A gutsy move with about 4km to go paid dividends for Shannon Gration in today's Chris Cashin Memorial Handicap. Following some advice from club great Jay Bourke, Gration broke away on his own and managed to solo to the finish line in a strong display. Other riders from Grations group combined well to make up 2nd, 3rd & 4th places with Pete Canny riding strongest from the 4th scratch group finishing 5th. It was great to see Chloe McIntosh come over the line in 6th place after riding strongly all day. It was a long day for the scratch and 2nd scratch groups who didn't even sight the leading bunch all race.
​Thank you to Shane Butler for sponsoring the race, Stu Brien and Finn Business Sales for sponsoring the autumn series, our dragon boat marshals who swept corners and ensured rider safety, Sam Smith for chief marshalling and Matt Freeman and Tim Canny for setting up.
​The VRS Fred Icke is one of the clubs biggest fundraisers for the year and it takes place next Saturday. Entries close at midnight on Sunday night. Click here to enter: https://entryboss.cc/races/499 If you are not racing but you are free to help corner marshal or drive a lead car for either the AM or PM shift please contact us on [email protected]  
Results:
1. Shannon Gration
2. Tavis Baker
​3. Shane Hayes
4. John Maguire
5. Pete Canny
​6. Chloe McIntosh
​FT. Tim Canny 1:59:14

Stu Brien continued his strong form by winning the Brookman Handicap on Saturday. Well done to all of the riders that battled it out on the challenging Snake Valley course. Thank you to Jason Birch and Daniel Braunsteins for setting up, Sam Smith for chief marshalling and Brett Martin from Martin Concept Designs.
​The Finn Business Sales Autumn Calendar continues next week with another tri-series team race at Meredith at 10am. More details to follow this week.
Results:
1. Stu Brien (middle)
2. Jason Birch (2nd scratch)
3. Dave Hearn (2nd limit)
4. Tavis Baker (middle)
5. Bob Braszell (middle)
6. Shane Nankervis (scratch)
FT: Shane Nankervis

Our very own Daniel Bucknall has had the ride of his life today by winning the 107th edition of the prestigious Melbourne to Ballarat. It was a great day out for BSCC with Nick White continuing his great form by getting the fastest time in what was a pretty tough day on a challenging course. Other notable results were Nick Locandro in 14th place, Jamie Foulkes in 18th and Mick Pierce finishing 20th. Congratulations to all of our riders that competed today, you all did the club proud.
​Thank you to Dan Cronin for giving up his time to drive the lead car and then providing much needed fuel afterwards, thank you to the Dragon Boat marshals for assisting on the corners and thank you to everyone who came out to support the race and the riders.
Here are the final results: ​http://liveresults.vic.cycling.org.au/2017/MelbourneBallarat/results.html

Club young gun Nick White was a deserving winner of today's John Collier Memorial Handicap. The race took place in almost ideal conditions with only a light breeze and mild temperatures with a new start/finish in Blampied. These conditions favoured the front markers but it was the scratch group that relished in the sun and worked well as a team to gain ground on competitors ahead. A special mention though, must go to the second scratch group that played a big part in maintaining a solid speed for the second half of the race. One by one, the bunches were swallowed up by growing peloton led by a fit and flying Nick White. With the majority of the field together with 15kms to go it became a tactical battle with a few unsuccessful attacks until the last climb. All of a sudden the peloton was strung out and splitting in pieces with only a couple of km's to the line. A chasing bunch reconnected with the leaders and the last few hundred meters saw riders looking at each to see who would make the first move. In the end, Nick White showed that he is almost in a class of his own taking the victory and fastest time just ahead of Jeremy McInnes in a well-deserved second place. Dan Braunsteins just edged out Tim Canny for 3rd and Andrew Sullivan and Tony Mirabella rounded out the top six.
On behalf of the club and the Collier family, thank you to Dan Cronin and the Western Hotel for their generous support of the race, Mick Pierce and the Lake Health Group for sponsoring the Summer series, Sovereign Park Motor Inn for the lead car each week, Swiss Mountain Hotel, our Dragon Boat marshals, chief marshal Sam Smith and the Nortons for the photography (Facebook).
​We hope to see many club members next week taking on the Melbourne to Ballarat or their supporting our riders. It will be an exciting finish in Buninyong.
Results:
​1st & Fastest Time - Nick White
​2nd - Jeremy McInnes
​3rd - Daniel Braunsteins
4th - Tim Canny
5th - Andrew Sullivan
6th - Tony Mirabella
​Lake Health Group Aggregate - Click here

