proposal in at the State Government to fund the development of a master plan for Black Hill which would include MTB trails.

The plan is to built a number of trails for junior development and short course cross country racing (‘Dirt Crits’), with the aim of developing a longer 3-5 km racing loop down the line. Black Hill was chosen for a number of reasons including its location, its history of MTB use, and its enthusiastic land managers who would allow us to build trails. The proposal put to the City of Ballarat involves establishing trails on the vacant land at the top of Napier St, where inner "easy" trials (shown in green on the photo below) would be surrounded by a number of more difficult trails (blue). Such a design will allow juniors to progress from easier to harder trails, and create multiple ‘Dirt Crit’ circuits. The plan is to complete the trial-building before the 2011-2012 ‘Dirt Crit’ series begins, with much of the work being undertaken by BSCC. The City of Ballarat and BSCC are now sorting out the paperwork before construction starts. The club will be looking for volunteers in the near future for trail works.

Trails designed and built by the club for the club – how good will that be!

Otway Odyssey: the day of truth

Updated Thursday 25 February with more stories.

Ballarat riders turned in some sparkling performances at the dreaded Otway Odyssey mountain bike race on Saturday, Feb. 20. Official results are posted by the super-efficient Rapid Ascent team, the race organizers, and they are also on cyclingnews - the front page, no less. (Finishing this is very hard, but it's an easier way to get on cyclingnews than via the ProTour ... ) The full stories behind the Ballarat results are still filtering in through the mud, dust and haze of the Odyssey. Like last year, the trails were in near-perfect condition, but temperatures were significantly higher. This plus the screaming headwinds on the first climb made many riders' times slower than last year. Here are some highlights from what we know so

Phil Orr, lucky 13th, 5:09. Not many riders would do a 6-hour MTB race at full throttle six days before the Odyssey, but not many riders are the defending Victorian enduro champion. This is a fabulous result, against the cream of Australian XC racing, a gaggle of pro road riders, and no fewer than three world 24-hour champions. Phil reports that he felt better in the last 35 km of the Odyssey than the first 65 km - also a rare thing. In doing so, Phil beat Sid Taberlay, World Cup top-20 rider; young gun Paul van der Ploeg, tipped to be the future of Australian XC MTB racing; and the legendary Phil Anderson, whose road palmares combine the best of Evans and O'Grady.

Update: Phil intends to win the Mt Beauty six-hour enduro this coming weekend. That will be three MTB races 100 km or more in thirteen days. Contending for the win in all of them. Yikes.

Simon Ellis, 47th, 5:38. Simon talked himself down going into this race, but as predicted below, still went faster than most motor bikes would, despite a major disagreement during the race between one of his sports drinks and his stomach. He's a hot tip for the Victorian 100 km MTB champs in April.

Warren Faneco, 53rd, 5:47. We predicted that Woz would go fast (see below), but this is VERY fast. Faster in fact than Judith Arndt, the strongest woman cyclist in the world for the last decade, who comfortably won the women's event.

Now the details get very sketchy. Clinton Lemaitre did 6:17, a little slower than last year. Way fast on the technical descents as always. Shane "Jedi" Cody did a flying 6:44. Stellar for a bloke who only started riding without an internal combustion engine just over a year ago. Here's Jedi's account of his ride:

"Now that most of the pain has gone ... The first part is pretty boring: climbed well, was feeling really good, then I got to the the Red Carpet! (long, fast technical descent, where the roadies get left for dead - ed., roadie) Just as I turned left to go over the dam wall (65 km to go - ed.), BANG - cramps like I haven't had before. I finally got going again then my legs started to tighten up and cramp badly again. So not even half way and things were looking bad. Started sucking in excess fluids to help with the cramps, but that worked against me as I ran out of water before the 67 km mark (Forrest for the first time - ed.). I filled up my Camelbak (hydration pack, like what the winner is wearing here - ed.), got some Shotz electrolyte tablets, and I was away for another loop. Didn't get far and was trying to push up tiny climbs and BANG! - hamstrings and quads together. So here I was, could not stand with my legs extended, so I was squatting beside my steed while watching what seemed to be hundreds of riders go past. Finally I got back to the last loop, 89 km done, and was running on empty again, 30-odd minutes without a drop of fluid. It was great to see riders fixing punctures 'cos I kept stopping and asking them for a sip of their water. They all said yes, no worries (dirt karma - ed.), filled up my bottle, but left my CamelBak behind as I had these bad pains in my back, and soon discovered after taking a nature stop that I was in trouble. No one told me I was drinking razor blades, but I sure as hell felt them coming out! OUCH! Going down the last 5 km I couldn't descend as someone was punching me in the kidneys (or so it seemed) and it was taking my breath away. So here I was, Otway Odyssey with a few km to go and I was walking down some of the best descents around that my 7 year-old would ride down. Well, I finished, and the razor blades kept coming until I devoured about 4 more liters of fluid. Was I under-done? YES!! Did I have enough fluid? Well, I thought so. I drank 7 liters on the ride (not uncommon - ed.). So I will be more prepared next year. My last and final excuse is that I was pretty ill 4 weeks before the race and my training stopped there. Next time will be different, I hope!"

The razor blades win Jedi the Ballarat Hard Rider award for this year's Odyssey.

Antanas "Spoka" Spokevicius was just behind Jedi at 6:52 - faster than last year despite the tougher conditions. The scary thing is that both of these two have the engines and the technical wizardry to go even faster if they come back for more. Phil Timpano overcame a nasty crash to finish in 8:05, with Alex Cudia just behind him at 8:07. We know that Andrew Stinchcombe, winner of the Ballarat Hard Rider award last year, made it home this year too.

Here's Matt Turner's story:

"I managed to finish the Odyssey on my first attempt, in a time of 7:46, which I was pretty happy with, but realized just how much fitter and stronger it's necessary to be in order to actually RACE a course like that. That was the first thing I thought when I threw my bike onto the rack at the finish line, limped over to the bar and saw the disturbingly fresh and clean-looking Jedi and Spoka, who had obviously finished some time ago.

"The first 67 km I actually found not too much of a drama. Often I would find myself sitting on the wheel of some painfully slow riders going up the hills. It was hard to keep balanced and on track, but I realized it was probably a good idea to conserve some energy. By the 80 km mark I was in survival mode. Cramps in the legs, hands that wanted to be in any position other than gripped around a handlebar, and at every hydration station I became a believer in Shotz electrolyte tablets!

"I nearly had a massive ‘off’ at around the 35 km mark down one of those steep and slippery rutted out 4WD tracks (near where Phil Orr came to grief last year - ed.). I remembered some advice to just let the bike bounce around and find its own way down, preferably still attached to it, and somehow I stayed upright, weaving between riders who had passed me at the top of the descent. It was definitely a passenger moment but of course I acted as if it was all part of the plan.

"The final loop featuring the dreaded ‘Sledgehammer’ was simply inhumane, although the initial lead-up undulations of ‘Britney’s meltdown’ only registered about 6%. But at this stage of my race I felt like I was dragging anchors from my ankles. It was at this time that I considered putting my bike on Ebay when I got home, but of course those feelings soon fade and you’re then thinking about the next ride!"

And Mike Bigarelli's story:

"About 45 km into the 50 km race I managed to break my chain. Even though I had discussed this possibility the morning of the race with my nephew (who did the 100 in 7:40), I was confident that with a new chain, a breakage was just about impossible. I foolishly decided to leave my tools and quicklink in the car !

"After the incident I had no choice but to commence a long and hot walk out of the bush. About 10 minutes into my walk, competitor 1571 enquired as to my problem. I bleated out that the f#%# chain had let go. His response was quick and to the point "do you want me to fix it for you?" Hell yes ! and he promptly did. Apparently in last year's BMC 100 km MTB race he had broken his chain, and being sans tools, embarked on the long walk home. Someone offered to fix his chain for him and so, in true Hollywood fashion, he decided that from now on he would carry the necessary tools and parts and "pay it forward." Which he did, and I'll do from now on. This could only ever happen in mountain biking."

(We agree. 'Road racing imitates life, the way it would be without the corrupting influence of civilization. When you see an enemy lying on the ground, what's your first reaction? To help him to his feet? In road racing, you kick him to death.' - Tim Krabbe, The Rider.)

Here's another 50 km story from Paul Mathers:

"Here I was at my first 50 km Otway Odyssey, after only taking up MTBing in Aug 2009. I position myself mid-field at the start line, because I thought that was a fair estimate of my abilities. And we are off... Geez this pack is slow... Its still slow... I am going to start overtaking...Weaving in and out, looking for the next opening in front . This felt good but I was also thinking, "don't good too fast, you have only ridden 2 km." Then we hit the first hill and I was still overtaking people who were walking, but then it got harder and harder to overtake as the 4WD tracks had 5 bikes across, all walking and there was nowhere for me to go. So looks like I am walking as well. Oh they are walking slow as well, great. This pretty much continued for the first 12 km until the first lot of downhill, where I got my first taste of clear path in front.

"The next 12km, until the half way point, seemed to go very quickly and I was happy with my time, thinking that the second half would be faster. Then at about the 30 km mark I started feeling like I didn't have any energy, and got the first muscle twinge. In training I have had these, and I just have a suck on my electrolyte bottle and they go away. It didn't work this time. So I tried a spray of the Cramp Stop. This didn't seem to make any difference either, but 5 minutes later my stomach felt a bit upset. Maybe it was the Cramp Stop. I had never used it before, never had cramps. I could hear people behind me wanting to overtake, so I would pull over to let them past and it was at these times when I asked my legs to do things that weren't pedalling that the cramps started. Not knowing what to do, I just tried riding them out. Then at the 37 km mark, through a sandy section, the bike ended up off the side of the path with me standing looking down at my legs with every muscle in full spasm, and I don't just mean one or two, I mean every one of them. I tried all different positions to get the muscles to unlock, but ended up squatting at the side looking like I was taking a dump. As people went past, most asked if I needed help and I replied "No, just cramping, and this is the position that hurts the least." Squatting there I thought it was good opportunity to read the instructions on the cramp stop bottle. Take one spray on the tongue, wait a minute, and then go again. After 3 sprays I was able to stand again, 2 more and I was back on the bike, but only for a short time. Came around a sandy switchback and my legs seized up again, which caused me to lose balance and fall onto a grass tree. This actually felt pretty comfortable, so I decided to stay there awhile. I sat there watching this corner take out 95% of people. Quite a few of them ended up with cramps like me. I starting sharing the Cramp Stop with a few of them once I could move, had something to drink and eat. Lost track of how many sprays of Cramp Stop I had, not even sure it works. Maybe it's all mental. I got back on the bike. For the next 6 km I ended up following one of the guys I was sharing the Cramp Stop with. He was going a little too slow, but I thought it better to take it easy. He pulled off to help someone that needed a chain link (which I didn't have) (was it Biggers? - ed.) , so I was out by myself with the odd person wanting to overtake every once and a while. I started counting down the kms and wondering which corner was going to be the last. I expected a nice downhill section to the finish line, and then when I was on it I saw a sign that pointed back into the bush. Sigh. Not long now. My speedo said I had done over 50 km so the finish line must be soon... and then it was over.

"I was slower than I thought, and I have some learning and training to do, but I think I will be back next year."

******

The dreaded Otway Odyssey mountain bike race is on next Saturday, Feb. 20. The main event is 100 km, starting in Apollo Bay and finishing in Forrest, with about 2000m of total elevation gain. There's also a 50 km event, starting and finishing in Forrest. Many of the masochists who did us proud in last year's event have signed up again. A quick search of the official start list shows no fewer than 26 entrants in the 100-km event that list their address as Ballarat or the surrounding area, and 8 more in the 50-km. The list of entrants is below. We invite all of them to tell us the story of their race after the event. Meantime, from the ones we know, here are some names to watch out for:

Phil Orr: serious podium contender. Has form. Is riding a 6-hour race six days before (defending his Victorian enduro title), but has the mileage to recover.

Warren Faneco: former national top-10 motocross rider, super-strong natural climber, went fast last year, will go faster.

Simon Ellis: former elite Ironman, stunning top 40 last year. Is not aiming to peak for the Odyssey this year, but will still go very fast.

Clinton Lemaitre & Anton Nijhof: former Club Mud downhill guns, and Odyssey veterans. (Experience is the key here: there's nothing like this race.)

Shane "Jedi" Cody: rode motocross and ran 400m in his teens. Still has The Force on the dirt, and has major recent cycling form. Did the 2009 50 km, so knows most of the Odyssey's heartbreakers.

Antanas "Spoka" Spokevicius: mastermind behind Ballarat's series of Odyssey prep rides, and has picked up major form himself in the process.

Andrew Stinchcombe: winner of the Ballarat Hard Rider award at last year's Odyssey.

Here's the complete list of starters from Ballarat and surrounds:

100 km: Tanya Wiggins, Hayden Bed, Shane Cody, Jeremy Doolan, Simon Ellis, Clinton Lemaitre, Anton Nijhof, Phil Orr, Antanas Spokevicius, Matthew Turner, Jonathan Crawley, Warren Faneco, Gerard van Raaphorst, Nic van Raaphorst, Adam Lewis, Adrian Kenny, Jason Nestor, Andrew Stinchcombe, Andrew Begg, Jeff Filip, Phil Timpano, Stephen Bigarelli, Alex Cudia, Christian Haidacher, Trevor Quick, Jonathan Lacey.

50 km: Annabel Brennan, Oliver Zehrung, Mark Colvin, Wayne Strong, Ian Wallis, Mike Bigarelli, Allan Murphy, Paul Mathers.

******

There are some some training rides lined up. All are welcome, whether you're doing the Odyssey or not. The first ride was Sunday Jan 17, and it attracted 18 riders! Here are the details of the last one, from Dale Boucher. Antanas "Spoka" Spokevicius was the mastermind behind the rides so far.

With the Odyssey only 1 week away, it's time to taper down the training. This Sunday, Feb 14 (Valentine's Day! - ed.), we're going back to the Canadian forest for a leisurely 2 hour ride.

Please meet at Mt Clear College carpark at 8 am this Sunday, 14th February. Here's a link to the course. Climbing ratio = 25m/km.

*******************

Now that we have a bit of a group thing going with XC MTB riding in Ballarat and that many people of us are taking on the Odyssey this year, Phil Timpano and I thought we would arrange some training session each Sunday morning starting at 8 AM to build a bit of camaraderie amongst the Ballarat riders as well as give us a serious hit out. The format of these rides will follow an MTB enduro format where we will ride for 3-5 hours over a 30-45min loop. To mix things up a bit we will arrange a number of different tracks at various locations, with the tracks getting more difficult (technically and vertical ascent) as we get closer to the Odyssey to get our bodies peaking for the big event. The advantage of such a format is that it will cater for a range of rider fitness levels as everyone can work at their own pace but still feel like they are part of a group ride. Riders can even leave early or train longer if they wish. Phil T and I will mark out the tracks (with a bit of paint on trees) but we will do a sight lap as a bit of a warm up so nobody gets lost. (Try me! - ed.) We will also set up a marquee so that you can store nutrition and water to refill between laps. Links to GPS maps of the tracks and meeting points will follow soon.

Here are the details for the remaining rides…..
24/1 – 4hr ride at Canadian – meet at the corner of Foos lane and Boundary Rd at 8 AM
31/1 – 4hr ride at Creswick – meet at the School of Forestry upper carpark at 8 AM
7/2 – 5hr ride at Nerrina – meet at the little Bendigo primary school carpark at 8 AM
14/2 – week before race – light session, TBA.

See you there.

February 2010 BSCC board meeting

Minutes- 16 /2 /10
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office – 7:30 pm
Main Road Ballarat

1.0 Attendance:
Board members:
Volker Hegert, Gerard White, Phil Orr, Peter Canny, Roger Bade, Tim O’Doherty, Stuart Brien, Karen Snibson, Chris Liston, Dale Boucher
Apologies: Don Stewart
Also in attendance:
Ashley Coote CSV development officer, Ian Nunn and Doug Armstrong
............................................................................................................................................................
The minutes of the previous meeting were tabled and accepted.
Moved: Karen Snibson Seconded: Roger Bade carried
1.0 The following reports were tabled
1.1 Finance report: Moved Gerard White, Seconded Stuart Brien, carried
1.1.1 There was one question in relation to the financial report. In the December statement these was an incorrect cheque, Gerard will follow this up and clarify at the next meeting.
1.2 Road report: Moved Phil Orr, Seconded Gerard White, carried
1.2.1 The proposed dates of the criterium championships have been published.
1.2.2 Draft Road Race calendar has been completed until the end of May, marshals will be allocated, we are trying to avoid having to roster people twice.
1.2.3 There is a new events management plan which allows us to return to two marshals for the criteriums.
1.3 Track report: Moved Roger Bade, Seconded Phil Orr, Carried.
1.3.1 The velodrome is almost complete and will be opened on the 2nd of March. The club will hold its official opening night of racing on the 4th of March. All welcome.
1.3.2 We are still waiting the outcome of the application to upgrade the clubrooms- this should be announced in March.
1.3.3 Given that those who have hired track bikes have not been able to ride on our velodrome, they will receive a rebate for the 2010 / 2011 track season.
1.3.4 BSCC achieved pleasing results at the recent Victorian club teams championship, although there were lower numbers of entries this year.
1.4 Club development report: Moved Tim O’Doherty, Seconded Peter Canny, Carried
1.4.1 A motion was passed to accept all new members, this was passed unanimously.
1.4.2 Tim has been working on upgrading club rules and governance documents.
1.4.3 Tim has resigned from all positions, but will still work on the proposal to have an indoor valedrome built on University of Ballarat land.
1.5 MTB report: Moved Dale Boucher, seconded Karen Snibson , Carried
1.5.1 Volker welcomed Dale to the board and MTB to the club.
1.5.2 26 participants in MTB race tonight & membership is progressing.
1.5.3 Committee has been appointed and a meeting schedule established
1.5.4 The committee has set its goals
1.5.5 Draft calendar has been set, it features one race every three weeks and these races will not clash with road races.
1.5.6 Processes are in place for marshalling, the MTB committee has expertise to assist with permits.
1.6 Secretary’s report: Moved Karen Snibson, Seconded Gerard White, carried
1.6.1 All event mail is sent to Jonathon for the website
1.6.2 Minutes and agendas will be posted on the website regularly in 2010.

..................................................................................................................................................................

2.0 General Business
2.1 Ashley Coote, development officer from CSV (Cycle Sport Victoria) made a presentation to the board. CSV would like to run development days in Ballarat, details will follow. Dates for the Victorian Schools Cycling Cup (VSCC) are locked in. Doug asked Ashley to check whether event bonds have been paid to the club, return mail indicates this is the case.
2.2 BSCC board has asked CSV to consider relocating the Echuca junior carnival – it clashes with the Australian Open Road Champs (Buninyong - AORCC) and the weather is not conducive to highest quality racing.
2.3 BSCC will support the Ballarat sports foundation with a 5 year membership as our juniors are often supported by this organisation.
2.4 There is a possibility that BSCC can have a table at UB (University of Ballarat) during Orientation week.
2.5 BSCC will again support those club members who have gained state selection. These riders are Harry Crothers-Bade and Emma Bilston. The club congratulates Harry on his great results and wishes Emma all the best for her turn at the nationals. Karen will contact these riders to let them know this is the case.
2.6 The board has two vacancies and brainstormed a list of people who may be approached to identify their interest on being on the board.

Meeting closed 10:00pm

*********

The February 2010 meeting of the BSCC Board will be held next Tuesday, Feb 16, at Jaala Pulford’s office, 15 Main Rd, Ballarat (between Sturt/Victoria St & Humffray St Sth), as shown on the on-line calendar. The proposed agenda is below. If there's a topic you'd like the board to discuss at that meeting, please contact club secretary Karen Snibson by tomorrow, a week before the meeting (to allow the agenda to be adjusted). Please come along to the meeting yourself to discuss your topic. Alternatively, please ask any of the board members to discuss the topic on your behalf.

Minutes of the meeting will be posted here on Latest News after the meeting.

Agenda - 16 /2 /10, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office 7:30pm
1.0 Attendance:
Board members:
Apologies:
In attendance:

2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report:
3.2 Road report:
3.3 Track report:
3.4 Club development report:
3.5 Secretary's report

4.0 General Business
4.1 Vet Fee reimbursement
4.2 Junior development – Cycle Sport Victoria

4.3 Vacancy on the board
4.4 Summer track calendar – Echuca carnival
4.5 State representative support
4.6 Opening of Velodrome March 2

Silver everywhere for BSCC at SW Champs

Brothers Zac and Caleb Shaw of Colac Cycling Club, grandsons of Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club’s Dennis Shaw, dominated the U17 and U11 age groups, respectively, in the recent Victorian South Western Region track championships at Hamilton. The boys took clean sweeps of gold in sprint, time trial and scratch races. Zac, as the scratch marker in U17, placed in almost every race of the support series of handicaps and scratch races over a 12-event card for the weekend.

Liston siblings Rochelle and Joshua were BSCC's representatives in this year's event. They competed in the U11 and U15 divisions respectively. The pair finished up with six straight silver medals from the championships. In the support events, Rochelle claimed two scratch race wins in C grade U11/13, and was elevated to B Grade on the Sunday where she capped off her campaign with a win in the 800m wheelrace. Port Fairy’s Nathan McLaren, who turned 14 on Sunday, proved too good for Joshua Liston, taking the main points over the weekend by hundredths of a second in the main championship races. BSCC riders claimed the junior aggregate shield in 2009, and passed this over to Colac CC juniors, who took the points in 2010.

Young guns fire at Cycle Classic

Harry Bade writes:

Amongst many other participants, 11 junior members represented the BSCC in the Ballarat “Come to Life” Fundraiser Lake Wendouree Challenge. 2 ½ hours of tag-team time trialing, racing corporate teams, sports clubs and schools from all over Ballarat can be a messy experience at times, but all managed to avoid the finishing 100km crew to end with a total of 77 laps, 25 laps clear from 2nd place. Power FM, the official challengers, struggled with injuries and tallied up 20 laps over the morning. It was great to see the next generation of the club riding for such a good cause as well showing their strong form coming into the new season.

BSCC Injured List

Updated 26 August

There was a big pile-up recently on a Saxon's ride. We believe it was last weekend, coming down Springmount (the Midland Highway) into Creswick. Nobody is quite sure what happened, but some believe one rider leaned against another and got the wobbles, and then one thing led to another. The result was that eight riders came down, and Scott Denno and Jacinta Welch ended up in ambulances. Scott writes:

Before I knew it I was on the road in my own world of pain, then I was off the road, still in my own world, then in an ambulance. I was second-worst off out of the eight who came down (Jacinta was the worst, and we hear she's up and about too - ed.). After much fuss, the doctors let me go home under my wife's watchful eye! I'm getting better now - more painful than anything. I need some work on the bike, and a new helmet, and a week off the bike. I've been trying to find out what happened but nobody seems to know. It all happened so fast!

We understand that Scott has deep cuts on his face, bruising and road rash. Jacinta was initially in a neck brace, but we understand she's OK.

Best wishes to everyone who came off.

Updated 23 August

We heard a rumor on the weekend that Guy Falla had broken a bone in his hand in an MTB fall, and we were concerned that this might affect his participation in the Tour of Timor, as Phil Timpano's stand-in (see below). In response to our enquiries, we received the following by email from Guy himself:

Broken hand? Yes. Miss the Tour of Timor? No. Fingers crossed!

If there's anyone in the club who might ride a week-long MTB stage race with a broken hand, Guy is that person. Best wishes for a quick recovery, Guy.

Updated 20 August:

Click HERE to see Damo's interview with the Courier. Damo says: "Everybody just needs to take a step back and think about it, or otherwise someone’s going to get killed.” That's everyone - cyclists and motorists. Be careful out there, folks.

And get well soon, Damo.

Updated 18 August

News flash: Damien Turner sustains broken leg & ribs.

In news just to hand, BSCC strongman Damien Turner was hit by a car last night (Wednesday) near Yendon, while training on his own. The car, traveling at high speed, hit Damien from behind. Damien has a broken leg and broken ribs, and he’s in hospital in Ballarat. There will be more details in Saturday’s Courier.

Damien was an Olympic-level track athlete who turned to cycling in his 20s, and quickly became a contender in National Race Series events. He achieved world-wide fame when he drove the winning breakaway in the Australian road championships at Buninyong in January 2010. In what must be one of the top rides ever by a BSCC member, Damo held off the combined firepower of all Australia’s Euro pros, almost single-handedly, in 40-degree heat, and only Travis Meyer and one other rider got past him on the last lap.

Damo is in good spirits, and he’s determined to return to racing at the top level. We don’t doubt that he will.

**********

Updated with some new information and corrections.

Unfortunately there are once again a few people on the BSCC injured list.

Brett Martin is by far the most seriously injured BSCC member we know of. His injuries came about from an accident involving motor vehicles only - no bicycles. We'll keep you posted on Brett's progress. We're looking forward to seeing him back in Ballarat when he's ready.

Phil Timpano has volunteered, it seems, to take on a lifetime of his own injuries, plus a number of other people's quotas, in rapid succession. After breaking his hand in an MTB crash last year, Phil's form was coming along in leaps and bounds as he trained with great enthusiasm for the Tour of Timor. Phil was hugely disappointed to learn a month or so back that a seemingly minor crash earlier this year had resulted in a shoulder injury that required surgery and another lengthy rehab, with the result that he will miss the Tour of Timor this year. The good news, if there is any, is that Phil is handling all this with his usual good humor, and is training on the ergo like a maniac. Watch out around Christmas time when he's let off the leash and back onto the trails. Guy Falla has taken Phil's place in the Timor team, so the horsepower of that team remains sky-high.

Simon Ellis, who has helped many people through rehab after injuries, has one himself - a broken hand. We understand that the circumstances surrounding Simon's injury are a closely guarded secret. Best wishes to Simon for a quick recovery.

Another BSCC member who has helped many other members to get their strength and fitness back after injury is Matt Albiston. Matt had a nasty encounter with not one but two cars in Sturt Street on the last Sunday in July. Matt writes:

A word to the wise: a reversing 4WD and being side-swiped simultaneously by a caravan results in a second-best scenario for any cyclist. Ouch! Right out the front of L'Espresso and GCs, spread-eagled on the road, 4WD driver ran inside, and caravan kept ambling on. Not one offer of assistance from anyone. What to do? End result: chunks out of knee, hip and elbow, and terminal damage to some old favorite riding kit. And a few scrapes on shifters.

We are baffled by the fact that none of the fifty-odd coffee-sippers looking on, let alone the offending motorists, lifted a finger to help Matt. We must assume that his cat-like reflexes meant that he was up and on his bike so quickly that all the civilians saw was a blur. We're pleased to say that we have seen Matt and he is recovering well.

Speaking of cat-like reflexes, Peter Canny last week walked away from an incident that might have been far worse. A ute backed out in front of Peter and Les Bilney, the well-known semi-pro cyclists, on one of their Thursday afternoon five-hour interval sessions. While Les missed the ute completely, Peter hit it at speed and flew through the air, only to land safely in the back of the ute. If you're going to crash, we recommend this method.

We will end this piece with a sermon about risk. (Our regular reader might remember this one.) Cycling sometimes involves crashes and injuries. 2011 has not been a good one for injured road cyclists. In particular, sharing the road with motorized vehicles involves risk, and very occasionally, the outcome for the cyclist is devastating. But ... BSCC has well over 200 members. Right now, we know of two that are injured as a result of bike crashes. That's less than 1% of our membership. Let's compare this to other sports. Runners don't crash too often, but the rate of over-use injuries, some of which become career-ending, is high, even amongst those who prepare carefully. A lot of our members are retired runners. The contact team sports have much higher rates of injury: 10% is probably typical for the football codes. The extreme sports are a different story again. So cycling has risks, but so do most things in life.

Road: Mt. Buninyong Time Trial: Aaron Soars

Updated 25 August, with updated 2011 BSCC King of the Mountains (KOM) standings so far.

Aaron Blomeley put in a top ride to win the 2011 edition of the legendary Mt. Buninyong time trial.

Conditions were perfect: warm enough for the muscles to work efficiently in shorts and short sleeves, but not so warm that the heat was a factor, and with a gentle tail-wind up the highway. Despite this, and suggestions from recent events in France that climbing and time-trialing are important skills for a competitive cyclist, numbers were disappointingly low, as they have been in past editions. The quality of the field, however, was very high, with most of the club's climbing specialists present and motivated.

Aaron Blomeley's raw talent and recent hard work won the day for him by 12 seconds from climbing machine Ben Clark. It was not long ago that Aaron was fighting for podium places in B-grade Small Dog criteriums. Both Aaron and Ben are continuing to grow stronger, so a close race is on the cards for next year. Time trial specialist and gun triathlete Grant Gilbert left nothing out on the road to snatch third from Stuart Grigg and an amazing Angus Lyons, still an under-17. In fact the resolution of the hand-held timing might not be sufficient to separate Stu and Angus.

Liam White came in 6th. Liam's rise this year has been so emphatic that it is now news when he does not win. The word on the street is that he chatted calmly to the marshals on the way up, putting minutes into riders who almost vomited on the same marshals.

Other notable rides came from Sam Edwards, who took over a minute off his 2009 time; and Buninyong resident and new dad Ben Morrison, riding a spotless Colnago Master, to the delight of the retro-grouches present, but not a light bike even by steel standards.

Official results

1 Aaron Blomeley 14:12.71 A 1st
2 Ben Clark 14:24.18 B 1st
3 Grant Gilbert 14:31.64 A 2nd
4 Stuart Grigg 14:33.14 A 3rd
5 Angus Lyons 14:33.20 C 1st U17 1st
6 Liam White 15:03.65 A 4th
7 Ben Morrison 15:17.54 C 2nd
8 Peter Kiel 15:42.11 B 2nd
9 Sam Edwards 16:24.51 B 3rd
10 Jonathan Lacey 16:31.70 C 3th
11 Joshua Liston 18:11.16 C 4th U17 2nd
12 Hayden Emery 18:15.44 U 17 3rd
13 Shantelle Maureer 20:57.65 U17 4th
14 Dominic Geoghegan 21:52.79 U17 5th

Thanks to timekeepers Phil Orr and Chris Liston, starter Bill Groom, and marshals John Polkinghorne, Paul Crack, Craig Lee, Andrew Pearson and Josh Collingwood.

Here are the standings in the 2011 BSCC KOM, after the Buninyong round, the third of four rounds, thanks to Chris Liston. The format is NAME Round1Placing Round1Points Round2Placing Round2Points Round3Placing Round3Points TotalPoints.

The points system is copied from the one used in the Victorian MTB Enduro Series:

1   80
2   65
3   55
4   48
5   43
6   38
7   33
8   29
9   25
10 22
11 20
12 19
and so on in one-point increments.

A grade

STUART GRIGG 5 43 3 55 2 65 163
AARON BLOMELEY DNS 0 2 65 1 80 145
GRANT GILBERT 7 33 6 38 3 55 126
TONY MIRABELLA 4 48 7 33 DNS 0 81
PAT SHAW DNS 0 1 80 DNS 0 80
JAY BOURKE 1 80 DNS 0 DNS 0 80
BRAD CLARK 8 29 4 48 DNS 0 77
MATT CLARK 2 65 DNS 0 DNS 0 65
WARREN FANECO 3 55 DNF 0 DNS 0 55
LIAM WHITE DNS 0 DNS 0 4 48 48
CHARLIE MARTIN DNS 0 5 43 DNS 0 43
MICHAEL PIERCE 6 38 DNS 0 DNS 0 38
SAM TURLEY 9 25 DNS 0 DNS 0 25
PHIL ORR 10 22 DNS 0 DNS 0 22
JOSH COLLINGWOOD DNS 0 DNF 0 DNS 0 0

B grade

BEN CLARK 1 80 DNS 0 1 80 160
JEREMY DOOLAN 2 65 1 80 DNS 0 145
PETER KIEL DNS 0 2 65 2 65 130
SAM EDWARDS 5 43 DNS 0 3 55 98
NEVILLE BILNEY 7 33 6 38 DNS 0 71
DOUG GARLEY DNS 0 3 55 DNS 0 55
SAM PALANCA 3 55 DNS 0 DNS 0 55
GUY FALLA 4 48 DNS 0 DNS 0 48
PETER WALKER DNS 0 4 48 DNS 0 48
SHANE CODY DNS 0 5 43 DNS 0 43
SHANE BUTLER DNS 0 7 33 DNS 0 33
DAMIEN KEIRL 8 29 DNS 0 DNS 0 29
THANE TURLEY 9 25 DNS 0 DNS 0 25
JOEL HOSSACK 10 22 DNS 0 DNS 0 22
STUART BRIEN 11 20 DNS 0 DNS 0 20
MATT SMITH 12 19 DNS 0 DNS 0 19

C grade

ANGUS LYONS DNS 0 1 80 1 80 160
JOSH LISTON 2 65 6 38 3 48 151
RYAN KERR 3 55 4 48 DNS 0 103
BEN MORRISON 6 38 DNS 0 2 65 103
BRUCE STEWART 4 48 7 33 DNS 0 81
WILL STEWART 1 80 DNS 0 DNS 0 80
ROB FORSYTH DNS 0 2 65 DNS 0 65
JONATHAN LACEY DNS 0 DNS 0 3 55 55
CHARLIE STEBBING DNS 0 3 55 DNS 0 55
JACK THOMPSON 5 43 DNS 0 DNS 0 43
DAVE PETERS DNS 0 5 43 DNS 0 43
SIMON WALLIS 7 33 DNS 0 DNS 0 33
TERRY GOLDIE DNS 0 8 29 DNS 0 29
DON STEWART 8 29 DNS 0 DNS 0 29
CRAIG LIGHTFOOT 9 25 DNS 0 DNS 0 25
GERARD WHITE 10 22 DNS 0 DNS 0 22
PAUL CRACK 11 20 DNS 0 DNS 0 20
PETER KYATT DNF 0 DNS 0 DNS 0 0

*******************

The legendary Mt. Buninyong time trial is back! It was missing from last year's BSCC road fixture due to a conflict with the Australian Masters road championships. It's been part of the BSCC road season for a long time. Click HERE to read about the 2009 event.

This year's event will be held at 2 PM on Saturday August 20. More details will follow soon.

See you there!

MTB: New Grade For Novice Riders

For many social mountain bikers, it can sometimes be intimidating to come and race with seasoned riders who train long hours and race fast. So to encourage more MTB riders to try racing, we're offering a novice category for all club weekend races and Tuesday criteriums. Our novice grade will feature:

- For weekend races, Novice category will begin at the conclusion of A,B & C grade races, so you'll have the course to yourself
- Racing on a 3 - 4 km loop course
- Race time will be for approx 45 mins, so you don't have to be super fit to finish.
- There's no pressure. It's up to you how fast and hard you go.
- You decide when you're ready to progress into a faster grade
- On Tuesday criteriums, novice will race 10 seconds behind C grade for 20 minutes.

We hope our new 'Novice' grade will provide a pathway from social cruiser into a rider that enjoys racing.

Road: White on White at Miners Rest

Check out Chris's photos of the junior and senior racing here. As usual, log in with email ballaratsebascycling@gmail.com, password ballaratcycling.

Chris Liston and Craig Lightfoot report:

Gerard White won the 69km BSCC handicap at Miners Rest on Saturday, with his older son Liam beside him on the podium in third, and Scott Denno in second. Denno and White, from the limit mark, set out from Dowling Forest in mild conditions with a stiff northwesterly breeze. The race circuit, which will be used in the Australian Masters' Road Championships in late September, heads north on Gillies Road, west on the Creswick-Addington to the Sunraysia Hwy, then south and back to Miners Rest and the racecourse. As the laps counted through it became evident that scratch were not making ground through the field, nor were the middle markers gaining at a rate fast enough to pick up the outmarkers.

Gerard White made a move to break from Denno in the last few kilometres as the groups started to come together. White took a solo win with a gap to Denno, and a further gap to the next bunch, where Liam White, after a characteristic tough attacking race, took third from his bunch. Reigning BSCC Masters Road Champion Adam Smith warmed up for his 2010 title defence by taking the fastest time from second scratch. Smith is also a contender for the Australian Masters Championships.

BSCC senior handicap, Australian Masters Championship course, Saturday 21 August

1st G.White 19:00 (limit)
2nd S.Denno 19:00 (limit)
3rd L.White 9:00
4th A.Smith 2:45 (2nd scratch)
5th J.Polkinghorne 2:45 (2nd scratch)
6th J.Boyd 5:45
7th C.Silcock 5:45
8th T.Turley 5:45
9th C.Lightfoot 9:00
10th S.Townsend, scratch

Fastest time A.Smith

Junior racing

Chris Liston writes:

In BSCC's junior racing at Miners Rest, Nicholas White almost emulated his father's win. Nichloas raced the BSCC 32 km J15 race from limit, led all the way, and was caught at the final sprint. The junior riders were challenged in a tough, tactical race designed to bring the club's motto of "passion, perseverance and pride" out of the BSCC youngsters. With 10 km to go, White had a lead of several minutes on the two other riders most likely to be in the finish, Joshua Liston from second scratch and Angus Lyons from scratch. At the last turn, with the finish line almost in sight, White was still holding on, and made a charge for the line. Lyons and Liston, two of the state's top riders in their age group, had come together, and their combined power relegated White's gutsy campaign to third placing. Lyons out-sprinted Liston to take yet another win in a race time of 54:50.

Rochelle Liston claimed a win in the sub-junior handicap, three laps of a 2-km "hot dog" out and back course. Liston reeled in outmarker Bailey Cody and was working hard to stay away from Tyson Cody when bad luck side lined Tyson, the older Cody. A wayward shoe-lace ran amok in the scratchman's chain ring at the turnaround. Tyson was unhurt, and remounted and persisted in the chase, but he lost his momentum and a chunk of time that proved decisive.

Results: Junior 32 km Handicap
1st Angus Lyons
2nd Joshua Liston
3rd Nicholas White
Fastest Time: Angus Lyons 54:50

Sub Junior 6 km 3 lap Kennedy’s Rd Hot Dog.
1st Rochelle Liston
2nd Bailey Cody
3rd Tyson Cody
Fastest Time Rochelle Liston 17:30

MTB: The Brackenbury Race Report

The Brackenbury Epic Race (updated)

Race Report (24-Oct-11)

{from the pen of Matt Turner}

Despite freakishly inclement weather passing through Ballarat the day before, Creswick was fortunate to receive relatively minor rainfall, and the 40 brave riders who fronted up to register for the inaugural Brackenbury MTB race were rewarded by full sunshine and a 95% dry track.

Melbourne University had kindly allowed us to begin the race loop through the magnificent School of Forestry grounds and the 358 metres of vertical climbing began immediately from the start gun. All the climbing was packed into the first half of the 18km loop and the soft, jagged single track and loose blue metal road surfaces were trying on the legs at XC race pace.

Over the back of the course the Wallaby Track section of the Great Dividing Trail provided some recovery with some fast open flowing descents but vigilance was a must with many huge puddles sitting right in the apex of corners. No one who completed a lap of the course escaped a good old-fashioned mud spattering and I’m sure there would have been more than a couple of pairs of wet feet from the river crossings.

The koala park section of the Great Dividing Trail has long been known to locals as one of the most fun, technical single-tracks in the Ballarat area but this was the first time that permission had been given to race along it. Technically proficient riders were well rewarded along here as precious minutes were gained with the end of the lap fact approaching.

At the end of the first lap it was BSCC’s usual suspects out in front but unable to create any significant gaps between themselves despite digging very deep. Warren Faneco, Jeremy Doolan, Dale Boucher and Jason Hegert were all together until the pine forest single-track climb where Warren managed to get away and stayed out in front until the finish line. Jason was sitting in second place until Jeremy and Dale surged not far from the finish with nothing that Jason could do to protect his position. Jeremy still carrying intimidating form from the Tour de Timor and Dale determined to remind everyone why he is ‘The Pres’, finished in second and third place respectively.

Whether completing the one or two lap option everyone was sufficiently challenged by the course but there were nothing but muddy smiles all round back at Hammon Park which proved an ideal host venue for the event. Participants travelled from as far away as Mount Gambier and Port Fairy with many others coming from Melbourne to sample the justifiably hyped trails of the Creswick region, and the four grades on offer provided for an all-inclusive event with the usual comradely of the mountain biking community.

Its incredible what has been achieved in the first running of the Brackenbury considering organisers had to fight tooth and nail for the permission to use every inch of that course. With the continued support of all the relevant authorities the possibilities for trail development and utilization are tantalizingly endless.

Dale gave credit where it was due after the presentations but just to re-emphasize again, our own good Dr Veal put a lot of effort into making this event a reality for the enjoyment of others, and Antanas also, working quietly behind the scenes as usual. Thanks again guys!

MTB: Entries Open for Bike Buller Festival

Entries have opened for the Bike Buller Mountain Bike Festival with a promise that this year's event will deliver more biking bang – not to mention festival fun – for your buck.

Bike Buller has been shifted to the March Long Weekend (10-12 March), meaning the three-day celebration of sweet singletrack now coincides with the popular 'Picnic in the Park' food, wine and music festival...does it get any better!?

Mountain biking events included as part of the long weekend include:

Stage 1 - A Stirling Circuit: 30km or 50km cross country (XC): over Mt Stirling and back again on the incredible new 'Stonefly' single track and other flowing trails all in a magical alpine setting

Stage 101 - The Kids Race - 10km: held on the single track around the village - designed to gives kids their own fun MTB experience

Stage 2 - The 5hr Brakeburner Enduro: a 5hr mutli-lap enduro down a flowing XC-downhill course where you catch the lift up as part of each 6km lap until the final 12km descent Super D Mt Buller to the food, fine and music festival at the bottom of the Mt. Suitable for XC bikes.

Stage 2b The Mt Buller Super D: a friendly 12km top to bottom race down a flowing 1,100m vertical descent to festival at the base of the hill. Suitable for XC bikes.

Stage 3 – Cornhill cranker: 25km XC: on the flowing singletrack around the Mt Buller village and neighbouring Corn Hill

Do one race or do them all: the festival is designed to cater for riders of all abilities. There will also be a Bike Expo, plenty of activities and things for non-riders to enjoy including the renowned Merijig Rodeo on Saturday night – so bring the family.

Mt Buller has a range of discounted accommodation on the mountain to suit any budget or style, but get in early!

For more details see: http://www.rapidascent.com.au/bikebuller/

Road: Wet Dog - Small Dog crits 2010-11, Round 4

The senior events in round 4 of BSCC's 2010-11 Small Dog criteriums were rained out. See you next week for round 5, three days before the Tour of Bright.

BSCC 2009 annual general meeting: highlights

Full minutes from the meeting will follow soon, but meantime, here are some highlights:

- A motion to add BMX and mountain bike co-ordinators to the BSCC board was passed

- As was a motion to require annual audits of the BSCC accounts

- The race committee will look at incentives (aggregate points or reduced entry fee) to encourage non-sponsored riders to wear their BSCC jersey in club races

- A scheme remains in place to reduce the BSCC membership fee for members who held a Vets licence at the date of amalgamation.

- Version 1 of the BSCC 2010 road race fixture will be available early in the new year

- Discussion of a move to summer road racing, started on the forum a few months ago, is continuing within the race committee. But there will be no major changes to the format of the 2010 road race fixture vs. 2009 - it will run from March to October, roughly

- Don Stewart will co-ordinate BSCC volunteer marshals for the Australian Road Championships in Buninyong in January. BSCC might also have a larger presence at the start-finish in Buninyong village: stay tuned

- The courses for the Australian Masters road championships in Ballarat in September 2010 have been decided. The road race will be start and finish at Miners Rest, outside the Dowling Forest racecourse on Kennedys Road. The circuit will be Kennedys Road - Gillies Road - Addington-Crewsick Road - Ballarat-Maryborough Road. The time trial will start and finish at the Arch of Victory, out to Windermere on the Avenue of Honor and back. The criterium will be on a larger circuit in Victoria Park, which will probably be re-surfaced by the Council. There is little overlap (if any) between this course and the course we use on Wednesday night. BSCC had no input to these decisions because the Masters Champs are run by Cycle Sport Victoria, without BSCC's involvement.

-Track upgrade: the schedule has slipped again, significantly. The council is making a major decision regarding the project tomorrow night (Wednesday): stay tuned for details.

- Ballarat City Council will apply for two major infrastructure grants over the coming months. If they are successful, some of this funding might be used for bike paths and other cycling infrastructure. If so, BSCC will consult members and make submissions to the Council on preferred use of this funding.

Full minutes soon.

Road: The Bendigo Tour, 2011

Ask anyone who has done it, and they'll tell you that the Bendigo Tour, on the Queen's Birthday long weekend, is one of their favorite events anywhere. Click HERE for the story of BSCC's fortunes at last year's tour. Here's our official invitation to the 2011 Tour, from the Bendigo and District Cycling Club.

Updated, May 24: there is a junior tour this year too. For more information, please contact Paul Bowe on 0419 761 430, or click 72,69,82,69 to email him.

The Bendigo and District Cycling club is holding the Bendigo Club Tour again this year on June 11, 12, and 13. We plan to run 3 grades, A, B, and C, with a maximum of 40 riders per grade. Entry fee for this year’s event will be $80, and entries close on Friday, 27 May 2011.

Please enter by email to Club Handicapper, Peter Benjamin. Click 72,69,82,69 to email him, or phone 0429 978 099.

Please include the following with your entry:

Your name

Your phone number and email address

Your 2011 Cycling Australia license number

Your club

What grade you currently compete in, at club and open level

Your club handicapper's name (Don Stewart) and email address (dst26511@bigpond.net.au)

Please pay your entry fee by May 27, by cheque, money order or (preferred) direct credit to the Bendigo and District Cycling Club's bank account: BSB 803140 Account 02 10 27 04. Please mark that this payment is for the Bendigo Tour.

Road: The 2011 John Collier Road Race

Gerard White was a popular winner of the 2011 John Collier Road Race at Kingston today. Gerard drove the strong limit group, containing Greg Nunn, Paul Crack, Melissa Keirl, Peter Kyatt, Michael Colville (not mentioned earlier - sorry Michael! - ed.) and Scott Denno, and although the bunch behind them at the finish contained everyone else in the race, it was not well-organized enough to challenge them. Limit benefited from the even matching of its riders, Gerard's strength, Greg Nunn's legendary road-captaincy skills, and the calmer-than-expected conditions. The fact that the scratch bunch, Pat Shaw, Jay Bourke and Charles Martin, missed their start by half a minute probably also helped. At the finish, Gerard out-sprinted Greg Nunn, Paul Crack and Melissa Keirl in a typical Kingston drag race. Peter Kyatt was a second or two back in fifth. Rising star Aaron Blomeley, from third scratch, led the big bunch home a minute or so later, with Jay Bourke comfortably tucked in to take the fastest time.

The 2011 John Collier Road Race senior place-getters: Greg Nunn (2nd), Jay Bourke (fastest time), Gerard White (1st), Paul Crack (3rd)

Thanks to our stalwart Chief Marshal, Chris Liston, who does a huge job almost every week, and to marshals Andrew Weightman, Brett Martin, Jenny White, Gerard Cosgrave, life member Ian Nunn, and non-member Steve Byrne who stepped in at the last minute.

Our biggest thanks go to the sponsor of the race, John Collier, who once again put up over $1000 in prize-money. John, officially a Legend of the Australian mining industry (see below), has been supporting this race since at least the early 1980s. So he has been inspiring BSCC riders for more than thirty years, and the honor roll for his race includes almost all of BSCC's stars during this period. The Collier family have attended the race presentation almost every year they have sponsored the race. We missed them this year, and we look forward to welcoming them back, and thanking them again, next year.

2011 John Collier Road Race: official senior results

1. Gerard White (25:30)

2. Greg Nunn (25:30), same time

3. Paul Crack (25:30), s.t.

4. Melissa Keirl (25:30), s.t. First woman

5. Peter Kyatt (25:30), at about 0:02

6. Aaron Blomeley (4:30), at about 1:00

Fastest time: Jay Bourke (scratch)

Junior race

Chris Liston reports:

Collier inspires Harriett

Harriet Pickersgill was inspired to ride strongly from a lone limit position in the junior 28km U15 John Collier Handicap. Pickersgill upped the tempo compared with her previous performances and rode alone in blustery, buffeting winds to take line honours in her first BSCC trophy race. Nicholas White secured second place for the U15 division, as the combined U17’s came home not far from Pickersgill.

James Burge, in his road racing debut, won the U17 handicap. From a middle mark, 16:45, Burge paired with Shantelle Maurer and shared the work to stay away from the backmarkers. Joshua Liston shook off his starting mate Jack Thompson to get onto the podium . Thompson, who raced the 64km senior Mt Emu handicap the week before, at 32km/hr average, was eventually caught by backmarker Angus Lyons, who took the fastest time.

The sub-juniors raced their customary 6 km, out and back. With tough cross winds and a fair incline on the homeward leg, the youngsters worked hard. The field came together mid-way through the race, and Jake Ashmore led the charge for the finish. Tyson Cody improved his form and took second, as Graeme Frislie claimed third and fastest time.

Sub Junior 6km John Collier Handicap
1st Jake Ashmore
2nd Tyson Cody
3rd Graeme Frislie (f/t) 14:08
Junior U15 28 km John Collier Handicap
1st Harriet Pickersgill
2nd Nicholas White
Junior 17 28 km John Collier Handicap
1st James Burge
2nd Shantelle Maurer
3rd Joshua Liston
Angus Lyons (f/t) 46:11

********

Don Stewart, BSCC Vice-President, writes:

The 2011 John Collier Road Race starts at 1 PM on Saturday (not the usual 2 PM) at Kingston showgrounds. The Collier is the longest and probably the toughest of BSCC's four annual "feature" races. John Collier, the sponsor of the race, was born in Ballarat in 1937, and educated at the Ballarat School of Mines (SMB), now part of the University of Ballarat (UB). In 2006 John Collier was named a "Legend in Mining" by the Australian Mining Industry, for his life-long contributions to the Australian mining industry as an engineer, public servant, and mining executive. More details of his career are HERE, on the UB Honour Roll. Most importantly, John Collier won Ballarat Cycling Club's Christmas Morning handicap road race in 1952. Click HERE to read about this, and other aspects of the club's history.

The 2011Collier is an 85-km handicap, run over three laps of the Kingston-Blampied-Kooroocheang-Smeaton circuit. Entries close with Don at 5 PM on Friday. Details, as always, are on the 2011 Road Race Fixture.

The presentation will be held after the race at the Kingston showgrounds. Riders whose last names begin with the letters A-L, please bring fruit or a dessert, and other riders please bring a plate of sandwiches.

Track: your input needed

Roger Bade, BSCC track tsar, writes:

The new General Manager of Cycle Sport Victoria is holding a review of track cycling around the state. This is our chance to share our views on what to change about Victorian track racing.

I have begun a document that you can read and add to by following THIS link. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated. I have written quite a bit. If you disagree, please say so, and add your own comments. Please make your comments in a different colour or write them at the bottom of the document - just keep adding on.

MTB: Dirt Girls Ride, April 2012

Date: Saturday 14th April (since the 1st Saturday next month is in the middle of Easter long weekend)
Time: 9am, please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required (see below).
Location: Nerrina and the Great Dividing Trail, meeting at the Little Bendigo Primary School, Monte Street, Nerrina.
Cost: Free for MTBA members or $5 for non members (which goes to MTBA for insurance purposes). If you are considering a membership then there are 2 to choose from, a $70 social membership which doesn't allow you to participate in any club racing or a $125 race membership.
What to Bring: Your mountain bike, helmet, gloves (full length if you have them), sunscreen, a drink and MTBA license or $5 to buy a day license (if required).

For more info contact Kat on 0417 541 346 or email katdog@quain.org

MTB: Final Dirt Crit for the Season

Come and celebrate two years of Dirt Crits. Next Tuesday is our final dirt criterium for 2010-11, and we want you to join us to celebrate. A free BBQ and drinks will be served from 6 PM.

Junior racing starts at 5:45 PM, and seniors begin at 6:10 PM.

When: Tuesday 29th March

Where: Next to Mt Clear Secondary School

See you all there!

MTB: Dirt Girls Ride, August 2011

For the August ride we're going to head over to Buninyong and check out some fun trails over there. Leaving from De Soza Park at 9am, we'll ride out to some trails, there will be a small uphill but don't be put off as we will take it easy and no-one gets left behind. As always we'll be riding some sweet singletracks, it will be loads of fun, come along, have a chat, improve your skills again, and finish with a coffee/cake back in Buninyong. And remember, what goes up the hill, must come down the hill...

A club membership is required, or a social day license can be purchased for $5. Arrive a little early to purchase your license.

Ride Details
When: Saturday 6th August, 9am start
Where: Buninyong, De Soza Park
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

MTB: Club Race - August

There will be no BSCC MTB club racing for the month of August, but there is a reason. We are trying to encourage everyone to compete in the tri-club Interwinter series. For the month of August it is Geelong's turn to host an InterWinter race, and the good news is that the You Yangs will be re-opening soon and the Interwinter race will be your first opportunity to ride there. The details of the race are:

Race Details

When: 21-August-2011
Where: You Yangs, Stockyards Race Village (North end of YY's park, Drysdale Rd entrance, off Little River Ripley Rd)
Registration: 8:30am
Racing to Start At: 10:00am
Format: 3 stage race
Cost: $25 when you pre-register online, $30 on the day
Who: All BSCC MTB members

See the GMBC's website for full details.

Car Pooling Details

Last year we hired a mini bus to pull the club trailer however this year we will try carpooling as most people have the ability to carry more than one bike on their car, as this is a cheaper option.

When: 21-August-2011
Meeting Place: Buninyong Pub Carpark (corner of Geelong Rd & Warrenheip St, or more commonly 'the Buninyong Roundabout)
Meeting Time: 7:00am (to allow for carpooling organisation)

MTB: Social Ride for August

For the month of August we are planning to ride from Ballarat to Creswick (and back) along the Great Dividing Trail, starting at the Brown Hill Hotel.

With these points in mind and following has been decided for this ride.

Date: 28-August-2011
Meeting Place: Brown Hill Hotel, Humffray St North
Meeting Time: 8:00am
Where to eat/drink: To be discussed on the trip
Expected Duration: 2 to 3 hours (plus travel time)
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

BSCC MTB is affiliated with MTBA, which means all riders must present a current MTBA 'Social' or 'Race' membership card during registration. Membership provides insurance coverage for both the rider and the club in the event of an incident. Non MTBA members have two options, 1) annual membership, (see the Membership page for more details) or 2) purchase a $5 Social Day permit, which is valid for the whole event and available on the day, but we ask that you arrive early to fill in the paperwork.

MTB: Juniors excel at Victorian Schools Cycling Championships

Four BSCC MTB Juniors made the early morning trek to a cold and wet track within the scout camp at Anglesea. Although the field was small, participants came from across regional Victoria. Harry Hislop encountered some bike challenges (a la Cadel Evans) but soldiered on to win the Under 13 category (racing). Joel Boucher took out the Under 11 category (racing) by a fair margin and Corban Forsyth surged home for a third place in Under 11 (novice). Aaron Develyn came a respectable fifth in Under 11 (novice).

Obviously all young riders were very proud of themselves and were great ambassadors for both the BSCC Mountain Bike Club and Buninyong Primary School.

All of our Junior members are now eligible to compete in the Victorian Schools cycling Championships – MTB State Final in Melbourne on the 28th August. Keep up the great riding Juniors!

Road: Women's Grand Prix

The Women's Grand Prix is a Victorian showcase of criterium events designed especially for women of all ages.

We have designed four rounds of racing that will give the ladies some of the most challenging racing that they have ever experienced. We want to show to the world how great Women's cycling can be.

Entries for round 2 close soon so visit the Cykel website to get registered.

Coaching Courses for 2010

Tim O'Doherty writes:

Cyclesport Victoria has released the details of their coaching courses for 2010. All courses are at DISC, Darebin.

CycleSkill Coach Training Program
• January 31, 2010
• February 13, 2010
• June 27, 2010

Level 1 Road and Track Coach Training Program
• February 20-21, 2010

Level 2 Road and Track Coach Training Program
• June 19-25, 2010

For more information and registration forms or contact CSV Development Manager by 101,109,97,105,108 or call 03 8480 3077. For more information please click HERE.

MTB: Club Race, March 2012

The club race for March will actually be on the 1st April, due to scheduling conflicts with other major race in the area. The Race details are:

Senior Race Details

When: 1-April-2012
Where: Smythesdale, Bowden Walk No 2
Registration: 9:30 to 9:55
Race Start: 10:00am
Format: Olympic Cross Country, with each class completing a set number of laps.
Cost: $5 for MTBA members, $25 for non members
Who: All BSCC MTB members

Junior Race Details

When: 1-April-2012
Where: Smythesdale, Bowden Walk No 2
Registration: 11:30 to 11:45
Race Start: 11:45am
Cost: $3 for MTBA members, $20 for non members
Who: All BSCC MTB members

MTB: Jason Hegert's Take on the Otway Odyssey

After a number of very successful years on the road bike, including several Herald-Sun Tours, Jason Hegert has recently joined the MTB gang, and under the guidance of Phil Orr is fast becoming a talented MTB rider. Here is Jason’s report on his first 100 km Otway Odyssey.

My last big race was the 2008 Herald Sun Tour. The Otway Odyssey was to be my first race as an Apollo rider. On Saturday the 19th of February I embarked on a ride that proved to be more challenging than I had anticipated. We woke at 4 AM and drove the two hours to Apollo Bay. The sun was only just beginning to rise when I lined up with the other 1700 riders at the start line of the 100km race. The rain had settled in for the day but it didn’t dampen the spirit that filled the air. I felt like I was off to a good start. My legs felt good and I felt ready to tackle whatever it was that this race was going to throw my way.

The first part of the race was on a sealed road which turned to gravel after the first 10 km. I managed to make my way into the top 50 by the first checkpoint, and then overtook more riders in the following few kilometres to make my way into a higher position. But that was before we hit the mud, and that was when the hard work began.

The weather was making conditions worse, as it had been raining all night and there was a lot of water lying around. The fact that I kept dropping my chain didn’t make matters any easier. The hills were coated in thick, slippery mud which made them a nightmare to climb, and I found myself pushing my bike up the majority of them. I felt more like a runner than a rider. My traction was lost, and a number of times I found myself on the ground in the mud, wondering how I was going to make it through the next few hours, but each time I dragged myself out of the mud and back onto the bike.

I pushed my way through to the 50km mark, and that’s when I started to feel fatigued from lack of sustenance, as I was finding it hard to get the opportunity to eat or drink. The vast differences between riding a road race and a mountain bike race were now starting to become apparent.

The 67km point marked the first feed station, a very welcome sight. Here I stopped briefly to refill my drink bottles and have some much-needed food. The next 20 km were a blur. My body was struggling and I seemed to be getting passed by more and more riders and was making more and more errors. I was hunger flat in a big way and time seemed to stand still.

I then passed the second feed station, 13 km to go! The track widened into a fire road climb, and I began to utilise my road skills and quickly passed numerous riders. 7km to go and all downhill. This was going to be easy, I thought, but this was not to be the case! I crashed more times in that 7km than I could count, and lost all ground that I had made up, and much, much more. The track was so slippery I felt as though I was ice skating. I thought it was never going to end, and I honestly say it was the longest 7km of my riding career. To say seeing the finish line was a relief is an understatement. I crossed the line in just over 6 hours, tired, hungry and very, very muddy.

In reflection, the race as a whole proved to be very challenging, more so than I had expected. The race was a big learning curve for me. I feel that I have learnt a lot about the sport from this event, and I am looking forward to returning to the Otway Odyssey in 2012. I would like to thank Apollo for supplying me with my fantastic mountain bike that proved to be a saviour on the day!

Road: 2010-11 Small Dog Criteriums, Round 12

Junior racing - Chris Liston reports:

Liston and Baker put Girl Power on Show for the Boys

Felicity Liston took a hard-fought win, her first for 2011, in the F grade sub-junior Small Dog criteriums. The race came down to a three-way fight for the line between Liston, Angus Cocking and Zac Stinchcombe. Strong man Tyson Bailey, who has become accustomed to the podium over the last several weeks, was relegated to fourth place.

Jake Ashmore continued his dominance of G grade, with Bailey Cody putting paid to Ziggy Lee.

Mover of the week was Elizabeth Baker, who was way off the pace in E grade in the opening laps, with Maurice Koelle and Courtney Mannix racing away. At the bell lap, Baker kept pacing herself, and rode back into the race. She rounded up Mannix with 200m to go and took a well-deserved 2nd place behind Koelle.

Jack Stewart took another win in D grade, with Maurice Koelle backing up for two events in one night and relegating the previous top end performer Patrick Cosgrave to fourth. Jack Thompson again took a top order place in 2nd .

Sub-Junior Results

D grade
1st Jack Stewart
2nd Jack Thompson
3rd Maurice Koelle
4th Pat Cosgrave

E grade
1st Maurice Koelle
2nd Elizabeth Baker
3rd Courtney Mannix
4th Claude Sambrooks

F grade
1st Felicity Liston
2nd Angus Cocking
3rd Zac Stinchcombe
4th Tyson Bailey
5th Rochelle Liston
6th Emily Smith

G grade
1st Jake Ashmore
2nd Bailey Cody
3rd Ziggy Lee
4th Chloe Stinchcombe

Senior racing: Stuart Brien reports:

Powerful Display by VIS's Hamilton

A Grade
1st Tom Hamilton
2nd Jay Bourke
3rd Charles Martin

Victorian Institute of Sport rider Tom Hamilton showed the A-grade field of 12 strong riders a clean pair of heels when he out-sprinted Jay Bourke to win the 12th round of the Small Dog criteriums at Victoria Park tonight.

16-year-old Liam White was keen to make an impression from the outset. White jumped to a lead of up to 20 seconds on the field in the 3rd lap, pushing the speed to over 50 km/h.

Liam is on a mission

The field got organized and quelled White’s attack, playing into the hands of Jay Bourke, who shot off the front with about 10 minutes left before the bell lap.

Tom Hamilton chases Liam, followed by the bunch, with Jay Bourke and Charles Martin at the front

Tom Hamilton sensed the moment and bridged the gap to Bourke, and the two worked together to establish an unassailable lead, leaving the rest of the field to fight it out for 3rd place. Hamilton was too powerful in the end, winning the sprint from Bourke by a bike length. Charles Martin took third place.

Tom Hamilton, in a blur, out-sprints the smiling (or is is grimacing?) Jay Bourke for the win

Jedi makes it look way too easy

B Grade
1st Jeremy Doolan
2nd Rod Hetherington
3rd Paul Crack

Jeremy Doolan was way too strong for the B grade field this week, off the back of his gruelling 6-hour Otway Odyssey MTB race on Saturday, beating Rod Hetherington into second place, with Paul Crack in 3rd place. Every attack was shut down and nobody was afforded an inch throughout the race, with the high speeds, up around 40km/h, playing right into Doolan’s hands. Doolan took off from the front with 200 metres to go, and simply burned off the rest of the field. Hetherington and Crack were both closing fast, but not fast enough.

C Grade
1st Gerard Cosgrave
2md Will Stewart
3rd Josh Liston

Gerard Cosgrave showed what a bit of training accomplishes with a convincing win in C Grade, from youngsters Will Stewart and Josh Liston. Cosgrave was close to the front most of the race, helping to push the average speed to 37.5 km/h over the 20 minute race.

Gerard Cosgrave turns the screws

The C grade mafia make their plans

D Grade
1st Jack Stewart
2nd Jack Thompson
3rd Maurice Koelle

eNews is Here! (again)

See that "Subscribe to eNews" box on the lower right-hand side of the home page on our web site? You probably noticed it when this version of the BSCC web site went live back in October 2008, thanks to one of the men behind BSCC as we know it today, Shannon Meadows. You might have signed up, noticed that nothing happened, and then forgotten about it. Well, eNews is now live! Thanks Shannon for getting it started way back then, Stuart Brien for getting it finished, and Small Dog for the magic, as always.

