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

MMBCC News - Sun 3 Nov - No gravel for you!

Heaps to get through this week.

If you’re not already a subscriber, please add your email address on the right hand side of the Home page, where it says ‘Subscribe to MMBCC News’ to get this straight to your inbox.

Junior MTB Series

By Tim Ross

Last weekend (19th October) a group of twelve current and former Dirt Critters, ranging in age from U7 to U15 travelled to Bright for Round 1 of the Alpine Cycling Club's Junior MTB race series. The series runs over the summer and involves 7 races across the North East, including Bright, Beechworth, Yackandandah, Albury, Falls Creek and Bright, with a mixture of XCO and Enduro events. 

The first event was an XCO course using the Roger Packham loop along Morse's Creek.

All the group acquitted themselves well on a course that was a bit slippery and difficult after some heavy rain overnight (especially for the older kids). 

Highlights of the day included Jedd completing his first race, and older brother Duke popping a mono as he crossed the finish line. 

Congratulations to Ben and to Scout who each placed first in their race.

Old blokes rule, ok?

By Dave Empey

Another perfect evening for Gravity Enduro with mild temperatures and a very dry track.

It was a very pedally downhill (we missed you Bruce Halket) utilising both sides of the mountain bike park and on average a 4-to-5-minute track.

In a turnaround from last week, the more seasoned riders tended to prevail without last week’s winner Rueben Bateup having to sit this week out due to a dirt nap at the VDHS Downhill at Barjarg on the weekend.

In first position was Matthew Empey. He didn’t have it all his own way with Ant Bateup taking the first run by 3 seconds. However, Matt went 9 seconds faster on his second run. He must have woken up and realised it was a race.

Ant Bateup came in second just 4 seconds behind Matt and Luke Vivash pulled one out of the bag for a third closely followed by Cam Dobson and Spencer Carmen on the same time, with Cam taking the honours on a countback having the fastest time over Spencer by just one second.

Stu Clark may have done better but due to being geographically embarrassed he lost a little time on his first run.

Dan Friday may have picked the wrong bike, big travel and lots of pedalling don’t seem to equate to going as fast as you normally do.

Dave Blunden turned up for his first race EVER and finished in the top ten, so well done to Dave.

We had another full class for the women’s race again this week, with Nicole taking the honours (despite an ‘off’ and some bruising/scratching) ahead of Serena and Ariel.

Here are the results and thanks to Kate for the images, above.

Well done to everyone who raced last night. Having big numbers makes the race a lot more fun and interesting.

Alain’s race is moving

By Bruce Halket

Due to a clash with Oaks Day, Coral Guerin has asked the club to move Alain’s race from its original date of 7 Nov to a week later, 14 Nov.

But it’s not just a date change. With the way Police and VicRoads permits work, the race will now be held on the Howes Creek Road course, instead of the usual 32km course finishing on Graves Road.

And due to this course change and time constraints, Coral has asked that we not ride out to Alain’s bike on the Buller Road, but head back to the Mansfield Hotel for presentations instead.

Nowhere to hide on Chapel Hill Road

By Micala Jacobs

In a spirited display of competition and camaraderie, Chapel Hill Road was the site of an individual time trial that brought together 13 enthusiastic participants from the local cycling club. Despite the smaller turnout, the event highlighted the club's commitment to fostering a diverse range of age categories and abilities, making for an inclusive and exciting atmosphere.

The weather on race day was nearly perfect for racing: partly cloudy skies and a comfortable 17 degrees Celsius, though competitors faced a challenging SSW wind that tested their resolve after the turnaround. With staggered starts set at one-minute intervals, each cyclist had the chance to battle against the clock and themselves, a hallmark of the individual time trial format.

Participants pushed through the course, which spanned almost 11 km, with many competitors remarking on the mental toughness required when racing solo. “In this type of race, there’s nowhere to hide,” one competitor noted. “It’s all on you to keep your legs turning and push yourself to the finish.”

Local cyclist Craig Wilson was particularly enthusiastic about the event, showcasing all the time trial gear and creating a festive atmosphere. Darren Bakker also added to the camaraderie with his possibly unintentional vocal encouragement at the finish line, rallying support for those crossing the line.

When the dust settled and the results were tallied - after applying the handicapping that accommodates the varied age categories and abilities - Judi Duke claimed the top spot, followed closely by Micala Jacobs in second and Jarrah O’Brien in third (welcome to MMBCC racing Jarrah!) The results demonstrated not only individual achievement but also the club's spirit of friendly competition.

As always, a big thank you was extended to the volunteers who served as Commissaire, timing officials, and marshals, ensuring the safety and smooth operation of the event. Their dedication is vital in creating a safe and enjoyable environment for all participants. Thanks again to Tony Copland for his images, above.

Looking ahead, the next event on the calendar is a Handicap race that promises to challenge riders with a 32 kilometre course taking them out Whitfield Road to Sawpit Gully Road, and on to Barwite Road, finishing on Graves Road. Meet us at Botanic Park from 6pm to cheers on the starters.

Ride High Country Gravel Network launched

Tourism North East has launched their new gravel network throughout north east Victoria. Here’s the launch information and here is a link to the Ride High Country website to check it all out.

Isn’t it funny how Mansfield isn’t mentioned!? It must be due to all those thousands of gravel cyclists coming here threatening our Mansfield way of life. (Can someone please insert a ‘rolling my eyes’ emoji here.)

We just have to be patient…

Busfleet’s shuttle service for bike riders from Mansfield to Mt Buller for the coming Summer started this weekend!

It’s called the Locals Day Out. With a day pass you can get on and off the bus, with your bike, at different points between town and the hill, including Delatite Winery, the Hunt Club in Merrijig and Mirimbah.

And for MMBCC members, Busfleet are offering a discount on the 8am service.

Use this link to their booking portal and put in the code MMBCC when it’s time to pay.

Go to their website for more details. Please note: the discount only applies to the 8am departure from Mansfield. 

Volunteers wanted

The Great Vic Bike Ride is coming to Mansfield for two days later this month. Bicycle Network and the Shire are looking for volunteers to help out…

Finally…

Congratulations to the Chadd boys for some great results at the Rocky Trail Shred & Flow at Haunted Hills on Saturday.

MMBCC News - Sat 26 Oct - Debuts, Comebacks & Kids

If you’re not already a subscriber, please add your email address on the right hand side of the Home page, where it says ‘Subscribe to MMBCC News’ to get this straight to your inbox.

It was another great week of MMBCC racing, starting Tuesday night at Rifle Butts MTB Park…

Women Dominate

By Damian Grundy

Lots and lots and lots of competitors. And an evening dominated by our female competitors.

Congratulations to Miranda Farrall on her first win at her second race! Winners are grinners!

