A dead-heat and a dog

Tour Volunteers

We still need a few more volunteers!
Do you have a few hours to spare on the weekend of Saturday 23 and Sunday 24 March?
Please email Wil and let him know - we’d really appreciate it.

MMBCC cycling library at ATC

The MMBCC cycling book library is still up and running at All Terrain Cycles. In fact, there have been a few additions lately.
Remember, MMBCC members are welcome to borrow any of the books in the library… so long as the books get returned.

Social road ride King Valley next Sunday

Two groups leaving from Mansfield Botanic Park to ride to Whitfield; one at 8am and a slightly faster one at 9am.
Those wanting an easier shorter ride are meeting at the Whitfield General Store at 10am to ride out to Lake William Hovell and back.
Lunch will be at Gracebrook Winery. Menu will likely be a choice of grazing platters, depending on numbers. But you have to earn the wine! And the whine.
RSVP with Margaretanne Hood either via email or send her an SMS on 0417 389 249.

Dirt Crits Teams Race

A ‘new’ format of teams race with each team having a six-lap rider who would be joined by team mates during the race to each complete the correct number of laps each - all ridden together!
It started with Damian, Dan, Cam and Bruce starting the race for six laps. Damian started strongly and opened a clear gap on Dan halfway through the first lap, with Cam and Bruce following. For some reason Dan moved over and allowed Cam and Bruce through.
Second lap saw Cam joined by Matt (who’d ride five laps) and Bruce had the lap of a lifetime!
He managed to overtake Cam and Matt near the top of Bogan’s Beginnings and then witnessed Damian walking down to the bench line. In his own words, he’d “had a brain fade”, took a wrong turn and was heading back to where he’d gone wrong to virtually start the second lap again.
This gave Bruce the lead! He was joined on his third lap by Ruby (to ride four laps), who had to be reigned-in a little to let the old bloke keep up. A lap later Alex joined in too.
The next three laps saw Ruby, Alex and Bruce ride smoothly (well… mostly) together to take the win ahead of Zac, Matt and Cam.
Here are the results.

Graded Scratch Races

By Tom MacMunn

Thank you to the commissaries and volunteers who oversaw the Graded Scratch Races from the Botanic Park to the turnaround at Sawpit Gully Road and then back along Barwite Road, over Coombes Hill to finish on Graves Road.
Despite a few attempts to break up the race from Bruce, Tom, Dave and Damian, the eight A grade riders were all together as they turned onto Barwite Road. Somehow Damian, Steve and Tom found themselves 50m off the front and, after a big double take to confirm the gap, they rode hard to stay away. Dave and Bruce led the chase but couldn’t pull them back.
Tom won the sprint from Damian and Steve.
B Grade wandered out the Whitfield Road to the turn around, and then realised that they had better ride so that C Grade didn’t catch them. Janine, Tim and Alex charged away from the bunch and rode hard to stay away. Jason told the rest that he wasn’t going to chase them down all by himself. Alex talked a big game, but couldn’t quite back it up. Janine won the sprint from Tim with Alex third.
Dave Bock had the unenviable task of keeping the young girls in check in C Grade. He managed to stay with them over the Coombesberg and then had a front row seat to the best finish of the night. Ruby was half a wheel ahead with a few metres to race. Talia was clearly ahead a couple of metres past the line. After checking with race officials and a blurry finish line photo, the result couldn’t be split. Ruby and Talia equal first, Dave in third.

Here are the results and many thanks to Tony Copland for the race pics. In the presentation pics, Tim Hall was unable to attend so his place was taken by, and his prize money given to, Leah the dog!

A few new items for sale

S-Works Roubaix - anyone 182cm or taller should look at upgrading to this bike. It’s a beauty!

Kurt Kinetic Trainers - get yourself sorted for winter training.

Results, rides and riser rings

Lots happening this week... and don’t forget to subscribe!

2019 Falls Creek XCO Mountain Bike Interschools

Last Friday 1 March a large contingent of Mansfield kids headed to Falls Creek for the Mountain Bike Interschools.
Highlights of the results include:
Div 4 Girls - Selina Green 2nd, Mika Smith 3rd.
Div 4 Boys - Charlie Dobson 4th
Div 3 Girls - Talia Appleton 1st, Maddi Smith 3rd. Ruby Dobson DNF due to mechanical
Div 3 Boys - Kevin Gannon 4th, Sam Mosley 11th & Zac Empey 18th
Div 2 Girls - Ruby Dobson 2nd (after being allowed to move up an age group after her DNF in Div 3), Elise Empey 3rd, Bella Green 4th, Mani Foubister 6th & Freya Valerio 8th.
Here are the results. All up great effort by all from Mansfield.

Dirt Crits

Two different lap lengths used to handicap and confuse.
Damian took the two long laps and one short lap grade from Dan and Lee.
Ruby took out the one long lap and two short laps grade from Elise and Talia.
Here are the results.

Social road ride King Valley - Sunday 17 March

Two groups leaving from Mansfield Botanic Park to ride to Whitfield; one at 8am and a slightly faster one at 9am.
Those wanting an easier shorter ride are meeting at the Whitfield General Store at 10am to ride out to Lake William Hovell and back.
Lunch will be at Gracebrook Winery. Menu will likely be a choice of grazing platters, depending on numbers. But you have to earn the wine! And the whine.
RSVP with Margaretanne Hood either via email or send her an SMS on 0417 389 249.

The Coombesberg

By Dave Moore

Six groups lined up on the last day of summer on what was a fairly hot and blustery Thursday night.
First off were the in form trio of David Bock, Tony Morris and Courtney Lynch who between them had claimed the win in the last 2 races –certainly a force to be reckoned with.
Last off was Josh Hopwood AND Lewis Dowie. Yes, yes… that’s right… Josh was not by himself for the first time all season!
The course for the night was out to Sawpit Gully Road into a reasonable headwind which played into the Scratch group’s favour; they caught the Block group shortly after Barwite Road creating a group of 6 who worked well together for the remainder of the night - even at the pub afterwards!
With no large groups forming at the front of the race, the Scratch/Block group were able to reel in everyone by the end of the Barwite Road before turning right onto Old Tolmie Road for the fabled finish atop the Coombesberg. Josh made his intentions apparent mid turn by cranking up the watts and therefore the pressure on those seeking to “steal” the victory.
As Soldiers Road was reached Tom MacMunn increased the pace but was swiftly caught and counter attacked by the Juggernaut (Josh), who continued this surge to the line pipping Dave Moore and his team mate Lewis Dowie to take a well deserved first victory of the season. Thanks to all the volunteers and Commissaires for their time and efforts once again.
Here are the results and thanks again to Tony Copland for the images.

Trainers for sale

At some stage, it WILL get wet and/or cold! Probably.
When it does, you’ll need a trainer. Jodie has a couple of them for sale.

Three Rail Trail ride opportunities to make a difference and make you feel good.

