MMBCC News - Mon 24 Mar - It's all about teamwork

Victorian Down Hill Series - Round 6, Mansfield

By Dave Empey

Thank you everyone for your efforts this weekend.

Mel, great job organising our volunteers. All your efforts made for a great event.

I have to give Matty and Zac a big shout out for building a cracker track.

Adam Baker thank you for your efforts assisting everyone.

So thank everyone who helped and sorry I haven’t named everyone individually.

Here are some notable MMBCC results from VDHS round 6 in Mansfield…

U15 Men
Keegan Carman, 14th.

U19 Men
Spencer Carman, 19th.

Elite Women
Bella Green, 2nd.

Elite Men
Matt Empey, 2nd. (3rd overall in the whole series)

March 18 Teams Race

By Damian Grundy

So this is it… the last Dirt Crits 2024/2025 XC race report!

As the handicapper I came armed with a list of Dirt Crit Rider’s previous race speeds.

I had decided on a Team’s Race format with teams of 3 riders, 1 rider to complete 4 laps, 1 rider to complete 3 laps and 1 rider to complete 2 laps, then add their individual times to see which team had the fastest combined time.

It was a good turn out with 18 riders including three first-timers Scarlett D’Arcy, Emma D’Arcy (armed with an E-Bike), and Sienna Vivash.

The Teams lined up as follows:

Team 1: Beauty and the Beasts: Damian Grundy, 4 laps; Steve Curnow, 3 laps; Scarlett D’Arcy, 2 laps.

Team 2: Two Colts & A Filly: Ben Ross, 4 laps; Dan Hall, 3 laps; Sienna Vivash, 2 laps.

Team 3: Dirt Diggers: Ant Bateup, 4 laps; Luke Vivash, 3 laps; Willem Morphett, 2 laps.

Team 4: Not Too Cool 4 This: Archie Smith, 4 laps, Nicole Hoebergen, 3 laps, Micah Chadd, 2 laps.

Team 5: Wishing they had 3 motors: Tim Ross, 4 laps (corrected); Emma D’Arcy, 3 laps, Cooper Hoebergen, 2 laps.

Team 6: We Should have Stayed in Bed: David Bock, 3 laps; Cody Stephens, 3 laps; Blake Riley, 2 laps.

And so the starter said GO and it was down to racing. A mad dash at the start with Tim Ross furiously trying to hold off Ben Ross at the front… really Tim?! Lol! I keep saying that that ship has well and truly sailed. It didn’t take long for young Ben to assert his familial superiority and take the lead. Ben was definitely on a flyer. He then cut four fast laps and finished the night as fastest on course. Questions were being asked as to the performance of a recently crowned National Champion. Fact is he was beaten fair and square, a credit to Ben.

Here are the results for individual and team times. Despite the announced podium on the night a review of the time calculations has found a couple of small errors.

Fastest team on the night was in fact Team 4: Not Too Cool For This: Archie Smith, Nicole Hoebergen and Micah Chadd with a combined time of 84 min and 6 seconds,

Second was Team 3: Dirt Diggers; Ant Bateup, Luke Vivash and Willem Morphett at 84 min and 34 seconds

Third was Team 1: Beauty and the Beasts: Damian Grundy, Steve Curnow and Scarlett D’Arcy.

Thanks Adam Baker for handling timing, and thanks everyone for your attendance. See you all at the presentation night.

Racing respite in the rain

By David Jagger

Thursday rolled around again, and most riders were preparing themselves for yet another hot and dry race. To their delight the sky was grey and the road wet from a few afternoon showers. The slight splash of water coming off the road was a rare delight for the riders after of months of hot Thursday evenings.

David Jagger was the first to head out on the Whitfield Road with a couple of minutes head start on Dave Bock who was obvious in his rain jacket. Bill Bainger who has ridden extensively but has only raced a few times, teamed up with Tim Hall.

Craig Wilson has been training hard preparing for a riding trip to Italy but was disadvantaged as his teammate left their riding gear at home. The force of Darren Bakker, Simon Hall, Steve Duke and Mick Pearce were always going to be a chance to take the prize for the night as they had a good handicap over the scratch group of Andy Garrett, Bruce Halket and Dave Moore.

The turn around at Sawpit Gully Road still saw David Jagger in the lead but with Tim and Bill gaining fast. Utilising the fast run back into town, Andy, Bruce and Dave gradually caught Bocky and Craig before the Barwite Road but the pace was proving a bit tough for Dave and he was dropped from the group.

On the edge of town, a large group formed and were desperately sprinting to catch the leading three riders who had kept a persistently good speed since they came together at Long Lane. Rounding the corner into Mt Battery Road together it was a battle to see who had the legs to sprint up the hill to the Showgrounds.

A large crowd of supporters had gathered and were excited to watch a sprint finish.

Tim Hall took the win ahead of David Jagger and Bill Bainger. Bruce Halket led the main peloton up the hill to snatch fourth from Darren Bakker and Andy Garrett.

All competitors enjoyed the change in weather and had an enjoyable race. Thanks to everyone who helped to make the race possible.

Here are the results and many thanks to Tony Copland and Alex Green for their images.

Next week is the final race of the Summer Series, two and a half laps around the Merinda Way Loop.

MMBCC News - Sun 16 Mar - Grundy Gold!

MTB Nationals at Mt Buller

A quick word from Damian…

I would like to thank and congratulate everyone in the club.

The support and encouragement are so important. The racing, road and mountain bike, are fundamental to all of our performances.

I love the weekly racing. I would not have the competitive chance that I did if it wasn't for being pushed by everyone at our races.

And the weekend training rides have to be mentioned. Just fantastic.

Thanks everyone involved.

Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club has every reason to be so proud

RESULTS SUMMARY

Downhill

Masters 3: Shannon R, 3rd

Elite Women: Bella G, 9th.

Elite Men: Matt E, 25th; Zac E, 44th

U19 Men: Spencer C, 45th

U17 Men: Jacob T, 37th; Ewan R, 52nd

U15 Men: Keegan C, 28th; Mannix P, 31st; Blake R, 32nd

U13 Men: Cooper H, 5th

XCO

Masters 7: Damian G, 1st and NATIONAL CHAMPION, Bruce H, 4th

U23 Women: Ruby D, 2nd

U15 Men: Ben R, 12th

XCC

U23 Women: Ruby D, 2nd

U15 Men: Ben R, 12th

XCR

Junior Relay: ‘North East Fliers’ including Ben R and Ruby R, 5th

Ant by a bee’s

By Dave Empey

It was a hot and steamy night on Tuesday 11 March but luckily there was only ‘some’ uphill in the downhill track. A new track was devised to inflict maximum pain and suffering and some really go-fast sections.

It was Ant Bateup who prevailed but only just. He and Archie Smith having equal combined times; however, it was Ant who had the fastest lap time of the night pipping Archie by two seconds. Archie must be commended because he had two identical lap times.

Rounding out the top five were Luke Vivash, Ben Ross and Tom Logan-Williams. These three were all close together but still 30 seconds behind the dynamic duo of Bateup and Smith.

Cam Dobson’s recent good form eluded him as he became geographically embarrassed on his first lap which put him a long way off the pace. however, he did have a nice ride through the mountain bike park.

Stu Clark also had one of those nights with a flat on the ride up and being MIA on the second lap. It might have been a guy that looked like Stu but I’m not sure. He was eventually sighted at the finish line.

Here are the results.

As I write this on Tuesday night after the race, good luck to all the club members that will be racing national champs this weekend at Mt Buller.

A special ‘sucks to be you’ moment goes to Ryder Chadd. Unfortunately for Ryder he had a ‘hugey’ on the pump track at Buller last weekend and took a big hit so wasn’t able to race this weekend. This is a shame because he has been riding exceptionally well lately with several excellent results. Heal up Ryder, there are many more nationals to come for you!

Volunteers needed

We’re still looking for volunteers for next weekend’s downhill race.

After all this rain, it won’t be nearly so dusty.

Please contact Mel Green if you can spare a few hours.

The fight for second

By Dale Walton

So it was to be a two hour drive for the four of us from Eastern Cycling Club to race this weekend with Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club (MMBCC). We generally race criterium and graded scratch races with the odd yearly handicap thrown in, so we were all suitably apprehensive about the handicapping that each of us would receive given the hilly terrain, particularly at the start of the race.

The general intel from our good friends and MMBCC members Steve Duke and Craig Oliver would be “They`re shorter handicaps up here, so expect them to be full gas from the start`.

“Oh great!” we thought.

We headed out for a reccy of the course before meeting the friendly and welcoming Marshals & Commissaires and receive the pre-race brief.

I was in the second Scratch group (13:30) and thankfully the local riders were accommodating in ensuring none of us were immediately thrown out the back. They appeared content in working together as a group which was refreshing as Melbourne handicaps can be frantic and can end before they begin.

Up and over the second rise we were still together and were catching individual riders as other groups were splintering. The momentum was short lived as a red flag was raised at the first turnaround point but was a welcome chance to rest and recover before getting back into formation and pushing on.

