UPDATED - Lots about dirt and lots about Xmas

MTBA members vote YES to AusCycling

An overwhelming 89% of MTBA members today voted to approve AusCycling. Read more here.

MMBCC Xmas Party - Tuesday 17 December

It’ll be held at the Mansfield Hotel in the courtyard, under the tree (or in the function room if the weather’s not nice) on the evening of Tuesday 17 December starting at 6.30.

(Also, an update from the last time this was mentioned in a newsletter a fortnight ago - there are no Dirt Crits scheduled for this night - you were right Micala.)

Please RSVP to either Judi Duke via email or on 0417 551 116 or Kate Stonnill via email or on 0438 098 594… by Tuesday 10 December!

Dirt Crits Gravity Enduro 2 - a fantastic night of gravity racing

By Damian Grundy

A few of the favourites were missing i.e. The Crash Bandicoots (AKA Matt and Elise Empey and Mr Dan Friday) get well soon y’all.

Most everyone kept it rubber side down and racing was fast and furious. Protests will most definitely NOT be considered with some exceptions.

Items of note:

• Finally persistence and ragged style paid off for James Griffin with a fastest run in the second leg. Congratulations James.

• A ‘ring in’ competitor JJ (we think it is McConnell and it would help if Adam Baker wrote his bloody name and contact details down as requested!). A protest has been lodged (Second against First) on the basis of unverifiable identity! Word on the street is that the protest stands a good chance of success. The racing Stewards, Messrs Grundy, Grundy and Grundy, are to assemble soon to consider the evidence.

• In Men’s B, River Reeve flew down the hill in both runs showing the field a clean pair of heels in the overall. Rumour has it that he might have turned a blind eye to the plight of his crashed brother Hunter in the first run. Considering he started after and finished before there is little doubt that he passed a stricken Hunter. Brotherly love is a wonderful thing. Thankfully Hunter’s main injury was to his pride. Better luck next time Hunter.

• Ruby Dobson was in fine form and won Women’s with a comfortable margin to that venerable veteran of the women’s field, Rachael Grundy and the young’un Maddie Smith in third.

Here are the results. Next week is the Delatite Dash from Carter’s Road to Mirimbah.

You could win a car!

Now that we have your attention, have you sent an RSVP to Judi or Kate for the MMBCC Xmas Party?

The Black ‘n’ Tan’s back!

By Bruce Halket

The Black ’n’ Tan was back on Thursday 28 November when 13 of the hardest riders of the MMBCC lined up for a lap of the Chapel Hill Road Loop, a 29km handicap race including 4km of gravel.

First away from Pollards Road was a lonely Hunter Reeve as the Limit group on a generous 20 minutes. He was followed seven minutes later by Micala Jacobs, David Jagger and Craig Wilson off 13.00; Ian Conrick, Steve Curnow (on his mountain bike!) and Tim Hall off 7.30; Cam Lachal (NOT on his new bike!) and John Lazarov off 5.00; AJ Stephenson off 3.30; Bruce Halket off 2.00 and the Scratch group was Steve Brown and Ewyn Carter.

The only catch along sector one of the ‘black’ was Halket getting Stephenson just after the turn onto Chapel Hill Road after 10km; the two worked well for the next few kays to the ‘tan’.

At the other end of the gravel, Craig Wilson posted yet another DNF! Wilson has a reputation (some say it’s well-deserved) for not being able to finish a MMBCC road race with gravel, by always managing to have a flat. This time, he confounded the critics, sort of, by not having a flat. His rear tyre managed to delaminate - going out of ‘round’ meaning he really couldn’t keep riding but keeping intact his remarkable record of DNFs on the dirt.

By the end of 4km of ‘tan’ the back end of the field was really close; a huge off-road effort by Brown meant he and Carter had Halket in their sights; he in turn had almost caught the Elles (Lazarov and Lachal) and they’d almost caught Conrick, Curnow and Hall.

They all came ‘together’ on sector two of the ‘black’ but a new group of Brown, Carter, Halket and Lachal formed as they climbed the last little pinch before the Buller Road intersection. This was when nearby residents wondered whether the train line to Melbourne has been reinstated and a steam locomotive was being used - such was the noise of Halket’s breathing as he tried to stay with the Scratch group.

These four could see the Jays in the distance (Jacobs and Jagger) and managed to finally get them about 1km before the line.

But none of them saw Hunter Reeve - he’d simply ridden away from everyone and wasn’t seen again - he won by over 5 minutes! Brown was second (and fastest overall) ahead of Carter, Halket, Jagger and Jacobs who was Fastest Woman.

Many thanks to our volunteers and officials for a safe, well-run race.

Thanks to Alex Green, Melanie Green and Tony Copland for the pics. Here are the results.

Next week is the dreaded O’Hanlon’s Hill finish; entries to the usual number by 8pm Wednesday please.

But wait, there’s more!

Have you sent an RSVP to Judi or Kate for the MMBCC Xmas Party?

New stuff on the For Sale pages

There’s a new bike listed on the For Sale pages. Plus some Shimano Ultegra shifters and derailleurs.

"It's all happening here!"

LOTS to get through this week…

A win for road safety and thank you Mansfield Police

This week a club member experienced a very close pass in a 100km zone and was using a Cycliq Fly camera front and back and captured very clear footage of the pass. They wrote up the facts of the incident and took a copy of the video and a picture of the pass to the police.

Based on the clarity of the video footage, Mansfield Police were able to identify the driver and issue them with an infringement notice.

If any members are interested in knowing more about the Cycliq camera and how we can use these devices to get evidence of dangerous situations, visit their website or contact MMBCC Secretary Donna Stephenson.

New loan bikes

With many thanks to Shannon and the team All Terrain Cycles for their generosity, the club now has a couple of small (20” wheeled) mountain bikes for kids to borrow for Dirt Crits.

Dirt Crits

Not content with each getting on the podium in last week’s races, the Reeve boys went even better on Tuesday taking out the Teams Race at Riflebutts. Well done to Hunter and River!

Here are the results.

Don’t forget that Round 2 of the MMBCC Gravity Enduro Series is on this Tuesday!

Road Race cancelled last week and new SMS entry number for this week

It wasn’t the heat, as the temperature dropped a fair bit when the change hit at about 5pm. It wasn’t just the wind but it was very gusty. And it wasn’t just the smoke and dust. But the combination of all three last Thursday made the Commissaires and Road Committee cancel.