Over the coming weeks there are three fund-raising rides to be conducted exclusively on the Great Victorian Rail Trail. The first of these is the Tour de Trails, an offshoot of the Tour de Cure which has already raised more than $1.5 million for cancer research and which recently visited Mansfield. This is the premiere edition of the Tour de Trails and is held over the weekend of 23 and 24 March with rides from Alexandra to Yea and return Saturday and Alexandra to Yarck / Merton and return on Sunday.
(Of course, most of you will be busy that weekend helping the club run the Mansfield Tour, won’t you! - Ed.)
Next up is Cycle Dindi, held on Saturday 6 April, the first weekend of the Easter School holidays. This offers a range of rides from 40km to a very challenging 120km. Rides depart from Bonnie Doon, Yarck and Yea with lunch provided at Cathkin with Billy Tea available at Kanumbra and Devonshire Teas at Nutfield. Organised by the Rotary Clubs of Yea, Alexandra and Mansfield the funds raised are to benefit disadvantaged youth locally. Although all rides are return, a sag wagon will be available for those who only want to do one leg.
Finally, on Sunday 28 April the Mansfield Steiner School conducts the Ride for Venilale to raise funds for the Uai Laco School in East Timor. A shorter ride, ideal for families and those who want to get back into riding, it runs from Mansfield to Maindample, a total of 26kms return, with a BBQ lunch provided at Maindample.
Each of the flyers is included below for all details. Click the links below to download a larger, easier-to-read PDF version.

STOP PRESS: The Steiner School Venilale ride has changed to Saturday 4 May. MMBCC Towers were sent the wrong information but a new flyer is now available below.

Tour de Trails

Cycle Dindi

Venilale Ride

Sunday arvo catch-up

Here’s the latest from the MMBCC...

Congratulations Jodie!

The MMBCC’s Jodie Batchelor has been awarded the 2019 Iris Dixon Women’s Cycling Champion of the Year by Cycling Victoria.
It’s been a big 12 months… first qualifying as an Elite National Commissaire, then being awarded a Change Our Game Scholarship to further her qualifications and experience and now this!
Read about Jodie’s award here.

Social road ride, King Valley - Sunday 17 March

Two groups leaving from Mansfield Botanic Park to ride to Whitfield; one at 8am and a slightly faster one at 9am.
Those wanting an easier shorter ride are meeting at the Whitfield General Store at 10am to ride out to Lake William Hovell and back.
Lunch will be at Gracebrook Winery. Menu will likely be a choice of grazing platters, depending on numbers. But you have to earn the wine! And the whine.
Either ride back or organise your own lift.
RSVP with Margaretanne Hood either via email or send her an SMS on 0417 389 249.

Dirt Crits Gravity Enduro

Two different courses used on Tuesday night in three separate timing classes; times for both runs were combined to give a total time.
Wins to Matt Empey, Adam Baker and Elise Empey. Here are the results and thanks to Jason Parker for the pics.

Bakker Plumbing Handicap

By Jarrod Appleton.

Last week’s MMBCC road race was a special event in our season calendar. The Bakker Plumbing Handicap is a 28km race from Jamieson past Kevington to the turn around at Sailor Bill’s Creek and back to Jamieson.
Participants were treated to ideal race conditions with perfect weather, great scenery and quiet roads.
The handicapping was very accurate resulting in all riders converging at the finish line over the space of two minutes.
Line honours went to Tony Morris followed by Courtney Lynch who were the outmarkers. Storming across the finish line only thirty-five seconds later was a large group of riders consisting of the Scratch and ‘Block groups.
The winner of the bunch sprint of this group was the sprint juggernaut of the season, Anthony Plummer, taking third place overall. He narrowly beat Lewis Dowie, relegating him to fourth and Tom MacMunn in fifth.
Lewis supplemented his fourth-place winnings by claiming the fastest rider cash.
After the race all participants, riders, marshals and commissaires (umpires) enjoyed the prizegiving over drinks and a meal at the Courthouse Hotel, Jamieson.
Here are the results and thank you to our budding, new photographer, Cam Dobson for the images (better at photography than navigation, apparently.)

End of the Japan hiatus update

Mansfield Tour volunteers

With the Tour only just over a month away, many of you may already have received an email from Wil, our Volunteer Harassment Officer/Coordinator.
Please respond to his email - or just send him one now!
If not, you might get a very unpleasant role - the role of ‘toilet cleaner’ is still to be allocated apparently.

Neutral Zones

It appears there was a bit of a ‘to-do’ in last week’s road race about Neutral Zones at U-turns. So we probably need to clarify the rules we use.
A neutral zone is about fair play; about keeping a race together in a slow section so no-one is disadvantaged by their positioning in the bunch - a rider up the front is likely to be faster around the u-turn than a rider down the back. Therefore we neutralise the turn so that the riders who enter the neutral zone together also exit the neutral zone together; and then racing starts again.
It’s particularly used in Graded Scratch races where you’re actually racing against the rest of your group for the whole race.
While a Neutral Zone in a Graded Scratch makes sense, we’ve never seen the need to police a neutral zone at a turnaround in a Handicap Race.
Some clubs do, others don’t.
It’s because of the old saying about Handicaps - Team mates till 200* or Team mates till 2k* - it doesn’t make any sense to drop anyone at a turnaround in the first half of the race; you’re all trying to work together, to catch the groups ahead and increase your chances of winning. Dropping riders from your own group at the turnaround probably decreases your chance of success.
Work together as a team, encourage each other, trust each other, call warnings for each other, help each other; then you’re much, much more likely to succeed.
Once you get close to the finish, it’s every rider for themselves.
However, with the confusion this has caused recently, we’ve taken the decision to include a Neutral Zone of 100 metres at u-turns from now on in ALL Handicap and Graded Scratch Races.
So now there’s no confusion at all.
One more thing related to a turnaround - a red flag means STOP. There is absolutely no confusion about that either.

* Don’t take the distances mentioned in these sayings too literally; it just means work together till near the finish.

Merida road bike for sale.

Mitch Greenway is upgrading and has his very well looked-after Merida up for sale.

Interschools Mountain Biking

Entries are now open for the Interschool Mountain Bike Event at Falls Creek on Friday 1 March. Entries are available online here.
This is a cross country mountain bike event and you do NOT need to be MTBA registered to enter, so it’s especially good for kids you know that ride but aren’t (yet) a member of the club.
8-12 yrs - 9am - 45 min race
12-13 yrs - 10am - 1 hr race
14-15 yrs - 11.10am - 2 hr race
16-17 yrs - 12.30 - 3 hr race
Accommodation is available for approx $40 per person per night at Howmans Gap, Falls Creek cabins on the night of Thursday 28 February. Please email Janine Appleton or give her a call on 0428 150 800 for more information.

High Country Charity Ride

This ride has been going for a few years now as part of the Tour de Cure; it’s 500km over 4 days from Wangaratta to Bright, Omeo, Mt Beauty and back to Wangaratta - yes that means climbing Hotham and the back of Falls Creek.
It’s not far away but apparently two entrants have had to withdraw, so there are now two spots available.
Here are the links for more information and entries.