On the left turn into Barwite Road, the group raised the intensity with the tailwind. I was starting to feel it so decided to sit in for a period as the local riders appeared quite strong and willing to rotate amongst themselves. Dave Moore asked me if I was cooked and I replied `a bit average` and looked to buy myself a bit of time before rejoining the rotations after the Barwite turnaround point.

By then we’d both picked up and dropped a number of riders from other groups.

Thankfully the push into the headwind was not as hard as expected but the group appeared to be losing its formation so in my mind, the threat of being caught by Scratch was ever increasing. We hit the main road and was full gas towards the final left turn and the finish straight.

On approach, the speed increased and the jostling for position started when one of the other groups passed us on the left and unexpectedly turned right towards the township! Luckily one of the regular riders correctly took the group into the finishing straight and we lined up in anticipation of the sprint.

Preferring a hill sprint and being told the local riders wouldn’t go early, I figured having a tail wind combined with the element of an early surprise, I`d launch into the sprint early in the hope I could hold it.

Half way up I could feel someone on my wheel and then slowly got passed by (I think) Ant Bateup. It became a one-on-one race of attrition as both of us were starting to fade. Not exactly knowing what position we were sprinting for, I put in a second effort just to try to get to the line in second position overall. (Because by the time we’d gotten to the line, Craig Wilson had already taken the win, warmed down and finished his first beer!)

I really don’t know how we held off Scratch, so credit to all the guys in the 13:30 group in taking it to the line together.

Thanks to all the Marshals and Commissaires for running a safe and enjoyable race, and making us feel more than welcome to join in. We`ll certainly be back to race again with MMBCC as we all thoroughly enjoyed the racing and the social side at the Mansfield Hotel afterwards.

Here are the results and Tony’s pics.

A special thanks also to Karyn & Richard Evans at Burnt Creek Cottages for their accommodation & hospitality.

Alpine Cycling Club Junior MTB series

By Caitlin Riley

Nine current and ex dirt critters  travelled from Mansfield to Mount Beauty on Saturday to compete in the second last round of the Alpine Cycling Club Junior MTB series. It was a gravity enduro round with the kids keen to test out their downhill skills.

It was best of two runs with under 9’s, u11, u13, u15 all taking on the same track with some fast times and all improving on their first runs.

U5 & U7’s were on a shorter course but still have to earn their turns with a decent climb up to the start.

The weather was warm and and a great turn out from the Mansfield crew with Sienna, Miles, Scout & Duke all making the podium. 

Well done to all, everyone put in a might effort!

RESULTS

U15 Boys: Duke H, 2nd

U13 Boys: Errol H, 12th

U11 Boys: Miles V, 2nd; Finley C, 7th; Barry H, 12th

U11 Girls: Sienna V, 1st

U9 Boys: Angus C, 9th

U9 Girls: Scout R, 1st

Well done all!

MTB Nationals Update

You may be aware that the Auscycling National MTB Championships are being held on Mt Buller this week/weekend. Lots of MMBCC members are racing. Here’s a list:

Downhill: Shannon R, Matt E, Zac E, Bella G, Ewan R, Jacob T, Spencer C, Mannix, Keegan C, Blake R, Cooper H.

Cross Country: Damian G, Bruce H, Ruby D, Tom L-W, Ben R, Ruby R.

(Special mention to Ryder, who was riding everything until he wasn’t.)

Not a bad effort for a small town club!.

For spectators, best times over the weekend are;

 Downhill: racing on Saturday from 1:30pm to 5pm, starting from Spurs.

Cross Country: Saturday 10am to 1pm (U13 and U15), Sunday 8am to 4:30pm (all the rest), racing centred on the Mt Buller Village.

Here’s a link to the detailed schedule.

Sunday Stop Press!

GREAT MMBCC RESULTS AT THE Australian MTB Interschools

By Serena Vivash

Sienna Vivash and Miles Vivash and Cooper Hoebergen travelled to Thredbo NSW earlier this week to compete in the Australian MTB Interschools competition and came home with great results against tough competition.

Sienna in Grade 5 was in Division 4 (grade 5/6), Miles in Grade 3 was in Division 5 (grade 3/4) and Cooper in Grade 6 was also in Division 4 - a huge field of over 100 competitors.

  • In the All Mountain Event Sienna placed 3rd, Miles 4th and Cooper 13th.

  • In the Flow Motion Cup Sienna placed 4th, Miles 6th and Cooper 15th.

  • In the Pump Track Sienna placed 2nd, Miles 5th and Cooper 24th.

  • In the Cannonball Downhill event (not for the feint hearted!) Sienna placed 2nd, Miles 3rd and Cooper 12th.

  • Overall in the Australian Interschools Sienna placed 3rd, Miles 4th and Cooper 9th.

Scarlett D’Arcy also competed at Thredbo.

She’s in Year 7 and competed in Division 3 (Year 7/8) and placed 8th in the Flow Motion and 9th in the All Mountain.

Well done all!

MMBCC News - Sat 8 Mar - Baz, Ben, Adam and Alex

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MMBCC VDHS round

The weekend of March 22-23 will see the club host a round of the Victorian Down Hill Series on South Blue Range.

We’re still looking for a few volunteers to fill some spots. If you can help out, please contact Melanie Green with your availability. This is the club’s only big event this year, with the Mansfield Tour not going ahead. So please help out if you can…

Dirt Critters Update

By Tim Ross

The Dirt Critters crew braved the hot weather this week with some timed XC laps, riding against their own times recorded six months earlier; the biggest improvement wins.

The younger group raced around ‘Bogans’ with honours going to Dayna (a massive 35 seconds faster than last time) then Angus C.

The older group firstly raced around ‘Critters’ with Micah doing best (shaving 15 second off his previous time). 

They then took on the longer ‘Joyride’ circuit and this time it was Baz doing best (over a minute better) followed by Micah and Jarrah.  DNFs for the other three, who all inadvertently took a shortcut home!!

Next week Luke will be back to run some timed Enduro laps.

Howdy Howdy Howdy

By Damian Grundy

Thanks everyone for coming out for another fun night cruising around Rifle Butts Mountain Bike Park for an Irish Handicap on Tuesday 4 March.

Welcome to three first timers: Lachlan Steel, Ruby Rademaker and Ben Hoogesteger, we look forward to seeing them become regulars.

Whilst the race handicapping was once again an Irish Handicap, It had been decided by the brains-trust that we would have a mass start race and apply time corrections to finish times.

I do enjoy a proper shoulder-to-shoulder race start, fun fun fun!😊

So the starter (thanks Adam) said go and off we all rushed to complete our allotted number of laps as quickly as possible.

At the end it was young Ben Ross coming out on top with a corrected time of 38min flat, Archie Smith 2nd 38:06, Willem Morphett 3rd, Ruby Rademaker 4th 3:27, and Damian (yours truly) Grundy 5th and also fastest on the night 39:06.

Here are the results.

Next week is a gravity night and then The Australian Mountain Bike National Championships at Mt Buller at the end of next week.

The long and the short of it

By Beau Geste

The short version.

They started first… they finished first. End of story!

The Longer version.

18 riders registered to race on the 6th of March, unfortunately Micala Jacobs was a late scratching due to Super Mum duties, we hope that Mica is feeling better soon.

Adam Baker, Wil Wilson and Ian Conrick were first to leave, they were followed by the pair of Steve Curnow and Janine Appleton (Last week’s winner), then came a strong group of Heath “the hammer” Hammond, Steve Duke, Adrian Dowd and Simon Mulvihill. Block was made up of evergreens Darren Bakker, Dev Moore and Simon Hall and an unusually large Scratch group comprising Ryder Chadd, Steve Brown, Damian Grundy, Bruce Halket and Andy Garrett were the last to leave.

Early tipping was in favour of the large Scratch group, where strong riders and stronger winds should have prevailed, however this was not to be.

Wilson, Conrick and Baker rode a beautiful team race.Conrick left the group early in affairs to provide a decoy for the big groups to chase. Whilst the strong and friendly southerly winds were mighty helpful pushing even bigger and older riders up “The Giant of South Barwite”, The Coombesberg, Baker waited for the larger and “older” Wilson to ascend the Coombesberg and they rode a strong leg on Barwite Road and into the now unfriendly southerly wind.

With several hundred metres to go and the climb to the showgrounds ahead, Baker was unleashed and crossed the finish line in a glorious first place. Wilson managed a creditable second, with Darren Bakker (aka Dario Baccarini) fresh from a non-cycling induced concussion protocol, winning the sprint for third. Steve Duke and Simon Hall rounded out the top five places.

This was truly a “Gingerbread man” race.

In some late news from last week’s race, the rarely achieved Bakker/Ross award was won by David Jagger who is now welcomed as a member of this esteemed club.

Thanks to the volunteers and officials without whom racing would not be possible.

Next week racing will be on the Long Lane Barwite Road Course, this being the third last race of the Summer series, results are crucial in the aggregate award.