So we’re expecting you all to be fresh and flying this Thursday for a Handicap around the Chapel Hill Road loop! (Yes, that means a bit of gravel.) Somehow or other, John has managed to escape for a holiday so entries this week need to go to David Jagger on 0428 346 790 but are still due by 8pm Wednesday.

More news from Tassie

The travelling Greens and Empeys left Derby and headed to Maydena for the next stop on their Enduro Tour of Tassie. They were also joined by some other familiar Mansfield faces.

Tuesday Elise Empey had a little off, dislocated an elbow and was a DNS (Did Not Start).

Wednesday it was hot. Thursday it was REALLY hot. Friday it snowed!

Saturday Dan Friday had an off and broke a hand and was another DNS.

Sunday Matthew Empey had a BIG off (it looks worse than it really was - he’s ok, just a bit bruised) and was a DNF.

Zac Empey finished 17th in Under 15 Men.

Bella Green finished 7th in Under 17 Women.

And Dave Empey finished 3rd in Masters 6 (55-60) including this jump - keep in mind the tree ferns are between two and four metres high!

Herald Sun Tour comes to Mansfield and Mt Buller!

The 2020 Herald-Sun Tour for Men is coming to Mansfield on Stage 4. Here is a link to all the stages.

And it’ll use the Old Tolmie Road Loop… twice!

However, as it’s early in the season for most of the pros, Scott McGrory has taken pity on them and will send them around the OTRL the ‘wrong’ way so they don’t have to climb Old Tolmie Road. But they’ll still have to descend Old Tolmie Road twice which will be fairly spectacular in itself!

They’ll leave from High Street, go past the Botanic Park and up past Spring Creek Road, turn right onto Old Tolmie Road, descend to Barwite, go over the Coombesberg, right onto Graves Road, right onto Buller Road and right again into Chenery Street… then do that loop again. When they get to the end of Graves Road the second time they’ll turn left and go to Buller.

Here’s the whole route of Stage 4 on Strava if you want a look in more detail.

The only drawback for us is that the Women’s Tour will only be two stages and won’t come to Mansfield.

Vets Racing with Northern Vets

There may be a couple, or at least one club member heading to Seymour on Sunday 1 December (@ 10am) to race in the Angelo De Francesco Memorial Handicap over 52 km, starting at Kobydoyn.

If you are not registered with Vets Racing and have not been registered in the last five years, you are entitled to three come and try races; you pay only a race entry of about $17. 

To enter, you will need to contact the club handicapper by midnight of the Thursday before racing. Details of the event, race rego procedure and handicapper contact can be found on their website.

Vets racing is very inclusive and they will cater for all levels of fitness and abilities. AJ will have room in his car for at least one person and a bike or two. 

Contact Andrew Stephenson on 0402 269 185.

MMBCC National News

Good evening and welcome to the MMBCC update. Lots to catch up on…

MMBCC Christmas Party is go!

It’ll be held at the Mansfield Hotel (in the courtyard, under the tree - or in the function room if the weather’s not nice) on the evening of Tuesday 17 December starting at 6.30. (We promise not to eat all the food before those racing at Dirt Crits get there!)

Please RSVP to either Judi Duke via email or on 0417 551 116 or Kate Stonnill via email or on 0438 098 594… by Tuesday 10 December!

Brendon’s Three-peat

By Janine Appleton

There were 24 starters for the Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap on Thursday night, with near perfect conditions over the 29km. This is the fifth year the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club has held this memorial race to remember a friend and celebrate his life.

Alain Guerin was riding on Mt Buller Road in the middle of the day in November 2014, when he was hit from behind. The driver was charged with dangerous driving causing death due to being on his phone at the time he hit Alain. It is a very simple message. If you drive distracted - you may kill someone.

That person has family that will miss them forever. That person lives in your community - a student at the high school, a plumber, a nurse or your child’s teacher. That person volunteers in your community as a coach in the swimming club or is a member of the CFA. That person loves riding their bike for their long-term health.

It’s a reminder that the roads are for everyone to share. If you see a single cyclist, a pair or a group, please adjust your speed accordingly. Always look ahead and plan your passing to give cyclists a safe space - a minimum passing distance of 1.5 metres in speed zones over 60km/h)

In the race, most groups were stretched early due to the inclusion of four riders from the Hometec Shutters team (the team Alain’s sons Jean-Daniel and Laurent ride for). This was most evident in the Scratch group of local riders Steve Brown and Josh Hopwood being blasted off in the first kilometre by last year’s winner, Brendon Green.

With 10km to go, Brendon caught the last of the larger groups. He stormed past them which resulted in only his father, Guy Green, tucking in behind him. It wasn’t until the Coombesberg, less than 1 km to go, that the front rider for the whole race, Hunter Reeve, succumbed to Brendon’s immense average speed of 39.5km/h for his third win in a row at this race.

Final results were Brendon Green 1st. 15 seconds behind his father, Guy Green, was 2nd. Local rider, 15 year old Hunter Reeve was 3rd. A group of five, Simon Bone, Cam Lachal, James Black, Mauro Brega and Talia Appleton rode in together for 4th to 8th.

Special thanks to Jodie Batchelor for attending the race from Adelaide, for assessing newly registered Cycling Victoria Commissaires.

Here are the results and thanks to Tony Copland, Laurent Guerin and Bruce Halket for the following pics.

Bobby and River the new wave

Another huge night at Dirt Crits with 21 entrants for a varied number of laps around Damian’s favourite circuit. In a great night for the wave of junior riders coming through, Bobby Ritchie took the win ahead of River Reeve and the ‘forever young’ Damian Grundy, Sean Gannon and Ariel Stava.

Here are the results.

Adam Baker wins

Even though the MMBCC is no longer a BMX club, Adam Baker has produced some great results lately to take out the Victorian State Series in 40-44 Men’s Cruiser Class. Adam raced six of the eight rounds all across the state - Warrnambool, Lilydale, Mildura, Bendigo, Park Orchards and Portland - and with five 2nd places and a win in the final round enough to wrap up the series win.

Congratulations Adam and good luck next weekend at the Victorian titles.

AusCycling vote update

Road is still in the balance; it seems Tasmania will be the deciding state. NSW and WA have voted no (although there might be a challenge to the validity of the NSW vote) so if it votes yes, Tassie will be the necessary sixth state needed for AusCycling to go ahead. We’ll know soon.

Surprisingly, BMX Victoria voted no but it seems there will still be enough states voting yes for an overall yes from BMX. (So MMBCC might become a BMX club again soon… )

MTBA is still unknown; a 75% yes vote from individual members is required. If you haven’t voted yet, please remember to send through your proxy vote.