Here's how it works. Every week or so, a summary of the week's new pieces on this web site will be emailed to every email address that was signed up to eNews. There will be links in the email to each of the full stories here on the web site. It's a way of being reminded what's going on in Ballarat cycling.

eNews went live on November 15. Today, with help from Small Dog, we've added all the email addresses in the BSCC membership list. So in theory, starting today, eNews goes to all BSCC members, and to the people who signed up for eNews via the web site and have been receiving it since November 15.

We expanded the eNews mailing list because we want to use eNews for last-minute notifications of race cancellations. When a race in cancelled, we'll write a cancellation notice on the web site (like THIS one), and then use eNews to email the cancellation notice to all eNews subscribers. We know that not everyone has access to their email all the time (thank heavens ... - ed.), but we suspect we'll reach more people this way than with just the cancellation notice on the web site.

If you don't want to receive the eNews emails, there's an "unsubscribe" link at the bottom of each email. If you're not signed up, and you want to, go to the "Subscribe to eNews" box on the lower right-hand side of the Latest News page, and follow your nose. If you change email addresses, subscribe with your new email address.

If something isn't working (but that never happens here ... - ed.), please 108,101,116,32,117,115,32,107,110,111,119 and we'll get it fixed. Enjoy it!

Road: Santa's Mad Dash, 2010 Edition

Chris Liston, our most prolific reporter by far, calls in yet again:

Santa’s Mad Dash 2010

BSCC's annual sub-junior 8-km Christmas handicap race, “Santa’s Mad Dash,” commenced during a lull in the miserable conditions last Sunday morning, December 19. Riders set off from Bungaree in weather that was just clear, but soon after they started, more steady rain set in. Santa’s Mad Dash was a race to the finish to be as dry as possible. Zac Stinchcombe, in his debut road outing, was as keen as mustard and wanted to race, rain, hail or shine. He paired up with Felicity Liston and they attacked the course as a pair. They had the limit rider, Felicity's younger sister Rochelle Liston, in sight over the small undulations at Wallace, but Rochelle rode hard and managed to stay away for a gutsy win. Zac attacked fevererishly throughout the race, and as a result didn't get past Felicity at the finish.

Zac (3rd), Felicity (2nd & fastest) and Rochelle (1st) shelter from the rain after their race

Santa’s Mad Dash 8km
1st Rochelle Liston
2nd Felicity Liston (fastest time)
3rd Zac Stinchcombe

Road: Editor's Choice Awards, 2010

The 82,111,97,100,32,87,101,98,32,76,97,99,107,101,121 writes:

Here at Latest News we strive (successfully or otherwise) for objective, even-handed reporting. We've decided to give ourself permission once a year to write something that is, in the (slightly edited) words of Dave Ollie of Topbike, "independent, opinionated, Ballarat-biased, misses things here and there, with the odd error - for which we make no apology." For what it's worth, here are our opinions on our favorite rider, ride and event for 2010.

Favorite rider: Patrick Shaw. This one was easy. Pat won the Scody Cup, the domestic stage race series, and the National Race Series, the domestic one-day tally. He was by far the dominant domestic road rider of the year, from the start of the season to the finish. As we've highlighted recently, we have some major national-level performances in the club's history, but this might be the best season a Ballarat cyclist has ever put together - maybe even better than Ray Bilney's massive 1964. And the great thing is, Pat's just getting started. All he needs is for his luck to continue. His dodging of the Pegasus train-wreck says maybe it will. We're very excited about what 2011 holds for him.

Favorite ride: Damien Turner, Australian Road Championships. This one was pretty easy too. Pat had some crushing wins this year, and so did some other riders (see below), but Damo's ride in Buninyong was pure fairy-tale. We all know he got the KoM and the bronze medal. But, as we pointed out way back then, he wanted more: he actually intended to win the race, and started the final flurry of attacks on the last lap. Damien's combination of talent, single-minded determination and unshakable self-confidence is a huge inspiration.

Honorable mentions:

Harry Crothers-Bade, M19 Australian team pursuit championship. National championship, in a discipline in which Australia rules the world. That's major.

Scott Townsend, Collier: absolute dominance, from a rider who is pretty much unbeatable on his day, as his father was.

Shannon Gration, Fred Icke: a top-ten finish in the toughest local race of the year (except the Oz Champs), from a rider without that much road racing experience. Shannon's back in town: watch out for him in 2011.

Andrew Weightman, Meredith: Andrew trains and races as hard as anyone. We love to see him rewarded.

John MacLachlan, Cape Clear: more dominance, again from a man relatively new to road racing.

Liam White, Taltarni: a Townsend-like performance. Another one to watch in 2011.

Favorite event: another easy one - the 2010 UCI World Road Championships. The only four consecutive dry days in the last six months? Even the gods smiled on this one. The biggest cycling event that's ever happened in Australia, it was on our doorstep, and we (actually Geelong) did brilliantly. A once in a lifetime experience.

Honorable mentions:

The 100th Melbourne to Ballarat. This would have been our fave if not for the worlds. We have a love-hate relationship with this race, and most times we struggle to find the love, but moving the finish to Wendouree Parade this year was, in our view, a master-stroke. Congratulations to grand organizer Doug "Bronco" Armstrong, and to the Ballarat City Council.

Our perennial favorites, the Bendigo Tour and the Tour of Bright. Do yourself a favor, roadies, and do both of these races at last once.

The Cape Clear Tri Series race. An epic course, including several technical descents

Saturday club track racing - old school - thanks to the one and only Hard Rider, Doug Garley

MTB crits - OK, this piece is filed under Road, but we're going to mention the dirt crits anyway, just because they're such a roaring success. One day we will leave work on Tuesday early enough to actually do one of them. Well done MTB maestros!

Small Dog crits - the centerpiece of our summer road racing. The quality of the fields these days is just amazing.

That's it. Thanks, all, for a huge year of cycling. The road web lackey will now be off the air (completely!- first time for years) until the first week of January. The 77,84,66,32,119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121 is made of sterner stuff and will probably keep the web site's steam engine going. But for now, merry Christmas!

BSCC board meetings and decision-making

This is an updated version of a Latest News piece from November.

BSCC board meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month, between February and November, at Jaala Pulford’s Office, 15 Main Rd, Ballarat (between Sturt/Victoria St & Humffray St Sth). The next few board meetings are shown on the on-line calendar.

The agenda for the next meeting will be posted here on Latest News a week before the meeting. If there's a topic you'd like the board to discuss at that meeting, please contact club secretary 75,97,114,101,110,32,83,110,105,98,115,111,110 a week before the meeting (to allow the agenda to be adjusted). Please come along to the meeting yourself to discuss your topic. Alternatively, please ask any of the board members to discuss the topic on your behalf.

Minutes of the meeting will be posted on Latest News after the meeting.

********

Recently a number of members have asked what's the process for making decisions within BSCC. Here's an attempt at an answer.

To see a list of the elected official of the club, please click on About BSCC > Committee and Contacts on the left-hand menu. These are the people we elected at the Annual General Meeting on December 8, 2008 to run the club. So the short answer to the question "What's the process for making decisions in the club?" is that these people make the decisions relevant to their portfolios. For example Phil Orr makes decisions about senior road racing, Roger Bade about track racing, Gerard White about the club's finances, and so on.

We, the members of the club, elected these people to make the club what we want it to be. So their mission is to make decisions that align with the will of the majority of the members. Most of the recent questions about decision-making in the club have been about the process used to consult members before decisions are made.

Here's the formal process. The BSCC Board meets on the third Tuesday of each month. All club members are welcome to each meeting. If there's a topic you'd like the Board to discuss, and to hear your views on, let the relevant Committee member know a week before the meeting, and your topic will be added to the agenda. Go along to the meeting and talk about it. From the December meeting onwards, the agenda of each meeting will be posted here on the web site before the meeting.

The informal method is simply to contact the Committee member who covers the topic you're interested in, and let them know what you think.

Another method is to start a discussion on the on-line forum on this web site about the topic you're interested in. The committee members read the forum, and in some cases participate in the discussions. To read the forum, and to post to it, you need to apply for a membership ID. This is simply to minimize the amount of "spam" (advertisements) posted there. Forum membership is open to everyone. Recent topics of discussion on the forum have included the rules for the "First Ballarat Rider" award in the Melbourne to Ballarat, the format for the club road championships, the 2010 road race calendar, and the course for 2010 Australian Masters Road Championships.

Many of us have had the experience of finding out that the club has made a decision when we didn't even know there was one to be made. Sometimes the decision is not in line with our opinion. This isn't because the committee is conspiring against us. It's simply because, like all of us, the committee members are busy. They have jobs, families, social lives, and in many cases they ride and race their bikes too. They don't ask each of us what we think before they make each decision.

By publicizing the agenda for the monthly club meetings, the committee will invite our opinions on forthcoming decisions. It's up to each of us to make our voices heard. And of course the most effective way to get something done in the club is to get involved. All the current members of the committee came into the club this way. Recent examples of this include (but are not limited to) Peter Canny, who is passionate about involving non-racing members in the club, so volunteered to run the highly-successful Rec TTT series, and Stuart Brien, who wanted to use his professional experience and contacts to raise the profile of the club in the Ballarat community.

See you at the Annual General Meeting on Tuesday Nov 24.

2009 BSCC Christmas RR

Updated: Chris Liston writes:

Classic cycling for Christmas

The Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club topped off a great year with its annual Christmas Classic road races. Four senior races, two junior races and a contingent of around thirty recreational riders made the total on course for the event over 80 cyclists.

The senior divisions all completed two laps of the 20km Bungaree-Pootilla circuit. The pace in A grade was fast. Brad Clarke was ejected from the bunch on the first lap after many attacks. Damien Keirl, John Polkinghorne and Mitch Brogden were out-positioned as the bunch came over the freeway bridge heading for the finish line at Bungaree Oval. Pat Shaw, Rhys Gillett and Jay Bourke with Ciaran Conaughton, Doug Garley and the aforementioned led the charge as the bunch closed to the line after 40km. Shaw was outdone by Gillett, with Bourke third. Ciaran Conaughton, the sole junior contestant in the race, took an outstanding fourth.

B grade started and finished minutes later, with the slight downhill finish working to the advantage of Jonathan Lacey who took a strong win, leading a single file of Greg Nunn and Stuart Grigg then the rest of the field. C grade was a mixture of the wise and the youthful. Connor Dickson was the man on the front in the first lap, with BSCC Treasurer Gerard White and the rest of the field sitting in. As the bunch headed for the line, Vince Mader and Don Stewart were unable to reign in Lewis Piccoli. Piccoli took the win as Stewart ran out of distance to pull him in. Mader was third with the bunch on his wheel.

Victoria Snibson made the D grade riders pay. She split from the bunch with one lap, 19km, to go, and was not caught. Kylie Zelley and Wendy Ross finished after Sibson in that order.

Junior U15 competed one full lap. The win went to Angus Lyons. Second was Nicholas White, with Emma Bilston getting third over Sam Smith whose campaign was ended with a faulty chain. Joshua Liston took the fastest time.

Dylan Bilston claimed fastest time in the Junior B-D grade 8km handicap. Clancy Dickson from midfield held out from David O’Doherty and Clancy’s brother Declan Dickson. The girls were swamped by the boys at the finish, Rochelle Liston holding on from the duo of Kate Lyons and Felicity Liston.

The Christmas Classic was followed by the traditional club lunch and road season presentations. BSCC has had a fantastic year with over 210 members, large funding allocations by the federal government and City of Ballarat, and some outstanding junior and senior results locally, and at state and national level. Highlights of the day included the season presentations and the unveiling of the new perpetual senior aggregate trophy made of some outstanding bike parts by Phil Orr and John Polkinghorne. Stuart Brien was the inaugural winner. BSCC President Volker Hegert presented the coveted “Bunnings Best Clubman” awards, firstly to Killian Plastow, whose spirit and tenacity in always working for the club earned him the junior club member of the year award and shield. The Senior club member shield was awarded to Chris Liston for his commitment of hours in organizing junior racing, and his exemplary work with the media, especially the very supportive local sport media team at the Ballarat Courier newspaper.

Results:
2009 Road Season Senior Aggregate: Stuart Brien
2009 BSCC “Bunnings Best Senior Club Member” Chris Liston
2009 BSCC “Bunnings Best Junior Club Member”: Killian Plastow (U17)

A Grade 40km Scratch
1st Rhys Gillett
2nd Pat Shaw
3rd Jay Bourke
4th Ciaran Conaughton (first junior)

B Grade 40 km Scratch
1st Jonathan Lacey
2nd Greg Nunn
3rd Stuart Grigg

C Grade 40km Scratch
1st Lewis Piccoli
2nd Don Stewart
3rd Vince Mader

D Grade 40km Scratch
1st Victoria Snibson
2nd Kylie Zelley
3rd Wendy Ross

Junior A Grade U15 20km Handicap
1st Angus Lyons
2nd Nicholas White
3rd Emma Bilston
Fastest Time Joshua Liston

Junior D-B Grade 8km Handicap
1st Clancy Dickson
2nd David O’Doherty
3rd Declan Dickson
Fastest Time Dylan Bilston

********

Here are brief results from the senior A and B divisions of BSCC's 2009 Christmas Classic road race. Reports and results from the remaining senior races, and the junior races, will follow soon.

The races were run on the Bungaree-Wallace circuit, a favorite of the Ballarat Veterans' Cycling Club, now merged with BSCC. Like all the vets circuits, it is solid but nowhere near tough enough to be selective. This, the short race distances, and the cool, calm conditions led to a number of bunch finishes. The B grade race was a perfect example. Two B grade regulars who are head and shoulders above the rest as sprinters, Damien Keirl and Alan Cureton, were promoted to A grade, so the field was evenly matched. A flurry of early attacks on the rise into Wallace saw the in-form Liam White charge off the front, joined by Jonathan Lacey. These two drove at full power, hoping to be joined by a few of the strongest riders in the race, Ben Clark, Jason Haire, Scott Bilney, Warren Faneco and above all Stuart Grigg. But the strong men, mostly not noted sprinters, were perhaps nervous about White's finishing speed, and so they kept the pair within striking distance. After this move was re-absorbed, occasional probes continued into the second lap. Grigg in particular, after his successful Tour of Bright, looked ominously strong. He and Faneco created the most dangerous move after Wallace on the final lap, but hard chasing from Clark and Haire brought them back, and the field readied itself for a bunch sprint. All eyes were on the explosive Chloe McIntosh and the powerhouse Bilney. Ben Clark wound the pace up very high coming over the final overpass, and Lacey capitalized on a moment of hesitation and hit the front. Greg Nunn, whose sprint won him many races in the 1980s, came at him but Lacey held on, with Grigg a strong third.

In the star-stacked A-grade race, the field was split cleanly between the lightning sprinters, Keirl, Cureton, Scott Keating and Scott Townsend, and the big gun time-triallists and climbers, Rhys Gillett, Patrick Shaw and Jay Bourke. All three of the latter rode strongly in A-grade at Bright, and all are nearing their peaks for the National Championships in three weeks. Bourke, as usual, attacked early and went solo. He was soon joined by Gillett, Shaw and rising star Ciaran Conaughton, one of Ballarat's biggest performers at Bright. The race then became two team time-trials, with the endurance riders chased by the powerhouse men. Keirl, who the day before rode the state 1000-m track time trial championship, repeated his ride several times over today, with the Scotts, Tony Mirabella, Andrew Weightman and Doug Garley in tow. He would drag them to within 10 seconds or so of the four leaders, but the chase group, all in their off-season, was missing the firepower needed to close the gap. Gillett edged out Shaw to take the win, with Bourke third.

Cycling safety campaign, on your radio soon

Stuart Brien writes:

BSCC has been working with Road Safe Central Highlands, Ballarat City Council and 3BA/Power FM to develop a radio campaign to raise awareness in the community of cycling safety. The club will be mentioned in road safety messages targeting safer cycling that will play on 3BA FM and Power FM at strategic times of the day. Updated: the text of the messages is below. These messages will commence next week, Monday 21st December, and run at various times of each month until May 2010. An assessment will then be made as to the effectiveness of the campaign.

The benefit of BSCC's association with this campaign is that the club is seen to be proactive about important issues in the community associated with cycling, and highlighting measures for cyclists and drivers to take to minimise the possibility of an accident. Aside from this, it's good publicity for the club and helps to keep the club’s name in people's minds when it comes to cycling in this community. And this publicity for the club comes at a fraction of what the campaign would cost normally. Copies of the six messages that you'll hear on the radio will be posted here soon. Meantime, please send feedback, comments or concerns to 115,116,117,98,114,105,101,110,64,104,111,116,109,97,105,108,46,99,111,109.

Thanks Stu. Cycling safety on the road is a top priority for all of us, as cyclists, friends or parents of cyclists, motorists and pedestrians, and because of our special relationship with the Amy Gillett Foundation. This radio campaign will help the cause. Let's not forget, though, that the primary responsibility for promoting cycling safety rests not with Stuart, or with Power FM, or the Gillett family, or the police, or the government. It rests with us, as cyclists. Every time we ride on the road, we are ambassadors for the sport and the club. Let's use our heads. -Ed.

Text of the safety messages:

Version 1 – Driver awareness 1

Cycling is the fastest growing participation sport in Ballarat with roads being used by more cyclists every day. By law, cyclists are entitled to use the roads just as much as a car or truck and because they do not have the protection of a vehicle are more vulnerable in the event of an accident. It is all our responsibilities to ensure a safe environment for ALL road users.

This Safer Cycling message is proudly brought to you by Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, the City of Ballarat, Road Safe Central Highlands and 3BA FM 102.3/1031 Power FM.

Version 2 – Driver awareness 2

Cyclists are entitled to ride two abreast in groups on the road. Here are some simple tips on what drivers can do to minimize frustrations and the chance of an accident.

• Slow down when approaching cyclists from either direction.
• Be patient if waiting for an opportunity to overtake.
• Allow plenty of room when passing.

All road users need to be considerate of each other to ensure our roads are safe.

This Safer Cycling message is proudly brought to you by the City of Ballarat, Road Safe Central Highlands, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club and 3BA FM 102.3/1031 Power FM.

Version 3 – Driver awareness 3

Cyclists can travel at much higher speeds than you might think and are more susceptible to debris and road surface conditions than other road users, making their movements sometimes difficult to judge. When approaching a roundabout or intersection with a cyclist, ensure you give way the same as you would to another vehicle.

All road users need to be considerate of each other to ensure our roads are safe.

This Safer Cycling message is proudly brought to you by Road Safe Central Highlands, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, the City of Ballarat, and 3BA FM 102.3/1031 Power FM.

Version 4 – Cyclist awareness 1

Due to there being many more cyclists on the roads in Ballarat, there are a number of things that cyclists should do to improve their own safety. Such as:

• Merge to the middle of the lane when approaching a roundabout giving way to traffic behind you
• Ride predictably. Pay attention to road conditions and signal your intentions well in advance
• Use bright lights and reflective clothing when visibility is poor

This Safer Cycling message is proudly brought to you by Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, the City of Ballarat, Road Safe Central Highlands and 3BA FM 102.3/1031 Power FM.

Version 5 – Cyclist awareness 2

When you’re cycling, it’s important to obey the road laws the same as any other road user.

• Slow down when approaching an intersection and give way
• Wait your turn in the queue at intersections and traffic lights
• Obey road signals like red lights, stop signs and double lines

This Safer Cycling message is proudly brought to you by the City of Ballarat, Road Safe Central Highlands, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club and 3BA FM 102.3/1031 Power FM.

Version 6 – Cyclist awareness 3

When cycling in a bunch there are a number of things you can do to minimize the impact and frustrations on other road users.
• Ride no more than 2 abreast and not more than 1.5 metres apart
• Ride as close to the shoulder of the road as possible
• Move to single file to allow traffic to pass you on busy or narrow roads

This Safer Cycling message is proudly brought to you by Road Safe Central Highlands, Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, the City of Ballarat, and 3BA FM 102.3/1031 Power FM.

Phil wins again: XC MTB State Series #2

Phil Orr is 2 for 2 in this season's Victorian State Series cross-country mountain bike races. As we reported earlier, Phil won the first race of the series at Bendigo. The second round was held last weekend at Beaconsfield Upper, and Phil again won the Veterans event, once again by a comfortable margin. Full results are here. Other Ballarat riders were amongst the action too. Clinton LeMaitre and Simon Ellis were in the top 10 in the Veterans event, Shane "Jedi" Cody was a very close third, and Joel Hossack 6th, in the Sport event, and Scott Kramer waved the flag in the Expert event.

The next round is February 7, in Bendigo again.

MTB: Tour de Timor Update - 2 Weeks to go

(from the pen of Matt Turner)

It seems like only yesterday that we had all the time in the world left to prepare. But now when I check the TdT website the countdown is down to 18 days until Stage 1 begins!

So, to update where everything is at:
Phil Timpano was forced to withdraw due to an injury sustained while racing a 6 hour enduro. In his place and at relatively short notice will be the indestructible Guy Falla. Guy broke his hip earlier in the year and was back on the trainer three weeks later. I am glad he is used to quick recoveries because two weekends ago at the state XC round in Castlemaine he crashed on the first lap and broke his hand. He is adamant the show will go on and no doubt will be taking that plaster off himself on the flight to Dili.

Jeremy has been winning just about every road race he’s entered lately and with Jedi not far off, launching attacks left right and centre. Joel has been putting in solid performances on the road also so no doubt those guys will be in good stead for all the road style bunch racing we will likely encounter on some of the flatter stages.

Phil has been continuing to bag the big miles in training, no surprise there, and is currently leading the Victorian Enduro Series and is the clear favourite to take out a third consecutive championship. Luckily the timing of TdT fits inbetween rounds and will provide some valuable base miles for Phil.

Heat acclimatization is now a priority and a few sweat lodge sessions on the trainer have given us a taste of things to come when we step off the plane and into 35deg heat. Jeremy has been spotted having a private moment with his bike in the YMCA sauna. Steamy!

Our solar lighting project has been given the green light. BSCC provided the balance of funds needed and I was able to personally hand over the cheque on their behalf to the Alternative Technology Association. Just after we arrive back from Timor they will head over there with all the equipment to install a number of systems and train local people to operate and maintain them. Renewable energy is the only way forward for most of the population who live in the mountainous interior, as a national electricity grid will never reach them.

Photo caption: handing over the cheque to ATA Chief Operating officer Don Batson.

We had the last of our immunizations today and with one more booster in 6 months we are told that we will be able to go anywhere and do anything for the rest of our lives, consequence free! We couldn’t afford the rabies shot so if a dog comes near us in anger, I’m afraid it may get a stern talking to via a MTB cleat.

So all that’s left to do now is pack our luggage down to within the allowable weight limit, soak our clothes in mosquito repellent, and taper off from the months of training.

MTB: Junior Skills Training

On the back of Cadel’s Tour De France Victory we’re hoping to see many junior MTB riders join BSCC. On Saturday 17 September at 10am we’ll be holding a junior MTB skills training at the Criterium track off Recreation Road in Canadian and we’ll be approaching several Ballarat primary schools to participate. We’re hoping many juniors will enjoy what we do and will join BSCC.

Do you know anyone who might be interested in MTB riding? We’ll have lots of trainers to help juniors skill up for the upcoming season.

Location: Mt Clear High School Car park, off Recreation Road, Canadian
Date: 17-Sep-2011
Time: 9:45am
Expected Duration: 1 to 2 hours
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: FREE

MTB: Orr a fighting second at Castlemaine 6hr

You know you're good when it's news that you don't win. Phil Orr battled through the dreaded "bonk" to hang on to second place at the Castlemaine Six-Hour enduro yesterday. There were also solid solo 6 hr rides from BSCC's Jason Birch, Matt Turner, Matt Albiston and Craig Sinclair.

The Central Highlands Rocky Riders staged the fourth round of the Victorian MTB enduro series on the Jabba Land course at Campbell's Creek Sunday 22-Aug. The course is largely single-track, with a number of rocky sections that are rideable by those with moderate technical skills (roadies - ed.), but reward the truly skilful. It's all on private land, so none of the competitors had ridden the course recently, and there was much speculation about the possible effects of the recent solid rain. As it turned out, the conditions were almost perfect: the weather was very mild by Ballarat winter standards, partly sunny, and traction was excellent throughout the course, with only a few tens of metres of slightly sticky track.

Phil Orr dominated the enduro series last year, but he had a break from racing before this race and was not sure what his form would be like. The first five hours went perfectly to plan. Phil started solidly, but not as fast as some of his younger rivals, then rode his usual relentless pace and, as usual, picked them off one by one as the hours ticked by. Going into the decisive last hour, with nine laps under his belt, he caught his final target, Robbie Hucker. They rode together for a few minutes, then Phil hit the gas on a technical section and opened a gap of a minute or so. At this point, Phil was feeling strong and alert, expecting a fight but confident about its outcome. Hucker closed the gap, but at some cost, and looked beatable as they started the last lap.

Suddenly the tables turned, and Phil went through the experience that only endurance athletes know, and that none who have been through it will ever forget. Within five minutes, his vision was blurry, his reflexes and concentration gone, his legs shut down, and his morale completely destroyed. "The bonk" is feared so much not because of its physical pain, but because of the overwhelming despair that comes with it. We race to confront our demons, and in these moments we see all of them at once, at their full strength. In the true spirit of mountain biking, Robbie offered Phil some food, but nothing that Phil was capable of digesting. Phil made it to the point of the course that passes by the start-finish, and managed to find an energy drink that stayed down, and the strength to make himself drink it. With this and a supreme effort, Phil battled through the last part of the last lap, and held on to his second place. This might not be his favorite MTB result, but it might be one of his most memorable.

In other BSCC results, in the solo's, Jason Birch (one of BSCC's newest members) finished in 19th, Matt Turner each rode a solid, steady pace to finish in the top half of the field in the open solo event. Matt Albiston, on his new Fisher hard-tail 29er (big-wheeled bike), achieved the rare honor of riding each of his laps faster than the last, and Craig Sinclair took 8th place in the 40+ category. Michael Veal and Jonathan Lacey made their customary cameo appearances. Just to put things in perspective, Phil's horror last lap, including an emergency re-fueling and resurrection stop, by far his slowest of 11, was several minutes faster than Lacey's fastest of 5.

In the teams category the Baker family decided to enter two teams, a father and son pair (who could be referred to as the 'Baker boys') and finished with a solid 8 laps between them and the younger 'Baker Girls' pair finished 2nd in the Women's pair category.

Phil rules at Castlemaine

Some of us might have wondered why Phil didn’t ride the Brookman on Saturday. The contingent of Ballarat riders at the Central Victorian Riders’ enduro mountain bike race on Sunday were reminded that Phil races on the road as training for his mountain bike racing. And on Sunday, Phil was absolutely dominant. Click HERE to follow a link to the official results.

Enduro mountain bike races, one of the most rapidly-growing flavors of cycling over the last decade, are run on courses that take 30 minutes to an hour to lap. In a six-hour race like Sunday’s, the rider who does the most laps in 6 hours wins. Along with the solo competitors, there are teams with 2, 3 and more riders. The start-finish area is set up as a pit - riders grab food, drinks and mechanical assistance as they come through - but also as mini-carnivals, with commentators, DJs, kids’ events and so on throughout the day. Many of the participants take the event far less seriously than your average road racer. Costumes, naked laps, and beers between laps are not unheard of, and slower riders are usually politely asked by the guns if they might pass. But the front end of the race is fiercely competitive, and Phil in full flight is a sight to see. Phil’s approach is to blast off the mark, so as not to get caught in traffic on the technical sections, ride hard for the first lap, then settle back to a pace that for him is sustainable for 5 hours, but for the rest of us is shocking. He throws the bike down the descents and through the technical sections – easy on the legs, in theory – and rides a controlled pace on the climbs. His pace through the technical sections is similar to the speed at which a normal cyclist would ride a road bike if the trail was a paved road. It isn’t. With an hour or so to go, if any other riders are within striking distance, Phil hits the gas, rides hard on the climbs for a few laps, and blows them away. This is what happened on Sunday.

A number of other Ballarat riders competed in the solo event: Clinton Lemaitre, Antanus Spokevicius, Shane "Jedi" Cody, winner of BSCC's last dirt event Craig Fromhold, and Phil Timpano. Michael Veal and Jonathan Lacey made occasional guest appearances.

Injury list

Its never a good thing, and unfortunately every now and then our air of invincibility is given a reality check when we come to grief while out on the bike.

News at hand. Roger Bade out with a snapped achilles tendon! A cycling related injury Roger? I fear not. Incurred on the netball court perhaps.

British geezer and all round Rude Boy Russel Shaw, the man from Navajo with a firm grip on the tools, (oh wait that sounds bad, well you know what I mean) has unfortunately come to grief thanks to the impeccably maintained roads of the City of Ballarat (sarcasm).

While out on a routine road bike commute, his front wheel found a pothole sizable enough to dislodge him from his aggressive commute position (officially banned in most states of Australia) and down he came. Judging by the x-ray photo I saw it must have been some fall. His elbow area featured more hardware than Bunnings, screws and bolts and plates, and a couple of broken ribs thrown in for good measure.

In simulated testing performed by the TAC, it was concluded that had Russel been mounted on some kind of bicycle fitted with suspension enabled forks, approximately 50% of the impact force would have been absorbed, greatly enancing Mr Shaw's chances of riding away with little more than a headbut to the stem from the rebounding impact energy.

We wish you a speedy recovery my friend.

Anybody else with a tale of personal devestation? We would love to hear from you.

MTB: Dirt Girls Ride, May 2012

Dirt Girls is a social mountain bike ride run by BSCC for any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning. Beginner level riders are very welcome. After the ride we find a cafe for some well earned coffee and cake.

DATE: Saturday 5 May

TIME: 9am. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required (see below).

LOCATION: Canadian/Pax Hill Loop, meeting outside the Pax Hill Scout Camp front gate, on the corner of Spencer St and Fussell St, Canadian.

COST: Free for MTBA members or $5 for non members (which goes to MTBA for insurance
purposes). If you are considering a membership then there are 2 to choose from, a $70 social membership which doesn't allow you to participate in any club racing or a $125 race membership.

WHAT TO BRING: Your mountain bike, helmet, gloves (full length if you have them), sunscreen, a drink and MTBA license or $5 to buy a day license.

For more info contact Kat on 0417 541 346 or email 107,97,116,100,111,103,64,113,117,97,105,110,46,111,114,103

MTB: Junior Social Ride/Skills Day – Maintain the Rage!

It has been almost a month since our last Tuesday night kids race and Junior Coordinator Chris Quain has been missing the action. We’d like to invite all junior riders to come out for a social ride, some basic skills training and a general go out and get muddy razz. We will set up a long course using the normal Tuesday night track and the rest of the trails behind the high school. After a bit of a warm up ride, we’ll break down a few basic skills, such as gear selection (for those with gears) and how to attack intimidating hills and maybe finish off with a low key race.

We are aiming to run separate sessions for Prep to grade 2 and grade 3 and above. Each session will run for approximately an hour and a half. See below for times. We are encouraging parents to bring their bikes along and get in on the action too.

Hope to see you there!

DATE: Saturday, 19th May

TIME: Prep to grade 2 - 9am. Grade 3 and above 11am. Please arrive a little early to
allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required (see below).

LOCATION: Mt Clear Secondary School, same location as Tuesday night racing, however
we will venture out onto some longer trails.

COST: Free for MTBA members or $5 for non members (which goes to MTBA for insurance purposes).

WHAT TO BRING: Your mountain bike, helmet, gloves (full length if you have them), sunscreen, a drink and MTBA license or $5 to buy a day license.

For more info contact Chris on 0410 770 507 or email 99,104,114,105,115,64,113,117,97,105,110,46,111,114,103

MTB: Social Ride, May 2012

The next social ride will be held on the 20-May-12 at Creswick, we will be finding all the famous (and secret) trails in the area, like “Don’t look Down” and “Anthony Roderick Tortoise Trail”, we expect to cover a distance of 20 to 30km in 2 to 3 hours.

DATE: Sunday, 20th May

TIME: 8:00am, Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required

LOCATION: Creswick Novotel Forest Resort (carpark)

Stopping Where on the Way Home: Forest Resort or a cafe in Creswick (we can decide on the day)

COST: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

WHAT TO BRING: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc

BSCC MTB is affiliated with MTBA, which means all riders must present a current MTBA 'Social' or 'Race' membership card during registration. Membership provides insurance coverage for both the rider and the club in the event of an incident. Non MTBA members have two options, 1) annual membership, (see the Membership page for more details) or 2) purchase a $5 Social Day permit, which is valid for the whole event and available on the day, but we ask that you arrive early to fill in the paperwork.

Mid-year BSCC function? Have your say

Board member Stuart Brien writes:

I've started a discussion on the forum on this web site about a BSCC mid-year social function, late May or early June, to recognize the summer series of riding for all disciplines and age groups, and have a get together to chin wag about all things cycling. Maybe even some entertainment of sorts. There would be a cost per head. I'm thinking of a sit-down 2 course meal ($30-40ish), plus drinks at bar prices. Something family-friendly, or more of an evening event? What do you think? Post your thoughts on the forum.

And if you're willing to help me organize the event, please contact 83,116,117,97,114,116,32on 0416 183 566.

Road: Marshals Desperately Needed for Pre-Worlds Event

Scott Denno writes:

We received a call from Cycling Australia. They are desperate for marshals for the Herald-Sun World Cycling Classic, the Worlds warm-up event in Buninyong. Cycling Australia will cancel the event if they don’t get enough marshals. Please see the message below from Sean Muir at Cycling Australia. Please contact him directly if you're available. This won’t interfere with watching the AFL Grand Final - in fact it might be the best reason to get outside and get some fresh air after sitting watching the footy all day Saturday.

Please think about it.

Sean Muir, Cycling Australia National Road Coordinator, writes:

I am writing to ask if any of you will assist at the Herald Sun World Cycling Classic. We need volunteer marshals for the morning shift, 7:30 AM to noon, and the afternoon shift, noon to 3:30 PM. Please contact me by 101,109,97,105,108,32or on 0410 587 850 if you're available, and let me know what shift you prefer.

**********

Stuart Brien, major events mogul, writes:

I've been contacted by Cycling Australia to ask for help with marshalling for the Herald-Sun World Cycling Classic, the pre-Worlds road race being held in Ballarat (Buninyong) on Sunday 26th September. If the promoters are to be believed, this job will consist of having body parts of your choice autographed by Fabian Cancellara, Daniele Bennati, Matti Breschel, Alberto Contador, Emma Johanssen, Marianne Vos (unfortunately no Heinrich!) and the other heart-throbs of world cycling, and/or being tempted by their legions of attractive fans. Please contact 83,116,117,97,114,116,32,66,114,105,101,110 (0416 183 566) immediately before he takes all the slots himself, or at least by 31st August. You'll be telling your grandchildren about this.

Road: BSCC Senior Time Trial Champs

Chris Liston writes:

Weightman wins Windermere title in the wind

Andrew Weightman took victory and the open championship title in the 2010 BSCC senior 19 km individual road time trial (IRTT) championship. In a strong south-westerly wind, Weightman posted a time that was only eight seconds from Rhys Gillett’s winning 2009 time, and 34 seconds better than his own runners-up time last year. Given the conditions, it was an outstanding performance. The drizzly morning cleared to almost ideal conditions in the early afternoon, then closed in to be cool and overcast, and the blustery southerly blew in to test riders to the limit. Gillett did not defend his title as he was racing the Tour of Tasmania. Grant Gilbert finished the Windermere - Cuthbert’s Rd - Dyson Drive - Old Western Hwy loop 25 seconds behind Weightman to be runner-up, with another new BSCC member for 2010, Thayne Turley, in the bronze medal position.

Stuart Grigg almost claimed back to back TT titles in Masters 1-3, but was edged out by two seconds by Neville Bilney, who claimed the title. Stuart Sanders was back on the bike and looked ready for a very strong assault against the clock. He took third in his lead up to his Australian Masters campaign later this week. Shane Cody dumped the MTB machine for a hit out against the clock, while Scott Denno rode in his first championship event with BSCC.

After a shaky start, Charlie Stebbing settled into a rhythm that allowed him to claim the Masters 4-7 title, with Dave Peters runner up. Entries were low but improving across all divisions over the last few years. The skill of time trialing is being harnessed by those willing to test their limits against the clock and the course. Against this trend, there were no women entrants this year.

Several visitors made the trek from various clubs around the state to pit themselves against Ballarat’s conditions and the clock in the lead-up to the Australian Masters titles this week. Shane Miller, Martin Larma and Paul Ambry all rode, and Miller was the fastest rider of the day.

Click HERE to see a lot of photos from the day. As usual, log in with email ballaratsebascycling@gmail.com, password ballaratcycling.

BSCC 2010 Senior Road Time Trial Championship

1st Andrew Weightman 26:48.59

2nd Grant Gilbert 27:13.03

3rd Thayne Turley 30:32.09

4th Simon Wallis 30.42:69

MMAS 1-3

1st Neville Bilney 30:25.70

2nd Stuart Grigg 30:27.20

3rd Stuart Sanders 30:43.44

4th Shane Cody 31:09.19

5th Scott Denno 34.05:11

MMAS 4-7

1st Charlie Stebbing 32:37.76

2nd Dave Peters 34.47:55

Overall results (including visitors)

Shane Miller 25:26.46 (visitor)

Martin Larma 26:42.41 (visitor)

Andrew Weightman 26:48.59

Grant Gilbert 27:13.03

Wayne Gebert 28:56.73 (visitor)

Neville Bilney 30:25.70

Stuart Grigg 30:27.20

Thayne Turley 30:32.09

Simon Wallis 30.42:69

Stuart Sanders 30:43.44

Shane Cody 31:09.19

Paul Ambry 31:13.28 (visitor)

Charlie Stebbing 32:37.76

Barry Pollock 33:43.09 (visitor)

Ryan Kerr 34:01.83

Scott Denno 34.05:11

Dave Peters 34.47:55

Tour de Timor 2012

Tour de Timor is a 6 day stage race on mountain bikes covering everything from smooth bitumen coastal roads, to rugged off-road mountain climbs. In 2011 6 BSCC members successfully competed in the race and brought home life-long memories.

The 2012 Tour de Timor will be a unique celebration of peace as part of Timor-Leste’s 10th Anniversary of Independence. Under special arrangements this unique occasion will venture through Indonesia to the Enclave of Oecussi.
The route will take participants through dozens of seaside villages, past the historic town of Balibo and through the beautiful mountainous coffee country of the Mambae people.

Places for 2012 Tour de Timor will be strictly limited to 300 International entrants.
Online rego will open at 9am AEST on Friday 25 November 2011 and will remain open only until the first 100 riders have registered. We anticipate that first 100 will sell out fast so get ready! Early bird registrants will be offered the special rate of $880.
Round two of registration will open on 15 January 2012. The registration rate will be $1,000.

We would love to take another team over next year, and although the registrations are very early, it gives plenty of time to plan for the time off work and being away from family, and of course ample training time. This event would be achievable for anyone willing to put some serious preparation into their fitness, regardless of their starting point. You don't have to aim to be the fastest person out there, but lets just say that doing a few hill repeats over winter will definitely make your experience in Timor more enjoyable. This is NOT an event just for mountain bikers. Regardless of what kind of bike you ride, road, track or uni-cycle, you just need a sense of adventure.

To register your interest in being part of the BSCC team, email the 119,101,98,32,100,111,109,101,115,116,105,113,117,101,46

Visit the official website here.

Road: Junior crit results

By BSCC publicist Chris Liston

BSCC Junior Criteriums Rnd 1 Nov. 2011

Koelle takes Crit!
Maurice Koelle won a very close three abreast sprint finish in his debut race for the 2011-12 junior criterium season. Dominic Geoghegan took second edging out Dylan Bilston who rode very well in his first road race for several months. The trio were in the business end of the race for the entire 15 minute and 2 lap journey. Bilston was looking composed as the group shared the work up the finishing straight in the lead up laps to the assault for the line. Dominic looked like he was to be the marked man however it was Koelle who had the power at the sprint.
Two bunches of smiling juniors and sub juniors greeted the starter with the sub juniors taking on a 3 lap scratch event as F grade. Bailey Cody took a decisive win from Emily Smith and new riders Liam Briscoe and Chloe Stinchcombe with Bricoe making the podium in his first race. The other group were E grade and raced for 5.2km. Graeme Frislie had to work hard to get up for the win as Jake Ashmore closed in the sprint to be edged out on the line. Felicity Liston took third from Zac Stinchcombe who lost contact with the lead group for a few seconds and Tyson Cody was within striking distance just in behind Stinchcombe.

F Grade 3 laps 3.9km
1st Bailey Cody
2nd Emily Smith
3rd Liam Briscoe

E Grade 4 laps / 5.2km
1st Graeme Frislie
2nd Jake Ashmore
3rd Felicity Liston

D Grade 15 Min + 2 laps
1st Maurice Koelle
2nd Dominic Geoghegan
3rd Dylan Bilston

MTB: Social Ride, Sunday 26 June 2011

We'll hold a social MTB ride on Sunday June 26 with an existing group of riders that go out each week. They like to call themselves "The Hard Men of the Hill." You might have seen mention of this ride elsewhere on this web site.

Each Sunday morning (except Mother's Day and special occasions), a group of riders, mainly from Buninyong, meet up and ride a highly enjoyable circuit that has a bit of everything: tight and technical, open and flowing, fire roads and lots of single track. The course has been slowly getting longer and more technical over recent years. New riders are always welcome on this ride, so if you don't make it on the scheduled Sunday, come along on another Sunday. You won't be disappointed.

Being a social ride the whole thing will be fairly relaxed without much planning going into the whole affair, however the key guidelines the committee are working with are:
- we will meet at a location with ample free car parking,
- we can break into groups (depending on numbers) that match rider abilities (slower riders or riders just starting out please don't worry about slowing the group down, its a social ride no-one is there to break land-speed records, and no one will be left behind),
- on the way home we will go for coffee and/or lunch,

With these points in mind and following has been decided for this ride.

Meeting Place: Corner of Simpson & Lal Lal Streets, Buninyong
Meeting Time: 8:00am
Stopping Where on the Way Home: Buninyong
Expected Duration: 2 hours of riding + 1 hour for coffee
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

Road: Junior Development Day coaching, May 23

11 May update: CSV sent the following reminder:

CycleSport Victoria would like to remind you of the upcoming Development Day to be hosted by your club. As part of this, you will receive a Discount of 50% off the listed entry price!!!

Specialised coaching will be provided by:

· Cam McFarlane Level 2 NCAS

· Brad Clark Level 2 NCAS

· Ryan Worn Level 2 NCAS

To book your place for this development day, please contact me via email at 97,115,104,108,101,121,46,99,111,111,116,101,64,99,121,99,108,105,110,103,46,111,114,103,46,97,117,32or by phone on (03) 8480 3077, with the following details:

· Name

· Age Group

· Email

· Address

· Post Code

· Club

Also, if you wish to pay by credit card, please include card details. Cash payment will be accepted on the day, but you must be registered. Remember, bookings are essential, so don’t miss out!

Kind Regards,

Ashley Coote
Regional Development Officer West
CycleSport Victoria
PO BOX 180 Fairfield VIC 3078
281 Darebin Rd, Thornbury
P 03 8480 3000 F 03 8480 3099
E ashley.coote@cycling.org.au
W www.vic.cycling.org.au

*******

Cycle Sport Victoria is running a Junior Development Day, a day of coaching for junior riders, in Victoria Park on Sunday May 23, the day after the Collier. Please click HERE for the flyer from CSV with all the details.

Road: May RecTTT report

Ray Issac, the Booker Prize winner of BSCC roving reporters, writes:

Two new teams were present at the RecTTT ride held in beautiful conditions on Sunday 15 May at Snake Valley: the Myer group and the Lake Health group.

The Myer group was represented by Tony Quinney, Ian Wallis, Graeme Pyers and Mike Bigarelli. Mike had the plane that was to take him to this year’s Giro on standby while he joined in the serious fun at his first RecTTT ride.

Michael Pierce, Simon Ellis and Josh needed the assistance of some stand-ins to make the minimum number of riders for Lake Health. Greg Dow and Peter Canny were co-opted from the Turret Café team for the job.

Course maps were made available at the start which should have eliminated any possibility of yet another Scottish-inspired detour off the ride’s course. The route covered some very pretty country and some challenging terrain.

Even with the maps, Fiona Isaac did her darndest to take the Goddesses in the reverse direction by swinging left at the corner next to the hall where we started. With a number of their stronger riders away, this minor diversion was the last thing they required. (One of those absent riders was Cath McLennan who was in hospital with a fractured pelvis. She was unfortunately knocked off her bike on her way to the final team training ride on Saturday morning. Heal quickly Cath. Everyone is looking forward to welcoming you back!) Ruth was there on her new bike to embrace the RecTTT experience for the first time.

Fiona distinguished herself by becoming the first RecTTT rider to stop their team to attend to a call of nature during the ride. With a small team, a challenging course and the natural break, the Goddesses acquitted themselves in fine style with an increased average speed.

Scheduled to go next was the strengthened Saxon House team. They welcomed Steve Carey and Brian Sala for their first RecTTT ride. Former CSC winner Colin Fraser added some grunt to the team they had assembled at Kingston. Steve boldly announced his presence by failing to clip in and falling off seconds after Tim O’Doherty had started them on their way. This not only triggered some good-humoured laughter, but earned the team the right to start again at the end of the field.

Dennis Family Homes were next to go, and their numbers were down from last start. Although their strategic thinking has been questioned by yours truly in the past, they pulled off a master stroke by relegating Peter Martin to the sidelines. Without that dead weight you would expect they must improve their speed, and they did! Alas the high speed in the first lap proved too much for Fergie and Dave Peters and they had to pull out. The remaining three riders, Mark, Scott and Peter put up a sterling performance to register a very creditable average. By the way, extra kudos must go to Peter. He has recently relocated to Bendigo to live, and travelled down that morning just for the RecTTT ride. Huzzah Pete!

After much public soul-searching following their naïve entry into RecTTT riding, the Yabby Divers sent along four riders. Their team had been hard hit by overseas sabbaticals to Italy for the Giro and to New Zealand for rest and recuperation, but Floyd, Lever (Jim Crumper), Simon from Retail and Steve stood up and were counted. Their team was supplemented by two new RecTTT riders, Matt Smith and Simon Wilkinson. Most readers will know that Matt is a strong rider. He is resuming after a short break. Simon is another Turret man who has just arrived in town to study at U.B.

As a team they worked well together and posted a significantly higher velocity than the Kingston Yabbies had done. Their improvement in speed was the greatest of all the teams. They certainly earned some bragging rights with their team-mates who missed the ride with flimsy excuses like being in Italy.

The Turret team was sent on their way two minutes after the Yabbies. Alan Cureton made a very welcome return. On the downside, hard man Stu Brien had to drop out at the last moment with a terrible case of the sniffles. We hope you’re better soon Stu. Nonetheless, with Volker showing the benefits of some consistent training the prospects for the Turret looked good.

Someone has to be the weakest rider in every RecTTT team and your humble scribe played that role to perfection on Sunday. The final hill before Snake Valley - which had felt like a category 1 climb on the first lap - had been magically converted into an Hors Categorie mountain on the second lap. Thank heavens for team mates at such times. Dean Wells came within an ace of collecting the CSC award for pushing me over the summit.

This embarrassing display was witnessed by the Yabbies as the Turret team managed to catch them at that point.

The Myer team followed the Turret in the starting order. With only four riders they faced a challenging ride. However wise heads apparently exist in this team. They played their cards close to their chest and revealed little of their strategies. After two laps their wholly respectable average allows them room for improvement which is, after all, the main aim of RecTTT riding.

Very few details were known about the Lake Health team, but their performance on the day left no one in doubt about their riding ability. Whether they can improve on a stellar performance at their first outing will be of interest to all teams.

Even with the burden of Peter Canny they cruised around the course and registered the highest average speed for the day. They had departed 4 minutes after the Turret. As the Turreteers approached the finish line, Peter decided to put his nose into the wind for the first time all day and speared down the outside past his usual teammates.

The Turret responded in a most un-RecTTT like fashion to this impertinence and at the finish line Tim could not separate the teams.

The Saxons had apparently used the time to their delayed start fruitfully. Director Sportif, Neal Goad, had abandoned the easy and comfortable approach that served them so well at Kingston. Very little of what transpired within the team became public, but there was apparently a bit of tough love going on. Terms such as “useful as a boat anchor” were bandied about.

The unhappy target of these harsh words, Trevor Smith (I feel your pain Trev), is a professional engineer and therefore a man of action. Recognising that the problem lay with a Power/Weight ratio that was down on the day he did the only logical thing. He tried to improve the ratio by reducing the denominator. The method he employed to do this was to toss off the tiny light on his helmet.

It may have been possible that the 11 grams lost with the light could have improved the team’s speed by an infinitesimal margin. However it is certain that the time the team lost when Steve Carey stopped to retrieve the light did a whole lot more to reduce the average. I wonder how well Steve’s Good Samaritan act was appreciated by his team-mates.

All this straight talking must have been too much for Wendy Ross. She sought solace with the Goddesses as the Saxons passed them and rode with the ladies to the finish. Greg Nunn also joined the Goddesses and the Saxons at different times to give them pointers on improving their time-trialing techniques.

A highlight of the day was the rowdy performance put on by Scott Denno’s family in the back of the ute on the Carngham Road hill. Devil’s costumes and plenty of noisy encouragement added colour and movement to the day. Thanks a lot for a great effort Denno family!

Thanks also go to all the people who supported the day, including marshalls and timekeepers. Special mention must go again to Kathy Young who, at different times, took registrations and membership applications, heated soup and party pies, and staffed the servery. For someone whose only connection with cycling is to be Peter Canny’s sister, Kathy does a tremendous job and her work is appreciated by all.

The main candidates for the CSC Award have all been featured here. Eventually the judges settled on Trevor Smith as this week’s winner of the coveted bottle of plonk. For a smart fellow, his actions somehow satisfied both the Cunning and Stupid criteria in one fell swoop.

The results of all this hard work are summarised in the now-correct average velocities below, together with the change from the respective velocity at the Kingston ride.

Goddesses 24.70 km/h (up 1.35 km/h)
Dennis Family Homes 34.99 km/h (up 1.14 km/h)
Yabby Divers 35.32 km/h (up 3.12 km/h)
Turret Café 36.04 km/h (up 0.79 km/h)
Myer Group 32.03 km/h
Lake Health 37.44 km/h
Saxon House 29.06 km/h (up 2.32 km/h)

********

Peter Canny, RecTTT ruler, writes:

This Sunday, May 16, is our next Recreational Team Time Trial. We hope to have a few new teams. If you're not in a team, please come along and allocate yourself into a team that best suits your abilities.

The Yabbies, we hope, will bring out their A team after their disgraceful effort at Kingston. Talking of disgraceful, no doubt that shabby motley lot called Dennis Family Homes, under the guidance of Peter "Cramps" Martin, will try and make it over the full distance. It has been noted how well the Dennis Family Homes men have been going lately in the absence of their fearless leader.

The tried and tested Saxon House Team will be a starter, and the Myer group are rumoured to be making their long-awaited debut. The Goddesses will also be there, with a map and compass. As usual, the strong men of the Turret will be there in all their glory, under the tutelage and leadership of their quietly confident Ray. We are also hopeful of our local Iron Men having a dash. So if you are not racing on Sunday, please come along and have some SERIOUS FUN. Remember, it is not a race, but a recreational time trial against yourself.

Details of this week's event:

Sunday 16 May

Registration 8:15 to 8:30 AM, Snake Valley Hall. Allow 20 minutes to get there. (If you ride there in 20 minutes, please phone Team BMC - Cadel needs you! - ed.)

Cost: $5 for non-BSCC members. Become a recreational member of BSCC for $66 for 12 calender months. This includes some insurance. Membership details are HERE. Please consider joining the club! More members = stronger club = more clout to represent cyclists' interests.

The first team starts at 9:15 AM. There are 5-minute intervals between teams.

The event distance is 60 km. To see the course map, please go to the calendar, and click on May 16.

Post-event: see you at Snake Valley Hall. Coffee machine, soup, hot snacks. Beer. Soft Drink. Sledging.

Road: Anchor Point Tour of the South West

Anchor Point Tour of the South West – proudly presented by Warrnambool City Council

The inaugural Anchor Point Tour of the South West will be a two day, three stage cycling tour in Warrnambool and District, and will provide cyclists the opportunity to test themselves on challenging terrain as they tour through Warrnambool and Moyne Shires.

The event will be held on Saturday 28th and Sunday 29th April 2012 and is sanctioned by Cycling Victoria. Riders must hold a valid Cycling Australia membership.

The event will be open to A, B & C Grade Divisions (women’s incorporated with C Grade).

Stage 1
Saturday 28th April
Start Time: 10am
Race Start: Wangoom Recreation Reserve, Wangoom-Warrumyea Road, Wangoom
A Grade - 115km, B Grade - 98km C Grade- 81km

The opening stage will begin from the Wangoom Recreation Reserve, with riders completing a 30km return course and 17km circuit with short but tough climbs and likely ‘Warrnambool winds’. Each lap contains hill climb and sprint prime

Stage 2
Saturday 28th April
Start Time: 2.30pm
Race Start: Wangoom Recreation Reserve, Wangoom-Warrumyea Road, Wangoom

An undulating 12.7km individual time trial circuit, sure to prove decisive in determining the overall tour winner in each division.

Stage 3
Sunday 29th April
Start Time: 9am
Race Start/Finish: Simpson Street, Warrnambool
A Grade - 1hr +3 laps, B Grade - 50mins + 3 laps, C Grade - 40mins + 3 laps

The queen stage of the tour, this challenging course around the Hopkins River precinct will no doubt split the race early providing an exciting finale to the tour.

Registrations are now open and close April 22.

FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT WWW.TOUROFTHESOUTHWEST.COM.AU.

Road: Mount Buller senior open results

BSCC Seniors Sun March 18 2012

Mansfield Mountain Men!!!
The high country town of Mansfield, renown for its rugged terrain where riding horses in the hills is common place, was treated to some tough uphill cycling action. Cyclists converged on the town to compete in the 2012 senior Mansfield – Mt Buller Criterium and Road race cycling challenge.
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club’s Hugo Tolliday and U19, came home with a win each day snaring the 40 minute and two lap criterium and the 48km Mt Buller Road race. Tolliday chased across a gap over one and a half laps to Dan Wilkins of St Kilda, shortly after Wilkins took the intermediate sprint. From there the pair controlled the front of the race and the field were chasing acroos a formidable gap. Tolliday took the win from Wilkins in the sprint with the bunch 200m behind. A similar situation developed in the road race. A core group of ten hit the Buller climb proper and after countless attacks it became a race of attrition and endurance. Morgan Curtis of Hawthorn and Tolliday slugged it out as they put a gap into the field. Tolliday had to pick up the tempo to stay in touch on more than one occasion, this effort payed off; rounding the last bend with 200m to go and third place another 50m off the pace, Tolliday found the energy to take Curtis on the line for the win.
Matthew Clark of Wangaratta Cycling Club currently racing in Ballarat with the BSCC, took a win over club mate and strong national Mountain Climber Jay Bourke in the A grade classification. Clark went into the Mt Buller race hoping for a top five result after a disappointing DNF in the criterium where he “popped”. After 41km of gruelling uphill racing Bourke and Clark went off the front together. With about 800m to go Clark managed a quick turn of pace that put 50m into Bourke and ultimately gave him the win. Bourke hung on tenaciously taking second with third place and the field some 60m to the rear at the finish.

C Grade Criterium and Mt Buller 48km Road Race
1st Hugo Tolliday U19
A Grade Mt Buller 48km Road Race
1st Matthew Clark
2nd Jay Bourke

Special event: Family 5 at Victoria Park

Family 5 event

WHEN: Friday 30 March, 2012. 5.30 – 7pm.

WHAT: Children’s activities and a 5 km walk, ride, or run. BBQ provided. Schools, families and sporting groups are encouraged to participate in this event on the last Friday of daylight savings. Enjoy circulating Victoria Park’s 5 km track while the park is closed to traffic.

WHO: The City of Ballarat

The event organisers have asked BSCC is we would be able to provide some volunteer marshals. If you are interested please contact Rachael Gleeson at 114,103,108,101,101,115,111,110,64,112,114,101,109,105,101,114,112,114,46,99,111,109,46,97,117

Track: The 2011 BSCC Madison and Car Boot Sale, This Sunday

Roger Bade, BSCC track tsar, writes:

Don't forget! The BSCC Madison and car boot sale are on this Sunday, March 27, at 2 PM. Click HERE for the flyer.

2010-11 has been a huge track season here in Ballarat. We finally got our renovated track going again, and the racing has been hot all season. We've had a lot of new race formats too: Doug's Saturday sessions before Christmas, the Sebas Little Six in January, and most recently the huge Vic Madison Champs.

Club track racing continues on Thursday evenings until the end of March, as the on-line calendar shows. We're planning to round out the 2010-11 track season with a club track carnival on Sunday afternoon, March 27, from 2 PM, including a madison and a car boot sale. We want this to be a fun afternoon with some good racing and a chance to swap or sell your old gear - track, road, MTB, BMX. The MTB crew held an impromptu car boot sale like this at one of their Tuesday night dirt crits late last year, and it was a huge success.

Here's an outline of what you'll see on the day:

3 hours of fun racing and spectating for ALL STANDARDS

• Graded (not age group) Junior Races: handicaps, points races, eliminations and scratch races.
• A and B Grade Senior Races – Club standard Madison – max 10 teams + a range of other events to suit sprinters and enduros
• Good prize money (well, we’re working on it!)
• Bike Swap Meet – bring your bikes, bars, cogs, cranks, wheels, shoes, etc. Find a new home for you unused bits, and raise some cash
• BBQ, or maybe even pizza
• Bring along some drinks and celebrate the end of a great season
• Even if you’re not racing, come along and tell us how good you used to be, you could have been or you’re gunna be!
• $5 entry for juniors, $10 entry for seniors, unless you’re doing the Madison in which case it’s $15

Stay tuned for more details.

Road: 2010-11 Small Dog Criterium Championships

Official results: Small Dog 2010-11 senior criterium championships

A Grade Criterium Championship, 25 min+2 laps
1st Rhys Gillett
2nd Charles Martin U19
3rd Ciaran Conaughton U19
B Grade Criterium Championship, 25 min+2 laps
1st Lewis Piccoli U19
2nd Paul Crack
3rd Jeremy Doolan
C Grade Criterium Championship, 20 min +2 laps
1st Bob Morley
2nd Mark Czuli
3rd Scott Denno

Stuart Grigg reports (with photos by Kate Grigg):

Senior A grade: Three in a row for Rhys

A cool south-easterly wind greeted a field of around 15 riders for the belated start of the 2010-11 Small Dog A-grade criterium championship. There was some nervous tension in the air as the field realised track star Damien Keirl had entered the race after a long……. taper (reportedly 2 rides in the last 2 months), along with one of Ballarat’s best, Rhys Gillett, now a member of Australia’s newest pro cycling team, Jayco-2XU. It was going to be 25 minutes and 2 laps of pain.

The field was allowed to cool their heels a little as Stuart Grigg, who somehow managed to arrive some 45 minutes before the start of the race, rather than the usual 45 seconds before, got a flat. Volker threatened to let the group off but managed to hold them back. Grigg made a quick front wheel change, and off we went.

Gillett almost immediately rolled off the front, and the field attentively let him sit there. Gillett was not putting in a lot of work, rather warming the muscles in preparation. In the following few laps Gillett came back to the field and rolled off the front a number of times, gently increasing the pressure each time. After about 4 laps it was Jay Bourke’s time to put some pressure on. Jay’s attacks were more explosive, and the field reacted with more urgency as he has been in very good form during recent crits since his storming ride at Buninyong. John Polkinghorne put in a few big efforts to bring him back.

Once Bourke was brought back it was Gillett’s turn to again attack. This time around he was more aggressive, and the field worked harder to close him down. The legs of the chasers were slowly being worn down. We were strung out along the home straight, where not much reprieve from the cross-wind was given, with those on the front driving it up the far side of the road.

At about the half way mark it was time for young improver of the summer Liam White to try his luck off the front. He’d been known to test the group out regularly since Christmas. The attentive Phil Orr closed this one down.

Finally the two big guns, Bourke and Gillett, had the legs of the field starting to soften, and regularly small groups got off the front, but again not far. The most threatening break of the evening got away with about 6 laps to go. It looked strong, with Gillett, Bourke, White, Sam Turley and Grigg all there. The chasers put in a big effort to bring them back. It was then Turley’s chance to go for it. He rode away for about 2 laps. The attackers were not going to close him down, wanting to force the sprinters into doing some work. Better for a break to succeed, they thought, than for one of the pesky sprinters to take it out again!

Turley was back in the field and it was the relentless duo of Bourke and Gillett again hurting the field with 4 laps to go. The rubber band was stretching, with the group really strung out both along the home straight and down the back, as they used the cross winds to put some more sting in the legs of the rest. Polky was alert to this, and with two laps to go came to the front to increase the pace whilst giving some protection to those up front (thanks Polky).

With a lap to go, the bell rang. Bourke hit it and put a gap into the field. Grigg responded and managed to make it across along the back straight. The field was right there. At the gentle left hander at the end of the back straight, the duo was caught. It was the ever-strong Ciaran Conaughton driving hard. Where the heck had he come from? Tight on his back wheel was sprinter and consistent high finisher in recent crits, Charles Martin, with Gillett, like glue, on Martin’s wheel. The trio were off, Orr and White were in chase but just missed the jump, Bourke was done, and Grigg had one last crack. Nup, nuthin!

The trio rounded the last corner and shot up the finishing straight. It was a flat-out drag race; the sprint for the line was on. They were three abreast with 200 to go. Who was going to have the power to prevail? Gillett got it on the line by a wheel, for his third consecutive title. Martin was second, with Conaughton just a bike length behind.

Rhys on a rampage

Jay lines out the field

Jay Bourke and John Polkinghorne. Now, which one of these two is a former top footy player?

A momentary lull in hostilities

Stu Grigg will eat Liam White when he catches him. Joel and Phil look unconcerned.

Jay hits the gas.

This is starting to look very painful.

Rhys looks composed on Liam's wheel.

Rhys wins from Charles (right) and Ciaran.

Thanks all - marshals, organisers and races- for a great season. Bring on the road calendar!

Chris Liston writes:

Senior B Grade

U19 rider Lewis Piccoli took a hard bunch sprint to take a strong win in the B-grade championship. Stuart Brien did some hard turns up front in the opening but faded at the finish, relinquishing his title from last year. Jeremy Doolan, with strong youngster Aaron Blomely, looked in contention when they opened a gap mid-way through the race, but they were brought back. Paul Crack was among the favoured entries, but he was outdone by Piccoli in the sprint and took second place. Michael Veal, Thayne Turley, Don Stewart, Will Goer, and Dave Peters also rode strongly, but nobody stopped the flying Piccoli in the final dash to the line.

Here's another perspective on the B-grade race from Michael Veal:

Lewis Piccoli was a deserving winner of the 2010-11 Small Dog B-grade criterium championship. Whilst the older heads and legs are desperately trying not to let time pass on with a bewildering array of newer, better, more laterally stiff and vertically compliant uber bikes, one thing remains the same: there is always some kid who is going to be faster. Last year it was Liam White. This year we have all been cursing young Lewis "can't bat, can't bowl, can't throw" Piccoli. Some time during the season he learnt to sprint. Next year he will go on to terrorise A grade, and when he learns how to roll turns then look out! The club organization has done a great job of encouraging ever more juniors this year, and as we have seen, many have made it to state representative level. This is once again a great credit to all the regular marshals, flag bearers and permit seekers.

Next year I will be back, and I will buy a really, really expensive, jaw-droppingly light non-moving part for my bike, but it will not stop the march of youth. Congratulations Lewis, and keep progressing next year.

Who else was on the podium? Doesn't matter - this was a championship race. And it was mostly broken up by a series of doomed attacks before the inevitable sprint. The penultimate lap was the slowest of the night, before the long wind-up down the bumpy back straight. The sprint started in earnest well before the final bend despite the slight cross-head wind. This made it a slow sprint all the way to the line, and Lewis' enthusiasm held out. Chapeau!