In second place Arial Stava and third was Serena (soon to be) Vivash. Dan Friday snuck into 4th… great to see you back Dan.

5th was Bruce Halket. Bruce was also the fastest on the night knocking off the race at a very respectable 19.6km/h average speed. Congratulations Bruce, without question one of the club’s most dedicated and deserving competitors.

Thanks to our timekeepers on the night Jason Parker and Nicole Hoebergen. Here are the results.

The next XC race night will be the week after Melbourne Cup Day Tuesday November 12th.

And I’ve had an idea! It is a bit of a process preparing for the XC race nights. A course has to be decided upon and then it needs to be mapped on STRAVA to get the distance in order to sort out the handicaps.

So… for the rest of the season, on the Sunday morning before the XC races I will be at Rifle Butts at 9:00am to do this reconnaissance. Please feel free to join me for the ride; have some input into the race lap for the coming race and even the race format. Also learn the lap for the race (a very useful advantage).

Feel free to ask me for some coaching tips. Even if I don’t know, I will always have an opinion 😊. But seriously I am a qualified coach.

I look forward to seeing you there.

The comeback kids

By Bruce Halket

It was a week of comebacks for the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club’s third road race of the season on a clockwise course around the Barwite Loop on Thursday 24 October. But with a stiff southerly blowing, it was also likely to be a night for the back markers.

First away was the Limit group of Craig Wilson, Dave Jagger and the first of our Comeback Kids, Di Condie, off 11 minutes.

A minute later, next to start was Steve Curnow and Adam Baker; another minute later came Janine Appleton, Tim Ross, Jason Parker and winner of the last three races (including the last one of last season, Ian Conrick; at 7.00 was Jarrod Appleton, Adrian Dowd and the second Comeback Kid, David MacDonald of Tolmie. David, from Tolmie, joined the ATC Gravel Expo ride last Sunday and decided on a comeback to road racing 8 years after his last.

Darren Baker and Ryder Chadd were the 4 minute group; then came the 2.30 group of Fletcher Christensen, Bruce Halket, Carl Simmons and James Steward, brother of Seoul Olympian Scott and the third rider on the comeback trail, racing on the road for the first time in 10 years! It’s never too late.

Block saw Ruby Dobson and Talia Appleton start together off 45 seconds, just in front of the lone Scratch rider, recently returned from racing in Belgium, Jake Lay.

The outward leg saw most groups break up. One that stayed together was the 2.30 group of Christensen, Halket, Simmons and Steward who rode strongly with the wind and had caught Bakker and Chadd just after the Long Lane turnaround; Bakker rolled through for a few turns but his ticket expired not long after turning left onto the Barwite Road; Chadd had only booked a passenger’s ticket, so he hung on.

The other group riding well was the 9 minute group of Appleton, Ross, Parker and Conrick. But they were also the only group to be stopped by the traffic marshal at the turnaround, losing them about 30 seconds.

All the while, Jake Lay was stalking. He picked up Talia Appleton and set about hunting down the field.

After the decisive turn onto Old Tolmie Road, the headwind played havoc with riders spread all the way up the Coombesberg. Ross and Parker first dropped Conrick (there was to be no three-in-a-row for him!) then Appleton, picked up all the out markers and looked to have a good lead going over the top.

The 2.30 group picked up Jarrod Appleton over the hill and with Chadd in tow, could see the Lead Car and catch a faint glimpse of the two riders in MMBCC kit up ahead. But it looked like they had enough lead.

At the ford over Ford’s Creek, the Lay train, with Talia Appleton on board, caught them all and the pace lifted again! Suddenly, Ross and Parker were within catching distance.

With just 300 metres to go they were caught as Lay whistled past.

Simmons sprinted for second ahead of Chadd, Halket, Jarrod Appleton, Christensen, Talia Appleton, Steward, Ross and Parker.

Surely, without the traffic stop, Ross and Parker had it won. They was robbed!

Lay was also fastest in a corrected time of 31.56.

Here are the full results.

Many thanks all our wonderful volunteers and marshals, with a particular thanks this week to John Eisner, who made a temporary comeback to Handicapping with great success. And to Tony Copland for his images.

Next week will see more comebacks at the Individual Time Trial on Chapel Hill Road, with the return of club Handicapper, Dave Moore, after a fortnight cycling the Munda Biddi trail in WA.

There was also talk of legendary Australian cyclist Sir Hubert Opperman making a comeback from the dead. But in an administrative mix up, Dr Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, was named instead. It should be a real blast!

TREK Youth MTB program for 12-17 year olds launches in Australia

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) is a US-based youth development organisation dedicated to building strong mind, character and communities through mountain biking.

NICA is for everyone aged 12-17 who wants to give it a go. There's a place for everyone.

Trek is a Lead Partner of NICA, and is supporting their Australian pilot program of "Try-It-Out" and Race events across this summer.

Try-It-Out events start 30 November, and are free to participate. Registration opens start of November.

Visit the NICA Australia website for more information and to sign-up to stay informed.

Finally…

The Specialized gravel demo bikes are still available for the coming week at All Terrain Cycles. Call in and take one for a ride…

MMBCC News - Sun 20 Oct - Demo a gravel bike!

If you’re not already a subscriber, please add your email address on the right hand side of the Home page, where it says ‘Subscribe to MMBCC News’ to get this straight to your inbox.

Dirt Critters gets off to great start

By Tim and Luke

Great to see so many of the Dirt Critters on Tuesday, including several new recruits. We had 8 in the older group and 9 in the younger group, all of whom enjoyed riding the upgraded tracks at Rifle Butts. 

Rifle Butts is riding better than ever now so I hope you can take the opportunity to get your kids using it during the week and not just on Tuesday afternoons.

Dirt Critters follows a rough program designed to expose the kids to some different types of riding; some nights it'll be XC (cross country), some will be more Enduro/ Downhill, and some will be Single Track rides. Next Tuesday we'll be doing some timed XC laps; then just before the Christmas breakup we'll do it again to see how much the kids have improved over the term.

MTB riding doesn't finish after Grade 6, and it has been pleasing to see a number of our ex-Dirt Critters moving up into the open-age ranks (at Rifle Butts Reserve from 6pm each Tuesday).

We do encourage kids to have a go at MTB racing once they are confident on their bikes, through our participation in the Alpine Cycling Club's Junior MTB race series. There are seven races over the summer, and we will post a link to info/entry details prior to each one. We have 12 current or former Dirt Critters travelling to Bright this weekend to compete in the first race; best wishes to Blake, Duke, Ben, Errol, Hunter, Baz, Finley, Alastair, Miles, Angus, Jedd and Scout.

We have plenty of room for extras, so please feel free to spread the word around and invite friends to come along.