News just in from Tasmania…

Round 2 of the Enduro World Series was held this weekend at Derby in Tasmania. The Empeys and Green travelled down to fly the flag for the MMBCC, with some great results!

Elise Empey won the Junior Womens category while Bella Green just missed the podium in 4th.

Matt Empey finished 8th in the highly competitive under 21’s; Zac Empey finished 15th in Junior Men and old man Dave Empey 8th in Masters Men.

Thanks to Alex Green for the pics.

Downhill and 'drowning'

With no Dirt Crits held this week, due to Melbourne Cup Day, instead of an article about what happened at Dirt Crits, here’s an article about Matthew Empey’s recent ‘holiday’ in Europe.

Matt Empey at the IXS European Cup

Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club member Matthew Empey recently travelled to Europe to race the last four races of the IXS European Downhill Cup.

Matthew competed in four races held in three countries. The first race was held in Schoneck, Northern Germany. Arriving early allowed him to train for four days in the Czech Republic before the race. Race day was wet and slippery on a short course with very little margin for error. Matthew qualified in fifth position. Race runs were tight with 1.5 seconds separating the first four placegetters. Matthew finished the day in fourth position.

The next race was in Brandnertal, Austria. The race track was steep, littered with tree roots and huge gaps. The course was daunting to say the least. Race day was dry and fast. A mistake on race run in the first corner cost Matthew, as he ended up in 19th position.

The third race was the German National Championships in Thale. The course was long, flat and fast with huge road gaps. Race day was wet and slippery after a week of dry weather. Matthew qualified in 9th position. Race run was interrupted by a flash storm which dumped 20mm of rain on the U/19 Pro field causing chaos. Matt ended up in 7th position. Another excellent result.

The last race was the Swiss Downhill Cup in Bellwald, Switzerland. Again, a different course this one being steep rocky and very very fast. The fastest riders clocking speeds up to 80 km/h. No rain at this race, however’ it did snow on the track walk and practice day. Race day was dry and fast. Matt qualified in 8th position and improved to 7th position in the final.

Matthew gained enough points with the top ten finishes to qualify for next year’s world cups. This was an amazing effort by Matthew as he raced totally unsupported in Europe. He raced in the Elite Pro U/19 age group where all the riders are fully sponsored and supported by large bike brands. To achieve World Cup Qualification status in just four races is an amazing achievement, as there are 20 races in the IXS Cup. Matthew is now looking forward to racing the upcoming Australian Downhill season.

Winter Weather for Road Race

By Jarrod Appleton

Despite cold and wet weather 20 riders still contested the Jamieson Kevington handicap road cycling race last Thursday. Prior to the race a number of riders were campaigning to call off the race and have an extended social evening at the Jamieson Brewery. But the hardcore stalwarts quashed their dissent, shaming them into silence, in a fashion Xi Jinping would have applauded.

The rain eased temporarily just prior to the race which gave the riders time to have a brief warm up. The handicapper had the field structured with some interesting time gaps. Last week’s winner Alex Green was moved back two minutes and two groups as a consequence of his success. And the overall time gap between Limit (the first riders to start) and Scratch (the last and fastest riders to start) suggested there was an opportunity for a faster rider to win for the first time this season.

Soon after the start of the race the rain increased to a steady, moderate level. The combination of rain from above and spray from the rear wheel of the rider ahead meant everyone was soaked through from early on. It was one of those occasions where athletes knuckle down and get the race done as fast as possible, not for the pleasure of competing, but rather for the pleasure of getting warm and dry after the race.

Despite this race offering the best scenery of any of the circuits the club uses, nobody was able to admire any of it. The concentration required to safely sit a few centimetres from the wheel of the rider ahead, while being constantly sprayed in the face by water precludes any sightseeing.

Placings on the evening from first were Jarrod Appleton, Darren Bakker, Talia Appleton, Bruce Halket and Steve Duke. Fastest male was Steve Brown and fastest female was Talia Appleton.

Special thanks to the volunteer marshals and commissaires who also had to deal with the inclement weather. Without dedicated generous people who give their time willingly, sports like bicycle racing couldn’t happen. If you would like to assist the club by helping as a marshal, and by doing so get a ringside seat at the race, please get in touch with MMBCC. None of the jobs are difficult or require any prior experience.

Here are the results. Tony’s camera threw a wobbly in the wet but he’s managed to salvage a few pics.

AusCycling Open Letter

Here’s an Open Letter from AusCycling, signed by quite a few noteable cycling identities.

And after the Cycling Victoria AGM on the weekend, CV has announced that Victorian clubs have voted YES to AusCycling - 87.5% voted in favour.

STOP PRESS - MMBCC at Barjarg

Three members of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club raced the 1st VDHS downhill race at Barjarg this weekend. The three participants, Maddison Smith, Elise Empey and Matthew Empey all performed extremely well.

The Barjarg downhill track is one of the toughest tracks in Australia; littered with rock gardens, drops, chutes and technical traverses.

The three junior riders punched well above their weight, with Elise winning Elite Women by 19 seconds and Maddison placing fourth in Elite Women (Maddison is only 13). Matthew competed in the very competitive U/19 Junior Men and finished 4th, less than one second behind third.

The next round of the VDHS series will be held at Narbethong. If any juniors are wanting to have a go at a Downhill race this would be a good one to start with.

Cup Weekend Update

Apparently we should have something here about horses; not sure why. Anyway, onto riding bicycles…

Classic Mansfield Racing

By Protra Pedina (guest Spanish cycling enthusiast from Club Rocacorba, Girona)

Some may remember that I visited Mansfield for the last few years. When not cycling in Spain I am lucky enough to travel to a few locations and sample the delights and camaraderie of cycling clubs from places as diverse as Los Angeles, Beijing and St Petersburg. But Mansfield remains my favourite – the town, countryside and the people are all beautiful.

Thursday night racing (31 October 2019) was no exception, with perfect late afternoon summer conditions for racing. With nearly 30 starters the scene was set for another club great race out the Whitfield Road and back via Barwite Road, finishing on Graves Road.

Riders gathered for the sign-on at the botanic park carpark, with Allan Gerrans overheard saying “I’ve always liked this course, it suits my style of riding, and I hope I can bury a few out there today.” Despite strong performances in the past weeks Allan didn’t feature in the finishing places this week.