Scott Denno writes:

Senior C grade

A solid bunch of 11 riders turned out for the “C” grade crit champs in what could only be described as blowy and cold conditions. Apparently this is better than warm and wet. Without any fuss the fun began. The pace was down due to the weather and the missing leg burner Josh Liston, with the experienced riders having a good hard look at each other.

The kids in the field, Will Stewart and Jake Seers, wanted to get the pace going, and had to deliver for themselves. Joining in with the pace lifting was Gerard White, Vince Madder and Andrew Stinchcombe. Not to be outdone, and not seen until the second half of the race, were Gerard Cosgrove and Paul Pickersgill, lifting, settling back in, and lifting again.

After we got the two lap call from the judges we were expecting to see a flyer from Cosgrove, but A grade put an end to that thought as the train passed us again to remind us how it should be done. The rest of that lap and the start of the bell lap were spent trying to get the best position possible. Some elbows were used!

In the home straight, Paul Pickersgill tried to turn himself inside out while choosing the correct gearing. He did all he could do to throw himself off the bike, and I have no idea how he kept it upright. It must have been some super-sharp MTB skills. This took a bit off the sprint of the following riders. After the eventual place getters got though the carnage, the sprint was on, with Mark Czulij taking up as much of the road as he could

Bob Morley hit the line first and came away with well-earned win, his second for the year. To his left and less than half a wheel away was Czulij, pinching second. To Bob’s right and half a bike back was Scott Denno in third. Behind that line was first placed woman, Melissa Keirl. Melissa has been getting stronger and more confident with each race, and was unlucky not to place.
All of us “C” grade riders, and for that matter all riders, would like to thank the club and more importantly the people who run each event. Here’s a big “hazzaa” to you all for providing us with an opportunity to race for bragging rights each week. It has been a wet crit season: I think we averaged two races a month. We are all looking forward to the next season.

Chris Liston reports:

Junior championships

Cody brothers Bailey and Tyson took line honours in the Sub-Junior U7 and U9 championships respectively. In the U7 race, Ziggy Lee proved a formidable adversary to Bailey Cody in the absence of some regulars to finish runner up in the championship. In U9, Jake Ashmore found the change from graded to age group classification made for a tough, challenging race.

Rochelle Liston continued her good form, taking the U11 title in the first girls' race. Chloe Stinchcombe stepped up and completed the longest race of her season to date to take second place. Courtney Mannix sat in the group of U15 girls at the start and then moved off the front to open a gap. The remaining trio worked turns, with Felicity Liston fading off the back as Harriet Pickersgill and Emily Oliver upped the pace. That almost brought them in contention with Mannix, as she tired on the front in the last two laps, but Mannix held on for the win.

In the under-13 boys' race, Angus Cocking fought out a successful duel with Zac Stinchcombe, as fast man Maurice Koelle was unfortunately ill with a cold. In M15, Nicholas White was content to circulate with Patrick Cosgrave, giving him a little false hope until the halfway mark. At this point White cranked up the tempo and opened a small gap which he developed into a strong win in the last two laps.

Victoria Snibson paced herself for the U17 women’s event, posting a good time to win solo, and leaving a hard-fought duel for the minors between Vivien Mannix and Elizabeth Baker. Mannix took Baker to the line and won the sprint.

The opening laps of the U17 men’s race saw new season riders Jack Stewart and James Burge, and the more seasoned Josh Liston, sharing turns, until Burge and Liston drew away from Stewart. Burge shadowed Liston, who did the majority of the work on the front, until with two laps to go he kicked and opened a gap at the hair pin corner. Burge was runner up to Liston who took a deserved win after a strong season.

U7 Mixed 2.6km 2 laps
1st Bailey Cody 6.19
2nd Ziggy Lee
U9 Mixed 2.6km 2 laps
1st Tyson Cody 5.55
2nd Jake Ashmore
U11F 5.2km 4 laps
1st Rochelle Liston 12.36
2nd Chloe Stinchcombe
U13M 6.5km 5 laps
1st Angus Cocking 14.49
2nd Zac Stinchcombe
U15F 7.8km 6 laps
1st Courtney Mannix
2nd Harriet Pickersgill
3rd Emily Oliver
4th Felicity Liston
U15M 10.4km 8 laps
1st Nicholas White 19.01
2nd Patrick Cosgrave
U17F 15 minutes+2 laps
1st Victoria Snibson
2nd Vivien Mannix
3rd Elizabeth Baker
U17M 15 minutes+2 laps
1st Joshua Liston
2nd James Burge
3rd Jack Stewart

BSCC Membership, 2011 - Time to Sign Up

We're now almost one quarter of the way through 2011! - so it's high time we signed up for 2011 BSCC membership. Membership via any of the three bodies with which BSCC is affiliated - Cycling Australia, MTBA or BMXA - gets you the all-important insurance. This insurance covers your medical and legal costs if you're involved in an accident when you're participating in a sanctioned cycling activity (including all club races), as a competitor, official or volunteer. Your membership also formally supports the club in organizing events for us, its members. Click here for all the gory details. The 2011 fees are so complicated that our new membership mandarin, Ray Issac, is still sorting them out! - but the instructions on what to do to renew your membership, or join as a new member, are pretty much right.

So join up now! You know it makes sense. And in fact, unless you have proof of 2011 membership, you won't get a start in the first BSCC road race of 2011, or the next MTB event.

2nd senior road race of 2010: Bungaree

BSCC held its second senior road race of the 2010 season on Sunday March 21. Marshals for the event were:

Chief marshal Terry Collie - the man who set up and runs our road race marshalling system (very efficiently - ed.) - on a swap with Peter Canny, assisted by Gary Gullock (on a swap with Simon Gillett), Beth Canny (with ambulance driver Rob Doyle), Shane "Jedi" Cody, Stuart Grigg (who raced, as Stuart Brien was master of ceremonies and covered Stuart G's corner). Thank you all! Remember: no marshals, no road racing ...

Here's a report on the B-grade event.

From Ben Clark

With a taste of Ballarat winter threatening at the start of the race, a depleted field of five riders lined up for two laps of the Bungaree-Wallace loop. As if they were just there to scare us, the clouds disappeared and the sun came out as the race started, but so too did the wind, blowing 35-50 km/h as a headwind for the awaiting Springbank Road. This was going to be decisive.

The famous five - Ben Clark, Charles Martin, Aaron Blomley and newcomer triathletes Sam Turley and Jon McLachlan - rolled along for the first few kilometers to warm up the bodies. This tranquility was short-lived with Sam and Jon launching a vicious, well-planned attack a few kilometers out from Wallace. Clark dragged Charles and Aaron back at 60 km/h to shut down the attempt. Things remained gentlemanly until the turn onto Springbank Road. Jon went up the road, to be joined in textbook fashion by Sam shortly thereafter, at devastating speed. The race was on! For the next 7 km Clark, Blomley and Martin chased into the headwind, keeping the two at about 30m, but by the turn onto the road back to Bungaree the lead was out to 300m and the time-trialling power of the triathletes had prevailed. The chase was over, and tempo riding was the order for the chasers for the remainder of the race. There was no way to close the gap with the upcoming tail wind to Wallace.

At the finish line it is believed that the finish order was pre-arranged, with Sam crossing the line first and Jon second. You know there is a large gap when the lead car returns to look for the remaining riders, in this case some 5 minutes down the road. The sprint for third saw track star Martin, as expected, accounting for Clark by 5 metres, followed by Blomley.

Here are some photos of the event, thanks to Sue Lyons.

John McLachlan, a strong 2nd in B grade

A grade charges along. L to R: Australian champion Harry Crothers-Bade, eventual winner Ciaran Conaughton, Stuart Grigg, Damien Keirl, Jon Townsend, John Polkinghorne, Alan Cureton.

Heading towards the finish

Ciaran's inexorable rise continues as he wins A grade

John "Red Shoes" Polkinghorne leads new dad Stuart Grigg

Alan "Freire" Cureton and Damien "King" Keirl always make it look easy

Charles Martin (B grade, 3rd) gives Ben Clark and Aaron Blomley a sprinting lesson

Sam Edwards charging

2010 Junior Criterium Championships

Chris Liston, tireless reporter on BSCC junior racing, writes:

BSCC 2010 Junior Criterium Championships

Angus Lyons pipped Joshua Liston in the U15M Small Dog 2010 criterium championship over 8 laps. In the early stages, Liston and Lyons were in a bunch with Nicholas White, Patrick Cosgrave, Sam Smith and Maurice Koelle. Near the end the duo opened a gap to White. Coming to the final sprint, Lyons led out, with Liston coming home faster on the outside. The sprint came down to a judge's call, with the decision going to Lyons by millimeters.

Felicity Liston was also pipped by a Lyons in the U13F championship race. Liston, who had been dominating the weeks prior to the championship, lost the advantage on the last lap, allowing Kate Lyons to take a strong win, with Olivia Oliver third.

Hugo Tolliday kept M17 riders Conor Dickson and Craig Firman at bay taking the junior men’s title. Victoria Snibson and Emily Wordie-Thompson battled out the under 17 women’s event in a sparring match that saw the lead change several times. In the end Snibson laid in a big sprint to take the event convincingly. Like Snibson, Harriett Pickersgill jumped on the final sprint in the W17 event to surprise her partner over six laps Emily Oliver and take the championship sash.

Dylan Bilston received the honours in the U13 boys race with Declan Dickson taking runner up. Disckson’s brother Clancy proved too strong for the U11 boys Ryan Polkinghorne and Zac Stinchcombe: they finished their event in that order. With the sub-junior ranks swelling for the championship, Rochelle Liston and Emily Smith went out as a matched pair in U11F. Liston made ground in the last lap to put Smith in second with a 20m gap. BSCC was fortunate to have enough very young competitors to have under-seven and under-nine events. Tyson Cody took line honours in U9, with Grace Mader, Daisy Pickersgill and Chloe Stinchcombe rounding out the top four. In U7 new rider of two weeks Ruby Delanie placed fourth ahead of Miranda Veal. Chloe Mader had to settle for third as Max Oliver claimed runner up behind the high cadence ride of Bailey Cody who took a strong win.

BSCC Small Dog 2010 Junior Criterium Championship Results

U7 3.9km
1st Bailey Cody 10:69.18
2nd Max Oliver
3rd Charlie Mader
U9 3.9km
1st Tyson Cody 9:27.68
2nd Grace Mader
3rd Daisy Pickersgill
U11F 5.2km
1st Rochelle Liston 15:15.28
2nd Emily Smith
U11M 5.2km
1st Clancy Dickson 10:20.36
2nd Ryan Polkinghorne
3rd Zac Stinchcombe
U13F 6.5km
1st Kate Lyons 13:53.03
2nd Felicity Liston
3rd Olivia Oliver
U13M 6.5km
1st Dylan Bilston 12:36.38
2nd Declan Dickson
U15F 7.8km
1st Harriett Pickersgill 16:01.99
2nd Emily Oliver
U15M 10.4km
1st Angus Lyons 13:30.74
2nd Joshua Liston
3rd Nicholas White
U17W 15 mins + 2 laps
1st Victoria Snibson 21:09
2nd Emily Wordie-Thompson
U17M 15 Mins + 2 laps
1st Hugo Tolliday 19:43
2nd Conor Dickson
3rd Craig Firman

Guy Falla stars at XC MTB Vic State Series

The fourth round of the cross-country MTB State Series was held at western Victoria's own MTB nirvana, Forrest, on Saturday March 21. BSCC was very well represented, led by Grand Masters winner Guy Falla. The race was held in the Yaugher trail section, on an 8 km circuit that included some fantastic trails including Mariners' Run with all its tight corners and berms. Click here to see a video.

BSCC's evergreen hard man Guy Falla, who has been on wicked form lately, even by his own high standards, took line honors in the Grand Master category over two laps. Guy took the lead on the uphill sections, never looked back, and took the win by 3 minutes. Guy, a former international rower, regularly uses his vast engine and ferocious competitiveness to demolish riders less than half his age, so it's no surprise that he wasted a bunch of old blokes.

The Expert and Veterans categories completed four tough laps. New BSCC member, terror of Mt Warrenheip and 2009 Otway Odyssey star Scott Kramer came an impressive 5th in the Expert class. Another Odyssey star, Clinton Lemaitre, finished 6th in the Veterans race. In the Sport category, BSCC took 4 of the top 6 places. Shane "Jedi" Cody continued his rise to the top of the podium with 2nd , Jeremy Doolan finished 3rd, Dale Boucher finished a strong 4th and Joel Hossack finished 6th. To see the full results, click here.

“Masters in the Medals”

Master Class cyclists Scott Townsend, Tim and Gail Oliver all raced for state medals across a range of track cycling disciplines including Sprint, Keirin, Time Trial, Pursuit and Scratch races. Townsend claimed runner up in the Keirin and the sprint championships, while in the master women category 2, Gail Oliver missed out on a win and championship in the scratch race taking silver and brought home a double bronze in the sprint and pursuit.

MTB: Ballarat MTB Race Makes the TV News

MTB Racing finally makes the news!

Click on the link below to see Ballarat's Interwinter race on Win News. Ballarat riders include Jedi, Clint LeMaitre, Jase Hegert, Dr Fuentes and dirtmaster Joel Boucher. Sounds like Tanya Wiggins laugh too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CFe9GvrJmeg

**********

(original article posted on 17-Jun-2011)

If you haven’t seen elite MTB riders cut their way through twisting single track then this Sunday might be your opportunity. Come and witness BSCC’s Phil Orr take on some of the best MTB riders in the State in round 1 of the Interwinter Series.

In fact we’ll have a number of Ballarat riders represented in a field of over 150.

In A grade watch out for BSCC's tough riders Simon Ellis, Guy Falla, Warren Faneco, Jeremy Doolan & Jason Hegert, as well as Phil; while in B grade we'll see Matt Turner, Grant Palmer, Jason Birch, Pete Walker and mono expert Chris Quain take up the challenge. In C grade look out for Dave Tannard, Kat Martin, Roger Bade and young Hugh Ingram.

The course we’re using isn’t for the faint-hearted either. A flowing 10km course with 180 metres of climbing each lap will see the faster riders climbing over 1000 metres during the 3 hour race.

A Sovereign Hill Redcoat complete with loaded musket will be get the race off with a bang at 10:30am. Race central and transition is on the corner of Boundary Rd and Wilson St Canadian. A coffee van and catering will also be available for spectators and competitors.

A map of the course can be found here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/87481050

Further details of the race can be found here:

http://www.cyclingballarat.com.au/mtb/mtb_events

MTB: Dirt Girls Ride, July 2011

The format of this ride will be a little different to the usual. We will combine some beginner skills training with the dirt girls ride, so we'll spend an hour working on skills, and then another hour out on the trails, putting our skills to good use! So if you think you aren't good enough yet, YOU ARE! Come along and have some fun.

As always we will find a cafe after the ride for some well earned coffee and cake. Remember, a MTBA membership is required, or a social day license can be purchased for $5. Arrive a little early to purchase your license.

Ride Details
When: Saturday 2nd July, 9am start
Where: Canadian forest, meeting at Mt Clear Secondary College carpark
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

MTB: No July or August Club Races

There will be no BSCC MTB club racing for the months of July & August. This is to encourage everyone to compete in the tri-club Interwinter series. For the month of July it is Castlemaine's turn to host an InterWinter race. The details of the race are:

Race Details

When: 17-July-2011
Where: Castlemaine
Registration: 8:30 to 9:45
Race Start: 10:30am
Format: Olympic Cross Country, with each class completing a set number of laps.
Cost: $25 when you pre-register online, $30 on the day
Who: All BSCC MTB members

See the Rocky Rider's website for full details.

Car Pooling Details

Last year we hired a mini bus to pull the club trailer however this year we will try carpooling as most people have the ability to carry more than one bike on their car, as this is a cheaper option.

When: 17-July-2011
Meeting Place: Kirks Reservoir Carpark
Meeting Time: 7:00am (to allow for carpooling organisation)

MTB: Social Ride for July

You might have noticed that a number of our social rides refer to ORCA. No, this is not a killer whale. ORCA stands for Off Road Cycling Adventures. ORCA is considered Victoria’s definitive mountain bike guidebook. It describes 37 exciting rides covering over 1,250km of trails. This month we will be following ride 1 from ORCA, the "Castlemaine, Dingo Farm"

With these points in mind and following has been decided for this ride.

Date: 31-July-2011
Meeting Place: Kirks Reservoir Carpark
Meeting Time: 6:00am (to allow for carpooling organisation)
Stopping Where on the Way Home: Castlemaine Township, for lunch and a drink
Expected Duration: 2 to 3 hours (plus travel time)
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

BSCC MTB is affiliated with MTBA, which means all riders must present a current MTBA 'Social' or 'Race' membership card during registration. Membership provides insurance coverage for both the rider and the club in the event of an incident. Non MTBA members have two options, 1) annual membership, (see the Membership page for more details) or 2) purchase a $5 Social Day permit, which is valid for the whole event and available on the day, but we ask that you arrive early to fill in the paperwork.

Road: Marshalling

Updated with a reminder from the BSCC race committee:

Since we introduced the idea of rostered marshalling at the start of the 2009 road season, this has been our rule:

"Each club member, and parents of junior members, will be assigned to marshal at a BSCC club road race at least once per year. It is a member's duty to find a replacement marshal if they do not marshal themselves. Members may use family members, friends or other BSCC members as replacements. Those who do not undertake their rostered duty will not be allowed entry into club races until such time as they have undertaken a marshalling duty."

This rule is still in force. We're not doing this to be despots. None of us likes standing on a cold, windswept corner for hours. But as we explain below, we need a lot of marshals to run road races these days, so we share the pain. Please do your part. Thanks.

Don Stewart, BSCC vice-president and Chief Marshal at the Fred Icke road race, writes:

I would like to thank all of the marshals and volunteers who helped make the Fred Icke road race the success that it was. We did not get the weather we ordered up, but I know the riders appreciated us encouraging them to keep going. Most importantly, our job was to keep the race safe.

During the day we heard that a veterans' race in Melbourne was cancelled by the police because (we believe) the race organizers did not have sufficiently visible signs on the circuit, and did not follow the Traffic Management Plan. These days, we are required to follow a lot of safety rules to organize and run even a small club race, let alone the Fred Icke or the Melbourne to Ballarat. Once the race calendar for the year is set (and that in itself takes 2 or 3 meetings), Phil Orr will ride or drive the course to check for any potential traffic problems and measure the distance. He formulates a Traffic Management Plan that specifies what signs and marshals we will use to keep the road safe for the race. He then passes the information to Wendy Ross, who applies to Ballarat City Council, Victoria Police and Vic Roads for separate permits from each entity, at least 2 months ahead of the race. Wendy follows up with these organizations to make sure all the permits come in. We're very appreciative of Wendy for getting this done in a very organised and timely way.

We had heard that Vic Roads or Victoria Police would be randomly checking our course setup this year. This is why we're very particular about rostering marshals and lead and tail cars for every race. We know it is a bit of a chore, and we are very appreciative that most members oblige when they get "the call." The club policy is that if there are not enough marshals to safely cover the course, we will cancel the race ourselves. This has not happened so far ... but it has been close! So please: check the road fixture (it's at the top of the on-line calendar), and note your days on duty. If you're not available, the rule is for you to find a replacement. Anyone over 18 years of age is OK.

The club is considering paying a chief marshal and other marshals who are not club members to do this job on a permanent basis, to allow members to race more frequently. If you have any ideas on this, please contact 68,111,110. There are still a few big races to come this year, with the Melbourne to Ballarat in July and the National Masters Championships in September, so please don't put your goodwill away yet!

The marshals and volunteers who made the Fred Icke the success it was were: Gerard White, Michael Geoghegan, Monica Dickson, Sue Lyons, Neil Tolliday, Mark Blomeley, Paul Pickersgill, Trevor Snibson, Chris Liston, Terry Collie, Scott Denno, Bruce McKinnon and David Gazely (some of whom have done the same corner for 20 years - that's the spirit we like to see!), Wendy Ross, Alan Cureton, Peter Canny, Kylie Zelley ( whose first aid expertise was needed after the falls), race organizers Doug and Carol Armstrong, and Stuart Brien for sag wagon and much behind-the-scenes organisation, and last but not least our illustrious President, Volker Hegert. I hope I haven't missed anybody - if so my apologies. Thank you all again. Your help made my job as chief marshal very easy.

Road: the Ballarat 24-hour is cancelled

From the Cycle Sport Victoria web site:

Monday, 17 January 2011: 700c productions and CycleSport Victoria regretfully announce the Ballarat 24 has been cancelled due to low entries.

While the entries have picked up significantly over the past few weeks, we do not have enough entries to cover the cost of such an event. We hoped to create a new and innovative area in cycling racing with variations to suit more riders and the market.

700c thanks all supporter for their help to start up the Ballarat 24.

Everyone registered for the race will be issued a refund.

*********************

Updated - from the promoters:

...And we're back ! The Ballarat 24 Hour is go. 29 January 2011 is the date for Australia's only 24-hour road race. Contact 106,117,115,116,105,110,64,55,48,48,99,112,114,111,100,117,99,116,105,111,110,115,46,99,111,109 for entry details and new price structure. All existing entrants, please get in touch as soon as possible to have your entry fees adjusted.

*************

Updated:

If you have a team together for the Ballarat 24-hour, or you want to be part of one, please contact 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114. We know of some J15 and J17 riders who are interested. Go for it! We'd love to have a few BSCC junior teams in the event. Talk to Phil.

********

You might have been approached, as we were, at the Worlds in Geelong by pairs of professionally attractive people handing out cards promoting the Ballarat 24-Hour. We have some more information, from the organizers. We're intrigued. Enduro mountain bike races, especially 24-hour events, get huge entries and have saved MTB racing in Australia and North America. We're not aware of a similar trend in road events, but maybe it's about to start here. We know that Cycling Time Trials, formerly the Road Time Trials Council, a bizarrely popular dinosaur in the UK, runs 12-hour road events, solo only. In fact their annual Best All Round (BAR) trophy is based on your best time in 50-mile, 100-mile, and 12-hour events! - but 24 hours is taking it to a whole new level. Stay tuned ...

From Justin Keogh, Director, 700C Productions

I am the event director of the upcoming Ballarat 24 Hour road race. I am writing to ask you to forward our flyer to your members. The event will be a very exciting addition to the competition calendar. It will offer a completely new experience in road racing.

We are a Cycling Australia affiliated promoter and will be working with CSV to provide an amazing experience for all involved.

We are also looking for volunteers to help with the running of the event, and our first choice is cyclists with some experience of such things. (Do you know any? - ed.) Our web site has plenty of information, and if you have any further questions about the event, please 99,111,110,116,97,99,116,32,109,101. 24 hour road racing is the future of mass participation road racing in Australia. (Competition for club races ... - ed.) We hope you will join us for the ride!

Track: BSCC's Silver Stars at Echuca

Chris Liston writes:

Silver Stars at Echuca

Emily Wordie-Thompson and Emma Bilston were rewarded with silver medals in Victorian scratch race championships races in Echuca on January 8-9. Emily raced in the U17 event, and Emma in U15. The Victorian junior scratch race championships were held in conjunction with other events during the two-day Echuca-Moama Junior Track Carnival, and were almost deferred as rain threatened to cancel the championship races.

After their championship races, Wordie-Thompson teamed up with Bilston in a Victorian representative quartet and won the Inter-State Challenge team sprint. Emily also claimed third in the points race. In the meantime Emma took third in two other events in her division. The 3-lap wheelrace (handicap) saw her move quickly from the back end of the field to feature on the podium. Bilston positioned herself well and rode a tactically good race to take third in the motor-paced race. In the other style of velodrome racing involving a motorbike, Victoria Snibson took third in the Keirin.

Hugo Tolliday was the only Ballarat-Sebastopol CC male rider to take a podium place at the carnival, with a second place in one of the A grade J17M 12 lap scratch races.

RESULTS
J17M A Grade 12 Lap Scratch
2. Hugo Tolliday Ballarat/Sebastopol CC
Wheelraces
J15 Girls (3 laps)
3. Emma Bilston Ballarat/Sebastopol CC
Points
J17 Girls (9 laps)
2. Emily Wordie Thompson Ballarat/Sebastopol CC
Motor Pace
J15 Girls
3. Emma Bilston Ballarat/Sebastopol CC
Kierin
J17 Girls
3. Victoria Snibson Ballarat/Sebastopol CC
Interstate Challenge
J15/17 Girls Team Sprint
1. VIC
-Emily Wordie-Thompson (Ballarat/Sebastopol CC)
-Kate Boyd (Shepparton CC)
-Emma Bilston (Ballarat/Sebastopol CC)
-Ashleigh Hocking (Camperdown CC)
2011 VICTORIAN JUNIOR TRACK CHAMPIONSHIPS- SCRATCH
JW15 5000m
2nd Emma Bilston
JW17 5000m
2nd Emily Wordie-Thompson

Track: A Beautiful Night at the Races

Roger Bade, BSCC track tsar, writes:

A Beautiful Night at the Races!

Perfect weather welcomed riders back to the Marty Busch reserve on Thursday afternoon. A small but enthusiastic contingent competed through a range of races. It was a low-key and fun way to kick start the second half of the season.

Angus Cocking and Courtney Mannix showed good form, with both of the young riders learning to ride the steep banks much more confidently. In the seniors, it was great to see the return of Andrew Pearson, who showed terrific top-end speed and lots of potential for the rest of the season. Andrew and "Hard Rider" Doug Garley were the only ones to challenge Australian champion Harry Crothers-Bade, who was in a league of his own. (And his dad didn't write that part! - ed.)

Racing will continue this coming Thursday with the first night of the inaugural Ballarat “Mini-Six”. Junior racing will proceed as normal and all riders are encouraged to attend. This begins an exciting period of track racing for the club, leading up to the hosting of the Victorian Madison Championships in Ballarat on Sunday February 13.

RESULTS

E Grade Match Sprint 1, 1st, Angus Cocking, 2nd, Courtney Mannix
E Grade Match Sprint 2, 1st, Courtney Mannix, 2nd, Angus Cocking
E Grade Match Sprint 3, 1st, Courtney Mannix, 2nd, Angus Cocking
E Grade Handicap Pursuit 1, 1st, Angus Cocking, 2nd, Courtney Mannix
E Grade Handicap Pursuit 2, 1st, Angus Cocking, 2nd, Courtney Mannix

A Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Harry Crothers-Bade, 2nd, Doug Garley, 3rd, Joel Hossack
A Grade Points Race, 1st, Harry Crothers-Bade (18 pts), 2nd, Andrew Pearson (12 pts), 3rd, Doug Garley (10 pts), 4th, Joel Hossack (9 pts)
A Grade Elimination, 1st, Harry Crothers-Bade, 2nd, Doug Garley, 3rd, Joel Hossack
A Grade Motor Pace, 1st, Doug Garley, 2nd, Andrew Pearson, 3rd, Jonathan Lacey.

Track Schedule:

Mondays 5pm to 7pm - Club Training
Thursdays 4pm to 7pm – Club racing
Saturday racing will be run on selected Saturdays. See the on-line calendar for details.

Road: Ballan Cycling Classic, March 20

The inaugural Ballan Cycling Classic will be held on Sunday, March 20, 2011. The event will raise much-needed funds for the Ballan District Health Centre and the Ballan Country Fire Authority. All the info is at the event web site, HERE.

These are worthy causes, and the routes include many of our favorite roads. Be there!

Road: the 2011 Alpine Classic

A number of Ballarat cyclists have been putting in the big miles in preparation for this weekend's Audax Alpine Classic at Bright. The 250-km event, new last year, is a major challenge. Peter Kiel did it last year, and he's back for more this year, along with Tavis Baker. Stay tuned for stories from the mountains.

MTB: Social Ride - Sunday Feb 27

The second planned social MTB ride for the year will be in Creswick this Sunday. Creswick has some really sweet single track. The most notable is "Don't Look Down," technical but fun. We guarantee you will want to do it over and over again.

It's a social ride, so the whole thing will be fairly relaxed, without much planning. However, we're working with a few guidelines:
- We will meet at a location with lots of free parking
- When we arrive at the trail head, we will break into groups that match rider abilities. Slower riders or riders just starting out, please don't worry about slowing the group down. It's a social ride - no-one is there to break land speed records!
- After the ride, we'll get something to eat and drink

With these ideas in mind, here's what we've decided for this ride.

Date: Sunday 27th Feb
Meeting place: Carpark of Novotel Forest Resort, Creswick (1500 Midland Highway, Creswick)
Meeting time: 9:00am
Where are we eating & drinking after the ride: Novotel Forest Resort
Expected ride duration: 2 to 3 hours
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

BSCC is affiliated with MTBA, so all riders must present a current MTBA 'Social' or 'Race' membership card during registration. Membership provides insurance coverage for both the rider and the club in the event of an incident. Non MTBA members have two options, 1) annual membership (see the Membership page for more details), or 2) a $5 Social Day permit, which is valid for the whole event and available on the day. If you choose option 2), we ask that you arrive early to fill in the paperwork.

Latest from Ararat

Stay tuned ...

2009 Anaconda Otway Odyssey

7:15 AM Saturday, Apollo Bay town centre: the gun goes and over a thousand mountain bikes charge forwards. The roaring noise of this many knobby tires doing 40 km/hr on a paved road is something to behold. Four and a half hours later, Australia’s top cross-country mountain biker, Chris Jongewaard, breaks the tape in record time. A typical World Cup cross-country MTB race is between two and three hours, so for Jongewaard, Saturday was something of a stretch, but for most competitors, finishing this event was a huge effort. The course begins with a half-hour road climb, then drops down to a creek crossing and commences a series of long, steep dirt climbs and descents through the forest to the 600-metre top of the Otway ridge. Riders pass through Forrest twice, once at 65 km and once at 87 km, before returning to finish there at 101 km. The course takes advantage of Forrest’s position as one of the single-track capitals of the world, with long, swooping, twisting sections in the last half of the race.

The bad news for Ballarat is that Phil Orr had a heavy crash, resulting in a broken collarbone and badly bruised ribs. Phil was comfortably in the top ten and looking at top five when he jumped and almost cleared a large hole on a fast descent. His back wheel caught the edge of the hole and he was thrown high into the air. Phil is disappointed, but in his usual good spirits. Don’t tell him any jokes for the next few weeks: laughing is painful.

Other Ballarat riders had more luck. Former top triathlete and soon-to-be BSCC member Simon Ellis put in a jaw-dropping first-time ride to finish comfortably in the top 40, despite head-butting a fallen tree at speed almost within sight of the finish. Simon’s presence is likely to be felt at the sharp end of BSCC road races this year. Club MUD downhill supremos Scott Kramer and Clint LeMaitre were close behind Simon, and neither were far off Jongewaard’s time on the Red Carpet trail, the most technical downhill section.

Michael Veal fought the Odyssey two years ago and it won. This time he turned the tables in style, with a controlled, powerful ride, and his usual technical finesse. He gets the award for first rider to finish in a BSCC jersey. This, and his win at Tuesday night’s pre-season event at Windermere, signal the arrival of one of his periodic patches of blistering form. Criterium riders beware. Another Ballarat rider whose downhill and cross-country race pedigree showed is Club MUD’s Anton Nihoff, who finished not far behind Michael. Anton knocked off the Odyssey on a handful of rides a week. If he starts riding every day, look out Chris Jongewaard. New BSCC member Vince Mader, one of several Odyssey competitors who work together at Mars, also finished strongly, especially for someone who claims to not like climbing.

Club MUD’s Stuey Allen put in one of Ballarat’s grittiest rides of the day. He had severe gastric problems during the race, but pushed on, and with his cross-country race toughness and downhill skills, together with the experience of finishing the Odyssey last year in much harder conditions, came in ahead of hundreds of riders whose breakfast stayed down. One such rider was Jonathan Lacey, who had no gastric problems, no significant crashes before or during the race, only got lost once (a personal record), remembered to unlock his bike’s suspension at the end of the road section, and had no mechanical problems (thanks Phil), but days later still whimpers when anyone mentions the Super Loop, on which he gave up over one hundred places. This is a humbling race. BSCC’s Matt Albiston also went through some dark patches on the day – some of which he had experienced in previous editions of the Odyssey – but also finished strongly, and will take a great deal of confidence from his ride. Mike Bigarelli, after a summer of long rides in the High Country, in Adelaide and on his own Granfondo, cruised home comfortably and in style, as usual, wondering what all the fuss was about.

The Ballarat Hard Man award for the day goes to Andrew Stinchcombe. Stingy, from the Mars crew, survived last year’s Odyssey mudbath, but despite the much more friendly conditions this year, did not enjoy the climbs to the top of the ridge, and declared himself beaten when he rolled into Forrest the first time. But after some food, and much encouragement from the commentator, the crowd and other riders, he rallied, and steadily picked off other riders on the last two legs. He will probably be back next year to do it all over again.

Editor’s note: we know that the stories of many Ballarat riders’ adventures at the Odyssey are missing from here. Please send them to 106,112,114,108,97,99,101,121,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109 & up they will go. Photos especially please.

National Road Champs - volunteers

A huge thank you to the BSCC Members who have already volunteered their services for Marshaling for the National Cycle Championships at Buninyong in the first week in January.

The Marshaling for the Saturday and Sunday Road Races ( 7th and 8th ) around the Buninyong Circuit are now covered.

Caribou are still short of Marshals for the ITT Races at Learmonth on Tuesday 10th January. Again , there is the option to do a morning or afternoon session. Is there anybody out there who is still on holiday , who can help out ?

Please contact , Don Stewart on dst26511@ bigpond.net.au or phone 5333 3914.

BSCC 2011 Strategic Planning

Update August 23

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club held a planning evening on Tuesday August 16 at the new clubrooms! It was the first time they had been used. Minutes will follow soon, but meantime, here are a few photos, thanks to Roger Bade.

What was Roger standing on to take this photo ...? Anyway, looks good, eh?

Here are a few interior shots, featuring some people we know.

Updated:

Don't forget - the strategic planning meeting is at the new clubrooms!

Cool, eh?

2011 Strategic Planning Evening
Want to have a say on the strategic direction of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club? Want to make a contribution to the future of the club? Interested in what’s going on? Come along!

This will be a facilitated workshop session, where we explore the needs of each division of the club, and make plans for the future.
If you’d like to come, RSVP to your subcommittee chairperson. Click on their name to email them:
Road: 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114
Track: 82,111,103,101,114,32,66,97,100,101
MTB: 68,97,108,101,32,66,111,117,99,104,101,114
RECTT: 80,101,116,101,114,32,67,97,110,110,121
BMX: 87,97,121,110,101,32,74,111,108,108,121

General enquiries: 75,97,114,101,110,32,83,110,105,98,115,111,110

When: Tuesday 16th August, 7:30 PM
Where: BSCC Club Rooms – Marty Busch reserve
A light supper will be provided.

Road: Learmonth Windmill results

Round 8 of the Mulcahy and Co Road Race Aggregate Series was held on the Learmonth Windmill Circuit.

Results:

1st    Neil Maurer
2nd    Vince Mader
3rd    Ashleigh Key
4th    Shantelle Maurer
5th    Simon Ellis
Fastest time: Michael Pierce

Report to follow.

Aggregate points table after 8 rounds here.

Road: Junior 'Windmill' road race results

BSCC Junior Road Race Round 3 - April 21 2012

Tyson winds up at “Windmill” Circuit!

Tyson Cody shaved almost half a minute off his normal average race time to reel in limit marker Rochelle Liston and take a win in the 8km out and back junior Windmill handicap at Learmonth. Brayden Maurer set off as middle marker after an earlier game of football, and was caught by Graeme Frislie from scratch as his legs faded. Frislie took almost half a minute from his time and rode at an average of over 29km/h. He closed quickly on Liston and Cody and took third place and fastest time.

1st Tyson Cody
2nd Rochelle Liston
3rd Graeme Frislie (f/t 16.02)
4th Brayden Maurer

ANZAC day commemoration

Anzac Day Wednesday April 25th

BSCC will be represented at the Sebastopol Commemorative Service and will lay a Wreath at the Sebastopol Cenotaph Albert Street 8:45am.

All welcome.

MTB: Wombat 100 report

Wombat 100, 2012.

For most of the 290 starters of the 100km course option it was a very early start to what was inevitably going to be a long, tough day. Registering, queuing for the porta-loos and warming up were all done in the dark, and for me in a place where I had never been and trails I had never seen.

I did manage to find fellow BSCC member Jason Birch, another hard-ass who likes his MTB racing long and difficult, and doesn’t mind taking a few body blows in his quest to conquer the MTB marathon.

I launched out with the first wave of riders after we bid farewell to the elites, and everyone took off like it was 2 hour race, trying to make the best advantage of the opening fire road loop to form small groups and get prepared for the endless technical single track that we knew was coming up.

Approaching the verge of the pine forest where I had heard all kinds of delectable slippery tree roots lay in waiting for the wary, and later weary riders, a cyclo-crosser jumped in front of me, seemingly confident of his chances, only to catapult over the bars and politely propel himself and still attached bike clean off the track literally seconds into the single track.

There always seems to be a debate over amounts of single track versus fireroad in these marathon races, with the general consensus that the more ST the better. In my opinion, when you are on the bike for that long and every part of your body is hurting including your brain from the intense focus required to stay on your bike and navigate through 1000 corners and all the track hazards, it’s a welcome relief to come out of the bush and onto a 5 km long fire road climb where you can eat and drink and assess your condition and game plan to get through the next section. See the craziness of the course map here.

Another hotly debated topic is the 26” wheel versus the 29”. Anecdotally, there were plenty of 26” sized wheel ruts on the twisty single track that threatened to swallow my front wheel up. Luckily my nimble small wheeled bike allowed me to steer around them!

Shortly after being passed on a stem fellating climb by a single speeder who was turning the pedals at 10RPM, I caught up to Jason at the final feed station. We had 20km to go and the five hour mark had just ticked over. We encouraged each other to push for a sub-6 hour finish and we put our heads down for a final hour of self-flagellation, which luckily I quite enjoy.

10 minutes after I finished I was both surprised and impressed to see that cyclo-crosser roll in all in one piece.

Wombat 100
Jason Birch 5.53
Matt Turner 5.58
The winning time was 4.25 (Shawn Lewis) and the average time for all categories was 6.15. Fast!
See MarathonMTB report here.

Wombat 50
Elizabeth Baker 4.45
Benjamin Baker 5.00

ANZAC MTB race moved to MONDAY 26 April

Antanas 'MTB powerhouse' Spokevicius writes:

News flash: the ANZAC MTB race is moved to Monday 26th April. It's not on Sunday 25 April as previously advertised.

The MTB committee has become aware of state legislation passed in 1958 against sporting events held on ANZAC day. So rather than risk a $1,000 fine and possible damage to BSCC's reputation, we will hold the race on Monday April 26.

BSCC MTB race - Monday April 26 (ANZAC holiday)

The Pax Hill 2hr Team Challenge, 'In the spirit of mateship'

The next BSCC MTB race will be held on the day after ANZAC Day, Monday April 26, at Pax Hill Scout Camp in the Canadian Forest. The track is fast and flowing, not too technical, with a short steep climb or two.

Juniors

Junior registration opens at 9am with lap familiarization at 9:15am and racing at 9:30am. The juniors will race for half an hour over a shorter and less technical track.

Seniors

Senior registration opens at 9:30am with a lap familiarization at 10:15am and racing at 10:30am. In the spirit of mateship (this being the ANZAC day holiday), seniors will take part in a team race over two hours across all three grades (A, B, C). Teams of 3-4 will be randomly assigned on the day across the three grades, and points will be awarded according to the placing in each grade e.g. 1st in A, B and C grades get maximum points for their team. All team members will ride as much of the two hours as they want to. Further information about the format will be provided on the day. This format is designed to add a bit of fun to the riding and to promote mateship.

A course map is HERE.

Directions

The course map - link above - shows you where the start-finish is. Head to Pax Hill Scout camp (450 Spencer St, Ballarat, type 'Pax Hill Scout camp' in Google maps) and park in the top car park. Follow the directions to the start finish line. Race marshal will be around to assist if required. Toilet facilities will be available.

Race fees and Licensing

Race entry is $5 and MTBA licenses are required. Day licenses will be available for $15, which includes the race fee.

Be there!

19 April MTB race report

Dale Boucher, BSCC MTB mogul, writes:

Thirteen riders came out last Sunday and raced on a new MTB course in Canadian Forest. Of the 13 racers, 5 were not yet members of BSCC, and they were competitive against the regulars. This course used a new section of trail through the blue gums off Bell Avenue, requiring low speed and technical riding. Some riders loved it, others hated it, but that’s mountain biking! We had three punctures through the blue gums, including two from Grant Gilbert.

The race attracted the biggest turnout to date of junior riders for a BSCC MTB event. We welcome and encourage juniors to come along and give it a go. Riders had a choice of racing A grade (5 laps), B grade (4 laps) or C grade (3 laps). As soon as the green flag was dropped, new rider Richard Chibnall came out on a big gear and disappeared off the front to take the win. Quote of the day. “That’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done.” Triathlete Shannon Gration at the end of his first MTB race.

To view photos taken at Sunday's event, please go to picasaweb.google.com, and log in using email BallaratSebascycling@gmail.com, password ballaratcycling. Thanks Kathy Norton for taking the pictures.

MTB: Club Race 2, Oct 2011

The Brackenbury Epic Race

Description: (22-Sep-11)

Sleep in, enjoy your buffet breakfast, it’s Sunday after all!

Let those roadies go out and smash themselves over the Great Divide while you stay warm and dry. For now...

Then roll down to the Hammon Park: the scene of yesterday’s festivities. The coffee van will still be there for a morning heart-starter.

Today is an auspicious occasion: the inaugural Brackenbury Mountain Epic.

Creswick has hosted 23 Brackenbury fun runs; but this is new. And it’s epic! And you and I know that mountain biking is where it’s really at!

.... {read the full description at the Brackenbury website}

Details:

When: 23-Oct-2011
Where: Creswick, Hammond Park, Water St.
Registration: Online or in person on Sat 22-Oct at the MTB demo day and family fun fair
Race Breifing: 10:20am
Race Start: 10:30am
Format: 30km or 60km
Cost: $55 when you pre-register here

Registration into the MTB epic also entitles you to enter the Cyclocross Saga, see here for full details.

There is am active discussion going on about this event on Rotorburn, for all the gossip see here

Road: Hamish Taylor Wins Brackenbury

Brackenbury road race, Learmonth

Melbourne visitor Hamish Taylor won the Brackenbury road race at Learmonth today, from Scott Townsend. Rhys Gillett got the fastest time.

In calm conditions on the flat Windmill course, scratch riders Rhys Gillett and Jay Bourke had their work cut out to cross the three-minute gap to the powerful second scratch group, of Scott Townsend, Stuart Grigg, Matt Clark and Hamish Taylor. In the end, the task proved impossible, and Taylor's group combined with the five-minute bunch of Doug Garley, Brad Clark, Grant Gilbert and Tony Mirabella.

Out front, Vic Snibson and Ashleigh Key from 18:30 combined perfectly, and were not caught until Coghills Creek on the last lap. This was despite William Key, Josh Liston and Jonathan Lacey (12:30) starting hard and catching Craig Lightfoot, Ben Oman and Geoff Maurer (13:30) halfway through the first lap. Will Key cramped just as the catch was made and was dropped, but fought hand and rejoined the combined group at the end of the first lap.

For all but the scratch group, the handicapping was perfect yet again: the Lightfoot-Will Key group caught Snibson and Ash Key a few km before they were in turn mowed down by the Garley-Taylor group. Last week's winner William Key attempted to skip away solo - the trick that worked last week - but time trial machine Grant Gilbert chased him down and lined the group out, setting up the downhill, tailwind finish for the big sprinters, Taylor and Townsend. Taylor took the win, with Grigg third, Garley fourth and Mirabella fifth. Gillett and Bourke blasted across the line soon afterwards to just snatch fastest time.

Official results:

1. Hamish Taylor (3:00)

2. Scott Townsend (3:00)

3. Stuart Grigg (3:00)

4. Doug Garley (5:00)

5. Tony Mirabella (5:00)

Fastest time: Rhys Gillett.(scr)

Thanks, as always, to handicapper Don Stewart, Chief Marshal Chris Liston, and all the marshals.

The MTB race is on Sunday at 10:30 AM. See you there!

12 October news flash

Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Brackenbury Stage Race will be replaced by a single road race, on Saturday afternoon, October 22. The MTB race will still run, on a different course. The cyclocross is cancelled.

Here are some of the details.

Brackenbury Road Stage Race

BSCC will run a circuit race on Saturday afternoon, October 22, at 2 PM, on the circuit planned for Stage 2. It will start at 2 PM, and the format will be graded scratch races. A-Grade will be over approximately 60 km, 3 laps of the Learmonth Windmill circuit. The details of other grades will depend on entries, and will be announced on the day. Entries close with 68,111,110,32,83,116,101,119,97,114,116 at 5 PM on Friday October 21, the day before the race. Click on his name to email, or phone or text 0400 33 22 09. Entries cost $5 - cash, on the start line.

The Brackenbury organizers will be in touch separately with those who already entered the Brackenbury stage race.

If you entered for the Brackenbury road stage race, you’ll need to enter again with 68,111,110 for the October 22 circuit race. The prize money for the October 22 circuit race will be drawn from entry fees for that event, so they will depend on numbers, and they will be significantly more modest than the proposed Brackenbury prizes.

The October 22 race will be run by BSCC, as a BSCC club race. As always, we welcome entries from members of other clubs with a current Cycling Australia license.

Brackenbury MTB Race

This will go ahead, on a shorter loop (17km now) and with a lower entry fee ($10). See the Brackenbury MTB Page for details, but to summarise:

When: 23-Oct-2011
Where: Creswick, Hammond Park (the old football oval), Water St.
Entry: Can be made online here or in person on the day
Registration Time: 8:30am to 10:00am, Sun 23-Oct
Race Breifing: 10:20am
Race Start: 10:30am
Format: Your choice of 1 or 2 laps of a 17km loop
Cost: $10

Brackenbury Cyclocross Saga is cancelled.

Here’s the formal notification from the organizers:

Due to a number of unanticipated issues, relating to delays in relation to regulatory compliance documentation, the formal Brackenbury cycling and running events, family and community activities, being facilitated by The Committee for Creswick on October 21& 22, are being rearranged.

We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience, but issues beyond our control have required this difficult decision.

So what is happening?

The Brackenbury Classic – 5km, 10km and half-marathon event – is still on but, in a different configuration
The Brackenbury Mountain Mike Epic will happen, but the course will differ
The Brackenbury Road Stage Race will happen, but in a different configuration

For those of you who have registered for The Brackenbury Events via our web site, we will be refunding your registration fees to you. If you still wish to participate, and we trust you will, we will be in touch via email to provide details as to the next steps to take.
We trust that you will still come and experience a great weekend by participating in the events and enjoy what will become a great sporting and family weekend.

If you wish to discuss this further then please contact us here.

Again our apologies.

The Committee for Creswick

PS: Please mark 20-21 October 2012 in your diary. The Brackenbury will be taking place as planned next year

Road: King Island 100km, November 5

BSCC member Dean Griffin, from Clarendon College, writes:

Come and See King Island

On the 5th of November there will be a series of events happening on King Island to celebrate the 150 year anniversary of the Cape Wickham lighthouse.

This includes endurance events such as a 75 km Ultra-Marathon run, a long-distance walk, and a 100km cycling event. It is all pretty low key and is really just a chance for people to come and explore the island. Click HERE for the official web site.

I have been involved in planning the cycle leg, which should be a good solid ride on undulating roads with little or no traffic. I have arranged for staff from Clarendon College to come over and it looks like we may have some seats available on a charter plane flying from Ballarat if anyone is keen on an adventurous weekend.

It could be that I could get people across and back for as little as $200. I am happy for people to stay at our campus and we will handle transport arrangements and make sure people get a chance to have a good look around the Island.

I know it's short notice, but if you'd like more information, please 101,109,97,105,108 me, or phone me on 0427 646 103.

Road: crit series update

1/ BSCC Criteriums
2011 Crit Presentations and a Club BBQ at Victoria Park Wednesday Nov 23 with the first "Reverse" night of Crit racing - All memebrs and friends welcome. If you are a place getter in the 2010/2011 Season you are encouraged to be in attendance to receive your prize and accolade.

2/ BSCC Criteriums - Lake Health Group.
The first 4 rounds of this season is being supported by Lake Health Group. We have a number of random prize allocations for Most determined / aggressive and winners and the like! We did give a brief speel at racing Last week we did prizes for A and B grade, one race of each session. As Judged by his peers in the race group and voting conducted by long time supporter of BSCC John Siemens - Joshua Liston was the B Grade winner of a Massage voucher and Josh Collingwood through his performance on course won the A grade prize. This week the prize draw will be C Grade. Thank you to Lake Health Group and if you have a need for pilates, physiotherapy, massage or health consultations please support the business that supports your club. Offers are open for any business seeking promotion, publicity and support for crit racing to contact the club via 67,104,114,105,115.

3/ BSCC Criteriums Compliance to CA Technical Regulations
A membership and Licence check will be conducted with each rego session over the next 3 weeks.
We (the BSCC) need each rider to have the correct clearance and approvals to race. As we move forward into the 2012 Summer in January, riders will be asked to bring proof of current membership - License and their entry fee $5 weekly. Junior riders U7 - U19 are to comply with all current junior regulations including gear restrictions. The organising officails and committee representatives are open to discuss or hear any ideas or concerns you may have regarding events; so please air them directly rather than discussions behind the scenes. This will lead to a quick responcse to resolve or table anything, and make racing and the club communtiy better.

Road: Small Dog criteriums 2010-11, Round 3

Chris Liston writes:

Two grades of sub-juniors took to the Small Dog Victoria Park criterium circuit as the numbers in these races continue to grow. Jake Ashmore put paid to the seasoned campaigner Bailey Cody as he won the 2-lap G-grade event. Max Koelle came in third, with young Charlie Mader rounding out the top four.

Rochelle Liston narrowly claimed a win in the 5-km F-grade race, with her road buddy from last season, Tyson Cody, on her wheel. Grace Mader and Emily Smith bolstered the female presence in the race, making the boys, Cody and Zac Stinchcombe, work hard for their final places.

Harriet Pickersgill and Emily Oliver found the boys tough to get past in the E-grade junior event. Maurice Koelle took the race from Oliver, with new track and road rider Nicholas Liubinas taking third from Clancy Dickson.

Junior and Sub-Junior Results:

G Grade 2 laps
1st Jake Ashmore
2nd Bailey Cody
3rd Max Koelle
4th Charlie Mader

F Grade 3 laps
1st Rochelle Liston
2nd Tyson Cody
3rd Grace Mader
4th Zac Stinchcombe
5th Emily Smith

E Grade 4 laps
1st Maurice Koelle
2nd Emily Oliver
3rd Nick Liubinas
4th Clancy Dickson
5th Harriet Pickersgill

Vince Mader writes:

Ten riders lined up on a perfect Wednesday evening to do battle in the C-grade event. The pace was on from the start when Mader took off as if he was running late for work.

The race saw everyone take a share of the lead, which kept the pace high. The young legs of Josh Liston and Emma Bilston kept testing the more senior riders of the group. A couple of good attacks were quickly shut down due to the watchful eyes of Scott Denno, so it was starting to look like a bunch sprint to find the winner.

Last lap saw everyone jostling for position, and Don Stewart’s wheel seem to the place we all wanted to be. Josh Liston seemed to have guessed it perfectly, as everyone else was watching for who would go first. Scott Denno surprised everyone as he stomped on the pedals on the outside and scored a two-bike-length win over Josh Liston. A very tired but happy Bob Morley called on all of his years of racing experience to hold on for 3rd spot.

*********

The weather conditions for the A grade race in Round 3 of BSCC’s 2010-11 Small Dog criteriums were as perfect as last week, the field was the same size and had many of the same riders, but the character of the race was completely different, and so was the result. When BSCC president Volker Hegert said “Go,” the in-form Liam White took off like a shot, and unlike last week, most of the field did not follow. The result was a small group including White, Tony Mirabella and Guy Falla spending the first few laps of the race off the front. This week’s field was missing the big time trial engines of Jamie Huggett, John McLachlan and Josh Hawkes from last week. They were replaced by elite rider Rhys Gillett, whose form is steadily building after his ankle injury last winter. While Huggett, McLachlan and Hawkes last week were simply looking for a hard workout, Gillett, this week as always, was after a win. As a result, this week’s race was much more tactical than last week’s, and the pace more up and down. When Liam White’s group was brought back, there was a flurry of probing attacks that turned the pace all the way up, but nothing stuck until Stuart Sanders snuck off the front. When the oxygen-deprived field remembered that Sanders has been a time-trial gun for almost thirty years, he was duly chased down. A few other small gaps opened, but between Gillett, Ciaran Conaughton, Mitch Brogden and last week’s winner Scott Townsend, there was always enough horsepower in the bunch to shut them down.

Jay Bourke, meanwhile, was looking at least as fit as he had last week, and was keeping his powder dry. When the pace went from "on" to "off" coming into the front straight with two laps to go, Bourke kept going. The field hesitated, Bourke relaxed into the Cameron Meyer lap-taking position, and the gap opened. Bourke, who rides with a power meter, later said that he found himself comfortably putting out over 400 watts, and asked himself which riders back in the bunch were capable of doing more than this for the five minutes remaining in the race. The answer is that Gillett and Conaughton, and probably Brogden, have this kind of engine, but they also had race tactics to occupy them. When the big guns finally fired in the back straight on the last lap, the pace was astounding, but by then it was too late. Bourke crossed the line a relaxed and well-deserved winner. Expect him to do some damage at the Tour of Bright in just over two weeks.

MTB: BSCC Stars in Australian National MTB Series

BSCC Star in Australian National MTB Series

A handful of MTB members participated in the first round of the MTBA national series hosted by Geelong MTB club in the You Yangs on Saturday. The national series races are shorter Olympic cross country (XCO) races - a designated number of laps taking approximately 1.5 to 2 hours.

MTB Committee member Jacqui Clynes won the women’s veterans race, and Elizabeth Baker came third in the under 17 women’s race.

Guy Falla finished 4th and Benjamin Baker 13th in the super-master category, and Magnus Baker came 11th in under-17.

Jacqui’s report
The day started well with perfect conditions for racing. The course was as you would expect at You Yangs - ridiculously technical. I had contemplated heading over on Friday for some course practice, which in hindsight would have been a good move. However, I had a suspicion of what the course would be like, and decided I’d be better off blocking it from my mind and getting a good sleep the night before instead, without nightmares of looming rocks to conquer.

My practice lap of the 6km course confirmed the worst - up Boulder Track, up Lactic Acid. Two problems here - the ‘up’ part and the technical rocky climbing part. I was starting to contemplate hopping back in the car! It then improved with a run down Trav’s Track, although I was in such a mental state after the climbs that I was getting psyched out on the downhills as well.

It was great to see so many women racing, with a large field of elite women and good numbers in all other categories as well. The race itself was very enjoyable, and I settled into a good rhythm. Many of the obstacles that had bothered me on the practice lap just disappeared, although some of those uphill rocks still posed problems and saw me scrambling off my bike.

All in all it was a great day. GMBC put on a great event, there were good numbers racing and plenty of spots for spectators to catch the action. It was also good to see a Ballarat contingent at the race. The conditions in general were tough - it was definitely mountain biking at its most technical!

Track: Saturday racing, November 20

Last Saturday saw the second of Doug Garley’s Saturday afternoon BSCC track races. The Hard Rider himself is out of action for the moment, but the day was still a raging success.

Directeur Doug Garley writes:

The race directeur was very lacking in spirit, but there was still an afternoon of spirited racing. Highlights included very hot finishing laps from Harry Crothers-Bade and Liam White, going side by side with no-one giving an inch, in two different events, with a win for each. Scott Bilney is rapidly getting rapid. Roger Bade is having too much fun, and challenged Michael Veal in the last event. It was great to see Angus Lyons start (albeit on a small gear) as he was only planning to give a hand and not compete. Victoria Snibson is showing character with her game riding, particularly her strong finish, which gave the judges a hard job on two occasions, against Michael Veal and Harry Bade respectively. The afternoon was conducted as a Euro-style omnium which included a flying lap. Points (5, 3, 2, 1) were awarded for placings in each event.

Results:
A Grade:
1st Harry Crothers-Bade (18pts)
2nd Liam White (14pts)
3rd Scott Bilney (8pts)
B Grade
1st Michael Veal (14pts
2nd Roger Bade (12pts)
3rd Victoria Snibson (10pts)
4th Angus Lyons (5pts)

Thanks to Bill Groome and James (The Earl of Suave) Crafter for help on the day. Also a big thanks to Geoffrey Braszell for the regular motor pace in the warm up and in some events. Geoffrey is there each Saturday we race. All these guys know their stuff (Doug too! - ed.), and have been around, so Saturday arvo track is a good time to talk the 'trackie' talk, whether it be bike position, tactics or gearing – or if you are like me and just love the old school 'constant' of Saturday arvo track in these busy times. And it’s good for your fitness too.

Next Saturday arvo track session, December 4, we have Phil Orr booked with the motor bike so it’s KEIRIN KULTURE!! Saki, sushi and gambling all the way! Now, where did I put my bookie’s bag?

Track: Results, 18 November

Roger Bade, track tsar, writes:

BSCC Track Racing Results
Marty Busch reserve
November 18, 2010

New Riders Make a Big Impression.

Angus Cocking produced the best performances of his short track cycling career to take out two good wins at Marty Busch Reserve on Thursday afternoon. Angus only started with the club a few weeks back, and had never ridden on a track bike or a velodrome until that time. With his strength and confidence improving each week, he is starting to make a big impression in the very competitive F grade division. Angus had wins in both the handicap and the elimination races. Rochelle Liston, fresh off her multi-medal winning performance at the Victorian Country titles, took a strong win in the opening scratch race.

Other new riders, Nick Liubinas and Jack Stewart, also had strong wins, with Nick taking out the E Grade scratch race, and Jack cleaning up in all three D-grade events.

In the senior divisions, track novices Paul Pickersgill and Don Stewart rode competitively all night, with Don teaming up with firebrand Liam White to take out the exhausting A- and B-grade teams elimination.

RESULTS
F Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Rochelle Liston, 2nd, Vivien Mannix, 3rd, Harrison Calloway
E Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Nick Liubinas, 2nd, Emily Oliver, 3rd, Clancy Dickson
D Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Jack Stewart, 2nd, Patrick Cosgrave, 3rd, Declan Dickson
F Grade Handicap: 1st, Angus Cocking, 2nd, Beatrice Pickersgill, 3rd, Daisy Pickersgill
E Grade Handicap: 1st, Clancy Dickson, 2nd, Harriett Pickersgill, 3rd, Jack Stewart
D Grade Handicap: 1st, Jack Stewart, 2nd, Declan Dickson, 3rd, Pat Cosgrave
F Grade Elimination: 1st, Angus Cocking, 2nd, Clancy Dickson, 3rd, Vivien Mannix
D and E Grades combined Points Race: 1st, Jack Stewart, 2nd, Declan Dickson, 3rd, Harriett
Pickersgill and Courtney Mannix
A and B Grades combined Scratch Race: 1st, Liam White, 2nd, Scott Bilney, 3rd, Will
Stewart, 4th, Roger Bade
A Grade Elimination: 1st, Liam White, 2nd, Will Stewart, 3rd, Scott Bilney, 4th, Paul
Pickersgill
B Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Joel Hossack, 2nd, Roger Bade, 3rd, Don Stewart
A Grade Scratch Race: 1st, Liam White, 2nd, Scott Bilney, 3rd, Will Stewart
A and B Grades combined Teams Elimination: 1st, Liam White and Don Stewart, 2nd, Will
Stewart and Paul Pickersgill, 3rd, Joel Hossack, Emma Bilston and Scott Bilney

Track Schedule:
Mondays 5pm to 7pm - Club Training
Thursdays 4pm to 7pm – Club racing
Saturday racing will be run on selected Saturdays. See the on-line calendar for details.

Friday night at the World Cup

Twenty years ago, there was one indoor board track in Australia, none in Victoria. Big-time track racing was Saturday night at Northcote, a now-extinct 320-metre concrete track with a dirt parking lot and BYO seating. Occasional Americans and Italians paid their own way south to be cannon fodder for Patey and Niewand, there were no women’s races, and even at the big ones, the Austral and the Melbourne Cup on Wheels, the crowd was family and friends. And Victorian juvenile track racing was a tight contest between two tall, skinny country kids, Shane Kelly and Scott Townsend.

Friday night, 7 PM at the Hisense Arena in Melbourne: session 4 of the 2^nd round of the 2008-9 UCI Track World Cup, the biggest game in track cycling outside the Olympics and Worlds. A square kilometer of parking for cars, but none for bikes, so several hundred of them are locked to the railings outside in the rain. Sensible commuters, retro road bikes, and a sprinkling of full-on flopped-and-chopped anodized-deep-V-rimmed spoke-carded fixed-gear hipster machines. All their riders are represented in the audience, who are perhaps a little skinnier, more intense and less beer-swilling than your average Melbourne sports crowd, but otherwise not too different. Suits and little black dresses are wine-ing and dining in at tables in the infield, like the Gent or Berlin Six without the cigarettes. It all works: the volunteer ushers are endlessly enthusiastic, the commentators are knowledgeable and frenzied, the big-screen replays are instant, names are spelt correctly and pronounced confidently, it runs on time. And there are ten-odd thousand people there who all get it, and they’re behaving as though they do this every Friday. Yes, folks, cycling in Australia is all grown up now.

cyclingnews.com has the details.

The sprint blokes are huge, the endurance women are tiny, the boards roar when the bunch rides high, and the crowd’s howls of vengeance when the Cyclones mow through Spain in the men’s team pursuit final are a taste of what we’ll hear the day that Australian track cycling rises again from the humiliation of Beijing. It might not happen in London, but it will happen. See you at Revolution on Wednesday December 17. Volunteers get in free.

MTB: Dirt Girls - Jun 2011

We're heading back out to those fun trails at Creswick, where there's always a nice hill or obstacle to play on! We'll meet in town and ride out to the trails, then finish back in town - right outside the place that provides cake and coffee! All levels welcome. Remember, a club membership is required, or a social day license can be purchased for $5. Arrive a little early to purchase your license.

Ride Details

When: Saturday 4th June, 9 AM start
Where: Creswick trails, meeting in town outside the Lemon Tree Cafe
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

MTB: Club Race - Jun 2011

Our June club race is going to be a 'practise' run for our major race for the year, Round 1 of the Interwinter Series. We have had a last minute change to where the staging area will be, but the race is still on. For people who have ridden in Canadian before or who have attended previous club races in Canadian the course will familiar. While we have not used this exact track in one race before, we have used many sections in different races.

The staging area will be in 'Moto Park' (at the bottom of 'Big Red'), which is an open area that the motor bikes have used extensively. The easiest way to get there is to drive up Wilson St and park close to the corner of Boundary Road.

Entry fees will be $5 for seniors and $3 for juniors.

Date: 5th June 2011

Juniors

Registration at 12:30m, racing at 1:00pm for 30 minutes.

Seniors

Registration will begin at 9:30am with racing from 10am and racing for 2 hours on a 25 to 30 minute loop.

A course map is here: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/73747629 please ignore the start/stop location in this map as the new one is further north.

Road: BSCC's success at the Ararat Junior Tour

BSCC junior racing giant, Chris Liston, writes:

Ararat Junior Tour, 15-16 May 2010

Snibson and Liston on the podium at Ararat

BSCC cyclists Rochelle Liston and Victoria Snibson claimed podium places in the overall classification of the 3-stage Ararat Junior Tour. Victoria Snibson won the women's U17 Grand Championship overall points classification, taking winning points in the 10 km time trial and stage 3's 32 km road race. Snibson placed second in the stage 2 road race, giving her 115 points and the overall win. Rochelle Liston was the best-placed BSCC sub-junior rider, taking third places in the 4 km time trial and the 6 km and 8 km road races, giving her overall third for U11 girls. Emma Bilston was in flying form, and took a stage win in the U15W 10 km time trial.