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

Gravity Enduro Review

By Dave Empey

It was the first Gravity Enduro of the year on Tuesday and following on from the huge turn out for the XC the week before we had 26 riders turn out in near perfect conditions.

The trail work that has been done recently has been a big improvement and made racing a lot more pleasant (if there is such a thing as pleasant racing?).

Racing was tight but Rueben Bateup showed everyone a clean pair of heels and took the win by 10 sec from Ryder Chadd and family bragging rights. In third place we had Ant Bateup with a solid performance. Ant, may I suggest buying Rueben, a 26-inch bike that weighs 30 kgs?

We had a dead heat for fourth in the battle for All Terrain Cycles workshop bragging rights with Archie Smith and Shannon Rademaker not being able to be separated, even on a count back.

Another significant family contest that took place was Ross’, with Tim being outdone by Ben ;although Tim did have quite the dirt nap at the last corner.

The Vivash’s also had a 3-way family battle with Luke coming out on top followed by Sienna and Serena.

It was great to see The Workshop team turn en mass with Stu Clarke, Ronnie and Fred all racing.

It is good to see so many new faces and old faces turning up and enjoying the racing.

We had a full class of female riders last night again; this is very pleasing! Sienna Vivash took the win over Serena Vivash closely followed by Arial Stava.

Here are the results.

Many thanks to Ant Bateup, Damian Grundy and Cameron Dobson for the work they have done in rectifying the trail damage of the past wet years. It’s a great improvement on the past trail conditions.

It was a dark and stormy night…

By Tim Hall

20 riders lined up for the second race of the season, held Thursday 17 October on the Howes Creek Road ‘out and back’ course. Only two late scratchings from the list and, given the inclement weather, that’s fairly good. We’re a hardy bunch at the club! (A note to anyone who scratches late before the race, it’s helpful to the handicapper if you send them a text message as well – thanks.)

We rode between the bands of rain, with a dump before the start, drizzle throughout and a dump afterwards when we were finished and rolling back into town. Everyone stayed upright in the wet, so well done riders.

Micala Jacobs was the lone Limit rider, followed by the pair of Craig Wilson and John Eisner. Tim Hall, Simon Hall and Ian Conrick followed, riding solidly together with Simon cracking the whip to keep the pace up. (Simon) Hall was over from Benalla for his second ride with the club. Hall, Hall and Conrick picked up Eisner and Wilson before the turn around point at the end of the sealed road to make a group of five.

Behind them, Steve Curnow, Jason Parker, Janine Appleton, Adam Baker and Tim Ross started well together, but dropped Curnow and Baker early. Second block consisted of Jarrod Appleton, Adrian Dowd and Rueben Bateup, riding well to stay away from Block with Ryder Chad, Steve Duke, Ant Bateup and Darren Bakker. Nice to see a bit of young blood out on the course with Ryder and Rueben.

Talia Appleton and Andy Garrett rode together from Scratch, Garrett coming over from Euroa to join us for the night. Bit of a mis-match between these two in terms of size, with Garrett probably twice the body weight of Appleton and looking powerful, and yet was heard lamenting afterwards that Appleton was riding away from him even on the downhills. It’s all in the power-to-weight ratio Andy.

Second Block, Block and Scratch all stayed away from each other, so they are all riding well.

Coming back into town, (Simon) Hall and Conrick slowly whittled away at the group. Eisner first to go, then Wilson and then (Tim) Hall.

Conrick took the honours at the line over (Simon) Hall, bearing witness to the benefits of all the gravel-ride training he has been doing. That’s two in a row for Conrick; actually three in a row if you count the last race of last summer.

Ross, Parker and Appleton were storming in behind them (pun intended), but (Tim) Hall couldn’t hold onto Wilson even on the uphills, thoroughly cracked after the effort with (Simon) Hall and Conrick.

Here are the results.

Thanks as always to the marshals and officials, particularly for keeping us safe with the rain and the road traffic. Racing next week is on the Whitfield Road, turning around at Long Lane and finishing on Graves Road. Hopefully it’s a bit drier.

Demo a gravel bike!

Many thanks to all of you that came along to have a look at All Terrain Cycles’ Mansfield Gravel Expo on Saturday. One of the highlights was a chance to go for a demo ride on one of the gravel bikes brought to town by Specialized.

The even better news is the bikes are still here! If you’d like to try one out over the next week or two, call into All Terrain Cycles and have a chat to Shannon, Bruce or Andrew.

Or maybe join the weekly ATC Gravel Ride on Monday at 5.30 and take one for a ride then. We have the Specialized Diverge STR in 52cm, 54cm, 56cm and 58cm available. (Although Bruce already has his name on the 58 for this Monday night’s ride.) We also have the Specialized Crux Expert (lightweight carbon CX bike) in 54cm and 56cm, plus the Specialized Turbo Creo 2 Expert (e-bike) in 54cm, 56cm and 58cm.

Just bring your shoes and pedals.

And finally…

Did you know the club has a WhatsApp feed? It’s a quick and easy way to communicate to other members about all sorts of things, like bikes, rides, riding bikes, races, sunglasses, weather, nuclear non-proliferation treaties and the viability of foam rubber fence posts.

It’s also a valuable source of information on other club members. For instance, did you know that Ian Conrick is only the second MMBCC roadie to win three races in a row? The other MMBCC ‘threepeater’ is local electrician and lapsed cyclist Craig Veneman; but Craig’s were all in one season, which makes them more important. There’s also the fact that Craig barracks for St Kilda whereas Ian follows Geelong, so there you go.

Send Bruce an SMS on 0419 533 120 to get invoived. Especially if you have an idea on how to make these bleedin’ fence posts stay up!

MMBCC News - Sun 13 Oct - And we're rrracing...

Don’t forget…

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held at the Mansfield Hotel at 7pm this Wednesday 16 October.

Please RSVP to Cam Dobson on 0407 971 237 if you’d like to start with dinner from 6pm.

Start with consistency

By Damian Grundy

What a fantastic first night out for the Dirt Crits in the 2024-2025 season.

25 competitors with heaps of first timers and even an International competitor. It was a fun night for me and I hope everyone else had a great time.

One of the many highlights was the five female competitors. Great to see Serena, Nicole, Ariel, Rachael and Miranda. I hope to see you all regularly up there.

There were a number of younger competitors upgrading from Junior Dirt Crits, welcome and good luck for the season. For the 2024-2025 season the club is kicking off new season trophies for the Junior age category riders. There will be prizes for these categories at the end of the season.

The course and Race Site are in great shape after the recent rejuvenation works. We can’t thank Ant Bateup enough for all of his work. THANKS HEAPS ANT! And to those that gave you a hand!

Plus the working bee last weekend has made an amazing change to the Start/Finish Area, a huge lift in appearance and the feel to the place, so also a huge thanks to everyone who helped out with that.