Here are the results and thanks to Tony and Alex for the pics this week.

Last weekend to order club kit

The Ventou club kit portal will close after this weekend. Get your order in now or miss out for another year.

Here is the link to the Ventou MMBCC page. If you don’t already have the code you need to get access, email Bruce for the code.

Keep up to date with MMBCC WhatsApp

It’s the best way to keep up-to-date on any last minute changes to planned rides and races plus to find out the latest gossip.

For instance, did you hear the latest about VDHS organiser and Road Sub-Committee Chair Alex Green?

Many of you will know he used to be the CEO of Mansfield Shire Council.

He’s now in management at the Department of Transport.

And no doubt you heard about the recent road closures of the Melba Highway near the Kinglake turnoff.

Get your tinfoil hat ready because those three things are all connected!

Rumours have it that Alex is part of a secret cabal of Liberal Party and Mt Buller luminaries who plan to build a new underground motorway to allow Toorak residents much quicker access to the mountain.

The recent and upcoming roadworks on the Melba will be the tunnel entrance! And in a savage act of revenge, the Shire Offices will actually be the tunnel exit!

MMBCC News - Sun 2 Mar - Mt Stromlo, Mt Buller, Merinda Way and Rifle Butts

EXCITING Weekend results

Congratulations to all the following MMBCC members on some really impressive results over the weekend. Really exciting seeing such good results with the National Championships at Mt Buller in just a couple of weeks.

AusCycling MTB National Series - Stromlo, Canberra.

Friday, Round 5 - XCC (short track)

U15 Men:
Ben Ross - 8th

Elite Women:
Ruby Dobson - 4th

Saturday, Round 6 - XCO (Olympic distance)

U15 Men:
Ben Ross - 10th

U23 Women:
Ruby Dobson - 4th

Sunday, Round 7 - XCO

U15 Men:
Ben Ross - 11th

Masters 7:
Damian Grundy - 2nd (New bike made all the difference!)

U23 Women:
Ruby Dobson - 4th

Vic Enduro State Champs - Mt Buller.

U21 Men:
Ryder Chadd - 7th
Archie Smith - 12th
Finn Baker - 21st

U21 Women:
Selina Green - 2nd

Elite Women:
Bella Green - 3rd

Veteran Men:
Shannon Rademaker - 2nd
Stuart Clark - 8th

Masters Men:
Adam Baker - 12th

RC wins GE @ RB

By Kate Stonnill

A big thanks to Adam Baker for setting the gravity course in David's absence. From the feedback it was a good course for all and quite challenging in the top rocks for some. Thankfully all made it down in one piece.

Stuart Clark and Bruce Halket hit the dirt in the first run, explaining the blowout in their times, but redeemed themselves on the second run.

Mechanical issues saw Duke, Keegan, Trent and Colton retiring after the first run down.

The course proved pedally for all, favouring those who like riding uphills.

In the end the fastest run went to Ryder Chadd with a time of 2:42 min, Ryder also took out the overall win with a combined time of 5:28 min. Then there was quite a gap before Archie Smith came through with a time of 5:45min. In third place was a very jubilant double fist pump Cam Dobson just ahead of Spencer Carmen in 4th and Stu Clarke in 5th, which is impressive given he came off in the first run.

Special mention to Miles Vivash for his "steezy scrub over the last jump" - clearly a quote from Elise.

A highlight of the night was the crowd of riders gathered around Elise Empey's new gearbox bike, which she brought along for "show & tell" even letting some ride the prototype... much to her mother’s concern.

The club wishes Elise a speedy recovery for her upcoming World Cup series. 

Here are the detailed results and many thanks to Tim Ross for the action shots.

Janine goes on her Merinda Way

By Steve Curnow

We had 20 contenders for the ride that took in Stoneleigh Road, Merinda Way and Monkey Gully Road. It was quite a gruelling circuit, especially with a head wind start. There was plenty of water being poured over heads and bodies just prior to the start in an effort to ward off the heat of the day.

First off was Micala Jacobs followed by the two Daves, Bock and Jagger at five minutes. Craig Wilson was next with Tim Hall at 7 minutes. Then at 8 minutes came Janine Appleton with Steve Curnow and the new kid on the block, Bill Bainger. Bill had a mechanical so was unable to take a turn after three changes but did a good job keeping up for half the race.

Jarrod Appleton and Adrian Dowd were let out next at 10 minutes.

Jarrod and Micala did not finish the race for reasons not known to the writer.

Steve Duke, Jason Parker, Heath Hammond and Mick Pearce started at 14.30 followed by Simon Hall and Dave Moore at 15.15. Starting last were Andy Garrett, Bruce Halket, Ryder Chadd and Steve Brown.

The Janine team got off to a strong start rounding up Craig and Tim not far after the turn into Monkey Gully Road, Tim got on and did a great job until he dropped off at the same spot on the next time around.

Dave Jagger was next on the ‘to do’ list and Bill succumbed to a dropped chain.

So to the finish… Janine getting her second wind and doing a lot of work to get Curnow over the line for second place 10 seconds behind her. David Bock surprised himself coming a well-earned third place. David Moore had a good ride at fourth place. Next was Ryder Chad at fifth, also the quickest time on the night.

Thanks once again to the marshals and commissaires for looking after us all on the night. Here are the results and thanks to Alex Green for the pics.

Next week it’s another loop, Barwite this time.

MMBCC News - Sun 23 Feb - A mad dash and the luck of the Irish

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Mansfield Mad Dash Ends in Twilight Drama

By MC Spandex

The Mansfield Mad Dash delivered yet another thrilling sunset showdown last Thursday, as riders battled crosswinds, questionable tactics and a disastrous gravel detour in this week’s handicap race.

And a big welcome to Bill Bainger (visiting from SA for a few months) for his first outing with the MMBCC.

Micala Jacobs set off first, riding a smooth, metronomic pace, while the faster riders behind worked in groups, chasing hard. Simon Mulvihill, Heath Hammond and Mick Pearce executed a perfect echelon, slicing through the field like a well-oiled machine.

Further back, an unnamed rider made a bold but disastrous move, veering onto a gravel in the hopes a detour may alleviate the pain in the legs. His bike wobbled violently as he fought to keep momentum, watching helplessly as the race disappeared ahead.

Meanwhile, Andy Garrett, the final rider to start, was unleashed like a sunset Terminator. Devouring the field at an alarming rate, he blew past struggling competitors, his aero silhouette cutting through the golden light like a hunting falcon.

But Andy had left his charge too late. Mick Pearce’s echelon group, working like a machine, held him off to take the win just as the last light of the sun faded.

At the finish line, exhausted riders swapped stories of crosswinds, magpie attacks and gravel-fueleld regret with Mick Pearce 1st, Simon Mulvihill 2nd and Heath Hammond 3rd.

The Mansfield Mad Dash had once again lived up to its name - a race full of thrills, spills, and lessons in why you should never trust a gravel shortcut. The best part being riders get to take it on again next Thursday night - two and a half laps around the Merinda Way Loop.

Many thanks to all our dedicated volunteers and officials and to Tony for his photos. Here are the results, including the updated, revised version.

Dirt Crits Irish Handicap - Tue 18 Feb

By Damian Grundy

It was a pleasant evening, not baking hot. A small crew of committed mountain bikers lined up for another roll in the dice in the dust.

A relatively simple lap of approximately 2.9km had been set and as usual riders were competing together but based on ability and fitness their number of laps varied.

Shooting off first was Ant Bateup with 5 laps followed a minute and a half later by Ryder Chadd also on 5 laps. And so followed the rest at their allotted timed and with their individual numbers of laps.

Cody Stephens put in a blistering first lap and was looking good for a high placing.

The leading riders kept turning away and approaching the finish it was Tom Logan-Williams with a ever decreasing lead over the hard charging young fella Ben Ross.

Tom had just enough juice in the tank to resist young Ben’s charge and he crossed the line first to win the night. Ben Ross finished barely a bike’s length back in 2nd. David Bock was third and Tim Ross fourth with Cody Stephens holding on for fifth Less than a minute separated the top five! Well done to Ben Ross who had the fastest lap times for the evening.

Here are the results. Next week it’s Gravity Enduro time again.

All aboard!

This is your last chance to order club kit from the Ventou MMBCC Portal. Especially if you want a nice, warm jacket for the upcoming cooler months. Email Bruce for the code.

MMBCC News - Sun 16 Feb - Ryder the rider

Vic Champ Series - Bendigo

Some great results from members who travelled to Bendigo for the final two rounds of the Vic Champ MTB Series.

SATURDAY - RD 7 (and AusCycling Vic State Championships)

  • Alistair Ross: 2nd, U13 Men.

  • Ben Ross: 7th, U15 Men.

  • Ryder Chadd: 3rd, U19 Men.

  • Ruby Dobson: 2nd, Elite Women.

  • Bruce Halket: 4th, Masters 7/8.

  • Damian Grundy: 5th, Masters 7/8.