Tough and highly competitive racing in perfect autumn conditions saw BSCC boys working hard to get to the top of the general classification points. Dylan Bilston claimed a stage win on the stage two 12 km U13M road race, and placed 5th overall in the tour. Nicholas White placed overall fourth in the B Grade U15 boys, while the ongoing friendly rivalry between BSCC club-mates Josh Liston and Angus Lyons saw the young men at the front end of the highly charged U15 A grade field. The race circuit, taking in Moyston, and Carrolls Cutting on the Ararat – Halls Gap road, required strength and daring, as the climbs were tough, and speeds on the descents reached over 80 km/h on junior restricted gears. Lyons claimed second in the time trial, with Liston taking fifth and seventh in the road stages, ahead of Lyons.

Hugo Tolliday finished inside the U17 B-grade top ten, with Liam White nipping at his heels. Emily Wordie-Thompson found herself without a club mate in the U17W A grade. Against riders from South Australia and all over Victoria, she claimed overall eighth in the tour. BSCC riders finishing inside the top ten Victorian riders in their events took points into the Jayco junior aggregate competition that continues over three more open events, leading into the Nationals in August.

Junior Ararat 3 stage tour U11G
3rd Overall Rochelle Liston
Junior B Grade Ararat 3 stage tour U17W
1st Overall Victoria Snibson

MTB: Social Ride, March 2012

For the March 2012's social ride we are going back out to Lal Lal, last year the Lal Lal social ride was one of the most popular, with the area offering a great variety in its trails.

We will be doing a loop taking in some rugged fire roads through old mining area beginning at the blast furnace and then a bunch of moto single track stuff and it will look something like this.

Being a social ride the whole thing will be fairly relaxed without much planning going into the whole affair, however the key guidelines the committee are working with are:
- we will meet at a location with ample free car parking,
- when we arrive at the trail head (depending on numbers) we can break into groups that match rider abilities (slower riders or riders just starting out please don't worry about slowing the group down, its a social ride no-one is there to break land-speed records!),
- on the way home we will go for coffee and/or lunch,

With these points in mind and following has been decided for this ride.

Date: 25-March-2012
Meeting Place: Lal Lal, Iron Mine Road. From Lal Lal head towards the falls but turn right at Iron Mine Road. Follow the bitumen road all the way and continue onto the dirt road for a short distance where we will park the cars at the entrance to the historical area. See Garmin map.
Meeting Time: 8:00am
Stopping Where on the Way Home: Buninyong
Expected Duration: 2 to 3 hours
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5
Contact: Matt - 0420 397 887

BSCC MTB is affiliated with MTBA, which means all riders must present a current MTBA 'Social' or 'Race' membership card during registration. Membership provides insurance coverage for both the rider and the club in the event of an incident. Non MTBA members have two options, 1) annual membership, (see the Membership page for more details) or 2) purchase a $5 Social Day permit, which is valid for the whole event and available on the day, but we ask that you arrive early to fill in the paperwork.

Road: Collier handicap

Please make special note that The Collier starts at 1.00pm on Saturday 24th March.
This week will also be a chance to get another handicap race under your belt so you can qualify for the Feature Events.

We are asking you to bring along your CA licence for this year to make sure ALL riders have renewed OR applied for their Licences. Those who may not have their Licence back yet will need to show proof of application/Receipt.

Also get your Entry for these races in early, Especially the Collier. Late Entries will be put in a harder Group AND there will be NO Entries on the Day. Please help us to help you , so we can organise and Handicap a good Race.
As usual, entries to Don Stewart by 101,109,97,105,108, text or phone by Friday at 5.00pm at the latest.

John has been invited and all are welcome to race in this club classic, or come out and show support for John’s contribution to the BSCC and his passion to develop a local champion athlete.
Please bring a plate to share!

See course map here.
Starts at Kingston Showgrounds.
Senior entry $10
Junior U17 and other potentials who may not be up for the 81km event there is a Junior U17 – 54Km (potential entrants can liaise with junior and senior Handicapper out of age conditions apply) $10
Junior U9 / U13 – 6Km Handicap – Start time 2.00pm $7 entry

Road: New sponsor announced

The Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club is proud to announce Mulcahy & Co as the 2012 Aggregate Road season sponsor.

Mulcahy & Co are pleased to be affiliated with the BSCC due to having a strong contingent of existing members as clients and looking to forge many new relationships with others.

Mulcahy & Co offer a variety of specialist services including;

- Accounting
- Financial Planning
- Lending, &
- Legal.

To book a complimentary appointment and support our new sponsor please do not hesitate to contact Thayne Turley directly on;

84,104,97,121,110,101,64,77,85,76,67,65,72,89,46,99,111,109,46,97,117
0409 855 876

Or the office directly;

(03) 5330 7200
Www.MULCAHY.com.au
300B Gillies Street, Wendouree Ballarat, VIC 3355.

Track: weekly results

Date: 15/3/2012
The weather is announcing that the track racing season is drawing to an end. The heavy clouds were never far from the minds of all attending as Roger Bade moved through the events with efficiency unseen in cycling anywhere else.
E Grade, the Junior Girls, showed initial trepidation but soon warmed to the idea of the motorbike in the motor pace. Helena Truebody seemed untroubled by this and claimed victory from Lucy Mckay and Isabel Unwin. The elimination was also hotly contested with Unwin claiming top spot and Mcay taking second once more. Truebody took third.
D Grade, the Junior Boys, was once again a hotly contested category. Jake Ashmore took the first race – a motor pace. He was followed by Alex Drew and close on his wheel was Will McCallum. Drew took the elimination with apparent ease from Sam Crothers-Bade and Jake Ashmore.
C Grade, Intermediate Boys, took to the Motorbike with ease. Angus Cocking took the Motor pace through his experience but Otto Baldridge was looking strong just off the wheel. In a style that seemed to repeat across the grades, the second of Baldridge soon became a first in the elimination.
B grade was the Senior Girls, a small but competitive field. The Motor pace was taken by a flying Jess Dinning; she also took fourth in the A grade Motor pace. Imogen Mann took second. Once again, the placing's were reversed with Mann taking the Match Sprint from Dinning.
A Grade was taken too a new level this week with an intense rivalry between Luke Evans and Graeme Frislie who took first and second respectively in the motor pace and elimination which was almost too close to call. Harrison Doust also put in a great performance taking third in both races. The progressive points race was taken out by Evans once again who. He timed his run to perfection, bringing back Doust, who had managed to escape in the first few laps, with two laps to go to take the final two sprints.
Make sure you turn up next week for the last official week of racing before the Schools Cycling Cup and the end of the school term. The currant leader of the aggregate is Greame Frislie on 52 Points and he looks set to take out the 2012 summer title.

Full results here.

Road: First Rec TTT for the year

Inspired by Simon Gerrans (for the goddesses he is a bike rider ) and his victory in the Spring Classic Milan to San Remo (for Saxon House that is a bike race ) we are pleased to announce the first of our classics for 2012.

In the spirit of the great Autumn Classics such as in Australia Race 4 at the Dapto Dogs and in Europe The Giro di Lombardia (the race of the falling leaves ) ( will someone explain the connection to the Yabbies of leaves and Autumn ) our first Classic for 2012 will take place on

Saturday April 28th.

Here are the details at this stage;

The Event “ THE DUNKELD ASHES TOUR.” Host Bunch The Yabbies Rabble.

Depart by Bus at 8am from Saxon House
Return to Saxon house 8.15 am to pick up the Lake Health Bunch who like all their appointments are running 15 minutes behind.
Depart Saxon House again.
Mount bikes at Ararat. (for the Thinking Man’s bunch , this does not mean what it says you studs )
Ride Gruppo Compatto in our separate bunches to Halls Gap . 48kms
Coffee and cake.
Halls Gap to Dunkeld pub (the Recreational time trial leg ) 68 kms
Bus will follow for mechanic and motivational mishaps.
Refreshments and presentation of “ The Ashes “ at the Royal Mail in Dunkeld. Yabbies are asked to bring some beer money for a change. We will take photos for the Myer bunch so they will know what went on .
Two buses back if numbers permit (one early and one not so early ) Lots of accommodation available if you want to have a sleepover or forget to get on the bus.
Difficulty. Only one hill ( the Grampians )
Cost $30 to $35 per head to cover the buses. Non bike club members $10 for insurance Members $0

Call for teams and entries in a few weeks. Email 80,101,116,101,114,32,67,97,110,110,121.
Remember for those going on Doll’s Chevy Chase European Vacation in May this is the ideal hit out without the complication of topless women and broke Europeans. (although there is a slight chance you may still encounter both in Dunkeld )

We hope to see you all on April 28th.

Recreational Team Time Trials - Serious Fun For Road Riders.

Ballarat Sportsmen's Club Dinner

The Ballarat Sportmen's Club April dinner, at the Mercure Hotel on Wednesday April 6, will feature guest speaker Shane Kelly. BSCC President Volker Hegert is putting together a table. Tickets are $45 per person. If you'd like to go, please contact Volker by 101,109,97,105,108.

Please click HERE for the flyer advertising the dinner.

Despite the club's name, we believe women are welcome! - ed.

Track: 17 March 2011 Results

Roger Bade, BSCC track tsar, reports:

BSCC Track Racing Results

Marty Busch Carnival
March 17, 2011

The second-last track session for the season saw a good turn-up and some very competitive racing. The motor bike was out, and each grade had a chance to swap turns at high speed in the wind cover behind the scooter. It is very impressive to see the riders who have now been part of the club for nearly a full season or more confidently and accurately holding wheels only centimetres behind the rider in front, swinging off and up the bank then quickly back on to the last wheel. It is no surprise that these juniors are fast becoming high-quality track and road riders throughout the region.

The best ride of the night came from Rochelle Liston in the F-grade motor pace. Rochelle is only 9 years old, but already a veteran of two seasons. Often harshly handicapped, today she seized the chance to lead the group through after the bike pulled off, and no one in the bunch could catch her. It was a dominant ride that accurately reflects her potential and determination.

Amongst the more senior riders Magnus Baker, Doug Garley and Josh Liston fought out the main places.

RESULTS

Race 1, F Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Vivien Mannix, 2nd, Rochelle liston, 3rd, Adam Begbie
Race 2, Novice boys Scratch Race, 1st, Will Crafter, 2nd, Andy Scherek, 3rd, Lachie Sycamanis
Race 3, Women A Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Courtney Mannix, 2nd, Bessie Baker, 3rd, Harriet Pickersgill
Race 4, C Grade Scratch Race, 1st, Magnus Baker, 2nd, Josh Liston, 3rd, Paul Pickersgill
Race 5, F Grade Motor Pace, 1st, Rochelle Liston, 2nd, Vivien Mannix, 3rd, Angus Cocking
Race 6, Women A Grade Motor Pace, 1st, Courtney Mannix, 2nd, Bessie Baker, 3rd, Harriet Pickersgill
Race 7, C Grade Motor Pace, 1st, Doug Garley, 2nd, Josh Liston, 3rd, Paul Pickersgill
Race 8, Novice Motor Pace, 1st, Will Crafter, 2nd, Andy Sherek, 3rd, Lachie Sycamanis
Race 9, F Grade Handicap, 1st, Beatrice Pickersgill, 2nd, Adam Begbie, 3rd, Angus Cocking
Race 10, Women A Grade Handicap, 1st, Alex Leah, 2nd, Imogen Dale, 3rd, Harriet Pickersgill
Race 11, C Grade Handicap, 1st, Jake Seers, 2nd, Magnus Baker, 3rd, James Burge
Race 12, Novice Handicap, 1st, Claude (BCC), 2nd, Andy Sherek, 3rd, Lachie Sycamanis
Race 13, F Grade Motor Pace, 1st, Angus Cocking, 2nd, Vivien Mannix, 3rd, Beatrice Pickersgill

Track Schedule:

Thursday March 24, 4pm to 7pm – Club Champs
Sunday March 27, 2pm to 6pm – Club End of Season Carnival, including BSCC Madison

Track Junior Nationals - Emma Bilston

BSCC's Emma Bilston represented Victoria and BSCC at the Australian junior track cycling championships at DISC, March 18-20. Emma did us proud: she finished 8th in the individual pursuit, 14th in the 500m TT and 4th in the scratch race in the U15F category.

Emma is a first-year under 15 and rode a personal best in both the timed events, TT and pursuit. She finished 4th in the scratch race, and all the riders who beat her were in their second year as under 15s. This is an outstanding result, considering she had no track to train on in Ballarat this year. Congratulations Emma!

Please click Here for full results.

Hot Cannondale Slice

From Ben Larsson, St. Kilda CC

I am a member of the SKCC and was hoping you would post a picture details of my bike that was stolen out of my garage in Port Melbourne on Thursday night, 18/03/10. It is a custom build and quite unique so if anyone sees this bike, please contact me or the police. There are a few modifications between the photos and parts list, namely the Sram Red cranks and water bottle.

Thanks -

Ben Larsson
0438 215 809
98,122,108,97,114,115,115,111,110,64,104,111,116,109,97,105,108,46,99,111,109

Details:

Cannondale Slice 2009 58 cm frame
Zipp 808 tubular wheels
Vittoria Corsa CXII tubulars
3TTT Ventus Team handlebars
Sram Red 177.5 mm cranks, BB30 with ceramic bearings
Sram Red bar end shifters
Sram Red front derailleur
Sram Red rear derailleur
FSA K-Force carbon TT chainring, 53 tooth
FSA 44 tooth chainring
Selle Italia SLR T1 saddle
Zero Gravity limited edition NERD Negative G brake calipers (red) (the color is rare - ed.)
Time RXS Carbon pedals
Bontrager Speed Bottle water bottle and carbon cage

Become a commissaire

From Ashley Coote, Cycle Sport Victoria

Becoming a commissaire is the easiest way to get the best seat in the house at both road and track events, whilst making a valuable contribution to the sport of cycling. You even get petrol, meal and accommodation allowances. Cycle Sport Victoria is now offering commissaire assessment at both regional and metropolitan events, to make the qualification process more accessible to members of your club.

Please click on this link for Further Info about becoming a commissaire.

Notizie dall'Italia

Pat Shaw writes..

4th in Coppa Fiera

Hey everyone, been a while since I last posted an update on here so this may be a lengthy one... since I last posted an update I have raced almost 35 races, of which all have been of a rather high difficulty... I have also had some ongoing and frustrating health issues which have hindered my mid season form and results.
Shortly after my last post, I had a good run of form finishing 10 times out of 10 in the top 15th including 3 times 4th (Coppa Fiera Mercatale, Pian Di Sco and La Puglia) 8th (Montefiascone) twice 9th (Colbucaro and La Penna) 11th (Cicogna) 12th (Citta Di Castello) 14th(Trofeo Matteoti) 15th (Malva).
Biggest moment out of these would have to be the 4th in Coppa Fiera which starts and finishes in the town where I live, Mercatale, there were 376 riders take part this year, from all over Italy, the best of the best, it is known as the Italian Spring World Championship. To finish 4th against such strong riders, infront of all the people from my town and in this race was an extremely pleasing result... A result that could decide the difference between me turning pro for 2010 or not...
4th at Pian Di Sco was a little upsetting as i won the uphill sprint in a group of 12, missed 3rd place by 3 inches, 1st and 2nd were 5 metres in front of me, the first 3 had 12 seconds at 600m to go... 4th at La Puglia was a big ride, I had the flu and was blocked up real bad, was happy to finish such a hard race let a lone almost get on the podium, i ran into a bit of traffic in the finale, with a clean run it would have been very interesting...
At the moment I’m having a slight break with little training and racing as I have ran out of batteries, the body is tired and to have a good finish to the season and to find a team for next year recovery is required. I will start training properly in the next week to 10 days and hope that by mid July when the big races are that I have the form I had at the start of the season and that I can start hurting and worrying these guys again...
3 months of racing to go... 3 months of opportunities... Hope to come back with a pro contract... only time will tell...
Catch you guys... Stay Warm...
Ciao Ciao
Pat SHAW

Some Photos

Italian Breakfast

The Bike.

BSCC at the Country Road Champs: updated

BSCC had a very successful day at Cycle Sport Victoria's Country Road Championships at Newstead this Sunday. BSCC had entrants in every race except one, and brought home four gold medals: Andrew "Bam Bam" Weightman in MM3, Gail Oliver in MW, Emily Wordie-Thompson in W15, and Emily Bilston in W13. Congratulations, team! Full stories will follow, but for the meantime, CSV's results are HERE, and a few photos are HERE.

Phil wins!

Full results are yet to be published, but details of the event are HERE. Endurance races - ranging from 6 to 24 hours - have been the biggest growth area in mountain bike racing for several years now, and the standard of the state series is very high. After the disappointment of his crash at the Otway Odyssey in February, Phil's form has been building. Congratulations Phil!

Ausbike registration is now open

The press release says:

Ausbike Australia is the sole trade-only bike expo in Australia, and one of the most important events on the
Australian cycling business calendar. Cycling clubs and teams are also invited to attend. As a club, you can now register yourself and up to 3 other members online! Ausbike Australia, the Australian Bike Trade Expo, is free to attend as a club member, visitor or buyer. For further info and registration, visit the Expo website: http://www.ausbikeaustralia.com.au/

Road: Melbourne to Ballarat, Saturday July 17

22 July: one more update, now that the final official CSV results are up. We've straightened out a few facts, so that now at least they agree with CSV.

Thanks to Kate Grigg behind the lens for the Graeme Watson-quality photos included here, and Stuart Grigg with the captions.

The beast is slain. The 100th Melbourne to Ballarat Classic has been fought and won. There were some top performances from BSCC riders, and, as usual, some misfortune.

The basic shape of the race was this. Second limit (24 minutes), featuring Bob Braszell and Melbourne to Ballarat first-timers Clive Silcock, Jarrod Boyd, Vince Mader and Charlie Stebbing, started fast enough to catch limit (27 minutes - Tavis Baker, Shane Butler, Melissa Keirl and Chloe McIntosh).

Leaders of the race

First three echelons, from the Cartons Road overpass, 2 km east of the Gordon exit.

The leaders - 24 and 27 minutes.

Clive Silcock leading the race, at 1:05 PM, from Cartons Road.

Bob Braszell, Shane Butler and Chloe McIntosh in the lead group

Charlie Stebbing and Jarroyd Boyd in the lead group

Melissa Keirl in the lead group.

As a result, it took until after Gordon for this group to be caught by 21 minutes (in which Sam Edwards, Warren Faneco, Thayne Turley and Jonathan Lacey started).

The second group, 21 minutes, at 1:06 PM: Sam Edwards, Warren Faneco and Jonathan Lacey.

Warren Faneco and Sam Edwards in the second group.

Jonathan Lacey in the second group.

The third group, 15 and 18 minutes, at Gordon, 1:07 PM: James Crafter, Tony Mirabella (fresh enough to look up at the photographer!) and Doug Garley.

Scott Townsend (red helmet and blue long sleeves), Charles Martin (left), Damien Keirl (right), John Polkinghorne (black helmet) and Shane Cody in the third group.

Shane Cody, Guy Falla (blue arm-warmers) and Peter Kiel (on Guy's wheel) in the third group.

The Victoria Police made it all possible.

Grant Gilbert, in familiar TT position, seconds behind the third group.

The first three echelons grind their way up to Gordon. The first two are about to unite.

Soon thereafter, the combined 15- and 18-minute group joined the leaders, bringing Tony Mirabella and Damien Keirl (15 minutes), Shane "Jedi" Cody, James Crafter, Guy Falla, Peter Kiel, Charles Martin, John Polkinghorne, Scott Townsend and Doug Garley into contention. More than 150 riders started in these groups. When the catch was made, a little over half of these were left. This group was large and powerful enough to hold off the rest of the field, and it was a subset of these riders who fought out the finish.

The 12-minute group (containing no BSCC riders), the 4th bunch on the road at Cartons Road, drafting a B-double ...

Behind them, Ciaran's 6-minute group caught Brad Clark's 9-minute group; and Rhys and Damien Turner's scratch bunch caught Jay Bourke's second scratch bunch, and that was that. The 30-40 km/hr northerly wind was enough to make the day tough, and the edge of the road very crowded, but, unlike last year, not strong enough to give the scratch bunch a big advantage.

The 9-minute bunch, the 5th bunch at Cartons Road, at 1:11 PM. Brad Clark is in Cycle City kit, on the fluoro green Merida.

Here's Brad in the 5th group, in his first big race back after a long break.

The 6-minute bunch, the 6th echelon at Cartons Road, at 1:13 PM. Ciaran is driving, and spitting riders out.

Ciaran rolling back to assess the damage in the 6-minute group.

Thayne Turley feels the breath of the beast in his first Melbourne to Ballarat. Cartons Road, 1:14 PM.

The last two echelons - scratch and 3 minutes - about to unite.

The big boys, including Rhys Gillett and Jay Bourke: 1:16 PM.

A closer view of Rhys and Jay.

Now we're at the Bungaree exit, 1:31PM. Here's the front group, with Warren, Clive (behind the first yellow helmet) and Jarrod (blue helmet).

Shane Cody drives, and Tony is in there. Bungaree, 1:31 PM.

Close-up of Shane Cody at Bungaree. It was not easy.

Bungaree exit: Shane and Tony's group is about to catch the leaders.

Sam Edwards, the Man in Black, toughing it out at the Bungaree exit, 1:32 PM.

Bob Braszell towing the young bloke home, Bungaree, 1:32 PM.

Bungaree: lights out for Lacey too. 1:33 PM.

Bungaree: Shane Butler, 1:33 PM.

Bungaree: Grant is still in TT position, 1:35PM.

Bungaree, 1:36: Ciaran is still smashing them, including multiple Australian road champion Stephen Fairless (on the back)

More of Ciaran at Bungaree.

As the front group of around 40 riders hurtled into town towards the new finish line outside Piper's on Wendouree Parade, the following Ballarat riders were up there: Tony Mirabella, Damien Keirl, Charles Martin, Peter Kiel, John Polkinghorne, Chloe McIntosh, Clive Silcock, Shane Cody, Jarrod Boyd, Guy Falla, James Crafter and Doug Garley. Also Tavis Baker (whom we missed earlier - apologies - ed.). Pretty good effort, team! Sprinters Damien, Tony, Charles, Chloe and Doug were licking their lips in anticipation.

The first major misfortune was a puncture for Doug Garley. Doug has probably won more big bunch sprints than anyone in the bunch, and not many of us have sprinted against Sean Kelly! - and he was on major form. This puncture almost certainly changed the podium.

The second misfortune came as the bunch rounded the Loreto roundabout. A rider clipped a warning sign and a witch's hat and went down. Almost half the bunch were caught behind the crash, a gap opened, and their fate was sealed. This ended the chances of all our riders except Tony, Damien, Charles and John P.

Up front, the bunch was a scary combination of exhausted and nervous. Despite a number of close calls, there were no further crashes. Charles snuck up the inside, with Damien on his wheel, squeezed through the Forest Street roundabout onto second wheel, and hit the gas with 400m to go. Unfortunately the long slog up the highway took its toll, and Charles cramped in both legs and came to an almost complete standstill. Damien blasted around him and suffered the same fate, though not as severely. Tony, smartly positioned on Damien's wheel, reacted quickly and took off himself. Only three riders got past him, giving Tony a richly-deserved 4th place, and the coveted first Ballarat rider jersey and award. Damien managed the cramps well so that only one more rider got past him, giving him 6th place. John Polkinghorne negotiated the chaos and finished strongly, as always, to be well into the top 20.

2:06PM, Lake Wendouree: Lacey doesn't know what his name is.

2:11 PM, at the finish: and the winner is ... Travers Nutall from Carnegie-Caulfield (15 min), from St. Kilda's Tom Walker (15 min). Cycle Sport Vic now have a version of the placings that we agree with (though we might quibble with some of the details further down the list). Damien is on the barriers, Tony on his right. That's Joanne Hogan 2nd from the left in the VIS kit, and Jenny MacPherson in the white Prime Estate strip on the far left, both from 21 minutes. John Polkinghorne is just out of the shot, on Jenny's right.

2:11 PM: Charles crosses the line just behind the winners, with both legs cramped up solid.

2:12 PM: Chloe leads home a group of riders caught behind the crash.

Chloe's glad to be home.

2:12 PM: Shane Cody and James cross the line just behind Chloe.

2:12 PM: see this tyre? It's flat on the bottom! But it's a single so I just rode it home.

2:12 - Clive crosses the finish line, just behind Doug.

2:12 - Jarrod is relieved to be home. Doug is telling Volker about his flat.

James and Doug after the finish. Doug gives us another lesson in character, this time on dealing with disappointment.

2:16: Scott Townsend pushes through the cramps.

Further back, Ciaran dropped his chain at an unfortunate moment and lost his bunch. On marks like this, the pace is relentless, and his chances of getting back on were very slim. But as always, he chased like a maniac, and was not far off the second half of his bunch, containing 1980s multiple Australian road champion Steven Fairless, when his mechanical misfortune was compounded by a puncture just as he hurtled onto Wendouree Parade.

Back with the big guns, Jay and Rhys both had top rides, despite Rhys' spectacular crash two weeks ago. Rhys was working for his team-mate, sprinter and former Cycle City rider James Mowatt. Rhys hit the front a long way out, and blew away almost all the scratch riders. Unfortunately James did not hold his wheel, so Rhys took on sprinting duties himself, and was only pipped by two riders for fastest time. Jay, from second scratch, didn't miss a beat all day and finished strongly. Both are on course for a big win this season.

2:16 PM, about 200m behind Scott, Rhys crosses the line 3rd after leading out the sprint from miles away. Jay is a few seconds behind him.

2:21: Bob Braszell finishes the job.

2:22 PM: Grant comes home strongly. That was a long TT for a roadie, but pretty short compared to an Ironman. They are warmer, though. 19 July update: Grant went to the hospital after the race with dangerously low glucose levels. He's OK now, but he's having a few weeks off the bike.

2:24: Brad looks like he's been down to the shop to get the newspaper. CSV think so: he is listed as DNF.

Ballarat's own Phil Liggett! Thanks Matt.

The junior Ballan to Ballarat race will be described in a separate report. Nice trophy!

The junior podium. Well done, champs!

A delighted Tony Mirabella takes the coveted First Ballarat Rider award. The man who made the whole race happen, BSCC life member Doug "Bronco" Armstrong, looks satisfied.

This says it all. Thanks for turning on the weather, Mr. President!

Updated: click HERE for a few more finish line photos from Phillip Timpano. Photo 6 shows John Polkinghorne in the sprint for the win, finishing just outside the top 10. As you'll see, John was on Jenny MacPherson's right, so he was cut out of Kate's finish photo above. Thanks Phillip!

We'd love to hear from the many BSCC riders mentioned at the start whose stories are missing. Please 60,115,116,114,111,110,103,62,108,101,116,32,117,115,32,107,110,111,119 how your race went, and we'll put the story up here for all to read.

Any open race is a massive logistical undertaking, and this one even more so. Huge thanks and congratulations to the race organizer, BSCC life member Doug Armstrong. Doug's vision in bringing the finish of the race onto Wendouree Parade resulted in a huge thrill for all the riders who took part. Major thanks are due also to the Victoria Police, who made the race very safe, and to the biggest supporters by far of our club and our sport, Ballarat City Council, who made the finish happen and kept it safe - no small challenge. Finally, thanks to the many club members and friends who volunteered today. Racing on a day like this is cold, but volunteering is colder, and longer. Thank you all!

***************

Updated July 13: handicaps are now up: click HERE. Observations:

Pat has been replaced by Rhys.

Jay has the same mark from which he finished top ten last year.

Ciaran has the same mark from which he finished top ten at the Fred Icke last month - and some hard and successful racing under his belt since then.

The handicapper hasn't been as hard on Brad Clark as we feared.

Tony Mirabella got the move-out he asked for after the Fred Icke. Doug and Damien K have not.

The 18-minute bunch is looking very good for BSCC.

Warren Faneco looks very good off 21 minutes - 2nd limit

Jarroyd Boyd and Charlie Stebbing look solid off limit. And Clive Silcock looks very good indeed off the same mark.

See you out there!

Updated July 10: Please click HERE for the official Cycle Sport Victoria entry list. The handicaps are not yet listed. There are about 250 entries, including 26 BSCC riders - strangely, exactly the same number as last year. They are:

Jay Bourke

Jarroyd Boyd

Brad Clark

Sam Edwards

Warren Faneco

Stuart Grigg

Damien Keirl

Patrick Shaw

Damien Turner

Melissa Keirl

Charles Martin

Clive Silcock

Shane "Jedi" Cody

Scott Townsend

Tavis Baker

Grant Gilbert

Vince Mader

John Polkinghorne

Shane Butler

Jonathan Lacey

Tony Mirabella

Charlie Stebbing

Peter Kiel

Guy Falla

Doug Garley

Bob Braszell

********

Attention masochists: entries for the 100th Melbourne to Ballarat closed on Thursday July 8. Love it or ... not, it's a big part of our history. The handicaps will be up soon at the Cycle Sport Victoria web site. Click HERE for the definitive account of last year's race by one of the few survivors. (This piece, by the way, was one of three winners of the coveted BSCC Web Site Editor's Choice awards for favorite contributed pieces last year.) Also see HERE and HERE for some lively debate about this race on the BSCC forum.

Updated, July 11: please click HERE for the official race flyer. And HERE for a map of this year's course. The course now exits the freeway at Learmonth Road, like the past few years, heads past Vic Roads (last year's finish line), turns right at Gillies Street, left at Carlton Street, then right onto Wendouree Parade. Full marks to the race organizer, Doug "Bronco" Armstrong, BSCC life member, for choosing a more iconic finish for the 100th running of the race. Making the last 5 km safe, what with tight round-abouts, absent-minded pedestrians, parked cars, tram lines, and the potential for a big bunch of exhausted riders at race pace on wet roads will be a challenge. Just ask Adam Hansen. Ballarat City Council, the biggest supporter by far of our club and our sport, has taken on the challenge, with Doug's approval. The word is that the road will be closed from the freeway exit all the way to the finish. Cool! The leaders are expected to get to the finish about 2 PM.

Local knowledge: the finish line is expected to be at the zebra crossing opposite Piper's, exactly the same place as it was for the first stage of the Jayco Herald Sun Tour last year. Wendouree Parade curves gently around to the left approaching the finish, so you won't actually see the finish line until almost 100m to go. Worth bearing in mind: if you're in the finale and you have the legs for a long sprint, you'll probably want to go before you see the line. There will be signs up at 10 km, 5 km, 1 km, 500m and 200m to go, but it's a fair bet that not everyone will be reading them, especially not the last few.

Road: State Club TTT Championship

Chris Liston writes:

Victorian Club Teams Time Trial Championships, 18 July 2010

Tough and Testy Teams Time Trial

Seventy four teams, with over two hundred cyclists, competed in the annual Victorian Club Teams Time Trial Championships at Miners Rest, hosted by Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club. In frigid conditions, the U11M team of Ryan Polkinghorne and Rochelle Liston scored the home city’s only gold medal, over a 6 km course starting from Dowling Forest race course.

In the M15 23 km event, Nicholas White proved to be the key rider in a successful combination with Angus Lyons, Joshua Liston, and Patrick Cosgrave. The team rode 40:47, enough for the silver medal to Brunswick's 39:36. The course was longer than previous years, and the icy northerly wind made it much tougher.

BSCC U13 girls, Olivia Oliver, Kate Lyons and Beatrice Pickersgill, narrowly missed a top three place. Their siblings, Emily Oliver and Harriet Pickersgill, scored a bronze medal in the W15 23 km event. Madeleine Plastow teamed up with the second place getter in the Ballan to Ballarat, Victoria Snibson, in the W17 23 km time trial. With the minimum team of two, they worked hard in the stiff head wind up Gillies Rd and across the Ascot Rd crosswind to take bronze in their division.

BSCC's M17 team of Liam White, Jasper Foley, Hugo Tolliday and Dominic Geoghegan suffered at the hands of the conditions, and then Foley had mechanical trouble, with his handlebars becoming loose. Foley got back in with White and Tolliday and they finished bravely in fifth.

The M17 and M19 divisions completed two laps of the circuit as the conditions steadily became wetter. BSCC's M19 team missed the bronze medal by a frustrating three seconds. Aaron Blomeley was joined by James Crafter, Ciaran Conaughton, and Charles Martin. These three came back for more after tough rides in the gruelling Melbourne to Ballarat the day before.

Jenny White, Sue Parker and Kylie Zelly made up BSCC's masters womens team, and rode 1:27:34 to finish fifth in their division. Their counterparts in the fiercely competitive masters men's division, Phil Orr, John Polkinghorne, and Neville Bilney, completed their two laps to take seventh in 1:11:12. BSCC's other master's team withdrew, after Grant Gilbert was hospitalized following the Melbourne to Ballarat. The club's open ("elite") men's team started with the miniumum of three riders, Andrew Weightman, Damien Turner and Scott Townsend, two of whom are masters. In raining and cold conditions with three riders, two of whom had given everything the day before up the freeway, they withdrew, and were disappointed to relinquish the championship title that has been in the custody of BSCC for the last three years.

Please click HERE for the official results.

Missing, after the Melbourne to Ballarat

We're missing a foldable tripod speaker stand that was left at Rockbank last Saturday, after the start of the Melbourne to Ballarat. If you know where it is, or if you have any information that might help us find it, please contact its 114,105,103,104,116,102,117,108,32,111,119,110,101,114. Thanks.

Inside the Melbourne to Ballarat

Editor's note: BSCC's Jay Bourke is occasionally inspired to write a story about his experiences racing in the top echelons of the Australian road scene. Jay's dad Wayne, one of Australia's pioneering Ironman triathletes, was a regular BSCC rider in the 1980s. Jay himself started out as a triathlete, and set a few Victorian course records that still stand, before he was seduced by cycling. After his breakthrough Oz Champs ride in 2008, he's been a regular in national-level road races. This year he's riding for the Cycle City team, along with BSCC members Rhys Gillett and Mitch Brogden, and unofficial BSCC member James Mowatt, so Jay's sponsor is also a BSCC club sponsor.

The Melbourne to Ballarat seems to conjure up the allure of the majestic Alpe d'Huez. The Alpe is neither the highest nor the steepest climb in the French Alps, yet it continues to host the most epic battles royale, and is the climb about which most cyclists say, "I'm going to do that one day!" Similarly, the Melbourne to Ballarat is not the longest, nor the hardest one day race on the domestic calendar, yet it continues to hold this public fascination, and of course the war stories from racers are like no other. But it is this public fascination which raises the Melbourne to Ballarat above all other classics. Tell any Joe Blow you raced 130 km climbing out of Creswick in the Fred Icke and they will nod their head as they do with any other bike story. But tell them you raced from Melbourne to Ballarat and they will shake their head in disbelief. "What? All the way from Melbourne? Up the highway? In one day? But what about those hills? And the wind? That's crazy! Can I come watch next year?"

On the drive down to the start, I enjoyed my relaxing pre-race coffee and newspaper, only to be confronted by an overflowing car park, and I immediately became nervous. It was actually a great sight, with the car park a hub of activity - cars all lined up in rows with bikes on roofs, some already warming up on rollers, others heading off for a roll down the road, an endless line waiting to register, and the truck stop full of people wanting coffee and breakfast. 240 riders, 26 of them from Ballarat, along with their families and support crews, police and officials: it really was a grand build up to this classic.

With the cross-head wind slowly picking up, as a scratch rider you smile because you know you have a chance today. So I was straight on the rollers, eyes down and headphones on in an attempt to just get on with warming up properly without distraction. The start is slightly downhill, so it is always fast right from the whistle. As the early groups were marshalled off down the highway, it's funny how 30 minutes is such a large gap to chase down, yet time seems to pass very quickly in the lead up to the start of your own bunch as you try to stay on the rollers until the very last moment before stepping off, race wheels on, drinks packed, gels in pockets, kit on and a quick goodbye and good luck from friends and family.

Our group, the 3 minute bunch, took off solidly as expected, with everyone pulling turns, aware that if we all work for a common goal, we have a really good chance of catching the front markers, and catching them early. James Mowatt, Ballarat's own adopted rider for Cycle City, was also in this bunch, as was TT brute Rob Doyle, and Phil "I can't believe he is a veteran" Orr. A few familiar faces are always reassuring. As we continued driving the pace down the highway, we were warned of a rider who had come to grief near Melton. A few in the group slowed and had a look at the scene, and this was enough for them to drop the wheel. It was a bit early to start dropping riders, so you just knew this would encourage the scratch bunch and they would pick the pace up that little bit more.

As I continued to roll through, and give James the nod, "I'm good", I began thinking about placing myself near the front and who not to sit behind for the impending catch by scratch. Perhaps I was thinking too much and not concentrating in the gusty winds, but as we descended Anthony's Cutting I was blown from the dotted line in the middle of the road, right across to the gravel inside the emergency lane. Damn! In a split second I was off the back! I was telling myself, "Don't panic. Keep you heart rate steady and close it down, calm and steady." I was within 10m of the back of the group, just as the road turned right at Bacchus Marsh and into a block headwind. Not good. The group of 15 went away from me. I initially tried to sprint to close the gap down in one panicked burst, but no, they continued to pull away. "Aaaargh!" I won't print what I was yelling, but I was so angry with myself. I felt strong, everything was good, but my race was over and I had only ridden 20 km.

My girlfriend then drove past and yelled some encouragement out the window, "C'mon, don't give up!" That was a turning point, and I began to think, "Well, I should have started in scratch, so starting in front of them, even for only 20 km, was a bonus. Eat, drink, fuel up, and when scratch come, slot in and start doing turns like nothing happened." I nearly completed that plan to the letter, only that as we begun to climb the Pentlands, David Pell tightened the screws, powering up the long drag and stretching the group into one long line. We caught two groups up that first real climb, and spat out a lot of riders. Rhys Gillett was in front of me, James behind me, I didn't see Rob [punctured - ed.] or Phil [saving himself for Sunday - ed], and Damien Turner was sitting behind two of his teammates. Our group was about 25 riders strong but only a selection of 10 were working into the crosswind. I was only doing every second turn, as I used this time to recover a bit from the efforts I made earlier.

Then up the Pikes Creek climb, Jono Lovelock attacked, and the race really opened up. Riders were changing their lines, darting around stragglers blown off groups ahead, as they were swallowed up by this select group. David Pell continued the momentum over the top of the climb towards Ballan, putting everyone into red zone. It was really important to hang on here. This was the first real selection. A lot of riders could not match this acceleration, and the group was halved. It's always a great spectator point at the top of Pikes and I remember a wall of noise as the crowd willed their favourite riders up this pinch.

As we blasted up towards Gordon, there were spectators hanging over the bypass. I don't ever recall this many spectators in past years. The pace was really solid now, never below 45km/h, the large 40+ rider front groups had split in front of us into groups of tens, twos and ones at this stage, which made it easier to get past safely. The odd cyclist would swing harshly into the echelon, only to be blasted verbally, before succumbing to the torrid pace. It was becoming quite physical as riders fought to get that perfect sit out of the wind with such limiting space. Jonathan Lacey flashed past [backwards - ed.], so too Matt Albiston. Scott Townsend tried to use his technical skill to hold until the road flattened, but the pace was too high. Jon Townsend slipped into the echelon and seemed to be rolling through smoothly until we hit the final group.

Leigh Howard drove the group hard up to the final bunch, hitting them quickly so no one could hitch on. Over the top of Howard came Pell again, this time so much harder than before and up the gutter of the road. This was the move of the race. I was hanging, going as hard as I could in the gravel, 50km/hr, just thinking I can hold this pace for 1 more second than Pell, but it was so hard. Lovelock and Brett Tivers had gone with Pell, then a small gap to myself, with Howard, Mowatt and Turner on my wheel. Howard used me and leap-frogged across the gap, taking James with him. They hooked on, and the lead pace slowed just enough for me to bridge across the gap also. I had to outlast Pell. Turner came with me, but all the other riders were gone, a long way back taking risks in the gravel on the side of the road. The race had been whittled down to seven riders with still some 25 km to ride.

I bunched right up behind the drivers Pell and Lovelock. At one stage I fell off the road and was riding off the ledge of the asphalt in the gravel and tussock grass for about 300m, all just to get protection from the wind and bring my heart rate down. Leigh Howard had a go at me to roll through, but I let him know that it was I he had sat on to get into this break, so just let me get my breath back.

Past Mt. Warrenheip and down around the bypass, everyone was rolling turns, pulling hard into the wind and up the deceivingly solid final climbs to extend our advantage beyond doubt. James indicated he was feeling good, and gee he looked fresh, chatting easily. I gave him the thumbs up. We knew Howard was the fastest in the bunch. As we turned of the bypass and picked up the tail wind home, I protected James from the wind and motioned for him to come up next to me and follow Howard's wheel. I begun to plan my own moves also: go with the second move, or be second to attack, otherwise if it stays together, go hard and keep the pace high for James in the sprint.

I was only part of the way through these thought processes when Lovelock went hard up the middle of the road with 4 km to go, Ouch! I looked across and the sprinters were hesitating. I thought, Jono is too strong to give any leeway, and went myself. That false flat up to Ring Road felt like Dana Street at this stage in the race, and with all the sprinters on my wheel, I just focused on the back of Jono's bike, and buried myself to get as close as possible. As I blew up and my legs flooded with lactate, our speed slowed. Lovelock was but 5 meters in front but no one would come around me. I was trying to hold the gap as my legs failed me. Howard went past me with James, Tivers and Pell on his wheel. My job was done, my legs were cooked and as Damien Turner went around me, I gave it my all to just try and go again.

From the Ring Road roundabout to the finish, straight ahead in the distance, is a blur. I had my head down, trying to go as hard as possible to pick off as many of the others as I could. Damien was really straining ahead, as were Pell and Lovelock. It was a drag race! I sucked up into Damien's slipstream and pushed harder past him to try and discourage a challenge. Pell and Lovelock were coming back to me real fast now, but I was dying and the line was approaching fast. That last 100m I was locking up, my legs, buttock and back were really stinging, I had that sickly, acidic lactate taste in my mouth, my heart rate peaked at 193 bpm, but I was gaining on the others with every stroke. I just had to override everything that was telling me to stop, and keep my legs going round for 1 or 2 more seconds, and then I could rest. I got on to Pell's shoulder and threw myself over the line. It was over. I could rest. That overwhelming sense of exhaustion as your body tries to flush the lactate and bring everything back to normal levels is quite satisfying. Satisfying to know that you could not have tried any harder.

Originally I though I had pipped Pell for 5th with my throw to the line - the closest I will ever get to being a sprinter of any sort - and the judges agreed. But I didn't know for sure, as everything was a bit fuzzy with pain at the time, so I ran it by David. He reckoned he got it, and I have a lot of respect for him as a rider, so I trust that he got 5th and I was in 6th. James sprinted like pro to 2nd, left Howard in his wake, but couldn't quite get around Tivers. Upon finishing I rode straight through to James, almost crashing into him as I was seeing stars a bit. For us to work together and nearly get the win, as well as James out-sprinting a pro like Howard, was a great result for Team Cycle City. There is nothing greater than your teammate turning to thank you after sacrificing yourself for him. I felt really proud to have done my bit to get him up there.

Rhys lead the 2nd bunch over the line in a blanket sprint for 9th. Three riders in the top ten for Cycle City, and with Damien getting 7th, four Ballarat riders in the top ten. Chloe McIntosh was 2nd women, only outsprinted in the final kilometre. What a great display of depth by our club and what a great advertisement of what the Ballarat region has to offer cyclists.

Track: Club Teams Premiership

By Chris Liston

Lyons and Liston, Key to Success
Angus Lyons and Joshua Liston teamed up with new club member from Geelong Will Key to form Ballarat Sebastopol cycling clubs only team to enter this years club team track championship and take third together with the Bronze medal in the State U17M 3000m Pursuit. Over several years the BSCC has forwarded teams in road and track that traditionally have drafted a debut, novice or rookie rider and saddled them with a great team experience and a state medal.

Will Key of Geelong made the trio a viable team, at his third outing on the Darebin International Indoor Sports centre velodrome on Saturday. The local team placed fifth in the “750m sprint” and was put out of the finals due to a few seconds. However the BSCC team made amends in the pursuit. The team rode a very tight 12 laps and qualified fourth for the ride off for bronze with a 3:47.76. The Ballarat boys were the only regional U15 or U17 team at the meet due to clubs being able to raise adequate division numbers; and started with the minimum requirement of three starters. Not all had aero helmets, one bike was a very uncommon steel frame, with 25% less draughting capability the BSCC boys went in as the underdogs and took on metropolitan team of four Brunswick who were all slicked out and rode a 3:44 in the final to win the minor podium by 2 seconds.

Track: BSCC at the Ararat Diamond Stakes

Chris Liston reports:

Ararat "Diamond Stakes" open track carnival, Saturday February 12

Nicholas White and Emma Bilston won the M15 and W15 wheelraces, respectively, at the Cyclesport Victoria track racing carnival in Ararat on Saturday February 12. White also rode strongly in the B grade field and took two wins out of three events. Bilston, riding from scratch in the U15 girls’ race, put in a big effort to round up the limit markers and take the jewellery on offer for the wheelrace. Emma also won the opening scratch race, with Camperdown rider Ashleigh Hocking pushing her hard all the way to the line.

Rochelle Liston performed strongly, taking two seconds in the J11 mixed field. Liston scored in the opening scratch race, and took a hotly-contested second place in the wheelrace.

Hugo Tolliday was the standout performer in the U17 men’s field. His fast finish ensured that he made the Keirin final, in which he took second. Tolliday rounded out the carnival by taking the A- and B-division wheelrace. Joshua Liston, riding in division B in the same age group, narrowly missed the podium in the opening scratch race, taking fourth, and took a podium place with third in the closing B-grade scratch race.

Victoria Snibson and Emily Wordie-Thompson were just outside the placings in the W17 events, and Liam White added to the flavour of the senior events with his usual aggressive riding on the front. Scott Townsend showed his power and track experience, taking the men’s combined under-19 and open B Grade motorpace in a close finish that saw White outpositioned. Townsend backed up that effort with third in the final B grade/M19 scratch race.

BSCC results:

JW15 1500 Scratch Race
Emma Bilston 1st
JM15 200M B GRADE SCRATCH
Nicholas White 1st
J11 500M Handicap
Rochelle Liston 2nd
J11 750 Wheelrace Final
Rochelle Liston 2nd
JW15 1250M WHEELRACE
Emma Bilston 1st
JM15 1250M WHEELRACE
Nicholas White 1st
JM17 1000M Handicap - heat 1
Hugo Tolliday 1st
Elite Men/J19 4000m B Motorpace
Scott Townsend 1st
JM17 1000M HANDICAP FINAL
Hugo Tolliday 1st
JUNIOR MEN 17 KEIRIN - HEAT 1
Hugo Tolliday 2nd
JUNIOR MEN KEIRIN FINAL
Hugo Tolliday 2nd
JM17 2500M B SCRATCH RACE
Joshua Liston 3rd
ELITE MEN *& M19 ACES 50 LAP SCRATCH RACE
Scott Townsend 3rd

Road: 2010-11 Small Dog Criteriums, Round 11

Chris Liston reports:

Bob Morley found more in the sprint and kept new rider Mark Czulij at bay in the C grade Small Dog Criteriums at Victoria Park last Wednesday night. With the aggressive U19 rider Will Stewart, last week’s winner, sidelined after a puncture, it came down to the other junior riders Joshua Liston and Victoria Snibson to attack hard. Nicholas White was promoted from D grade to C and found the pace hot. Snibson and Liston were in the mix at the end, but without the higher gears available to the older riders, the pair settled for the lower placings as Czulij battled with Morley.

Rain cancelled the A- and B-grade races, but C and D grades took to the course before the rain. This left an opportunity for U15 rider Patrick Cosgrave to step up in D grade. He applied the pace and had the young field in tow. Jake Seers, Jack Stewart and Dominic Geoghegan combined with Patrick to make a solid working bunch. Lewis Piccoli was in the box seat until he also punctured and limped home. Cosgrave claimed the fifteen-minute race from Seers and Stewart.

The E-grade field consisted entirely of sub-junior girls. Courtney Mannix took a strong win from debut rider Elizabeth Baker and Courtney’s sister Vivien Mannix. Debut rider Sarah Pickard took fourth as she learnt the ropes of cycle racing. Courtney applied the pace two laps into the event and opened up a commanding gap to take her first E-grade win.

Tyson Cody took a win in F-grade from Felicity Liston. The Liston siblings were unable to round the fast finishing Cody. Rochelle had to settle for third as the pace of the two front runners left a gap. In G grade, the race for the smallest riders, Bailey Cody put paid to Ziggy Lee, who took his second podium place in two weeks.

C Grade, 15 minutes
1st Bob Morley
2nd Mark Czulij
3rd Josh Liston
4th Victoria Snibson
5th Nic White

D Grade, 15 minutes
1st Pat Cosgrove
2nd Jake Seers
3rd Jack Stewart
4th Dom Geoghegan
5th Lewis Piccoli

E Grade
1st Courtney Mannix
2nd Elizabeth Baker
3rd Vivien Mannix
4th Sarah Pickard

F Grade 3 Lap
1st Tyson Cody
2nd Felicity Liston
3rd Rochelle Liston

G Grade 3 lap
1st Bailey Cody
2nd Ziggy Lee

Ararat: Diamonds sparkle

Chris Liston writes:

Diamonds Sparkle in Ballarat after Cycling at the Dome

Race Results – Ararat Track Open – Diamonds at the Dome

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club was well represented by the girls of the club at the annual Diamonds at the Dome track carnival in Ararat. Rochelle Liston was the one BSCC rider to clinch a win, in the Junior Girls U11/13 Mini Diamond Stakes wheelrace. Liston utilised her mark well and reeled in the limit rider. From there she had to work off the front, as the field that contained clubmate Kate Lyons closed in over the 1000m event. Liston held out to claim the major jewellery prize, repeating the performance of BSCC’s Olivia Oliver last year.

Molly Hegert raced in the penultimate event, the Diamond Stakes Wheelrace, with her sister Chloe, and following a well-positioned lead-out at the finish, claimed fourth and the $1000 diamond prize. Emily Wordie-Thompson was runner up in the U17 women’s wheelrace, taking a $60 dollar set of diamond earings for her race.

Dylan Bilston took third in the junior U11/ 13 wheelrace final. Riding from scratch, he made contact with the leaders metres before the finish. BSCC’s women Chloe McIntosh, Beth Canny and Emma Bilston all raced the afternoon and twilight session of the meet, taking some minor places in events including Motor pace and Keirin.

Charles Martin, Scott Townsend and Harry Crothers-Bade were the club’s open men’s representatives in A, B and C grades. Hugo Tolliday, Joshua Liston, and Nicholas White raced well in the U17/15 divisions, with Tolliday and White taking minor places in their four event cards.

Mt Beauty Six Hour MTB enduro

Team Mt. Beauty invites BSCC MTB riders to their six-hour enduro, part of the Victorian Enduro state series, on Saturday February 27. Details are HERE. The village of Mt. Beauty probably has more Olympians and professional extreme sports people per head of population than anywhere in the world. It's known for its extremely technical (dangerous - ed.) mountain bike trails. Dr. Fuentes will show you the scars. However, regarding this event, the race organizers write:

Come and ride the softer side to Mount Beauty. The course, while challenging, has none of the trademark Mount Beauty techo sections and should be achievable by all but the complete novice.

This means injury for roadies is probable but not guaranteed. Have at it.

MTB: Dirt Girls - Sep 2011

For the September ride we're revisiting an old favourite... Nerrina! Awesome flowing trails, tight twisty trails, uphills, downhills, berms, logs, you name it, Nerrina has it. If you want to seriously improve your riding, this is the one to come along to! Not to mention fun, friendly, and of course coffee/cake afterwards.

Remember a club membership is required, or a social day license can be purchased for $5. Arrive a little early to purchase your license.

Ride Details
When: Saturday 3rd Septembert, 9am start
Where: Nerrina, meet at the Little Bendigo Primary School, there is plenty of parking available
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

MTB: Social Ride - Sep 2011

For the month of September, the original plan for our social ride was the ORCA Ride 11 (Lerderderg Ridge Ridge) however due to a lack of interest in the ORCA rides and one club member's desperate calls for riders to come out to ride with him, we have decided to move the location to Creswick.

Being a social ride the whole thing will be fairly relaxed without much planning going into the whole affair, however the key guidelines the committee are working with are:
- we will meet at a location with ample free car parking,
- we can break into groups (depending on numbers) that match rider abilities (slower riders or riders just starting out please don't worry about slowing the group down, its a social ride no-one is there to break land-speed records, and no one will be left behind),
- on the way home we will go for coffee and/or lunch,

With these points in mind and following has been decided for this ride.

Meeting Place: Creswick Forest Resort (Novatel)
Date: Sunday, 18 Septemeber 2011
Meeting Time: 8:00am
Stopping Where on the Way Home: Forest Resort or a cafe in Creswick (we can decide on the day)
Expected Duration: 2 to 3 hours
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

MTB: Results from Interwinter Round3

On Sunday 21-Aug, a group of 10 BSCC riders made the trip to GMBC's third round of the Interwinter series, hosted at the You Yangs. As most know the You Yangs has been closed for 9 months to mountain biking so the Interwinter race was the first chance most people had of riding some of Victoria's best trails.

Unlike last year the weather was perfect and while the 3 race format doesn't appeal to everyone it does give everyone the opportunity to experience a very different set of trails to what is available in the Ballarat area.

A special request was made to point out that although Chris Quain was released 30 seconds behind our MTB club president in the ITT, Chris caught and passed la Presidente during the descent. Now for anyone that has seen Chris's bike skills they will not be surprised by this fact, there aren't many of us that can do wheelie (both front and back) as skillfully as he does. Dale was quick to point out that once the car sized granite boulders were no longer part of the course and the gradient was more sedate he was able to correct the situation!

There were numerous cameras around on the day, one of the GMBC members has uploaded many of his photos to Flickr and Facebook, remember credit (and ownership) of these photos belongs to GMBC . Our own Guy Falla was also walking around with a camera (due to the fact that he broke a bone in his hand the week early), his photos can be viewed on our Facebook page.

As mentioned earlier the GMBC event was made up of 3 short races, consisting of:

1) a short Individual Time Trial,
2) a XCO multiple lap race,
3) a XC Crit,

Full Round 3 results are available on the GMBC website at Race 1 - ITT, Race 2 - XCO, Race 3 - XCC & Round 3 Overall. Below is a summary of our BSCC member's results, in Position and Name order:

Race 1 - Individual Time Trial
A Grade
12 Jeremy Doolan 18:55
17 Jason Birch 21:03

B Grade
9 Peter Walker 11:16
12 Dale Boucher 11:24
13 Chris Quain 11:29
25 Hayden Emery 12:21
31 Paul Mathers 12:44
39 Grant Palmer 13:26
42 Harry Crothers-Bade 24:19 (mechanical problems)

C Grade
24 Katherine Martin

Race 2 - XCO
A Grade - 4 laps
7 Jeremy Doolan
16 Jason Birch

B Grade - 3 laps
5 Dale Boucher
10 Peter Walker
18 Chris Quain
29 Hayden Emery
33 Paul Mathers
DNF Grant Palmer
DNF Harry Crothers-Bade

C Grade - 2 laps
20 Katherine Martin

Race 3 - XCC
A Grade
6 Jeremy Doolan
19 Jason Birch

B Grade
8 Dale Boucher
? Paul Mathers
21 Hayden Emery
22 Peter Walker
31 Chris Quain

C Grade
24 Katherine Martin

Overall
A Grade (20 riders)
7 Jeremy Doolan
17 Jason Birch

B Grade (45 riders)
8 Dale Boucher
11 Peter Walker
18 Chris Quain
23 Hayden Emery
25 Paul Mathers
43 Grant Palmer
44 Harry Crothers-Bade

C Grade (31 riders)
23 Katherine Martin

Overall series result have not been published yet, but we do expect Peter Walker to be on the podium! Stay tuned.

BMX: Come & Try Day

Chris Liston reports:

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club continued its growth into all facets of cycling with the opening of the redeveloped BMX track at the Marty Busch Reserve in Sebastopol. Councillor Des Hudson opened the rebuilt track, complete with soft fall and new state-level starting gate, at mid-day on Saturday April 16. Fifty two newcomers appeared for the “come'n'try day,” and then 67 riders signed on for the first race meeting. Seventeen of these were new BSCC members from the morning's come'n'try, with the fifty others from Geelong, Bendigo, Warrnambool and Ballarat. The biggest class was the 8-10 boys, with over 20 entries. The under eight race sported 16 entries and the division is termed “sprockets." The track performed admirably, and the word in the region is Ballarat is the place to be for BMX!

The introduction of BMX adds to BSCC's existing road, track (velodrome) and cross-country mountain bike racing programs, and to the club's programs for recreational road and MTB riding.

*********

Click HERE for the Ballarat Courier's take on the BMX track opening. Thanks to Roger Bade for scanning it.

********

The official opening of the newly rebuilt BMX track, next to the velodrome at the Marty Busch Reserve, Sebastopol, is happening this Saturday, April 16.

Click HERE for a map of the location.

The day will be structured as follows:

9am to 11am - track preparation - the more, the merrier

11am to 1pm - come and try, free to everyone

1pm - official opening

2pm to 4pm - race meeting, $5 entry fee, no license required. BMXA grants each club a 1-day-per-year waiver to the normal mandatory licensing rules, and Saturday is our day!

If you'd like to ride on Saturday, please bring:

- a full face helmet
- gloves
- long-sleeved shirt
- pants

Hope to see you all there!

BSCC BMX Committee.

Who's on the BMX committee, you ask? Click HERE and scroll down to the bottom of the page to find out. - ed.

Clubrooms Are Open!

21 September update:

The BSCC club rooms at the Colin Smith Velodrome are now complete! They have been used for a few meetings already. Here's a photo of yet another Malcolm Calloway contribution to the clubrooms.

10 July update:

Concreting at the new club rooms was completed on Monday July 4. Here are Roger's photos. Nearly there!

6 June update:

We are very excited to say that we now have a number of the items of club history we asked for last week. Click HERE to check out some photos from the vast Townsend collection. Thanks Scott and Jenny!

We hope that this is just the start. Please send other photos and mementoes of club history - maybe including those listed below, but certainly not limited to them - to Mal Calloway, whose email address is below.

1 June update:

We're looking for memorabilia to put in the club room. You know, cool stuff from the club's history in days gone by. Things we'd love to see:

- Emma Bilston's green and gold jersey

- Damien Turner's Oz Champs bronze medal

- photos of Dennis Shaw and Peter Fry winning the Melbourne to Warrnambool

- and Greg Nunn winning the Bendigo Golden Mile

- and Dean Taylor winning the Austral

- and Bill Groom pushing Sid Patterson on the track

- and Phil Orr kicking Cadel Evans's butt on a mountain bike

- and Doug Garley racing in Flanders with Sean Kelly, Greg LeMond and Phil Anderson

- and Ray Bilney winning the bunch sprint at the 1964 Olympic road race, ahead of Eddy Merckx

- or the bikes on which these feats were performed

- and especially the bike on which Doug Armstrong rode the first ever sub-5-minute pursuit at sea level

- any of about a thousand cool cycling things that Pat Shaw has at home

- the trophy from the Wooden Leg Award for Most Spectacular Crash by a BSCC Rider for 1986

OK, now we're getting silly - that last one is far too precious. But you get the idea. Please contact Malcolm Calloway with donations, on 0409 257166, or click HERE to email him.

*******

31 May update:

To see Roger's latest photos, please click HERE. Wow! There are a few photos: put your cursor at the bottom of the pic and click on the arrows that appear.

*********

Roger Bade writes:

Now they're at lock-up stage! Here are some interior photos.

******************************

Our new club-rooms are almost at the lock-up stage! Here's the view on May 3:

Over the next few weeks, let's all drop in at Marty Busch Reserve when we get a chance, and both check out the building progress AND keep a bit of an eye on the place. The partially-complete building is very vulnerable between now and when it gets to the lock-up stage, and any presence down there will help.

With good weather forecast over Easter, the track will be very useable, and members are welcome to do some training there, even on road bikes. Club members with motor bike licenses and access to a bike can even organize their own motor pacing! The more who visit, the better off we will be.

The graffiti on the kiosk has been reported to police, and council and will remove it in the next week or so.

Here's the view on April 14:

Updated again, 7 April: even more progress! Check this out:

At this rate, we would have knocked out the Pyramids in a few weeks ...

**************

Updated March 30: click HERE to see Roger's latest photos of our club rooms. Amazingly rapid progress!

*******

Construction of our club rooms has begun! Here are a few photos taken on March 8, thanks to Roger Bade:

1 March: Chris Liston writes:

Club rooms - calling all tradies, building suppliers and members in the know!

The commencement of construction of the BSCC clubrooms is imminent! This is a very exciting project that will bring big changes to the club. The contruction management team, Peter Martin, Volker Hegert and Mal Calloway, would like to hear from any club member or their business associates who would like to be involved in the clubroom construction project. The project will be funded by a grant, and the more help we have from club members, the more we will do with the grant money. Here's what we're looking for:

Trades: plumbing, carpentry, electrical.

Materials supply: paint, floor coverings, tiles, roofing, timber.

Labour.

Your contribution to the works may help to reduce the cost to the club, and have a dramatic effect on the finished project, furnishing and fitting out.

If you're willing to quote on any aspect of the works, please do so. The scope of work, timelines and budget are up for discussion with the construction management team.

All contributions, paid or voluntary, by club members to the project will be recognized on an honour board that will be erected in the new building.

If you're prepared to help out, please contact Mal on 0409 257 166, or Volker on 0427 576 067, by Wednesday March 9.

MTB: Club Race 1, Oct 2011

For the month of October 2011, the official club race is being run in conjunction with the Buninyong Good Life festival (16-Oct), and we are going to try something different, it is going to be an individual time trial hill climb. While the total distance is only 7km you will climb over 300 meters.

Because the race is an individual time trial, riders will be released at 30 second intervals in reverse order (fastest last). To help with the seeding we are asking everyone to pre-register so that we can workout the order, which will make the registration process on the morning faster. Click 104,101,114,101 to pre-register.

Seniors

Senior Course:

Or see course maped in Garmin Connect here

Senior Description:

We start in-between the newly built tennis courts and the Buninyong Community Reserver (football oval), we ride straight up Cornish St and turn right onto Elizabeth St. After the last house on the left we turn into Union Jack reserve and we follow the walking track into the center of the reserve, relish this bit of track because not only is it one of the only bits of downhill in the course, but it is the first time a MTB event has be allowed in Union Jack. After about 700m we start climbing again, at almost the top of this hill we take a right hand turn and follow another walking track to Gittings Lane, turn left at Gittings Lane and climb to Mt Buninyong Road. Cross Mt Buninyong Road and climb some more. Turn right into Granny White Lane, over a couple of rolling hills (ducking the swooping magpie) and then turn left onto Blackberry Lane. This is the steepest and most technical climb in the course, most rider should be able to ride all the way but if the ground is wet you could be walking (here's a tip: 2/3rd of the way up it levels out a bit, catch your breathe, then go as fast as you can for the last bit of the climb as it is the steepest)... At the top of Blackberry Lane there is a bit more climbing on an unpaved road until we turn onto the Crater walk. We follow the Crater walk all the way around until it meets the road to the mountain summit. We turn right and follow the paved road to the summit. I hear what you are saying "it's a mountain race, what are we doing on a paved road", while this is true there are no offroad, ridable alternatives to the summit. We almost guarantee that you will be glad for the paving so you can catch your breathe and sprint to the finish.

After the Race

Since this is a point-to-point race the finish line is nowhere near where we left our cars, so once everyone is finished and all announcements made, we will ride back to the cars in a non-competitive manner. The good news is that it is all pretty downhill!

Seniors Details

When: 16-Oct-2011
Where: Buninyong, Community Reserve, cnr Cornish & Forest St Buninyong.
Registration: 9:00 to 9:45
Race Start: 10:00am
Distance: 7km
Format: Individual Time Trial
Cost: $5 for MTBA members, otherwise a $20 day permit is also required

Senior Grading

Last month we announced the introduction of a Novice grade and said that novice races would be held separately to the regular A, B & C grade race, however this month's race is a little different. The format of a point-to-point individual time trial is not well suited for holding multiple separate races, so therefore novice riders will be released (30 seconds apart) at the beginning of the race, then C grade, B grade and then A grade.

