Sorry for the terrible aliteration but there’s lots to get through this week. Grab a cuppa and have a read…
2023 Mansfield Tour powered by Orcoda
(article to appear in the Mansfield Courier next week.)
By Bruce Halket
The weekend of the 4th and 5th of March saw the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club host the 2023 Mansfield Hotel Tour powered by Orcoda. After a few days of catching up on some sleep, it’s time for the Race Director to reflect on a successful opening to the Victorian Road Series
236 entrants, plus family and friends, travelled to Mansfield from all over Victoria, and interstate, for the race and it ran like clockwork all weekend. Feedback from entrants has been terrific, with many commenting on how well organised the race was and how welcomed they felt visiting Mansfield. In particular, the new Individual Time Trial Course around Merinda Park was a real winner! For the last few years we’ve used Graves Road which necessitated a road closure - we wanted to be less disruptive to residents this year, so changed to Merinda Park course because we didn’t need to close the road.
No race like this would be possible without a generous team of sponsors. The whole MMBCC would like to thank Lesa and Steve Brown of the Mansfield Hotel; Grant, Simon and Susan from Orcoda Logistics (FYI, Orcoda is the ASX-listed logistics company which organises transport on Mt Buller during the ski season and they’re keen to be involved in the local community); Narelle and Shannon Rademaker of All Terrain Cycles, Kate and Dave Empey of Paton Air Helicopters; Ant Bateup and the team at Mansfield Crushing; as well as Emma and Matt Darcy of Krush. Plus there’s also Ventou clothing, Lezyne and Goodyear.
I’d really like to give a special thanks to the Tour organising committee who made the weekend so easy to organise: Chief Volunteer Rangler Melanie Green, MC J-Rod Jarrod Appleton, Grand Logistics Poobah Dave Jagger, Purveyor of Permits Alex Green and General Dog’s Body Cam Dobson. And a big thanks to the MMBCC Minister of Finance, Janine Appleton.
The highlight of the weekend for the MMBCC was seeing a local member win on General Classification for the first time ever! Talia Appleton dominated Womens A-grade, winning two stages and finishing second in the other, to take a commanding win. Congratulations Talia!
Congratulations also to Chris Miller, Steve Duke and Jeremy Wah. And to ‘adopted’ locals Andy Garrett, Jake Lay, Chris McKnight and prodigal son Dan Purcell.
A huge thank you needs to go to all the MMBCC members and The Third Hand who volunteered to help out over the weekend: sweeping gravel off corners, helping riders with registration, setting up and packing down starts and finishes, holding riders at the Time Trial start, driving Lead Cars, marshalling corners, officiating, collecting transponders… there’s a lot of work involved and it was all done brilliantly!
Finally, I’d like to thank local motorists for being patient on the roads over the weekend. The club realises a road tour can be an inconvenience but we really try to minimise any disruptions - and Mansfield motorists are renowned for their patience, which helps us attract such a large number of visitors. Those 236 entrants and friends last week brought with them an estimated $100,000 in economic activity! So while delays are unavoidable and unfortunate, the club believes any inconvenience is far outweighed by the financial benefit to local tourism.
Many thanks to Jean-Pierre Ronco for the majority of the images above.
Dirt Critters
By Tim Ross
Dirt Critters continues each Tuesday afternoon at Rifle Butts reserve. The younger group (grade 3 and below) meet at 4pm, while the older group (grades 4 to 6) meet at 4:45pm. The kids ride the various trails in and around Rifle Butts, exploring and practicing their skills. Next week will see us all doing an enduro course designed by Luke.
Some of the younger group after a skills session up at the saddle, Tuesday 28/02
More Junior Racing
By an anonymous but extremely proud Dad
Club members Ben & Alastair Ross travelled to Thredbo earlier this week to compete in the Australian MTB Inter-Schools.
The event was sold out with hundreds of kids from grade 3 upwards thronging the village, racing both downhill and XC. Wind played havoc with the downhill schedule, with lifts on wind-hold for much of Monday and all Tuesday.