Despite the best efforts of the faster markers to chase down the early starters they just couldn’t get it together in a consistent manner to challenge for the placings. Bruce Halket, when asked post-race what went wrong, replied “I should have been training rather than sitting around all winter doing nothing. This sport is a mental game, but apparently training has something to do with it.” Keiren Payne agreed strongly with this sentiment but was out of breath and unable to comment. The one bright spot for the faster riders was Josh Hopwood again set fastest time for the night. “I felt aero out there today. It’s great starting with [fellow scratch marker] Steve Brown, but really pleasing to eventually ride away from him as the race settles down.”

All the action was with the earlier starting groups as they battled crosswinds in the rolling terrain. A group of ten riders came together quickly and started working well together.

After the turnaround, the group lost Craig Wilson, Tim Hall, Micala Jacobs, Judi Duke and Steve Flew despite them putting in some sharp turns. “I loved it out there today and felt good. At the end of the day I just couldn’t stay with them” said Duke.

The winning group of Janine Appleton, Steve Curnow, Bella Green, Hunter Reeve, Dave Jagger and Alex Green settled into a rhythm for the remainder of the race. Working well into a headwind along Barwite, the first cracks started to appear as they climbed Coomesberg. David Jagger clearly out of breath was heard to mumble “So long…see you at… thanks…” leaving Appleton, Curnow and the Green’s to battle it out.

In the end, Alex Green came over the top of Appleton and Bella Green to take his first win in 8 years of club racing. Curnow came in fourth. At the post-race interview Alex Green said “I’m happy to say that you can just be an average kid with no talent at something and still make it happen if you believe in yourself and dedicate yourself 100%. I would also like to thank my mother.”

Mr Green and his family were seen celebrating the win late into the evening with dinner at the Delatite Hotel, a long term and great supporter of everything cycling in Mansfield.

As with all club races around the world that I attend, they couldn’t happen without the support of volunteers, marshals and behind the scenes work. A big thank you to all and a special call-out to the commissaire for the evening Tony Copland. He is well renowned throughout Victoria as firm but fair, particularly by visiting cyclists who make sure they have their registrations up to date.

Next Thursday the club races at a town called Jamieson; it also sounds very beautiful.

Here are the results (and the current points scores) and many thanks to both Tony Copland and Alex Green for the pics.

Dirt Crits – Gravity Enduro Summer Series race #1

By Damian Grundy

Tuesday 29 October 2019 - Rifle Butts MTB Park - what a great evening of GRAVITY fuelled racing!

It was great to see so many riders keen for the battle. It has been an amazing start to the season and yet again on Tuesday so many new faces.

The evenings racing consisted of two technical and mostly downhill courses. As Damian was setting the courses there were a couple of baby (very small, short, insignificant) uphill bits which, of course, were the MOST fun.

The field was divided into three grades with Men A, Men B and Women.

Taking out he wins on the night were Matt Empey in Men A, Kevin Gannon in Men B and Elise Empey in Women.

Matt Empey was simply dominant with an overall time for two runs of 10 min and 11 seconds. This was a full 45 seconds faster than some old has-been in second. Of course Shannon Rademaker’s chances were cruelled by a broken chain in his second run.

In Men’s B the results were much closer with 13 seconds separating first and second. Kevin Gannon recorded a very quick 11 min 12 sec for his two runs.

Elise Empey and Ruby Dobson, who was second in the Women, were separated by 11 seconds. Elise’s overall time was 1 min 27sec.

As with any race there were many tales of woulda coulda shoulda. But as we all know “when the flag drops the bulls**t stops”. Well done to everyone and especially the winners.

The gravity series will return on Tuesday 26 November. If you missed the first race (strained heart muscle possibly), never fear. This is a four race series and your best three results will count to the overall.

Here are the results and thanks to Alex Green for the pics.

AusCycling

One final thing about AusCycling before the Cycling Victoria Annual General Meeting on November 9. The club will vote on your behalf. Which way do you want it to vote?

Unless we hear otherwise, the club will likely vote YES with a few suggestions about pricing, as discussed in last week’s news. But what do you want? Have your say! Send Damian an email and let him know your thoughts.

Cycling NSW has voted NO, but I suspect the way they worded the poll question didn’t favour a YES vote. As a contrast, we’ve also included the question the Melbourne Cycling League asked their members.

And here’s the link to a response from Port Fairy Cycling Club on Facebook which is worth a read.

MTBA members will have details of their AGM and the voting process by Wed 6 Nov. Remember, each individual MTBA member gets a vote.

Speaking of Port Fairy…

Well, almost. The details of the 2020 Melbourne to Warrnambool have been released and there’s a new 75km Handicap from Port Campbell to Warrnambool a few hours before the pros. (Perhaps Protra Pedina will enter as he’s apparently visited that part of the world too.)

Finally…

Targa High Country is on next weekend. It means the Mansfield-Whitfield Road will be closed north of Bridge Creek from 10.40am on Saturday. So it’s probably not the day to plan a ride to Whitfield and back. Plus Mt Buller Road will be closed in the morning for a few hours on Friday, Saturday and Sunday; plus in the afternoon on Friday and Sunday.

Sunday arvo news

This week… Dirt Crits, Coombesberg TT and more on AusCycling.

Clarissa flies!

Dirt Crits on Tuesday night saw another big turnout at Riflebutts Reserve with 24 entrants for an Irish Handicap. This week’s race was based on either a short or a long lap, or even a combination of the two, plus staggered start times.

First group away for two long laps were Jo Wall, visiting from Bendigo, Matt Empey, Damian Grundy, Cam Dobson and Bruce Halket. They were followed by the rest of the field at all sorts of different start times.

Grundy, Halket and Dobson faded but Empey and Wall roared ahead overtaking most of the field but they weren’t able to catch the flying Clarissa Leatham. She who won by 20 seconds from Bobby Ritchie who was just ahead of Empey. Maddy Smith came in fourth just ahead of Wall.

The handicaps were so accurate that there was only 4 minutes between the winner and eighteenth place!

Here are the detailed results.

The Race of Lies.

MMBCC road races are usually Handicap races. But two or three times a season we run an Individual Time Trial, each racer riding alone, against the clock. This elicits cliche-laden articles about there being nowhere to hide, every man for himself, the Race of Truth, etc.

This was all disregarded on Thursday when the MMBCC hosted a Race of Lies. The MMBCC super computer had a little meltdown and incorrect results were awarded at the Delatite Hotel presentations on Thursday night.