Remember to pre-register (using the link above) if you are planning on attending, even if there is only a chance you are coming.

Juniors

Junior Course:

Junior Description:

The junior course will use the last couple of kilometers from the senior course, but to save those little legs, they will start on Mt Buninyong. There is a small carpark just off the main road up to the summit, you have to turn onto a dirt track, it is before the crater. Parking and registration will be at this carpark. The kids will head up the dirt track for a few 100 meters and then turn onto the Crater walk. Where they will follow it all the way around until it meets the road to the mountain summit. They will turn right and follow the paved road to the summit.

Just to be safe we will be asking parents to stand on the summit road to ensure that any cars going to the top are not speeding.

After the Race

As with the seniors the finish line is nowhere near the start so senior club members will accompany the juniors as a group back to their starting location.

Juniors Details

When: 16-Oct-2011
Where: Mt Buninyong, lower carpark before the crater.
Registration: 11:45am
Race Start: 12:00pm
Distance: 2km
Format: Individual Time Trial
Cost: $3 for MTBA members, otherwise a $20 day permit is also required

Remember to pre-register (using the link above) if you are planning on attending, even if there is only a chance you are coming.

MTB: Dirt Crits are back

Dirt Criteriums are back every Tuesday night from 11-Oct-11 up until mid December. Racing takes place off Recreation Road, Mt Clear (next to Mt Clear Secondary College).

In Seniors we have four regular grades and a beginners grade for the newbies. The grades are:
A grade
B grade
C grade
D grade

Novice grade.

Where: Mt Clear High, Carpark. Canadian (just off recreation road)

Course Length: approx 1km

Juniors
  Registration: 5:30pm
  Race Start: 5:45pm
  Duration: 20 minutes
  Cost: MTBA members $3

Seniors (C, D & Novice grades)
  Registration: 5:45pm
  Race Start: 6:10pm
  Duration: 20 minutes
  Cost: MTBA members $5

Seniors (A & B grades)
  Registration: 5:45pm
  Race Start: 6:35pm
  Duration: 25 minutes
  Cost: MTBA members $5

MTB: First MTB Event of Spring 2010 (edited)

Results

(from the pen of Matt Turner, Marshal for the Race)

"The BSCC MTB club saw a much anticipated return to racing last Sunday morning at the Mt Clear dirt crit track. 16 riders braved the potential dismal weather conditions, eager to get some lactic acid into the legs, and lusting after the much missed thrill of chasing sweaty lycra clad athletes around a bush circuit.

A spirited working bee the day before ensured the course was in the best condition it had been all winter. A couple of aspiring lumberjacks freed up access to sections of the track damaged by recent biblical weather events, and made some interesting features in the process. Apart from a couple of muddy corners and a hidden sink hole which swallowed wheels whole, the course was hard-packed, and fast and flowing as proved by the sub-ten minute lap times punched out by half the field.

The post-nuclear-esque winter had clearly not thwarted the fitness regimens of some riders, with the likes of Warren Faneco, Dale Boucher and Tim Oliver to name a few, actually posting faster lap times as the hour long race wore on.

In the elite category, Warren and Shane Cody duelled for the front position over the first few laps until Shane suffered a crippling loss of front tyre pressure which he claimed reduced the performance of his bike. This allowed Dale ‘The Pres’ Boucher back into the game where he eventually steamrolled into second place 50 seconds behind the consistent Warren Faneco and 37 seconds ahead of Shane.

The expert category was dominated by relative newcomer Jason Birch who took an early lead and progressively widened the gap back to second place Tim Oliver, and Michael Veal in third.

Sport category saw Jacqui Clynes go out hard from the beginning and using the climbs to her advantage to eventually finish with around a five minute gap over second place Gail Oliver, with David Tannard hot on her heels to cross the finish line in third.

A number of new riders racing for the first time with the club allowed for the running of a recreation category, with a solid ride laid down (and hopefully enjoyed) by Tim Paton, Andrew Pearson and Hayden Emery.

The wet weather has certainly played havoc with the race aspirations of many a local rider, but hopefully now we can look forward to an exciting Spring season with the social atmosphere and comradery of local club racing, as an ideal prep for the jam-packed summer calendar.

Special mention to Craig ‘enduro specialist’ Sinclair for collecting about five bags of rubbish from the crit track site, Paul Mathers for his timekeeping duties, and all the guys who gave up their time on Saturday to make sure the track was ready to be enjoyed by all."

Race results are available in both Summary and Detail formats

Gong Gong Race Postponed
Due to the recent rainfall, Central Highlands Water has closed Gong Gong Park to the public so we have delayed the race until later in the year.

http://www.chw.net.au/CHW/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=342&Itemid=258 .
But we are still racing on Sunday 19th September. The venue has been changed to Canadian Forest off Recreation Road.

Seniors will be racing for 60 minutes over a 3.6 kilometre loop with 142 metres of climbing per lap. This year we have four grades with a beginner grade for the newbies. The grades are:
Elite – previously A grade
Expert – previously B grade
Sport – previously C grade
Recreation – new grade for beginners.
Registration begins at 9:30am with racing at 10am.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25431183

Juniors will be racing over a shorter circuit and this year we’ll try racing the juniors after the seniors. Registration will begin at 11:15 with racing at 11:30am. The race will be timed over 25 minutes.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/25431116

MTB: Dirt Girls Monthly Ride

Dirt Girls September Ride - this Saturday

Usually the first Saturday of the month, we had to postpone the last one due to rain rain and more rain. But the ride will go ahead this weekend! Read on for more details...

How about a relaxed and fun way to improve your bike handling skills! Enjoy the wind in your hair (under your helmet of course) as you negotiate the flowing trails of Black Hill... while having lots of fun. We'll work on things like positioning on the bike, braking, not braking, using a berm etc. And of course plenty of chat.

Note - there are some easy trails on Black Hill which are great for practicing skills on. We will not be doing any gap jumps!

Date: Saturday 25th September
Where: Black Hill - meet at the lookout carpark
When: 9am - til about 10:30, or whenever you've had enough
Bring: Yourself, your bike, your helmet

For more information or to register your interest, contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or email 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117

Stuart Grigg wins at Dunnstown

Phil Orr writes:

At BSCC's senior club handicap race at Dunnstown on Saturday September 19, just under twenty competitors faced strong northerly winds. Sole limit rider Jeremy Doolan was being chased down by the hard-working 9 minute bunch, containing the eventual winner. The four riders off second scratch started 30 seconds ahead of sole scratch rider Rob Doyle. Rob was racing six days after a hard ride in the gruelling 230 km Grafton to Inverell. He started very fast and almost closed the gap, but then the previous week's race caught up with him, and the gap opened up again. It was expected that second scratch would therefore take the fastest time, but to everyone’s surprise, the fastest time came from the 4 minute bunch who rode extremely strongly as a team throughout the race. The second scratch group ran out of legs, and their race was interrupted by a herd of cows crossing the road at the dairy.

The in-form Stuart Grigg, arguably the strongest rider in last week's BSCC masters championship, took line honours, followed closely by Joel Hossack , Matt Albiston and Beth Canny. Fastest time went to Mitch Brogden.

1st Stuart Grigg

2nd Joel Hossack

3rd Matt Albiston

Fastest time: Mitch Brodgen

Road: Emma Wins NZ Tour

Updated 21 October

BSCC's Emma Bilston has won the U15 Yunca Junior Tour in New Zealand.

Emma competed against girls in U15 from New Zealand and Australia, winning the tour with strong rides in every stage. On day 2 in the hills, Emma broke away, winning the stage by over 2 minutes. This secured her tour win, and also the Queen of the Mountain jersey, Sprint jersey and a special award for the most outstanding rider of the series.

More details soon. Well done Emma!

Updated 12 September

BSCC's Emma Bilston was the star of the show at last weekend's Australian junior road championships at Dookie. Emma scored a silver medal in the W15 TT, bronze in the road race, and 4th in the criterium. Congratulations Emma!

Following her strong rides at the Nationals, Emma is now off to New Zealand for the Junior Tour of Southland, in Invercargill, the location for the 2012 world junior champs. The Tour of Southland is a junior stage race that aims to be the top junior cycling event in the world in a few years. Emma is heading for five days of road racing, a few days' break, and then three days of track racing, against riders from all over the world.

BSCC's Vic Snibson, Angus Lyons and Nicholas White also rode at the Junior Nationals and did us proud.

Following her strong time trial win at the state champs, Vic was selected as part of the four-rider state team for the nationals, as was Emma. Vic and Emma were two of the only three Victorian girls to race all three championship events - time trial, road race and criterium. Vic finished in the top 20 in both the road race and the crit. She had a strong ride in the road race. She was in the lead pack until the end but pulled her foot out of the pedal on the third last corner. In a typically calm and gutsy ride, she got her foot back into the pedal, chased back, and finished with the lead group, only a handful of seconds behind the winner. In the crit, Vic had a personal best ride, finishing in the sprint finish and ending in16th position.

Nicholas White had a tough battle in the road race, but put together an awesome ride in the crit, and but for a crash would have finished with the main group.

This was Angus' first year as an under 17 so he was just there for experience. Following his 4th in the TT at the State champs, Angus was disappointed in his finish in the mid field of the time trial. U17 in Australia is very competitive these days! The 70 km road race was really an experience with a starting group of about 100 riders. All started a little nervously but remained upright. Angus was with the front bunch of about 30 riders at about 40 km out when the rider in front of him ran into the bollards - "road furniture" - that, for some reason, had been put in the middle of the (closed) road. This took down 5 riders, including Angus. Thankfully the injuries were only skin deep, but Angus lost his chain, and with it any hope of chasing back onto the pack. After some patching up he rode well the next day to make the finals of the criterium. This was another incredibly fast race, with 50 riders in the pack. He learnt the value of being at the front, as in the middle of the group, he was squeezed out round the corners every lap of the 30 min +3 final race. He was pushed into the gutter in the final lap so was out of the sprint but happy to finish at the back of the pack.

Angus is looking forward to next year's national champs, when it is back in Canberra with the promise of some big hills.

Click HERE for the full, official results, and HERE for the Courier's story.

Road: Wednesday October 12 - A Big Day for Cycling in Ballarat.

Updated 21 Oct:

We still haven't seen official results from the HST support crits. But Sam Edwards, who rode the "elite" (open - non-Masters) event, reports:

I took the line quietly nervous, looking at a few jerseys that said "VIS" and "Search to Retain." The pace to Loreto was a nice and I thought to myself, "Man, this is gonna be great, I'll just sit on and enjoy the tow..." How wrong I was! The first attack went out of the Loreto corner, and the lactate fest began. Attacks went one after another for the entirety of the first lap of the lake, which was done at a speed of 42.5 km/h. I was spat out at the beginning of the second lap, and had myself a solo TT for another lap before calling it a day. A Grade won't be calling my name any time soon.

Congrats to Sam for starting the event! Many didn't ... - ed.

*******

Wednesday was a big day for cycling in Ballarat and for BSCC: Ride to Work day, the Herald-Sun Tour, Honda Hybrid Tour, and three BSCC wins in the Western Victoria round of the Victorian Schools Cycling Champs. Those links are to the Courier’s excellent coverage of all the events. Congratulations to Vic Snibson, Nic White and Liam White for their wins! Stay tuned for reports. And good luck to our champs in the state finals on Lygon Street on the weekend.

Of course, the Herald-Sun Tour features BSCC's Patrick Shaw, the road captain of the Genesys team, who have a real shot at the overall win with Nathan Haas. And BSCC's Chloe McIntosh is competing in the Honda Hybrid Women's Tour.

We also had the masters and “amateur” Sun Tour support events. BSCC was represented by Sam Edwards, Ryan Kerr, Paul Crack and Matt Smith. The official results haven't yet appeared, nor have we found a willing reporter to describe the action: stay tuned.

Track: 2011-12 Season Opener, 20 October

New track racing reporter Angus Lyons writes:

Gloomy skies greeted the first competitors that arrived at the newly completed Marty Busch Reserve Velodrome on Thursday. This soon progressed to rain and the event was called off. However this didn’t stop many optimistic riders from coming, even if many were only able to check out the new club rooms and hire bikes. This year’s racing promises to be competitive, with 8 racing riders turning up despite the weather, and 15 bikes so far hired out for the season. Racing is on next week (Thursday 27th), and is sure to be a great night with many of the school students coming down for their first ride. All juniors are welcome to come along for an introduction to the great sport of track racing. Seniors are welcome too - we will fit in appropriate racing later in the afternoon.

ALSO - Presentations for the 2010/2011 junior track championships will be held from 6.00pm and this will be followed by a presentation on the recent Tour de Timor - All welcome. The new BBQ will be firing!

MTB: Help us make Vic Gov develop a MTB strategy

Online Petition to get Mountain Biking on the Political Agenda in Victoria

Over the last few years we have seen the efforts put in by other states to develop statewide strategic plans for Mountain Biking e.g. South Australia and Tasmania, which have not only placed Mountain Biking on the radar but have strengthen and advanced the sport in these states.

Such strategic plans have provided opportunities for individual Mountain Bikers to enjoy legal single trails as well as being of great benefit for local clubs. Such plans have lead to the allocation of funding of key infrastructure, through active consultation with mountain bikers and clubs, with a long term statewide view in mind, meaning that trails are being developed in appropriate areas to serve the needs of all mountain bikers.

While we have seen an expansion of Mountain Biking across the state of Victoria in recent years this expansion has been somewhat sporadic, being reliant on either long term and productive relationships between Mountain Bike clubs and land managers, commercial interest or one off decision based on political will. In addition, as the number of clubs is growing as well as their membership, clubs are faced with the prospect of developing legal trail infrastructure, often on public land, in order to ensure club viability.

This process requires consultation and engagement with local land managers and, without a clear statewide vision and policy framework to back it up, the success of these efforts is dependent on the attitudes of the local managers. As a result, inconsistency in the way in which Mountain Bike infrastructure is developed (and not developed) exists.

With the upcoming Victorian election we would like to urge all Mountain Bikers and Mountain Bike clubs to make their voices heard and put Mountain biking on the political agenda.

Show your support by signing this online petition and if you have the time, write to your local member of parliament or the Minister for Environment, Climate change and Innovation the Honorable Mr Gavin Jennings (Gavin.Jennings@parliament.vic.gov.au). Ask that they place a Statewide Mountain Bike Strategy on the agenda that delivers on the aims outlined above.

You can sign the online petition here:

http://www.gopetition.com/petition/39290.html

MTB: Junior Skills Clinic in the You Yangs

Free Junior MTB Skills Clinic

Come and be a part of the Jayco MTBA Australian MTB Series!

A free clinic run by national level coaching staff and elite mountain bikers will be held on Sunday 21st of November for riders aged between 8-16 of all levels. Registration will be held from 9am on Sunday for a 10am start at You Yangs National Park, Drysdale Rd entrance. Every rider who attends will receive free cap and drink bottle and be in the running to win a mountain bike at the end of the series!

For further information contact

Karen Jones - 0408 375 238
karin@ksjevents.com.au

Tram tracks: Ballarat City Council is onto it

From Ashley Pittard, Manager Recreation & Open Space Planning, City of Ballarat:

Ballarat City Council and a range of stakeholders have undertaken considerable investigation to the tram crossing on Wendouree Parade to develop a safer crossing solution. Legal advice is that the Tramways Museum is responsible for the metal part of the tramway crossing, and Council is responsible for the asphalt area around the tramway. Together, the Tramways Museum and Council are investigating solutions. At 7:30 AM on Saturday November 21, a contractor will snadblast the tram track within the bike lane. Next week, increased line marking and signs might be installed. This will be monitored over a period of time to determine cycle safety.

Hooray! Please send your comments on the changes to 84,105,109,32,79,39,68,111,104,101,114,116,121.

Road: Round 4 aggregate points

The Malcahy and Co Road Race Series Aggregate points after 4 rounds are here.

MTB: Trail Survey

BSCC Regional Trails Strategy 2012 Survey

After a recent meeting with The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) the club was asked to submit a strategy document on the trail needs for the club.

DSE manage many of the state forests in the region and are interested in understanding the trail requirements of the club for both events and recreational purposes. Information presented to them will shape the way future trail infrastructure in the region is developed and maintained.

Have your say on what the club needs by filling out the online survey at the link below. The survey only takes about 5 minutes to complete.
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YPDJTJ6

If you have any other feedback or question regarding this survey or anything else regarding trails then please feel free to contact Antanas at
aspokevicius@gmail.com

Road: Victorian Schools Cycling Championships

Wanted – Volunteer nomination committment for the following roles:
Traffic Control Marshal ( Certified to stop Traffic) wanted for the Ballarat Sebas CC hosted Zone Final of the Victorian Schools Cycling Championship on Friday 31st August 9.00 – 2.30p.m
Incentives apply.
3 Volunteer marshals for corners and club catering /bbq
Please reply to web admin or ph. Chris Liston - 0437318251 – ASAP or before Friday 23.03.12

Road: 2011 awards still outstanding

There are a number of prizes and awards in arrears from the last season. If you are a place getter in the 2011 Road or Crits series or Hill Climb championships please call Chris on 0437318251 to arrange a pick up for your sashes medals and trophies. There are about 20 items outstanding. Much time, energy and effort together with club funds has gone into these items and we want them to be proudly displayed or cared for by their owners.

Road: Vic Park crit results

BSCC Junior Criteriums Rnd 11 March 7 2012

Chloe Stinchcombe’s season of improved performances set her on the same mark as Ziggy Lee. Stinchcombe missed taking Lee at the line in what was a very good duel between the two most junior riders.
Graeme Frislie was flying off scratch in the E grade criterium. He claimed Brayden Maurer then the pair of Felicity Liston and Zac Stinchcombe. Liston got away from Stinchcombe as Frislie closed in. Rochelle Liston was over a minute quicker than the previous week and took the handicap. Into the finishing Straight Bailey Cody was reeling in Rochelle with Frislie finishing strongly for third Felicity fourth.

E Grade 4 lap Sealed H’Cap 5.2km
1st Rochelle Liston
2nd Bailey Cody
3rd Graeme Frislie

F Grade 3 lap H’cap 3.9km
1st Ziggy Lee
2nd Chloe Stinchcombe

BSCC Senior Criteriums Rnd 12 - March 7 -2012
Senior Results
A fairly even tempo greeted riders in the 25 minute and two lap A grade criterium. The bunch was content to let a succession of riders go off the front. Matthew Clark and Sam Palanca had an early spurt, with Jay Bourke and Josh Liston putting in a turn of speed for a couple of laps mid race. Angus Lyons pushed the field and then went to the rear for a rest. The pace had shifted from previous weeks leaving the U17’s with one or two others off the back. Lyons Liston and Lucas Hamilton had a sprint derby at the line; while out front of the field Clark took the win from Liam White and Aaron Blomeley
B & C grade race in good formation with the field in relatively tight bunches. Steve border again was the standout taking two wins from two starts in C grade. Peter Canny and Don Stewart took the minors as new man Matthew Angus faded in the finish with Andrew Stinchcombe, Tim Lucas and Victoria Snibson being out-powered in the sprint. Shane Cody looked good and in form as he had early control of the pace from Grant Gilbert and Matt Turner

A Grade 25 min + 2 laps 4 Sprint
1st Matthew Clark
2nd Liam White
3rd Aaron Blomeley

B Grade 25 min + 2 laps 3 Ssprint
1st Shane Cody
2nd Joel Hossack
3rd Dave Peters

C Grade 20 min + 2 laps 3 Sprint
1st Stephen Border
2nd Peter Canny
3rd Don Stewart

BSCC Junior Criteriums Rnd 12 March 14 2012
Chloe Captures Win!!!
Chloe Stinchcombe lined up with Ziggy Lee as the outmarkers of the E grade all in Handicap. Chloe with Ziggy were a duel and a race within the all in classification developed. The young lass learning from last week where she was pipped at the line; stayed ahead in the sprint to notch up the win in their first race with the full E grade field over four laps totalliy 5.2km. Stinchcombe took the race from Lee as fast finishing Graeme Frislie claimed third and fastest time. Bailey Cody and Rochelle Liston set off in a pair while Zac Stinchcombe Felicity Liston together with Tyson Cody made the centre trio. Frislie dropped fellow scratchman Jake Ashmore who came to the line with the most aggressive sprint for seventh.

E Grade 4 lap Sealed H’Cap 5.2km
1st Chloe Stinchcombe
2nd Ziggy Lee
3rd Graeme Frislie (f/t)
4th Tyson Cody

BSCC Senior Criteriums Rnd 13 - March 14 -2012
Senior Results
Pierce puts stabs A Grade for a win!
After thirteen rounds of Criterium racing next Wednesdays BSCC Championship Criteriums are set for some classic racing to mark the finale! Michael Pierce finally cracked the field of A grade for a win. The twenty five minute plus two lap event came down to a sprint for the places. Pierce timed his run for the line perfectly to edge out the dominant attacker of Jay Bourke and take the honours. The race was a high pace from the get “go” and Tony Mirabella was the first rider to have a go from the front. The bunch let him dangle on more than one occasion and he was replaced by Lucas Hamilton of Ararat in the later stages of the race. Hamilton an U17 did a lap on his own, then Hugo Tolliday joined in. The pair looked a little threatening over a few laps and with two to go; they were brought into the pack within a lap. Pierce taking the win, then Bourke with Stuart Grigg gaining his first ever podium in A grade for third.
Paul Humphries consolidated his form taking a win in B grade. Dave Peters looked to have good form going and suffered a centre bracket lock up that ended his race. Shane Cody was tipped to have the race; however he was out done by Stephen Border who had several places and two wins in C grade.
C Grade was a fairly even race. Andrewe Stinchcombe was dropped out the back and Matthew Angus rode consistently but he lacked the form of previous weeks. Gerard White was the man mid bunch as the pace setters of Don Stewart and Peter Canny pulled turns in the home straight. The finish was tight with Dominic Geoghegan being outsprinted by Peter Canny with the only female entrant of Victoria Snibson taking a very strong third.

A Grade 25 min + 2 laps
1st Michael Pierce
2nd Jay Bourke
3rd Stuart Grigg

B Grade 25 min + 2 laps
1st Paul Humphries
2nd Stephen Border
3rd Shane Cody

C Grade 22 min + 2 laps
1st Peter Canny
2nd Dominic Geoghegan
3rd Victoria Snibson

Road: Leongatha Junior Experience

The Leongatha Cycle Club is again running the famous Leongatha Junior Experience and the Victorian Junior Hill Climb Champs on April 28 and 29 this year.

Track: Preston Junior Track Carnival report

Flying Frislie!

Greame Frislie took his first medal in open sub junior cycling at the Preston Junior Track Cycling Carnival that included the 2012 U11 and U13 Girls and boys Championship titles in Scratch, Sprint and 500m time trial events. Frislie narrowly missed Gold and was runner up in his first Championship Sprint taking silver with a 200m outdoor time of 16:27. He also finished fourth in the Time Trial and was outpositioned in the 8 lap (3200m) scratch race. The conditions were mild with a slight headwind from the west coming into turns 3 and 4 on the bitumen track that slowed all riders over the races of the day.
Fellow junior rider Rochell Liston also scored a medal in the 500m U13 girls Championship 500m time trial taking bronze with a 47:45. The second year "top age" metropolitan U13 girls dominated in the scratch and sprint. Liston was seeded third and matched it with the backmarkers to take third in the final handicap wheelrace of the day. The Preston Carnival was the last sub junior track meet of the year and Frislie together with Liston capped off their some good reults following the Ararat Classic Track Carnival; where they both placed across scratch and handicap wheelraces.
In the Junior events William Key took a win in the U17 sprint for a Preston Carnival Gold and won the opening scratch race with a determined move that saw him move through the field at the top of the track on bell lap. Key was moved back to scratch in the final handicap race of the day. He was at scrratch with Joshua Liston on 10m, after 12 laps of really good racing that saw Liston leading with a gap over two laps; at the finish line, Liston pipped Key him by centimetres for second, behind Brunswicks Liam Hood who took the win. Josh also placed third in the JM17 progressive points race with fourth in the sprint and time trial.

MTB: Social Ride at Anglesea (updated)

From the pen of Matt Turner, 21 March 2011

8am, Buninyong, five dudes, two cars, half a plan.

10am, Anglesea caravan park, five dualies rubber side down, ascending along the clifftop walking track, clear blue skies, ocean breezes.

One mysterious leaking tubeless tyre, three bush mechanics, acres of tranquil and serene atmosphere.

Numerous tight switchback climbs, numerous tight switchback descents, flowing runs of rough singletrack bouncing over the rocks and ruts with a fully-open rear shock.

Log roll-overs, bigger log roll-overs, double log roll-overs, log drop-off, corner, rock garden, log roll-over, bash the big chain-ring.

Reverse direction, double the speed, log jump-overs, sandy two-wheel drifts, five yelps!

Skatey rocky climbs, chin on the bars, heart rates too high.

Cruising to the finish line, wheel to wheel, snaking through the black boys, limbs getting whipped.

Descending the clifftop walking track, jumping the water bars, big ring grinding to finish off the legs.

Refuelling at the bakery, legs feeling like lead, looking like a grubby city slicker who’s strayed onto the set of Home and Away.

The end.
*******************

Original Text

This Sunday (20-Mar-11) is our next planned social MTB ride. This time we are going into the bush near Anglesea. Anglesea has some surprising good tracks ,mostly single track. There is easily enough there to keep us busy.

It's a social ride, so the whole thing will be fairly relaxed without much planning. But the guidelines we're working with are:
- We will meet at a location with free parking
- As people arrive, carpooling will be organised,
- We will drive to the destination in convoy,
- When we arrive at the trail head, we will break into groups that match rider abilities. Slower riders or riders just starting out, please don't worry about slowing the group down. It's a social ride, so nobody is there to break land-speed records!
- On the way home, we will go for coffee and/or lunch

With these points in mind, here's what we've decided for this ride.

Meeting Place: Crown Hotel Carpark - Buninyong (402 Learmonth Street, Buninyong)
Meeting Time: 7:45am (to allow for carpooling organisation)
Stopping Where on the Way Home: Anglesea township, for lunch and a drink
Expected Duration: 2 to 3 hours (plus travel time)
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

2009 BSCC Track Championship Results

World class times and record numbers for Ballarat Cycling Championships

Damien Keirl gave us a master class in track cycling in the elite men’s kilometre time trial, eclipsing the previous best by a club rider and equaling the track record set by multiple olympian Shane Kelly. Keirl’s 1 minute and 6 seconds puts him amongst Australia’s best. Leading into the event the three elite male riders were equal on points so a strong result was required. Even so, Keirl still needed to finish ahead of under 19 rider Harry Crothers-Bade and recent Ballarat arrival Reese Gillet in the final event to be sure of an overall win. Despite multiple attacks from the younger riders Keirl hung on grimly and then had the strength to take out the sprint comfortably from Crothers-Bade and then Gillet.

52 cyclists completed the 2009 Ballarat Sebastopol Track Championships with tight racing and impressive times on display across all groupings. The new format based on 3 individual events; sprint, pursuit and time trial, and then a final scratch race meant almost all divisions were in the balance right to the end. Amongst the elite women it was Gail Oliver and Chloe Hegert who fought out every race with Hegert taking the overall by the narrowest of margins. Amongst the juniors the under 13 boys fielded the largest number of riders with all showing class, courage and strong bike skills. In the end it was State silver medallist Nicholas White who took the overall honours from newcomer Ben Newell and Dylan Bilston.

To download and view the final results, please click here

Club Champions:

· Under 11 Girls – Olivia Oliver

· Under 11 Boys – Clancy Dickson

· Under 13 Girls – Emma Bilston

· Under 13 Boys – Nicholas White

· Under 15 Boys – Josh Liston

· Under 17 Girls – Molly Hegert

· Under 17 Boys – Charles Martin

· Under 19 Boys – James Crafter

· Masters Men – Scott Townsend

· Elite Women – Chloe Hegert

· Elite Men – Damien Keirl

· Most Outstanding Junior Rider – Hugo Tolliday

MTB: InterWinter Round 2 has been run and won

BSCC hosted its first major mountain bike event event on Sunday 20th June, and despite the weather and the conditions everyone seemed to enjoy the event. The most popular comment was "I would like to ride this track when it's dry".

We had over 150 entries, with 60 of them turning up on the day (while it was raining). This just shows how keen MTBers are.

Full details can be viewed here, but in summary BSCC riders did our club proud. Phil Orr took out 2nd place in A Grade. It took a 21 year old rider from the national team to beat him - yet another Orrsome effort. Warren Faneco came 8th and Clinton LeMaitre 13th. In B grade Shane "Jedi" Cody came 3rd, Guy Falla 5th, Matt Turner 9th, Tim Oliver 11th, Neville Bilney 13th, Paul Mathers 27th, Magnus Baker (a new member) 32nd, Peter Walker 43rd (and at the same time was managing all the marshals). And in C Grade, Matthew Albiston 4th (although looking at his times should have been in B grade), Gail Oliver 10th (and 3rd overall in the womens), Ben Baker 18th, Anthony Rogan 21st, Hugh Ingram 23rd, Owen Sargisson 25th, Darren Gannon 29th, David Tannard 44th (who had to retire early with broken derailieur), Elizabeth Baker 53rd and Georgette Baker 55th.

Many riders were forced out of the race due to mechanical issues. Broken frames, broken chains, broken deraillieurs and "chain suck" were common place. In short it was a tough race. One of the most used facilities was Little Bendigo Primary School's garden hose for hosing off both riders and bikes.

Round 3 is only 2 weeks away on the 4th July, at Castlemaine. Hope to see you there.

Road: Beat this!

Euro cycling junkies, read this and weep. Hot on the heels of Jay Bourke's post-Paris-Roubaix party with Fabian Cancellara comes Mike Bigarelli's ride with several cycling demi-gods. Mike is on an extended trip to Italy, his ancestral home, to tend to Cadel Evans' health during the Giro and see some of his other cycling mates. He sent the following cheeky note:

Just a couple of guys that I rode with in the Grand Fondo Eddy Merckx.

The fat one is the legendary Eddy Merckx, and the one with the man boobs is Mario Cipollini. Cipo was a crazy man on the bike, and in true Italian fashion he is still very much in love with himself.....

Road: News from Jay

BSCC's Jay Bourke is occasionally inspired to write a story about his experiences racing in the top echelons of the Australian road scene. Jay's dad Wayne, one of Australia's pioneering Ironman triathletes, was a regular BSCC rider in the 1980s. Jay himself started out as a triathlete, and set a few Victorian course records that still stand, before he was seduced by cycling. After his breakthrough Oz Champs ride in 2008, he's been a regular in national-level road races.

Cyclingnews has Andy Schleck and Heinrich Haussler. Some may say they got a raw deal. My girlfriend will argue otherwise! Having written a few race reports for the website, and being late writing others, an idea was hatched for me to write a blog during this season. So this is it! Basically, it was thought this would be a great way to keep club members updated on the National Series races Pat, Rhys and myself will be doing, and to give an insight into the team life while on tour, as well as the training schedule we balance with our 'regular' life into the leadup of such races. I have not raced since that hot, hot day in early January: have been on holidays, and signed with a new team. This fresh start seemed like the perfect timing to begin this blog!

Search2retain is a new Melbourne-based National team. The title sponsor uses Culture Profiling to match clients and employees with businesses successfully. And this was used at our inital team meeting. It was really interesting! Jane, my girlfriend, and I went through the character profiling together, and as they say, opposites attract. We have used this profiling within the team to understand how we may cope with stress or react to pressure in race situations. Bjarne Riis's team-bonding camps have nothing on us! And it's working to build a tight crew of riders - even though we are spread out along the east coast, and I was away overseas during the initial meet and greet. We have been in contact with one another, emailing daily to make joint decisions on important issues such as bike choice (Scapin), clothing (my ISD Italian fluoro yellow didn't quite get the nod), and most importantly, sock height.

So I'm settling in well with the new team, and otherwise busy getting my legs back in shape. Training at this stage of the year forms the base for a race season that will extend to February next year, so it is important to build slowly and develop strength to withstand some 8 months of racing, most of them through winter. After discussing a few weak points during his study into time trial performance (I won't repeat my max wattage numbers), Brad Clark is helping me with a few things - mainly holding me back so that I don't burn out. A weights programme is something else that he has introduced that I have never done before. Anyone that knows all 60kg of me knows that a gym is foreign to me, so it has been an eye-opening experience strutting around in front of the mirrors.

Anyways, better go back and wash our bikes after another cold and grimy ride out Mt. Misery way - good Melbourne to Ballarat echelon training. Next update will have some racing, finally!

Harry gets a trip! And some publicity

Updated: Harry was on the WIN TV news last Thursday night, and he was in the Courier today. Publicity for Harry, for cycling, for the club, and for the track upgrade - thanks to media maven Stuart Brien. This adds to the regular stream of Courier articles covering the club's junior racing that come thanks to the tireless efforts of Chris Liston.

*****

Cycle Sport Victoria last night announced the Victorian team for the 2010 Australian track championships, to be held in Adelaide next month. Harry Crothers-Bade will ride the M19 individual pursuit and the M19 team pursuit. Congratulations Harry! This is the result of a lot of hard work over the winter, and we all saw Harry's form at the Small Dog criteriums before Christmas. The word is that Harry's Victorian pursuit team will go very fast. Stay tuned.

Small Dog Criteriums re-start, marshals assigned

Updated: marshals have now been assigned for the senior races for the rest of the Small Dog criterium series. The marshals are listed in the entry for each race in the on-line calendar. Marshals for the junior races will be added to the calendar shortly. Assigned marshals will also be contacted by email, as usual. The responsibilities of criterium marshals (new for Jan 2010) are listed on the Club Racing > Rules & Code of Conduct page.

We also need a volunteer to collect entry fees and hand out numbers for the junior races, 5-6 PM. If you're available, please contact junior racing supremo 67,104,114,105,115,32,76,105,115,116,111,110.

Race results and reports are now posted on the Race Results > Small Dog criterium results page. The A-grade race turned out just like in the post-Tour crits! (see below - ed.) Luckily Jay rode off the front, so no post-Tour-like special arrangements were required.

*****

BSCC's 2009-2010 Small Dog Criteriums re-start again this Wednesday, 20 Jan 2010. Be there!

Strictly speaking, you need to have a 2010 racing licence to do these races, now that it's 2010 and all. There will be a brief grace period, but if you haven't applied for your 2010 licence yet, get onto it. Here's the info about standard "pavement" (road-track-crit) licences, and here's the word about pavement + MTB licences.

After the excitement of the Australian Road Championships, and the ground-breaking performances by Ballarat riders, this is our equivalent of a post-Tour de France criterium. You know what happens there: all your local cycling heroes turn out to race, the crowds are huge, the stars get vast appearance fees, and strangely, the blokes who starred in the big race always win the crit. Will it be the same at Vic Park on Wednesday?

MTB: Otway Odyssey report

For many mountain bikers across Australia, the most important race on the MTB racing calendar is the Otway Odyssey which is held on the 3rd Saturday in February. In only its 7th year running the Otway has become the pinnacle event for challenging a rider over mountain ranges, creek crossings and many kilometres of single track where total concentration is of the essence. The favorites were there including Drapacs Lachie Norris, 4 times winner Chris Jongewaard, world 24 hour champion Jason English, world 24 hour champion Jessica Douglas and last weeks Ballarat endurance winner Sam Chancellor. One notable absentee this year was Phil Orr who decided not to race this year.
For those who haven’t witnessed an Odyssey before check out this short video taken by a rider in the 50km event. Take notice of the beautiful ferns, which then flows into Red Carpet a 8km downhill trail and then a mono over the finish line. Click here:
Compared to 2011, the conditions this year were perfect. Forrest had 25 mm of rain in the lead up which settled the dust and provided just the right amount of moisture on the ground. These conditions were fast and personal bests were on the cards.
This Year BSCC had around 15 riders competing in the 100, 50 and 15 km distances. In the 100km 4 members took on the challenge with Warren Faneco having the race of his life finishing a creditable 38th in a time of 5 hours 33 minutes. Warren put the great performance down to a hard preparation and a new hard tail bike that was much faster on the climbs.
Guy Falla once again proved his liking to the toughness of mountain bike racing with a time of 6 hours 14 minutes and 5th in the 50+ category. Coming off the grueling Tour De Timor, Guy is proving to be one of the leading MTB racers in the State in his age category.
Michael Veal also had a comfortable and enjoyable race finishing in 6hours 54 minutes and Jason Birch started well but had difficulty in the final sector of the race to finish in 7 hours and 4 minutes.
For the 50 km event, entries sold extremely fast and sold out a few months ago. You could almost say that the 50 km race is just as popular as the 100km for race entries. This year they allowed 800 entries and some of the clubs fastest riders chose this race over the 100km. Simon Ellis’s run of bad luck continued at the Otway with a broken derailler at the 35 km mark and had to walk back to the finish line. Simon was in the top 10 prior to the incident.
Becoming a new dad hasn’t slowed Jeremy Doolan with a 14th position finish in a simmering time of 2 hours 27 mins and only 11 minutes behind the winner. Dale Boucher and Joel Hossack fought out 26 and 27th position both finishing in 2 hours and 34 mins. Paul Plank in his second Odyssey finished in 3 hours and 3 mins and Grant Palmer continued his improving form finishing in 3 hours and 3 mins. Chris O’Keefe completed the course in 4 hours 10 mins and Andrew Aitken helped a friend out and cruised around the 50 km course.
The 15 km pioneer event had 3 competitors including 2 BSCC juniors. Harry Hislop was keen to beat last years time and he went out at a blistering pace. Not only did he beat his previous time by 4 minutes but he also finished in the top 10. Harry’s father Brett Hislop competed his first Otway and completed the course in 45 minutes and 26th place. The 50km beckons Brett in the 2013 Odyssey. Joel Boucher also competed in his first Otway and finished the course in 27th place in 45 minutes.

MTB: BSCC Shines in a Wet Otway Odyssey

In all, we had 24 BSCC members compete in this year's Otway Odyssey. The drama started Friday night when 1,750 riders, watching the weather radar, were horrified at the thought of racing in slippery mud. Saturday morning broke to a warm, humid day, but the previous night had brought 28 mm of rain to the trails.

The 100 km race had 1,000 entrants, including Chris Jongewaard ("J-Blood," as he's known), 24 hr world champions Jason English and Jess Douglas, and national MTB champion Ben Mather.

The winning time, from Chris Jongewaard, was 4 hours 22 minutes, yet riders were still coming in after 11 hours on the bike. Phil Orr was our leading rider in the 100 km race, finishing 16th. Other notable riders were Jacqui Clynes, who finished 15th in the women's race, and Jason Hegert, making a successful switch to off-road cycling, with 6 hours 7 mins in his first Odyssey.

Member	Time	Overall Position	Category Position
Phil Orr	5:06	16	16
Warren Faneco	6:04	94	72
Jason Hegert	6:07	100	78
Jeremy Doolan	6:14	114	84
Jason Birch	7:06	246	161
Michael Veal	7:18	277	178
Matthew Turner	7:20	284	182
Dallas Jones	7:40	343	220
Jacqui Clynes	7:54	382	15
Craig Lee	7:50	500	310

Simon Ellis	DNF
Andrew Pearson	DNF
Adrian Kenny	DNF

In the 50 km (Shorty) race, 5 BSCC members joined the field of 550 riders. This race begins and ends in Forrest, combining the Red Carpet downhill section, and a range of single track. Dale Boucher finished 4th in veterans, and we saw big improvements from Paul Mathers and Chris O’Keefe to reduce their 2010 recorded times by over an hour, despite much tougher conditions.

Member	Time	Overall Position	Category Position
Dale Boucher	2:44	36	4
Antanas Spokevicius	2:54	71	39
Paul Mathers	3:11	131	27
Wayne Strong	3:42	302	28
Chris O’Keefe	3:43	304	157

For more pictures of BSCC riders visit the BSCC MTB Facebook page.

15 km Race
We also had 2 junior members participate in the 15 km race. For Harry Hislop and Todd Grech this was their first major race. Both riders broke 50 minutes and I’m sure they will be back in 2012.

Rider Reports

Matthew Turner (100 km)
After arriving in Apollo Bay on Friday night to a reception of copious precipitation, I quickly reconciled with myself that there was nothing that could be done about track conditions and that I should look forward to the big day without anxiety and just take the hurdles as they come. The diversion up Wild Dog Road inspired many a sigh of relief, and maybe even lulled some first-timers into a false sense of day-long cleanliness, but I knew exactly what was about to come once we crossed the Forrest-Skenes Creek Road, and the slog through the mud didn’t desist until the 38km mark.

Unfortunately the second course diversion did not take place, but at least the entertainment of watching most people slide and fall all over the place, myself included, distracted from the grim task at hand, and before too long it was over, and finally the hard earned single-track fun could begin.

Some nutritional lessons learnt from my previous painful 100km Odyssey were vital in keeping me going the whole day, and I set out for the final loop with eager anticipation. Watching the grinning faces of those coming in the opposite direction, seconds from finishing, was further motivation. Of course there had to be a final couple of indignities, off the bike and walking, but I felt like this was one of my strongest legs, and I finished off feeling good, and like every other finisher, proud to have gotten through the country’s toughest MTB race in the most horrendous condition it has ever been in.

Jacqui Clynes (My First Otway 100)
After many years of being unwilling to commit to the long version of MTB racing, I finally decided to have a go at one of these marathons. I didn't really know what to expect, or how my body would hold up, or my mind for that matter. My entry was a last minute decision so I didn't have the benefit of training specifically for the event either. So I had no expectations of myself, which was quite nice really!
Race day dawned and at least it wasn't raining (although it had rained during the night). I had a great warm up, then the race started and I found a nice wheel to get safely through masses of mountain bikers riding along a sealed road (they are not as predicable as roadies!). The first climb felt great, at the top with plenty of energy, I thought maybe this won't be so bad after all. And then we hit the mud. And more mud. Slippery, clay mud that clogged up your wheels, sent you slipping and sliding all over the place and refused to dislodge from pedals when you had to put a foot out (or fell off..). The mud was combined with fire roads and 4WD tracks that pointed either up or down, and the going was pretty tough. It went on seemingly forever.

Finally, finally after what seemed like hours of battling the mud (actually it really was hours), we hit some sweet singletrack with a run down the infamous 'Red Carpet' into Forrest. This brought a smile to my face and improved my day considerably. It was followed by another sweet singletrack loop, before dropping into the footy oval for the first time at the 67km mark. So far so good!

Another 20km singletrack loop followed, including the lovely Mariners Run, with conditions holding up very well considering the number of riders and the wet weather. I recall seeing the 80km sign and realising that I hadn't taken on much in the way of carbs for some time... shortly followed by the light-headed dizziness that comes with a hunger flat. Damn! So then I did my best to eat anything I could reach from my pockets and keep the pedals turning over. About this time I ran into fellow BSCC member Dallas, so I had good company to get through those difficult muddy kilometers.

Back to the footy oval again at the 87km mark, and feeling a little worse for the wear, I took on more food and drink and headed out for the last 13km. I was thinking to myself, "It's only 13km, how hard can it be?". Very hard, as I soon discovered. It started with a climb that went on, and on, and on. That part was actually fine. At the top, however, the mud-fest started again, with sloppy 4WD tracks proving difficult to negotiate, and singletrack that might have been beautiful in other circumstances, but at the end of a long day and muddy conditions once more, I was very keen to see the end of.

I won't reveal the thoughts I had about the race during that last 13km. Needless to say they were not the most positive! However, after crossing the finish line, devouring a baked potato (with ALL the toppings) and a well earned beer, I may consider doing one of these marathon things again. If we have a drought perhaps...

Jason Birch (100 km)
The Otway Odyssey started for me at 5.30 on Friday night when the rain started to fall, and continued to fall for the next 5-6 hours. I woke at 4.45am, checked the Bureau of Met web site, and noted that 26mm had been recorded at Cape Otway. The track was going to be wet and wild. I was happy I had put on the Nobby Nic tyres.

Got to Apollo Bay: no rain, but very humid, and plenty of MTB riders on some impressive machinery. Found a small contingent of Ballarat guys - Matt, Michael, Warren, Chris, & Jason - and waited for the start, which came with mass movement and noise of knobby tyres on the bitumen.

The small group I was with soon dissolved, with Warren, Jason & Simon darting to the pointy end of the field pretty quickly. I sat back, trying not to go out too quickly. I wanted to conserve energy for what lay ahead. Up Wild Dog Road, and the huge contingent of riders started to space out. The wind was the main issue here. I'm not sure of the strength, but when you have to lean into the wind to avoid being pushed across the road I think it’s pretty strong. Felt good getting to the top, and the ride down was welcome although again the wind played a part as I didn’t get to reach the speeds I thought I would, just for self preservation if anything. The ascent on the private property had been diverted, as per the wet weather plan, so we continued up Wild Dog until we hit the first muddy ascent. It was short, but full of the slippery stuff, and plenty of people struggling to navigate the ruts full of mud and water. I had my first spill here: nothing serious, more of an ego bruise than anything. I got out of that OK, and then onto the clay hell that was the Noonday Track. The clay was like a magnet to the bikes, tyres filled with inches of clay and gum leaves. Traction was gone, which made the decent along Noonday almost impossible with huge ruts water and riders going off left, right and centre. The Noonday Creek was a relief to wash the bikes and get mud off the bike and shoes. It was very similar to the Boags beer ads: shitty, dirty bikes go in; nice, clean, rideable bikes come out.

Feeling better, we headed onto the Forrest outskirts and down Red Carpet, which made all the crap for the past 25km worthwhile. It was a totally different experience: tracks had grip, and the decent was just bloody good fun. I tucked in behind a guy and we just had a ball, talking & laughing all the way down enjoyed every moment of it. More single track, and then into the footy ground where Matt Albiston washed some of the crap off the bike (thanks Matt), then out onto the super loop and Mariners Run with its huge berms and hard-packed tracks. Again I enjoyed the ride, but I was starting to get tired, and looking for the 13km transition point. Mentally things were starting to get a bit weird as well, with strange thoughts entering the head. Popped out onto the footy oval again feeling pretty good. Was into the transition point with 13km to go at around the 5.40hr mark, I could not have gone any harder so it was all about survival at that point. After some advice from Matt I dumped the hydration pack, with thoughts of knocking this over in around an hour and getting back with a 6.40, which I would be happy with, given the crap I had just ridden through.

Well, I soon found out that applying those thoughts would be more difficult than anything I had encountered all day, and that it would all come crashing down in the section rightfully named ‘Britney’s Breakdown’. Totally unaware of what was to come, I was still motivated to get through this 13km quickly - after all, it’s only 13km! This fire road brought hell upon me like no other. Each hill brought me closer to physical melt down. I was in the granny gear without the motivation to go any faster, and watching many, many riders go past me. My competitive nature was spent, nothing left in the tank to chase or even keep up with those sliding past. Finally to the top of that bitch, and onto what was described in the course description as ‘one of the most enjoyable downhill sections.’ It was instead the worst downhill section of the course. I think I rode that with my right leg unclipped, brakes on for a large percentage, and teeth gritted for 100% of the time. Went off the hangers at one point and lay on the ground, actually relieved not to be moving. The only reason I got up was that I was causing too much of a distraction for people going past who thought I was seriously hurt. Back on the bike and onto what was the final disintegration of my physical powers, Sledgehammer. What is that? The unrideable fire road that caused me to actually stop walking two times to gather my thoughts and talk myself into plugging on up this mongrel slippery hill. Finally to the top, and the thought of finishing was the only motivation left. Racing left me hours ago, enjoyment was out the door, thoughts of solid food and getting off the bike was my only motivating factor. Down the motor bike trail, more mud and bog holes, onto J2 and finally the sound of the footy oval, the tops of tent and cars came into sight. The finish line was only minutes away. Crossed the line finally, downed the bike turned the Garmin and heart rate monitor off and lay down exhausted, hungry and very sore.

Well done to everyone who competed and finished. This was my first Otway experience, and although it was difficult, it has not entered my head not to do it all again. I will be back next year with more k’s in the legs and the motivation to crack that last 13km.

Warren Faneco (100km)
I had a few goals going into this year's Otway Odyssey (OO). One was to crack the top 100 again (and maybe top 50), and the other was to beat last year's time of 5:47. After hearing the rain all night long, I knew topping last year's time would be very tough! So I went for the top 50, which meant i was going to have to give the first climb a real crack. I did, but I went into the red zone for a little too long trying to stick with them. I still made it up the climb in the top 100, therefore not in too much of a traffic jam once we hit the dirt. Once I was over the first climb I just got into my tempo and had a ball riding the awesome trails, and was lucky not to hit the ground once, which is something I haven't done in the OO before! My legs were smoked from the 67km mark, from going too hard at the start, so I lacked a bit of power towards the end, and as my times reflect, slowed a fair bit from 67km onwards. Overall I had a great time, placed 95th and just under 6:05. Might have to talk to Phil about getting a carbon hard tail to get me over that first climb a little quicker next year!

Junior MTBA memberships are now available

Dale Boucher, BSCC MTB mogul, writes:

MTBA, mountain bike racing's Australian governing body, have released a junior membership called "Dirtmaster." The membership is for children aged between 3 and 13 years of age. For new members it will cost $40 (including $10 BSCC membership), or $30 if you're already a BSCC member.

Now that the Dirtmaster membership is available, BSCC will require juniors to have licences when participating in BSCC MTB criteriums and weekend MTB events. The licence is very important, because it insures the rider and BSCC in the event of an accident. There is also a $3 fee per race event.

To get your Dirtmaster licence, please complete THIS form, and take it and the fee to 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114 at Navajo Cycles in Sturt Street. Please make cheques out to Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club.

Track is back!

Roger Bade, track tsar, writes:

Our reconditioned velodrome is on schedule for its official re-opening on March 2. So club track racing will start again on Thursday evening, March 4. To celebrate the re-opening, race entry that day will be free, and there will be pizza! Bikes will also be available for loan.

The track committee has discussed what racing to prioritize once the track is open, and the consensus is that normal club racing is more important than club championships or other special events. We need to get riders back on the track! A first draft of a possible program is posted on the on-line calendar for March and April. The plan is to have club track racing on Thursday evenings, March 4, 11, 18 and 25. There will be no racing Thursday April 1, because of Easter. Racing will resume on Thursday April 8, and it's proposed that the final BSCC track race of the season is the Ballarat Madison on Thursday April 15. Stay tuned for more details.

Road: December RecTTT

An update has been added below. Ray Isaac, the reporter's reporter, writes:

Serious fun for recreational cyclists.

That’s what we offer. Serious fun. For recreational cyclists.

So what were we to make of all these non- recreational cyclists who showed up at the final RecTTT ride for 2010? There were fifty six riders in total - a new RecTTT record. Oh sure, all the regulars were there - the Goddesses, Saxon House, Dennis Family Homes and the Turret Café. Even the occasionally-present Yabby Divers arrived. We know these teams; we know what they can do.

But who were Cycle City, JB Cameron, Jedi’s Warriors and Lake View? Let me explain.

Cycle City was mostly young blokes who mostly ride for Cycle City. I know that sounds a bit trite but it’s true. Except for Stuey Sanders, I doubt that any of them have got near the sharp end of a razor yet. Somehow in their short lives so far, however, they’ve discovered something that has eluded most RecTTT riders for their whole lives. That is, how to ride a bicycle very fast.

I’ll try to make sure I recognise all their riders new to the joys of RecTTT riding. Obviously there was Stu, but James Crafter, Ciaran Conaughton and Mitch Brogden were also new to the caper. Given their lack of RecTTT experience, they were wise to recruit Aaron Blomeley to educate them in the finer points of RecTTT riding.

JB Cameron’s team fit more naturally at the other end of the spectrum. Let’s call them experienced riders who embrace the RecTTT philosophy in its truest sense. Club President Volker Hegert threw his lot in with this ramshackle bunch, along with Phil Cochrane and Rob Kinna. Club President of Vice, Don Stewart, jumped on board at the last minute. He apparently thought JB Cameron was a member of the Scottish national team. These refugees from the Turret Café joined forces with a new rider in Jarrod to form a well rounded outfit.

The eponymously named Jedi’s Warriors turned out to be a strengthened version of the Lake Health team. Their stalwarts had been supplemented by the addition of Shane “Jedi” Cody (cool name), Jeremy Doolan and Will Gore. Word of the Germans’ throw down to their clear RecTTT superiority had obviously got back, and all the cracks had gathered to the fray (thanks Banjo).

Lake View. Of all the new teams this was the least prepossessing. Let’s call a spade a spade. These were really just the faster riders from the Turret Café, relieved of their requirement to wait for the slow Turret riders. Clearly good performances at the Tour of Bright had swayed the selectors’ opinions as they had added Jonathan Lacey (good performance …? – ed.) and Stu Grigg (both first-time RecTTTers) to the list. Bob Braszell and Stu Brien were also welcomed back.

Even the regular teams had recruited well for the final event of the year.

The Goddesses had a new Ruth (in place of their other Ruth, just so they wouldn’t be Ruthless), along with Don Hanlon. The absence of Marg Crocker hung heavily over the remaining Goddesses. Could such a vital cog be replaced?

Saxon House had Jacinta back but the big inclusion was Dave Peters. You beauty Dave; great to see you back! Michael Unwin was there for his second ride. Sadly the person who invited him was, yet again, missing. I won’t name him but you know who you are, Roger. Mark Blomeley stepped up to the captain’s seat in place of the missing Neale Goad. At least we know that’s one cog that can easily be replaced.

In a masterstroke, Nicholas White was transferred from the Yabbies roster and added to the Saxon House team. This spared him the awkwardness of witnessing first-hand the unedifying spectacle of grown men reduced to quivering wrecks by a shower of rain.

Dennis Family Homes’ Mark Smith had brought along his new Cervelo and some new friends. Welcome Andrew and Kane! Add the guile of Bob Morley and the boyish enthusiasm of Pete Livitsanis and Scott Peter, and you’ve got a tidy little team on your hands. Against that, however, the team has failed to address the weeping sore that is their captain. Yes, Crampy still gets a ride with them.

The Turret Café team was only too happy to welcome back Dean Wells to its roster. Dean has been missing for 12 months since he lost his job and went to work in the mines in WA. Somehow he never actually left Brown Hill in those 12 months, but we were happy to have him back anyway. Bruce Edwards was back, prepared to unleash the Gravitron* at the slightest provocation. Paul Bourke was there to make sure Craig Lightfoot didn’t compound on Springbank Road again.

* For an explanation of the inner workings of a Gravitron, please consult Alan Cureton. It’s some top secret thing he’s been working on at Ford.

The arrival of the Yabbies was their tour de force. They pulled up en masse in their freshly-laundered matching uniforms. They looked like a squadron of pale-eyed killers from the Luftwaffe. Several Goddesses were seen to swoon at this impressive entrance. Those Yabbies sure can talk the talk.

When we saw that the Old Timers Polky and Macca were there for their first RecTTT ride, we knew they meant business. Somehow Liam had gotten over his letdown from Moonambel (not - ed.) and was there to add his not inconsiderable power to their less-than-considerable peloton.

And so to the ride itself.

I’d love to tell you how smoothly it all went; how each team was a well-drilled unit that rotated in crisp, precise rhythms that led to a fantastic improvement in their average speed. That’s not quite what happened.

Without wanting to point any fingers, here is how it all fell apart. (I’ll use dot points -you know how I love to use dot points.)

• The Goddesses started the ride without Ruth, their new rider. (That’s their way of saying welcome Ruth!) Ruth ended up riding a single lap before ditching.
• Don Hanlon rode away from, then back to, then away from the Goddesses. (We can’t say we blame you Don, but for your first ride they might have liked you to stay with them for a bit.)
• Your erstwhile reporter had a MAJOR mechanical coming into Wallace that necessitated the replacement of the crankshaft and big-end bearings in his bike. Brenton Keats graciously waited - you can infer that my other team mates didn’t – until it became obvious that the RACV might have to be called. Brenton took off, so far behind them that Fabian Cancellara couldn’t have time-trialled back to the group.
• Neither JB Cameron nor the Lake View team took any pity on Brenton as they powered on by him, and left him to complete two miserable, cold, wet laps alone. I suspect Rob Kinna didn’t even notice him, as Rob was too busy cackling after passing me on the side of the road.
• In a complete shock to the RecTTT fraternity, Crampy failed to complete a single lap.
• We all know that Scott Peter’s main claim to fame is the horsepower he can unleash (those equine references just keep popping in) on the flat or downhill. Fate conspired against him, as a puncture at the juncture of the Wallace and Springbank Roads brought his fabled sprint to a timid canter. Well done Peter Livitsanis for helping him repair it.
• The Goddesses demonstrated the new training modality that has raised their velocity into the 26 km/h bracket for the first time: motor pacing behind a small red car down Springbank Road. Don’t try this at home, kids, as it’s a very dangerous practice. Only wise old heads should ever attempt it.
• Saxon House did what Saxon House do. They came, they saw, they rode, they finished. Nuff said.
• Yabby Divers. Eight started. Four finished. Possible explanations for this misadventure include the adoption of a strategy never before used by the Yabbies. They called it “track turns”, but its main effect was to destroy the team by the time they got to Wallace the first time.
• I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. HTFU Lad and others and get to the finish! (Perhaps I’m being overly critical. Maybe they took yet another wrong turn and are lost somewhere out in Barkstead. If so, I take it all back.)
• At this point my shallow comments must cease, as Jedi’s Warriors, Cycle City and even the old stagers in the Lake View team put on a clinic. Well done to all members of those teams. The effort of some of the Lake View team was even the more meritorious given that the trio of Bob Braszell, Peter Canny and Rick Calvert managed to negotiate the 39 km course without ever getting to the front.
• In fact, given the hideous wind and rain conditions for the last 15 or 20 minutes of the ride, well done to the members of all the teams.

After the ride we planned to adjourn back to the Gong reservoir car park for a pleasant BBQ, drinks and presentations. I’m sure we would have done just that, had the sky not been tumbling in and had everyone not made the eminently sensible decision to head home for a warm shower and clean, dry clothes.

After I was warm and dry, I calculated the average velocities. Here they are, with the change since their most recent RecTTT ride.

Goddesses: 26.07 km/h (up 0.37 km/h)
Saxon House: 31.01 km/h (up 1.41 km/h)
JB Cameron: 33.78 km/h
Turret Café: 34.79 km/h (down 1.87 km/h)
Dennis Family Homes: 35.29 km/h (up 0.35 km/h)
Yabby Divers: 35.18 km/h (up 1.45 km/h)
Lake View (Turret A): 37.93 km/h (up 4.20 km/h)
Cycle City: 39.85 km/h
Jedi’s Warriors/Lake Health: 39.93 km/h (up 1.98 km/h)

Because no-one was there, no-one got to hear the inspiring presentation speech I had prepared for the CSC award.

Mark Smith was going to be mentioned. The wine might have helped him drown his sorrows as he cleaned his brand new bike after it was inundated on its very first outing.

Ruth would have gotten a small reference for her determination in sticking out a tough lap alone after the callous disregard she was shown by the Goddesses.

But the clear winner could only have been Dave Peters. Dave is the first RecTTT rider to be awarded the CSC for Courage. (Drink it in moderation Dave. It doesn’t mix that well with the rat poison.)

Because there was such an influx of riders new to RecTTT riding, a special CSC award was struck for them. The winner was none other than Stu Grigg from the Lake View team. Stu won it for Stupidity and Courage, for sitting on the front of the group for the entire 39 km. Come on Stu. Fair’s fair. Give someone else a go at the wind.

If you think it was rotten riding a bike on Sunday, imagine how it must have been for the marshals! Extra special thanks go to Tim O’Doherty, our starter and timer, and the entire group of corner marshals for sticking around on such a dirty day.

And finally, the whole point in RecTTT riding is to improve your average speed over the course of the year. For 2010, the team that did that better than all the others was the Goddesses. The increase in their average speed over the course of the year averaged 3.4%. Congratulations to you all!

************

Here's another perspective on the event, from Robert Hermann, who is known to the Yabbies as Macca:

Weather: Cold and windy, with rain and hail building.

Course: Two 20 km laps of the Springbank circuit. First lap- undulating, second lap- hilly. (Think about this one ... ed.)

Race briefing: Misunderstood or ignored. The officials will need to draw pictures next time.

Yabbies team: Captain-Lad ,Team members- Polky, Whitey, Macca, Chuck, Hulk, Ryan and Liam. (Google Translate does not yet speak Yabby, so we're out of luck here, but we believe Polky is John Polkinghorne, Whitey is Gerard White, and we're betting that Liam is Liam White. Macca is Robert Hermann, as we said earlier. - ed.)

The Yabbies started well. We got to the first corner without anyone falling off. Someone called out "Track turns!" I wasn't sure what that meant but everyone else seemed to think it was a good idea. So, we rolled from the front, the back and the middle, we rotated clockwise, then anti-clockwise, then no-wise at all. While all this was going on we also managed to throw in a dozen or so surges. I didn't know track turns were so complicated.

At this point Whitey was struggling a little, so Polky suggested we might like to ride more smoothly, stop surging and stick together. Again, everyone seemed to think this was a good idea. After ten more surges from assorted idiots, Whitey was off the back.

This would have been a good time for the Lad to assert his authority and, in fairness, he did say something, but there was so much blood in his throat no one could understand him. It wouldn't have mattered anyway. It was now clear that certain riders had lost the capacity for rational thought.

We got round the second corner shortly after Polky decided to drop back and bring Whitey up, in the mistaken belief that the group would slow down to re-group. It didn't happen. After three more surges Lad and I were off the back.

The team time trial was over for the Yabbies in less than 10 km, which must be a record for self-destruction. (Lotto in the 2009 Tour came pretty close - ed.)

Of course the remaining four riders went on, pointlessly smashing each other until they got to the finishing line. If they went over together, it would have been a coincidence. (I think I understand what was going on in their minds. Have you been to the races and seen a horse that threw its jockey, still running as hard as it could to win? Something similar, I reckon.)

For the rest of us, you might think that the day couldn't have gotten any worse. You would be wrong.

******************

Peter Canny, RecTTT ruler, writes:

Our final Recreational Team Time Trial is just one week away.

Date: Sunday December 19

Registration: 8:30 - 9:00 AM, car park at the Gong Reservoir, on the west side of the Daylesford road (the left side going out of Ballarat)

Event start: 9 AM at the Gong - neutral roll to the start at Bungaree oval, with the Goddesses away at 9.20 AM, and other bunches away in 5 minute intervals thereafter.

Distance: about 50 km.

Attitude: agressive, abusive, threatening, selfish. Christmas is not for another week, so this is your last chance to be yourselves.

Cost: $5 for non members

Post event: suitable refreshments in line with the season will be on hand at the finish. Then there's the BSCC Christmas BBQ, and you're invited. We'd love to see you there for the last event of the year.

Track: Victorian Senior Championships, 2010

BSCC was represented in the Victorian Senior Track Championships by Charles Martin, Liam White and Harry Crothers-Bade. All three did us proud, and Harry brought home a silver medal in the open men's points race. The full results are here, and here are a few photos, thanks to Roger Bade:

Liam charging in the M19 pursuit qualifying round.

Harry neck and neck with eventual gold medalist Brent Nelson in the open men's points race.

Road: Ride for Sick Kids

Updated 20 August:

Click HERE to see The Courier's story about the ride. Please support it. Ian Corcoran is looking for Ballarat cyclists to meet the Ride for Sick Kids riders at the Little Hard Hills pub, Enfield, at 1 PM on Sunday and ride with them into Ballarat, along the Colac road.

Please contact Gerard White for details, by 69,77,65,73,76,32or on 0400 010 365 .

Roger Bade writes:

Ian Corcoran, the owner of the Bakery Hill McDonald's, and a long-time supporter of BSCC, is helping organise a charity ride that will pass through Ballarat on Sunday August 21. Ian is putting up $100 for every rider who does the charity ride (to a max of $5000) to go to the Ronald McDonald charity that helps sick children. He needs our support - club riders who are prepared to meet the group and ride back into Ballarat with them - probably from somewhere out Skipton way.