Windy is an understatement when describing the conditions for today's 3rd round of the Lake Health Group Summer Series. The 69km Swiss Mountain Handicap, sponsored by Shaw's Cycling Centre, took place in tough, blustery conditions on a circuit that allows no passengers. With smaller time gaps than last week, the scratch bunch were favoured to win however, the limit bunch was full of quality riders so if they were to ride smoothly together there was a chance they could stay away.
​In the end though, the challenging course coupled with the horrendous wind took it's toll on the front markers and soon enough the 5 in scratch swept through the field collecting some helpful comrades along the way. The majority of the field was together with 5kms to go as riders looked at each other to see who would be game enough to attack and break things a part in the cross head wind to the line. Most efforts were to no avail until reining Club Champion Liam White dashed for the line about 300 meters out. Dan Braunsteins and Jez McInnes had a good fight for 2nd place and Tim Canny, Sam Smith and Kieran Paton rolled in for 4th, 5th & 6th respectively.
A huge thank you to our wonderful marshals that had their work cut out with literally tonnes of gravel on some of the corners to sweep away. Not one rider came down which is truly remarkable. Thank you to the Swiss Mountain pub for opening up early for us and providing us with much-needed fuel after the race. Thanks again to Sam Smith for chief marshalling for us and thank you to Kieran Paton and Shane Nankervis for setting the course up.
Results:
1st & Fastest Time - Liam White
2nd - Dan Braunsteins
3rd - Jeremy McInnes
4th - Tim Canny
5th - Sam Smith
6th - Kieran Paton
First Female - Erin Kineally
​Click here for the Lake Health Group Aggregate

Firstly, thanks Pete Canny for designing a cracker of a course, particularly for a handicap. And what a difficult one it was to handicap. Thank you to the Chinese Dragon Boat marshals who did a sensational job directing riders, sweeping corners and ensuring our safety.
​As 33 riders meandered around the Learmonth Yacht Club (Eureka Veterans CC clubhouse) this morning it was hard to see which bunch would produce the winner. With small time gaps, there was every chance that everything could come together towards the end. However, if a bunch could work well together and ride a good tempo in the challenging wind they would have a good chance of taking the glory. The 3rd scratch bunch of Mirabella, Birch, Lee, Humphrey, Locandro, Hayes and Bucknall did exactly that. So much so that scratch and 2nd scratch barely saw any of them until after the finish line. The top 6 placings were riders from 3 different bunches which made for exciting spectating.
​It was a fantastic race, on a fantastic course in good conditions for racing. Well done to everyone and thank you to our sponsors that help make it happen. Today's race sponsor was Ballarat Grammar School as part of the Lake Health Group summer road racing series with Sovereign Park Motor Inn sponsoring the lead car each week. See you next week at the Swiss Mountain Pub for another handicap this time sponsored by Shaws Cycling Centre.
Results:
1st - Daniel Bucknall
2nd - Tony Mirabella
3rd - Pat Cashin
4th - Dean Wells
5th - Jason Birch
6th - Peter Kiel
​Fastest Time - Tim Canny
​Click here for the Lake Health Group Aggregate