Finally…

Congratulations to Ruby Dobson for winning the first Dirt Crits race of 2019, starting the new year in similar form as 2018. Results soon…

Headline pic is one of a number of images shot by Tourism North East and sent out in a Ride High Country email last week. Other images from the campaign include billboards of Kian at Tullarmarine Airport and animated GIFs recently on Cycling Tips including Josh, Lou and Dan

More Friday Night News

Lots on this week…

Mansfield Tour volunteers

With the Tour fast approaching, and with so many sponsors getting involved, now’s the time to lock you in!
If you were involved in 2018 and you’re happy to repeat your role, please email Wil and let him know.
If you’d prefer a new role or you’re NOT available this year, email Wil and let him know.

New Tour Souvenir Jersey

Speaking of the Mansfield Subaru Tour, we’re offering a souvenir jersey to club members.
As they have in previous years, our club kit supplier Seight Sports will produce the prize jerseys for the winners of the Mansfield Subaru GC and All Terrain Cycles Sprint prizes.
But for 2019, they’ve also agreed to offer a one-off, limited edition souvenir jersey. This will also be a bit of a fund-raiser for the club
These will be available at the reduced price of just $65 for Juniors and $80 for Adults. If you’d like one, contact Jarrod Appleton.

Moore hangs on by half a length

A strong, gusty southerly greeted entrants of the MMBCC Handicap Race on the Whitfield Road, out to Sawpit Gully Road and back, on Thursday 31 January.
Twenty riders started with a strong tail wind, beginning with Dave Bock as the lone Limit rider, back to Bruce Halket, Lewis Dowie, Tom Macmunn, Damian Grundy and Dave Moore 11 minutes later off Scratch.
The outward leg made everyone fast! The tail wind meant speeds were high, groups didn’t get caught as easily as usual, and Strava personal records were falling like flies.
However, after the turnaround, the headwind brought a reality check.
Most of the groups came together just after Long Lane with the remaining Block riders, Darren Bakker, Anthony Plummer and Steve Duke riding strongly.
Scratch had other ideas and Grundy lead the catch 1.5km from home. After a couple of questionable tactical decisions behind him, a group of five formed with Dowie and Halket leading out.
In a jaw-dropping move, Plummer used the momentum gained from the descent into town to blast past the lead five and head for home.
After finally closing their mouths, the leaders gave chase and Moore started his sprint from a long, long, 350 metres out.
The crafty Bakker responded and if not for a broken spoke in his rear wheel, may well have taken the chocolates. Moore managed to hang on by half a length from Bakker, with Halket third ahead of Dowie, Grundy, Macmunn and the scarily fast Plummer.
A few seconds later Steve Duke was followed in by Ruby Dobson and Talia Appleton to round out the top ten.
Dave Moore rode fastest time of 39.10.
Many thanks to all our official and volunteers for helping us race safely in the breezy conditions.
Next week sees the club race on Howes Creek Road, starting at the Lords Ground. For next week only, entries to Di via SMS on 0438 513 355.
Here are the results and thanks again to Tony Copland for the pics.

If you’re wondering how to make it easier to work out who’s won in a close finish, take a look at John’s little slo-mo phone video from last night.

Dirt Crits start again Tuesday

Don’t forget, with school going back we’re back off-road this coming Tuesday at Riflebutts MTB Park. Here’s the calendar.

Raise Money for the club by Volunteering at the Bike Buller MTB Festival

Event organisers Rapid Ascent are offering the MMBCC the opportunity to raise money for the club by volunteering at this year's Bike Buller MTB Festival.
Bike Buller MTB Festival is a 2 day festival of mountain biking races and events taking place at Mt Buller and surrounds over the Labour Day weekend on 9 and 10 March 2019.
Rapid Ascent will make a donation of $50/half day or $90/full day to your organisation based on how many volunteers your group provides. There is no minimum or maximum number of people required.
Roles include course marshalling, manning water/fruit points, competitor registration and administration roles, logistics and competitor services.
This is a great opportunity to raise funds with no behind the scenes work or pre-planning.  All you need to do is turn up and the club receives the money. The event is also a great chance for club members to have a fun weekend or day out with mates while helping others to have a fun weekend in our backyard.
All volunteers will receive an event t-shirt and lunch.
For further information please contact John Jacoby via email or on 0408 035 261.

Finally

When you've got time on your hands and need to improve your bike handling skills, you can be the next Matthew Empey.

Friday Night News

With all this heat there’s not been much happening lately.
No road race Thursday, no Dirt Crits till February. Just as well there’s other stuff.

Kieren into the top ten

Even though there was no race this week, there are some changes to last week’s results of the Rob Curtis Hillclimb. An adjustment to handicaps sees Kieren move up.
And we’ve also included the cumulative points tally… lots of juniors loitering just below the top of the ladder!

Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race

At least there’ll be some road racing to watch on the box!
The CEGORR will be broadcast on Channel 7two at 12.30pm on Saturday for the Women’s Race. The Men’s race on Sunday will be on Channel 7 from10.30am and 7two from 1pm.
Both races will also be live streamed on 7plus.

A ride at Damian’s

Damian has an open invitation to everyone to go for a ride on his mtb trails on Monday morning at 8am.
62 Borschmann Rd, Lima South. Send Damian an SMS on 0411 045 771 to let him know you’re interested.

Saturday bunch ride time

The little SunSmart widget on the bottom left of the home page says tomorrow’s forecast top for Seymour is going to be 45!
As that’s just a little over 35, it means tomorrow morning’s ‘fast’ ride will start at 7am.

Sunday Night News

VDHS a huge success!

Our downhill race on the weekend up on the hill was a fantastic weekend… a record 298 entries!
A huge hearty congratulations to Ben Annear for doing so much work to make it a such a success!
Thanks also to the VDHS committee for allowing us to host the event.
And an absolutely HUGE thank you to all our members who volunteered their time, be it course setting, car parking, course marshalling… whatever.
Thank you to: Elise Empey, Matt Empey, Dan Friday, Dave Empey, Peter Ellett, Steve Duke, Judi Duke, Tim Hall, Bruce Halket, Kate Stonnill, Tim Ross and Jason Parker.
Another even bigger thank you to the following who volunteered for BOTH days of the event: Adam Baker, Allan Gerrans and Richard Plumb.
Finally, a massive thank you to the following who volunteered even though they’re not even members!
Andy (coty) Setchell, Craig Kappes, Peter Coffey, Nikki Coffey, Caleb Stoneman, Reece Stephenson, Gemma Ferguson, Nick Ferguson, Vickie Vanderhoeven, Jackson Vanderhoeven and Ariel Stava.
If you don’t already have one, there’s an MMBCC t-shirt coming your way!
Results
Shannon Rademaker finished 4th in Vets, Dan Friday 3rd in Short Travel class, Elise Empey finished in 4th (just .03 secs off third) and an awesome 9th (top ten!) to Maddie Smith in Women.

2019 Mansfield Subaru Tour

We’re thrilled to announce that Dion Theodossi and his team at Martins Garage are the new Naming Rights Sponsor of our tour - the Mansfield Subaru Tour!
Plus we can also confirm that All Terrain Cycles are back on-board to sponsor the Sprint prizes.
But wait… there’s more! Torq nutrition are sponsoring too!
And we’ll be able to announce at least one more sponsor shortly.
We’re really excited that it’s going to be a great event. So, please contact Wil to let him know which job you’d like to volunteer for.