SUNDAY - RD 8

  • Alistair Ross: 2nd, U13 Men.

  • Ben Ross: 6th, U15 Men.

  • Ryder Chadd: 3rd, U19 Men.

  • Ruby Dobson: 2nd, Elite Women.

  • Bruce Halket: 2nd, Masters 7/8.

FINAL SERIES PODIUM WINNERS

  • Alistair Ross: 3rd, U13 Men.

  • Ruby Dobson: 2nd, Elite Women

First gravity enduro for 2025.

By Dave Empey

It was like the start of 2025; hot and unpredictable!

It was a very dry race on Tuesday 11 February but the tracks seem to be holding up after the early season maintenance.

The surface was a mixture of rock, loose rock, hard pack, loose hardpack (sand) and marbles. So traction was key.

There was a close tussle for positions 1 and 2 with Ryder taking the win by 1 second over Archie on his new bike. (Ryder also on a new bike but it was an XC bike, so it doesn’t really count)

Cam Dodson took 3rd with Stu Clark coming 2 sec behind Cam in 4th. Maybe Stu should try and keep his wheels on the ground as the unauthorised landing in soft sand may have cost him a position.

Rounding out the top 5 was Spencer Carmen.

In the family battles Ben Ross prevailed over Tim, again!

Nicole Hoebergen just pipped Cooper by 1 second.

Here are the results. Next week it’s back to the cross country pain cave.

The 2025 Bakker Plumbing Handicap

By Ryder Chadd

The Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club was out in Jamieson this week racing along the Woods Point Road for the Bakker Plumbing Handicap, with a total of 19 riders.

Craig Wilson set off on his own in the Limit group, followed by Adrian Dowd, Oliver Hall, Janine Appleton and Steve Curnow.

The next group in line consisted of Steve Duke, Simon Hall, Jason Parker, Mick Pearce and Heath Hammond. Darren Bakker, Ant Bateup and Dave Moore were the next group.

Steve Brown, Damian Grundy and Ryder Chadd rode in the ‘Block group and Andy Garret and Carl Simmons were up the back off Scratch.

Woods Point Road, being a twistier road with little hills, makes seeing the groups ahead quite tricky. The six groups only really get a gauge on where everyone was at the turn around point, roughly 15km out, at Sailor Bill’s Creek. By that point the second, third and fourth groups had almost merged together, making the push for the Block and Scratch groups just that little bit harder.

Steve, Damian and Ryder managed to pull back the big group in the lead with less than 5km to go. And this is where the racing got exiting!

With less the 500m to go, Dave Moore set off the first attack. Damian, Steve and Ryder followed over the final rise. Steve and Ryder push to the line, though Ryder not having enough gears, Steve couldn’t hang on slipping Ryder the win going for the fastest time of the night too.

Darren Bakker crossed the line in 3rd, with Simon Hall and Dave Moore rounding out the top five.

Adrian, Heath, Oliver, Damian, Janine, Jason and Ant closed out 6th to 12th (in that order) all being part of the finishing bunch.

Here are the results and many thanks again to Tony for his images.

Next week it’s the Whitfield Road to Long Lane, then clockwise around the Barwite Loop, finishing on Graves Road.

Upcoming Events

The Seymour Broadford Cycling Club winter race calendar for 2025 is now available to download here. They’re a great group of people to ride with and their races are really good fun. They’ve included four gravel races this winter too!

Sea Otter Australia Festival: 22-26 Oct, Bateman’s Bay, NSW.

Gravelista: 25 & 26 Oct, Seymour, Vic. Early Bird entries now open.

MMBCC News Sun 9 Feb - Ryder rides away!

No Dirt Crits this week due to the heat policy. So it’s straight into Thursday’s road race…

Ryder rides away!

By Ant Bateup

It was a challenging night for racing with hot temps, wind and a finish on the Coombesberg.

Dave Bock was the first of 18 riders to set off, followed by Dave MacDonald and Craig Wilson at 3’30. At 5’30 Steve Curnow was going solo until the 8’30 group of Adrian Dowd and Oliver Hall, the 9’30 of Steve Duke, Simon Hall, Simon Mulvihill and Mick Pearce, all merged to form a large group by the turn around.

The 11’30 group of Darren Bakker, Ryder Chadd and Ant Bateup were working well together to advance on the lead group and holding off the 12’45 group of Bruce Halket, Chris Miller and Damian Grundy. Little did they know that Chris retired from the race with a puncture and Bruce was feeling the hurt after a week of dead lifts and squats in the gym with Wardy.

Andy Garrett was the lone Scratch rider, setting off at 13’30. Andy was gaining on the field at the turn around but couldn’t quite bridge the gap.

After the turn into Barwite Rd, the larger “lead group” was fast becoming the “splinter group”, allowing Ryder, Ant and Darren to work their way through the field. Ryder had his sights locked onto the lead riders and was carving his way through the field, determined not to carry any potential sprinters with him.

At the turn into Old Tolmie Road, Ryder, Steve D, Oliver and Simon were starting to look around to see who had something left in the tank for a sprint finish. Ryder proved too strong and bridged a gap up the climb, maintaining this to the finish to take the win by 3 seconds.

In the background, Mick had put in a huge effort to get back on the lead group and drag Ant with him. It was then a sprint for newspaper article rights, with Ant narrowly getting 2nd, Mick 3rd and Oliver in 4th, all on the same finish time. Closely followed by Steve D, Simon, Damian, Darren, Steve C and Bruce. Damian continued with his current good form, riding fastest time for the night.

Thank you to all the marshal’s and Tony again for the photos. Here are the results.

Next week is one of the highlights of the MMBCC road calendar, the Bakker Plumbing Handicap at Jamieson. Keep an eye on the club WhatsApp feed early in the week to find out about RSVPing for dinner and presentations at the Jamieson Brewery afterwards.

Other news…

The above image is how Elise Empey’s practice ended at Red Bull Hardline at Maydena in Tasmania. While her right arm is a bit black ‘n’ blue, thankfully she’s ok.

Talia Appleton still leads the points for both the Overall and Under 23 in the Women’s ProVelo Super League after coming 5th in the Women’s Warrny on Sunday.

One more week left to order club kit from the Ventou MMBCC Portal. Now it even includes aero socks and gloves! Email Bruce for the code.

The first round of the Victorian Enduro Series was held at Falls Creek over the weekend. Congratulations to:

  • Ant Bateup - 6th in Veteran Men.

  • Adam Baker - 18th in Masters Men.

  • Finn Baker - 19th in Under 21 Men.

  • Ryder Chadd - DNF in Under 21 Men; he broke his rear rim.

Lots of MMBCC bikes for sale at the moment! There’s a 52cm Liv Langma, a newly-listed 56cm Cube and a coffee bike!

Too hot!

Dirt Crits cancelled

By Damian Grundy

Due to the persistent high temperatures and the forecast for the same on Tuesday, I have decided to cancel Senior Dirt Crits for Tuesday 4 February. Hopefully next week will see some cooler weather.

The schedule will remain unchanged with a gravity night on Tuesday 11 February.

MMBCC News - Sun 2 Feb - Club kit and Archimedes

Have you subscribed to MMBCC News? Why not!? Go to www.mmbcc.org.au and enter your email address on the Home page…

MMBCC Kit

Club kit is now available on the Ventou web portal.

Here is the link to the Ventou MMBCC page. If you don’t already have the code you need to get access, email Bruce for the code.

The Ventou MMBCC Portal is open for a limited time only!

Small field - big results!

By Damian Grundy

It was a small turn out for the first Gravity night of 2025 on Tuesday 28 January. It is possible that the heat of the day had discouraged some, however by 6pm the temperature was quite tolerable; certainly less severe than had been experienced a week earlier for the first XC night.

But even with small numbers there is always a high level of competitiveness. Lots of points to prove and many different battles between riders.

Two courses were set, with Cam Dobson and Adam Baker setting the first course and yours truly arranging a second challenge. Both courses were long by Rifle butts standards.

As usual the riders started at 30 second intervals.

For me, I was most happy to complete both runs without incident and I am glad that this seemed to be the case for all the competitors.

Ryder proved once again that he is a talented rider across most of the racing disciplines. He produced the fastest time on both courses and with a 2 run combined time of 9min46sec was overall 25seconds faster than Damian Grundy with a 2 run combined time of 10min11sec. Archie Smith was 2 seconds slower overall than Damian in 3rd.

Here are the results.

I would like to thank Cam and Adam for setting the course, and then Cam again and Tim Ross for managing the timing.

XC Night on Tuesday 4 February. Hope to see you all there.

Archimedes, Carl and Curnow

By Ian Cervelo

A beautiful warm summer evening greeted the start of the Howes Creek 25 kms handicap race on Thursday 30 January. It was reduced to 18 riders but had the welcome appearance of a new member, Simon Mulvihill.