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done so keep your eyes open for the next working bee day.

The racing for the night was our now traditional first week event of a 2 Lap Consistency Test. The winner on the night is the person who can complete 2 timed laps with the least time difference for the comparative times.

Have a look at the results sheets. It was a VERY competitive night. The eventual winner and 1st place getter for the evening was Reuben Bateup. He completed 2 laps in EXACTLY the same elapsed time of 9 min 51 sec. 0 seconds difference. I believe that that is an unbeatable result 😊

In Equal 2nd place were 3 first time Adult Dirt Crit riders all with a miserly 1 second difference, including the 2 highest placed women Serena Moring and Nicole Hoebergen. Also in equal second was Ben Ross. I think Ben deserves a special mention, still an U15 competitor and looking very quick. I predict it won’t be too long before he can show most, if not all of us older folks a clean pair of heels.

Luke Vivash managed a remarkable 3 second difference which on any other night would have potentially been a winning score but this night it was good enough for 5th place only - that’s cruel.

Other special mentions:

• Fastest 2 laps combine on the night – Cam Dobson.

• Fastest 2 lap Female – Serena Moring

• Fastest 1 lapper – Ryder Chadd

Here’s a link to the results.

Thanks everyone for turning out. I look forward to seeing you all for the second XC night in a fortnight’s time.

Busfleet are going to operate a shuttle service for bike riders from Mansfield to Mt Buller for the coming Summer.

It’s called the Locals Day Out. With a day pass you can get on and off the bus, with your bike, at different points between town and the hill, including Delatite Winery, the Hunt Club in Merrijig and Mirimbah.

And for MMBCC members, Busfleet are offering a discount on the 8am service.

Use this link to their booking portal and put in the code MMBCC when it’s time to pay.

Go to their website for more details.

Please note: the discount only applies to the 8am departure from Mansfield. 

Dirt Critters is back this week

By Tim Ross and Luke Vivash

A reminder that Dirt Critters resumes this Tuesday afternoon.  Meet at Rifle Butts Reserve on Tuesday after school – 4pm for Grade 3 and younger, 4:45pm for Grade 4 and older. 

Dirt Critters is for primary-school age kids who like to ride and learn new skills in a fun and social environment. 

Don't forget that a current Auscycling membership is required for all participants, but otherwise no charge.  Potential new riders are most welcome to come along for a look and ask any questions.

It is good to see that some of our older (ie: secondary age) ex-Dirt Critters have moved up to senior Dirt Crits which starts at 6pm on Tuesday afternoons and are giving some of the adults and older kids a run for their money.

The Alpine Cycling Club Junior MTB series kicks off next Saturday (19th October) in Bright.  These are friendly and relaxed events; there is no better place to give racing a go!  We expect a number of Dirt Critters will be entering making this a good chance to ride with friends. Details including entries here. 

For more details please email us.

A perfect start

By Dave Jagger

A perfect evening welcomed the start of the 2024/25 road cycling season.

A warm day, no breeze and a setting sun greeted the riders as they assembled on the Mt Buller road. They were all wondering how they would perform, had they trained enough during the winter, who was fitter. These were all unanswered questions that the riders were thinking about and would only be answered only as they crossed the finish line, 21 km away.

It wasn’t just the riders; the handicapper was also wondering who was in form and who had an easy winter.

First to start were Micala Jacob and Judy Duke. It was Judy’s first race for a few years and it was good to see her back.

Dave Jagger, Dave Bock and Ian Conrick were next to head off keen to keep a gap between them and the next group of Craig Wilson, Simon Hall and Tim Hall.

Jason Parker, Steve Curnow and Janine Appleton only started a minute later, and they had the advantage that they could still see the taillights of the earlier group as they headed out. This was no advantage as a minute was still too much of a gap for them and they never managed to catch them.

The race may have only been 21 km long but just after the start was a short steep climb that can make or break a group of riders. Stay together and the ride back to Mansfield along the Barwite Road would be fast and easy. Split up and it’s a long, slow, trek back by yourself.

Jarrod Appleton was able to join the next group of riders of Ryder Chadd, Steve Duke and Darren Bakker as they caught him but his partner, Adrian Dowd was not able to hang on.

The part to the finish is a 5km rollercoaster ride down into Mansfield. Carl Simmons and Bruce Halket must have thought they still had a chance as they were still in front of the fastest group of Andy Garrett, Shayne Kirby and Talia Appleton.

Out on his own was the fastest rider of the night, Jake Lay but was he quick enough? In a 45-minute race, could he really catch up 18minutes?!

The fist race of the season is always hard to predict as there are so many unanswered questions.

How fast were Jake and Talia after their European races?

How good were the new riders of Shayne Kirby and Carl Simmons?

What had Andy Garrett been doing over the winter?

In the end, the handicapper did a good analysis with all the riders crossing the finish line within a few minutes of each other.

Ian Conrick held onto the lead for most of the race followed by David Jagger, David Bock and Micala Jacobs. Jake Lay came in with the quickest time of 27 minutes, 54 seconds.

Many thanks to all our marshals and officials for keeping us safe and well-organised and to Dave Moore for his handicapping.

Here are the results.

Next week it’s the rolling hills and river flats of Howes Creek Road.

Upcoming Events

Seymour Broadford CC - lots of road races on Saturday afternoons and on Tuesday evenings starting in November. Download the full summer 24/25 calendar here.

Mansfield Gravel Expo - 19-20 Oct - that’s next weekend!

Lake Hume Challenge - Sunday 16 February

MTB National Championships, Mt Buller - 12-18 March 2025

UCI Masters MTB World Championships, Cairns - 14-18 May 2025

MMBCC News - Sun 6 Oct - Thank you & reminders...

Thanks!

A heartfelt thank you to everyone who turned out on Saturday morning for the working bee at Riflebutts. Everyone did a fantastic job and it now looks amazing around the start finish area!

Reminder 1: Dirt Crits

Daylight Saving has started so the first XC Dirt Crits will be this Tuesday 8 October. 6pm start.

And a reminder that an Auscycling membership is required for ALL participants; either a Four Week Free Trial if you’ve not previously been a member, or a Race Off-road or Race All Discipline membership. If you’re an existing member, please make sure your membership is current and active.

For more details on an AusCycling membership go to the MMBCC Join Now page or you go directly to the AusCycling Membership page.

Reminder 2: Dirt Critters

First official night is Tuesday week (second week of term) but we’ll be there this Tuesday 8 October for anyone who wants to come up and say hi.

And a reminder that an Auscycling membership is required for ALL participants; either a Four Week Free Trial if you’ve not previously been a member, or a Race Off-road or Race All Discipline membership.

For more details on an AusCycling membership go to the MMBCC Join Now page or you go directly to the AusCycling Membership page.

