No Dirt Crits this week with the state of Rifle Butts Reserve and more rain forcing another cancellation. But DC7 will be on next week (fingers crossed) with the next Gravity Enduro.
In the meantime, here’s what else has been happening…
Buzz on Buller Road
By Mick Pearce
A buzz and a bit of chaos at the start of this week’s race. The choice was “Vote at the early polling booth or go ride the bike fast with 16 others” - it was an easy decision for me!
Apart from a few tetchy traffic marshals at the polling booth, it was a perfect night for racing on the out and back 25 km course on the Mt Buller Road, with a finish a few hundred metres after turning left up the Jamieson Road.
Our group, Darren Bakker, Tim Ross, Rob Skinner, Ryder Chadd and myself rode well but a bit of ‘surging’ with the nervousness of the faster guys catching was on our minds.
We lost Tim and Darren before the turn but managed to catch the group ahead of us; Janine Appleton and then John Eisner managing to hang on for the ride back to town.
Block splintered before the turnaround with Chris Miller trying to get to our group without Steve Brown or Dave Moore. It never quite worked.
The Scratch group of Josh Hopwood and Andrew Garret rounded up the remnants of Block one by one and set off after us.
Rob got a gap heading into the final turn and it was Ryder who closed the gap.
I knew he’d have a strong sprint, so I started my sprint much earlier than logic suggested, just to try to surprise Ryder. But Ryder got the well-deserved win in a strong sprint. I hung on for second just ahead of a fast finishing Rob Skinner, Janine and John.
A very fast finishing Andy Garrett was next in fifth and fastest in 43.59. Then came Chris Miller, Josh Hopwood, Steve Brown and Tim Ross completed the top ten.
Handicapper Dave Moore again proved his legend status plus the marshals, commissaire and other aficionados who helped to make a safe fun race, did a wonderful job too!
As usual, many thanks to Tony Copland for the great images and here are the results.
Next week’s race is the Rob Curtis Memorial, starting at the Botanic Park, out along the Whitfield Road but going an extra km or so to turnaround at Rob and Sue’s place, then back to town and finishing at the Showgrounds. Entries via Entry Boss by 8pm Wednesday. Not 8.30. And definitely not Thursday morning!
Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap
As mentioned above, next week’s race is the Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap. For those who didn’t know him, Robert Curtis was a quiet, confident and talented athlete. He loved the outdoors and was an early trailblazer in Multisport/Adventure racing in the 1990s and 2000s.
Rob and his partner Sue lived at Bridge Creek, commuting to Melbourne for work and he spent the rest of the time cross country skiing, hiking, kayaking and cycling around the Mansfield area.
He was a member of the Mt Stirling Ski Patrol and enjoyed racing with the MMBCC on weekends or supporting others in their bike skill development.
Nicknamed “The Colombian” by locals, he excelled in the hills, with a touch of speed on challenging climbs a la Nairo Quintana. He’d roll down the hill towards town on a Saturday morning to join the bunch ride, chat for a bit along the flat, then dance on the pedals and disappear once the road tipped upwards!
In early 2018, Robert was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and passed away later that year. His partner Sue lives at Bridge Creek, the turn-around spot for this year’s memorial ride.