Overnight a call was put into the IT Department who told us to turn it off and turn it on again. Voila! On Friday morning we had accurate results…

The win went to Steve Curnow, ahead of Bruce Halket, Josh Hopwood (who also rode fastest time of 19.40), Allan Gerrans and Bella Green was fifth and first unplaced female. Then came Dave Moore, Alex Green, Micala Jacobs, Jarrod Appleton and AJ Stephenson.

In another example of close handicapping, with a different 24 entrants, only two minutes separated first from seventeenth!

Detailed results can be found here and many thanks again to Tony Copland for the pics.

More on AusCycling

Wade Wallace, the founder of Cycling Tips, has written a very good article explaining the proposed changes to the structure of cycling in Australia. Here’s the link to have a read.

A reminder about the voting process too… for Cycling Australia it’s the member club that votes, for MTBA it’s the individual member that votes.

Unless we hear otherwise from members, the club will likely vote in favour of the AusCycling proposal. MTBA members should make up their own minds.

FYI, below is the proposed membership costs of AusCycling. Overall, we think this is heading in the right direction but we’d prefer to see two changes… the cost of Junior memberships, especially U13, should be lower and Masters memberships for those under 65 should still be available.

The prices listed above do NOT include the club fee (the portion of the overall fee which goes to the club) which for the MMBCC is $10 for Juniors and $20 for Seniors. There are no plans to change the MMBCC club fee.

A mountain bike race, a road race and a gravel ride walk into a bar...

Huge first night at Dirt Crits

We came (to Rifle Butts Mountain Bike Park).

We Raced.

The rest speaks for itself!

And if it doesn’t then: The handicapper was overrun by all the new names and had a meltdown but the race went ahead and some of the new guys took advantage of the obviously dodgy handicaps to run away and win.

Well done all. Super fantastic to see the new faces - including 8 women, a record for Dirt Crits!

Here are the results and thanks to Alex for the pics.

Wet, windy and hilly

By Talia Appleton

There were four groups lined up on what was a cold and wet Thursday night, for the second week of the summer series club racing. Luckily the rain passed just in time for the 6 o’clock start.

There were six ‘Did Not Start’s on the night, including four riders from the first two groups off, so this put the trio of Janine Appleton, Dave Jagger and Talia Appleton off first as Limit. Right from the start this front group were working well together and it didn’t look like the group behind of Allan Gerrans, Steve Curnow and Ian Conrick would catch them.

At the back end of the race Steve Brown was pulling fast turns that were 3-4 times longer than the others, making strong riders sprint onto the back after finishing their turn. Because this group was so strong, Cam Lachal, Jarrod Appleton, Justin Berry, Darren Bakker and John Lazarov were caught not far from the turn around. The joining of groups formed a large, fast pack to chase the others down.

Nearer to the end of the race, Janine, Talia and Dave were still in front. Dave pulled his last turn before swinging off 6km from the finish, then Talia sprinted away from Janine with 5km to go, hoping to ride solo to the finish and take the win.

Behind, the large group of 8 were closing down on all of the other riders. The last 5km of Howes Creek Road has many short but steep pinches, and all of the groups smashed up, with Steve Brown motoring up the road, to try to catch Talia and Janine.

But Talia and Janine were too far ahead with Talia coming in for first followed by Janine in second, Steve Brown third and fastest time for the night. Steve Duke fourth and Tom Macmunn rounding out the top five.

(Kudos to Justin Berry for a great ride. Firstly, he was ‘penalised’ three minutes for winning last week. Then on Thursday night the rest of his group this week didn’t turn up; so that he didn’t start alone, he was moved back another two minutes… effectively penalised five minutes! But he stayed with the faster group the whole race and finished tenth. Well done Justin! - Ed.)

Many thanks for our marshals and Commissaires for volunteering in wintry conditions. Here are the results and thanks to Tony Copland and Alex Green for the pics.

Next week’s race is the Graves Road Individual Time Trial.

Mixed surface social ride next weekend

By AJ Stephenson

Location: Fawcett Hall Café and Market

Date: 26 October

Time: 0900 (for coffee, ride starts when we’re all hydrated) Start and finish at Fawcett Hall Cafe.

Highlights: Great gravel roads, quiet sealed roads, GVRT (rail trail), some hills, Country Market with heaps of bargains and great food and coffee (based on last years experience)

Routes: Multiple route options that will hopefully meet many peoples desires.

About a year ago Donna and I sallied forth on our gravel bikes looking to explore Coles Creek Rd. With me in charge of navigation, the inevitable happened and we missed the rather obvious turn off. Following that blunder we continued on the GVRT and attempted to get back to Coles Creek Rd on any of the roads we came across. This led us up and down many small hills and ended with locked gates. Eventually we continued on past Yarck towards Alexandra. We turned left into Spring Creek Road and by this time were starting to get a little hungry, we were looking forward to a pie at the Bonnie Doon servo. A few Ks up Spring Creek Road we came across an oasis in the form of the Fawcett Hall Market. As a part of the market there was a café set up in the hall serving fantastic coffee, cakes and meals. So this year we are planning this as a social ride starting and finishing at the Markets so you can pick up a bargain after your ride and lunch.

GPX Routes to be added later: Long Loop 70klm 1100Vm; Shortish Loop 65klm 600Vm.

Long loop takes in a mix of gravel, sealed roads with a little rail trail (Maintongoon and Sonnnberg Road). Led by AJ.

Shortish Loop is a mix of gravel, sealed and more railtrail, with the option of a stop at Yarck for some more coffee. Led by Donna.

If you are very social-ride inclined, there is an option to tootle to Alexandra on Spring Creek Road and the rail trail and return.

Here is the link to the Facebook events page to register your interest.

Handicap entries

A quick word or two on entries, just for Handicap races…

We ask you to enter by 8pm on Wednesday so that John has enough time to calculate the handicaps. He needs to calculate the estimated speed of each rider and how well he thinks those riders will combine into a group.

The handicaps are calculated on your being there. Your absence throws the handicap calculations ‘out of whack’ reducing the chances of the group you were supposed to start with.

So if you decide not to race, even if it’s at the last minute, please let John know as soon as possible. Because he’ll need to redo the handicaps. And the more time he has to do this, the better they’ll be. Theoretically.

Sunday update

First, a few reminders:

• Roadies, don’t forget your CA licence each week;

• MTBers, don’t forget Dirt Crits on Tuesday; and

• Don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter.

Berry crushes opposition

By Jason Parker

Last Thursday, the first event of Mansfield Mount Buller Cycling Club’s Road Racing season was held on a beautiful afternoon with very little breeze. The format was a 25km handicap race starting at the Botanic Park, turning around at Sawpit Gully Road and finishing on Mt Battery Road.