Reminder 3: Road Racing

Road racing starts this coming Thursday 10 October; rego from 5.30, racing starts at 6pm.

Entries will open on Entry Boss at 9am tomorrow morning.

And a reminder that an Auscycling membership is required for ALL participants; either a Four Week Free Trial if you’ve not previously been a member, or a Race All Discipline membership.

For more details on an AusCycling membership go to the MMBCC Join Now page or you go directly to the AusCycling Membership page.

Reminder 4: the AGM

The MMBCC AGM will be held at the Mansfield Hotel at 7pm on Wednesday 16 October.

Please RSVP to Cam Dobson on 0407 971 237 if you’d like to start with dinner from 6pm.

Are there any changes you want the club to make? Is there something not being done that you think should be done? Is there something we’re doing you think we shouldn’t?

This is your chance to have your say and get involved! All the Executive Committee positions will be declared vacant and nominations are open to members.

Upcoming Events

ATC Gravel Expo - Sat 19 & Sun 20 Oct

Gravelista - Sun 27 Oct

Vic MTB Championship Series - Nov to Feb

MMBCC News - Wed 2 Oct

The MMBCC Summer of Cycling for 2024/2025 is about to start…

Dirt Crits starts next week!

By Damian Grundy

Yep it's that time again.

Daylight Savings kicks in on Sunday and the first Dirt Crits will be Tuesday 8 October.

The Trail Fairies have been hard at work repairing and renovating some of the trails; so far that’s included much of the XC Loop, Critters and some of Joyride. More will be done in coming weeks!

This Saturday morning I'd love to see as many of you Dirt Crit types as possible at 9am at Rifle Butts MTB Park to do a clean up of the race site. Grass cutting, raking trails, a general tidy up of fallen branches, etc. It might stretch to two hours of your time.

Please wear suitable work clothes:

• Bring a hat;

• Bring gloves; and

• Bring a rake if you have one.

There will be a quantity of smaller, fire-suitable timber that we could remove if you have a trailer and a fire at home needing fuel.

Please SMS Damian on 0411 045 771 if you can be there.

See you ALL there.

Road racing starts next week too.

By Alex Green

We’re all set to start road racing Thursday week, 10 October.

The Commissaires have been busy renewing their qualifications and (almost unbelievably) we already have all our permits!

Here is the duty roster. Please check when you’re rostered on.

Once again, all entries are online through Entry Boss. The duty roster for each race is on the Entry Boss page for that race too. Entries for each Thursday race will open at 9am Monday.

Dirt Critters starts soon too.

By Tim Ross and Luke Vivash

Dirt Critters is for primary-school age kids who like to ride and learn new skills in a fun and social environment.

We meet at Rifle Butts Reserve on Tuesday after school – 4pm for Grade 3 and younger, 4:45pm for Grade 4 and older. 

Secondary school kids are encouraged to move up to senior Dirt Crits which starts at 6pm.

First official night is Tuesday 15th (second week of term) but we’ll be there on Tuesday 8th (next Tuesday) for anyone who wants to come up and say hi.

An Auscycling membership is required for all participants.

For more details, please send us an email,

MMBCC News - Sun 15 Sep

AGM

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held at the Mansfield Hotel at 7pm on Wednesday 16 October.

Please RSVP to Cam Dobson on 0407 971 237 if you’d like to start with dinner from 6pm.

Dirt Crits

MTB racing at Riflebutts MTB Park will start for Adults on Tuesday 8 October at 6pm.

Junior Dirt Critters will likely start a week later on Tuesday 15 October. Time to be confirmed.

Summer Road Racing Series

Road racing will start on Thursday 10 October at 6pm with a lap of the Barwite Loop. The duty roster is available here (keep an eye on it, there might be changes before the first race) and the full calendar and Entry Boss links will be up soon.

ATC Gravel Ride will change to Monday

With Dirt Crits about to start on Tuesday nights, the weekly ATC Gravel Rides will move to Monday nights, starting on Monday 7 October.

Congratulations Elise!

In case you’ve been living under a rock, Elise Empey finished 9th in the Elite Women’s Downhill at the MTB World Championships in Andorra a couple of weeks back.

Here’s a roundup of the Worlds from PinkBike and Elise gets a mention. And here’s a brief interview after qualifying in 2nd place for the Loudenvielle World Cup a week later, where she finished 7th.

Lachy’s Lap of Oz

EF ProCycling’s Lachlan Morton is riding around Australia, raising funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation along the way. As of Sunday afternoon he’s almost made it to Western Australia, having covered just over 35% of the total distance. You can see his progress here.

ProVelo Super League

The National Road Series is no more. But next year it’ll be replaced by the ProVelo Super League, running from January to March. And SBS have announced that they’ll broadcast all the races!

Presentation Night

Thanks to everyone who came along to the Mansfield Hotel last night to celebrate a great summer of racing! All the details, including points scores, are below.

Thanks also to all the crew at the Mansfield Hotel. And to the MMBCC Exec for organising the night.

Fun Fact: racing starts again in 8 weeks! Time to dust off the bike, or rather… bikes, and get training!

Summer Road Race Series

The Mayor of Jamieson, Darren ‘The Baron’ Bakker, has finally won the road trophy after being a consistent racer since the formation of the club.

L to R: Dave Jagger, 2nd; Darren Bakker, 1st; Bruce Halket, 3rd.

Women’s Road Trophy

Ruby Dobson added to her trophy collection by earning the most points for the Women’s Road trophy.

L to R: Ruby Dobson, 1st; Micala Jacobs, 2nd.

Dirt Crits

Dave Bock’s consistency has triumphed again! Bocky took the win ahead of a couple of Gravity Young Guns, Reuben Bateup and last year’s winner, Archie Smith.

L to R: Dave Bock, 1st; Reuben Bateup, 2nd.

Alain Guerin Memorial Crossover Trophy

For the first time ever we have a tie! Darren Bakker and Dave Bock will share the Crossover Trophy for the next year!

L to R: Darren Bakker and Dave Bock - joint winners!

MMBCC News - Wed 31 Jul

SUMMER PRESENTATION NIGHT

It’s taken a while for us to get organised but Summer Presentations for the 2023/24 race season will be held at the Mansfield Hotel on Thursday 15 August.

Presentations will start at 7pm. But… please come along for dinner, starting at 6.

The club will shout each member a drink.

Plus… we’ll shout all Junior members DINNER and a drink (In case you’re wondering, that will be a NON-alcoholic drink - Ed.)

If you would like to come for dinner, you need to RSVP with Janine via SMS on 0428 150 800.

MMBCC News - Tue 21 May

“A mountain bike is like your buddy.
A road bike is your lover.”
Sean Coffey.

