Congratulations to Daniel Friday who today finished third overall in Veterans at the Victorian Enduro Series race at Barjarg. Well done Dan!
Read on for updates on local mtb and road racing plus more...
Mountain Biking updates
Senior Dirt Crits Race 1 - 10 October 2016
After Dirt Crits was cancelled last week this was the first race of the season, according to the race organisers. Anthony, Adam and a few others may disagree...
A mass start was the format for the first of two races for the evening, the aim being to complete one lap in the fastest time possible. Matt Empey was first over the line, closely followed by Dan Friday and then there was a small distance back to Anthony Plummer.
In the second one lap race the riders were sent according to the reverse of their finishing order from Race 1. Ollie MacDonald led off the field and Matt Empey was the last to leave.
Ollie MacDonald was first over the line in 6:55 followed by his dad 14 seconds later. Jem Davies finished in 7:11 with Brett Stevens 4 seconds later. Dave Bock finished a second ahead of a fast finishing Bruce Halket in 7:20. There was a gap to Mike Davies and Anthony Plummer was 8 seconds further back. Dan Friday was a second slower than Anthony and 14 seconds faster than Matt Empey. Adam Baker wheelied down half the finishing straight and was overtaken by Matt near the finish line.
So, first place was Ollie MacDonald in 6:55, Will MacDonald second in 7:09 and Jem Davies 3rd in 7:11.
Results here.
Senior Dirt Crits Race 2 - 17 October 2016
Damian Grundy organised a handicap event for this week’s Dirt Crits. It was a mass start with riders completing one, two or three laps. Course selection was excellent with some climbing, flat sections and also a descent down Rubbish Run.
Junior riders: Elise Empey, James Griffin and Dan Friday made up the one lappers and it was a tight finish will Elise finishing in 7mins 56sec, holding off James by 1 second with Dan Friday another second back.
Mike Davies, David Bock, Brett Stevens and Mike Fischer completed two laps with a few riders opting for three laps instead. Mike led home the field in 15 minutes, with Brett 2nd in 15.09 (even though he looked like he’d dressed for success) and Dave a little further back in 16.06. Mike Fischer wasn’t familiar with the track therefore explored a few other tracks during the race.
With Matty Empey not competing, it was going to be a tough ask to challenge Daniel Friday (Snr). Dan finished ahead of the 3 lappers in 17.56 with Bruce Halket 13sec back in 18.09. There was a gap back to Jem Davies 20.27 with Anthony ‘the legs’ Plummer coming home in fourth place on his single speed. Warwick Bottrall, a newcomer to the club, rolled Jason Parker by 8 seconds, finishing in 21.06. Adam ‘spinner’ Baker was a bit over a minute behind Jason with David Jagger rounding out the field 13 seconds adrift of Adam.
Results here.
Tomorrow, the majority of the field will be completing an Irish Handicap based on their times over the first few races. However the majority will be riding an extra lap during the race.
Individual Time Trial, Chapel Hill Road, Thursday 20 October
When the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club hosts an Individual Time Trial, the article in the Courier usually goes on and on about how it’s the “Race of Truth” meaning that there’s nowhere to hide, that a TT gives a true indication of a rider’s strength and fitness. However, after last week’s article written by Ian Conrick, it seems the club is adopting a new moniker; the “Race of a Load of Old Cobblers!”
Resplendent in all sorts of aero gear, Josh Hopwood put everyone to the sword, again, in a time of 15 minutes and 17 seconds for the 11km along Chapel Hill Road out to Three Chains Road and back. But it wasn’t fast enough for the overall win.
“Mr Arms Aloft” for the evening went to Jarrod Appleton in a corrected time of 14.02; either side of him on the Delatite Hotel podium was Allan “Prize money” Gerrans, in 14.14 and Tim “6am” Hall in 14.33.
The rest of the top ten points-scoring positions went to Steve “I’m new to this” Curnow (14.57), Aaron “I never get time to train” Peterson (15.02), Ian “Honest as the day is long” Conrick (15.08), Josh “Skinsuit & disc wheel” Hopwood (15.17) Craig “Home ground advantage” Wilson (15.21), Bruce “Thank god there’s no skinsuit” Halket (15.37) and Jodie “Where’s my disc wheel?” Batchelor (15.39) who took out First Unplaced Female.
Special mention to Luke "I'm fairly new to this" Olver and Alex "Doughnut" Green who chose an interesting night to make a comeback to racing; and to Kieren "I'm really new to this" Payne who chose the ITT to make his racing debut! He must be mad.
Many thanks to our officials and volunteers: Di, Mauro, Dave, John and Tony. Many thanks also to the Boorolite CFA members for letting us use their shed as a marshaling area; a donation is on the way as a more substantial thank you.
The MMBCC’s Summer Series continues on Thursday 27 October with a Handicap Race along Whitfield Road, starting at the Botanic Park; entries via SMS to John on 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday.
Full results can be found here.
The Fastest Ways to Improve Your Climbing
David Heatley of Cycling Inform has recently had an article published on the Bicycling Australia website. It's definitely worth a read - here's the link.
On the Couch with Simon Gerrans and Mathew Hayman
We are back On the Couch in 2016 with a very special guest and it would be great if you could join us.
This year we are honoured to have 2016 Paris-Roubaix champion Mathew Hayman join myself On the Couch. Matt Keenan will be interviewing the two of us in a relaxed format over dinner and drinks at the Kooyong Lawn Tennis Club on Wednesday, 16 November 2016.
The night will provide an in-depth insight into Mat’s victory in Paris-Roubaix and his professional career which spans 17 years, the highs and lows of my season and an opportunity to support brain cancer research.
Our goal is to raise in excess of $20,000 for Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer and help fight this disease which kills more people under 40 than any other cancer and kills more children in Australia than any other disease.
We have some fantastic auction items up for grabs including signed leaders jerseys from all three Grand Tours in 2016. What an opportunity to purchase these individually or try to get the set! Auction items include:
- 2016 Giro d’Italia maglia rosa signed by Esteban Chaves
- 2016 Tour de France maillot jaune signed by Peter Sagan
- 2016 Vuelta Espana maillot rojo signed by overall winner Nairo Quintana
- 2017 Tour Down Under experience with thanks to ORICA-BikeExchange
To be redirected to the official booking website please click here.
I hope to see you at Kooyong,
Simon Gerrans.
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