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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.

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

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: 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

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

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.

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