Oscar’s Time

An Individual Time Trial (ITT) is usually known as the ‘race of truth’ - there’s no where to hide in a bunch and no wheel to follow. Just each rider, alone, against the clock. 
It’s usually accompanied by aerodynamic enhancements such as time trial handlebar extensions, skin suits and aero helmets. 
However, the ITT held by the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club on Thursday 17 January was the Rob Curtis Memorial Hillclimb - held on a course which kept speeds so slow that being ‘aero’ was virtually irrelevant. While it was only a relatively short 10km, it was all uphill.
Yep, all of it! (Just like Rob would have wanted.)
There is a suspicion that the Uphill time trial was the brainchild of Thursday Night Race Director Di Condie; who planned a 10km dose of pain because she knew she’d be away on holidays, watching the Tour Down Under in Adelaide. Thanks Di!

On a very warm evening 12 year old Oscar Hall, visiting from Benalla, started things off. With so many away on holiday, or out fighting fires, or worried about the heat, he was followed by only another 11 riders at 30 second intervals.
Even though Damian Grundy was the first across the line, followed by Oscar’s Dad Simon, it was Oscar who took the win with a time of 34.59, corrected to 19.59 on handicap. 
John Lazarov continued his transformation into a climber to take second in 20.28 with Judi Duke third in 20.44, ahead of the two Hall brothers, Simon and Tim.
Bruce Halket rode fastest time in 25.22.
During presentations back at the Delatite Hotel, Club President Damian Grundy announced that all entry monies would be donated to the Red Cross in Rob Curtis’ name.
Next week is everyone’s favourite, a 32km Handicap from the Botanic Park, up to Sawpit Gully Road and around the Barwite Loop to Graves Road. Entries via SMS the usual way by 8pm Wednesday.
Many thanks to all our officials and volunteers. Here are the results and thanks to Tony Copland for the pics.

CA membership renewals

It’s that time of year for Cycling Australia (road) memberships… again!
If you haven’t already, please make sure you renew before you enter your next race. Here’s the link you need to renew your membership so you can race in 2019.
However, not unusually, there seems to be some kind of admin glitch at CA. A few members have renewed but their name doesn’t yet appear on the CA membership list that we download. So please bring your renewal receipt with you to the next race to prove that you have a valid 2019 race licence.
Remember, no membership - no race!

Upcoming Events

Road racing continues this Thursday with a 32km Handicap from the Botanic Park, up to Sawpit Gully Road and then around to Graves Road (course 6). Please check the duty roster.
Dirt Crits is still a few weeks away, starting again on Tuesday 5 February. Here’s the calendar.

Finally…

An interesting article on road cycling in the ‘mainstream’ media. Victoria needs to lift its game.

A message from Simon Gerrans

'Hot as buggery' news

While it’s so hot, stay inside and have a read of this week’s newsletter.
What? You haven’t subscribed?! Really…?

CA membership renewals

It’s that time of year for Cycling Australia (road) memberships again!
If you haven’t already, please make sure you renew before you enter your next race. Here’s the link you need to renew your membership so you can race in 2019.
We’ll print out a membership list later this week to see who’s renewed. If you renew after Wednesday, you’ll need to bring your receipt with you to the race to prove that you have a valid 2019 race license.
Remember, no membership - no race!

Road racing starts again this week

As it’s a little on the warm side at the moment, we’ll be keeping a close eye on the weather. If it’s too hot to race, we’ll let you know. The Heat Policy is on the Road Racing Info page.
Until then, the Rob Curtis Memorial Hillclimb is on!.
Entries to John as usual via sms on 0428 503 437 by 8pm on Wednesday please.
Please also keep in mind that we now have new marshal instructions. If you’re rostered on, please make yourself familiar with them (like everyone else does when they’re marshalling and YOU’RE racing!) so our races run smoothly and safely.
Also, the rostered Commissaire will contact marshals in the days leading up to the race to discuss what’s required.

Still need volunteers for next weekend’s VDHS

Yes, we still need a few more. Please email Bruce if you have time next weekend. Remember, it’ll be about 10 degrees cooler up on Buller, so escape the heat AND help out the club!

Are you on Instagram?

So is the club! To help promote the upcoming Mansfield Tour (exciting news to be announced about that shortly…) we’ve opened an Instagram account.
Please give us a follow - @mansfieldmtbullercc

Free to a good home.

George Chalk has a pair of Louis Garneau road shoes (size 42.5) and Look pedals which are surplus to requirements.
He’s giving them away to someone who needs them!
First in, best dressed.
Call in to All Terrain Cycles to have a look and try them on.

Finally…

The Tour Down Under is on in Victoria on 7Mate from 12 noon each day this week, starting Tuesday. Highlight on Channel 7 late at night. Here are the details.
A good article on The Inner Ring about the year ahead in pro road racing.
And the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup calendar is here.

MMBCC farewells Robert Curtis

By Jason Parker

Saturday 5 January, members of the Mansfield Mount Buller Cycling Club held a memorial ride and morning tea, for one of their members, Robert Curtis.
Since buying a house in the area Robert and his wife, Sue, travelled up from Melbourne most weekends to enjoy spending time in the High Country, tending their farm and alpacas, catching up with friends, skiing and ski patrolling, and cycling. Robert also trained and raced with the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club and became quickly know as ‘The Colombian’ due to his seemingly effortless climbing prowess.
After feeling unwell last year, Robert sought medical treatment and was diagnosed with Leukemia and then received intensive treatment in hospital. Robert died on December 27.

Before the ride started Jarrod Appleton spoke about Robert’s early life, schooling, sporting pursuits, character, passions, and pursuits. The group of around thirty riders set off, riding to Spring Creek, past Robert’s house and then completed the Barwite Loop, or part thereof. Afterwards, Robert’s family invited family and friends to share in a morning tea at the Delatite Hotel.
The MMBCC has named an annual race in Robert’s honour, the Robert Curtis Memorial Hillclimb, to be held on Thursday 17 January, from Sawpit Gully Rd to Spring Creek Rd.
Vale Robert Curtis.

Sunday evening news

Happy New Year!

In our first 2019 newsletter we’re asking for volunteers, publishing new calendars and offering a great day at Lake Mountain.

VDHS volunteers - we want you!

We have a fortnight to go before we host Round 2 of the Victorian Down Hill Series at Mt Buller. However, we are getting desperate for corner marshals. The response so far has been, aaah… underwhelming.
Can you help? We don’t just want you… WE NEED YOU!

• We require 15 volunteers per day for the event (3 x parking, 1 x site manager, 10 x course marshals, 1 x misc. tasks/relief marshal) also parking and site managers can be used to replace marshals as required for toilet breaks or similar once their initial tasks are complete

• Saturday 8:30am - 4:30pm

• Sunday 6:30am - 4:30pm

• Basic Lunch pack provided each day

• For those volunteering across both days, Mt Buller will provide two nights on-mountain accommodation (Fri & Sat nights) in the Medical Centre apartments

Please email Bruce as soon as you can so we can get this sorted. Otherwise he’ll start ringing around to nag you… and we’re sure you won’t want that!