Commissaire Tim Ross provided the pre-race briefing before the 21 riders, in six bunches, headed off at different intervals.

John Eisner, Kieren Payne, Rod Manning and grandson Hunter Reeve (participating in his first road race) headed off first. David Jagger, Craig Wilson and Bella and Alex Green set off one minute later. At two minutes, the starter sent off Allan Gerrans, Steve Curnow, Justin Berry, and Jason Parker. Four and a half minutes passed before John Lazarov, Darren Bakker and Cam Lachal left the start line, with Dave Moore, Bruce Halket and Dave Moore a further minute and a half back. The Scratch bunch headed off in pursuit a further minute and a half later, consisting of Josh Hopwood and newcomers, but experienced racers, Steve Brown and Ewyn Carter.

On the outward journey, the Green bunch caught the Limit bunch and they began to work together. Justin Berry’s crew had worked well and the leading bunch were within touching distance. They decided to catch and attack the group on the rise just past the Broken River bridge, in an attempt to distance any who were trying to join them. Allan Gerrans attacked and his bunch distanced all but one rider, Alex Green, who began working with his new group and providing encouragement. Steve Curnow rode smoothly to drag the group up to the turnaround. Just after the tomato farm bend on the home run, the Berry group began to do rolling turns, maintaining a good pace for the entire return trip.

At the top of the Barwite hill there were no chasers in sight, so the Berry bunch knew that the placegetters would come from within their group. Justin led the bunch around the corner onto Mt Battery Rd and then continued on to take the win from Parker, with a slight gap to Gerrans, Alex Green and Curnow. Just over a minute and a half later, Hopwood (the fastest rider on the night) led Moore, Bakker, Halket, and Duke over the line in tenth position. The other racers finished their race at different intervals - Carter, Jagger and Wilson, Manning, Lazarov and Lachal, Brown, Bella Green, Payne and Reeve.

Thanks to the officials and volunteers on the night. Here are the results. Next Thursday 17 October the Howes Creek handicap race will be held with registration from 5:30pm at the Lords Oval. Riders are reminded to bring along a copy of their current Cycling Australia licence and to enter by 8pm on Wednesday.

Racing starts next week!

It’s that time of year again… please subscribe to the newsletter so you can stay up-to-date!

The magpies have been swooping for weeks, the wattle is flowering, hay fever has eyes and noses irritated… so it must be time to start racing bikes again!

The calendars have been published; here is the Dirt Crits calendar and here is the Road Racing calendar.

Roadies, please check the duty roster to see when it’s your turn to help out. (For information on what to do when you’re on duty, please read this!)

Membership renewal reminder

The start of racing for 2019/2020 is a timely reminder about your membership. Please make sure you’ve renewed and have a valid race membership, whether you’re racing Dirt Crits or Road… or both.

Go to the Join Now page to join for the first time or renew.

MTBA memberships of the MMBCC are a 12-month membership. Cycling Australia memberships of the MMBCC are a calendar year membership but as a bonus they include Oct-Dec 2019 in your 2020 membership.

In particular, this is a shout out to roadies… we’ve downloaded a member list from Cycling Australia this week and, for some unknown reason, not all of you are listed. (If you remember, we had this problem in January too.) So, to confirm that everyone has insurance cover, please bring your membership card along to your first race; or at least the receipt from your payment if your card hasn’t arrived yet. No card - no start!

This summer should be the last time we need to buy separate CA and MTBA memberships… hopefully we’ll be buying a single AusCycle membership next summer.

Weekend update

Have you subscribed to the newsletter yet?

AusCycling Roadshow

With a name change from One Cycling to AusCycling, the information ‘Roadshow’ has almost finished - the last one will be in Mackay, Queensland this coming Wednesday.

In case you missed the Melbourne session, here is the link (in case you don’t have a life and have three hours spare!) From what we can gather, it seems NSW, TAS and WA are against it but everyone else is a yes. Even Bicycle Network! Let’s hope it goes ahead. For more details visit the AusCycling website.

Amys Gran Fondo

Congrats to Judi Duke for finishing in the top 20% of her age group and therefore qualifying for the Gran Fondo Worlds in Canada next September!

Also, if you have a look at this video (between 1:20 and 1:26) you can see Darren and Bruce proudly sporting the MMBCC kit. It looks like they’re rolling to the front to take a turn but we have it on good authority they were trying to get the 75 year old lady in blue to do more of the work!

Ruby wins!

Ruby Dobson travelled to the You Yangs at the end of August for round 5 of the Vic Interschools Cycling Series, hosted by the Geelong MTB Club, and won the Under 15 girls.

Well done Ruby!

E-bikes

Electric pedal-assist bikes are hugely popular in Europe, becoming much more common here and are now so well-designed they’re hard to tell from normal bikes. We might have to be a bit more careful with handicaps on Tuesday and Thursday nights! Here’s a look at the e-bikes on display at EuroBike recently.

Upcoming Events

The UCI Road World Championships start this weekend, based in Harrogate, Yorkshire. Here is a preview of all the courses.

The last round of the Enduro World Series is being held this weekend in Zermatt, Switzerland. Here is a course preview - definitely worth a look.

MMBCC Dirt Crits - early Oct - details soon

MMBCC Summer Road Series - starts Thu 10 Oct - calendar and duty roster details coming soon

Sam Miranda Strade Nero Gran Fondo - Sat 12 Oct - Oxley

Fitz’s Challenge - Sun 27 Oct - Canberra

Almost-the-end-of-winter update

News from the Annual General Meeting

Here is a quick rundown on what happened at the AGM late last month:

• Rider Development Grants were awarded to three applicants: Maddie Smith, Bella Green and Ruby Dobson. Congratulations to all three!

• One change to the Executive Committee with Ben Annear standing down from the Secretary’s role. Many thanks to Ben for his years of consistent, high quality work. Donna Stephenson nominated for the role and was elected unopposed. Congratulations Donna and welcome aboard!

• The Road Race sub-committee is: Alex Green, Janine Appleton, John Eisner and David Jagger. Alex will represent them on the Exec.

• The Dirt Crits/Mountain Bike sub-committee is: Shannon Rademaker, Damian Grundy, Kate Stonnill and Clarissa Leatham. Shannon will be the rep on the Exec.

• The Recreational Rides sub-committee is: Jarrod Appleton, Donna Stephenson, Tim Ross and Katie Moore. Jarrod will represent this committee on the Exec.