Jake Lay GoFundMe

For those of you that road race on Thursday nights, you’ll have met Jake Lay. He drives over from Euroa each week to give us a flogging. He did really well in our Tour back in March too!

He’s aiming higher now. He’s been offered a ride with a Belgian U23 team and needs a hand to get himself to Europe. Click here for details.

Wahoo Kickr Core for sale

Ryan Schultz has a direct-drive smart trainer for sale. It’s a bargain!

ATC Gravel Ride

Tonight will be the first All Terrain Cycles Gravel Ride.

Meet Bruce and Wayne at ATC shop at 5.30 pm for an hour long ride. Sausage sizzle and recovery refreshments afterwards; probably.

Vic Schools MTB Series

By Tim Ross

Auscycling are running the Victorian Schools MTB series again this year with details just to hand.

The series consists of four events, one per month from June to September, on a Sunday (except that the last event is a Sat/Sun double-header). It is similar to the Alpine Cycling Club races that a number of our kids participated in over the summer, but all cross country rather than a mixture of cross country and downhill. As with the summer series, kids can do the whole series or just pick and choose dates that work for them.

A large number of Mansfield kids from years 2 to 11 participated in the series last year. Our experience was of a well-organised event that was fun for the kids and prioritises participation, although the competition is keen!

Go to www.auscycling.org.au/page/mountain-bike-schools-stateterritory-series for more details, including dates, venues and the series guide.

Contact me if you have any queries. Hopefully we can get a group of Dirt Critters to take part this year.

MMBCC News - Sun 24 Mar

“Ned Flanders: You were bicycling two abreast?
Homer Simpson: I wish. We were bicycling to a lake.”
The Simpsons, “Dangerous Curves”, Season 20, Episode 5.

Dirt Critters coming to an end

By Tim & Luke

For our final Dirt Critters THIS TUESDAY, we will;

• Meet at Rifle Butts Reserve at 4pm (BOTH the younger and older groups);

• Have a quick ride around some of the trails there;

• Ride down to the Botanic Park via Rifle Butts Road, Monkey Gully Road and Highett Street;

• Have a BBQ tea; and

• Finish up at around 5:45pm (parents to collect their kids from the Botanic Park).

We should have a couple of 'Jigsaw Jumps' at Botanic Park for kids who'd like to have a go.

We need plenty of parent riders to ride with the kids so that they get safely down to Botanic Park. Thanks in advance to our wonderful parent helper riders.

We also need a couple of volunteers (perhaps parents who aren't riding) to head down to Botanic Park and cook a BBQ ready for our arrival. We will organise the food, etc. If you are able to help in this way please let us know via email.

Looking forward to wrapping up a great summer of Dirt Critters. See you on Tuesday!

MTB Nationals at Awaba NSW

By Kate Stonnill

By all accounts it was a technical, “janky” course. I was glad they were all in one piece by the end of the weekend, as were their bikes!

• Elise - 2nd in Elite Women.

• Matt - 24th in Elite Men, made up 15 sec from his seeding run. (That’s him in the black kit.)

• Zac - 30th in Junior Men but changed before I could get photo.

Final Dirt Crits

As has often been the case this season, a storm last Tuesday forced another Dirt Crits cancellation.

Hopefully, this coming Tuesday’s last Dirt Crits for the season, a Gravity Enduro, will go ahead without any weather interruptions.

A perfect Autumn evening

By Dave Bock

Perfect Autumn conditions greeted the sixteen cyclists fronting up for the final Thursday evening race for the MMBCC Summer Road Race Series.

For the bunch of four riders setting off first, as the Limit group, Ian Conrick, Dave Jagger, Dave Bock, and John Eisner, the task was straight forward; head out on the Mansfield-Whitfield Road, turn around at the Sawpit Gully Road intersection, then race back and swing left to the finish line in front of the Mansfield Showgrounds. All this while working together to keep their speed high enough to avoid being overtaken by the chasing riders.

The first trio of chasers, with a time gap of four and a half minutes to close down, were Janine Appleton, Steve Curnow and Craig Wilson.

Tim Ross and Adrian Dowd followed four minutes later. Setting off ten minutes after Limit, the quartet of Steve Duke, Mick Pearce, Carl Simmons and Dave Moore had a minute and half on the Block pair of Damian Grundy and Dave Empey. With a minute to close down to catch Block, in a solo effort, and twelve and half to overtake Limit, Andy Garrett, the one Scratch rider, faced a huge task to have a shot at the win.

After the turnaround, seeing the gaps back to chasing groups, Limit began to think they might be in with a shot.

At the 80km sign coming into town, with not a chase in sight, they dared to dream of a win as they turned left into Battery Road.

They ceased to be a team and became competitors! Ian Conrick took the win ahead of Dave Bock, Dave Jagger and John Eisner.

Over two minutes later, the first of the chasers crossed the line with Carl Simmons taking fifth and fastest time of 42.25. Then came Pearce, Moore, Ross, Dowd and Appleton. Block and Scratch finished in the order they started.

A big thanks to all the volunteer Marshals and Commissaires, particularly the non-racers, who give up their time so others can.

Here are the results and many thanks again to Tony Copland for his pics. Another great season of images - thanks very much for all your snaps Tony!

With Easter/Good Friday holiday traffic expected to be an issue next week, that was the final race of the MMBCC Summer Road Race Series.

Thanks to everyone who helped organise the races, to all those that officiated and all those that competed.

Keep your eyes out for news of the summer series presentations soon. That’s when we’ll find out who won the Summer Road Race Series, the Road Race Women’s Trophy, Dirt Crits and the Alain Guerin Memorial Crossover Trophy.

This weekend’s results…

From the 2024 Gravity Enduro Victorian State Championship and round 3 of the Victorian Enduro Tour.

• Rueben Bateup - 3rd (out of 17) in Under 15 Men.

• Ant Bateup - 9th (out of 30) in Veteran Men - 35 seconds slower than Rueben!

• Archie Smith - 14th (out of 38) in Under 21 Men.

• Adam Baker DNSed after discovering his frame was broken!

Well done all.

Roof racks for sale

This week’s road race winner, the bloke who claims he’s half an inch too tall to be a midget wrestler, has some roof racks for sale.

Finally…

Notification has just come through that the Ridley Fenix scheduled to be ridden on the Tour of Flanders Sportive ride next Saturday won’t arrive in time. It’s been swapped out for a Scott Addict with Ultegra Di2. Forecast is for rain - proper Flanders weather! :)

Upcoming Event…

MMBCC News - Sun 17 Mar

CONGRATULATIONS…

to Elise Empey for her silver medal at the Downhill Nationals in NSW yesterday.

And to Talia Appleton for winning A-grade Women at the Mansfield Hotel Tour p/b Orcoda today, winning all three stages!

Final call…

The Ventou portal for club kit is about to close! Email Bruce for the password, then click this link to go to the Ventou website to order your kit.