Race Calendars

The new road race calendar has been published. Click here to have a look at when you’re on duty; and check on start times and locations, they’ve changed a little for this season.
Also, if you are on duty, please make sure you have a read of the Race Duty instructions on the Road Race Info page as some of these have changed too. In particular, Commissaires should have a read as you’ve had a duty added! But we’ll contact you anyway, just to make sure.
It’s only fair to the rest of the club that we all take our turn to help races run smoothly and efficiently.
The Dirt Crits calendar is also now up.

Road trip to Lake Mountain/Marysville

Next Sunday 13 January we’re planning a road trip to Marysville and Lake Mountain. Roadies will get a chance to ride up to Lake Mountain and get the ‘stamp’ in your 7 Peaks passport. Mountain bikers will be able to ride the new Cascades trail from Lake Mountain to Marysville trail, which by all accounts, is an absolute ball-tearer!
Why not do both? Ride up on the road bike, descend on the mtb!
If you’d like to join in on the fun, please email Damian.

Skills session at Riflebutts on Tuesday

As there are no Dirt Crits for another few weeks, Damian is planning to head up to Riflebutts MTB Park on Tuesday for a bit of a spin, maybe talk tactics and techniques. It’s all very informal, please feel free to head up for a ride.

Vale Rob Curtis

Updated post with more information…

A memorial service for the life of Robert Curtis 'The Colombian', who passed away in hospital on Thursday 27 December, will be held this Thursday 3 January at the Cumulus Reflection Space, Bunurong Memorial Park, 790 Frankston Dandenong Road, Dandenong South, commencing at 10am.

In lieu of flowers, donations to the Red Cross would be appreciated.

If anyone would like a lift, Jason Parker will be heading down to the memorial service.

A memorial bunch ride for Rob will be held this coming Saturday 5 January. Starting at the usual time of 8am, we’ll head past Rob’s place to Spring Creek Road and back, then around the Barwite Loop before finishing back in town.

All are then welcome for coffee and nibbles at the Delatite Hotel from 10:30am in Rob's honour.

The new road race calendar will be published shortly. Racing starts again on Thursday 17 January with an Individual Time Trial on Course 18, along Whitfield Road from Sawpit Gully Road to Spring Creek Road. (Check out the courses here.) As it goes right past Rob’s house, the race will be named in Rob’s honour. In fact, ALL races the club hosts on Course 18 from now on will be named in Rob’s honour.

Storms, Santa and Same, Same.

Road race this week

In case you didn’t realise, there wasn’t a road race this week. It was cancelled due to the slightly inclement weather. So that’s it for 2018. There’s only one race left for the year - Dirt Crits Irish Handicap on Tuesday night at Riflebutts, followed by…

MMBCC Christmas Party

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,
Oh, what fun it is to ride… to the club’s Christmas Party!

Amongst the Sticks are catering with a delicious menu on-site at Mauro and Di’s place.
For all the kids, Santa will make an appearance.
If you fell like cooling off,
the pool will be ready so bring bathers and towel.
Jumping castle will be up to entertain the kids and for those big kids too. BYO Drinks
Date: Tuesday 18 December
Time: 6pm till late
Place: 63 Riflebutts Road, Mansfield

Dirt Crits

Racing this week was out at Mirimbah for the Delatite Dash. The aim was to ride the last part of the Australian Alpine Epic twice as consistently as possible.
The winner was Elise Empey who’s two times were exactly the same; a difference of zero seconds. Second place went to Clarissa Leatham on 3 seconds from Damian Grundy in third on 8 seconds.
Here are the results.
Many thanks to Dave and Ben for officiating.

Santa, shuttles and steeep.

Christmas Break-up

The MMBCC Christmas Break-Up will be held on Tuesday 18 December, after Dirt Crits, at Di Condie and Mauro Brega’s place, on Riflebutts Road, just up from the MTB Park.
Bring your bathers and something to drink; the club is picking up the tab for Amongst the Sticks to look after the catering. All MMBCC members and families welcome. Ho, ho, ho… Merry Christmas!

Locals prices for Mt Buller Shuttles from ATC

All Terrain Cycles have recently celebrated 10 years of operations and have announced some exciting news – they’re running both the Mirimbah and Gravity Shuttle services on the mountain this summer.
As a special offer for MMBCC members, they’re offering a ‘Local’s Discount’ on the Shuttles – 10% off season passes!
Call into ATC Mansfield or Mt Buller, as these locals’ discounts are only available over the counter. (All the other stuff they offer - bike hire, private lessons, etc. - is available online.)

Volunteers for Buller

It’s that time of year when we start hassling you to give up your time to help the club host a round of the Victorian DownHill Series at Mt Buller on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 January 2019.
However, this year, instead of a big stick, we have some carrot… if you’re prepared to volunteer for both Saturday AND Sunday, we have free accommodation available for Friday and Saturday nights.
Be quick! There are only a few rooms available. Contact Bruce to reserve your spot.

Racing this week…

Dirt Crits Teams Race
This week was a Teams Race; all riders raced to complete as many laps as possible in 30mins. 
In the end the leading two teams finished on a total of 16 laps. The winning team was then decided on time with Dan Friday, Bella Green and Elise Empey declared the winners.
Results here.

Hot and hilly road race

By Dave Moore

Twenty-six riders assembled at the Lord’s oval on Thursday for the first officially hot race this season.
Five groups set off at two minute intervals with Josh “Lone Wolf” Hopwood bringing up the rear a further minute and a half behind. The trip out Howes Creek Road saw the first two groups consolidate into one group while there were a number of people dropped, possibly due to the hot temperature.
Darren Bakker was unable to stick with Block after a few weeks off the bike due to injury. The remainder of block worked well together all night, catching Andrew Stephenson, Cam Lachal, and Nathan “the pineapple whisperer” Pelling. The groups combined well to reel in the group of Jason Parker, Kody Appleton, Matilda Reeve, John Lazarov & Justin Berry, at the MacMillan Point turnaround. This meant there were two separate groups of ten, trying to summit the “O’Hanlon-berg” – it was all to play for! The rolling hills along Cummins Road were the stage for a team time trial of sorts.
Despite being caught by the group behind them, Bella Green and Ruby Dobson worked well and recovered enough to lead the first group up the lower slopes of the final climb (and break away from their ‘coach’ Alex Green).
Little did they know that Nathan “Nate-Dawg” Pelling was unleashing his unbridled power in an effort to lead out riders from his group; little did Nathan know, but no-one from his group had followed him! Nathan faded from contention in the second half of the climb and it came down to an epic sprint finish between Bruce Halket and Dev Moore, with the latter prevailing despite throwing for the finish two metres early.
In a show of youthful exuberance Ruby, Kody & Bella rounded out the top 5.
Josh rode his own race – recovering from representing MMBCC in the Tour of Bright the previous weekend. He still managed to pick up a few riders on the way to the finish line.
Thanks to our Commissaries and volunteers for running the race. Many thanks also to Charlie Wilson for the pics and here are the results.
This weeks race will be held out at Jamieson. If you are thinking of racing, make sure you get yourself registered as it is the best course on the calendar! It’s the last race for 2018 and there’s more on dinner and presentations below...

