Huge first night at Dirt Crits
We came (to Rifle Butts Mountain Bike Park).
We Raced.
The rest speaks for itself!
And if it doesn’t then: The handicapper was overrun by all the new names and had a meltdown but the race went ahead and some of the new guys took advantage of the obviously dodgy handicaps to run away and win.
Well done all. Super fantastic to see the new faces - including 8 women, a record for Dirt Crits!
Here are the results and thanks to Alex for the pics.
Wet, windy and hilly
By Talia Appleton
There were four groups lined up on what was a cold and wet Thursday night, for the second week of the summer series club racing. Luckily the rain passed just in time for the 6 o’clock start.
There were six ‘Did Not Start’s on the night, including four riders from the first two groups off, so this put the trio of Janine Appleton, Dave Jagger and Talia Appleton off first as Limit. Right from the start this front group were working well together and it didn’t look like the group behind of Allan Gerrans, Steve Curnow and Ian Conrick would catch them.
At the back end of the race Steve Brown was pulling fast turns that were 3-4 times longer than the others, making strong riders sprint onto the back after finishing their turn. Because this group was so strong, Cam Lachal, Jarrod Appleton, Justin Berry, Darren Bakker and John Lazarov were caught not far from the turn around. The joining of groups formed a large, fast pack to chase the others down.
Nearer to the end of the race, Janine, Talia and Dave were still in front. Dave pulled his last turn before swinging off 6km from the finish, then Talia sprinted away from Janine with 5km to go, hoping to ride solo to the finish and take the win.
Behind, the large group of 8 were closing down on all of the other riders. The last 5km of Howes Creek Road has many short but steep pinches, and all of the groups smashed up, with Steve Brown motoring up the road, to try to catch Talia and Janine.
But Talia and Janine were too far ahead with Talia coming in for first followed by Janine in second, Steve Brown third and fastest time for the night. Steve Duke fourth and Tom Macmunn rounding out the top five.
(Kudos to Justin Berry for a great ride. Firstly, he was ‘penalised’ three minutes for winning last week. Then on Thursday night the rest of his group this week didn’t turn up; so that he didn’t start alone, he was moved back another two minutes… effectively penalised five minutes! But he stayed with the faster group the whole race and finished tenth. Well done Justin! - Ed.)
Many thanks for our marshals and Commissaires for volunteering in wintry conditions. Here are the results and thanks to Tony Copland and Alex Green for the pics.
Next week’s race is the Graves Road Individual Time Trial.
Mixed surface social ride next weekend
By AJ Stephenson
Location: Fawcett Hall Café and Market
Date: 26 October
Time: 0900 (for coffee, ride starts when we’re all hydrated) Start and finish at Fawcett Hall Cafe.
Highlights: Great gravel roads, quiet sealed roads, GVRT (rail trail), some hills, Country Market with heaps of bargains and great food and coffee (based on last years experience)
Routes: Multiple route options that will hopefully meet many peoples desires.
About a year ago Donna and I sallied forth on our gravel bikes looking to explore Coles Creek Rd. With me in charge of navigation, the inevitable happened and we missed the rather obvious turn off. Following that blunder we continued on the GVRT and attempted to get back to Coles Creek Rd on any of the roads we came across. This led us up and down many small hills and ended with locked gates. Eventually we continued on past Yarck towards Alexandra. We turned left into Spring Creek Road and by this time were starting to get a little hungry, we were looking forward to a pie at the Bonnie Doon servo. A few Ks up Spring Creek Road we came across an oasis in the form of the Fawcett Hall Market. As a part of the market there was a café set up in the hall serving fantastic coffee, cakes and meals. So this year we are planning this as a social ride starting and finishing at the Markets so you can pick up a bargain after your ride and lunch.
GPX Routes to be added later: Long Loop 70klm 1100Vm; Shortish Loop 65klm 600Vm.
Long loop takes in a mix of gravel, sealed roads with a little rail trail (Maintongoon and Sonnnberg Road). Led by AJ.
Shortish Loop is a mix of gravel, sealed and more railtrail, with the option of a stop at Yarck for some more coffee. Led by Donna.
If you are very social-ride inclined, there is an option to tootle to Alexandra on Spring Creek Road and the rail trail and return.
Here is the link to the Facebook events page to register your interest.
Handicap entries
A quick word or two on entries, just for Handicap races…
We ask you to enter by 8pm on Wednesday so that John has enough time to calculate the handicaps. He needs to calculate the estimated speed of each rider and how well he thinks those riders will combine into a group.
The handicaps are calculated on your being there. Your absence throws the handicap calculations ‘out of whack’ reducing the chances of the group you were supposed to start with.
So if you decide not to race, even if it’s at the last minute, please let John know as soon as possible. Because he’ll need to redo the handicaps. And the more time he has to do this, the better they’ll be. Theoretically.