Both boys rode the XC race on the Friday Flat loop; the course featured a brutal start straight up the ski slope before reverting to single track. Both boys had great rides, Alastair placing 16th in Division 5 (grade 3,4) and Ben decisively winning Division 4 (grade 5,6).
The event is open to all, and all the kids gain inspiration and enjoyment from riding with their peers.
Ben & Alastair before the XC start, Ben atop the XC Division 4 podium.
Steve Curnow’s article
By Steve Curnow
Thursday nights cycle ride got off to a late start due to a late trailer pick up. Thanks goes to Cameron Dobson for stepping in to take up the job. It was perfect weather for the ride, not too hot and not a lot of wind. All went well on the first part of the journey, nice smooth turns on the relatively flat going on the way to the Coomesberg on Old Tolmie Road, but that’s where it came unravelled. The Coomesberg inflicted a bad case of dropsy. Terry dropped Micala, Conrick dropped Selina, Steve Curnow dropped Will, Janine dropped Adrian and Rob was dropped by his group. While on the top of Coomesberg Steve Curnow was determined to catch Conrick before the top of the berg and did so. They had a social drink of water before getting on with the job at hand catching up to Micala before the stony section, where she got on and to their surprise stuck with them to the end. Tony didn’t get rounded up until just before the left turn into Mt Battery Road. He came an honourable third with Conrick and Steve Curnow vying for first and second place. Conrick piped Steve on the finish line to come first in a gallant effort.
Micala Jacobs came in fourth followed by Janine Appleton in fifth place and Ruby coming in sixth. Well done Ruby for producing the fastest time overall.
Once again, thanks goes to the marshals, Dave Moore the scratch master and the marshal that shouted the bar.
Here are the results - sorry, no pics this week.
Speaking of steve curnow…
Steve and Lise travelled to Forrest a couple of weeks ago for the Otway Odyssey. And they both won their categories. Congratulations!
Summer Road Race Series
It’s hotting up at the top of the ladder!
Here are the top ten points scores with only a few weeks left.
1 Ryder Chadd 88
1 Mick Pearce 88
3 Janine Appleton 86
4 Craig Wilson 70
5 Steve Duke 59
5 Micala Jacob 59
7 Tony Morris 54
8 Steve Brown 53
8 Rob Skinner 53
10 Andy Garrett 50
By the way, this is the last time you’ll see a points score until the final scores are known.
Some feedback from the Tour
By Julie Hooper
I just wanted to say thank you again to yourself , your team , all the selfless volunteers and everyone involved - families of organisers and volunteers and the locals - for putting this race on and organising a brilliant weekend of racing.
Thank you also for allowing me to ride as a paracyclist in c grade and to be all inclusive x it really means a lot - i never thought 5 years ago when i got crushed by a truck at work that i would ever walk again let alone teach myself to ride again. Thanks to amazing people like yourself putting these races on and treating everyone as equals i was able to fulfill a dream this weekend of not just racing with women whose both legs work but of being an active and competitive racer in the bunch - attacking and constantly having a go. My life is so different now - but thanks to yourself and team and everyone involved i felt like the Julie i was 20 years ago.
You are all amazing - i managed to throw up over myself 4 times in the last 5 km today but the amazing support and kindness and compassion shown by everyone i have met and spoken to this weekend - just gave me the strength to carry on and push through when my chronic pain was screaming, my good leg was tiring and my sij had popped out.
Thank you all for making me so happy this weekend, for all the smiles and the friendly encouraging comments and for being the amazing beautiful and good humans you are by selflessly giving up your time to allow people like myself to follow our passion and dreams.
Please know you have all made a beautiful and positive difference in my life this weekend and words can not express how grateful and appreciative i am to each and every one of you. I cant wait for next year.
Go and enjoy some RnR you have all earnt it.
Stay safe and God bless you all.
My kindest and heartfelt and genuine regards, Julie (Hooper)
World XCO Ranking
Check out who has stormed into the top 10 of the “Riders Ranking Cross Country Olympic Women Junior”, a super effort by Rudy Dobson moving 4 places in the rankings, well done!!!