• The Mansfield Tour organising committee is: Bruce Halket, Jarrod Appleton, Dave Moore, Dave Jagger, Jason Parker and Alex Green. Bruce will sit on the Exec on their behalf.

• The Junior reps on the Executive are: Matt Empey and Elise Empey.

• The general members to sit on the Executive are: Katie Moore, Cam Dobson and John Lazarov.

A reminder that to keep up to date with what’s happening at Executive Meetings, all minutes are available for download here.

Bella wins!

No, it’s not cycling but this is a brilliant result nontheless.
Congratulations to recent RDG recipient, Bella Green, on winning the Interschools Div 2 SlopeStyle competition on the weekend.
Great stuff Bella!

One Cycling

The One Cycling Roadshow has been announced. The closest we’ll get is the Melbourne meeting on Wednesday 11 September, 6-9pm at a venue to be announced. Here is a link to register and get a ticket to the event. It will also be live-streamed. (Not sure if you need to register for a ticket to get access to the livestream though.)
The MMBCC has been pushing for this for years - one membership to cover road and mtb (and BMX) - so hopefully this is worthy of your vote.

Upcoming Events

Alfred 6-Hour MTB Race - Sat 21 Sep - Bright
MMBCC Summer Road Series - early Oct - details soon
Sam Miranda Strade Nero Gran Fondo - Sat 12 Oct - Oxley
Fitz’s Challenge - Sun 27 Oct - Canberra

One week to go...

Have you subscribed to the newsletter yet? You’ll get it direct to your email inbox!

AGM next Tuesday.

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held next Tuesday 23 July at the Delatite Hotel, starting at 6.30pm. Head to the pub at about 6 for dinner and let’s have a chat about the running of the club.

We need to vote on members of the Executive Committee and find some other committee members, hand out some Rider Development Grants, chat about road racing, Dirt Crits, Junior Development, the Mansfield Tour, the Buller round of the Vic Downhill Series and Recreational Rides.

See you at 6 next Tuesday at the Delatite!

Working Bee at Riflebutts MTB Park - Sunday 28 July 1-5pm

There is moisture back in the ground so it’s time to dig!

The plan is to overhaul Rubbish Run trail, realign one section and upgrade the rest of the trail to bring back the fun. Yew!

Bring hand tools, e.g rakes, shovels, rakehoes, etc. Plus eye wear, gloves and a hard hat if you have one. And, of course, wear appropriate clothing and footwear.

And please be on time as a Parks Ranger will conduct a safety brief prior to the working bee.

One Cycling

You probably received an email this week from either Cycling Australia, Mountain Bike Australia or BMX Australia about One Cycling. Here are the details, if you didn’t read the email.

Going by the timeline included, all members will be asked to vote on the negotiated proposal in October or November this year.

The MMBCC have been pushing for something like this for years! (Kudos to both Craig Wilson and Damian Grundy who’ve both worked hard on this too). It should be a great thing for MMBCC members who race both mountain bike and road.

Hopefully, it’ll be worthwhile.

Finally…

As the Women’s Giro Rosa wasn’t televised, here is a link to catch up on highlights of each stage.

This is how to handle a bike! The winning run of the recent Les Gets round of the Downhill World Cup.

Ratification. Or just plain ratty?

First up… the Mansfield Tour

The Mansfield Tour committee are recommending the club hosts the event again in 2020 - but we need to ratify that decision at the AGM.

Ratify? No, nothing to do with our little mate below; think more along the lines of this.

We had a committee of six working on the Tour this year and we’d like a couple more for next year. With a couple of the existing committee unavailable for 2020, that means we’ll be after four more to join the current four members.

Have a think about what you could contribute and we can discuss it in more detail at the AGM.

If you’d like a chat in the meantime, send a note to Bruce or call him on 0419 533 120.

Speaking of the AGM… when is it?

Good question!

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 23 July at the Delatite Hotel, starting at 6.30pm.

Head to the pub at about 6 for a drink, order dinner and let’s have a chat about the running of the club.

Of course, all Executive Committee positions will be declared vacant. Plus we need a new Secretary, some more members of the road sub-committee, plus the Dirt Crits sub-committee, Junior Development, Recreational Rides and General Committee positions to fill.

If you’d like to have a chat about what’s involved, send a message to Damian or Bruce.

Next up… the Rider Development Grant

We haven’t received an application yet!

The RDG application form is now available for download here. The club has had quite a successful year financially, so let’s find some promising junior riders to help out. The grant can go towards any of the costs involved in a rider developing further - travel/fuel costs, equipment, coaching, entry fees, etc.

Applications close on Friday 28 June; that’s less than two weeks. Successful applicants will be announced at the AGM on Thursday 23 July.

Finally, a little light reading on someone crashing a bike…

It seems Chris Froome’s crash was even worse than everyone initially thought.

What does it mean for Le Tour?

Maybe 2019 is Ritchie’s turn?!

AGM, RDG, MST and more...

MMBCC AGM

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held on Tuesday 23 July at the Delatite Hotel, starting at 6.30pm.
Head to the pub at about 6 for a drink, order dinner and let’s have a chat about the running of the club.
The AGM is a little earlier this year to give the Road Sub-committee a chance to apply for permits in time for us to start racing in early October. We already have a few members continuing from last summer but we need a few more of you to help out.
We also need a new Secretary. (In case you didn’t know, Ben and Melissa are expecting. Congratulations!) Ben will likely be a little bit busier at home for the next while; therefore we need to find a replacement.
Plus there’s the Dirt Crits sub-committee, Junior Development, Recreational Rides and General Committee positions to fill.
If you’d like to have a chat about what’s involved, send a message to Damian or Bruce.

Rider Development Grant

The RDG application form is now available for download here. The club’s had a good year financially, so let’s find some promising junior riders to help out!
Applications close on 28 June.
Successful applicants will be announced at the AGM on 23 July.

Mansfield Tour

The 2020 Tour will be one of the topics up for discussion at the AGM. The 2019 Mansfield Subaru Tour was reasonablly financially successful so the committee are recommending we host the event again in 2020 - but we need to discuss it at the AGM and get the whole club to make that decision.
We had a committee of six working on the Tour this year and we’d like a couple more for next year. With a couple of the existing committee unavailable for 2020, that means we’ll be after four more to join the current four members.
Have a think about what you could contribute and we can discuss it in more detail at the AGM.
If you’d like a chat in the meantime, send a note to Bruce or call him on 0419 533 120.

Upcoming Events

Melburn Roubaix - Sunday 30 June - A ‘treasure hunt’ around the back streets and cobbled lanes of Melbourne’s inner suburbs. This is one of the most fun days you’ll ever have on a bike!