So far it’s known there have been speed suits, jerseys, bibs and at least one mountain bike jersey ordered.

Pink defeats Gravity Enduro

Dirt Crits Race Report - Tue 12 Mar

By Damian Grundy

The Empeys chose Pink over mountain biking! What is the world coming to?!

In their absence the Baker Boys (Adam and Finn) stepped up to set and mark two courses for the evening. Cam Dobson and Peter Carman stepped in to help with the starts and finish timing and so the Gravity Enduro night proceeded.

And so the crew rode themselves to the top of Stage 1 and competition was underway.

Ant Bateup and Archie Smith tied in Stage 1 with both finishing on 2 minutes 6 seconds. Adam Baker and Ruben Bateup were then in equal second place on this run with a time of 2.14.

In Run 2, a longer and more pedaling course, Ant Bateup put the pedal to the metal and clocked 3.18, 4 seconds clear of Archie Smith with Ruben Bateup a clear 3rd on 3.25.

All up it was a close result at the front of the field.

Overall Ant Bateup finished with a combined time of 5 minutes 24 seconds, 4 seconds clear of Archie Smith in second place with a combined time of 5.28.

Ruben Bateup was third on 5.39; Finn baker 4th on 5.49; Rylan Fox 5th on 6minutes even.

Special mention to the first woman on the night, Arial Stava with a combined time of 9.54.

Here are the results.

Only two more weeks of Dirt Crits left in the season - see you next week for the final XC night!

Riding bikes and bulls

By Ian Conrick

Writing an article for a Thursday night bike race should be pretty straight forward.

Well… let me tell you the footy is on the TV, Carlton has attacked Richmond and is leading by 10 points,

I’m also thinking Dusty Martin has had a bit more ink put on over the off season and then out of nowhere an ad for Yencken’s Hardware pops up on the screen that reminds me I should get a couple of bags of blood and bone for my garden. Anyway, back to the bones of the race…

Don’t be disturbed or bewildered if you read the term “I think” more than once in this report. Also the expression “those blokes” would refer to the other 20 riders that started in the race. Not to forget “that mongrel“ would be a term referring to the handicapper and not a pair of size 10 work boots from Yencken’s Hardware.

By now the race is well and truely under way l think the course is out the Mansfield -Whitfield road to a Long Lane turn around back to Barwite Rd down to the Old Tolmie Rd; another turn around then retracing Barwite Road and back into town, allowing for the additional turn arounds. I think Strava had me on about 25-40 km by now although I recall not recalibrating my computer.

Look, apart from a bit of a head wind coming back into town nothing was going to stop “The Bull Rider” - yes, young Jake Lay used to follow the rodeo circuit; riding bare back on those powerful half-mad outback bulls. But now that I’ve talked him up, I’ve checked the results and realised he came second!

First and fastest was Stuart Darling, a visitor for the night, who started with Jake and, in my defence, in the green kit they wore, looked like Jake’s twin. Stuart averaged 41.8 km/h over the 26km.

Ian Conrick (half an inch too big to be a midget wrestler) held on for 3rd place.

As usual we thank the volunteers, friends and families for helping out in running our events also to the Brown family and staff from the Mansfield Hotel for their ongoing support to the club and cycling community.

Here are the results and thanks again to the maestro, Tony Copland, for the pics.

Next weeks race will be the last of the Summer Road Race Series, starting again at the Botanic Park, out to Sawpit Gully Road and back, finishing again on Mt Battery Road near the Showgrounds.

MMBCC News - Sat 9 Mar

“Few articles ever used by man have created so great a revolution in social conditions as the bicycle”
US Census Bureau Report, 1900.

Club kit still available.

The Ventou portal for club kit is open for one more week! Email Bruce for the password, then click this link to go to the Ventou website to order your kit.

So far it’s known there have been speed suits, jerseys, bibs and at least one mountain bike jersey ordered.

Only one week to go…

Dirt Critters News

The Vivash family had an incredible experience at Thredbo last week, competing in the Australian MTB Interschools, alongside 1200 other competitors (across all divisions).

Both kids competed in all 4 events - Miles was 15th in Norco All Mountain, 20th in Fox Flow Motion Cup and 12th in the Oakley Cannonball Downhill. Impressive results for a Grade 2 student competing against Grade 3 and 4s.

Sienna, also in Division 5, took out podium finishes in all events - 1st in the Fox Flow Motion cup, and in what was her favourite event, 1st in the Cannonball Downhill beating her competitors by a whopping 1min 45 sec.

They both backed it up with 1st place wins at the Alpine Cycling Club Gravity race in Albury on Saturday.

Go Team Vivash!

the Long Lap Extravaganza

By Damian Grundy

First of all a very special thanks to the trail marking crew! The course used at least 95% of the available trails in the park. The long lap was 6.4km in length and the short lap 2.4km. It’s a demanding course with several very technical and physically demanding sections.

On the night the fast guys were tackling two long laps, the intermediate riders were on one long and one short and the least experienced got to tackle just one long lap.

There was a good turn out of 14 competitors - check out the results here. As usual with the Irish handicaps the start was time staggered.

At the end it was Mr-All-Terrain-Cycles Shannon Rademaker trundling into the finish in first place. Rylan Fox finished second 57 seconds later and David Bock was third 38 seconds after Rylan. The average speeds were down for everyone on the night, a testament to the toughness of the course.

Congratulations to all competitors and a special thanks to Adam Baker for taking care of the timing.

Second in the third last

By Janine Appleton

For the third last race of the season and a week before hosting the three stage Mansfield Hotel Tour, the Cycling Club started at the Nutrien, Buller Road and raced the Barwite Loop in an anticlockwise direction. With five riders from Seymour and most of the regulars attending, the precious points in the local championship would be hotly contested.

Dave Bock was first to roll out with a tail wind, followed by Ian Conrick and myself two and a half minutes later. 

Knowing the next group of Tim Hall, Adrain Dowd, Craig Wilson and Adam Baker were only 90 seconds behind, I was determined to get to the top of Coombes Hill at my pace. Ian was quick to regret the massive ride to Whitfield and back earlier in the week when he encouraged me to leave him on Graves Road.

Adrian Dowd was too strong for his group and caught me a few kilometres onto Barwite Road, where the head wind was causing all the riders to go into a higher level of hurt. The three, first-time Mansfield event riders of Ryan Schultz, Ian Baker and Bret Bender were caught by Darren Bakker, Steve Duke, Mick Pearce and Dave Moore and the Mansfield crew took no hangers on. 

It wasn't until 1.5 km to go on Mansfield Whitfield Road, near Dead Horse Lane, that the now combined group of Jake Lay, Talia Appleton, Bruce Halket, Chris Miller, James Hender and Michael Thomson thought they had a chance at a place. It was a tight squeeze around the corner into Mt Battery road, where full gas was applied for the uphill finish.  