Racing Next Week

Dirt Crits adult race for this coming Tuesday 11 December has changed, due to the following week’s Xmas Break-Up. This coming week will be at Mirimbah for the Delatite Dash.

Road race this coming Thursday 13 December is the last of 2018 and will be at Jamieson (don’t forget the late 6.30 start) with presentations and dinner afterwards at The Wrong Side Brewery. Mmmmm… pizza!

Simon, Ruby, Anthony, Elise and Santa

New club kit

Cycling Australia have organised a new version of our club kit for MMBCC Life Member Simon Gerrans. You can get one of these too!
All you need to do is win a stage (and wear the leader’s jersey) of each of the Grand Tours, win a couple of one-day Monuments, a couple of Australian Championships and a few Tours Down Under and Cycling Australia will likely order you one with YOUR name on it.
CA had this one produced by Seight Sports and presented to Simon at a luncheon in Melbourne last week.

Racing this week

By Anthony Plummer

Last Tuesday saw an Irish Handicap with 15 entrants tasked with riding anywhere between three and six laps on a new, fiendishly designed lap.
In an almost complete ‘junior domination’ Ruby Dobson led home the field ahead of the younger Dan Friday and Kody Appleton. Old Damian Grundy finished fourth and normal transmission resumed with James Griffin finishing fifth ahead of Elise Empey and Talia Appleton.

Here are the results. Next week is a Teams Race at Riflebutts.
Thursday night was the final road race for Spring and riders gathered on the Midland Highway for the Stump Hill Classic.
A southerly awaited the riders, the tailwind ensuring a fast out leg for the race. Plus a large Scratch group was going to ensure the remaining groups had to work well together to stay away on the return leg with a headwind.

The group consisting of Nathan Pelling, Tim Hall, Matilda Reeve, Anthony Plummer and John Lazarov started well, but unfortunately for Matilda the fast speed and restricted gearing found her alone. After riding strongly just before the turn Hall selected reverse gear on one of the rises and quickly went off the back of the group.
Nearing the turn around, all the groups were still in starting order and working well together but the race was starting to come together.
The reduced group of Pelling, Lazarov and Plummer closed the gap to the group of Craig Wilson, John Eisner, Di Condie, Talia Appleton and Bella Green on one of the final rises. Green found a burst of speed to lead the group towards the Limit riders who had by this time started to spread apart up the road. Unfortunately for Lazarov who had a great ride, got lost in the action when overtaking and was distanced from Pelling and Plummer.
Behind the scratch group the Block had come together and were chasing in earnest and mopping up riders who had been left behind.
Nearing Aldous Lane and the final rise, Judi Duke was finally caught after riding strongly alone at the front. This left Pelling and Plummer who worked well together at the front with only the fast run to the finish. Plummer finally getting the better of Pelling in a close finish.
Ruby Dobson continued her good form from Tuesday night with a strong third.
As the groups came to the line, Eisner finished strongly to beat the rest of his group over the line. Close behind the large group of Scratch and Block sprinted for the finish and had Damian Grundy winning the bunch sprint and collecting fasted time.
Many thanks to our officials and volunteers.
Results will hopefully be posted soon; once they’re found. Thanks to Tony Copland for the race pics.

Elise second!

Congratulations to Elise Empey who finished second at the EWS race at Mt Buller on the weekend and is now second in the series.

Christmas Break-up

Make a note in your diary for the club Christmas Party… it’ll be held after Dirt Crits on Tuesday 18 December. More details soon. And bring your bathers!

MacMunn, Movember, marshals and the missing...

Racing for a Good Reason

by Tom MacMunn

Race entry and prize money this week was donated to Lacey Reeve, who is shaving her head next month, on her 10th birthday, to raise money for Leukemia research. There were also a couple of blokes sporting 22 day old moustaches and raising awareness of men’s health for Movember.
A Grade
Only four riders in A Grade lent weight to the theory that these blokes fancy themselves as elite athletes but they are a bit precious when the weather turns.
Bruce Halket was strong and confident on the way out to Hearn’s Lane, his turn up the hill put everyone under the pump. Darren Bakker almost kept in touch until the top of the hill but popped by the top. 
Steve Duke turned up the pace after the turn around leaving Bruce and Tom MacMunn to chase him down. They timed their catch and blew straight past on a small rise, and so there were two. 
Bruce, still strong and still very confident, backed himself to lead out the sprint and win from the front… but he didn’t. 

Great pic taken on Thursday night by Dave Moore, showing Steve being chased by Tom and Bruce.

B Grade
Seven starters in B Grade and the selection was made on the hill up to Hearn’s Lane and the turn. John Lazarov, Allan Gerrans and Ian Conrick couldn’t stay in contact.
After the turn Rob Skinner, Cam Lachal and AJ Stephenson couldn’t shake Matilda Reeve even with her restricted gearing. The four of them all came to the line together.
Rob started his sprint early and held off everyone – the second win of the evening to a moustachioed man. Cam finished in second, AJ third and Matilda fourth.

C Grade
Hearn’s Lane Hill also shook up the C Grade race with Bella Green and Dave Bock dropped and facing the long lonely ride home.
There was lots of action on the way back in to town with Jason Parker trying over and over to get away from his three rivals. Craig Wilson and Judi Duke covered his moves and tried some of their own, but it was all to no avail and the race ended with a four person sprint to the finish.
The first time John Eisner put his nose in the wind (which is why this is the first mention of him) was with 50m to go. A clever strategy and a good win, but sadly no moustache. 
Jason finished second and Judi third.
Many thanks to both Dave Moore and Tony Copland for the pics and here are the results.

Enduro at Buller looking for marshals

Round three of the Shimano Asia-Pacific Continental Enduro Series will be held this coming weekend at Mt Buller. And the management team in charge are looking for some volunteer marshals.
They’ll make a $500 donation to any community groups that want to get involved if they can provide ten or more vollies. They’ll need you onsite from 7am on the Sunday morning to ensure that they can get you into locations. 
All vollies get lunch, a drink and an event shirt.
Individuals can sign up via this link.

Speaking of volunteers…

We’ve got a couple of our own events coming up and we’ll be after volunteers and marshals for both.
The MMBCC round of the Victorian DownHill Series up at Mt Buller on the weekend of 19-20 January 2019. If you already know you’re available and would like to be involved, please contact Bruce.
A couple of months after that, on the weekend of 23-24 March, it’ll be the Mansfield Tour. Craig Wilson will be contacting you about this. If you’d like to put your name down for this now, please let Wil know.

Missing numbers

We’re missing some road race numbers. Do you have one at home? Keep forgetting to bring it back to the next race?
We’re missing the following black All Terrain Cycles race numbers: 4, 13, 14 and 15.
We’re missing the following maroon Delatite Hotel race numbers: 20, 24, 25 and 27.
And we’re missing the following blue Eisner’s Pharmacy race numbers: 33, 44 and 45.
We can look up the entry sheets and find out who it’s likely to be but we’d rather you just bring them back on your own.
We were also thinking about something punitive and silly, like banning you from entering the next race if you don’t return your number on the night… or taking a cash deposit when you collect a number.
Instead, we’re leaning towards something sensible like making you shout drinks to the top ten of the next race. Or making you write the article for the paper each week till you return it!

