Dirt Crits is back!
This coming Tuesday 2 February, senior Dirt Crits is back!
See you at Riflebutts MTB Park at 5.30 for a 6pm start.
(Lots of Gravity Enduro racing this season! Keep up to date by subscribing to the newsletter. And while you’re doing that on the Homepage, check the MMBCC Events calendar!)
A big, wet, fast sprint
By Ewyn Carter
Wet roads and humidity greeted the 15 starters for the out and back course from Botanic Park to Sawpit Gully Road on Thursday night with a traditional staggered time handicap.
Each group contained evenly matched riders, all with strong fitness levels for the mid season. With the return of members from a good training block in the Adelaide Hills the week prior, a winner was hard to predict. The final time gap of 13.5 minutes over 25.5 kilometres for the last group (Chris Miller, Bruce Halket and Will Calvert-Jones) seemed achievable. This “scratch” group needed to take 32 seconds back per kilometre at a speed difference of 10.0 km/h, for a shot at the win.
(After a long, long, loooong, hiatus… welcome back to MMBCC racing to Dave Anderson!)
The leg out to Sawpit Gully Road saw each group maintain a consistent pace. The long straight roads provided clear vision for each rider to see the group ahead of them. The proverbial carrots on a stick.
By the halfway point, the pacing was consistent and all groups had a visible time gap as they crossed paths on opposite sides of the road. The race was well on its way to being a grandstand finish.
With a fast downhill return trip, 12km to run, the group of Mauro "Jock" Brega, Darren Bakker and the returning Jarrod Appleton put in a strong turn of speed to ever so slightly increase their advantage on the chasers behind. They began to pick off the groups ahead, setting themselves up for a real shot at the line on their own.
Meanwhile, the Scratch group were on song themselves mowing down groups and singles in their path, linking up with some extras, and forming a strong chase to surprisingly crack the paceline of Brega, Bakker and Appleton. Catching with 5km to go.
The diesel engine, Tim Ross, has been posting good numbers not only in the accounting practice but on the weekly morning rides making a welcome racing return with the ride of the evening. He and sprinter Anthony Plummer pushed their advantage consistently for the majority of the race and were only caught at the Barwite Road intersection by the large Scratch "snowball" that had formed behind. 2km to run and the race had come together.
The pace quickened on the final downhill rollers to the Botanic Park finish line. Those caught, formed up on the stronger riders' wheels to contest the finish in oily conditions. Halket pushed the pace hard up a smaller incline 1km out with the aim to disrupt the heart rates and minds of the fast finishers, but they hung on. With a few more surges and swarms in between, the group of 8 began the sprint at 57.0 km/h. Anthony, starting a fraction early 400 metres from the line, unwittingly provided a springboard for those behind to use his slipstream to their advantage. With 200 metres to go and a slight tail-cross from the left shoulder, the afterburners were lit and the riders accelerated. The speed topped out at 66.0 km/h and the final podium Ewyn Carter on the top step ahead of Chris Miller (Fastest time) and Will Calvert-Jones. Mauro Brega and Darren Bakker dead heated in fourth. Here are the results.
Congratulations to all competitors on a hard fought race held in excellent spirits considering the conditions.
On behalf of the riders we would like to thank the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club for organsing both the road and mountain bike local racing each week. Additionally all the club volunteers who roster to produce the events, particularly David Jagger installing a marquee cover this week for the entries table in monsoonal conditions.
Finally, thank you to the local community for allowing the club to use the roads we race on and the cycling conscious motorists who provide a safe environment for us to ride.
Thanks again to Tony Copland for the pics.
Delatite River Trail closed for repairs.
The Delatite River Trail will be having the damaged bridges repaired soon. It’ll be closed all day from Monday 8 February through to Friday 12 February.
Physical barriers will be in place and all trail users are asked to respect the closures while works are undertaken.
Pro roadie snippets
Trek Segafredo have become the first pro road team to pay the same base salary to both their Women’s and Men’s teams. Chapeau! It’s the best thing to happen to Trek in the pro peloton since they gave Lance the flick! (And in case you were wondering… the Mansfield Tour pays equal prizemoney to Men and Women.)
EF Education-Nippo released their new team kit for 2021. Although pink wouldn’t be our choice at MMBCC Towers, it at least shows some panache and will stand out in the pro peloton. And by comparison, shows once again how boring the GreenEDGE kit is!
Finally…
In the market for a new mountain bike? Pink Bike says these are the 7 things all new mountain bikes should have.