A light south-easterly and a few undulating rises challenged most of the starters, giving some of the lighter-framed riders an equal footing with the stronger riders who had downhill momentum. With the above conditions, riding in a bunch and rotating turns, effectively gives each person a rest, tucked in behind the leads, who act as a windbreak.

The club handicapper, Mr David Moore, plays a critical part in this event, spending endless hours planning, selecting and judging the previous form of each rider and how they are to be grouped. Often we front him, in a good-humoured way, after a couple of drinks at the Mansfield. The Handicapper (please note, not an underworld crime boss) may get the sad story of “how come?”, “why me?”, “he should” etc.

With the race at the halfway mark and a tailwind home, the stronger groups worked together very effectively and gained on the rest of the field.

Three kilometres from the finish everyone is trying to gain the slightest edge, finding the gap to power through the field, and sprint to the finish at speeds of up to 60-70km/h.

The eventual winner on the night was Steve Curnow, who with his wife Lise, had just finished the 700km Great Alpine Walk.

In second place was the former Mansfield identity, the quick and clean shearer, Carl Simmons, now residing in Euroa. Carl clocked the fastest time of 37 minutes and 55 seconds averaging a credible 39.4 km/h!

Ian Conrick, fresh from an intense training camp at Club Med Phuket, took third place but an unnamed person commented that Cornick’s side profile looked more like a holiday at Club Pizza.

So back to the remaining riders and my new bestie, Mr Moore, the *Archimedean-like mathematician, astronomer, inventor and the engineer of modern calculus” who applied these rules to 12 cyclists so that they all finished within a minute of each other. Well done again Mr Moore!

Here are the results.

As usual, many thanks to our volunteers, the ever-present photographer Tony Copland, the ongoing support of The Brown Family and the welcoming staff at The Mansfield Hotel.

Newcomers and onlookers are always welcome at the club. Please see the MMBCC website for further details or call into All Terrain Cycles, High Street, Mansfield and ask any of the helpful staff.

*footnote: Archimedes died at the siege of Syracuse in 212 BC, aged 74. So you’re safe for a good while yet Dave!

Another bike for sale

The Espresso Velo coffee bike.

Upcoming Events

Benghazi Handicap, Lancefield, Anzac Day - 25 April.

Dirty Pig and Whistle, Creswick, 3 & 4 May. Already a few from Mansfield showing interest in this gravel event.

MMBCC News - Sun 26 Jan - Oz Day Update

We’re back! First Dirt Crits of 2025

By Damian Grundy

It had been a hot day on Tuesday 21 January and there was some discussion about racing but it didn’t seem horrendously hot, so the event proceeded.

11 hardy mountain bikers were in attendance.

The race format was team race - teams of three with Nicole Hoebergen being the lead out rider for two teams.(Don’t ask how that works but it did!)

The teams were:

  • Adam Baker, Cam Dobson and Damian Grundy;

  • Nicole Hoebergen, Rueben Bateup and Tim Ross;

  • David Bock, Ben Ross and Ant Bateup; and

  • Nicole Hoebergen, Archie Smith and Ryder Chadd

The course was a relatively short combination of trails starting out on Bogans, straight to the south end on the bottom of the XC loop, back across to the road and then to Rubbish Run and back to the finish via the zig-zags in the finish area.

And the format? Teams had to ride together, one rider in each team to complete two laps, another to complete four and the 3rd rider to do six laps. As the first rider, ideally the slower of the three, completed their two laps the remaining two riders could accelerate; and again after the 2nd rider completed their four laps the (ideally) fastest rider raced to finish their final two laps. First rider across the line winning the race for the team.

It was a mass start and I won’t lie, there was a lot of argy-bargie, Adam Baker went to an early lead but seemed to have some trouble with the concept of directional arrows. Nicole Hoebergen took full advantage and lead her two teams in to the lead at the end of the first two laps. Adam had somewhat recovered and came in 3rd and Bocky was 4th.

Racing remained tight but the leading group had whittled down to Ryder and Archie, Rueben and Tim, duking it out with Cam and Damian.

At the end of four laps however Cam and Damian had moved to a clear lead, Archie and Ryder in 2nd, then Rueben and Tim in 3rd.

Disaster struck at the end of the 5th lap with Ryder succumbing to overheating and wisely deciding to stop.

At the finish it was Damian taking the win for his team with Rueben rolling in for 2nd and Ant finishing it off for 3rd.

1st: Adam Baker, Cam Dobson and Damian Grundy.

2nd: Nicole Hoebergen, Rueben Bateup and Tim Ross.

3rd: David Bock, Ben Ross and Ant Bateup.

Baker stays away

By Beau Geste

19 Riders entered for Thursday night handicap racing on Thursday 23 January, with a strong south westerly wind.

Micala Jacobs was first away, honing her time trialling skills, followed by the intrepid trio of John Eisner, David Bock and Adam Baker. Next to leave were the first of the fab fours: Craig Wilson, Tim Hall (The first of 3 Halls) Ian Conrick and David MacDonald. This group proved to be a strong combination, working well together throughout the course.

The next group included the first of the young guns, Rueben Bateup and Oliver Hall who were ably supported by Mick Pierce -Oliver on a “New to him” bike.

Block was occupied by another Hall, Simon, another young gun, Ryder Chadd, Darren Bakker and Ant Bateup rounding out the family affair.

Scratch group was another fab four of Bruce Halket, on a brand new and very pretty bike, Euroa’s Andy Garrett, Steve Brown and, in a return to racing, Chris Miller.

Wilson, Conrick, MacDonald and the first of the Halls rode strongly managing to stay away from the strong groups behind.

Towards the finish at Possums Hill, Hall and Wilson parted company with Conrick and MacDonald and sprinted strongly for the win at the finish at the show grounds… or did they?

Adam Baker, having ridden a blinder in a solo effort had finished several minutes earlier. By the time Wilson and Hall crossed in second and third place respectively, Adam was relaxed, rehydrated and thinking about dinner at the Mansfield Hotel.

The Handicapper will take note of Adam’s effort for future races, I’m sure.

A strong ride by young gun Ryder Chadd produced a fourth place with David MacDonald coming in fifth.

Thanks to the volunteers and commissaires, next weeks race will be from the Lords Ground out to Howes Creek Road.

Many thanks again to Tony Copland for his images (above) and here are the results.

Road bike for sale

Just listed, Katie Moore’s beautifully looked-after Liv Langma is for sale.

Club kit

Keep your eye out soon for news of the Ventou Webshop opening for those interested in club kit. All pieces will be available for sale, including road and mtb kit.

We need a minimum of 10 pieces for the order to go into production.

Keep an eye out for next week’s newsletter and the MMBCC WhatsApp feed for links to the Ventou Webshop when it opens (you’ll need a code to get access!)

Speaking of WhatsApp…

It’s the best way to keep up to date with what’s happening in the club.

For instance, recent revelations on the feed shed new light on club president, Dave Empey.

His surname is a typo - it should really be EMPTY. The ’T’ was accidentally changed to an ‘E’ due to an administrative error by AusCycling when they looked into Dave’s eyes and saw the contents of his soul.

MMBCC News - Sun 19 Jan - First road race & HUGE weekend results

First MMBCC road race for 2025

By Rueben Bateup

Racing is on for 2025 and what better way to start off than the hardest finish on the calendar, with the steep, uphill finish of O’Hanlon’s Road!

To add to the challenge, there was a strong southerly wind that was going to play into the hands of the Scratch riders and make it torture for anyone who gets dropped by their group.

The first group to set off on-course was Adam Baker and Dave Bock, followed by Tim Hall and Craig Wilson at 2 minutes. These groups were caught prior to the McMillan Point turnaround by the largest group of Mick Pearce, Jason Parker, Rueben Bateup, Tim Ross and Heath Hammond, starting at 5 minutes 30. (A big MMBCC welcome to Heath for his first race.)

At 7 minutes was Steve Duke, Ant Bateup and Adrian Dowd, followed by Ryder Chadd and Damian Grundy at 8 minutes. The Scratch group consisted of Andy Garrett, Bruce Halket and Carl Simmons at 9 minutes 30.

Damian and Ryder caught Steve and Ant prior to the Lakeside Caravan Park and Adrian dropped off the back. Scratch then caught this group close to the halfway mark. With Bruce and Carl powering up the hills and Andy towing the group on the flats, the others were throwing in a turn when able.

With 2 large groups formed, the gap was small at the turnaround and the tailwind allowed the lead group to maintain their advantage. This was until Andy had other ideas and sprinted away from the chase group and passed the lead group like a freight train. This caused some turmoil in both groups with everyone trying to chase down Andy or just hang on.

Dave’s handicapping was again on point, as the two groups merged into one as they turned the corner into O’Hanlon’s for the final climb to the finish. Andy’s lead was diminished as the peloton hit the base of the climb and it was at this point that every rider pictured themselves as a contender for the win, it was on! Everyone was soon at max effort as the hill continued to steepen.

It was Carl who took the win narrowly over Rueben and Ryder in 3rd, followed by Bruce, Heath, Ant, Tim Ross, Steve, Damian and Mick to round out the top 10. Of the 17 riders, the top 11 were only separated by 1 minute which was a close race given the hill climb finish!