Club kit

If you want to update your club kit, it’s now open through Seight Sportswear.
Here’s the link for the My Team Shop page but you’ll also need to email Bruce for the password.
It’s only open till the end of the month.

Amy’s Gran Fondo is back in 2019

Rumours of the demise of the best recreational ride going have been greatly exaggerated! Make a note in your diary - 14 & 15 September 2019.

Great racing, fundraising and more...

Have you subscribed yet?

Dirt Crits on the long, looong course

by Damian Grundy

Tuesday Evening dawned clear and fine. A perfect evening for some dirty fun at the MMBCC Mountain Bike Dirt Crit races at Riflebutts Reserve.
A good turn out of the usual suspects approached the start line for a Long Course extravaganza. Most trails in the Mountain Bike Park were involved on a combination of loops.
Early starters of the faster guys included Dan Friday Senior, Damian Grundy, Lee Noble, Bruce Halket and Matty Empey chasing 2 long laps and 1 short lap, then the intermediate lapper of Tom Hogan hit out a few minutes later for his 1 long and 2 short laps. The early starters were then followed a short time later by a large crew of riders doing 1 long and 1 short laps including David Bock, Dan Friday Junior, Talia Appleton, Jack Hogan (sadly destined to DNF), Rachael Grundy, Ruby Dobson, Bella Green, Alex Green, James Griffin, Elise Empey and Jason Parker.
Much tactical discussion prior to the start centred on what order might be best to complete the necessary laps; Short before long or long before short? In the end it became clear that the best strategy would be to ride FAST!! And to that end Dan Friday Junior was best at that and came away with the win on the day. David Bock rode super well and held on for 2nd followed shortly thereafter by Talia Appleton for 3rd and first female. Rounding out the top 5 were Dan Friday Senior and Rachael Grundy.
As always great fun was had by all. Here are the results.

Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap

by John Eisner

This week marks the fourth anniversary of the tragic death of our much loved member, Alain Guerin, and as usual for this week a memorial handicap was held in his honour.
Held on the challenging 29km Coombesberg course, over thirty riders entered including son, Jean-Daniel Guerin and several of his friends from Melbourne.
Judi Duke made an early move off the front of her group turning her race into a gutsy, solo effort. The chasing group of Alex Green, Di Condie, Dave Jagger, John Eisner, Craig Wilson and Janine Appleton worked well together until the fragmented remains of second block (Anthony Plummer, Cam Lachal, Rob Skinner and Kody Appleton) caught up on the final straight leaving each person to themselves in a blustery headwind.
The massive block group looked slick and menacing on paper but had all sorts of trouble working together with splits, regrouping and an attempt to chase down the sole scratch rider, Brendon Green, who worked through the whole field, catching Judi with two k’s to go and taking out the trophy for the second year in a row.
An impressive ride saw Kody Appleton take third with James Black and Cam Lachal fourth and fifth.

The riders then rode out on the Buller road to meet the rest of the Guerin Family for a tribute to Alain by his wife Coral.
Thank you to our crew of volunteers and to the Delatite Hotel. Here are the results and many thanks to Laurent Guerin for the pics.
Sadly the Police campaign this week highlights how many drivers continue to use mobile phones while driving. Hopefully technology, awareness and common sense will reduce the risk phones pose and reduce injuries and fatalities such as Alain’s.

Lacey Reeve - World’s Greatest Shave

Lacey Reeve is the sister of current road points leader Matilda Reeve and grand daughter of stalwart Rod Manning.
Lacey is turning 10 on the 11th of December and has decided to shave ALL her hair off to raise funds for cancer. She is a very determined girl and will not be persuaded to keep ANY of her hair at all. Please come join us on the 11th of Dec at 6pm at the Delatite Hotel to witness the removal of Lacey’s long hair.
The MMBCC has decided that all of the entry fees from the Graded Scratch Race on Thursday 22 November will be donated to Lacey’s effort. So if you haven’t raced for a bit, what better reason do you need to enter next Thursday?!

Club kit

Looks like we almost have enough people interested in buying club kit to get Seight to open the My Team Shop. We need a minimum of ten pieces of kit per order… and we’re almost there.
If anyone else is interested please email Bruce.

Sunday update

This week… some impressive results in Tassie, Thursday’s road race at Jamieson and the TNE film shoot.

Derby Enduro Results

Round two of the Shimano Asia-Pacific Continental Endure Series was held this weekend at Derby in north east Tasmania and a number of MMBCC members travelled across Bass Strait to compete.
Congratulations to Dan Friday who finished 64th in a red-hot Elite Men’s category, Dave Empey finished 19th in Masters Men, Matt Empey finished 4th in Junior Men and… drum roll please… Elise Empey won the Junior Women!
Round three will be held at Mt Buller on the first weekend of December.

Bakks pinches it!

The MMBCC ventured to Jamieson on Thursday 8 November for a handicap race out to Sailor Bills Creek and back. On a beautiful evening, they were lead off by the Limit group of Courtney Lynch and Tony Morris; a high-quality Scratch group of Dave Moore, Tom Macmunn, Mauro Brega, Damain Grundy and Steve Duke were the last to leave.
In one of the rides of the night, Lynch almost made it… being caught by Scratch with only a few hundred metres to go.
Dave Moore made the most of his recent good form to lead Scratch to the finish and seemingly had it won with a 20 metre gap and only 100 metres to go.
But Darren Bakker had other ideas!
He missed last week with injury, suffering plumber’s back after too much roofing work. A week later, after some rest and extracurricular shower work, and starting in the Block group, he had enough punch for a loooong sprint to take a crafty win.
Moore took second (and fastest) ahead of fellow back marker Grundy. Lynch proved her mettle by hanging on for a gallant fourth. Then came Brega, Allan Gerrans, Kody Appleton, Jarrod Appleton, Cam Lachal and Steve Duke rounded out the top ten. The results and an up-to-date points tally are here.
Many thanks to all our officials and volunteers, to the Courthouse Hotel for the post-race refuelling and to Tony Copland for the pics.
Next week is the Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap on the Whitfield Road, finishing atop the dreaded Coombesberg; entries by Wednesday 8pm the usual way please.

Ride High Country

This week Tourism North East are producing a campaign called Ride High Country which aims to promote NE Victoria as 'Australia's Premiere Cycling Destination.' They’re taking Paul van der Ploeg, a Mount Beauty local and former XC Mountain Bike World Champion, across the northeast to film MTBing, road riding, rail trail and gravel riding.
Here are a couple of requests (from TNE)
:
1) As it's a summer campaign, we would like everyone in short sleeves and legs (3/4 is fine);

2) Paul is wearing BLUE throughout the campaign, so ideally no-one else should wear blue; and
3) It would be great if each rider was wearing different kit/colour. If you can bring an alternative top that would be great.
If you can spare some time this week, please call Ric Williamson from Hand Cut Productions on 0434 815 358.