Ian has been a great supporter for the club, so it would be good if we could give some assistance back - and all for a very good cause.

Please contact Ian by 69,77,65,73,76 if you or your group will help.

Here's some more info:

PEDAL POWER FOR SICK KIDS
ABOUT RIDE FOR SICK KIDS

A group of 30 riders is gearing up to cycle over 800 km through Victoria for the inaugural Ride for Sick Kids fundraising event. The event is set to take place from Saturday 20th to Friday 26th August, in aid of the Ronald McDonald House program locally. Comprising a combination of McDonald’s licensees, corporate staff and several members of the general public, the Ride for Sick Kids group will be travelling through Victoria to raise awareness and over $150,000 for Ronald McDonald House Monash and Ronald McDonald House Parkville The planned route is as follows:
o DAY ONE: Geelong to Colac
o DAY TWO: Colac to Ballarat
o DAY THREE: Ballarat to Ararat
o DAY FOUR: Ararat to Bendigo
o DAY FIVE: Bendigo to Shepparton
o DAY SIX: Shepparton to Seymour
o DAY SEVEN: Seymour to Melbourne

McDonald’s licensees will be organising events for local residents to attend to help celebrate the event and encourage donations to help the team reach their $150,000 fundraising goal. To find out more about the Ride for Sick Kids in Victoria or to make a donation, please click HERE.

Road: Victorian Schools Cycling Championships

Roger Bade writes:

We had one of the world's great slices of luck at the VSCC Central Highlands Zone Final in Victoria Park on Thursday. The entire event was run with hardly a drop of rain. In fact it was sunny for part of the time. Rain started during the presentations.

BSCC's standouts today were Emma Bilston, Angus Lyons, Emily Wordie-Thompson, Vic Snibson, Ciaran Conaughton, James Crafter, Tom Hamilton and Liam White. There were lots of other good results. The official report is will appear HERE soon. Please click HERE for some photos from the day's racing.

**********

Ashley Coote, Regional Development Officer West, CycleSport Victoria, writes:

CycleSport Victoria would like to announce the dates of the Zone Finals for the 2010 Victorian Schools Cycling Championships.

2010 VSCC Zone Finals

Date: Thursday 15th July
Zone: North West Metro
Final location: Port Melbourne Go Kart Track

Tuesday 20th July
Border
Wangaratta

Wednesday 28th July
Gippsland
Caribou - Tour of Gippsland (Wonthaggi)

Friday 13th August
South Metro
Casey Fields

Thursday 19th August
Central Highlands
Ballarat (Victoria Park)

Thursday 26th August
East Metro
METEC Driving Course - Kilsyth

Sunday 29th August
MTB State Final
Dallas Brooks Park Scout Grounds

Thursday 2nd September
Wimmera
Ararat

Friday 10th September
Midlands
Bendigo

Wednesday 15th September
South West
Camperdown Go Kart Track

Saturday 2nd October
VSCC State Final
Road World Champs - Geelong

For more information, please contact:

Ashley Coote, Regional Development Officer West

CycleSport Victoria
PO BOX 180 Fairfield VIC 3078
281 Darebin Rd, Thornbury
P 03 8480 3000 F 03 8480 3099
E ashley.coote@cycling.org.au
W www.vic.cycling.org.au

BSCC Injured List

Updated 26 August.

There always seem to be a few BSCC riders on the injury list. This year seems worse than most. Here are some (we hope all) of the members of that list. Please keep the 60,115,116,114,111,110,103,62,114,111,97,100,32,119,101,98,32,108,97,99,107,101,121 up to date on this. Best wishes to all for speedy recoveries.

The most recent addition to the injured list that we know of is Meg O'Doherty. Meg underwent a knee operation on August 11, and expects to be back riding, running and rowing mid- to late-September. Meg is looking forward to a better 2011.

Rhys Gillett was officially off the injured list for about 2 weeks, then back on, now off again. Rhys was out on the road last Saturday, and is now back to cranking out wattages that the rest of us only dream of. (Editor's note to self: dreaming of wattages = need to get out more.) Rhys says the ankle is feeling good, but he is still struggling with sideways movement. Just as well none of those are needed for cycling. The full story on his recent injuries is at his blog.

We've heard a rumor that Rob Doyle is back on his bike. This is yet to be confirmed. Rob has had a miserable run with injuries over the last year or so. He broke both wrists in a crash early last road season. This year he has been much luckier - back in May he only broke one wrist. And dislocated his shoulder and AC joint, tearing all the associated ligaments and tendons. (Earlier we mistakenly said he'd only broken his clavicle, to which Rob replied: "If I only broke my clavicle, I'd have been riding months ago!")

Alan Cureton had what seemed like a very minor crash heading up SEC Road on a Lake View ride (or was it a Turret ride?) way back in May or thereabouts. Turns out he did some damage to his back and hip, and he's riding, but not back racing yet. Work travel has delayed his recovery, and current thinking is that he will miss most of this road season.

MTB mainstay Phil Timpano is out of his cast, and the fingers on his right hand are starting to work again. He's been on the trainer, and plans to get back on a real bike very soon. You might recall that he decided to have a go at the new downhill trail on Black Hill on the Queen's Birthday long weekend ... and broke his radius (lower arm).

Ben Clark is now back to smashing everyone on the weekend Lake View and Turret rides, so he is officially off the injured list. He got onto it after another rider lay down on the road in front of him with 150m to go in the Fred Icke. Ben's another one who might do a Haussler (or at least what we hope Haussler will do at the Worlds) and hit us fresh for the Oz Masters. Failing this, the Tour of Bright has his name written all over it.

Michael Colville had knee surgery in late June. He's not expecting to race again until next season, but Taltarni is in November, so who knows ...

Paul Mathers, who has been MTB Web Lackey since a few months ago, is also almost off the injured list. He's into rehab and is planning to be back on the bike soon. He got onto the injured list like this.

I broke my collar bone (left). I did it Tuesday night, July 6, in Canadian forest, on my way to map out a course for the junior ride I was going to lead on the following Saturday. I didn't get there. I was coming down a downhill section and my pedal hit a tree stump. Normally this just makes the back wheel jump over a bit. In this case it sent the whole bike into the air and I landed upside down.

We hear that another MTB mainstay, Tanya Wiggins, is also on the injured list. (Earlier, we mistakenly reported that Jacqui Clynes was injured. Apologies to Jacqui and Tanya.)

Anyone else ...? We hope not. Best wishes once again to all the abovementioned.

MTB: Dirt Girls - Saturday 7 May 2011

We're meeting at Black Hill carpark at 9 AM. We will ride out to the Gong Gong reservoir on the Yarrowee Trail (also called the Great Dividing Trail), ride a couple of laps of the track out there, then ride back to town. We'll have coffee after the ride at a place to be determined. Ride time about 2 hours. All levels welcome. Remember, a club membership is required, or a social day license can be purchased for $5. Arrive a little early to purchase your license.

Ride Details

When: Saturday 7th May, 9 AM start
Where: Black Hill carpark, Ballarat
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

MTB: Social Ride - 22 May 2011

For the month of May, we have decided to hold a social ride at somewhere you may not have ridden before, Lal Lal. At the time of creating this calendar entry we are unsure if there are enough trails in Lal Lal to keep us busy, however a scouting trip will be made before the date to determine this. If it is decided that Lal Lal does not have enough trails, then our fall back location is Buninyong where there are a number of 'secret' trails that are well worth riding, over and over again.

Being a social ride the whole thing will be fairly relaxed without much planning going into the whole affair, however the key guidelines the committee are working with are:
- we will meet at a location with ample free car parking,
- we can break into groups (depending on numbers) that match rider abilities (slower riders or riders just starting out please don't worry about slowing the group down, its a social ride no-one is there to break land-speed records, and no one will be left behind),
- on the way home we will go for coffee and/or lunch,

With these points in mind and following has been decided for this ride.

Meeting Place: Lal Lal Hotel (although this may change to Buninyong, see earlier note)
Meeting Time: 8:00am
Stopping Where on the Way Home: Buninyong
Expected Duration: 2 to 3 hours
What to bring: MTB, helmet, food, drink, clothes for weather, money for lunch and a drink etc
Cost: MTBA members FREE, non-members insurance $5

2010 Recreational Team Time Trials

Ray Issac reports:

The picturesque Kingston Showgrounds, under a clear blue sky, were the setting for the start of this year’s first Rec TTT ride. We welcomed the first appearance of the Yabbie Divers, but were disappointed that the Riding on Principals team did not front up. (Come back men, all is forgiven!) Most teams had introduced new riders over the summer. While all are most welcome, it is probably fair to say that the biggest name to be added to any roster was that of Volker Hegert. Yes folks, that’s right. The club president is a fully-fledged Rec TTT rider!

A pleasing total of 39 riders started. A surprising total of 40 finished. I’ll say more on that later. All riders were welcomed by Peter Canny and given a reminder about the importance of safe riding from Stu Brien. They were also given a pre-ride briefing by Don Stewart. After the debacle at Moonambel, for which Don received the CSC Award, when he confused the majority of the Rec TTT riders with his directions, alarm bells should probably have rung at that stage. Then again, we bike riders prize the attributes of doggedness and resistance to pain more than we value intelligence, so perhaps the lack of concern was understandable.

The first team to greet the starter was the Goddesses. Their strategy for the new season soon became apparent. Start slow and then slow down. What was not apparent, however, was that they had a second string to their bow. They were carrying Easter eggs as bribes. When they reached corner marshal Sue Parker, they tried to use bribery to have her send the other teams in the wrong direction. This brilliant strategy had two fundamental flaws. The first is that Sue is a person of the highest moral fibre. While she was happy to take the chocolates, she would not waver in her duty to point riders down the right road. The second flaw was that by that stage the Saxons, Dennis Family Homes and the Yabbies had already passed the Goddesses and set off around Sue’s corner, so all they could do was follow. I’ll say more on what then transpired later. It should be recorded that one of the Goddesses' new riders, Carol Brown, was undertaking the longest ride of her life in tackling the 56 km course. Good on you Carol!

Next to depart was the Saxon House team. A few new inclusions had been made, but the losses from the team meant they had big shoes to fill. With only six starters they faced a tougher assignment than the bigger teams. Their new-season strategy was impossible to discern, but their main man, Neil Goad, later confided their main focus was to make sure the team was comfortable at all times. Judging by their relaxed demeanour at the end of the ride, they well and truly met that KPI.

Rec TTT ride stalwarts, Dennis Family Homes, were next to leave. They had shocked the Rec TTT fraternity with a dazzling 37+km/h average velocity at the final time trial last year. What would they do to top that effort? The simple answer is not much. The most likely explanation for their lower speed is the restoration of Peter Martin to the team. Either that or they were playing possum early in the year. Peter later claimed a muscle cramp had slowed him down. Seriously Pete, there must be better excuses than that in a Pommy’s repertoire. They may have felt deflated to complete the first lap and recognize their ninth rider, Geoff Pfeiffer, standing by the side of the road. He arrived late, and that meant that the remaining eight riders had to shoulder a bit more of the load. They lacked the Rec TTT cunning to claim a first lap mechanical problem and invite him to complete the second lap with them. Is there anyone doing the strategic planning for this team?

What little planning they had allowed the Dennis team to complete the correct course. Unlike the Yabbies. The Yabbies had brought a touch of colour to proceedings, and it wasn’t just their baby-poo coloured jerseys. They insisted on being identified by their Yabbie nicknames. They apparently take these very seriously. While they were waiting at the start line, one of their fellow Yabbies, Shane Butler, drove in to take part in the club race that accompanied the Rec TTT ride. Ross, whom they know as Blakey (from On the Buses) lapsed into a whiney Pommy accent and snarled “I’ll get you Butler, you see if I don’t." This commitment to the team ethic didn’t appear to translate into a successful strategy for the ride. A fast and furious start, apparently driven by Diesel and Cossie, in which they gobbled up the Saxons and the Goddesses, meant that some team members dipped deep into the petrol tank early in the ride.

When they passed the Parkers' corner and approached the next intersection, the words of Don Stewart (himself a Yabbie) were ringing in their ears. “Make sure you turn right at the next corner.” For some reason they made the fateful decision to turn right at the next corner. This decision meant they met the Smeaton-Newstead road north of Smeaton, and rejoined the correct route in Smeaton itself. It also meant that the Saxons and then the Goddesses followed them around the wrong corner. The corner marshall in Smeaton, Gerry White, another Yabbie, was astounded to see them arrive from the wrong direction. The extra 1.5 km they had ridden meant that the Turret team was arriving at the same corner at the same time, but from the correct direction. The Turret selection trials over summer had added some impressive horsepower to their team. As well as Volker, Greg Dow and Dale Coutts were there for their first Rec TTT ride, and Peter Norman was back from racing. The Turret used the disarray in the Yabbies' team to slip past as they left Smeaton. The Yabbies followed, at all times ensuring that reasonable separation was maintained so they couldn’t be accused of drafting, until they struck hard entering Kingston and left the floundering Turret in their wake.

It was about this time that the Turret riders noticed a lost soul riding his bike in Kingston. He was wearing the Dennis Family Homes team gear, and so they assumed he had dropped off their frenetic pace and was in need of some assistance. Naturally the caring Turret team was happy to lend that assistance. Imagine their surprise when it turned out to be none other than Peter Kyatt, out for a ride in the country.

The Turret team caught and passed the Yabbies by the time they reached Scott Townsend at the Swiss Mountain corner. The Yabbies bounced back with a pass as they rounded the corner, and headed off for the Parkers' corner the second time. It was at this corner that` the Yabbies’ death or glory strategy delivered its unwelcome but inevitable outcome. The Yabbies themselves later described what happened most succinctly and eloquently: “Buzzard popped.” The enterprising Turret riders took the chance to slip away to the finish line. Given how long it took the Yabbies to appear at the line, they may well have gone the wrong way a second time. Without any information to the contrary, that is exactly what the Saxons and the Goddesses did.

Unhappily the stewards could not take the extra distance covered by the Yabbies, the Saxons or the Goddesses into account in calculating their official average speeds, but the figures in brackets show what they would have been were we able to do so. The averages obtained are:

Goddesses 23.35 km/h (24.59 km/h)

Saxon House 26.74 km/h (28.15 km/h)

Dennis Family Homes 33.85 km/h

Yabbie Divers 32.20 km/h (33.05 km/h)

Turret Café 35.25 km/h

(I know these are all a bit higher than was announced on the day. The distance we used for that calculation was understated.)
After the ride we enjoyed coffee, hot dogs and beers. We were assured there will be soft drinks next time. Our thanks go out to all who helped on the day with registration, starting, marshalling, timing and catering. As we enjoyed the company of RecTTT riders and racers who had finished their race, exploits were talked down and shortcomings were exaggerated. It was another good RecTTT day.

CSC Award

It will be evident that there was no shortage of candidates for the riders who demonstrated the purest adherence to the RecTTT principles of Courage, Stupidity or Cunning.

Ultimately the award went to Gerard Cosgrave - Cossie if you’re a Yabbie. The Yabbies had relied on the prior knowledge he should have possessed from races he had participated in over Sunday’s course, and yet he let them go the wrong way. He didn’t get the fine wine for Cunning or Courage.

8 April update - Peter Canny, RecTTT ruler, writes:

The first recreational team time trial for this year is on April 18 at Kingston. Get your teams organized, or turn up on the day and we will allocate you into a bunch that best fits.

We have a coffee machine organized for post-event relaxation, and hot dogs and light beer will be available. Please register from 8.30 AM for a 9:30 AM start at Kingston show grounds. There's a link to a map of the course on the on-line calendar: click on RR on April 18. Remember, the RecTTT is not a race, just serious fun.

Further information is available from 80,101,116,101,114,32,67,97,110,110,121, 0417 391 008.

14 March update - Peter Canny, RecTTT ruler, writes:

Due to the fact that many of our recreation team time triallists have obligations over the March 28th weekend (such as the Otway Classic and the Murray to Moyne rides) (and Gent-Wevelgem - ed.), we have decided not to run our first RecTTT on March 28th. Our first RecTTT will therefore take place from Kingston show grounds on April 18, with registration as usual from 8:30am, for a 9:30am start.

BSCC's inaugural Recreational Team Time Trials (RecTTTs) were a big hit in 2009. The series is back in 2010. To see the details, click on Recreational on the left-hand menu. The locations and start times of the first few 2010 RecTTT events are listed at the bottom.

MTB: Dirt Girls Ride, Oct 2011

We're heading back out to one of our favourite mtb playgrounds for the October ride, back to sunny Creswick! Meeting in town outside the Lemon Tree Cafe, we'll ride some old favourites and see if we can find a new trail or two. As always we'll finish up back in town and have a coffee and cake. We'll make sure to ride some hills so it will be well earned!

A club membership is required, or a social day license can be purchased for $5. Arrive a little early to purchase your license.

Ride Details
When: Saturday 1st October, 9am start
Where: Creswick, meeting outside the Lemon Tree Cafe
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

MTB: Geelong MTB Club hosts the Yowie!

Geelong MTB Club hosts the Yowie!

33km, 66km or the full deal - 99km. Or there's the Mini Yowie (15km) & Kids Yowie (5km) so bring the whole family along! Its on Saturday 2nd October, sponsored by Dirtworks and you'll find all the details on the Yowie pages.

Get your entries in at EntryZone - at $1 per kilometre it's great value, and if you enter online for the 99km event you get the famous Yowie T-shirt included. MTBA or Day Licence ($15) required for the 33/66/99km races and MTBA licence or Participation permit ($5) required for the Mini or Kids events. On the day entries will cost you more so get in before they close online.

Who: Geelong Mountain Bike Club
What : You Yangs Yowie 5, 15, 33, 66 or 99km individual only.
Where: Starting at the Duck Ponds School, near main You Yangs Park entrance, off Branch Rd
When: 2 October 2010

September Rec Ride report

Ray Isaac writes:

Conditions were challenging, with a strong NW wind that seemed to grow stronger when you rode. Tim O’Doherty welcomed the riders, described the course and sent the teams off through the neutral zone to the start line.

The Goddesses all showed up at the start. They all then started at the allotted time. This tactic confused those observers familiar with this team’s usual approach. The Goddesses continued this flexible approach by incorporating a male –John Cotter - on their team for the first time. There were some murmurings about John’s eligibility for this team. However when it became widely known that he was riding a 15 year old APOLLO bike that weighed at least 12 kg it was accepted that he was a true cycling god and warranted his place in the team. Unhappily the testosterone he brought to the team counted for little, as the Goddesses’ average slipped slightly. Perhaps it was the revolutionary tactic they introduced in which everybody drank in unison at the call from their Patron (or should that be Matron?) Karen Cotter. It seems more plausible that they simply missed their powerhouse, Karen Canny.

Dennis Family Homes showed up with the backbone of their previous team, supplemented by some strong inclusions. Lester Wheadon demonstrated his flexibility by transferring from the Turret Café team and Fergie made a welcome return. Peter Hayes was showing around a picture of him reaching the summit of l'Alpe d’Huez. What a memory that must be for Pete! The picture brilliantly captured the magnificent scenery and you could nearly hear the master Phil Liggett saying “He's wearing the mask of pain." Rumour has it that they nearly lost a rider in the pot hole in the middle of the road heading towards Burrumbeet. A report filtered back that Fergie had put in a sterling effort during the ride and might well deserve the CSC Award. Thanks for that report Fergie; we’ll keep you in mind. A solid team effort meant that their average speed was only slightly down from the second RECTTT ride.

The Turret Café crew showed up with four new inclusions. Peter Kyatt and Ryan Robinson are genuine Turret riders, but Peter ‘Engine’ Walker and Simon Mornane are really better known as Yabbie riders*. These Yabbies were warmly welcomed when it became obvious that Turret stalwart, Les Bilney, was unable to make the ride despite a commitment to do so. Engine did what Engine does best and provided serious motor power for the team. Your correspondent did what he does best and jumped off the bike in the third lap in response to an audible puncture sound. It soon became obvious that this ruse had failed – there was no puncture and I had to remount and resume pedalling. The net result of all this was that the Turret’s average was also down.

Saxon House provided four brave riders. New inclusions were Brian Walker and Aaron Blomeley. Although this is less than the desired minimum number of riders, five, they achieved what none of the teams mentioned so far were capable of. They improved their average speed by nearly 1 km/h. It just goes to show what encouragement the CSC Award is providing, as last-time winner Colin Fraser again stepped up for his team mates.

Three very quiet, steely-eyed and slimmed-down Principals were last to face the starter. They had obviously done some serious training since the previous RECTTT ride and despite their low numbers, improved their average by over 1 km/h. Huzzah men!! What an effort on a tough day with so few riders. It transpires that the reason for their purposeful demeanour is that their hard man, Les Bilney, had left them in the lurch and made them fend for themselves. Yes, you read right. Les Bilney had committed to ride for two separate teams on the same ride. And then, in the ultimate display of flexibility, he had dropped out of both. Such style, such panache! Les is the only possible winner of the CSC Award for this ride.

So, for the first time in its illustrious history, the CSC Award was presented in absentia. By the time those Principals finish with him, it may well be post mortem!!

Special thanks should have been given on the day to our marshals, Tim O’Doherty, Bruce Bilston and Craig Lightfoot. Rob Crocker stepped in at short notice and did a great job on the BBQ. Please accept these belated thanks for your efforts.

The coffee van was well patronised and the groups are looking forward to the next ride at Moonambel on Sunday 1 November.

*This begs the question “Hello Yabbies – Are you ridin’ or are you hidin’?”

MTB: Dirt Girls Ride, November 2011

Meet at the lookout at the top of the hill. This place is already a fantastic spot to ride, right in the heart of Ballarat. And the good news is that it's going to get even better! Don't be put off by the downhillers in all their body armour, there's something for the XC bikes too. We can all use a bit of help from gravity every now and then. As always we'll finish up back in town and have a coffee and cake.

A club membership is required, or a social day license can be purchased for $5. Arrive a little early to purchase your license.

Ride Details
When: Saturday 5th November, 9am start
Where: Black Hill, meeting at carpark on top of Black Hill Lookup
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

MTB: Club Race - November 2011

For the month of November 2011, we are going back to the Gong Gong course. If you like great courses with climbs and sweet flowing downhills, technical elements and heaps of single track then do not miss this race. The course is the same as last year but we have a few changes up our sleeves.

If you haven’t seen the course then check out Phil Orr’s helmet cam:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oiMKkMLga1s

Seniors

Senior Course:

The course is 3.5km track with a little bit of everything.

Senior Categories

To spice things BSCC MTB is going to offer the complete range of categories that are used in the XC Victoria Enduro Series (VES), minus the solo categories. So if you have been wanting to do a race but have been worried about your fitness then this is the perfect opportunity, get some friends together and enter a team. Available categories are Teams of 2 or 3 in Mens, Womens and Mixed. No solo rider entry will be accepted unless accompanied by a written letter from your doctor, stating that you have no friends.

Seniors Details

When: 20-Nov-2011
Where: Gong Gong Reservoir,
Registration: 9:30 to 9:55
Race Start: 10:00am
Lap Distance: 3.5km
Race Length: 2 hrs
Format: XC Enduro with VSS categories, teams / solo etc
Cost: $5 for MTBA members, otherwise a $20 day permit is also required

Juniors

Junior Description:

The Juniors will be racing over a shorter circuit. We’ve developed a great little track for this event. Registration will begin at 12:30 pm with racing at 12:45pm. The race will be timed over 30 minutes.

Juniors Details

When: 20-Nov-2011
Where: Gong Gong Reservoir
Registration: 12:30am
Race Start: 12:45pm
Distance: 2km
Format: 30 min, Enduro
Cost: $3 for MTBA members, otherwise a $20 day permit is also required

Road: Swiss-Italia 2010 is CANCELLED

20 October news flash: Bad news, roadies. BSCC's Swiss-Italia road race at Hepburn will not run in 2010, due to last-minute problems with the police permit. The race will be back, better than ever, next year. This means there is only one BSCC road race remaining for the 2010 season - the Taltarni handicap at Moonambel on Sunday November 7. And it also means there is no longer a conflict with BSCC's social MTB ride on Sunday. See you there!

Vic MTB XC event at Bendigo

From the Fat Tyre Flyers mountain bike club. U[dated with entry info, thanks to Clinton LeMaitre:

Want to try something different from the enduros (6-hour winter MTB events - ed.) or the weekend ride with your mates? Then come and have a shorter race (1 - 2 hour, depends on category), or just a solid intensity session on one of the best race tracks in Victoria, on private property and therefore only accessible during club events. All State Series events take entries on the day: no pre-entry is required.

VICTORIAN CROSS-COUNTRY MTB STATE SERIES

The first round of the Victorian XC series will be held on Sunday 22nd November at the Cavagna’s Rd track, Sedgwick, near Bendigo. This is the course on which the recent Australian Marathon MTB Championships were held. The event is being run by the Bendigo MTB club. The course is 6.8km long and include some new sections and the now-famous berms and single-track.

[Michael Veal adds: Be warned, this is technical. Ride decent knobbies. (Michael didn't a few weeks ago and walked 7 km - ed.) Lots of off-camber single-track.]

EVENT TIMES

Sat 21st Nov

3.00pm practice (camping o/n available $5 per head)

Sun 22nd Nov

8.00 – 9.30 Registration and practice

10.30 – Racing start

1.00 – Presentations

What is provided:

Coffee

BBQ facilities

Professional timing

Toilets

Drinking water

Spot prizes

Category prizes

First Aid

Cost

$35 per adult rider

$20 per junior rider

($15 extra if you don’t have an MTBA licence)

$10 goes to the prize pool for the series

Enter on the day - no pre-entry required.

Categories available include:

Elite Men/Women
Expert Men
Sport A Men
Veteran Men (30 – 39)
Masters Men (40 – 49)
Super Masters Men (50 – 59)
Sport Women
Under 19
Under 17
Under 15

MTB: Club Race - Saturday 20th November

Date: 20th November
Where: Katy Ryans Rd, Canadian Forest. The easiest way there is to travel down Recreation Road (from Mt Clear) for about 1.5km and Katy Ryans Rd is on the left, then the starting point is about 800 meters down Katy Ryans Rd.

We have raced on this track once before, but it was in the very early days of the club. Since this time we have used sections of this track during other races and rides. It includes the twisty section amongst the grass trees (black boys). If you have ridden this section before, you will know what I mean. This is only a short course - less than 4 km - but it has a couple of nice downhills and medium-level climbs. This race will be the last official BSCC MTB race for 2010 and it looks like the weather is going to be fine, so we expect to see all of you out there.

Juniors will be racing over a shorter circuit and we’ve developed a great little track for this event. Registration will begin at 2 PM, and racing starts at 2:15 PM. The race will be timed over 30 minutes.

Registration: 2:00pm
Race Start: 2:15pm
Duration: 30 minutes
Format: Enduro
Cost: MTBA members $3, MTBA Day Permit: $15

Seniors:
Four grades will be racing for 60 minutes over a 3.5 kilometre loop. Registration begins at 3:00pm and racing starts at 3:30pm.

Registration: 3:00pm
Race Start: 3:30pm
Duration: 1 hour
Format: Enduro
Cost: MTBA members $5, MTBA Day Permit: $15

Map: Google Maps

Marshals: Phil Timpano and Jason Haire

BSCC MTB is affiliated with MTBA, which means all riders must present a current MTBA membership card during registration. Membership provides insurance coverage for both the rider and the club in the event of an incident. Non MTBA members have two options, 1) annual membership (see the Membership page for more details), or 2) a $15 Day Permit, which is valid for the whole event and available on the day, but we ask that you arrive early to fill in the paperwork.

MTB: Track Work for InterWinter

Interwinter MTB track works – 30th of May after MTB skills session

As part of preparations for Round 2 of the MTB Interwinter series – The 3hr Rebellion – the MTB committee is inviting members and friends to take part in some basic track works on Sunday the 30th of May at approximately 3pm. The aim of this session is to remove branches and sticks from the track so that riders get a quality trail experience when they come and race. The ‘works crew’ will be meeting at the Little Bendigo primary school car park in Nerrina at the completion of the intermediate skills session. Those attending will be required to bring appropriate tools as these will not be supplied and it is anticipated that works will be completed in less than 2hrs.

Antanas Spokevicius will be coordinating these efforts and can be contacted on 101,109,97,105,108,32or 0439 822 359 for further details.

Track: Emma Bilston, Australian Champion!

BSCC's Emma Bilston is the 2011 JW15 Australian pursuit champion! Emma won gold at Sydney's Dunc Grey (Olympic) velodrome on Friday. The full story and photos are here, at the Cycle Sport Victoria web site. Many BSCC members suspect this will be the first of many national titles for this super-talented and hard-working rider. Congratulations Emma!

Emma's championship continues BSCC's long tradition of success at Australian titles.

Thanks to Scott Townsend for alerting us of Emma's success. - ed.

Road: Rhys Gillett Signs with Jayco-2XU

BSCC's Rhys Gillett has signed with Australia's newest men's domestic pro cycling team, Jayco-2XU. Rhys will be working again with director Pat Jonker, the boss of his Morgan Blue team last year. Rhys's team mates at Jayco-2XU will include Australia's best cross-country mountain biker Chris Jongewaard, the fabulous Glenn O'Shea, and returning track world champ Mark Jamieson.

This signing is very good news for Rhys, after he, and many other riders, was left in the lurch after the infamous collapse of the Pegasus project late last year. Rhys's deal with Jayco-2XU means most of Ballarat's elite cyclists now have their 2011 teams confirmed:

Ange McClure at Cleo Ladies Cycling Team

Pat Shaw at Genesys

Rhys Gillett at Jayco-2XU

Jay Bourke at Search2Retain

We're hoping Rob Doyle once more takes up his place at Plan B Racing after a very nasty run with illness and injury last year.

First BSCC XC MTB race for 2010

The first BSCC cross-country MTB race for the 2010 season was held on Saturday, March 13, at Mt. Clear. Here are brief results, from Antanas "Spoka" Spokevicius, MTB Main Man.

Saturday 13th March saw 13 senior riders and 9 junior riders take on the dirt trails of Canadian forest adjacent to Mt Clear Secondary College. Race 1 was looking to be an interesting affair, with riders close their peak in fitness after the recent Otway Odyssey and the Tuesday night dirt crit series.

The juniors raced first, over a shortened but physically challenging course, with riders seeing how many laps they could do over 30 minutes. Junior riders covered a broad range of ages and took off in waves, with the first long climb seeing many of them gasping for air. To their credit they all pushed on and rode the full 30 minutes. Special mention goes to 5-year-old Max Oliver for his super effort in completing 3 laps on a fully rigid cyclo-cross style bike, a setup that most seniors would baulk at using.

In the senior race, riders took off on a longer course and raced an enduro format for 70 minutes. In A grade, Antanas Spokevicius took the lead early and pushed hard to try and get a break but couldn’t manage to shake Jeremy Doolan, Shane "Jedi" Cody and John Carmody. After a couple of laps the fast pace set by Spokevicius was too much for him, and Cody and Doolan broke away. These two battled it out for the remainder of the race, with Doolan eventually taking out line honors with a strong final lap. Carmody chased hard and finished a respectable third, not far behind the leaders. In B grade, Matt Turner put the foot down right from the start and went out to an early lead. He never looked back, taking out the win with a solid performance. The real battle was for second and third with Joel Hossack, Michael Veal and Jonathan Lacey fighting it out. In the end Lacey showed the goods taking out second, followed closely by Hossack and Veal. Overall there was some nice, fast-pacing racing, with all riders agreeing it was an enjoyable event.

Next race in the MTB series will be on Sunday April 11. See the on-line calendar, the MTB fixture, and Latest News for more details.

Dale Boucher, MTB mogul, writes:

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club is holding their first weekend MTB event for 2010 this Saturday, March 13. The race will be held in Canadian Forest and riders will assemble at the same location as the dirt criteriums, off Recreation Road, Mt Clear.

All the details are on the on-line calendar - just click on the MTB entry for March 13 - but here they are again.

Junior Racing

Juniors will be racing on an extended version of the dirt criterium course, and the race time will be extended to 30 minutes. This course is 1.82 kilometres long and climbs 1 metre every 24 metres.

Registration and course familiarization: 9:30am

Race Start: 10am

Map of course

Senior Racing

Seniors will be racing on an extended version of the junior track with a 3.6 kilometre loop with a 1:25 gradient. Race time will be 70 minutes and we will be offering A,B & C grades. A grade will begin first with B & C grades to follow.

Registration and course familiarization: 10:15 am

Race Start: 10:45 am

Map of Course

Marshals: Phil Orr, Alex Cudia.

Road: Shaw hits the gas at Miners Rest

Patrick Shaw stomped on the A-grade field in wintery conditions at Miners Rest this morning. Jarroyd Boyd and Craig Lightfoot took their first-ever BSCC wins in B and C.

Fields were reduced due to the continuing success of the Rec TTT rides, the dismal weather conditions, a Eureka Veterans race, and an unfortunate clash with BSCC's hugely successful InterWinter MTB race. The road race was the first event in recent years on the circuit that will be used for Cycling Australia's national Masters' Road Championships in September, the week before the world championships in Geelong. A grade rode three laps, and B and C each did two. On the second lap, Pat Shaw split the A-grade field, with himself, Damien Keirl and James Crafter in the front group, and Grant Gilbert, Jay Bourke and Stuart Grigg chasing hard. The last time over the Blowhard rise, the most selective feature of the course, Shaw gunned it again and rode solo to the win. Damien Keirl continued his steady upward progression this season with a strong second place. James Crafter fought hard to hold off a charging Gilbert for third - some consolation after the mechanical incident that ejected James from the winning bunch in the Fred Icke race two weeks ago. Stuart Grigg and Jay Bourke, in his first race for the season, rounded out the A-grade finishers.

In B grade, Jarrod Boyd also used the Blowhard climb as a launching pad, and splintered the field to set up a solo finish, and his first BSCC win. Scott Bilney, another rider in his first race for the season, took second, with Thane Turley third and Aaron Bromley fourth. Three of the top four places went to riders with less than a year of road racing with BSCC - Jarrod, Thane and Aaron: more testament to the strong new talent in the club today.

In C grade, Craig Lightfoot stormed through the door he opened with his breakthrough ride in last November's Taltarni race, under very different weather conditions. Only Roger Bade was with him with 500m to go, and Craig made no mistakes, with a long, powerful sprint to take his first BSCC win. Melissa Keirl continued her run of good form to take third from club vice-president Don Stewart.

The race was made possible by corner marshals Ian Nunn, Sam Edwards, Michael Colville, and Ron Crafter, lead car driver Kylie Zelley, tail car driver Ben Clark, and chief marshal Jonathan Lacey. Michael is having knee surgery this week: we wish him a speedy recovery. Special thanks to Ian and Kylie for jumping in at the last minute, and to Ben for doing it all one-handed. The good news is that Ben's shoulder surgery, following his crash in the finale of the Fred Icke, has been pronounced successful, so he'll be in fighting shape for the big race on this circuit in September. And finally a big thank you to Peter Canny, who actually did most of the chief marshal's job in setting up the course.

The Fred Icke RR: an insider's report

Editor's note: BSCC's Jay Bourke is occasionally inspired to write a story about his experiences racing in the top echelons of the Australian road scene. Jay's dad Wayne, one of Australia's pioneering Ironman triathletes, was a regular BSCC rider in the 1980s. Jay himself started out as a triathlete, and set a few Victorian course records that still stand, before he was seduced by cycling. After his breakthrough Oz Champs ride in 2008, he's been a regular in national-level road races. This year he's riding for the Cycle City team, along with BSCC members Rhys Gillett, Mitch Brogden, Chloe McIntosh and Angela McClure, so his sponsor is also a BSCC club sponsor. Please click HERE for Jay's story of the Coleraine Tour back in April.

June - cold, dark, windy, snow... The Fred Icke. The day started promising - it was howling all night, but come morning it had blown through and the day was cold, but clear and dry. Loaded up on breakfast, packed the van, and grabbed a coffee on the way out to Creswick. The formalities of registering, sorting out which group you're in, the time gaps, who is on form and who hasn't shown, calculating if the gaps are possible, even at this early stage, act as a small build up before the race, but I always enjoy it and find it quite relaxing as I pin my numbers on. "How you feeling, mate?"; "Na, no good, bit tired." (Nobody ever gives away their form.) "Bit cold, isn't it?"...

The front markers start rolling off the start line, my cue to get warmed up. Every year, the groups start so hard up the climb that many riders self-destruct 3 km into a 133 km race, I don't get it, but it's really important to warm up well, coming to the start line just before depart, and already sweating. As my group lines up, already 2 riders have pulled the pin. This is a hard man's race. True to form, some riders smash it up the climb for the first time. My heart rate was close to threshold, so I was really conscious not to tip it into that red zone. We drop 2 more riders by the top of the climb. The first lap passed with little fanfare - no talking in the group, and everyone pulling solid turns. We were seemingly out on the road alone, and it wasn't until the loudspeaker on our following car told us that we had actually taken time out of scratch that we realised we weren't going too badly.

Coming into town for the first time, turning back into the wind and up the climb again, we lost 3 more riders. Now we were down to 7 riders, less than half of what we started with, and our group lost all motivation. Still no talking, but our speed dropped off, and the wind was really whipping across the road past Newlyn. We began to see the odd solo rider cycling in the opposite direction, back to Creswick, but still no sign of a group up ahead. Furthermore, riders were beginning to skip turns and look over their shoulders, sensing or hoping that scratch was on its way. Effectively we had given up the chase. I took this as a time to eat some solid food and to put myself in a safe position to fit into the scratch train when it arrived.

Scratch caught us on the long, straight downhill stretch past the Swiss Mountains pub at Blampied. It is very fast and windy on this section - speeds in excess of 70 km/h - with the crosswind gusting between the trees, so very easy to get caught behind a slower rider or run off the road when the groups swell as the catch occurs. The merger of my second scratch group with scratch saw all but one other from my bunch dropped, as well as a few scratch casualties. Coming into the last lap, it looked like we had quite a job ahead of us - a 9 minute gap to the leaders.

As we turned up the hill for the last time, I stopped rolling turns and instead sought after Pat Lane's wheel. The light li'l sprinter [ed: see Roger's photos - he really is tiny] had not done any turns since the time I had been caught by scratch, so I knew he was fresh and a threat. Before the race had started, I knew that he would be one to watch after he finished on the podium last year. So now, after 100km, it was the time for tactics, and to start thinking about actually racing. Surprisingly there was no turn of pace, or surging up the climb for the final ascent. Surprising, as I thought the hill would provide the opportunity to take a large chunk out of the that time gap. Cresting the climb, the pace surged, as the bunch sprayed across the middle of the road in the now howling cross-wind. Lane did not go to the front, so I stayed anchored to his rear wheel. My only concern was the fact that I was spending a lot of time on the opposite side of the road due to the echelon formation, and I had to be really attentive to on-coming traffic.

Then, in a few short kilometres, just as we made the turn from Newlyn towards the Swiss Mountain pub, my focus turned from racing to survival. The weather turned absolutely brutal! Freezing, sharp rain that seemed to cut my jersey, a relentless headwind that chilled my core, and the temperature dropped suddenly close to zero. I seem to really suffer once my core gets cold. My heart rate dropped, I couldn't feel my forearms, let alone my fingers, and I was shaking quite violently - enough that I really had to concentrate on holding onto the drops with the frozen steaks that were once my hands. The fact that I had inflated my tyres to 160 psi didn't help things either. I lost my focus, and while dangling on the back of the group all sorts of thoughts were racing through my head. " It would be so easy to stop right now. But what if no-one is there to pick me up? Surely people would understand that I was too cold. OK, I will just hang on for a few more km and see what happens ..." I was nowhere. I remember riding past a rider crashed on the side of the road. It made me toughen up a bit, realising that there is always someone worse off. But it really was a war zone: the icy windy buffeting, our group hunched, not talking, and casualties being spat and littered along the lonely back roads of Smeaton.

It seemed that the rest of the group was hurting somewhat also, as the urgency really went out of the pace. We did finally catch one more small group, but as we entered Allendale, news came from the following car that we were still 2:30 down on the leaders with some 6 km to ride. Almost immediately, riders began to freewheel as a cagey cat and mouse race developed for fastest time. Having ridden off second scratch, I was not in the race for fastest time, and this fartlek-type slowing and sprinting began to frustrate me as I just wanted to get home and dry. It really hurts, too, trying to change pace when you can't feel your hands to change gears smoothly and your legs are like stiff wooden stumps. A small group rode off the front as small gaps began to appear within the bunch, and with that group went fastest time. Now with 2 km to go, no one wanted to begin the chase and we slowed right down. "Come on! I just want to get home!" So rather than slow, I accelerated, and went around the bunch. A few jeers ensued - why I was riding on when the race was up the road? - but they didn't understand how bloody cold I was!

So I crossed the line with a gap on the main scratch bunch, but there was no fanfare. My focus was on finding the van as quickly as possible. I didn't even stop to greet my mum or dad or girlfriend. I fell off the bike in a fused, hunched position, and lay down in the van out of the wind. When I could straighten my arms, Jane helped pull my wet gloves and jersey off. I couldn't manipulate my hands to do it alone! Michael Veal, who had smartly pulled out and got changed before the weather turned horrid, was there to yell abuse, but I had to close the door on him, not to be rude, but because the wind penetrating the van through the small gap in the doorway was unbearable. My lips were blue.

Once I was dressed in dry clothes, I slowly returned to normal. A bit of a feed and a hot chocolate in front of a wood fire at a local cafe helped to thaw me out as I traded war stories with Gary Gullock, who looked like he had merely been for an easy roll. Proper tough guy.

So I survived another Fred Icke. I don't know who won, or by how much, or who was the first Ballarat rider home; but I survived.

Til next year........

BSCC has 200 members! Updated

Tim O'Doherty, club development despot and membership master, writes:

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club now has 200 members. Margaret Crocker joined the club as a recreational member this week, and she becomes our 200th current member. The club presented Margaret with a jersey on Sunday at the Glen Park road race.

Margaret Crocker came into cycling about 6 years ago from running. She started riding with a small group, the Sunday girls' group, that has steadily grown over the years in numbers and distance ridden. The group now does hills on a Saturday and a purely social ride on a Sunday. Margaret regularly rides 100 km or more per week, and enjoys the social aspect of cycling. Margaret joined BSCC after participating in the first Recreational Team Time Trial to support the club, in particular the junior programs. She now rides with the Goddesses RecTTT.

Congratulations Tim, and the BSCC committee, for growing the club so strongly. We have come a long way from the days only a few years ago when there was talk that the club would fold due to low membership. The fact that we are now in a golden era of cycling in the western world - it's the new golf, don't you know? - has helped for sure, but the committee is working hard to capitalize on this and introduce the new cyclists to racing and to the club. A stronger club means a stronger voice for cycling with the Ballarat City Council (which means things like a resurfaced velodrome), which means more cyclists and more members, which means ... you know the thing about snowballs getting bigger as they roll down the hill. Other factors in the turnaround include BSCC's late-2008 merger with the Ballarat Veterans' Cycling Club, itself a major beneficiary of the cycling boom; and, at the other end of the age spectrum, Roger Bade's creation and leadership of a Ballarat schools track cycling program. And we all contribute to growing the club We're ambassadors for the club and for our sport whenever we ride. So whenever we wear our club jersey out riding, whenever we are courteous to fellow road users, or tell other cyclists about the club and our sport, we're helping the cause. OK, the sermon is over now. - Editor.

Create Your Own Great Cycling Moments

If you've been watching the Tour, you've seen the "Create Your Own Great Cycling Moments" commercial, put together by the City of Ballarat, and starring quite a few people we know. Here it is. Click HERE to see it on YouTube. Thanks, once again, to the City of Ballarat's David McMahon, the godfather of cycling events in Ballarat.

MTB: Dirt Girls Ride, March 2012

For a difference the March 2012 Dirt Girl's ride will be held out of town, in Maryborough. To allow for the extra travelling time the ride will start at 9:30am. So if you think you aren't good enough yet, YOU ARE! Come along and have some fun.

Ride Details
When: Saturday 3rd March, 9:30am start
Where: Maryborough, meeting at the railway station
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning.
Fee: Free for BSCC MTB members or $5 for non members, all of which goes to MTBA for insurance purposes. If you are considering a membership then there are 2 to choose from, a $70 social membership which doesn't allow you to participate in any club racing or a $125 race membership.

Remember to bring your mountain bike, helmet, gloves (full length if you have them), sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 106,97,99,113,117,105,95,99,108,121,110,101,115,64,121,97,104,111,111,46,99,111,109,46,97,117.

BSCC's Australian Champions

Since Harry Crothers-Bade's brilliant win in the M19 team pursuit at the Australian Track Championships in January, there's been some discussion of what other national champions we have in our club's history. Quite a few, it turns out. Here's the list we have so far. Thanks for all the extra info - keep it coming!

Angus Greenfield (1896,1897) One mile (Ballarat Amateur Cycling Club)

Ray Bilney (late 1960s) amateur road race. Ray (Scott's dad, Les's brother) also beat Eddy Merckx at the 1964 Olympics.

Doug Armstrong (1968, 1969, 1970) Senior Teams Pursuit (Sebastopol Cycling Club)

Mal McIntosh (1975) Junior Teams (Ballarat Professional Cycling Club)

Dennis Shaw (1974, 1975, 1977): senior teams time trial (Footscray Professional CC?)

Stephen Webb also won a national championship for BSCC during this period.

Peter Townsend (1985, 1986) Veterans' Road Race, (1987) Veterans' kilometer TT (BSCC)

Cameron McKinnon (1986) Juvenile Scratch Race (BSCC)

Craig Fromhold (2003) Veterans' 35-39 criterium and road race (Ballarat Veterans' CC)

Frances Fromhold (2003) Veterans' 30-34 criterium (Ballarat Veterans' CC)

Guy Falla (2004) Veterans' 50-54 individual road time trial

Gary Gullock (2005) Veterans' 45-49 road (Ballarat Veterans' CC). (We suspect Gary has a few more too ... - ed.)

Tony Mirabella (2005) Veterans' 40-45 road (Ballarat Veterans' CC)

Chloe McIntosh (2008) W19 criterium (is this right ...?)

Ken Heres (2008) Veteran road race (Ballarat Veterans' CC)

Harry Crothers-Bade (2010) M19 Teams Pursuit (BSCC)

Notes:

Until the 1990s, professional and amateur cycling were two separate, parallel organizations in Australia (and most of the world).

"Juvenile" in the 1980s meant under-16. Under-18 was called "Junior."

The late Charlie Braszell, BSCC legend and life member, coached Ray Bilney, Dennis Shaw, Stephen Webb, Peter Townsend and Cameron McKinnon when they won their titles. Looks like Charlie is the most successful cycling coach in Ballarat history (so far).

We suspect we're missing some riders here. If you have more information, please 108,101,116,32,117,115,32,107,110,111,119.

In summary, we have a very rich cycling history here in Ballarat. There's a crying need for someone to write a book about our history! Any takers ...?

Thanks to Neil Braszell and Jenny Townsend for providing much of the information here. - ed.

Victorian Track Championships

Roger Bade writes:

BSCC was represented in the senior events at the Victorian Track Championships by Charles Martin, Harry Bade, Damien Keirl and Molly Hegert.

Molly rode well in the time trial but missed a medal. Damien rode 1.07 in the kilo. No Ballarat track means that, though he's very strong, he hasn't done the track work that his rivals had. He'll bounce back. Harry rode personal bests in the kilo and the pursuit to finish 6th and 4th respectively.

Results and photos are at the Cycle Sport Vic site.

2009 BSCC awards

At today's Christmas lunch, medals and sashes were presented to the winners of the 2009 club road championships. Here are some other awards that were presented.

Junior club member of the year: Killian Plastow (for sustained contribution to the club throughout the year)

Senior club member of the year: Chris Liston (for sustained contribution to the club throughout the year)

Web awards:

Godfather of the BSCC web site: Shannon Meadows

Behind the scenes award: Ashley Veal, Small Dog Design

Forum administrator: Tim O'Doherty

Most prolific contributing author: Chris Liston

Top suppliers of information: Roger Bade, Phil Orr

Photographers: Roger Bade, Liz Crothers, Tara Hossack, Kate Grigg, Gail Oliver and above all Bruce Bilston

Web Lackey's favorite contributed stories for 2009:

Jay Bourke: Inside the Melbourne to Ballarat

Ray Isaac: Longs Hill RecTTT report

Michael Veal: Gerro and the Donkey

Road: Meredith Tri Series - BSCC Does The Job

Updated 20 August with an A-grade race report - scroll down.

BSCC Vice-President Don Stewart writes:

What a great day for BSCC.

Thanks to everyone from the club who turned out in numbers to stave off the threat of Geelong CC overtaking us at the last hurdle.
The riders who got the scores on the board are to be congratulated heartily, but it was a huge club effort from all involved. All those who didn't score points were as important as those that did. Some would say even more important, as they probably sacrificed themselves a bit more out on the road! (Scroll down for a report on the C grade race, where this was definitely the case. - ed.)

As reported already, BSCC won all grades today quite handsomely, again by having a lot of riders in each grade ... so that we had a range of tactics at our disposal. In due course , we will hear and see the report on each grade and how it all panned out.

Congratulations to everyone who rode in any of the races.

Here is the overall points tally. Although the Tri-Series is a club team event, I feel it is fitting to recognize the riders who did particularly well in securing the points.

As we mentioned earlier, the points score was 7 , 5, 3, 2, 1 points from 1st to 5th. So adding the points we get these results from Meredith:

A Grade

BSCC.............10 points
Geelong..........7. Points
Colac..............1 point

B Grade

BSCC.........10 points
Geelong......3. Points
Colac...........5 points

C Grade

BSCC.......16 points
Geelong....2 points
Colac .......0 points

Overall Tri-Series Points

BSCC.......85 Points
Geelong...47 Points
Colac.......30 Points

So in the end a very resounding win to BSCC.

Here are some of the individual points-getters for the series.

A Grade

Sam Turley............15 Points

Stuart Grigg...........10 Points

Ben Andrews (G)...5 Points

Liam White....3 Points

B Grade

Tim Van Der Schans (C)... 12 Points

Jeremy Doolan.....................7 Points

Anthony Reyntjes (G)..........7 Points

Doug Garley......................5 Points

Shane Cody..................3 Points

Thayne Turley...............3 Points

C Grade

Jonathan Lacey...............19 Points

Hamish Middleton (C)......7 Points

Rob Forsyth.....................5 Points

Craig Lightfoot................5 Points

Paul Crack.......................3 Points

Will Stewart......................3 Points

Charlie Stebbing...............2 Points

Don Stewart.............1 Point

Meredith results and reports

A grade

1. Sam Turley

2. Greg Stewart (G)

3. Stuart Grigg

4. Tom Paton (G)

5. Zac Shaw (C)

Sam Turley, BSCC's A-grade Tri Series winning machine, writes:

15 fffreezing riders had their race faces on at the start of the third and final race of the Tri Series in Meredith. After the call to arms, Ballarat fielded its biggest turn out with 4 riders. Having won the first two races of the series, BSCC riders Liam White, Michael Pierce, Stu Grigg and Sam Turley were keen to make sure it was a clean sweep.

The bunch left Meredith with Geelong on the front, keeping the pace relatively easy as everyone was trying to warm up before the attacks were to begin. 20 minutes in, BSCC was on the front foot, with Pierce and Turley stringing the bunch out until they were reeled back in.
They stayed as a group until the biggest climb of the day on the first lap, when Turley rode steadily at the front up the climb only to see that the bunch had let him and Greg Stewart (GCC) go. Stewart and Turley rolled turns for a short time until David Lunn (CCC) caught up to the group to make it a 3-man break with every club represented. (And some major firepower: Greg Stewart is an Ironman triathlon legend - 3rd at Hawaii in 1987 - and David Lunn has a handful of Australian team time trial championships from the late 1980s. - ed.)

The bunch decided there was no need to chase, and with the leaders out of sight, Grigg and Tom Paton (GCC) decided to make a break. Unfortunately Lunn (CCC) got a puncture early into the third lap, so Stewart and Turley battled all the way back to the finish line, with Turley getting the win to give Ballarat a clean sweep of the series. Grigg out-sprinted Paton for third, and Zac Shaw grabbed 5th place for Colac.

Pierce and White dedicated their own races for Ballarat to make the job easier to get some points on the board.

B grade

1. Jeremy Doolan

2. Tim VDS (C)

3. Shane "Jedi" Cody

4. Paul La Cava (G)

5. Daniel Lamb (G)

Here's a report from the top step of the podium, thanks to Jeremy Doolan, another of contender for the title of Ballarat's Philippe Gilbert. If we remember rightly, Jeremy's last four races have resulted in three wins, plus third in the Melbourne to Ballarat. Not bad! - ed.

B-grade took to the line with a solid field of 25-30 riders and a strong BSCC contingency (+10?) following rather lean numbers in Rounds 1 and 2. Idle chatter at the start line between BSCC members exuded confidence that we were in with a good chance of featuring at the pointy end of the race.

Across the train lines, and the race was off at a rather leisurely pace. BSCC almost solely rolled turns out to the start of the first of three 16km loops, by which time Polky had ordered the troops to back off a little and let GCC and CCC do some work. A brief slowing of the pace and Thayne Turley was off the front with another rider (GCC or CCC?) for the first BSCC attack of the race. Thayne and co remained out in front for several km’s before the field reeled them in.

The next attack came as the bunch lurched up the short steepish climb towards the end of the first loop. BSCC’s 2nd attack saw Jedi and Aaron Blomeley away over the top of the climb. Jedi, fresh off nightshift (and after consuming as many pre-race Red Bulls as hours of sleep) worked well with Blomeley to stay away for half of the 2nd loop, before GCC and CCC worked to bring them back at the highest point of the course as the drizzle set in. The pace stayed high along the narrow, wet and sometimes smelly stretches with all clubs scheming their next moves.

BSCC’s third attack came as the bunch hit the brakes approaching a sketchy gravel-filled dip. Doolan skipped away with the sleep-deprived and deliriously strong Cody on his tail. By the time they had reached the corner signalling the start of the final loop, Paul La Cava (GCC) had bridged the gap and the trio had 100m on the main bunch. The trio began some solid turns as simultaneously the BSCC heads of state (Garley, Falla, Polkinghorne et al) put the brakes on the bunch, selflessly sacrificing their own race to allow the gap to grow. Gilbert (that's Grant, not Philippe - ed.), not accustomed to riding tempo under 40 km/hr, couldn’t resist and broke from the front of the bunch, hauling a handful of GCC and CCC riders with him. The chase group caught the leaders at the top of the course and the leading trio jumped on the Gilbert express - next stop Meredith!

The bunch of 8 worked well together to keep a sizeable gap on the main field as the final climb of the day was reached. By this time it was clear that the break would stay away. Gilbert once again jumped to the front and Doolan was told to hang on, as the longest lead-out in the history of cycling (8km) began. Gilbert finally faded at 1km from the finish, just as several of the stronger GCC and CCC riders came to the front to start the jostle for the sprint. GCC started off the sprint from way out, Doolan bridged to the leader and then kicked to get clear for the win as Jedi came home strong to take 3rd.

BSCC’s team tactics and self-sacrifice in the main bunch shone through on an otherwise dreary day. Well done everyone!

C grade

1. Jonathan Lacey

2. Rob Forsyth

3. Paul Crack

4. Simon Diderrich (G)

5. Don Stewart

A large contingent of BSCC riders answered Don's Call to Arms, including Charlie Stebbing, Gerard Cosgrave, Paul Crack, Scott Denno, Gerard White, Team Stewart (Don, Will and Bruce), Rob Forsyth and Jonathan Lacey. Geelong also showed up in numbers, with road captain and fast man Colin Smith protected by a large team of strong riders, including Rokewood discovery Ben Culton and the consistent Simon Diderrich. Ballarat and Geelong riders breathed a sigh of relief when they noticed Hamish Middleton, who made it look very easy last week in Beeac, was not on the line. BSCC's team plan was for strong men Stebbing, Cosgrave, Denno, White and Bruce Stewart to hurt the other riders as much as possible during the race, for Will Stewart and Rob Forsyth to go for a late break on the drag towards the finish if the opportunity presented itself, and for Lacey and Don Stewart to hang back and hope to knock off the Geelong fast men in the sprint.

Thanks to a huge effort from the BSCC team, the race went exactly to plan. BSCC's strong men poured on the pressure right from the start, with Stebbing in particular stretching the elastic constantly. There was not quite enough wind to split the field on the narrow roads, but the hard men took advantage of all the dead uphill drags on the course. Stebbing drove the pace on the longest drag, towards the corner at the end of the first lap, Lacey kept the pace on through the corner, then eased off, and a gap opened between Stebbing and a Geelong rider and the bunch. The ever-attentive Cosgrave showed that his form is still good by zipping across the gap. At this point, Geelong road captain Colin Smith ordered his troops to the front to slow the race down. BSCC's captains were happy enough with this, tipping Stebbing to win the sprint if the break stayed away. Stebbing and Cosgrave drove hard in the break, and the gap went out to about thirty seconds. Around the next corner, though, Stebbing dropped the Geelong rider from the break, and the Geelong machine in the bunch swung into action. The pace lifted dramatically, and after a hard chase, Stebbing and Cosgrave were caught on the long, muddy drag towards the end of the final lap. Will Stewart, again showing tactical smarts beyond his years, immediately counter-attacked, and quickly opened a gap on the exhausted Geelong chasers. Rob Forsyth, who impressed on the tough Longs Hill circuit a month or so back, jumped across and joined him. Perfect tactics: Geelong, having spent half a lap chasing Stebbing and Cosgrave, now had to burn more matches chasing two more BSCC rabbits, while the BSCC sprinters sat back and licked their lips. Amazingly, Stebbing quickly recovered from his two-up time trial with Cosgrave, and sat half a dozen wheels from the front, with Crack and Lacey glued on behind him.

After another huge chase from Geelong, Stewart and Forsyth were collared with about a kilometer to go. The sole Colac rider in the race then took over, and wound the pace up to David Millar-esque levels, while the sprinters jostled behind him. When he started flagging with about 400m to go, Lacey and Crack squeezed past him on the right, while Don Stewart ended up on his left. Don, as cool as a cucumber, hopped his bike onto the gravel, blasted past the dying lead-out man at almost full speed, and hopped back onto the road again. Meanwhile, on the right, Lacey headed for home, pursued by none other than the amazing Forsyth, who had had only a handful of seconds to recover from his time trial. Forsyth will be doing some damage in B grade very shortly. Geelong's Colin Smith, probably the fastest sprinter in the finale, hung back, with memories of his serious crash earlier in the season fresh in his mind, leaving Lacey, Forsyth and Crack to claim the first three placings, with Geelong's Simon Diderrich fourth, and Don "Cyclocross" Stewart fifth.

This ended one of the most impressive BSCC team efforts this correspondent has seen in a long time. Every BSCC rider in the race performed well above their normal level, and the results reflect all their contributions. Well done, team!

*************

Updated: Geelong CC will accept entries on the line. And the forecast is for fine weather! See you there. Especially B-grade riders ...

BSCC Vice President Don Stewart writes:

The Tri Series between BSCC, Geelong CC and Colac CC has reached a critical stage. After two rounds, with one to go, the aggregate points are:

BSCC........ 49 points
Geelong.....35 points
Colac..........24 points

Now , you might think that is a handy lead for BSCC, but there are 54 points up for grabs at the last race in the series this Saturday at Meredith, just 42 km down the Midland Highway. So the club has initiated a "call to arms" for this weekend to get as many BSCC members racing as possible.

The race is a graded scratch event for A, B , and C grades. Even with five hardy riders in B Grade last weekend at Beeac, BSCC did not score any points in that grade, due to being overwhelmed by a large number of Geelong riders. We realise not everybody likes scratch racing, but flying the flag for the club is a totally different experience from riding as an individual. The team tactics are akin to the tactics seen at the Tour de France.

We are so desperate for numbers that Kate Grigg has volunteered to look after Ben Clark's young tacker so Ben can race!

So, guys and girls, there are no excuses. Please find a way to get to Meredith on Saturday for a 1.30 pm start. Has BSCC won the Tri Series before? We’re not sure. Let’s get out in force on Saturday and win this one.

See you there. Please enter with 68,111,110,32before 5 PM Friday night.

Please note that the BSCC team bus will not be in operation this weekend. Please carpool with your team mates, to reduce our carbon footprint, plan tactics, and make sure your mates do their part! - ed.

Road: August Rec TTT

Ray Isaac, RecTTT reporter extraordinaire, writes:

Calculating the number of riders at the August 2010 RecTTT ride would have provided a worthwhile challenge for an idiot savant (think Dustin Hoffman in Rainman). From my best recollection the following occurred:
• 30 RecTTT riders arrived at the Burrumbeet Hall.
• 3 went home before the start, via the Espresso Café for breakfast.
• This left 26 people to start the ride, with 2 assuming support roles.
• The Goddesses at various stages had 5 riders, and then 6, then 5, then 6 again and finally finished with their original 5 riders.
• The Yabby Divers started with 5 and finished with 4, as did the Dennis Family Homes team.
• The depleted Saxons had 4 at the start and crossed the line with just 3
• Amongst all this mayhem, the Turret Café had the rather exceptional, if mundane, experience of starting with 6 riders and finishing with the same 6!

Although those facts appear to have some internal inconsistencies, I think they are borne out by the events on the day. Here’s how it all transpired.

Three of the hard men from the Myer Group - Tony Quinney, Graham Pyers and Tavis Baker - arrived at the hall and made the very prudent decision to abandon the ride.

That may have been based on Tavis’s reported ill health, or the absence of their Italianate mentor, but it was probably the appalling conditions they encountered when they arrived. There was some wind, but the predominant feature was the rain. That was of biblical proportions and had nothing to do with Dustin Hoffman or Rainman.

In a momentary break in the weather, following a brief briefing from Tim O’Doherty, our stalwart starter, the Goddesses were unleashed on the course at their usual pole position. No new names were featured on their roster.

They were followed by the Saxon House team. Those too were all familiar faces, and included one-time CSC winner, Trevor Smith. He had clearly decided that the biggest contribution he could make to their effort was to follow along in a support vehicle.

The Yabbies had added Engine and Mark (who may or may not be known as the Hulk) to their line-up.

To everyone’s relief, it was immediately obvious that these RecTTT Yabbies had abandoned their baby-poo green jerseys. Blakey and Chuck were sporting the new Yabby outfit, which is most fetching in white with red and black markings. Was I the only one to recognise the implied flattery in its distinct imitation of the CSC jersey which features prominently on the hallowed CSC Award?

The Turreteers headed off next. They were happy to welcome Rick Calvert to his comeback RecTTT ride. You couldn’t have picked a better day for it Rick! At the last moment, Jenny White jumped out of her car just as they were leaving and joined in.

A mean, lean Dennis Family Homes team were last to leave. Their team comprised Peter Hayes, Peter Livitsanis, Peter Martin, Dave Peters and Scott-Peter Denno.

Okay, I made that last one up.

Their pleas to be allowed to head off last had been heeded. This allowed their support vehicle, being driven by Mark Smith (son of the aforementioned Trevor Smith and obviously possessed of the same fierce determination) to follow along behind. Mark was filling big shoes as Directeur Sportif for the team. This role was left vacant by Peter Martin who was putting in a big effort for their team on the road.

For about five minutes. After that Peter realised that the frenetic pace was going to really hurt if he kept it up for six minutes. He promptly abandoned ship and jumped into the team car.

Up front, the Goddesses were negotiating the river crossings with great caution. This allowed firstly the Saxons, then the Yabbies, the Turret and the Dennis boys to overtake them.

Jenny White decided that the Goddesses could benefit from her assistance more than the Turret and joined in with the ladies.

After the Saxons had passed the Goddesses, Roger Simkin may have thought the same thing as he soon dropped off the back of the Saxons and headed back towards the Goddesses group. Alternatively it may have been that the half-marathon he ran on Saturday proved to be a less-than-ideal preparation for a tough RecTTT ride.

There must have been a crossover at some point as Jenny decided to leave the Goddesses and set off after the Saxons.