Thank you to all the marshals and officials for making this possible.

Here are the results and many thanks to Tony Copland for his images.

Next week it’s the Mansfield-Whitfield Road, from the Botanic Park out to Sawpit Gully Road and back, finishing near the Showgrounds on Mt Battery Road.

Huge weekend of MMBCC results

ProVelo Super League, Round 1, Adelaide

Talia Appleton: Stage 1 Uphill TT: 1st. Stage 2 Crit: 7th.

General Classification with one stage to go: 1st.

VDHS Round 3 at Mt Major, near Shepparton

Matt Empey, Elite Men: 4th.

Ryder Chadd, U19 Men: 14th.

Keegan Carman, U15 Men: 11th.

Shannon Rademaker, Masters Men: 3rd.

Stu Clark, Veteran Men: 7th.

Vic MTB Champ Series at Falls Creek, Round 5, Saturday

Ben Ross, U15 Men: 5th.

Ruby Dobson, Elite Women: 3rd.

Bruce Halket, Masters 7/8: 3rd.

Vic MTB Champ Series at Falls Creek, Round 6, Sunday

Ben Ross, U15 Men: 6th.

Alistair Ross, U13 Men: 2nd.

Ruby Dobson, Elite Women: 3rd.

Bruce Halket, Masters 7/8: 3rd.

Club kit

MMBCC Towers has had some enquiries regarding club kit.

Club kit comes in road and mtb versions from Ventou.

Have a look here.

We need a minimum of 10 pieces for Ventou to open the webshop. If you’re interested, please email Bruce.

BIKES FOR SALE

If you’re around about 6’2” and want a bargain road bike, this is for you.

MMBCC News - Sat 14 Dec - a tale of two Ryders

First up; last weekend…

After a stuff-up with last week’s issue of MMBCC News, congratulations go to Damian Grundy for finishing second at Round 4 of the Vic XC Series at Red Hill last weekend. Bruce finished 4th.

Now, onto this week. A lot can change in just a few days; this is The tale of two Ryders

Dirt Crits Gravity - Ryder finished first

By Kate Stonnill

The last Dirt Crits of 2024 saw 22 entrants for two timed runs at Rifle Butts Reserve.

Ryder Chadd took the win by just two seconds from Rueben Bateup. Rueben won the Bateup Cup by four seconds ahead of Dad Ant.

Fourth was Shannon Rademaker (even though there was some controversy over the last corner) with Adam Baker and Luke Vivash equal fifth.

Speaking of Adam, he said a few words of farewell to all.

The club thanks Adam for all his trail work and support of the club and riders and we wish Ariel, Finn and Adam all the best on their 2025 adventure in the Yarra Valley. Speaking personally, I will miss his mathematical genius with results.

Sienna Vivash won the Women’s race albeit after a crash in second run, even crossed the line with a bit of “bark” off.

Equal second shared between Nicole Hoebergen and visiting Danish rider, Anne Bruhn Andreasen.

Thanks to Adam for setting a tricky but enjoyable course.

Here are the results.

Dirt Crits will be back on Tue 21 Jan with a cross-country race at Rifle Butts MTB Park.

Merinda Way road race - Ryder finished last

By Bruce Halket

Seventeen riders were on the start line on Stoneleigh Road last Thursday night for the last Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club handicap road race of 2024.

Despite starting right outside the cemetery, there wasn’t too much thought given to the location being some kind of omen. In fact, after two and a half laps (about 24km) around the Merinda Way Loop, we should have increased our fitness enough to prevent us from going into a hole in the ground anytime soon.

First away was the Limit Group of Tony Morris, followed by six more groups until the Scratch Group of Andy Garrett, Bruce Halket and last week’s winner, Ryder Chadd, started 19 minutes later.

The first group to look threatening was Adam Baker and Dave Bock. They’d started off 9.30 (right in the middle) and had caught both Morris and Micala Jacobs and looked strong going into the second lap.

Steve Curnow, Ian Conrick, Craig Wilson and Allan Gerrans, who’d started off 8 minutes had other ideas. At about two-thirds distance they caught Baker and Bocky and looked strong. Baker managed to hang on, Bocky didn’t.

But then Scratch started to get involved.

Andy Garrett is an absolute beast on the flat. He doesn’t really enjoy hills all that much; and he goes around corners with all the agility of an ocean liner, only more so! So with Chadd helping where he could, especially on the first lap, and Halket doing what he could on the hills, Garrett tore through the other groups. The Block group (Damian Grundy, Steve Brown and Ant Bateup) was caught near Quarry Lane and the 3.30 group (Mick Pearce, Steve Duke and Rueben Bateup) was caught near the cemetery.

With just a couple of km to go, Garrett accelerated to catch the leaders. When he tired a little, Halket had a go. He caught Baker and Wilson.

When Grundy caught the tiring Halket, Garrett blasted past again to overtake Curnow and Conrick and take the win and Fastest Time.

Halket took second (Where were you Adrian? You owe me an article!) just ahead of Conrick, Grundy, the Steves Duke and Curnow, Rueben Bateup, Baker, Wilson and Brown took another top ten finish.

Ryder got dropped on the second lap, showing there’s a big step up from Block to Scratch. At one stage he even thought he might even die, but he didn’t. The cemetery can wait. Plus he did the right thing and rolled in with his Mum, Micala, even letting her over the line ahead of him.

Many thanks to all the marshals and officials for a safe, well-run race.

Here are the results and thanks to Tony Copland for his pics.

Road racing now takes a few weeks off - we’ll be back on Thursday 16 January for a race on Howes Creek Road, finishing on the dreaded O’Hanlon’s Hill.

In the meantime, the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club wishes all of Mansfield’s road users a safe and Merry Christmas - except for the young bloke in the big 4WD who hassled a group of local cyclists near Spring Creek Road on Saturday morning; I hope Santa brings you three demerit points!

MMBCC News - Sun 7 Dec - Young guns win!

MMBCC at the Rookie Cup

By Luke Vivash

A group of young riders proudly represented MMBCC this spring at the Joyride Rookie Cup – a youth downhill mountain bike series held across four events. Serving as a pathway into the Vic DH series, this event has become one of the most popular races in Australia, attracting talent from across the country.

Mansfield riders Cooper Hoebergen, Keegan and Spencer Carman, Ewan Rogan, and Sienna Vivash competed in the series, with the final race held last week at Mt Major in Dookie.

The competition wasn't without its challenges, as Saturday's practice saw bikes caked in mud so thick that the wheels would no longer spin. Youth pit crews lined the track, scraping mud from racers’ wheels as they pushed through the final sprint. Thankfully, Sunday brought perfect conditions for race day.

Sienna Vivash had an exceptional series, bringing home the trophy for the overall U11 Girls category after placing 1st in all four races with impressive times.

All the Mansfield riders delivered clean runs, aside from a gust of wind affecting Keegan’s flight path on the final jumps, causing him to crash-land outside the bunting.

It was a fantastic series and an incredible experience for young riders aged 9-16 interested in trying downhill racing.

Dirt Critters Update

By Tim Ross

Next Tuesday Dirt Critters will be at Rifle Butts Reserve. As usual 4pm for the younger group, 4:45pm for the older group with teenage ex-Dirt Critters encouraged to join adult Dirt Crits at 6pm.  

We had a fantastic ride along the Delatite River from Carter's Road to Mirimbah and back last Tuesday, one of the best single track rides around! Three groups separately navigated the track with only a couple of minor scrapes and blackberry scratches. 

Pictured is the whole group at Mirimbah prior to their ride back to base. 

As usual a massive thanks to the parents who rode with us, without them we simply couldn't do these rides.

Our final Dirt Critters for the year will be on Tuesday 17 December, more details next week.

Dirt Crits Long Course

By Damian Grundy

This was a true test for the committed racers from the MMBCC Dirt Crits crew.

Yes, the day had been hot and sticky, and yes, there was remote threat of a storm… maybe. But it never eventuated.

But when the going gets tough, the sensible stay at home!

Fourteen intrepid souls turned out for the final 2024 XC edition of Dirt Crits on Tuesday 3 December.

A long, long, long, course had been set out, essentially taking in 95% of the available trails. I do love this long course lap 😊

Based on ability and age, riders had to negotiate either a single lap, or a lap and a half or, for the faster types, two full laps.

First out of the start gate was Cam Dobson on his 2-lap effort followed by the rest at their allotted start times.

And so the race went.

At the end it was Reuben Bateup crossing the line first with a finish time of 40 min 04 sec. It is great to see Reuben returning to some good form after a recent heavy crash. Stay upright out there Reuben.

Darren Bakker crossed the line in 2nd at 41 min 08 sec, a first ever MTB Dirt Crits podium for Darren. It is worth mentioning that Darren took a couple of dives during the race and finished a little bruised and bloodied but obviously happy for a well-deserved podium. Darren also finished second at the Jamieson Road race on Thursday evening, a very consistent week.