Well done to everyone who competed today in tough conditions around the Mollongghip loop for the 4th race of the Shady Acres Spring Road Series sponsored by Shaws Cycling Centre. Although the weather was pretty bad at times it was great to see so many committed riders battling it out right until the end. Thank you to Shane Nankervis and Lindsay Burgoyne for setting up, Sam Smith and our Dragon Boat crew for marshalling, Sovereign Park for supplying the lead car and Europa Café and The Western Hotel for supplying prize vouchers which will be awarded next Saturday.
Results:
​1st place and fastest time - Nick White (8 aggregate points)
​2nd place - Dan Braunsteins (6 pts)
3rd place - Liam White (5 pts)
4th place - Will Geor (4 pts)
​5th place - Shane Nankervis (3 pts)
​6th place - Dave Hearn (2 pts)

​Click here for aggregate

And lets not forget the great people and businesses that make today happen. Shady Acres Caravan Park are our safety tail car sponsors for the entire spring series and contribute to our fantastic marshals who today had to do a lot of sweeping to make the course safe. Thank you to You Little Beauty who kindly sponsored todays chief marshal. Please see their website if you or someone you know deserves some pampering, http://youlittlebeauty.net/
​Thank you to Sovereign Park Motor Inn for supplying the lead car each week and to Europa Café for the prize vouchers. Thank you to Tony Mirabella & Paul Pickersgill for setting the course, Sam Palanca for organising the marshals and doing a great job with the handicapping, Sam Smith for chief marshalling and Monica Canny for assisting.
​With another new course on the agenda, all 36 riders were unsure how the race was going to pan out. One thing we all knew is that handicap races can be pretty tough and today was going to be no exception. The course had a bit of everything, some fast descents and some challenging grinding climbs. The scratch bunch was able to close the gap on second, third & forth scratch during the five laps. Meanwhile, the fifth scratch bunch had swallowed up all the riders in front of them and was riding well as a unit to stay away from the large group of chasers. This was until the final 50 meters when everyone's legs were shot, the bunches came together. However, Dave Hearn timed his sprint to perfection to hold off fast finishing scratch riders Jay Bourke and Kieran Paton ahead of Pete Canny who got the surprise of his life when he thought he had second place sewn up. Jeremy Vanderklift rode well for 5th place.
Results:
​1. Dave Hearn (8 Aggregate Points)
2. Jay Bourke (6 Points)
3. Kieran Paton (5 Points)
4. Pete Canny (4 Points)
5. Jeremy Vanderklift (3 Points)
​6. TBC - Can someone please claim (2 Points)
​All other riders (1 Point)
The spring series aggregate will be calculated and sent out soon.

The Tri-Series shield is back in our hands after another awesome team performance by BSCC today in Beeac. The final round saw BSCC take first place in all 4 senior grades and first in the junior handicap race to comfortably win the series.

In A Grade the race was set up for the sprinters and BSCC's Will Key relished the opportunity the best to leave everyone in his wake. It was a different story in B Grade where Dayne Pearce broke away with close to 40kms to go whilst his BSCC teammates rode smart to ensure he stayed away for a solo victory. In C Grade there were a few attacks during the race which took some time to close down eventually leading to a bunch sprint where BSCC's Pete Canny led out teammate Dean Griffin for the win. The D Grade race saw a total domination from BSCC. James Knipe, Jeremy Humber and Mark O'Callaghan controlled things at the front of the race before finishing 1, 2 and 3.

Congratulations to everyone who took part in the series. The team-based racing has been a lot of fun and it proved that our club has got great depth throughout all grades. It's certainly an exciting time to be a BSCC member!

Here is a link to The Courier newspaper article: http://www.thecourier.com.au/story/4021859/ballarat-claims-cycling-shield/

Round 3 Results
Junior Handicap
1st - Iesha Humber

A Grade
1st - Will Key
3rd - Tim Canny

B Grade
1st - Dayne Pearce
3rd - Craig Lee

C Grade
1st - Dean Griffin

D Grade
1st - James Knipe
2nd - Jeremy Humber
3rd - Mark O'Callaghan

Final Tri-Series Results
Ballarat/Sebas CC - 377 points
Geelong CC - 176 points
Colac CC - 95 points