“Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realise fishing is stupid and boring.”
Desmond Tutu
Dirt Crits Irish Handicap
By Damian Grundy
After the enjoyable first ride night on January 23rd, it was back to the serious business of racing for the first XC race night of Dirt Crits in 2024.
Using a very slightly modified course from the last race of 2023, a determined Baker’s Dozen of riders lined up for the start. The race format was the usual “Irish” Handicap. “How does an Irish Handicap work?” I hear you ask.
Here is an attempted explanation: With riders of all levels of ability and fitness the objective is to have a single race in which all riders have a chance to win. The handicapping takes into consideration each rider’s level of fitness and adjusts their number of laps to best suit their endurance abilities coupled with their predicted race speed based on previous performances. This permits the handicapper to give individual numbers of laps and individual start times with the objective that everyone approaches the finish at roughly the same time. The point is that we all have a chance, and the objective is FUN and FITNESS.
The course for this week was relatively short at 1.45km in length, nothing particularly steep or long in the climbing department and a generally fastish sort of layout.
Darren Bakker was the first out of the start with 6 laps ahead of him. Luke Vivash was the final starter 6 minutes later with 3 laps to complete.
It was great to see Ariel Stava and Shannon Rademaker making their first race for the 2023/2024 season. Welcome back and hope to see you regularly for the rest of the season.
Given that your reporter was in the thick of the action himself it isn’t possible to say much about how the race progressed however at the end It was Adam Baker who prevailed for the win after crossing the line in second place. Archie Smith crossed the line first but had to admit that he possibly misinterpreted the course and went the wrong way and has generously disqualified himself from the results.
On this I will say that I do recommend arriving a little earlier and doing a course reconnaissance for familiarisation and a warmup. The courses are usually well marked out by 5.30pm and usually short enough that a lap for warm up is more than achievable.
Luke Vivash, returning from a broken wrist, finished a creditable 2nd, 40 seconds behind Adam.
Yours truly finished a further 30 seconds back from Luke in 3rd, Dan Hall was 4th and Darren Bakker 5th.
Ariel Stava was first female.
Congratulations to all competitors. And I am eternally grateful to Kate Stonnill and Cam Dobson for managing the timing and the pics. Thanks!
Perfect conditions for a road race
By Jake Lay
Thursday night’s twilight road handicap attracted a field of 16. The race was held on course 9 over 22km and featured the dreaded Coombesberg climb.
Conditions were ideal for racing, with little wind. The only setback was recently completed (30 minutes before race start) roadworks on the Barwite Road. Some of the riders were nervous about getting fresh asphalt on their bikes (Andy). For rider safety, the road works was declared a neutral race zone.
A big MMBCC welcome back to Adam Baker for his first road race in a long, long time!
First off was Dave Jagger followed by four strong groups of three with Andrew Garrett and Bruce Halket off second Scratch with Jake Lay solo a minute behind. A total of 12:30 was all that separated the field.
Tony Copland was nominated Chief Commissaire for the night, as well as conducting his usual MMBCC pro tour photos of the field.
Jake had caught Andy & Bruce before the turnaround and the three worked well until the climb where Jake released the afterburners as the whole race was strung out up the Coombesberg.
After the descent he started reeling in each rider over the last few kilometres, except one. Congratulations Tim Hall on a nice solo victory.
Thank you to all volunteers, lead & follow cars, officials, Dave Moore the Handicapper and The Mansfield Hotel.
Here are Tony’s pics and here’s a link to the results.
Next week it’s back to Jamieson for one of the highlight races of the MMBCC season, the Bakker Plumbing Handicap. It’ll be followed by dinner and presentations at the Courthouse Hotel.
Dirt Critters is back!
By Tim and Luke
Great to have Dirt Critters up and going for the new term, with many of the old faces and some new ones. Nice to do a few laps of Rifle Butts to re-familiarise ourselves with the trails.
Next week (Tuesday 13th Feb) we'll meet at Rifle Butts, and then ride the single track alongside Rifle Butts Road to the lookout and back. As usual the times are;
4:00pm Grade 3 and below
4:45pm Grades 4 - 6 (and we welcome any of last year's Grade 6 ers who aren't quite ready for senior Dirt Crits)
Weather is expected to be fairly hot, so sunscreen is the go, and don't forget to bring your water-bottle.
Dirt Critters is open to all Primary School children, with the aim for kids to enjoy riding and to learn new skills. Parents are most welcome to come and watch or to help out.
A reminder that all riders must have an AusCycling membership.
Click here to go to the Join Now page and follow the steps to get your AusCycling licence (Race Off-Road is the one you want). An AusCycling membership is valid for 12 months and costs $81 for 7yo and under; $109 for 8 to 12yo.
For those who haven’t previously had a membership, a free, four-week ‘come and try’ membership is available.
Those who've had a previous membership please make sure it's current (Auscycling will send an email prompt).
Racing
A big contingent of Mansfield kids headed to Beechworth on Saturday to contest Round 4 of the Alpine Cycling Club’s Junior MTB Series. The series comprises six rounds at a range of venues in NE Victoria, with a mixture of XCO and Downhill events.
Twelve Mansfield riders ranging from U9 to U13 took part. Podiums for Sienna (U9 girls) and Ben (U13 boys). Most of the group retired to Bilson’s Brewery for lunch afterwards to celebrate.
The series is well organised, and is a fun and low stress chance for kids to get into racing, with a focus on participation. Email if you'd like more details or call Luke on 0455 604 785 for more information.
See you next week!
