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Rob Curtis Memorial Hillclimb TT
By Kody Appleton
A memorial race, dedicated to Rob Curtis, was held by the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club last Thursday the 16th of January.
Rob was an outstanding athlete. He represented Australia in cross country skiing and was very successful in the early days of adventure racing.
Members of our club nicknamed him "The Columbian" partly due to his appearance but mainly because he was a seriously good hill climber. On our Saturday morning club bunch rides to Tolmie, Rob would never attack but he never got left behind, regardless of the pace. He would match the fastest riders pace and play the mental game, “are you really faster than me?”
Sadly, Rob passed away two years ago from leukemia but his passion lives on in a memorial race dedicated to him.
The race was a handicapped uphill time-trial held on the Mansfield-Whitfield Road starting at Sawpit Gully Road and finishing at Spring Creek Road. Ten gruelling kilometres with a simple aim, go as fast as you can.
Race night saw desirable conditions with a cool crosswind blowing away the lingering smoke. The time-trial began with Matilda Reeve leading out followed closely behind by Steve Curnow who, in a turn of events, had brought his mountain bike after riding Buller earlier in the day.
On Scratch was Bruce Halket, ready to set a new PB up the Tolmie Hill. After ten painful kilometres the results were in with fastest time going to Halket followed only seconds behind by Kody Appleton.
After Handicap, Talia Appleton won after smashing her Dad’s raw time, with her brother, Kody, coming second overall by just seven seconds. Third place went to Micala Jacobs.
Special thanks to Rob's wife Sue Curtis and good friends Peter and Nikki Coffey for attending and providing the riders with delicious post-race fruit and snacks. Thanks also to our Commissaire and race officials.
Here are the results and the latest points score.
Next week’s race is the 32km journey from the Botanic Park, up to Sawpit Gully Road, then around the Barwite Loop and finishing on Graves Road. Entries via SMS by 8pm Wednesday please.
Club kit order soon
We’ve been in contact with Ventou to finalise details of a few very small changes to the club kit. Their online shop should be open very soon.
We also hope to have some Ventou samples this week. They’ll be at the road race presentations this coming Thursday if they arrive in time.
Traffic Management Course
A couple of small changes to the traffic management course - one new enrolment but a likely withdrawal.
So we still have six spots left for the course on Saturday 15 February at the Mansfield Youth Centre, Erril Street, Mansfield.
Email Bruce to reserve your place.