At about this time the true value of the support vehicle for the Dennis team was revealed. Scott-Peter had a puncture and was back on his bike in a flash with a changeover wheel. This is a serious outfit that is not to be underestimated.

Mount Misery was conquered by all teams. Peter Livitsanis (for the Dennis team), Rob Dolan (for the Turret) and Engine (for the Yabbies) did some of their best work here, and were all briefly considered for the Courage aspect of the CSC Award.

Finally the head winds and rain turned into side winds and rain. Ercildoune came and went, as did the sorry figure of Floyd. He had the great misfortune to have a puncture AND be a member of the heartless Yabby Divers, who abandoned him to his fate. If only some of the fair-weather Yabby riders had thought to provide a support vehicle, or for that matter, if the Dennis team had acted as a neutral spares unit.

Nearby, Roger had decided that 30 kilometres of sitting in the Goddesses’ group was long enough and went to the front. Their sighs of relief soon turned to dismay when he rode off the front and left them to their own devices for the run to the line.

At the line the following average speeds were achieved. The change since the previous ride is also shown.

Goddesses 25.93 km/h (up 1.98 km/h)
Saxon House 29.29 km/h (up 0.50 km/h)
Turret Café 35.29 km/h (up 2.81 km/h)
Dennis Family Homes 35.30 km/h (up 1.05 km/h)
Yabby Divers 35.20 km/h (up 1.05 km/h)

I suspect these figures flatter all the teams somewhat. They are based on the distance shown on the website, which seems about 2 km too long.

The CSC Award - which is a bottle of one of Australia’s finest wines - was handed to Jenny White for her flagrant flouting of all things that RecTTT riders hold dear. She didn’t enter the ride as she didn’t have a team, she rode with three different teams at different stages, and crossed over between two of them in a solo effort. The lovely slices and buns she provided after the run didn’t count against her either, it must be said. Chapeau, Jenny, and welcome to RecTTT riding!

Thanks to all the marshalls who prepared the course and stood in the rain to monitor our safety. As ever, thanks to Kathy Young for all her help.

In summary it’s fair to say that die-hard RecTTT riders enjoyed the coffee van, the tasty treats, each other's company and that of the race riders present, and hope to enjoy it even more next time when the weather surely must be a bit better!

Post script.
If you want to win the CSC Award at the next RecTTT ride (due early in October,) you’ll have to do something extraordinary to match Chris Charleson’s effort from Sunday after the ride. Without revealing too much I can say that it involves two bikes on a roof rack, a low car park entry and some involuntary braking as one met the other. The coup de grace was when he backed out of that sticky situation over one of the bikes that had been dislodged from the roof rack. Ouch!

**********

Peter Canny, Rec TTT ruler, writes:

Here is a final reminder for next Sunday’s Recreational Team Time Trial. The thinking man’s bunch, The Turret, were out this morning under the guidance of new recruit Patrick Shaw, who is unavailable next week because he is defending his National Race Series lead at the Tour of Geelong. He did say, however, there was little he could contribute to such a finely-tuned group. (Or something like that. - ed.) Dennis Family homes were also out, lurking around in their usual undisciplined disarray, while Myers and Lake Health are maintaining their low profiles. The Yabbies, as normal, were out before sunrise, like some vampire cult, afraid of the sunlight. (Wearing those muppet suits as they do, though, we only say thank you.)

Here are the details for Sunday's event.

When: Sunday August 15. Registration opens at 8:30 AM. Start Time: the Goddesses are away first at 9.30 AM. Other bunches leave between 9.45 AM and 10 AM.

Where: registration and start are at Burrumbeet Hall.

Distance: 50 km, one lap of the big circuit. There's a link to the course map on the on-line calendar: click on Road on August 15.

Cost: $5.00 for non members. Please consider becoming a recreational (non-racing) member for $65 for 12 months. See Ray Issac for details.

Hope to see you there, for some SERIOUS FUN FOR RECREATIONAL ROAD RIDERS.

***********

Our next recreational team time trial (Rec TTT) is now less than a month away. Time to start putting that Tour de France inspiration into action.

For those who have not entered a team before, you only need four to nine like-minded riders to form a team. You set your own pace, and remember that it is purely designed to be Serious Fun (trade mark applied for - ed.), and not a race.

We expect that the teams from the last event will once again front up:

The Yabbies, still amazing the rest of us by completing the correct course

Lake Health, just amazing us

The Turrett, having amazing bad luck

The Goddesses, amazing us by still turning up

Saxon House, amazing us with their consistency

Dennis Family Homes, amazing the whole cycling world by posting a half-decent time, as well as winning the fancy dress competition at the last event. Well done Pete Martin, who didn’t dress any differently from normal

And Myers, we need you back with the amazing Italian.

We would love to see you all again. We always welcome a few more teams, so if you ride with a bunch and have not come out before, this is a great time to begin.

All the details are in the downloadable road fixture, at the top of the on-line calendar. They will soon be on the August page of the on-line calendar too. The details are here too.

Where? Start & finish are at the Burrumbeet Hall, off the Western Highway behind the pub. We'll ride on the Mount Misery cirsuit, which, despite the name, is absolutely beautiful in winter.

Time? 8.30 AM registration, 9.30 AM start.

Distance? 60 km, and there's a shorter option

Cost? $5 for non-members of BSCC

Special thanks to all those recreational members who have been assisting with marshalling over the last month. It has been most appreciated by the club.

Recreational Team Time Trials: Serious Fun For Road Riders.

Road: Townsend Wins in the Wet

The continuing deluge led to greatly reduced numbers at BSCC's Mt. Misery road race today. The club's elite riders are doing battle at the Tour of Geelong, and many others are taking a mid-winter break. As a result, only about 20 riders entered the race, scheduled as a handicap over the Mt. Misery circuit. Steady rain through the night and into the morning meant that only about half this number were signed up at start time. Race officials Chris Liston and Gerard White, standing in for Phil Orr, did a quick poll of the riders and decided to run the event as an all-in scratch race. Because of the miserable conditions, the small numbers, and the presence of cyclists who would normally ride A, B and C grades, the riders made an informal agreement to keep the group together until close to the finish. The agreement held: the field rode two abreast along the Avenue and as far as Addington. From then on they worked at a solid but manageable pace.

The potentially drought-breaking rain over the past week has resurrected Lake Burrumbeet, and left many patches of standing water on the course, which the riders negotiated without mishap. Top seeds Scott Townsend, Scott Keating and Shane "Jedi" Cody made occasional surges, then remembered the agreement and eased back for the field to re-group. Melissa Keirl and Lewis Piccoli, fresh from strong rides in the Tri Series, rode strongly to stay in touch, as did visitor Barry Pollock from Mildura. Despite the agreement, the pace gradually lifted as the finish drew nearer, with Peter Kiel and Clive Silcock, last week's Tri Series star, looking strong, along with the steadily rising Craig Lightfoot. The pace was very solid on the last two rises between Ercildoune and Weatherboard, and as the field took the right-hand bend to head for home, Scott Keating decided it was time to further hone his growing form. He single-handedly lined the field out in the gutter with 3 km to go, and maintained the pace until Scott Townsend hit the gas from five wheels back with 250m to go. Jonathan Lacey, on Townsend's wheel all the way, was in the box seat, but he had nowhere near enough power to challenge clear winner Townsend, nor the super-strong Cody, who took second.

A big thank you to Chris Liston, Gerard White, Tim O'Doherty and all the other marshals who made the race possible. Marshalling takes longer than racing, and is wetter and much colder in these conditions. Props also to the RecTTT riders, who greatly out-numbered the racers, and in many cases worked harder for their post-race coffees. Maybe some of them will show up to the club road championship in four weeks and give the racers a fright!

BSCC senior all-in scratch race, Mt. Misery: official results

1. Scott Townsend (A) 1:25:01
2. Shane Cody (A), s.t.
3. Jonathan Lacey (A), s.t.
4. Craig Lightfoot (1st B), s.t.
5. Peter Kiel (A), s.t.
6. Barry Pollock (Mildura) (2nd B), s.t.
7. Scott Keating (A), s.t.
8. Clive Silcock (A), s.t.
9. Matt Smith (3rd B), s.t.
10. Melissa Keirl (B), 1:27:08
11. Lewis Piccoli (B), 1:27:42

MTB: Trail Sub-Committee

Call for members to join an MTB trails sub-committee and/or register for trails work crew

The MTB committee are calling for members to put their hands up to join the trails subcommittee and/or register to be part of the trails work crew. As we know, Ballarat and the surrounding region has no legal MTB trails suitable for cross country riding and racing, so the club is left to coordinate with DSE and Parks Victoria about utilizing existing legal and ‘illegal’ trails for our social rides and events. For the most part these trails are either not suitable for delivering a enjoyable and challenging trail experience, or there is uncertainty in their future. The trails subcommittee is looking to change this by taking on a trail advocacy role and with the help of the trails work crew, design and develop sustainable trials in the region. Without suitable trails, XC MTB in Ballarat and surrounds will suffer. Here's your chance to be a part of making Ballarat a MTB centre.

The Trails Subcommittee

This sub-committee's main role initially is to act as trail advocates to get suitable legal trails established, through the development of a strategic plan. This will involve a number of activities including letter writing to land managers, gaining community support, educating other forest users, developing a strategic vision and plan, and generally pushing to have legal trails of a suitable standard in the area. When we're successful in getting land manager support and assistance in trail development, the subcommittee will then be involved in the design and development of trails, grant writing, fund raising and other associated activities. The structure of the subcommittee and how often it meets will be up to its members and will be discussed at the first meeting. It is anticipated that members of this subcommittee will put in as much or as little time as they can.

The Trails Crew

The crew will be involved in trail building, so this is for those who want to get their hands dirty in developing trails, but do not have time to commit to a more formal subcommittee. At this stage, given we can’t legally build trails, so we are asking for people to register an interest in volunteering their time (whether it be one day a week, month or year) for trail building in the future. The trails subcommittee will advise when trail works will begin.

For further information, to join the trails subcommittee or register for the trails work crew please contact 65,110,116,97,110,97,115,32,83,112,111,107,101,118,105,99,105,117,115

The BSCC trails subcommittee and crew will not be involved in illegal trail development.

Famous white shorts

Saturday's fame was thanks to Beth's crash. In the photo, Rob was yelling at the photographer. Today, he's on page 10 of the Age newspaper, in a story about funding cuts for student services, including sports. No on-line version, unfortunately. Rob probably prefers to be famous for winning bike races (which he does, often), but we're always glad to see BSCC members in the news.

Road: Easter Group Rides, 2011

If you're not at a secret training camp in the mountains this Easter, here are some group road rides around Ballarat that might interest you. This is an appendix to the Group Rides page on the left-hand menu.

The Turret ride leaves from the Turret cafe, on the corner of Sturt St and Errard Street North, at 8:30 AM on Friday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. More or less the same crew leave from the Lake View Hotel, on the corner of Wendouree Parade and Mill Street, at 7:30 AM on Saturday.

The Myers group leaves the front of the Myer department store, on the corner of Sturt Street and Armstrong Street South, at 7:30 every day over the break.

The Yabby Divers are training for the Tour of Romandie, and have declined to share the start time or location of their rides with us.

Gary's group are riding Liege-Bastogne-Liege this weekend.

We made some of this up. - ed.

BSCC April road races

BSCC Vice-President Don Stewart writes:

BSCC has some exciting road races coming up this month. The details are on the on-line calendar, and here's more information.

Race entries

We've said several times (a year ago, for example) that entries for BSCC road races are due to 80,104,105,108,32,79,114,114 (0409 359 778) by 5 PM on the Friday before the race. This is particularly important for handicap races. It takes Phil some time to figure out the handicaps for each race, and to do so he must have the complete start list.

So if you show up to a BSCC handicap race without entering the Friday before, you'll get a ride, but you'll be riding in the bunch behind the one you usually ride with. This isn't being nasty: an extra rider in your bunch requires Phil to re-jig the gaps between bunches on the spot, or it gives your bunch an unfair advantage. This way you get a ride and the handicapping isn't thrown out. And you'll probably remember to enter next time ...

Saturday 24 April: Chris Cashin Memorial at Burrumbeet

This race is a 60 km senior handicap around the infamous Mt Misery circuit, one of Chris's favorites. Junior racing will be handicaps, over 30km and 10km circuits, and a 5km out-and-back. There will be up to three levels of junior racing, depending on numbers. Once again, there's a link to a map of the course and the start-finish in the calendar entry. The race is sponsored by Powercor, Chris's former employer. Entry is $10.

There's lots of prize money - for places 1-10 and fastest time, plus magnificent trophies for the winner and for the first woman rider in the senior event.

Please bring a plate of food for the awards ceremony after the race.

Junior information from Paul Pickersgill.

Chris Cashin Memorial: marshals needed

If you're available to marshal on a corner or drive a lead or tail car for the Chris Cashin memorial race this Saturday afternoon at Burrumbeet, please contact 80,101,116,101,114,32,67,97,110,110,121 on 0417 391 008.

Snake Valley "All Ages" race

For Chris Liston's telling of the day's story, please click Club Racing > Results on the left-hand menu, and read the story under either Senior Road Racing or Junior Road Racing.

A quote from the article: “We have proved we can do combined racing that involves everybody and is good racing. It is an engaging spectacle and develops relationships between riders and spectators. The club now has a base model we can refine and tune and the membership enjoyed the ride! – that is what we are about.” (Chris Liston)

A quote from the event: "The winner today is CYCLING." (Rob Doyle)

MTB: Ballarat Tri Club Event

The Ballarat tri club are holding an informal winter MTB/run events from Five Ways this Sunday organised by our own Peter "Engine" Walker.

The course takes in some of our favourite Kangaroo tracks so get along and take your running shoes. See the Tri club website for details

Road: Au Revoir, Fignon

Laurent Fignon died today, at the age of 50. His titanic battle with Greg LeMond in 1989 gave us what many regard as the most exciting Tour de France of the modern era. LeMond's 8-second victory over Fignon ushered in the sport of cycling as we know it today. The ungodly-talented LeMond brought with him aerodynamic equipment, clipless pedals, carbon fiber bikes, power monitors, specialized cycling eyewear, race radios and the caution that goes with them, lawyers negotiating cyclists' contracts, credibility for English-speaking riders, and the notion of building a season solely around one race - the Tour. So Fignon was the last of the old breed: wins from March to October, custom steel bikes, cotton caps, impulsive attacks hours from home. Farewell, Laurent.

Road: 1 Oct Road Race Didn't Happen

Updated Saturday: BSCC's road race on Saturday 1 October, AFL Grand Final day, didn't go ahead after all. Entries were low, and a few last-minute cancellations due to the weather made them even lower. See you next week at the Oz Masters, or the following week (October 15) at Dunnstown.

*********

BSCC's road races on Saturday 1 October, AFL Grand Final day, start at 10 AM at Haddon. The races will be team sprint races around the Triangle circuit - for some, one last hit-out before the Australian Masters Road Champs. There will also be a "Come and Try" event for aspiring junior racers.

This is your chance to race in a team with seniors and juniors combined. The race will be between teams of five riders, over 35km. Each team will contain riders with a variety of ability levels, from U11 through to senior. U11's do one lap, and by ability the lap count goes up, with one rider in turn doing the pace setting, until the strongest rider brings home the team. It will be a fun way to race and mentor others that you do not normally race with.

Entries for the senior event go to Ben Clark (not Don Stewart this week). Click 60,115,116,114,111,110,103,62,72,69,82,69 to email Ben, on call or text 0417 161 543.

MTB: Trail Building, a first for BSCC

Through the hard work of Creswick Trails and BSCC members, Central Highlands Water has given us permission to build a trail around the southside of Cosgrave's Reservoir in Creswick.

This might not seem like a big deal but it is the first time any land owner in our region has given us permission to build a purpose build MTB trail on their land, up until this point we have only been allowed to use existing trails. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come in the future.

The section of trail that will be built is going to be part of the course for The Brackenbury Epic (on 23-Oct), and it joins two sections of existing trail to allow for a nice big loop. Remember the Brackenbury is only a few weeks away.

While we understand it is AFL Grand Final weekend we are asking for as many volunteers as possible to come along and put in a couple of hours work, we guarantee each time you ride over a section you help build it will give you a thrill.

Meeting Place: Micheal Veal's House, 11 Augusta Dr, Forest Resort, Creswick (behind Novatel)
Date: Saturday, 1 October 2011
Meeting Time: 10:00am
Expected Duration: 2 to 3 hours
What to bring: Rakehoe or Shovel/Mattock and maybe your bike if you want to ride it afterwards
What to wear: Work clothes, solid boots and gloves

So a big thank-you to Central Highlands Water for their ultra helpful and constructive attitude!

Road: Go to the Worlds the Easy Way, Sat & Sun only

Updated 1 October: Only one Ballarat-Geelong and one return bus service is running each day Saturday and Sunday, again due to low bookings. The link below has not been updated. Don't say we didn't warn you about parking ...

Updated 30 September: the bus service is running as advertized on Saturday and Sunday. Services on Thursday and Friday are canceled because only one ticket had been sold, and it was decided that this was not a good way to spend $600 of ratepayers' money, per day. (So I'm driving down today! - ed.) The weekend services are filling up, so please book now - link below. Reports from Geelong are that you really, really want to avoid driving down unless it's absolutely necessary.

The Worlds in Geelong will be a big deal! Riders, team staff and fans from all over the world are descending on Geelong. One thing's for sure: parking will be a nightmare. But don't despair - there is a daily bus service between Ballarat and Geelong during the Worlds, and room for your bike on the bus (or probably on a trailer behind the bus). Click HERE for the schedule and other info. Please consider: it will reduce stress and carbon emissions.

2010-11 Presentations

Updated 1 November: 2010-11 Small Dog criterium championship presentations will be after the crits on Wednesday November 23, with a BBQ dinner. The presentations will be at the criterium course, or if the weather is wet, at the Club Rooms.

The Christmas Team Time Trials, annual BSCC social function, and 2011 road season presentations, will be on Sunday 18th Dec at the Gong Reservoir. If it's wet (like last year), lunch and presentations will be at the club rooms.

See you there!

Road: Free lunch!

Wendy Ross writes:

We need six marshals for the Taltarni race at Moonambel on Sunday. They need to be at Moonambel no later than 9 AM. Do it and you'll get your BBQ lunch at Taltarni Winery after the event for free! If you're up for it, please contact Wendy now, by 101,109,97,105,108,32or on 0408 170 410.

Track: Results, 29 October

BSCC Track Racing Results

Carnival Description: BSCC Marty Busch Carnival
Date: October 29, 2010

Roger Bade, track tsar, writes:

Sunny skies, a hint of warmth and completed line marking all helped to make this track session at Marty Busch the best since early 2009. A new crop of juniors is making rapid progress, and the seniors are beginning to dust off their fixed wheel machines and return to the scene of past triumphs.

In F Grade, the racing honours were shared by the ever-consistent Adam Begbie; the Mannix sisters, Courtney and Vivienne; Rochelle Liston; Angus Cocking; and 8yo newcomer, Harrison Calloway. In E Grade, first timer Jack Stewart showed that big brother Will is not the only one in the family with talent by taking out both the Scratch race and the Elimination, and finishing second behind the more experienced Emily Oliver in the Pursuit Elimination.

In D grade we saw high quality racing, with a mix of experienced youngsters like Declan Dickson and Pat Cosgrave, who each scored wins, and road convert Jack Sears who showed great speed and strength to take out the motor pace. Josh Liston had a huge night of racing, first winning both the C grade Motor Pace and Elimination, coming second behind Will Stewart in the Scratch Race, and then joining the seniors, taking out the B grade Keirin and riding much of the A grade Points race with track guru Doug Garley.

In A Grade, Charles Martin and Scott Townsend looked the pace in the shorter events, with Charles in particular showing that he will be a force in the sprints throughout the summer. Harry Crothers-Bade showed patience and then strength and speed to dominate the feature 60 lap Points race whilst Doug Garley was unlucky to miss the key break of the race and thus spent the next 40 laps trying to hook back on. The crowd sadistically enjoys the sea of pain these longer races bring.

Next Saturday will see the return of Saturday racing at the track, not seen for many years. All experienced and novice racers are invited. The afternoon starts at 2 PM and will feature periods of “Come and Try” with loaned bikes available to all. In particular we are looking to cater for the roadies who have never ventured on to the track before. It will be a perfect way to finalise preparations for the club’s big Taltarni race the next day.

RESULTS

F Grade

Scratch Race (3 lap)
1st Adam Begbie
2nd Angus Cocking
3rd Rochelle Liston
Elimination
1st Courtney Mannix
2nd Rochelle Liston
3rd Adam Begbie

Handicap
1st Harrison Calloway
2nd Beatrice Pickersgill
3rd Vivienne Mannix

E Grade

Scratch Race (4 lap)
1st Jack Stewart
2nd Emily Oliver
2nd Harriet Pickersgill
Elimination
1st Jack Stewart
2nd Emily Oliver
3rd Clancy Dickson

Pursuit Elimination
1st Emily Oliver
2nd Jack Stewart
2nd Clancy Dickson

D Grade

Scratch Race(3 lap)
1st Declan Dickson
2nd Tim Geoghegan
Elimination
1st Pat Cosgrave
2nd Dominic Geoghegan
3rd Declan Dickson
Motor pace
1st Jake Sears
2nd Jack Thompson
2nd Dominic Geoghegan

C Grade

Scratch Race(5 lap)
1st Will Stewart
2nd Emma Bilston
3rd Josh Liston
Elimination
1st Josh Liston
2nd Will Stewart
2nd Emma Bilston
Motor Pace
1st Josh Liston
2nd Emma Bilston
3rd Will Stewart

A and B Grade

Scratch Race(30 lap)
1st Charles Martin
2nd Harry Crothers-Bade
3rd Scott Townsend
Points Race (60 lap)
1st Harry Crothers-Bade (59 points)
2nd Charles Martin (36 points)
3rd Scott Townsend (28 points)
4th Doug Garley (24 points

Kierin(Ht 1)
1st Charles Martin
2nd Harry Crothers-Bade
3rd Scott Townsend

Kierin(Ht 2)
1st Josh Liston
2nd Joel Hossack
3rd Emma Bilston

Track Schedule:

Mondays 5pm to 7pm - Club Training
Thursdays 4pm to 7pm – Club racing
Saturday racing will be run on selected Saturdays. See the on-line calendar for details.

Alan Cureton does it again at Taltarni

Alan Cureton won BSCC's last official road race for the 2009 season, the Taltarni Winery handicap, at Moonambel today. Cureton's trademark cool head and explosive acceleration just held off a fast-finishing Damien Keirl. BSCC's own Euro road star, Patrick Shaw, took the fastest time.

The race, sponsored by nearby Taltarni Winery, was one of the most popular races on the calendar of the Ballarat Veterans' Cycling Club. The Vets merged with BSCC at the end of last year, so this was the first time the race was run by BSCC. A large field greeted the starter in warm, calm conditions. Five groups of outmarkers started first, each spaced by a handful of minutes, followed by a larger gap back to the last three groups, with time trial specialist Andrew Weightman and Italian-based professional cyclist Patrick Shaw, son of 1978 Melbourne-to-Warrnambool winner Dennis, starting last. This gap turned out to be decisive.

The 9-minute group, the last of the front groups, started strongly, with powerful turns of pace from big men Keirl and Stuart Brien, and emerging climber and new father Ben Clark. They closed the one-minute gap to Cureton's group before the hamlet of Barkly, and swept up the remaining front markers shortly after Navarre to form a bunch of almost twenty riders. Behind them, Shaw and Weightman closed the one-minute gap to the group of Tony Mirabella, young guns Ciaran Conaughton and Mitch Brogden, and rising star Stuart Grigg. Shaw soon had his charges riding at a fearsome pace, and on the "dead" drag between Navarre and the KOM, mowed down the third scratch group.

At the front, on the same stretch of road, Clark, Brien, Matthew Smith, Michael Veal and Jonathan Lacey drove hard, knowing that their chances of a win depended on holding off Shaw. This played to the advantage of the canny sprinters, Keirl and Cureton. On the KOM climb, which might otherwise have been the sprinters' undoing, Clark attacked to take the minor prize at the top, but the rest of the group rode a steady tempo and reeled him in on the descent, and so a group of about a dozen was together to contest the finish. Cureton had raced the course twice before as a Vets member; Smith and Keirl were first-timers. Smith went too early, Keirl too late, and Cureton, as always, at the perfect moment, and so Cureton's acceleration narrowly beat Keirl's massive top-end speed. Stuart Brien was an impressive third, after driving the train for much of the day. Craig Lightfoot and Peter Kyatt both hung tough and finished strongly to close out the top five. Less than two minutes behind, Shaw blasted away from Weightman to take the fastest time, and held off sprint specialist Brogden to lead his bunch home.

At the presentation at race sponsor Taltarni Winery, Shaw spoke in glowing terms of the young talent he had seen in the race, in particular Conaughton, Brogden, and Liam White. "The club is the strongest it's been since my father's days in the 1980s," he said.

Official results, BSCC 2009 Taltarni Winery handicap, 51 km

1st Alan Cureton
2nd Damien Keirl
3rd Stuart Brien
4th Craig Lightfoot
5th Peter Kyatt
6th Tim Oliver

Fastest Pat Shaw

Reports from the Recreational TTTs held on the same course are coming soon.

Road: Dunnstown Ti-Tree results

A strong performance by Simon Wilkinson saw him take out Round 9 of the Mulcahy and Co Aggregate Series 65 km Handicap around the Ti-Tree Rd , Yendon, Dunnstown circuit.
With a lap to go Limit still had a 4 minute gap and it looked like they were going to score consecutive race victories but the Scratch bunch put the hammer down. Michael Pierce, Tony Mirabella and Aaron Blomeley drove the group to higher speeds which eventually caught all middle groups but limit still had almost 2 minutes with 8 km to go.
However, the long head wind drag to the line was too much for limit and they were caught within sight of the line. Simon Wilkinson won the sprint to take the honours from Liam White and Tony Mirabella, closely followed home by Michael Pierce and Will Geor.
Fastest time went to Wilkinson.

1st Simon Wilkinson
2nd Liam White
3rd Tony Mirabella
4th Michael Pierce
5th Will Geor

F/T Simon Wilkinson

Aggregate reults after 9 rounds here.

Road: Leongatha Junior Experience

BSCC Junior Road Race - April 28/29 2012
Junior Results
Leongatha Junior Experience and State Hill Climb Championship!
Joshua Liston returned to the road racing circuit podium taking the state silver medal in the U17M 3.3km climb. Liston along with James Pane of Brunswick cycling club got to the front of the field at the 2.5km mark and from there battle was on for the championship. Pane edged ahead of Liston relegating him to second. David Korokni of Carnegie Caulfield CC was third. The climb near Outrim – Leongatha is a 6.8% grade rising 205m.
The two day tour developed for newcomers to the sport saw BSCC’s Kirilly and Jake Hopkins compete in JW15 and JW17 in their first open race event, taking in the Time Trial, Road Sprint, Criterium Scratch and Handicap Road races. Jake almost took a win in the 44km Handicap with 1km to go he was caught by the mid field with several riders moving through. A minute out from this group was Josh Liston and scratch, where Liston took the fastest time from Pane in the sprint.
Rochelle Liston raced her longest race to date taking second along the way. In the 12km Handicap that had seven of the states leading U13 girls, she attacked her middle mark bunch of three to put in a gap and chase limit solo to miss the win by 100m. On the Saturday she took 3rd in the heat of the straight line sprint.

Young Women in Sport seminar

The Victorian Institute of Sport invites you to an afternoon full of insights for Young Women in Sport.

Hosted by World Champion and Australian Netball Representative Sharelle McMahon.

When: Saturday 19th May, 3-5pm.

Where: VIS, Lakeside Stadium, 33 Aughtie Drive, Albert Park.

RSVP: www.trybooking.com/BJSY

Dowload flyer here.

Wanna Be Famous?

Stuart Brien, BSCC Major Events maestro, writes:

Would you like to be famous? The Ballarat City Council, by far the biggest supporter of BSCC and of Ballarat cycling, are producing a TV commercial about cycling in Ballarat. They need some talent as per the list below. If you are available on May 17 and 18, and fit one of the categories below, please register your interest with David McMahon via his email address 72,69,82,69. Please contact David by May 5 to enable the people organizing the shoot to prepare. If you would like to know more, click HERE for the flier, or call David at 5320 5623. Please help out if you're available. The Council has done a huge amount for us.

Talent & wardrobe required:
2 males 50+ years in Lycra
2 females 50+ years in Lycra
1 female 40+ years in casual wear
1 male 40+ years in casual wear + leisure wear
1 child 8 years in casual wear
1 child 10 years in casual wear
1 female 30+ years in leisure wear + boho casual wear
1 male 30+ years in leisure wear
6 males/females 15+ years in sports wear
5 males/females 20+ years in Lycra

Shoot props:
4x road bikes + helmets
1x 4 wheel tourism bike
2x hybrid bikes + helmets
1x vintage bike + basket + helmet + fresh produce for basket (fashion)
1x leisure bike (male) + helmet
1x trike + helmet
1x kids bike with trainer wheels + helmet
6x BMX bike + helmet
5x Track bike + helmet

Track: weekly results

BSCC Track Racing Results
Date: 23-2-2012
The Grammar and College riders were once again out in force this week, demonstrating quality racing and bike handling skills throughout the night, some even purchasing licences and challenging the regular club riders.
The Novice boys under 11 squad showed real talent from the gun, however, Sam Crothers-Bade was the standout, winning both the 3 lap scratch race and Elimination. Will McCallum was also in form this week taking a 2nd and 3rd.
Novice Boys over 11 showed level headed calm as well as exceptional bike handling skills avoiding a crash despite a touch of wheels in the elimination which was taken out Darcy, followed by Jack Kane, Harrison Doust and Nick Gilbert. Harrison also took out the 4 lap scratch.
Novice girls were no less competitive, Helena Truebody stood out from the field taking the scratch and a 2nd in the elimination. Also high in the placing was Jemima Robson with a 3rd and a 4th.
To round it out was a Durney by the Junior Club riders. The riders pushed their human Durneys hard, in the end it was a fierce battle between Graeme Frislie (durney, Josh Liston) and Rochelle Liston (durney, Doug Garley). The victor was Frislie who took it by mere centimetres. Following hard on their wheels were Adam Begbie and Darcy.

Racing on next week, Juniors from 4:00-6:00 and Seniors from 6:00 onward. We are in need of more seniors as racing isn’t possible with just a few. The current leaders of the aggregate are Graeme Frislie on 45, Rochelle Liston on 31 and Angus Lyons on 26.
Please remember to enter at the start of carnivals or you will not receive points for the aggregate.

Full results found here.

February 2011 BSCC Board Meeting

Karen Snibson, BSCC secretary, writes:

Minutes – February 15th , 2011
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club, ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office 7:30 pm
Present
Board members: Don Stewart, Karen Snibson, Stuart Brien, Volker Hegert, Peter martin, Roger Bade, Gerard White, Chris Liston, Jacqui Clynes, Dale Boucher
Apologies: Phil Orr
In attendance: Ian Nunn, Wayne Jolly, Doug Armstrong
Apologies: Phil Orr
Motion 1: Volker Hegert put the motion to accept Jackie Clyne to the board and thus fill the final vacancy.
Seconded: Peter Martin Passed Unanimous

The minutes from the December meeting were tabled and accepted as an accurate record of the meeting.
Presented: Karen Snibson Seconded: Don Stewart Passed.

1.0 Reports
1.1 Finance report:
Gerard presented the finance report.
This report covers two months.
The club is in a healthy financial position.
BSCC was successful in an application to the DPCD for funding to purchase a set of junior sized jerseys.
Presented: Gerard White Seconded: Stuart Brien Passed.

1.2 Road report: Phil Orr was absent for the meeting, however report was tabled in his absence.
A concern was raised about the proposal to remove prize money that is offered during the road racing season so that the funds can be directed to catering instead.
*It is the position of the board that we would like to see the prize money retained and to identify options to include catering.
The board supports the concept of paying a nominated fee for the set up of the course for road races.
Presented: By email Phil Orr Seconded: Peter Martin Passed.

1.3 Track report:
David Marriott at BQAGS has introduced a new group of juniors to track cycling. This is important to the future of our junior group and a situation we aim to manage well.
Some discussions of a 2011 BAS cycling carnival - this was not a success in 2010, further research is required.
Presented: Roger Bade Seconded: Gerard White Passed.

1.4 BMX report:
Work at the BMX track is well underway and working bees are scheduled.
Bills for the work undertaken to date are being finalised.
Some of the track has been damaged by the recent heavy rain, work is planned to address this. Council will undertake drainage work next week.
It seems that there is growing public use of the track, which is pleasing.
A track inspection is scheduled; a successful outcome will lead to BMX Australia certification.
A come and try day is planned for the near future.
BMX is in the process of developing some sponsorship proposals; these will be forwarded to the board for ratification.
• Sponsorship is important to the club and a working party will be established to oversee club sponsorship proposals. Stuart Brien and Gerard White have volunteered for this.
• Presented: Wayne Jolly Seconded: Gerard White Passed.

1.5 MTB report:
A critical issue has arisen. This related to the BSCC MTB committe experiencing significant difficulty in working with and communicating with the DSE (State Department of Sustainability and Environment). This means in the short term that BSCC is restricted to local MTB racing only. If BSCC were to consider state level MTB races, then it will need the support and assistance of other key stake holders, such as the City of Ballarat and Hepburn Shire.
The development of an MTB track at Black Hill may assist to overcome this issue.
Presented: Dale Boucher Seconded: Karen Snibson Passed.

1.6 CSV Delegates Report:
Don has commenced in the role of the BSCC delegate to CSV.
CSV has raised a proposal to rename itself to Cycling Victoria
The issue of rider pool for Club teams was raised.
Presented: Don Stewart Seconded: Dale Boucher Passed.

1.7 Secretary’s report:
Committee for Creswick letter was raised. Stuart Brien will liaise with this group. At this point the BSCC MTB committee supports the concept of the event.
Presented: Karen Snibson Seconded: Roger Bade Passed.
.
2.0 General Business
2.1 Review of the madison
The crowd support for the event was extremely pleasing.
There was lots of interest in the country vs. city team sprint.
2.2 State and National representation financial support.
BSCC intends to review this process to ensure that the set criteria are clear for all eligible riders. It is envisaged this will occur before the 2011 road nationals.
For the approaching track nationals the process will remain the same. Riders need to apply in writing to Gerard White two weeks before the event.

2.3 Clubroom Update:
Building permit has been sought, and construction will commence as soon as it is received.
An invoice is required for the first 80% of the work.
Track racing will continue during the construction, work site to be fenced.
2.4 Meeting Schedule
The question was asked do we need to maintain the current monthly meeting schedule, at the moment we will retain the status quo.
2.5 BSCC has not elected to participate in the Flood Appeal at this point.
2.6 Stuart Brien reported on the matter between BSCC and the Bilston family. A resolution has been achieved. The terms of the agreement are confidential and will not be circulated. The mediation process is now complete and no further action is required. Stuart Brien has accepted the offer to remove acknowledgement of the dispute on the BSCC website.
The suggestion was made that motions which affect the membership should be posted on the web with a lead in time. BSCC acknowledges this as a reasonable request and will take steps to action this suggestion.
2.7 Major Events.
Hope to include more juniors in the Fred Ickes in 2011. There has been a request to set a date for the 2012 Spokes event; this is likely to be the 2nd weekend in Feb.
2.8 Dispute Resolution Processes:
Stuart Brien tabled a draft document, to be considered before the next meeting. There will be a resolution of this matter at the next meeting.
2.9 Chief Commissaire
There was general consensus that the chief commissaire for road races should be paid
2.10 Road Race prize money – matter dealt with during the road race report.
2.11 Membership Processing:
The process is convoluted. We are seeking further clarification through membership officer Ray Isaac. There is an issue with those new members who register on line. Doug or Don as BSCC representatives will bring make CSV aware that new members are able to sign up on the CSV website without the opportunity for the club to consider their application first. BSCC would prefer to have new members sign up using the paper system like the MTB arm of the club.
2.12 Equipment Loan
The trailer is currently stored at Stuart Brien’s house. When the trailer is to be borrowed, a deposit will be sought. BSCC will establish a framework to support the use of club equipment
Meeting closed 9:50 pm
Next meeting March 15th 7:30 pm

***************

Agenda - February meeting
15 /2 /2011
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office 7:30 pm

1.0 Attendance:
Board members:
Apologies:
In attendance:
2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report:
3.2 Road report:
3.3 Track report:
3.4 BMX report:
3.5 MTB report:
3.6 Secretary's report:
3.7 CSV delegate’s report:
4.0 General Business
4.1 Review of track carnival (madison)
4.2 State and national representation
4.3 Clubroom update
4.4 Meeting schedule
4.5 Flood appeal fund raising.
4.6 Bilston dispute update
4.7 Major Events Committee update
4.8 Dispute Resolution Process (revisited)
4.9 Chris Liston Commissaire payment
4.10 Race prize money review
4.11 Membership update
4.12 Marty Busch reserve master planning update
4.13 BSCC equipment loaning

Track: 24 February Results

Paul Pickersgill writes:

Senior numbers were down last Thursday at the track, but there was a full program of junior racing, and a big turnout from College and Grammar novice cyclists - future BSCC members. Remember, this is the program that brought Liam and Nick White, Emily Wordy-Thompson, Vic Snibson, James Crafter, Hugo Tolliday, the Dickson brothers and Angus Lyons into the club, to name but a few. Watch this space ...

Junior results:

F Grade scratch

Angus Cocking 1st
Rochelle Liston 2nd
Vivienne Mannix 3rd

F Grade handicap

Beatrice Pickersgill 1st
Vivienne Mannix 2nd
Rochelle Liston 3rd

F and E grade combined Italian Pursuit

Courtney Mannix, Adam Begbie and Angus Cocking 1st

Vivienne Mannix, Beatrice Pickersgill and Rochelle Liston 2nd

E grade Scratch

Courtney Mannix 1st
Bessie Baker 2nd
Adam Begbie 3rd

E grade Handicap

Courtney Mannix 1st
Bessie Baker 2nd
Adam Begbie 3rd

C Grade Scratch

Will Stewart 1st
Victoria Snibson 2nd
Nick White and Magnus Baker equal 3rd

C Grade Elimination

NIck White 1st
Magnus Baker 2nd
Victoria Snibson 3rd

Novice College and Grammar Students

1st Scratch event

Matt Elliott 1st
Andrew Scherek 2nd
Will Crafter 3rd

2nd Scratch event

Matt Elliott 1st
Will Crafter 2nd
Andrew Scherek 3rd

Track: BSCC at the 2011 Austral Wheelrace

Chris Liston writes:

Sellout Crowd at Austral Track Carnival Feb. 2011

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club had a nine-rider contingent racing in front of a sell-out crowd at the Austral track carnival at DISC in Thornbury on Saturday night, February 26. A variety of podium places were hard fought by the BSCC riders over the three sessions of racing in divisions U11, U15M&F, U17M&F, U19, and graded seniors.

Rochelle Liston was runner-up in the U13/U11 combined girls' wheelrace, behind Tasmanian Anna Charlotta O'Rouke. Emma Bilston, Joshua Liston, Nicholas White and the U17W pair Emily Wordie-Thompson and Victoria Snibson were unable to make their marks work for them as they fought out some tough handicap races. In the good-hearted rivalry, Snibson managed to get over Wordie-Thompson in two events.

Hugo Tolliday rode a superb race to win his heat of the U17 Junior Austral. In the final, Tolliday snuck into the top ten. He also claimed ninth in the U17 A grade motorpace.

U19 riders Liam White and Charles Martin rode in the senior sessions, with White claiming some good performances. He took second in the men’s C Grade "Win & Out" race, that sees the sprint for first place occur at lap 8 of a 15-lap event. Second place is contested at 4 laps to go. The final sprint, with what remains of the bunch, is for third place. White qualified strongly for the 113th Austral Wheelrace, taking third in his heat. White rode well in the final and finished the wheelrace in sixteenth. Tasmanian Luke Ockerby (60m) took out the Austral from Rick Sanders of Carnegie and the fabulous Glen O'Shea of Bendigo, now domiciled in South Australia.

BSCC placings (a selection from the full official results)

Event 2 JG11/13 8 Lap Heart Starter 2000m
5. Rochelle LISTON (BS)
Event 3 JW15 8 Lap Heart Starter 2000m
2. Emma BILSTON (BS)
Event 5 JW17 8 Lap Heart Starter 2000m
4. Emily WORDIETHOMPSON (BS)
8. Victoria SNIBSON (BS)
Event 7 JG11/13 1k Handicap 1000m
2. Rochelle LISTON (BS)
Event 10 JW17 1k Handicap 1000m
9. Victoria SNIBSON (BS)
10. Emily WORDIETHOMPSON (BS)
Event 13 JW15 12 Lap Points 3000m
2. Emma BILSTON (BS)9 pts
Event 14 JM15 15 Lap Win/Out 3750m
5. Nicholas WHITE (BS)
Event 15 JW17 15 Lap Pt2Pt
6. Victoria SNIBSON (BS)
7. Emily WORDIETHOMPSON (BS)
#2 Event 2 Men "C" 10 Lap Heart Starter 2500m
5. Liam WHITE (BS)
#2 Event 7 Men "C" 15 Lap Win/Out 3750m
2. Liam WHITE (BS)
#3 Event 4 Men "C" 12 Lap Heart Starter 3000m
3. Liam WHITE (BS)
#3 Event 6 M17 "A" 12 Lap Heart Starter 3000m
9. Hugo TOLLIDAY (BS)
#3 Event 7 M17 "B" 12 Lap Heart Starter 3000m
5. Joshua LISTON (BS)
# 3 Event 8a Austral Wheelrace Heat 1 2000m
3. Liam WHITE (BS)
#3 Event 9a Hilton Manufacturing Jnr Austral H1 2000m
1. Hugo TOLLIDAY
#3 Event 8d Austral Wheelrace Heat 4 2000m
12. Charles MARTIN (BS)

Road: Jay is King of Warrenheip

Jay Bourke won the A-grade event in the first round of BSCC's 2011 King of the Mountain Series, contested over two laps of the Dunnstown-Millbrook "Corkscrew" circuit, with the finish at the summit of Mount Warrenheip. Jay cruised across the line with a comfortable gap back to a neck-and-neck battle between Matt Clark and Warren Faneco.

Ben Clark scored a breakthrough win in B-grade from MTB star Jeremy Doolan. Ben was under a lot of pressure, thanks to his well-known climbing talents, and he handled the pressure admirably. This might be the first of many wins for Ben.

Here's Jay Bourke's overly modest account of his win in A grade:

A strong field of lightweights took on the first round of the BSCC KOM series. The exposed "Corkscrew" course is arguably one of the hardest of BSCC’s circuits, and the imposing climbs late in the race meant that no rider was willing to waste energy early. As a result, the peloton rolled through evenly for much of the first lap, as much to warm up as to get to the business end of the race. Throughout the second of two laps, Sam Turley and Michael Pierce each probed off the front to ignite some interest from others in the peloton, but it was poker faces all round. Stuart Grigg was the first to crack and show his hand, crossing to the leading duo, taking the wise head of Tony Mirabella on his wheel, but this break was only short lived before a regrouping meant that it was status quo leading into the Pimple-Warrenheip hill combo. The jockey-like Clark brothers (no known relation to B-grade winner Ben - ed.) led up the Pimple, the steepest part of the course, as others crunched their gears in an effort to maintain momentum, but the elastic band did not snap until Jay Bourke continued the effort over and down the steep descent. Beginning the climb up Mt Warrenheip, Matt Clark was still there, so too was Grigg, Bourke, and mountain bikers Warren Faneco and Phil Orr, who used their technical skills to sneak a bit of a lead across the graveled, pot-holed base of the climb. Grigg was again first to react, taking Bourke and Clark with him, before a counter-attack by Bourke went clear with the majority of the climb still to come. Matt Clark and Warren Faneco chased hard after Bourke, who dangled off the front, but they ran out of road as the finish line came up too soon. Bourke just held on ahead of a sprint finish by the chasing pair, with Matt Clark edging out Warren Faneco for the minor placings.

Here's a report on the B-grade race, again from the very man who won it:

The first KOM of the year saw a solid field assembled for B grade. In last year’s race, Stu Brien and Al Cureton teamed up and launched a vicious attack through the Corkscrew. This year, Al was watching from the sidelines, but Stu was still present, and watched closely, along with the likes of Guy Falla, Nev Bilney and Thayne Turley. The climbers in the field were nervous about attacks that might come before the climb. The first lap saw the race run more like a handicap, with everyone sharing the pace-making, until Millbrook where Stu Brien launched one of his trademark efforts, stringing the field out. The weather gods were not on Stu’s side this year: the absence of a crosswind meant the field stayed together.

At the completion of the first lap, the group had set a brisk average speed of 39 km/h. The group was very cagey: it seemed that everyone fancied themselves as a climber, and nobody was prepared to spend energy opening a gap before Warrenheip. Approaching the Corkscrew the second time, all eyes were on Stu, and perhaps for this reason the attack didn’t come. Any moves off the front were countered by B grade debutante Sam Edwards. Stu launched a huge effort on the downhill run to the Dunnstown – Millbrook corner. When it was shut down, Sam Edwards countered over the creek, but again his move was covered. Turning off toward the railway line the drop in speed was apparent. By now the average speed had dropped to almost 37 km/h, and everyone was waiting for what was to come.

The long drag to the Pimple was led once more by Sam Edwards. No one else was willing to set the pace. At the Pimple, Jeremy Doolan put in a 10m gap that soon went out to 50m over the downhill. Many in the group were hurting. Guy Falla closed down the move and the entire group reached the base of Warrenheip together. Up the steep section behind the castle Ben Clark, Jeremy Doolan, Sam Palenco and Guy Falla moved off the front, and the rest of the field strung out. More pressure was applied, and Guy dropped off. Ben was on the front, but he didn't want to solely set the pace, so the speed dropped until Jeremy attacked. Ben countered, Jeremy grabbed onto his rear wheel and would not let go. At the flatter section of the climb, Ben attacked again, and dropped Sam, but Jeremy was stuck to Ben's wheel like glue. At 1300m Ben attacked again, but to no avail. Then at 1600m, just before the tight right turn turn to the finish, Ben went up the gears and gave it all, finally dislodging Jeremy from his wheel, and holding the gap to the line. Ben did the climb in 5:40, at an average of 17.7 km/h.

In 5:40, Ben ascended 130 vertical meters, so he was climbing at about 1380 vertical meters per hour. Alberto Contador, on his first rampage in the recent Giro, did about 1800 for a similar period of time. And he's the best climber in the world! Not bad, Ben ... - ed.

Here's a report from Craig Lightfoot on the C grade race:

The C grade KOM race saw the bringing together of the fat old buggers in the original C grade with the teeny tiny, but terribly strong juniors, and the 3 supposed D grade riders. Don Stewart, the patron (boss - ed.) of the peloton, laid out the "gentlemen's agreement" that we would all behave for the first lap. It remained to be seen, however, if there were any gentlemen in the field. As it turned out, apart for a small surge from Josh Liston that was probably due to no more than him getting bored, the first lap was indeed gentlemanly. B grade came past at the end of the first lap, then promptly decided to slow down. Not much of a problem, really, except for when Matt Smith forgot that skewers really must be tightened before you start racing. We were only 50 meters behind him when his came loose. No harm done: a cry of "look out!" alerted everyone.

This seemed to get the attention of a few riders. First to head off were Paul Crack and Ryan Kerr, at the slight uphill on the way out to the Yendon road. From here on in, it was pretty much attack, get reeled in, attack again, some one else brings it all back, attack again. The first major casualty was Pete Kyatt, through the Corkscrew. Pete nearly got back on with the lull after the left turn back to Millbrook. Probably the attack that was nearest to success was just before the railway bridge, by Ben Morrison and Simon Wallis. Fortunately they just didn't work together, as the field was really strung out behind them. No matter who went, and there were plenty who did, there was always someone to bring it all back together again.

Finally as we turned toward the Pimple, Bruce Stewart rode to the front. After running 32 km that morning (wow! - ed.), he told everyone he might as well do a long hard turn now as there was no way he would keep up on the climb. I last saw him disappearing around a turn up Warrenheip somewhere.

Things got interesting again at the Pimple, with Josh Liston the first to jump, closely followed by Will Stewart. Over the Pimple and to the base of the mountain, it had all bunched up again. Here the two young guys just disappeared off into the distance. I would really love to tell you what happened next, but unlike the writers of the other two reports, yours truly will not offer much insight into the machinations of the Warrenheip portion of the race, as he was too busy plodding along after being completely stuffed trying to get to the bottom of the hill with a gap. ( Mental note: gravity times lots of mass equals slow up hills.) Suffice to say that Josh and Will fled up the hill, with Ryan putting in a really strong effort for a big guy to get third, and Bruce also proving he can certainly climb.

Official results

A Grade 1st Jay Bourke, 2nd Warren Faneco, 3rd Matt Clark

B Grade: 1st Ben Clark, 2nd Jeremy Doolan, 3rd Sam Palanca

C Grade: 1st Will Stewart, 2nd Josh Liston, 3rd Ryan Kerr

BSCC May Board Meeting

Here are the minutes of the May 2010 meeting of the BSCC Board, held on Tuesday, May 18.

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office, 7:30pm
1.0 Attendance:
Board members: Gerard White, Volker Hegert, Peter Canny, Stuart Brien, Don Stewart, Dale Boucher, Gerard Cosgrave, Phil Orr, Chris Liston, Roger Bade, Karen Snibson
Apologies: Doug Armstrong, Wayne Jolly
In attendance: Ian Nunn
2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
To be forwarded by Gerard White.
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report:
Gerard tabled the report. Seconded: Don Stewart. Passed
There were no questions in relation to the report. However there was clarification in relation to the development account and also the Collier account.
3.2 Road report:
Phil tabled the road report. Seconded: Don Stewart. Passed
No issues arising
3.3 Track report:
Roger tabled the track report. Seconded: Dale Boucher. Passed
Line marking and works are still to be undertaken, we don’t want the lines until the works are done.
The board is still hopeful that it will have a positive outcome in the bid for development of clubrooms.
Roger will meet up with Kip Kaufmann, in relation to track review. View points are invited.
Please add to Roger’s document in review of track events.
The new track surface seems to respond better to weather than the old surface.
3.4 Club development report:
Nil
However the development day is planned by CSV. Paul Pickersgill has been involved with this.
3.5 MTB report:
The report was tabled by Dale Boucher. Seconded: Roger Bade. Passed
We have signed up for the InterWinter series. One of these conflicts with a road race so safety equipment needs to be shared. The club has a stock pile of signs. Some assistance with this event is required.
We request that all signs are now brought to the Collier and returned to the ute so that we can complete and audit.
MTB would like to add to the logo which makes it uniquely identifiable. Board response to this was positive.
Some software is being developed to assist with MTB. There might be an opportunity to share this within other disciplines.
3.6 Secretary's report:
The report was tabled by Karen Snibson Seconded: Phil Orr. Passed.
There were no queries in relation to the report.
3.7 Rec Time trial report:
The report was tabled by Peter Canny. Seconded: Stuart Brien. Passed
40 participants were in the event on the weekend. This includes a number of new teams, which shows a growing interest in the activity. No incidents.
Permits are sought prior to the event and the CSV informed on the Monday after.
There is a notion that we should be promoting the event among other clubs in Victoria

4.0 General Business
4.1 Grievance process – Stuart Brien
Identified that maybe there is a discrepancy between an incident occurring and a formal complaint which reaches the board. There needs to be a framework to deal with these minor incidents.
We need to have a chief commissaire appointed on race day. The document will be held over until next meeting.

4.2 Haddon dispute
Information was collated and the matter has been dealt with. There is a potential for mediation in the future.
4.3 VSCC zone finals- Roger
Paper work for this event is now circulating. It would be great to include MTB junior riders in this event which is on Thurs 19th of August.
Roger has begun event management processes, requirements have changed. Chris will assist. We will require marshals.
Gerard will ring CSV in relation to the riders from outside the zone.
4.4 CHSA proposal – Roger, Karen, Gerard
Roger discussed this proposal – and the positive inputs this would give to the club. The proposal was discussed. One hope would be that this body has the capacity to assist with the writing of grants.
4.5 Track bike returns
Roger has proposed that the bikes stay with the people who have hired them until next summer.
Roger will follow this up. Carried
4.6 TCTR – Karen
Discussed, board not interested at this stage.
4.7 Board member additions
Stuart Brien moved that Gerard Cosgrove join the board, and Ray Isaac take up the position of Membership Officer. Seconded Roger Bade, carried.
The board will continue to canvas other potential contributors to the club.
4.8 BMX update – Wayne Jolly
Did not attend but apologised through Roger Bade.
4.9 Track review CSV (Roger / Karen)

Documents were sent to board members
Roger has asked for contributions
4.10 Major events update – Stuart Brien
Fred Icke update provided - Confirmed date and inclusion of juniors.
Arch to Arch update provided
Melbourne to Ballarat update provided (plus discussion about associated sponsorship)
4.11 Website – Dale Boucher will liaise with the board on the process of website update.
5.0 Other matters arising
Lights on bike: The club and the board encourage all members to use lights
Uniform: Points aggregate related to uniform was discussed, information about point allocation will be communicated to riders from this Saturday forward and publicised on the website.

Meeting Closed: 9:40

***********

The May 2010 meeting of the BSCC Board will be held on Tuesday, May 18, at Jaala Pulford’s office, 15 Main Rd, Ballarat (between Sturt/Victoria St & Humffray St Sth), as shown on the on-line calendar. The agenda is below. If there's a topic you'd like the board to discuss at that meeting, please contact club secretary Karen Snibson before the meeting. Please come along to the meeting yourself to discuss your topic, or please ask any of the board members to discuss the topic on your behalf.

Minutes of the meeting will be posted here on Latest News after the meeting.

Agenda - 20 /5 /10
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club board meeting
ABN: 81 823 158 455
Jaala Pulford’s Office, 7:30pm
1.0 Attendance:
Board members:
Apologies:
In attendance:
2.0 Minutes of previous meeting:
3.0 Reports
3.1 Finance report:
3.2 Road report:
3.3 Track report:
3.4 Club development report:
3.5 MTB report
3.6 Secretary's report
4.0 General Business
4.1 Grievance process – Stuart Brien
4.2 Haddon dispute
4.3 VSCC zone finals- Roger
4.4 CHSA proposal – Roger, Karen, Gerard
4.5 Track bike returns TCTR – Karen
4.6 Board member additions (Stuart Brien, Gerard Cosgrove)
4.7 BMX update – Wayne Jolly
4.8 Track review CSV (Roger / Karen) documents sent to board members
4.9 Major events update – Stuart Brien
4.10 Website – Dale Boucher

Road: BSCC Scores at Country Titles

Chris Liston reports:

2010 Victorian Country Road Championships

Seniors & Masters

Backing up his win in the the John Collier road race, Scott Townsend claimed the gold medal in the Masters 1-3 category at the State Country Road Championships in Newstead with a typically strong sprint. Hosted by the Castlemaine Cycling Club on behalf of Cycle Sport Victoria, the event saw the Masters, Men's Elite and Women’s Elite races tackle the arduous, undulating Newstead-Guilford circuit two or three times, depending on classification. The attrition rate was high as the pace of the leaders dislodged many. Jason Haire finished just off Townsend's lead bunch in MMAS1-3, placing seventh. Damien Turner, in the blue-ribbon elite men's race, likes the hills, but on the day he settled for fourth place. In the Masters 4 race, BSCC riders were all over the finish. Andrew Weightman took silver, while Charlie Stebbing, who enjoys brutal climbing, took fourth, with Tim Oliver on his wheel for fifth. Gerard White was one of the sixteen BSCC senior riders to race the country titles and placed fifth in the Masters 5+ class in his debut open race.

Gold and bronze went to BSCC's masters women, as Gail Oliver took a win and club-mate Wendy Ross, another open debutante, took third. Ross worked hard throught the 60 km of relentless hills and wind. Meanwhile Melissa Keirl started off strongly and looked to be in good form in the elite women’s 90 km race. A series of attacks dislodged Keirl and she pressed on alone. Another rider crossed to her and the pair raced the distance, with Keirl taking fourth at race end.

BSCC Senior Results
ELITE MEN - 120km
4 Damien TURNER
10 Clive SILCOCK
MEN UNDER 19 - 90km
5 James CRAFTER 2:30:42
7 Ciaran CONAUGHTON
ELITE WOMEN - 90km
4 Melissa KEIRL
MASTERS 1/2/3 - 60km
1 Scott TOWNSEND MMAS2 1:37:03
7 Jason HAIRE MMAS2
MASTERS 4 - 60km
2 Andrew WEIGHTMAN MMAS4 1:37:03
4 Charles STEBBING MMAS4
5 Timothy OLIVER MMAS4
MASTERS 5+ - 60km
5 Gerard WHITE MMAS5 1:40:53
MASTERS WOMEN - 60km
1 Gail OLIVER MMAS3 1:47:03
3 Wendy ROSS WMAS5

Juniors

Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club juniors rode strongly and scored brilliant results in the Victorian Country Road Championships at Newstead. All the races from U15 up were on the hilly 30 km Newstead to Guilford circuit, in tough cool, windy conditions. Emily Wordie-Thompson, Angus Lyons, and Rochelle Liston took gold medals in their divisions. Emily got past her rivals in a sprint finish. After several months of being close in race finishes, she had superior acceleration to her rivals. Her poise payed off and gave her a good win in a strenuous race.

Angus Lyons made a decisive attack at the 15 km mark of the men’s under-fifteen 30 km race. On the uphill stretch on the Guilford to Newstead road, Lyons attacked several times and dislodged the majority of the pack of twenty riders. Lucas Hamilton of Ararat became Lyons’ wingman until the sprint to the line, where Lyons claimed his second title for the year.

Youngster Rochelle Liston finished in with the boys' U11 race, and Emma Bilston podiumed in the women’s under-15 30 km race. Bilston suffered from trouble with her gear lever in the opening stages of the event, which made tough riding conditions more difficult. The mechanical interference plagued her race and disrupted her chance of a win on the circuit.

Ballarat riders were competitive throughout the age groups and prominent in the minor placings. Liam White was on the podium with bronze in the ultra-competitive men’s U17 60 km road race. White joined in a breakaway with Ararat’s Tom Hamilton and Portland’s Lachlan Nolte. The trio drifted apart a few kilometers from the finish, as White's partners broke away, leaving him to finish on his own, and successfully hold off the remainder of the bunch. Dylan Bilston (JB13) and Victoria Snibson (W17) finished fourth in their groups, and Joshua Liston and Nicholas White 5th and 6th in M15, respectively.

BSCC Junior Results

GIRLS UNDER 11 - 8km
1 Rochelle LISTON 23:11
BOYS UNDER 13 - 14km
4 Dylan BILSTON
MEN UNDER 15 - 30km
1 Angus LYONS 54:16
5 Joshua LISTON
6 Nicholas WHITE
15 Patrick COSGRAVE
WOMEN UNDER 17 - 30km
1 Emily WORDIE-THOMPSON 54:50
4 Victoria SNIBSON
WOMEN UNDER 15 - 30km
3 Emma BILSTON
MEN UNDER 17 - 60km
3 Liam WHITE 1:36:11
12 Hugo TOLLIDAY

Official Cycle Sport Victoria results are HERE.

MTB: Friday Nights are for Night Riders

This Friday night, a few of us will be doing laps out at Nerrina to mark the track for the MTB club race on Saturday June 5. If you fancy hooking up your lights and coming for a ride for an hour, then meet us at Little Bendigo Primary School.

Where:     Little Bendigo Primary School, Nerrina
When:      Friday 4th June
Time:       5.45pm
What to Bring: Lights and warm clothes

For more information please contact 84,97,110,121,97,32,87,105,103,103,105,110,115

Road: BSCC Strong at Shepparton

Updated, with an additional report by Chris Liston:

Shepparton Junior Tour – June 19 & 20, 2010

Victoria Snibson eclipsed the W17B field with a win in the second stage time trial. Snibson took the TT half a minute ahead of second-place metro rider Vanessa Boff. Boff had taken a win in the opening road race stage 1 with Snibson fourth.

Victoria was set to make a podium finish in the overall grand champion points classification after day one, and was disappointed that a flat tyre in the stage 3 Dookie Triangle Loop circuit dashed her chances. She scored no points at all for the stage. Despite this, she placed equal 6th overall in W17B at the tour end. With the Eildon tour and state titles coming up, Victoria is a real chance to hone in on that missing podium place.
*******

The small rural township of Dookie was the host for this year's Shepparton Junior Tour. Emma Bilston and Angus Lyons took podium places in the U15W and U15M individual time trial stage, with a win and third place respectively. Bilston placed fifth and third in the road race stages, giving her an overall third place for the W15 tour.

In the opening 35 km road stage of the M15 race, Joshua Liston finished with the lead group and took seventh in a bunch sprint, with a gap back to clubmate Lyons. Lyons added valuable points to his grand championship total, grabbing third in the time trial. In the final stage, Liston placed sixth and Lyons eighth. The two BSCC boys took top ten placings in the overall, with Lyons seventh and Liston 9th.

Nicholas White was unlucky to miss a podium place in Sunday's final road race stage of the M15 B-grade event. He took an inside line in the bunch sprint and was forced off the road into the gravel. He managed to stay upright and finish off the back of the bunch. Having taken eighth in the time trial, he finished the M15 B tour in sixth overall.

Nicholas' older brother Liam White, in the M17 race, placed ninth in a time trial that was dominated by VIS riders. Following consistent performances in the tough road race stages, Liam placed just outside the top ten, taking eleventh.

In W17, Emily Wordie-Thompson was fourth and fifth in the two road races and sixth in the time trial, giving her a tour result of fourth out of the ten women in the field.

As the only sub-junior to represent BSCC, Dylan Bilston managed to hold consistent form in the developing U13M grade, and finished his tour fifth overall.

Results: Overall Classification Shepparton Tour

U13M 5th Dylan Bilston
U15M –A 7th Angus Lyons
U15M – A 9th Joshua Liston
U15M – B 6th Nicholas White
U17W 4th Emily Wordie-Thompson
U17M 11th Liam White

Six-month licences are now available

The Cycling Australia six-month racing licence is now for sale. It covers the period from 1 July to 31 December 2009. For pricing, see Licenses on this web site, or go to the Cycling Australia web site here.

Three Ride Permits are still available at $40. If you buy one and then convert to a full racing licence, you receive a $40 discount on the cost of the racing licence, as long as you buy the licence in the same "licencing year" as you bought the Three Ride Permit. A "licensing year" runs for 15 months, from October through to December of the next year.

Ride It or Recreational licences last for 12 months from the date of purchase.

More details about all the licences and membership options available through BSCC are HERE.

Damien Keirl wins at Bendigo

Roger Bade writes: great bounce back for Damien after being crook for a week or so. More soon. Congratulations Damien!

MTB: Dirt Girls are Back!

Dirt Girls February Ride

It's back! And better than ever. The next Dirt Girls ride is this Saturday, 5th February, and will be taking in some of the lovely trails in Canadian forest. We'll ride a loop consisting of fire road and singletrack, and will do some work on skills along the way. If anyone knows somewhere close by for coffee (hot or iced!) afterwards, we'll do that too. And plenty of chat along the way, of course.

New in 2011
There is a small change to the structure of the monthly rides this year. They will now fall under the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club social riding structure. This means that riders will be required to either hold a Mountain Bike Australia (MTBA) membership, or purchase a Social Day Permit on the day for $5. A MTBA membership for social riding costs $70 or a full racing licence can be purchased which costs $125. Both run for 12 months and include membership of the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club (check out the club website).

Why are we making this change? Basically for insurance purposes. An MTBA licence covers social ride participants in the event of accident or injury. Full details are available on the MTBA website.

Ride Details

Ok, the important stuff...

When: Saturday 5th February, 9am start
Where: Mt Clear Secondary College - meet at the car park (off Recreation Road)
Who: Any female who wants to ride with like-minded people, meet new people, learn new skills or just get out for a fun couple of hours on a Saturday morning

Bring your mountain bike, helmet, sunscreen and a drink. Please arrive a little early to allow time for purchasing a day licence or club membership if required.

