Here is an update of all things MMBCC this week…
GE2 - Sibling Rivalry
By Dave Empey
It was a cold and windy night to race on Tuesday 15 November; the only saving grace was the wind kept the mosquitoes at bay!
The second gravity enduro for the year was held at Rifle Butts. The course designers had done a great job with track marking so there were no extra kilometres for Ruby this week and no sibling argy bargy mid race.
It was, however, the Big Battle of the Siblings for the Empey, Hall, Dobson and Baker families.
The tracks were all wet from the weekend rain but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm. Racing was tighter than the week before but the top two positions didn’t change - Matt Empey taking the win with Sam Mosley 10 seconds behind.
Ant Bateup climbed the ladder and took third followed by Elijah McGuigan and Archie Smith rounding out the top five.
Here are the results.
The mayor of Jamieson was conspicuous by his absence. Hopefully he will return next week for the XC.
Howes Creek Handicap
By Micala Jacobs
Nice weather, school coming to an end and the opportunity to catch up with old mates were all conducive to a bit of a different field of racers this week. The clear sky was a bit of a red herring for the Southerly headwind that all the riders had to contend with for the first half of the race before the turnaround. A high light, for me anyway, was the greater number of women riders taking part this week. Instead of the usual 2 we had 7 on the start list.
Riders Chris Miller and Ruby Dobson were sent off Scratch, 16 and a half minutes behind the limit riders. Both were able to finish inside the top 10 (8th and 10th respectively). Chris captured the fastest time of the evening, a 23km course out Howes Creek Road to Cummins Road turn off and back, with 36 mins 54 seconds.
Of the Block group riders, (sent off just before Scratch) Michael Pearce, Rob Skinner, Tim Ross, and Ryder Chadd at 15 minutes, the only one to make it into the top 10 at the finish was Ryder by staying with Miller and Dobson in the final few kilometres.
The group at 11 minutes, Janine Appleton, Justin Berry, Belinda Cipa were not quite strong enough to catch the 9-minute group of Elise Empey, Bella Green, Tim Hall and Craig Wilson (2nd 3rd 4th and 5th respectively).
The 6-minute group - Alex Green, Dave Jagger, John Eisner, Ian Conrick proved valuable to bring Selina Green home safely in her first competitive road cycling race. Conrick the only rider of this group to hold on for a top 10 finish, placing 7th.
This just left the limit riders, Micala Jacobs and Steve Plummer, who apparently came up to 'see some old mates and have a ride'. Steve pushed (and pulled) Micala almost all the way to the finish line for her first win of the season. She was most appreciative. Plummer was also able to hold on for 6th place.
A big thank you to our volunteer marshals and commissaries and for Mansfield for donations and hosting presentations. Also, thanks to the vehicles who encountered our racers on Howes Creek Road, your patience and passing space is most appreciated.
Next week's race will be on Mt Buller Road; online entries open on Monday morning and close Wednesday night at 8pm - go to www.mmbc.org.au for more details.
Many thanks to Tony Copland for the pics and here are the detailed results.