This week:
- MMBCC hosting VDHS at Mt Buller;
- Final road race at Jamieson;
- The Delatite Dash;
- Proposed road race calendar and duty roster; and
- What's On in January.
Victorian State Downhill Series round at Mt Buller
The club is again hosting a round of the state DH series on Saturday 21 and Sunday 22 January. Please keep that weekend free as we'd love to have you involved! To put your hand up please call or SMS Ben Annear on 0424 453 789 or send him an email.
Remember, events like this and the Mansfield Tour are the fundraisers for our club, how we can afford to support the development of our juniors!
Jamieson Christmas Handicap - Thursday 15 December.
On a lovely, warm Thursday evening in Jamieson, 19 members of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club buckled up their helmets and clicked into their pedals in search of glory, fame and riches.
But none of those were available so we just raced our bikes for the fun of it instead.
Jamieson is a great venue for a road race, one of our favourites. The road to Sailor Bill’s Creek and back is 28 kilometres of gorgeous rolling roads along the Goulburn River, with lots of little undulations (no big steep hills) and lots of bends to hide from the group behind.
First off were the Limit group of Di Condie, Wil Wilson and David Jagger and they’d be joined after 8km by Kody Appleton who, due to age restrictions, can only race for 20km.
Next up was the 5.30 group of Belinda Cipa, Will MacDonald, Ian Conrick and Gus Muscara; the 4 minute group of Dave Moore, Anthony Plummer and Tim Hall; Block started at 1.30 and consisted of Jarrod Appleton, Rob Skinner, Tim Ross and Damian Grundy; and last to start was the Scratch group of Dan Purcell, Bruce Halket, Darren Bakker and Luke Olver.
Limit started strongly, taking smooth, fast turns and dividing the workload evenly. When Kody joined in with 20km to go, they continued to ride well.
Moore, Plummer and Hall looked the goods early when they caught the 5.30 group but while they had the numbers and the horsepower, they didn’t quite have the team work. Indicative was the look on Plummer’s face after doing a monster turn on the flat only to see MacDonald skip away up the next rise… not a happy plumber, aaah… electrician, er… Plummer.
Ross fell off the Block group after only a turn or two and, being unable to get onto Scratch when they came past, he settled into an anti-social session of individual time trial training. Perhaps the fast starts at 6am training rides don’t agree with him after all!
Scratch caught Block just after the Kevington Pub on the way home and then the larger group at about the 24km mark. Then Purcell attacked! After a little brain explosion, thinking the finish was just around the corner, he launched off the front and… got caught again after a kilometre. What an anti-climax.
Meanwhile Limit kept working away. Wilson tried to break up the group a few times as they neared Jamieson but Condie stayed patient and blasted past to take her second win of the season. Wil hung on for second ahead of Jagger and Appleton junior.
Appleton senior won the sprint from the main bunch to take fifth (and revenge for a few weeks ago) from Halket (who still managed to ride fastest time) ahead of Purcell, Olver, Bakker and MacDonald in tenth. Results can be found here.
Many thanks to our volunteer marshals and officials, including Leonie, Margaretanne, Dave, Allan and Aaron. Many thanks also to the crew at the Courthouse Hotel in Jamieson for the Christmas break-up feast.
Over the Christmas holidays there’ll be a holiday from racing too, with the first race due to be held on the Barwite Loop on Thursday 19 January. Check this page for the proposed calendar. It will be confirmed and completed with the duty roster once the VicRoads and Police permits come through.
Till then, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all Mansfield motorists for sharing the roads with us and to MMBCC members of all varieties… roadies, BMXers and mountain bikers.
Ho, ho, ho!
Delatite Dash - Monday 12 December
The Delatite Dash was the final event of the season, with fourteen riders taking on the challenge in the senior event.
The format was completing the same section of the Epic trail from Carters Rd to Mirimbah twice, with the winner being the rider with the smallest margin between their first and second laps.
The riders were led of by Mark Raymond in 20 second intervals with Jason sending them off and Ben Annear recording their finishing time.
Fastest first lappers were Mark 8:05, Lee 8:31 and Dan F (Snr) 8:41. Jo O'Shaughnessy, a visiting rider, was fastest female in 10:01, followed by Elise 11:18 and Bella 12:31.
The riders then returned via the road for their second lap.
Mark negative splitted his second lap by 1 second to take the overall win. He also took out fastest time with a combined time of 16:09 - a fantastic effort!
Dan F (Snr) was equal second with Rachael, both having a 6 second negative split. Lee and Jo finished in equal third, both with an 8 second negative split.
There were a few mechanicals had out on the course which impacted on Mike’s and Brett’s times.
It was great to see the junior riders so competitive over the shorter course, such as James Griffin, who was only one of 7 riders that completed their second lap in 10 minutes or less - great work James!
Here are the full results.
Afterwards, Damian had booked us in for a meal at the Hunt Club Hotel, Merrijig.
There’ll be a break now over Christmas and New Year, with the season beginning again on Monday 30th January for Seniors.
Have a Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!
Dirt Critters Delatite Dash
Dirt Critters ready for a start to the Delatite Dash at Carters Road.
Kate and Clarissa take a breath after "herding the cats!"
Proposed road race calendar for early 2017
The proposed January to May road race calendar has been published - click here. It's only proposed at the moment as we're still waiting on VicRoads and Police permits.
There are a few new courses and races including six Sunday morning races (these won't be part of the Summer Series points scores but stand alone series) with three of them hill climbs and three of them including some dirt!
And the Bakker Plumbing Handicap is back!
Please have a close look through the calendar as it includes the duty roster. Remember that if you find yourself rostered onto a date which you're not able to attend, it's your responsibility to find a replacement.
Also coming up in January
Road races are due to start again on Thursday 19 January. Senior Dirt Crits on Monday 30 January. Dirt Critters to be confirmed.
In the meantime, there's a bit on.
Road
Roads Nats at Buninyong from 4-8 January; and
Tour Down Under in Adelaide from 14-22 January.
Mountain Bike
National XC Series rounds 1 and 2, Orange, NSW, 7-8 January;
National DH Series round 1, Awaba, NSW, 13-15 January;
Victorian Downhill Series round 4 at Mt Buller, 21-22 January;
National XC Series rounds 3 and 4, Armidale, NSW, 28-29 January;
Finally...
Having mechanical issues with your bike? This is for you.