Shannon Rademaker was 3rd another couple of minutes later.

It has to be noted that there is no coincidence that the first three place getters were all on 1.5 laps. The handicapper NEVER makes mistakes like calculating handicaps with an incorrect lap distance. 😊 Of course, if any participants are deeply offended by the idea that handicapping mistakes might happen they are more than welcome to take over the job. 😊

In 4th – Dan Hall and 5th Adam Baker.

Congratulations to everyone and thanks as always to the time keepers on the night, Rob Holmgren and Ben Grundy

Racing for pizza

By Dario Cippollini Gazetta

23 riders greeted the starter on a hot night in Jamieson to race one of the club’s favourite courses.

Tony Morris was first away followed by Micala Jacobs, then Di Condie and John Eisner. Next off was Adam Baker, Daves Bock and Jagger; then Steve Curnow, Ian Conrick, Tim Hall and Craig Wilson.

Next away was Jason Parker, Adrian Dowd and Mick Pearce (back for his first race this season.)

Starting next was Damian Grundy, Steve Duke and last week’s winner, Simon Hall, followed by the dangerous Block group of Dave Moore, Steve Brown, Ryder Chadd and Darren Bakker. Chasing off Scratch was Bruce Halket and Smokey Garrett.

By the half way mark the race was coming together as the Block group powering through the other riders and the Scratch group not making enough headway to feature in the finish.

Coming into the final few kilometres, the Block group had collected a large amount of riders that were all jostling for position for the all-important sprint into the city limits. Big Steve Brown decided to dispense with as many riders as possible by doing a big turn of speed, spitting out a few riders that were only just hanging on. Bakker jumped on his wheel but drifted to the front way too early for the sprint with all the others looking for a lead out.

Bakker started his sprint early, trying to catch the others off guard, which worked to a certain degree. But he couldn’t maintain the gap; young gun Ryder Chadd powering to the line and collecting fastest time too!

Bakker held on for second ahead of Grundy in third after a strong ride. Everyone else came in not far behind.

Here are the results and many thanks to Jenni Sparnon and Tony Copland for the pics.

Thanks to all the marshalls, Commissaires and helpers on the night. Also Thanks to Janine for organising the delicious pizzas at the Brewery and a good evening was had by all.

Next week is the last race of the year, around the Merinda Way Loop.

MMBCC News - Sat 30 Nov - Pizza, Perfection & Pretty in Pink

Xmas pizza!

By Janine Appleton

The Executive Committee invite you to the MMBCC Christmas Party out at Jamieson road race next Thursday evening at the Jamieson Brewery.  Pizza provided by the club for everyone that attends.  

All you have to do is RSVP to Janine Appleton 0428 150 800, or email Janine with your name/s and Pizza preference by Tuesday 3 December.  We would like to have all the pizza orders in the day before so when we arrive at the venue from 8pm, everything is ready to serve.  Drinks at your own expense.

So if you haven't raced in a while, this is a fantastic opportunity to have a go next week and join us for what I think is the best circuit on our calendar.  You can jump in the river for a quick dip afterwards… if you are brave enough.  

Dirt Critters News

By Tim Ross

Advance notice that on Tuesday Dirt Critters will ride alongside the Delatite River from Carter's Road to Mirimbah and back. This is a wonderful, flattish ride thru the bush on a great piece of single-track.

ALL Dirt Critters will ride at the same time (though we'll split up into groups based on speed/ experience).  

We'll meet at the Carter's Road picnic area at 4:15 pm and I expect we'll be finished by around 5:45pm (the Carter's Road picnic area is easy to find on Google Maps; just off the Buller Road past Sawmill Settlement; allow 25 minutes drive from Mansfield). Parents are most welcome to bring their bikes and join the ride, or may prefer to walk out and back along the trail.

We had a relaxed ride at Rifle Butts Reserve last Tuesday, with both groups enjoying a ride around the upper trails and successfully negotiating some rougher tracks.

Entries are now open for the next event in the Alpine Cycling Club Junior MTB Race Series, in Yackandandah only a week away. For those of you not on their email list here is the info;

Round 3 of the series is coming up shortly on Saturday the 7th of December.

This year, The Yack team has prepared a fresh new course for you closer to the town in the local Sports park so don't miss this one.

Here is the rego link and all the course details will follow in the coming days.

Contact dirtcrits@gmail.com or call Luke on 0455 604 785 for more information on Dirt Critters.

See you on Tuesday!  

Rifle Butts Time Trial

By Damian Grundy

Dirt Crits Tuesday 26 November and who could believe it's already the second to last XC race of 2024. 

For something completely new, at the suggestion of Tim Ross, the evening consisted of two timed runs along the Riflebutts Road single track. This is a really cool bit of trail; nothing too difficult, fast and flowy.

The course length was 3.3km. The objective for the competitors was to produce two runs with the most consistent times.

Ben Ross came out victorious with two efforts producing identical times of 9 min 23 sec - perfect!

Second place on the night was awarded to the rider with the lowest combined two laps and in a break-out performance this was produced by young Tom Logan-Williams with a combined time of 18 min 07sec. Bruce Halket had the second fastest combined time of 18 min 20 sec.

3rd place overall was Damian Grundy with 2 sec difference with laps of 9 min 24 sec and 9 min 22 sec.

In 4th overall and second in the Ross vs Ross Cup was Tim Ross with a 3 sec variation.

In 5th and 1st Female was Nicole Hoebergen with a 7 sec difference between runs.

Thanks to everyone and especially Cam Dobson and Darren Bakker for managing the timing.

Here are the detailed results.

See you next week for another XC night!

Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap

By Simon Hall 

After a few wet days that provided more rain than any cropping farmer would like in the middle of harvest, race day arrived fine and dry but windy. A small field of dedicated riders braved the weather and signed on to race.

Di Condie and Micala Jacobs were first off the line, Di proving to be too strong for Micala and quickly riding away from her. A brave move to be leading the race by yourself that early on.

Dave Jagger and Dave Bock were next in an awkward position - 7 minutes to the pair in front and an equal distance to the bunch behind. This is a decent gap considering the wind.

They were followed by Jason Parker, Adrian Dowd, Oliver Hall and Simon Hall. Oliver struggled to keep up in this bunch but they worked well together and looked after Oliver for as long as they could.

With some late scratchings, the handicappers job was difficult for the back markers. Dave Jagger and Dave Bock where the next bunch. Ryder Chadd was pulled from this bunch to keep Andy Garrett company at the back of the race. The plan here was that Ryder would help Andy to get up the hill to the turn around, but the flats beforehand proved too hard for Ryder and he struggled to keep up.

With a great ride, Darren Bakker and Damian Grundy breezed past the bunch in front on the climb. Only Adrian and Simon managed to grab a wheel and keep going with them. The rest of the climb and the return to Mansfied proving to be fast with this new bunch managing to chase down all riders in front. After a sterling ride by herself, Di was unfortunately caught on the approach to the finish. A close bunch finish saw Simon just in front of Damian and Darren. Everyone else was close behind. Di after a long ride by herself was just able to stay in front of Andy at the finish.

Here are the results and thanks again to Tony Copland for his images, making us all look good.

Bike racing is a lot of fun and my appreciation goes to the volunteers who help out each week to make it all possible.

MMBCC News - Sun 24 Nov - Ryder wins and Wil does two. Er... too.

Gravity Wrap

By Dave Empey

Another perfect evening for gravity racing at Rifle Butts MTB Park with a huge turn out of racers. We had 26 people race. Not bad for an evening’s racing.

Racing appears to be getting tighter across the board.

A new winner this week: Ryder Chadd. He had the fastest lap just pipping Rueben Bateup for the hot lap by 1 sec.

The top five this week were Ryder Chad closely followed by Thing 1 and Thing 2 (the matching Bateups) on the same second with Ant getting the honours on a count back.

The All Terrain Cycles Cup was taken out by Shannon finishing 4th just ahead of Archie Smith, who is washing bikes for the week.

As said earlier times were tight all the way through the results sheet. Dan Friday may have done better but a pre-run mechanical had his trusty or not so trusty Banshee not performing optimally.

Tim Ross should undertake a course in bike maintenance as a slow leak will only usually get you to the top of the hill. Although I don’t think Tim’s pumped up tyres would have been enough for him to catch Ben.

Nicole Hoebergen took her first win over the very speedy Sienna Vivash with Ariel rounding out the women’s field.

It’s great to see big turn outs, so well done everyone. Here are the results.

On the last Gravity Enduro of the year there will be gear available to anyone who wants it. It will include tyres, Camelbaks, helmets and some clothing. If anyone has some stuff they don’t want bring it along and get it re-purposed.

The Heat Is On!

By Micala Jacobs

Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club came together for its first hot evening of racing on Thursday. In line with what seems to be the warm Spring season it’s turned out to be.