Cup Weekend News

Hope you’re all enjoying the ‘long’ weekend. Here’s the latest from MMBCC Towers:

- Dirt Crits Gravity Enduro;

- 32km Handicap Road Race;

- Photoshoot opportunity;

- A Simon Gerrans photo gallery;
- A new take on suspension forks; and
- The 2019 Giro d’Italia route announced.

A week of MMBCC racing

by Kody Appleton

First race for the the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club last week was Dirt Crits on Tuesday night. It was a Gravity Enduro - basically a downhill race with a bit more pedalling during the race than a traditional downhill and competitors have to pedal back up between runs (unlike a DH race where competitors are transported by bus, or even chairlift!) Each racer had to complete a run on two different courses with the cumulative time of both runs deciding the winner.
There were three classes on the night, Women, Sport and Open.
Despite a couple of punctures and a couple of small ‘offs’ there was no claret spilt nor dummies spat.
Not surprisingly the Empey name was high on the results list, after competing at the Australian Nationals in Adelaide last week, Matthew took out the Open Class and Elise the Women.
They were separated by James Griffin taking out the Sport Class.
Now we just need to install a chairlift so we can host a downhill race proper!
Many thanks to Shannon, Kate, Mel, Dave E, Dave M and the other volunteers.
And many thanks to Jason Parker for all the pics… and here are the results.

The weather was warm on Thursday night when the roadies came together for the weekly race. The course was the longest in use, a total of 32km including the feared Coombesberg climb. The riders would travel out Mansfield-Whitfield Road, turn around at Sawpit gully, ride towards Mansfield then turn left onto Barwite Road, right onto Old Tolmie Road, over the Coombesberg and finish on Graves Road.
Once the race began, two large groups quickly formed at the front end of the race because of small handicaps, the latter of which contained Alex Green, Ian Conrick, Matilda Reeve, Kody Appleton, Tim Hall and Allan Gerrans. By the turnaround these two groups were within sight of each other but surprisingly were not gaining nor losing ground. 
There were complaints from the rear end of the race due to Mauro Brega pulling a 50km/h effort on the flats around the tomato farm corner which meant many strong riders started to struggle.
On the flats of Barwite Road, all groups started to close the gaps, with Alex Green pulling a huge turn for his group in a last-ditch effort to help Conrick, Reeve, and Appleton to pull across to the group in front which they caught on the crest of the Coombesberg climb. This was helped by some fracturing in the lead group with fatigue, uphill gradient and wishing-race-training-had-been-instigated-earlier likely causes.  
Bella Green and Judy Duke had managed to get away on the climb but were caught on the downhill by Matilda and Kody, joined by David Jagger and Janine Appleton, hanging desperately onto their wheel. Three of those riders finished together with Kody Appleton beating Matilda Reeve in the sprint for 1st. 
Final placings were Kody Appleton 1st, Matilda Reeve 2nd, David Jagger 3rd, Craig Wilson 4th and Janine Appleton 5th.  
And again, a massive thank you to all the volunteers for supporting the event and to Tony Copland for the pics. Here are the results.
Next week’s race is a handicap race at Jamieson with a late (6.30pm) start - entries via SMS to John on 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday. Presentations and dinner afterwards will be held at the Courhouse Hotel.

Tourism North East photo shoot

On behalf of the club, Ben Annear has been talking with Ric from Hand Cut Productions about a film shoot for Tourism North East (TNE) on Monday 12 November.
Please take a look at the scheduled shoot list (below) - this is a guide only, and is possibly more than what they will be able to achieve in a single day.
We’re hoping that MMBCC members might be able to assist as ride talent for the shoot, or at least help Ric coordinate a group of riders for the vision required.
Unfortunately it seems they have no ‘budget’ for talent as such, other than the offer of a cup of tea/coffee or maybe a beer after your ride, so please understand that this would be a “love” job for Tourism North East. Please also note this is nothing to do with Buller or the RMB, we’re simply asking a favour for TNE.
If you’re available on the day, have a set of MMBCC club kit to wear and want to be seen on billboards at Tullamarine airport to help promote our region, please contact Ric on 0434 815 358 or club president Damian Grundy on 0411 045 771.

More on photos - this time Simon Gerrans

Pez Cycling News has a good little photo gallery looking at Simon’s career in the pro ranks.

Is this the future of suspension forks?

Some very interesting looking suspension forks. Not cheap though.

Giro route announced

The route for the 2019 Giro was recently released. Here are the five key stages, according to Cycling News, to help you plan your holiday to Italy next May.

Sunny Sunday update

This week updates from both Dirt Crits and the road ITT, news from the Preston Mountain Classic and other stuff.

Racing last week

Dirt Crits at Riflebutts MTB Park last Tuesday was a bit different to usual; the 18 starters were faced with a mass-start Irish Handicap. Usually, the handicaps dictate the start order, this time the handicaps added to times after the finish.
Perhaps this ‘backwards format’ produced the bump in the space-time continuum which saw Bruce Halket take the win ahead of Bella Green and Ruby Dobson. Then came Jack Hogan, Jason Parker, Alex Green, David Jagger, Damian Grundy, Peter Coffey and Georgina Landy (welcome along Georgina!) rounded out the top ten.
No one has yet explained how a rider finishing almost last after 6 laps, who hardly overtook anyone, managed to be awarded the win after most of the field had already finished.
However, accusations of bribery have been strenuously denied by all involved.
Here are the results.
Many thanks to Damian, Kate and the other volunteers.

The road race on Thursday was an Individual Time Trial, starting and finishing on Graves Road and including both sides of the dreaded ‘Coombesberg’ on Old Tolmie Road.
While this race was not a mass start race - each rider races alone and the fastest time wins - it too had handicaps included afterwards to calculate the real winner.
The ITT is supposedly The Race of Truth but the general consensus is that’s a lie. It should be called the Race of Pain and we had 29 masochists in Mansfield who entered for their dose of domination.
Showing great consistency, two of the podium placegetters on Tuesday also ‘medalled’ on Thursday - Ruby Dobson triumphing ahead of Bella Green and then Tilda Reeve. They were followed by Judi Duke, Justin Berry, Allan Gerrans, Craig Wison, Steve Curnow, Ross Hopkins and Rod Manning.
A dedicated team of officials ran the race very efficiently and safely… many thanks to Di, Donna, Cam, Robert and David. Here are the results and many thanks again to Tony Copland for the pics.
Next week’s race is a handicap race from the Botanic Park, up to Sawpit Gully Road and around to Graves Road - entries via SMS to John on 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday.

Preston Mountain Classic

Congratulations to Josh Hopwood for a great result in the Preston Mountain Classic on Saturday, finishing 9th - only 36 seconds behind the winner. Congratulations too to two of our local officials for helping run the race: Di Condie was Chief Judge and Jodie Batchelor Chief Commissaire. However, it has to be asked… why didn’t they disqualify the first 8 finishers?!

Finally…

The top three runs of the 2018 Red Bull Rampage.

A good wrap-up of the season of Mitchelton-Scott.

The 2019 Tour de France route has announced. Both Cycling News and Cycling Tips covered it in detail.