Need more info? Contact Jacqui on 0457 223 211 or at 74,97,99,113,117,105.

Road: 2010-11 Small Dog Criteriums, Round 8

Chris Liston writes:

Because of low numbers on the Australia Day holiday, the fields at BSCC's Small Dog criteriums were split into two groups. Group 1 was dominated by a trio of powerhouse riders, who were content to ride a pretty subdued race, with no real attacks shaking the group. Harry Crothers-Bade scored a win over the tenacious Liam White, with Shane “Jedi” Cody in third.

A small field of riders formed group two: Angus Lyons, Paul Pickerskill, Gerard White, Will Gore and Melissa Keirl. This group split shortly after starting when Lyons and Gore jumped away. Melissa and Paul dropped Gerard White, and rode the rest of the race as a second pair. At the finish, Lyons prevailed over Gore, and Pickersgill took third.

Group one
1st Harry Bade
2nd Liam White
3rd Shane Cody

Group 2
1st Angus Lyons
2nd Will Gore
3rd Paul Pickerskill

Track: More Trips for Emma, Emily and Hugo!

Chris Liston writes:

BSCC Representatives Head to Sydney for 2011 Cycling Titles

Three Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club junior riders will be members of the Victorian team at the National Track Cycling Championships in Sydney in March, following their selection after impressive results at the weekend's Victorian Track Championships. The riders are Emma Bilston (JW15), Emily Wordie-Thompson (JW17) and Hugo Tolliday (JM17). Bilston claimed three medals from the three events she entered coupled with the silver medal she won at the state scratch race championships in Echuca. Emma took the qualifying heat in the pursuit and then went on to take gold. She followed up with bronze in the time trial and silver in the 7.5km points race.

Emily Wordie-Thompson proved her consistent form and pulls on the blue “V” jersey for another appearance at the nationals. Adding to her silver scratch race medal at Echuca, she posted bronze in the pursuit, and was just outside the placings (fifth) in the points race, after opting out of the sprints. Under 17 male rider Hugo Tolliday follows up from last year's selection following a top ten placing in the sprint, and 5th in the TT. In the last event of a hot weekend's racing, Tolliday scored bronze in the arduous and tactical points championship.

JW15 Gold Final 2000m pursuit
1st Emma BILSTON 2:51.719
JW15 500m TT 500m TT
3rd Emma BILSTON (BS)
JW15 Points 7500m
2nd Emma BILSTON (BS)
JW17 Bronze Final 2000m pursuit
3rd Emily WORDIE-THOMPSON 2:53.367
JM17 15k Points 15000m
3rd Hugo TOLLIDAY (BS) 12 pts

Thank you Wendy!

Wendy Ross stepped down from the BSCC Committee last week. Wendy has put in a huge amount of behind-the-scenes work for the club over the last year. She was instrumental in getting the merger with the old Ballarat Vets club off the ground, and since then she has organized race permits (a big and vital job), and many of our social events, and has done about ten years' worth of race marshaling duties. Wendy will continue to organize race permits for 2010, but after that she will step down completely as a board member, but remain a member of the club and keep up her own racing.

Wendy's view:

I have really enjoyed being part of the BSCC Board for the past 12 months, and I am impressed at the calibre of board members, their professionalism, and how much everyone puts in. Having said that, I have decided that my input is minimal, and I’m sure my position will be filled by another member with more to offer.

Fellow board member Stuart Brien's response:

I say a heartfelt thank you and congratulation to Wendy on her contribution to BSCC, particularly with regard to the merger with the Ballarat Veterans' CC. Wendy invested a significant amount of her time and emotion into the exercise to ensure it was a success for the future of all Ballarat cyclists.

Peter Canny, also a board member, adds:

Wendy`s contribution to the club has always been above self-interest, and her input to some very difficult issues in a time of change was provided with balance, fairness and insight. Wendy will be greatly missed by her fellow Board members.

Thank you, Wendy!

MTB: Car Boot Sale for MTB, Road, Track & BMX

Last years MTB car boot sale was a roaring success with riders selling their unwanted bike stuff to willing sellers. This year we want to open it up to all divisions so if you have old bikes, spare parts, wheels, clothes and pedals why not bring them along and make some Christmas cash. Junior equipment would also be welcome as we have lots of junior parent attend our criteriums.

The car boot sale will take place at next Tuesday’s MTB criterium which is held next to Mt Clear College off Recreation Rd. You’ll need to have your goods set up by 6pm..

MTB: 2010 Jeep 24hr

Jeep 24 Hour, Forrest: BSCC rider perspectives by Jacquie Clynes and Phillip Timpano

What better way to cap off a year full of mud races with - yes, a muddy 24 hour race!

It's a strange thing, a 24 hour mountain bike race. I personally ride mountain bikes because it's fun - fun fun fun! Yet at some point during a 24 hour race, I find myself thinking such things as (a) this is not fun; (b) I am never racing bikes again; (c) in fact I don't even want to mountain bike any more. Then throw in things like "Why didn't t someone trim the grass trees that are perfectly face height and keep whipping me?" and, "Why do these stupid logs have to be across the track?" and you start to get the idea. For me (Jacqui), it happened at about midnight. Thankfully, I decided to focus on the positives instead – my bike is holding up well in the mud; I do kind of like riding in the mud; I'm sure some people are suffering worse than me...

Talk of the Navajo Ballarat Girls team started at least 6 months ago. I didn't really think we'd manage to get ourselves sorted out, but we did, with some last minute organisation and some help from Navajo Cycles. The line up of Tanya, Gail, Heather and Jacqui made for a solid team. 24 hours - 4 people - 6 hours each - how hard can it be?

The race started at midday on Saturday and headed straight out onto the already muddy trails. For the next 24 hours, life was broken into blocks of how long before we had to ride again, how much sleep could we fit in, how long would the laps take, what about if we do double laps, what time do I need to have my lights set up, what will the night lap and Sunday lap look like? Surely they won't be as muddy...etc.

For me (Phil) the excitement was about finally getting some solid mountain bike riding in after a quiet winter. Despite the torrential rain forecast, I was still keen and looking forward to it.

My theory is that extreme cold and wet are OK - we are from Ballarat, remember - you just need to remember to take enough clothes. I'd rather ride in extreme cold than extreme heat any time.

Being in a team of three meant ride about on hour, then a two-hour break. About eight hours riding all up, sounds easy.

To reinforce Jacqui's comments, it was amazing just how wet and muddy the trails were, especially overnight. The strange thing was, despite the whole route being wet, muddy and slippery, there were no real surprises. The first aid team had a pretty quiet event, with very few incidents to deal with.

My only incident was about half way through my second night lap, at about 1 AM, while riding a long section of single track, my light flicked off. It was overcast, raining heavily, and very, very dark. I couldn’t believe that the battery was flat, as it had only been on for about an hour and 20 minutes, and it usually lasts about six hours! Fiddle fiddle...nothing, next rider flashes past, and another. I start walking (and of course, I'm at about the furthest point I could be from the start-finish back at Forrest). Five minutes later I try my light, and it starts working. Great, jump back on and continue riding. Ten minutes later, while riding the technical single track, it flicked off again - doh.

I walked the bike through to the next fire road section, Light won't fire up. I decide to jump back on the bike and followed the next rider. Yes, it is amazingly difficult following someone on a fire road, when it's wet, slippery, and full of pot-holes, and your light isn’t working.

I finally made it back to camp, with some assistance from a couple of competitors, about 45 minutes later than expected. My body was still intact, no crashes despite the lack of light, mud, rain and obstacles I couldn't really see. My team mates were getting pretty worried. Despite all this drama, all I kept thinking about was getting back to base, and not holding up the team. I happily volunteered to be the first rider out, at daybreak, and quickly went to bed for a few hours' sleep, leaving the remaining night duties to my teammates.

Day two was a real highlight. I was one of the first riders let loose on Mariners Run. This trail was the only one all weekend that remained quite dry, solid and grippy, and can only be described as MTB heaven. My team mates who rode this trail for the first time ever during this event absolutely loved it as well, despite being the last loop of a very long 24hr race. Somehow the energy comes back as you rail the berms and have a ball on the long flowing trail. If you haven’t ridden this trail before, it is a must-do trail for all budding mountain bikers.

After all the highs and lows, all my team mates and everyone we spoke to thoroughly enjoyed the experience and vowed to return.

Cheers
Phil and Jacqui.

Here are some photos taken by Phil

Road: Wet Dog again - CRITS CANCELLED

Due to the rain, the Race Committee has canceled tonight's Small Dog criteriums at Victoria Park. Sacrifices to the weather gods are being made for next week.

BSCC stars at State Crit Championships

Please click here for the full story, thanks to Chris Liston.

Road: Scott Townsend is 2011 BSCC Club Road Champion

Updated 19 September with some factual corrections ...

Scott Townsend scored an emphatic win in the 2011 BSCC club road championship today. A very strong and evenly-matched field greeted the starter in typically windy spring conditions. Townsend was clearly the fastest finisher, so the question was whether the many strong men, including maestro Josh Collingwood, Sam Turley, Stuart Grigg, Warren Faneco, Michael Pierce, Tony Mirabella and Aaron Blomeley, would combine to unhitch him on the climbs. The pace was hot enough early on to eliminate Blomeley and Mirabella. Townsend rode another very tactically astute race, as he did in the MMAS1-3 champs last year, and discouraged attacks by all but the irrepressible Collingwood. Several times on the last lap, Josh skipped away, but then was dragged back by the bunch. Josh played his last card passing the Gordon football club, with 2 km to go, and this attack splintered the field. Townsend had more than enough in the tank to blast away from Michael Pierce and Warren Faneco, the last men standing, and collar Collingwood on the last pinch to score a strong victory.

Masters 1-3 entries were very low, and so all the masters started together, though two separate championships were awarded. Early talk of a "gentlemen's agreement" on the first lap were thrown out the window on the first climb after Mt. Egerton, as Peter Kiel, Rob Forsyth and BSCC TT champion Grant Gilbert poured on the pace. The result was that, at the turn onto the Ballan road, the field was down to a handful: Kiel, Forsyth, Gilbert, Doug Garley, John Polkinghorne, Greg Nunn, Bob Braszell and Jonathan Lacey, with Paul Crack chasing solo. The pace for the remainder of the first lap was so hot that at one stage, the masters looked like catching the open field, despite starting almost ten minutes behind them. Strong men Kiel, Forsyth, Gilbert and Polkinghorne were determined to dislodge super-fast finisher Greg Nunn, and did so on the Egerton-Ballan road on the second lap. This also dropped Braszell, and later Lacey. On the same stretch on the final lap, Kiel and Gilbert pulled clear, with Garley in no-man's land, and Polkinghorne plus Rob Forsyth, the discovery of the championships, chasing hard. Garley, the Hard Rider, chased hard enough to stay away from the M1-3 contenders, Polkinghorne and Forsyth, but there was no catching Kiel and Gilbert. Up front, Gilbert drove relentlessly into the headwind until even his legs gave out, leaving Peter Kiel to fly solo to the finish to score a very popular and well-deserved victory. The prize for gutsiest ride of the day goes to Paul Crack, who chased solo for 70 km to score a hard-earned third place in MMAS1-3. Top marks also to Will Stewart, who started with the Masters riders, and was still with the leaders long after much more fancied and experienced riders had fallen by the wayside.

Major thanks to the people who made the day possible: Vice-President Don Stewart, always there behind the scenes, who had the difficult job of deciding on the format of the masters races; tireless Chief Marshal Chris Liston; and the marshals of the day, including Brad Clark, Roger Bade, and Mr. Gilbert (Grant's dad), among others.

Junior reports will follow soon.

BSCC 2011 club road championships - official results

Open championship, 108 km

1. Scott Townsend 3:17:28

2. Joshua Collingwood @ 0:03

3. Michael Pierce @ 0:07

4. Warren Faneco @ 0:09

5. Sam Turley @ 0:22

6. Stuart Grigg @ 0:31

Masters 1-3, 81 km

1. John Polkinghorne 2:28:31

2. Rob Forsyth @ 0:05

3. Paul Crack @ 24:08

Masters 4+, 81 km

1. Peter Kiel 2:26:17

2. Grant Gilbert @ 0:22

3. Doug Garley @ 1:17

4. Jonathan Lacey @ 11:17

JM17, 54 km

1. Angus Lyons 1:43:57

2. Josh Liston 1:44:06

3. J. Thompson 1:44:13

4. J. Stewart 1:56:12

JW17, 35 km

1. Victoria Snibson, 1:16:37

2. Shantelle Maurer, 1:19:06

JM15, 35 km

1. Pat Cosgrave 1:23:37

2. Maurice Koelle 1:23:39

JM11, 8 km

1. Graeme Frislie, 19:19

2. Brayden Maurer 19:25

3. Max Koelle 20:12

JW 11

1. Rochelle Liston 23:12

J9 8 km

1. Jake Ashmore 20:41

2. Tyson Cody 21:08

3. Bailey Cody 22:36

*************

Updated 16 September (several times):

Open ("Elite") Championship

We won't know until the day of the championship who will throw their hat in the ring. But we know that BSCC's big guns, Patrick Shaw and Jay Bourke, will not ride the championship. They will be riding the Goulburn to Citi, the next event in Cycling Australia's National Race Series. Pat is on top form: after leading his team-mates to win after win this year, he scored a much-deserved GC win of his own at the Tour of the Murray River. And Jay is having his best season yet. We'd love to see one of them add the BSCC Championship to their palmares. Not this year. This year we will also, of course, be missing the injured Damien Turner; and also eight-time champion Phil Orr, who will be on his way back from the Tour of Timor.

This means the championship is wide open. Updated: our previous list of contenders somehow missed the only world champion cyclist in Ballarat, Josh Collingwood. Anyone who has ridden with Josh over the last six months knows we're very lucky indeed to have him here. And we're very glad he's riding the champs. (The reporter who missed Josh from the contenders list has been fired. Just as well we have a staff of hundreds. - ed.)

Our short list of contenders also includes Sam Turley, Aaron Blomeley, Stuart Grigg, Michael Pierce and Tony Mirabella. Brad Clark, who would be another contender, has had a miserable run with illness this season, and is still sick. Stu and Michael are eligible to ride the M123 race, and Tony to ride the M4+ race, but we regard all of them as genuine podium contenders for the senior race, so we expect they will chose to ride the big one. Jeremy Doolan, another podium contender, is with Phil in Timor. More on Saturday ...

Masters

September 16 update: As of Friday morning, entries were not as high as we'd hoped, despite a personalized mail-out! Most entries come in at the last minute, so this might change. In any case, the race committee has decided that the minimum field size is eight riders. So if we get fewer than eight entries in either MMAS1-3 or MMAS4+, both championships will start together. Even if this happens, medals will be awarded for both championships. So even if MMAS1-3 and MMAS4+ start together, the first MMAS1-3 rider to finish will be the MMAS1-3 champion, and the first MMAS4+ rider to finish will be the MMAS4+ champion.

Masters numbers were down last year due to a clash with the Eureka Vets open race. That's not the case this year, so we're hoping for a return to the glory days of 2009, where the knock-down, drag-out masters championship, narrowly won by Adam Smith from Doug "The Hard Rider" Garley, is still talked about with glee by the participants.

Below is a listing of current BSCC members who hold masters Cycling Australia licenses. As you'll see, there are quite a few! 21 MMAS1-3, and 29 MMAS4+, by our count. We're looking forward to seeing many of them at Gordon. BSCC also has members of masters age who hold CA "Elite" (open) licenses. These riders are also eligible to ride the BSCC Masters champs in their age group.

In MMAS1-3, we like defending champ Scott Townsend (Elite license-holder), unless Scott chooses to do battle with the giants in the open race. If he rides M123, we expect his defense will be made difficult by Nev Bilney, Tavis Baker, and John Polkinghorne. Eureka champ Shane "Jedi" Cody, another contender, is at the Tour of Timor. We expect Stu Grigg will ride the open race, and we know Ben Clark is riding the Amy Gillett Gran Fondo the next day instead of the champs.

In MMAS4+, we were looking forward to the match between Tony Mirabella and Doug Garley, but we expect Tony will ride the open race. Doug might too! Potential spoilers come from TT champ Grant Gilbert, Peter "Engine" Walker, Charlie Stebbing, Peter Kiel, Les Bilney, Roger Bade, Matt Smith, Shane Butler, and Bob Braszell. The fearsome Guy Falla is in Timor, much to the relief of his club-mates. 2009 champion Adam Smith, Matt's older brother, has been injured most of the season, but we hear he's back on the bike and doing some damage, and it's not too late for him to apply for a license and an exemption from the three-race qualification rule (see below). Stay tuned ...

MMAS1:

Ben MORRISON

MMAS2:

Matthew ALBISTON
Shane CODY
Michael COLVILLE
Paul CRACK
Mariusz CZULIJ
Jason HAIRE
Tim PATON
Andrew STINCHCOMBE
Mark TEMPLETON
Michael VEAL
Rohan ALLEN

MMAS3

Tavis BAKER
Neville BILNEY
Stuart BRIEN
Scott DENNO
Vincent MADER
Paul PICKERSGILL
John POLKINGHORNE
Dean TAYLOR

MMAS4

Shane BUTLER
Grant GILBERT
Terry GOLDIE
Peter KYATT
Jonathan LACEY
Craig LIGHTFOOT
Brett MARTIN
Tony MIRABELLA
Greg NUNN
Matthew SMITH
Charles STEBBING
Bruce STEWART
Peter WALKER

MMAS5

Roger BADE
Peter CANNY
Gerard COSGRAVE
Tim D'OMBRAIN
Gary GULLOCK
Peter KIEL
Peter MARTIN
David PETERS
Gerard WHITE

MMAS6+

Les BILNEY
Guy FALLA
Douglas GARLEY
Bob MORLEY
Robert PARKER
Don STEWART
Albert CHAPMAN
Robert BRASZELL

*************

5 September update: here's the format for Club Road Championship day, Saturday September 17. All the races will be at Gordon, starting at 1 PM.

Senior Club Championship, 108 km (4 laps), open to all riders, men and women, U19 and above
M19 Championship, 108 km (4 laps). M19 riders will start with the senior field
MMAS1-3 Championship, 81 km (3 laps)
MMAS4+ Championship, 81 km (3 laps). MMAS1-3 and MMAS4+ riders will start separately (two different races), like last year.

Women & WMAS Championship, 54 km (2 laps)
Junior Championships U9-U17, over various distances

We will also hold up to three support events, graded scratch races in B, C, and D grades, over 54 km (2 laps). These are aimed at riders who don't want to ride the championship events, but still want to race on the day. These races will not be championships. They will be run on the same course as the championship events, but they will be run as separate races - the fields will start separately.

Entries for all events, championships and non-championships, close with BSCC Vice-President and handicapper 68,111,110,32,83,116,101,119,97,114,116 at 5 PM on Friday, September 16. There will be no entries on the day.

The races will be run according to the relevant club rules. They are under Events > Rules and Code of Conduct on the left-hand menu. One rule to note is about Qualifying Rides (clause 11). We're extending the exceptions deadline to Wednesday September 14 at 5 PM. So if you have not done 3 club races this season and you want to ride a championship event, write to 68,111,110,32by 5 PM Wednesday and explain the reasons you haven't done your three qualifying races (injury, travel, etc.).

As usual, we'll use common sense in applying the rules. For example, if we only have a few entrants to a particular championship race, we'll consider combining it with another championship race over the same distance. This will be done in consultation with the riders in both events.

********

BSCC has been running an annual club road race championship for as long as the club has been in existence. In the early days, when Ballarat had far fewer cyclists, club races were regarded simply as training for the real races - opens such as the Melbourne to Ballarat, the Casterton 50, and the Hamilton 75. At the open races, despite official rules against "collusion" (a word today's riders might still hear at Doug "Bronco" Armstrong's race briefings), almost all club members raced as a team, as did members of all other clubs. The one exception to this rule, the one serious race that pitted BSCC members against one another, was the club championship. The title of champion was held in such high regard, and coveted so much, that the race was like a civil war - brother against brother. Just as well it was held at the end of the season: the wounds of defeat would often take the whole summer to heal. Club champions from the early 1980s include Geoff Braszell (Ash's father), Greg Nunn, Darron Muir, and the late, great Darren Marnell, older son of Richard Marnell, founder of the Ballarat Vets club. (Darren was killled in a motorbike accident at the age of 21.)

A startlingly talented Ballarat rider from that era, winner (with his brakes on, under orders) of a silver medal at the Australian junior road championship, was Peter Taylor, still spoken of in hushed tones by his former co-workers at Mars. Peter's father Kevin, a great supporter of his son's cycling career, a mentor to many Ballarat junior riders from that time, and a much-loved member of the club, died suddenly of lung cancer in the mid-1980s. In 1988, the Taylor family donated a perpetual shield to the club, to be awarded to the BSCC club champion in Kevin's memory. This is the trophy awarded to the club champion to this day. Here it is.

It carries the name of every BSCC club champion since 1988. The champions are:

1988 Adam Smith

1989 Adam Smith

1990 Adam Smith

1991 Bruce Vickers

1992 Gary Gullock

1993 Scott Keating

1994 Shane Daly

1995 Jarrod Kelly

1996 Scott Keating

1997 Adam Wightwick

1998 Jaysen Searle

1999 Adam Wightwick

2000 Adam Smith

2001 Phillip Orr

2002 Phillip Orr

2003 Phillip Orr

2004 Phillip Orr

2005 Phillip Orr

2006 Jason Hegert

2007 Phillip Orr

2008 Phillip Orr

2009 Phillip Orr

2010 Scott Keating

The 2011 BSCC Club Road Championsip will be held at Gordon on Saturday September 17, with races starting at 1 PM. What will be the next name to go on the shield? It won't be number 9 for Phil Orr: he'll be on his way back from the Tour of Timor. Will big guns Pat Shaw or Jay Bourke step off the National Race Calendar treadmill for a big day at Gordon? What role will you play in this part of BSCC's history?

Road: Victorian Schools Cycling Champs

Sunday saw the finals of the Victorian Schools Cycling Championships (VSCC) in Lygon Street, a curtain-raiser for the final stage of the Jayco Herald-Sun Tour. There was a big BSCC contingent - Josh Liston, Angus Lyons, Nick and Liam White, Hugo Tolliday, Vic Snibson, Bailey and Tyson Cody, Maurice Koelle, and Graeme Frislie - and other novice riders from Ballarat, and and they did us proud. Angus Lyons scored silver! Click HERE for the official results. And here's a report from Chris Liston:

The State Final of the Champion Systems VSCC 2011 was held on Sunday morning in Lygon Street prior to the Jayco Herald Sun Tour. The first event rolled out bright and early at 7.30am, and everyone involved was pleased that the predicted morning showers were nowhere to be seen. The standard of racing was exceptionally high, both in the Racing and Novice sections, and there was some very attacking riding. It is difficult to single out individual performances when there are so many outstanding rides on display.

Lucas Hamilton of Ararat won the Under 17 Racing State Final after a break from the front with Braeden Dean at the first lap of the 8 lap race. The duo rode together for 3 laps, and then Hamilton dislodged Dean and rode solo for the final 4 laps. BSCC’s Angus Lyons riding on behalf of Clarendon College was in the chasing group and edged out of the bunch to chase Hamilton in the final lap. Lyons claimed a very determined silver medal in the Championship over a high class bunch.

A number of Ballarat school zone finalists were represented across U13 – U19 racing and Novice, groups male and female. Bailey and Tyson Cody raced in the U13 Novice kidz club license category while Graeme Frislie found the pace up a gear in the U13 Racing category. Maurice Koelle and Nicholas White found the testing corners and high pace of Lygon St a tough assignment. Victoria Snibson was in a group of four who lapped the field. There was only half a wheel separating the four at the finish, and Vic was unlucky to be off the podium, following her first Zone win in Balllarat around the Lake circuit

Hamish Kelly of St Patrick’s College took the silver medal in the U19M Novice section, while Liam White worked steadily and consistently in the U19M Racing class, and attacked near the finish, but was mowed down in the finishing straight, and missed a podium place. Liam was a marked rider after his emphatic victory from the Ballarat Final, but three weeks off the bike leading up to the final took its toll.

Here are the Ballarat placings:

Event 3 - Men & Womens Under 17's Racing

8.25 am - Start 8 laps
1 Lucas HAMILTON Wimmera Marian College M17
2 Angus LYONS Central Highlands Ballarat Clarendon College M17

Event 8 - Men Under 19s Novice

10.40 am - Start 9 laps
1 James HAMPSON Midlands Bendigo Senior SC M19
2 Hamish KELLY Central Highlands St Patrick's College M19
3 Nathan CAITHNESS East Metro Vermont Secondary College M19

MTB: Social Ride

Ballarat-Sebastopol MTB Club are proud to offer MTB cyclists a friendly ride along the Great Dividing Trail from Ballarat to Creswick this Sunday 24th October departing at 8:30 am.

The trail has a history going back to the gold rush era and this ride passes regions that were once the richest gold diggings in the world. All up there are 280 kilometres of trails connect Ballarat with Buninyong, Creswick, Bendigo, Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh. We’ll be experiencing a small section between Ballarat and Creswick. Riders will meet at 5 ways (cnr. White Swan Road, Glen Park Rd on top of the hill). From here we’ll break into two groups and hit the trails. (Mick Veal has advised not to leave anything valuable in your car)

The first group will be expected to ride faster and longer, Antanas and Mick Veal will lead this group. Bring some money for a coffee too. This group will be leaving at 8:30am sharp from White Swan Road.

The second group will be lead by DSE guru Phil Timpano and be a little slower and shorter. This group will be leaving at 8:30am sharp behind the first group. No one will be left behind. This group may also break for coffee. There is no MTB signage out on the course so we’ll be relying on the GDT signage which is brand new.

Anyone can come and going us on social rides, you don’t need to be a BSCC member. If you don’t have a MTBA licence then you will need to pay a $5 charge (and fill in a form, so arrive a little early) for insurance cover.

New bunch ride: Gove Cycles

Tuesday Night Chain Gang's Hour of Power
The ride leaves from Gove Cycles 524 Doveton St, Ballarat.
Gang members start loitering around 530pm before a 535pm departure.
The 36km lap takes about 60min /- a couple of min. Rolling even turns the whole way along.
Sadly no prizes along the way.
Despite a fairly mean pace at times - the group does it's best to keep everyone together.

All comers welcome. If you're feeling a little under done. Get a head start on the group before we come along.
Check out the current course by logging onto Facebook or Mapmyride - sundaymass
http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/58067972
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sunday-Mass-Mollongghip-Cycling-Club/158861160879859?v=wall

Track: Junior racing report and results

The season’s stakes were raised once again with the addition of new Grammar school students as well as the regular racers. The atmosphere had everyone on the edge or their seats and biting their nails as race after race was won by millimetres. The judges were under pressure hardly blinking the entire night.

Racing began with the C and D grade scratch race (formerly known as E and F grades), while Clancy took the first win with time to spare from Graeme Frisilie and Adam Begbie, that was were the easy ride ended. The following handicap was almost too close to call, the handicapping was superb with the scratch marker of Clancy Dickson catching limit of Daisy Pickersgill on the line and winning by half a tyre. The last race of the day for the combined grades was an Italian Pursuit (team sprint), the Ballarat team started strong, leading by a quarter of a lap by the start of the last riders lap. This closed slowly until Dickson’s experience showed through taking it once again on the line for the Sebastopol team from Frisilie.

The combined A and B grades were no different. Will Stewart dominated from an early stage taking the scratch race from Josh Liston and William Key. Liston took the win in the second race by 4 points from Stewart and Key. This was one the tensest races of the night, each sprint contested as if it were the finish, the competitors only ever winning by a few cm. The Elimination was an extremely tactical race, Victoria Snibson looked ready to strike, staying out of the wind until she left it too late to come out of her boxed in position to be eliminated and take 4th. Josh Liston was in a similar position and couldn’t come around Will Stewart and was eliminated for 3rd. The last laps turned into a match sprint, the pace backing off and a game of cat and mouse commencing. The sprint of Key could not be denied as he took out the race that he had lead from the whistle. The final race was just as tense, a progressive points race. Attacks came from all directions and every sprint was contested by a different leading group. Just to confuse the judges more the race was handicapped to allow for a fairer playing field. This turned out to be a critical aspect of the race, forcing riders to defend their leads and placing pressure on the more experienced riders. In the end after much pencil scratching the winner was found to be, once again, Will Stewart.

Two old hands at the track battled it out in the mach sprint; Dylan Bilston took the two round sprint from Dominic Geoghegan by winning both rounds with a little room to spare. He also took the scratch race in a close sprint with Geoghegan.

After the completion of Junior Racing there was a chance for the many new senior riders to take to the track. The 7 riders took to the track like pros, even being comfortable enough to form into pursuit teams and take each other on in a race of truth. (a very generous spin on events, thanks Angus)

Junior racing is on next week, Thursday the 24th with seniors this Saturday 19th. Thanks to the judges for the great job on the tough decisions.

Full results click here.

Track: Gumby novices take over

The first 'Track - Have a Crack' night was held last Thursday at the velodrome for newbie seniors of all cycling backgrounds to have a go. Out of the seven of us, at least three had never been on a track bike before, and at least one had only had one go before. So just to add to that ambivalent excitement, as the mountain bikers were setting up their strange looking new toys Roger Bade announced that our team pursuit race was about to begin and could we please hurry over to the start line. What???

Two teams of four headed out for their very first informal track race, nervously trying to hold wheels and roll turns. I think the initial hesitation was soon replaced by excitement and a strange sensation felt in the lungs and legs, probably a side-effect of continually pushing a single large gear. Roger gave continual instructions and encouragement from the sidelines, so unlike road or MTB racing it was like having a coach by your side telling you what to do. This is a fantastic arrangement and I think we all got a lot more out of the session by getting out of our comfort zones a little bit, rather than just rolling around aimlessly.

OK, pull over to the fence now guys, instructs Roger. Stopping. What??

Track - Have a Crack
Thursdays from 6 after junior racing
BBQ from 5.30.

Road: May RecTTT

Ray Isaac, the BSCC web site's most admired writer, reports:

Two new teams joined in the second RecTTT ride for the year, which also happened to be our second-ever RecTTT ride around the Snake Valley course.

A team of men from the MTB arm of the club, and a team of ladies, were there for their first doses of serious fun for road cyclists. Under some pressure, the girls adopted the moniker of the Go Go Girls, but the mountain bikers resisted any attempt to identify themselves. Their reluctance to provide a name only provided an open invitation to the wit and wisdom of Peter Canny to do it for them. It’s a matter of some regret that his best effort was “Dirty Rotten Mountain Bikers”.

The Go Go Girls comprised Janet Jones, Jayne Liubinas, Pauline Stevens and Lisa Stewart. They had recruited former CSC winner Jenny White to provide insights to the unique style of riding that is a RecTTT.

Unfortunately the only thing they seemed to pick up from Jenny seemed to be based on her recent exposure to road racing. They rode smoothly; they rode hard.

Even with the help of Jonathan Lacey, they quickly caught and passed the traditional female RecTTT team, the Goddesses. What they didn’t do was anything Courageous, Stupid or Cunning. For example I can safely report that when their first and second riders reached the top of the hill on the return to the Valley the first time they didn’t both pull over to attend to a call of nature. And when their third and fourth riders pulled up they didn’t decide to stop and take their rain coats off. And their fifth rider saw no need to also pull over and take her rain coat off when she arrived a bit later on. She certainly didn’t then decide to peel a banana and eat it whilst standing on the side of the road.

Unlike the Goddesses. They managed to achieve all those things without any apparent effort or fanfare. It must be recorded that several Goddesses were unwell. All their regulars were back, except for Karen Cotter who was perplexing all who came within earshot of her back at the BBQ. Several Goddesses were battling the dreaded lurgi, while Donna Bishop was suffering from too much celebrating of her glorious award on the previous day in the Yabby Divers’ annual trip to Dunkeld. Well played Donna and congratulations on showing up at the RecTTT under adversity.

Regular readers will recall that Greg Nunn offered the Goddesses the benefit of his years of cycling experience last year by coaching them through the tough bits of the course. He once again put up his hand for one of the most challenging jobs in Ballarat road riding. How would they go after another year of riding? The answer is slower and more shambolic, although Greg was too much of a gentleman to point it out.

At least they showed up, which was more than I could say for most of the Yabbies. Their team went AWOL, except for Donna’s partner Peter Walker, who was just as tired and emotional, and Charlie Stebbing, who had signed up for his first RecTTT ride with the Myer group.

The Myer team also included Graham Pyers, Tavis Baker and Greg Dow. Greg was resuming after some time away from RecTTT riding, and Charlie was there for the first time. Despite the absence of Mike Bigarelli, or maybe because of it, the Myer team posted a very creditable performance. There’s really very little rest between turns when there are only three other riders. Good effort Myers!

The MTBA men also numbered only four. They were Matt Turner, Scott Cramer, Clinton Le Maitre and Dale Boucher. They made an easy transition to the idea of a team trial. Perhaps they imagined the road as a wide, grey single-track.

However they did it, they were most impressive. Starter, coach and timer Tim O’Doherty reported that on both the first and second laps their form was impeccable and they were clearly the smoothest and most professional team on the course.

The boys were there to support their attempt to raise funds to be used in part to support a local Timorese team in the Tour of Timor. Both the RecTTT fraternity and the road racers willingly chipped in to help.

The regulars for the Saxon House team reappeared after their brief hiatus for the Kingston ride. Team captain Neal Goad had issued the clarion call, and his trusty lieutenants Mark Blomeley, Peter Marquand, Gary Foster and Chris Charleson had answered. Regular member Michael Unwin, obviously sick of waiting for the mythical figure of Roger Simkin to grace the Saxons with his presence, had scheduled a tapas tasting at his winery and also missed the ride. John Cotter volunteered to sacrifice himself for one lap to boost their numbers.

The injured Trevor Smith, who claimed the CSC award at the corresponding ride in 2010, was there in the DS role. It didn’t go very well. It actually went very badly.

Starter Tim had to arrange a last minute change to the starting times, to make sure we didn’t clash with the road riders, and let half of the Saxons start while the others were somewhere on the road to Linton warming up. Since Tim is beyond any reproach, the only possible interpretation is that Trevor failed dismally in discharging his simple responsibilities to the team. Under such leadership, it’s a credit to the Saxons that they persisted for the full two laps.

The Turret B team comprised yours truly, Peter Canny, Brenton Keats, Bruce Edwards and Yabby ring-in Peter “Engine” Walker. Although he may have been running on a few less cylinders than normal, Engine did a power of work and came under notice for the CSC award. Obviously excited by the presence of his hairy-legged mountain bike mates, Pete took a clever shortcut over the Strada Bianca at the turnaround near Mount Emu; a truly fine example of RecTTT initiative that we could all take a lesson from.

The Lake View team (really the Turret A team) had a few regulars – Rick Calvert, Peter Norman and Mark Smith – and a couple of recruits in Josh Collingwood and Simon Ellis. We all know of Simon from his excellent form with the occasionally-constituted Lake Health team, but some recreational riders won’t be aware of Josh’s background. I’m not going to go into any details at all about it, other than to say that Josh has a palmares. Most of us don’t even know what that means, much less have one, but Josh does. Have one that is, and he probably also knows what it means! Welcome aboard Josh!

Having said that, the team rode well together and registered an admirable average speed. Peter Norman conveyed his thanks to Peter Canny through clenched teeth for slotting him into the A team and allowing him to see up close how a real bike rider does it. One of Peter Norman’s favourite quotes is that “Pain is weakness leaving your body.” If that is true, you must have a very strong body now, Pete.

The average speeds recorded, together with the change from the Kingston ride were:

Goddesses 23.03 km/h (down 3.24 km/h)
Go Go Girls 27.95 km/h
Mountain Men 32.92 km/h
Turret Café 32.82 km/h (down 0.38 km/h)
Myer Group 33.76 km/h (up 0.60 km/h - the Greg Dow effect?)
Lake View 35.28 km/h (down 0.06 km/h)
Saxon House 28.24 km/h

The CSC award boiled down to a selection between the short-cutting Engine Walker and Trevor Smith, the Directeur Sportif who failed to get his team to the start.

After a millisecond’s consideration, it was handed to Trevor on the anniversary of his inaugural CSC award. Trevor now enters the annals of RecTTT history as the first ever two-time winner of this most prestigious award.

Thanks to Tony Mirabella and all his course marshals, Tim our unimpeachable starter, coach and timer, and Rob Crocker and Karen Cotter, who toiled over a hot BBQ to cook the snags.

Good luck to the MTBA guys in their fund-raising attempts and their subsequent trip to East Timor.

Now it’s time for the winter break, and to look forward to some Serious Fun for Recreational Cyclists at the appropriately named Mount Misery circuit in September.

*********

Peter Canny, RecTTT ruler and chief trash-talker, writes:

It was great to see the Myers team out training this morning (Tuesday - ed.) in preparation for next Sunday.They weren’t actually cycling, more just frozen to their bikes, but at least the effort was there.

I know all the other bunches have finished their therapy, fully recovered from their previous shemozzle at Kingston, and are now ready and able to demonstrate their silky-smooth TTT skills. Well, we’ll see how this goes.

The details of the event are below. Difficulty of the course: well, it's not a Giro mountain stage. Some up and some down and some undulating and some flat and some neither up or down. (Will someone please explain all that to the Saxon House Team?)

Don't forget the post-event BBQ to support Timor.

Until then, stay warm. I know the hard men of the Turret will be relishing the tough weather conditions for training. I suspect Dennis Family Homes are on their wind trainers, and the closest the Yabbies get to their bikes when it gets cold is watching it all on SBS.

**************

Yes, it’s time again to start preparing for our next bit of serious fun, the Autumn Recreational Team Time Trial (RecTTT).
Even though some bunches showed fine team-oriented and disciplined riding at the last event - I can’t recall what team that was, but there must have been someone - it’s time for the rest of us to get organized.

I have it on very good authority that our much-appreciated starter, Tim O’ Doherty, is a state championship gold medal coach for under-11 boys and under-13 girls for team time trialing. I’m sure if your team needs fine tuning, he would dumb down his training and coaching techniques to assist you. In the case of the Yabbies and Dennis Family Homes teams, I am not sure if this would be basic enough. These teams might be better to stick to the Goddesses' fiasco technique, or the “Take my bat and ball and go home now“ technique employed by the Turret team.

Now for all the details, also found on the BSCC 2011 road race fixture:

When: Sunday May 15

Where: Snake Valley. The start is at the hall in the main street, and there is only one main street, so we expect most riders will find it. Allow an hour and 15 minutes to ride there from central Ballarat (or 30 minutes if you're driving, for some reason).

Registration is from 8:30 AM to 9:15 AM.

First bunch away at 9:30.

Cost: BSCC members nothing, non members $12. (Why not become a member?)

Course: Mt. Emu, same as the BSCC race on the same day. See the road race fixture for a link to a map of the course.

We look forward to seeing all our regular teams, and we would love some more entrants for our last event before our winter hibernation.

Check out the road race fixture for the rest of this year's RecTTTs.

May 2011 BSCC Board Meeting

Karen Snibson, BSCC's hard-working behind-the-scenes secretary, writes:

Please click HERE to read the minutes of the May 2011 meeting of the BSCC board.

*********

The April-May 2011 meeting of the BSCC Board will be held at Jaala Pulford’s office, 15 Main Rd, Ballarat (between Sturt/Victoria St & Humffray St Sth), at 7:30 PM on Tuesday May 17. All members are welcome. Here's the agenda. It's all the usual stuff (review of last meeting's minutes, committee reports), plus the following items of general business.

6. GENERAL BUSINESS
6.1 BSCC strategic review:

6.2 Creswick MTB trail network:

6.3 Clubrooms update:

6.4 Shane Kelly Coaching:

6.5 BSCC Club Kit:

6.6 BMX funding:

6.7 MTBA race registration and timing

6.8 Website design

Road: Aggregate points for club jersey

Updated May 19: Following more a spirited discussion on the forum (still going on), the BSCC committee decided that BSCC would promote the wearing of the club jersey in club races. Beginning on May 22 at the John Collier race, one of the club's blue ribbon events, you'll get an extra point towards the club aggregate every time you do a BSCC club race in your club jersey. Club jerseys are available from Gerard White.

Here's the updated part: In response to the points raised on the forum by sponsored riders, who reminded the committee that they are obliged by Cycling Australia and by their sponsors to race and train in their sponsors' jerseys, the following decision was made at the BSCC committee meeting on Tuesday May 18. Registered elite riders will also receive one BSCC aggregate point for every BSCC race they do in their sponsors' jersey. In other words, the "point for a club jersey" rule is aimed at the majority of mortal riders, to encourage them (us! - ed.) to support the sponsors who support our club, and race in the club jersey - without discriminating against the sponsored riders. Why advertise Lampre when they do nothing for you or for any of us? Giving a million euro a year to a 5"2' bloke with blond tips who calls himself the Little Prince is not helping many of us. And anyway, isn't a Lampre some kind of parasitic fish?

See you out there in your club jersey!

Spin your way through winter at the 'Y'

Tim O'Doherty writes:

Sorry, but we didn't get enough members wanting to do the spin classes to make a booking on either a Wed or Thur.

If you're still interested in spin classes, please contact the YMCA direct about classes that are open to the public. Please click HERE for contact details.

MTB: Avoca Marathon Challenge

Avoca Marathon Challenge 2012

I haven't been to many pre-race briefings where the entire field assembled on the start line were so attentive. Race director Rohin Adams listed the numerous hazards out on course and agreed with the general concensus that the Avoca marathon course was the toughest in Australia. "If a sign says keep left, thats not because I'm worried about traffic coming the other way, its because if you go right you'll probably die, and I don't want to have to bring the chopper back in again."
Nonetheless, the first 30 guys and girls were very keen to get up the road and the pace was on from the word go. With a mass start for all the distance categories it was difficult to know who's pace you should try and keep up with, but inevitably it all came down to what kind of intensity level you could sustain and still be able to finish this thing.
On the first 8km climb Dale Boucher looked very comfortable pulling away from me until he dissappeared around a couple of bends up ahead, followed soon by Clinton LeMaitre whom I manged to stay in visual contact with until the first feed zone. After this point I was only going to see one more fellow 90km category rider for the rest of the day.
Most of the climbing and technicaly difficult sections of this course are in the second half and most people get lulled into a false sense of feeling great once they have reached the feed zone over the far side of the mountain range. From this point you are confronted with numerous climbs that are significant enough to warant names. 'Pinchy' is a two tier wall littered with loose stones which begins at around 20%, half way up you have a reprive where it flattens out to only around 10% so you have time to get your heart rate down to 90% of your max, before it kicks back up to 33%.
The notorious Pyrenees Endurance Walking Trail offers a limited sweet single-track experience. Once you have plumeted down to the valley floor you have to negotiate a rock strewn river bed and then climb a double black diamond switch-back and rock feature single track. For the third year in a row I have come to this section and I have been totally blown and riding with all the grace of a sock puppet. Its the last place you would hope to see a photographer hiding out in the bushes ready to snap a photo of weary riders plodding their way through, but yes this did happen to me.
When finally emerging from the stranglehold of the barely rideable walking track I was relieved to have a few km of fire road to be able to put the hammer down and try and make up some time. After consuming a coke and a gel at the final feed station you are pretty much running on borrowed time before you totally bonk, but first you have to ascend the 'Three Sisters', a trio of walls so steep and long that you can't even see sky above them. Even race winner Adrian Jackson admitted to being beaten by the middle one were it turns to a rock graveyard.
At this point you are about as high up the mountain as you can be but within the next 2 km you will be down at 'ground level' via a steep slalom run featuring 27 water bars in a 1.5km distance. This is where an unfortunate Ballarat rider broke his neck two years ago. Nonetheless, the adrenalin is firing at this point and its a personal race for the finish line and you're already thinking about how much paw paw ointment you will slather onto your nether regions once you are back in the privacy of your own car.
OK so this event has suffered from a reputation as being too tough, but I think that is the reason why the people who do participate keep coming back. The course has been improved and its more rideable and it presents a real challenge of coming back each year to try and ride up that hill that beat you last time, or to get DOWN that hill that scared the hell out of you last time.

Course stats:
Distance: 91.84km
Elevation gain: 2,894m
Max ascent grade: 33%
Max descent grade: 50%

(And remember, this course starts and finishes in the same place, so all that elevation gain actually happens in half that distance!)

90km Open men
Matthew Turner 11th place 6hr19
Jason Birch 16th place 6hr54 (suffered a major get-off at the half way point, lost a lot of bark and hit his head)

65km Open men
Clinton LeMaitre 3rd place 4hr14 (made the most of his week off fatherhood)

45km Open men
Dale Boucher 5th place 3hr12
Christian Haidacher 9th place 3hr30
Grant Palmer 10th place 3hr32
Paul Plank 14th place 3hr54 (got lost with 5km to go and ended up doing an extra 5km)

33km Under 18 women
Elizabeth Baker 1st place 3hr37
Georgette Baker 2nd place 3hr40

Full results here.

Road: BSCC Rules at Tour of Toowoomba

Updated Monday: The official results show that Pat has won his second consecutive Tour of Toowoomba, by 29 seconds from Alex Clements. It was a top tour for current and recent BSCC riders: Rhys Gillett was 6th on GC, less than a minute down on Pat; and Jay Bourke took a storming 5th place on the queen stage, won by Pat, with Rhys second.

Pat Shaw's 2010 National Race Series rampage started with his win at the Tour of Toowoomba. It's another year, and Pat is with another team this year, but it looks like the same script so far.

Road: Club Jerseys Needed for Club TTT

Everyone in a BSCC team for the Victorian Club Team Time Trial Champs on Sunday must wear a BSCC club jersey. To do this, we need to borrow a few jerseys. Please help out.

If you're not doing the TTT, and you have a club jersey in size medium, please contact 83,97,109,32,84,117,114,108,101,121.

Track: upcoming racing

Next week the Blackburn Cycling Club will be commemorating the 50th anniversary of their velodrome with an Australia Day madison and supporting events to cater for all riders. The formidable duo of Liam White and Doug Garley will team up to compete in what is sure to be a great day out on the track bike. Anyone interested in competing should call Brett Curran at Blackburn Cycling Club to enter on Mob: 61419440023 Tel: 98085403 or visit the BCC webpage here for more information.

The Ballarat Spokes Festival Madison program is now available here. Held on Saturday February 11th, there will be a program of events to cater for all age groups and abilities. Note that the total prize pool for the days events is now over $8000!

Thursday track sessions have been back for a couple of weeks now but please note will not be held next Thursday 26th due to it being Australia Day. Racing and training will resume the following week February 2nd so be sure to get down there. All welcome.

Emma gets a trip too!

Chris Liston writes:

Bilston makes Victorian Team for Nationals

Ballarat Sebastopol U15 cyclist Emma Bilston won her way into the four-girl squad that will represent Victoria at the national junior track championships in Melbourne in March. Bilston won her debut blue jersey with four medals from five events at the state track championships. Emma won gold in the 2000m individual pursuit with a time of 2:55.953, silver in the 7.5km points race, and bronze in the 500m time trial. These events were held at the Darebin International Sports Centre last weekend. She also claimed silver in the state scratch race championship at an earlier event. Emma is Ballarat's second state track cycling representative this season, after Harry Crothers-Bade was named in the M19 Victorian team for the senior national track championship in Adelaide next month.

Other notable performances from Ballarat junior riders at the weekend's championships include Hugo Tolliday's scorching 12.3-second qualifying 200m in the super-fast M17 category, and Craig Firman's strong state track debut in the same division. Victoria Snibson, Emily Wordie-Thompson and Joshua Liston also competed as part of the club’s contingent, posting several personal best times over the disciplines on offer, despite their minimum track training while the Sebastopol velodrome is upgraded. Complete results and photos are at the Cycle Sport Victoria web site.

Additional reporting from Roger Bade.

Road: Confession time on Mt Bunninyong

Parishioners of the BSCC & Mollongghip Cycling Clubs are invited to celebrate Christmas on two wheels this year with a special informal mid-week cycling mass on cycling sports most holiest of venues the village of Bunninyong.

After meeting at 6pm at the Rotunda on Main road, cyclists will be encouraged to make an expedient pilgrimage up the Great Mountain at regular intervals (on open shared roads), recording their own time, before reuniting at the top for a leisurely ride back to the city of Ballarat and meeting afterwards for an informal get together at a local watering hole.

If you are free this Wednesday and are after a bit of non-competitive fun on your bike. Come along to the local monument of cycling and test yourself against yourself.

Regards,
Josh.

PS this is not a club event, just an informal social ride for those who believe that self-flagellation is the most fun you can have on two wheels.

Remember to always ride safe, share the road, look after your mates and other road users.

New Stock of Club Shorts Has Arrived

Gerard White, club clothing captain and treasurer, reports:

A new stock of club kit - shorts and bib shorts - has arrived. Shorts are $80, and bib shorts are $85. We also have a stock of club jerseys, in various sizes, that we're offering at a discounted price. Details of the club kit are here. Please see Gerard at the Central City Motor Inn to get yours.

Junior King of the Mountains, round 2

Chris Liston writes:

Junior Race Results – Saturday 15th August 2009

Hill Climb Series Stage 2: Oliver on track to claim girls' hill climb series

Emily Oliver looks set to cap off a big year in U13 girls' cycling. The daughter of cyclists Gail and Tim Oliver [owners of BSCC sponsor Navajo Cycles - ed.] showed determination and perseverance to move to the number one spot in her classification. In tough gusty headwind conditions, Oliver, along with the junior contingent of Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling club, pedaled their machines up the rise of White Swan Road in a challenging 5km time trial, stage two of the club's 2009 hill climb series.

Nicholas White and Angus Lyons firmed up their grip on the M13 and M15 climbing winners' lists as they edged out Dylan Bilston and Josh Liston, respectively. Craig Firman showed great improvement, clocking a time only 61 seconds off Lyons, making him third overall in M15. Jack Thompson returned for his second race and worked hard up the climb. Molly Hegert and Meg O’Doherty put the W17 classification on the board as they completed their first stage of the series, with Hegert taking the race time.

Aaron Blomeley heads the leader board of the M17 by a slight margin from Liam White. The Buninyong Hill Climb in September will be the one to watch for the aggregate time of the young men’s series. Ciaran Conaughton took a win in the Time Trial on Saturday, however his miss in stage one may see him finish down the order in the division.

Results, 5.0 km KoM Glen Park TT, White Swan Rd
U9 & 11
Rochelle Liston 26:00
Olivia Oliver 19:38
Kate Lyons 22:05
Clancy Dickson 18:21

U13M & F
Emily Oliver 16:09
Nicholas White 14:39
Dylan Bilston 15:10
Timothy Geoghegan 18:29
Declan Dickson 15:49

U15M & F
Angus Lyons 12:05
Joshua Liston 12:36
Craig Firman 13:06
Dominic Geoghegan 16:21
Jack Thompson 19:24
Victoria Snibson 14:06

U17F
Molly Hegert 14:18
Meg O’Doherty 15:54

U17M
Aaron Blomeley 12:28
Liam White 12:32
Ciaran Conaughton 10:30

Road: Bourke and Pierce On Form

Latest update: junior reports.

BSCC's third club road race for the 2011 season was held on the tried and tested Avenue circuit at Burrumbeet today, in perfect autumn conditions. Click HERE to check out Kate Grigg's photo album from the day. Thanks Kate!

Chris Liston report on the junior races:

Angus Cocking took a win in the Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club sub-junior scratch race. The new rider to the club fought hard to keep Rochelle Liston from overtaking him. The pair opened up a gap on Daisy Pickersgill at the first turn of four laps of the 1km circuit.

Fellow new road cyclist Maurice Koelle took line honours in the U15 race. Koelle with Chantelle Maurer opened up a gap in the windy conditions on the Burrumbeet Avenue circuit.

Both grades combined to ride a 1km Handicap Sprint following their road races. Rochelle Liston went off first. Daisy Pickersgill did not start, so Angus Cocking followed along with the U15’s. Liston and Cocking “dead heated,” as Harriet Pickersgill got home ahead of the in-form pair of Koelle and Maurer.

Junior Results
F Grade U11/13 Out and Back 4km scratch
1st Angus Cocking
2nd Rochelle Liston
3rd Jake Ashmore
F & E Grade 1km Handicap Sprint
Equal First Rochelle Liston & Angus Cocking
3rd Harriet Pickersgill
E Grade U15 Junior 22km Scratch
1st Maurice Koelle
2nd Chantelle Maurer
3rd Harriet Pickersgill

Senior racing

In A grade, with Pat Shaw and Rhys Gillett at the NRC season-opener, the Mersey Valley Tour in Tasmania, Jay Bourke was the hot favorite, after a logistical error by his team left him in Ballarat. The race started at a sedate pace, until Bourke had a dig as the bunch turned into the crosswind on the Weatherboard-Learmonth Road. Scott Townsend and Doug Garley counter-attacked and opened a gap. The pair, with well over half a century of top-level racing experience between them, drove hard, despite the early stage of the race, in the hope that the field would tear itself apart behind them before the inevitable hammer blow from Bourke. Unfortunately the large array of time-trialling power in the chasing bunch, including John Polkinghorne, Ciaran Conaughton, Michael Pierce, Sam Turley, Stuart Grigg and Grant Gilbert, did not allow this, and the gap closed to a few tens of meters on The Avenue on the fourth lap. Counter-attacks came from Grigg and Turley, and then Bourke hit the gas. He rode at over 60 km/h for almost a minute, and when he eased off, Pierce was on his wheel, Grigg was ten meters adrift, and the rest of the field was in tatters. Grigg made a titanic effort to cross to the two leaders, but when Bourke danced away once more on the Weatherboard-Learmonth Road, he was ejected, leaving only Pierce to ride with Bourke. Pierce, many years an elite triathlete and distance runner, did some powerful turns of pace, but Bourke was clearly in charge, and the pair were never going to be caught, despite a regrouping behind them. The last time up the Avenue, in a blaze of autumn colors, the steadily rising Sam Turley accelerated away from the chase group, and was not caught. Up front, Bourke rode the finale to perfection, leaving Pierce in the wind for the last half-kilometer and then accelerating hard to take a comfortable win.

In B grade, the in-form Joel Hossack took a strong solo win from a strong field, with Thayne Turley pipping evergreen Peter Kiel for second. Sam Edwards took C. Here's a report from Vince Mader on the D-grade race:

Burrumbeet wind festival

The introduction of “D” grade saw 5 riders brave the windy conditions. The first climb of the day, 2 km into the race, saw the first casualty. Scotty Denno felt the first surge and was dropped, and then there were four. The second big attack came from Angus Lyons on the beginning of the second lap, and Vince Mader responded. Angus went again, but this time Vince went backwards, as the first attack had emptied the tank. Vic Snibson was also left behind by the ruthless Angus.

Vince and Michael Colville worked together to limit the damage caused by Angus, but at every corner he seemed to gain distance. So the minor places were left to race for, as Angus was going for the win. Vince went on the last lap to try and peg Angus back, but to no avail, and so it was Angus, Vince and Michael, in that order, as it was from the second lap onwards. Good race, and great win by the young and strong Angus Lyons.

Thanks to tireless Chief Marshal Chris Liston, handicapper Phil Orr, co-handicapper and master of ceremonies Don Stewart , and marshals Mitch Brogden, Charles and Brett Martin, Albert Chapman, Jonathan Lacey, and last-minute stand-in Sue Lyons.

Official results

A grade, 55 km:

1. Jay Bourke

2. Michael Pierce

3. Sam Turley

B grade

1. Joel Hossack

2. Thayne Turley

3. Peter Kiel

C grade

1. Sam Edwards

2. Craig Lightfoot

3. Charlie Stebbing

D grade

1. Anus Lyons

2. Vince Mader

3. Michael Colville

Australian MTB Marathon Champs: BSCC survives

Dale Boucher writes:

Australian MTB Marathon Championships

The 2010 Australian MTB marathon championships were held at the Mt Avoca Winery on Sunday April 18. The course used trails through the Pyrenees mountain ranges. Riders had a choice of racing the full marathon 90 km, or shortened 45 km and 33 km circuits. In all there were 602 riders entered.

You may have heard that the course was tough. But how tough was it? When Phil Orr says, “It’s the toughest course I’ve ever done,” you know it’s a hard course. Even elite cyclists had to get off their bikes and walk various sections. This course brought the fittest and most skilful cyclists to the top. You needed a high skill level to climb and descend on extreme slopes, handle drop-offs, and tackle single track that wasn’t bedded in, so the soil and rocks were very loose.

In total there were 17 cyclists from Ballarat competing, 14 BSCC MTB members. Every Ballarat cyclist completed the course, which was a huge achievement: there were heaps of DNF’s.

90 km Results

In the 90 km championship race, there were 8 Ballarat cyclists competing. Phil Orr had a fantastic ride to finish 8th overall in 5 hours 4 minutes. Phil was hoping to make the top fifteen, and he knocked off some big names to make the top 10. The course was to Phil’s liking with over 3,000 metres of altitude gain.

Tanya Wiggins also excelled in the veteran women’s category, finishing 4th in a time of 8:02. Warren Faneco came in 75th overall and 6th in his open male class in a time of 6:26. Clinton Lemaitre finished close behind in 83rd overall, and 24th in veterans, in a time of 6:32. Matt Turner continued his improving form, coming home in 166th position and 20th position in the open male, with a time of 7:45. Michael Veal rode a great race, finishing in 8:04min, in 194th position and 59th position in the veterans category. BSCC MTB committee members Phil Timpano and Anthony Rogan just missed one of the cut off times, and were forced by marshals to skip a section. The diversion meant they missed the hardest section of the course. Phil finished in 7:41, and Anthony in 8:16.

45 km Results

In the 45 km event, we had 8 Ballarat riders competing. Dale Boucher finished 5th overall, with a time of 2:50, and new MTB rider and BSCC member Paul Mathers rode extremely well to finish in 25th place overall in 3:20. Downhill specialist Will Goer had bike and drink problems (he forgot to fill his hydration pack), but finished in 28th position in 3:24. David Tannard, another rider who is getting faster and fitter each week, finished in 86th place, in 4:04. Other riders from Ballarat were Annabel Brennan, who finished 13th in the open women's category in 4:40; Geoff Filip, 55th in 3:43, Mike Bigarelli, 71st in 3:55, and Chris O’Keefe, another rider who is improving each week, 119th in 4:23.

33 km Results

In the 33 km race, Peter "Engine" Walker flew the BSCC flag, finishing 2nd in 2:02. Young Hugh Ingram, who was riding junior MTB races just a few weeks ago, rode the race of his life to finish 8th in the under-16 category in 2:40. Keep your eye on Hugh, he may be the future of XC MTB racing for BSCC.

To see the official results click here.

Here are some reports from Ballarat riders:

Phil Timpano writes:

I rode with Anthony Rogan for about the first 40 km. We knew what lay ahead, so we were trying to ensure our bodies would hold up. I averaged a HR of about 155 bpm to the mid point. I stopped to help a guy fix his broken chain. He was very grateful. This took longer than it should have: maybe 10 minutes.

In general, there were very few easy kilometers along the entire course. The uphills were long. Some were on fire roads, but they were got tougher, steeper and more technical as you went along, with many unrideable pinches. The first walking track section (new single track) between feed stations 3 and 4, was hard, with many unrideable sections. I arrived at feed station 4, to be told that I had missed the cutoff by 5 minutes, and wasn't allowed to do the next single track section. The late start for a marathon (8.30 AM) meant pretty tight cutoff times, if people were to get out before darkness. This meant I needed to take a detour to the last feed station, which meant I took a road instead of the horror section of single track between feed stations 4 and 5, which we rode 2 weeks earlier. Just as I was departing feed station 4 I met up with Michael Pickavance, and we rode together for the next few km.

After the 5th feed zone, at about the 90km mark, we hit the three sisters: little sister, ugly sister, and fat sister. All hard work after 90km and 2500m of climbing. I'm sure these sections are rideable, but I failed. Weirdly, on the last big technical climb, I was overtaken by Tanya Wiggins. Same thing happened in the Otway Odyssey, Tanya overtook me on the Sledgehammer!. (The last steep climb - ed.)

In summary, the downhills were amazing (and slow) - either really rough 4WD tracks or single tracks with lots pointed directly downhill. The brakes had a huge workout. I'm surprised there weren't many major crashes. Even with 1 detour, we still did 97km and 2850m of climbing!!

Only a few minutes after I crossed the line, Matt Turner crossed the line, which wasn't bad, considering he didn't get detoured. Excellent effort. Nick rolled in as well as Micheal Veal. So pretty soon we had a bit of a Ballarat mob.

At the presentations, Craig Peacock was quoted as saying, "This event was as tough as the hardest stage in the Trans Alp" (dreaded European MTB stage race - ed.) That's tough.

I was pretty stuffed at the end, so happy I missed the last bit of single track. No major mechanicals, bike or body, so I was very happy. The cramps I experienced at the Otway Odyssey didn't return.

Peter "Engine" Walker writes:

I'm glad I picked the 33km event - that's about all I was capable of! It was a well organised event, but it could have done with a beer tent at the end. I had to make do with wine. Oh well ...

Well attended, great to see so many Ballarat riders there. Well done to everyone.

Michael Veal writes:

Spoke (Michael's mate visiting from WA - not to be confused with BSCC's Antanas "Spoka" - ed.) drove to Avoca. Sunday morning, main street chockers with Subaru's and bike porn, including a hardtail with Dugast MTB tubulars. Long line at the public toilets. Thankfully waited, as the toilet truck had a flat and therefore no toilets at the start! Beautiful morning, stunning weather, forecast top 26C. Uber-prepared, hydrated, spares, parcours on the top tube. Said hello to a lot of mates.

Spoke was called up to start with the elites. I stood with Warren.

We're off. Long, steady road climb, 9km, 500m. Tortoise passed many hares. 1:30.

A bit undulating for 10 km to the first stop. Grab 8 gels and ride on. Mixed descent. Field very spread out.

Short single track section. Enjoyable. Back to the bottom, 6 km of flat roads. Was unable to hold the wheels of passing roadies. Must be the hairy legs?

Climb up to winery, where all of family waiting. 38km. Stop for twenty minutes to chat with kids, wife, Elenor (wife of Mick's mate Al Miller), and eat muffins. l was apparently 10 minutes ahead of Al. 2 km 20% walk-up, back into the Pyrenees. Another 5 km road climb. 5 km road gravel descent, and then some pleasant 4WD and singletrack. Another gravel climb to feed station. No gels left, no electrolyte drink left. Apparently I am about 200th. Luckily my pockets still have plenty of gels.

Turn onto the promised 18 km of single track. Initially very fun, but after only about 1km, turns to *#!! (edited to be suitable for a family publication - ed.). Steep soft down, walk up, repeat x 100. No fun, no speed, no joy.

Cramps begin.

120m vertical walk up, fumble down 250m vertical, walk up to feed station. Severe cramps, cannot even ride the flat segments.. 22km to go.

Cramps abate.

Another 200m vertical walk up: crappy, soft ,loose, near-vertical alleged single track. Much swearing.

Last feed station. Eternally cheery volunteers. Last of the big climbs finished. Can ride bike. 12 km to go.

500m vertical descent. Not one meter of single-track. Rocky, loose, steep, with waterbars. Overtook maybe 6 people. 5 km to go, flat, and to finish, 3 km of twisty single track. Manage to grunt only. Finish race: 8:05.

Drive home.

#	Riders	Sponsor
1	Reese Gillett and Angus Riddoch	Pack and Send
2	Jarron Gardiner and Evan Hull	Ballarat Bicycle Centre
3	Damien Keirl and Harry Crothers-Bade	Sovereign Hill
4	Doug Garley and James Crafter	Hillman Cycles
5	Sam Witmitz and Thomas Hamilton	Holden HCC
6	Scott Townsend and Ash Braszell	Blue
7	Chris Jehu and Joel Macallister	Navajo Everything Cycles
8	Ciaran Conaughton and Josh Vicino	Ballarat Sebastopol CC
9	Xavier Gstrein and Matthew Gstrein	WHK Day Neilson