Adrian Dowd was able to pull away easily from my poor, sprint-finish legs. The handicapper was applauded tonight as 3rd place, Michael Thompson was only another 8 seconds behind me, with a mixed group of 9 riders finishing in the next 30 seconds, with Jake Lay taking out fastest time. 

Thanks to the Mansfield Hotel for the appetisers for everyone and their weekly special $25 prize - going to Jenni Sparnon this week for making herself available to marshal, at very short notice, despite never participating in races.

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

Just a reminder to all vehicles on the road on this coming weekend - we have a few hundred competitors visiting for the Mansfield Tour, with Stage one on Saturday morning around Stoneleigh road and Merinda Way,

Stage two on Saturday afternoon on Mansfield Whitfield Road, Barwite road and Old Tolmie road; and Stage 3 on Sunday morning on Mt Buller road finishing at the top of Mt Buller. Please be patient with all the cyclists and official cars over the weekend. We would like to continue to receive the wonderful feedback we always get - a safe, well-organised event run by super friendly, community volunteers.

prize revealed

Exciting news! A new prize will be awarded to the winners of each of the Summer-long competitions run by the MMBCC; both the Summer Road Race Series and Dirt Crits.

With many thanks to an anonymous benefactor, the winner of each series will now receive a new Giro time trial helmet, just like that one in the images below.*

Second place gets two helmets!

*Possibly not. This should really have been published on the first of April.

MMBCC News - Sun 3 Mar

“Training is like fighting with a gorilla.
You don’t stop when you’re tired.
You stop when the gorilla is tired.”
Greg Henderson

Club kit is GO!

The Ventou portal for club kit is now open! Email Bruce for the password, then click this link to go to the Ventou website to order your kit.

We’ll use All Terrain Cycles as the address (somewhere central in town where you can collect it). Or you can pay a bit extra and have it sent straight to your address.

A BIG week for Dirt Critters

By Tim Ross

Dirt Critters enjoyed a Gravity Enduro night at Rifle Butts Reserve last Tuesday. Course setter Luke Vivash sent the younger kids down the Critters course, with Dayna clocking the fastest time. He then set the older kids a course from the very top of the hill. Not sure what tracks they used but there were some astonishingly quick descents over the two passes, with Blake just pipping Micah for fastest time with Cooper, Miles and Jarrah hot on his heels.

A large group of kids from Mansfield Steiner School participated in the Falls Creek MTB inter-schools on Friday. This is a well-organised and fun event on a great XC course. Cheered on by enthusiastic parents, all the kids gave 100% and enjoyed their races.

Podiums to Ruby Rademaker, Rueben Bateup, Keeva Morris-Webb and Edwin Morphett.

Coming up is the next race in the Alpine Cycling Club’s Junior MTB series. This time it’s at Albury’s Nail Can Hill track and takes the form of a Gravity Enduro next Saturday 9 March. As we’ve noted before, this series is well-organised and participation focused. And inexpensive, with just $10 entry.

Dirt Crits Gravity… finally!

By Kate Stonnill

Senior Dirt Crits finally had another Gravity Enduro night on the 27th after the last one had to be cancelled due to weather.

Zac Empey designed a new course, with a new starting point. He said the top section was quite technical but otherwise was a very fast track. All riders rode the downhill track twice, and interestingly the older the rider the bigger the improvement on the second run down.

It was great to see the return of some of the younger riders. With 18 riders in total the more technical track definitely seemed to favour the more experienced downhillers. The timed descents were added together for one total time.

Sadly Will Anderson took a wrong turn at the top of the first run and designed his own adventure.

Adam Baker and Luke Vivash came in 6th and 7th respectively. The Podium was then followed with Rueben Bateup in 5th (3:25), Zac Empey 4th (3:24), Archie Smith 3rd (3:17), Shannon Rademaker 2nd (3:16) and the top step being easily won by Ant Bateup in 1st with a time of 3min :11sec.

Ariel Baker again flying the banner for female mountain bikers.

The usual contest between Dave Bock and Steve Curnow continued again this week, with Bocky edging in front for the first time. Steve was possibly still recovering from his win at the Otway Odyssey on the weekend. Well done Steve.

A cool change, new course, some new faces, a couple of returning ones, plus old dogs with no tricks.

By David Bock

A drop in temperature to a pleasant 26*C, in the hour before Thursday’s race, was welcomed by the twenty two competitors gathered beside the cemetery, preparing to race. The 23 km course, consisting of two and a bit laps of the Stoneleigh Road - Merinda Way - Monkey Gully Road circuit, hadn`t been used for the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club`s Thursday evening racing before, so was something of an unknown quantity, particularly for the Handicapper. A slight wind also added to the uncertainty.

Two Dave`s, Dave Jagger, and Dave Bock, were the first to set off, as the Limit group, for the faster riders to try to chase down.

The next pair off consisted of Janine Appleton, racing after a bit of a hiatus, and Ethan Nealon, racing with the Club for the first time.

The following group splintered early, losing first Craig Wilson, then Steve Curnow. After dropping Adam Baker, Adrian Dowd and Ryan Schultz were able to work together for a while, before Ryan proved too strong and pulled away, so they all continued on solo.

Working more effectively as a group were Darren Bakker, Steve Duke, Mick Pearce, Carl Simmons, and Dave Moore, in his first race for a year or so.

The fastest competitors set off as two groups of four, the Block group of Bruce Halket, Dave Empey, Chris McKnight, and Chris Miller, having a two and a half minute head start over the Scratch bunch of Jake Lay, Talia Appleton, Dan Purcell, and Andy Garrett.

On the uphill run to the finish line, still clear of the chase, Dave Jagger opened up a ten second gap on Bocky, to take the win, not far ahead of a bunch sprint of seven, charging for third place. Ethan Nealon claimed that prize, ahead of Darren Bakker, Carl Simmons, Mick Pearce, Steve Duke, Adrian Dowd, and Ryan Schultz.

Just over thirty seconds later, Dave Moore crossed, to round out the top ten, five seconds in front of Dan Purcell, who claimed fastest time, crossing with Jake Lay.

Many thanks to the Commissaire, Allan Gerrans, and all the other officials and to Tony Copland for his images, below.

Here are the results.

Next week it’s the Barwite Loop.

With only three race left, the top ten of the current point score for the Summer Road Race Series sees Darren Bakker leading on 105 points ahead of this week’s winner, Dave Jagger on 81. They’re followed by Ruby Dobson on 78, Bruce Halket - 76, Jake Lay - 67, Andy Garrett - 65, Mick Pearce - 63, Tim Ross - 61, then Steve Curnow and Adrian Dowd on 59.