This week saw the racers line up for the 23 km Course 2 - an out and back starting at the Mansfield Commercial Complex, turning around in the dip between Hearns and Buttercup Roads and finishing on the Mansfield-Woods Point Road about halfway up the airstrip.

At 6pm when the flag dropped it was still a solid 30 degrees. Any wind throughout the day had dropped to a gentle 9kmph WNW which I feel had dropped to nothing by the time we were out near Glenroy Road.

Of the 19 starters we were set off at various times that represent our levels and abilities. The handicapper has an immense job of determining this but it is not an exact science as external factors such as non-starters, bad days and just ‘not feeling it in this heat’ take their toll on the race outcome. Each group had good numbers allowing everyone to do a bit of work on the front.

Di Condie, Micala Jacobs and Judi Duke were able to stay away until the turn around. The steady long incline up to Hearns Road either offered the chance for some stronger riders to ‘blow up’ their fellow contenders while others worked together to overcome the gaps and catch the little taillight glowing in front. It’s all racing!

Coming back in from Hearns Road riders engaged the big gears, got in ‘the drops’ and turned the legs hard to try and make up for the slower accent. Many riders dug deep.

You know the handicapper is doing a good job when the time gap between the first and last rider has the entire field crossing the finishing line in a 4 and half minute window. Andy Garrett (Euroa) who got sent off solo as Scratch, 12min and 30 secs after the first riders were set off, was able to lay down the fastest time of the evening of 36 minutes and 51 seconds.

Craig Wilson was able to bridge the gap to Di and Micala and took them all the way to the finish line, in that order, in a time of 42min 35 seconds. That’s two in a row for Wil!

The top 10 across the finish line looked like this:

1. Craig Wilson

2. Di Condie

3. Micala Jacobs

4. Oliver Hall

5. Adrian Dowd

6. Janine Appleton

7. Steve Curnow

8. Ryder Chadd

9. Dave Bock

10. Jarrod Appleton

Here are the detailed results and see you all next week for the Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap.

MMBCC News - Sun 17 Nov - Wil wins Alain's race

Tenth Alain Guerin Memorial Bike Race

By Jarrod Appleton

This week’s Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club’s handicap road race memorialised the tragic death of a beloved club member, Alain Guerin in 2014. Alain’s life was taken by a motorist ten years ago as he was riding along Mount Buller Road close to Stoney’s Road. The driver was convicted on multiple charges and imprisoned.

Despite the sombre occasion, Alain’s memorial race is a highlight of the club’s racing calendar due to the attendance of Alain’s family, and many extra riders who knew Alain, coming from far afield. Thursday evening was warm and sunny with a moderate south-westerly wind. The 25km handicap race started on Malcolm Street at Lords Oval and went out Howes Creek Road to the turn around at Cummins Road before returning along Howes Creek Road to finish near Malcolm Street.

Craig Wilson (Mansfield) won by a huge margin of one minute and eight seconds over Fletcher Christensen (Seymour) and Oliver Hall (Benalla) who sprinted for second and third place respectively. They only narrowly held onto a four second lead over Simon Hall (Benalla) and Damien Grundy (Mansfield). Fastest time was again set by Jake Lay (Seymour) who has established himself as the king pin this season despite the attendance this week of Dan Purcell and Nick Zhang, a couple of Melbourne-based power houses who started off scratch with Jake.

A huge MMBCC thanks to all our marshals and officials and to Tony for the images. Here are the results.

Next week it’s the Buller Road handicap; see you there!

DONALD TRUMP TAKES CONVINCING VICTORY… oops. Wrong race!

By Damian Grundy

Blake Riley has taken his first win… in his first race at Dirt Crits! A two-lap flyer and duly noted by the handicapper for the next race. But a creditable first-time performance zipping around at a very impressive 16km/h (another warning shot from a young rider across the bows of the older crew 😊). It is my prediction that in pretty short time these young guns will be topping the speed charts easily.

The podium consisted then of 2nd - Stuart Clark (welcome back Stuart, first XC race in a while). 3rd – Tim Ross (taking this week’s honors in the battle of the Rosses but sadly for Tim, Ben had the higher speed on the night again.) Tim, I think that horse has well and truly bolted)).

4th – and First female Nicole Hoebergen. 2nd Female Ariel Stava, 3rd Female Micala Jacobs.

And 5th – Mr Consistency David Bock. Juniors please take note of David’s dedication to his sport, continuing on for an extra (practice) victory lap after completing his race, only to sadly miss his podium appearance for this race. Well done David 😊

It was a great turn out as has been the case every week of this season. Great to see everyone.

Here are the detailed results.

Special greetings to first timers Willem Morphett, Blake Riley and Dave Blunden. And welcome back Stuart Clark.

Looking forward to the next XC night on November 26th, I am trying to come up with ideas for a Team Race format or another thought is that we divide off into categories. Men, Women, U17 and U15 and have individual category races. If you have any ideas please call me: Damian 0411 045 771.

I will be doing course reconnaissance as usual on Sunday November 23rd at 9am. Look forward to seeing anyone who is interested to join me.

NICA registrations now open!

A few weeks back we included news of an American MTB series that has been brought to Australia by Trek Bikes. Registrations for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association Try-It-Out Events in Australia are now open.

The closest ones are Falls Creek and Beechworth in January. Plus there’s a race at Stromlo in Canberra in November. For more info and registrations, click here.


MMBCC News - Sun 10 Nov - Apples and juniors

Appleton’s apples!

By Bruce Halket

A breezy evening greeted the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club’s handicap race last Thursday. Starting at the Botanic Park, riders headed north along the Mansfield-Whitfield Road to a turnaround at Sawpit Gully Road, then it was back towards town and around the Barwite Loop to finish on Graves Road - a total of 32km and the longest course on the MMBCC calendar.

Before racing got underway, we welcomed a newcomer to Thursday night racing; Oliver Hall (son of Simon, nephew of Tim) who pinned on a number for the first time.

Then drama at the start when a sudden air leak could be heard from Jarrod Appleton; thankfully it was just his front tyre going down and nothing more anatomically disturbing.

There were 23 entrants on the start list, starting with Micala Jacobs and Judi Duke, off as Limit, through to Talia Appleton and Jake Lay as the Scratch group 19 minutes later. The two most likely groups were the larger ones: the four-strong 9-minute group of Jason Parker, Adrian Dowd, Rueben Bateup and the hastily re-inflated Jarrod Appleton followed by the five-strong 4.30 group of Darren Bakker, Steve Duke, Dave Moore, Ryder Chadd and Ant Bateup.

As expected, the larger groups rode well in the windy conditions, especially the 9.00 group; Parker, Dowd, Bateup and Appleton rounded up all the out markers by the Coombesberg and began to discuss which of them was fresh enough to sprint for the win; they decided it was to be Rueben’s turn.

But two of the Halls, Oliver and Simon, had other ideas. They were the only two caught riders able to hang on over the hill and were looking to become the flies in the nine minute group’s ointment. When it became clear that Bateup didn’t have the kick to outspent the Halls, Appleton sprinted instead and took the win. Jarrod mentioned later it was only his third MMBCC win in his 12 years living in Mansfield.

Simon Hall got up for second ahead of son Oliver who got on the podium in his first race.

Next came Adrian Dowd, Rueben Bateup, Jason Parker, Andy Garrett, Ryder Chadd, Darren Bakker and Bruce Halket rounded out the top ten.

Fastest was Jake Lay in 50.30, which is an average speed of 39.7 km/h!

Many thanks to our Commissaires and marshals, especially the last-minute fill ins. Here are the results and thanks to Tony Copland for the images.

Next week’s race is the Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap, to be held on the Howes Creek Road course for the first time.

Junior MTB race at Beechworth

By Tim Ross

On Saturday a group of twelve current and former Dirt Critters, ranging in age from U7 to U15 travelled to Beechworth for Round 2 of the Alpine Cycling Club's Junior MTB race series. 

This round was an XCO course around the Beechworth MTB Park. On a perfect spring day, around 90 kids from across the north east competed. 

All of the Mansfield contingent rode well on a course that was a bit technical, featuring more than its share of rocks, tree roots and sand. Highlights of the day included Baz and Jarra each completing his first MTB race; well done to both of them. 

Ben (second) and Scout (third) both made it onto the podium, but the real achievers were all twelve kids who fronted up, had a crack and enjoyed a great ride against their peers.

After the race a few of the riders adjourned to the Indigo Epic trails for more fun on their bikes. 

Pictured below are some of the Mansfield crew after the racing.

Rookie Cup at Narbethong

By Luke Vivash

Congratulations to our young riders, Cooper Hoebergen and Sienna Vivash, for their impressive performances in the Rookie Cup!

Competing in Under 13s, Cooper placed 12th with a swift time of 3:02.

In the Under 11s, Sienna took the top spot, securing 1st place with a time of 3:20.

Both showed remarkable skill and determination on the track. Keep an eye on these rising stars.

Fantastic effort, Cooper and Sienna!

Upcoming event

Giro della Donna - Marysville - Sat 23 & Sun 24 November