Tour de Beechworth - Saturday 27 July - A ride around Beechworth (on- and off-road) culminating with a French dinner at Bridge Road Brewers and a live cross to SBS’s Mike Tomalaris at the Tour de France.

Amy’s Gran Fondo - Sunday 15 September - Australia’s best recreational ride on closed roads, including the Great Ocean Road.

Finally, one for Strava users…

If you’re a Strava user, join the UCI Cycling Club, go for a ride this coming Monday and the UCI will donate bikes to World Bicycle Relief.
8am from the Botanic Park?
Click here to find out more.

Summer Presentations and Market Research

Summer Presentations

Congratulations to all the winners from our recently completed Summer of racing. Especially all our Junior Women who had to do a little weight lifting of trophies last night.

Dirt Crits

Ruby Dobson, Elise Empey and Dan Friday.

Road Racing (overall)

Ruby Dobson, Dave Moore and Steve Duke.

Road Racing Women’s Trophy

Talia Appleton, Ruby Dobson and Janine Appleton.

Alain Guerin Memorial Combined Trophy

Bella Green, Ruby Dobson and Talia Appleton.

Want to earn an $80 Gift Voucher?

A market research company has contacted the MMBCC. They want cyclists for an online discussion about advertising for the Tour Down Under.
- Have you got about 90 minutes spare at 5.30pm this coming Wednesday?
- Are you between 20 and 50 years old?
- Would you like an $80 gift voucher?
If yes, then call them on 1800 077 789 for more details.

More great results from Bright

The Oceania Championships were held in Bright over the last few days, just after the Nationals finished.
Congratulations to Ruby Dobson, who continued her recent good form to win the Bronze medal in the Under 15 Womens Cross Country.
Congratulations again to Elise Empey who also got onto the podium winning a Silver in the Under 17 Womens Downhill.
And big kudos to Matt Empey who rode himself into the top ten in Under 19 Men Downhill.

Finally…

Don’t forget this Sunday night is Paris-Roubaix, the Queen of the Classics, the Hell of the North… the best pro road race of the year. SBS Viceland will show it live from 9.30pm.

MTBA Nationals Podiums and other news

MTBA Nationals in Bright

Cross Country
In Under 15 Women Ruby Dobson won the Silver medal and Talia Appleton finished 6th… a great result from both girls! Well done.
In Masters 5, past member and friend of the MMBCC, Brett Kellett won and is Australian Champion! However, it’s not all good news… Brett still barracks for Collingwood.
Downhill
Matthew Empey finished 18th in the highly competitive Under 19 Men while Elise Empey won the Silver medal in Under 17 Women!

Final race of the summer is a cracker!

By Tom MacMunn

Perfect conditions for the last race of the Summer Series on Thursday night. It was a slightly smaller field with a bunch of juniors on their way to the Mountain Bike Nationals for the weekend. The smart money was on the handicapper, John Eisner, who started himself first. Bella Green and Craig Wilson joined him to make up the strongest looking limit group in MMBCC memory. A group of five old blokes (some older than others) followed them and chased hard all the way to the turnaround at Sawpit Gully Road, pulling back more than half of the two minute deficit.
Meanwhile Cam Lachal and Steve Duke were trying gamely to stay away from Bruce Halket, Dave Moore, Damian Grundy and Tom MacMunn. They had a three minute start but with only two riders it was always going to be a challenge. Both groups were together at the turn.
Josh Hopwood and Lewis Dowie had pulled back a fair chunk of time from Scratch, but with a tail wind on the way home the other groups had a good chance of staying away. Josh and Lewis were held up at the turnaround, with the marshals keeping them safe by holding them to let a car pass. At the end of the race they were calling it 10-15 seconds, by the time we got to the pub they were saying at least a minute.
It was a fast downhill, tailwind run for all groups back towards town. The front groups came together but thoughts of staying away were dashed just after the Barwite Hill. Dave Moore, likely series champion, played the ultimate team role and pulled a massive turn to catch everyone and allow Damian, Bruce and Tom to launch an attack, with only Steve Duke able to respond. The four leaders worked together to the final turn on to Mt Battery Road. Steve’s version of the sprint was that he decided not to win so that he wouldn’t have to write the race report. The author of this report feels the sprint was won fair and square. Tom from Steve, Bruce and Damian. Fastest time went to Josh in 39.30.
Thank you to all the marshals, commissaries, volunteers, the handicapper and the road committee. Thank you also to the other road users in the Mansfield District, particularly those who use the Mansfield Whitfield Road. This is one of the best places in Australia to ride and a big part of that is having a community who helps to keep our cyclists safe.
A final thanks of the 2018/2019 season to Tony Copland for the pics and here are the results.

General Meeting tomorrow

The usual MMBCC Exec Meeting will be held tomorrow, Monday 8 April, at the Delatite Hotel at 7pm. However, this time, all members are invited to come along to see how things run and to add more voices to the discussions.

Summer Presentation

This coming Thursday 11 April the MMBCC will host the Summer Presentations at the Delatite Hotel from 6pm. This is where we’ll award the Summer Road Series trophy, the Dirt Crits trophy and the Alain Guerin Memorial Crossover trophy.
See you there!

Lake Eildon Challenge

Apparently there’s a silver lining to every cloud.
A very dry summer means we might soon be able to ride out to Jamieson more often if the amount of traffic drops with the lake level.
But until the roads get that quiet, you can ride out that way with a bunch next Saturday… the Lake Eildon Challenge is on!
Unlike previous years, this year it’s not really an official ‘event’ just a fun day out. Use this link for the LEC website, have a read and let Liam Delaney know you’ll be coming along for the ride. I know of at least one local planning on riding to Eildon with a support driver picking them up.

QTCs

We’ll have the final financial results of the Mansfield Tour soon. So far, it looks ok.
However, the largest cost of the Tour is the wages of the Qualified Traffic Controllers (QTC) we need to implement the Traffic Management Plans. This year we were lucky enough to enlist the help of the SES to help keep costs down. But we can’t expect them to be available every year.
So, the club is talking to Cycling Victoria about organising a QTC course some time in the next few months. The aim is to get about 10 volunteers qualified to help out next March for Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning.
But we need non-MMBCC members, as MMBCC members will be busy organising the race itself, as most of you were this year.
Do you know anyone associated with another community group (Scouts, Apex, Tennis Club, Football & Netball Club, etc.) who’d be prepared to help out? We’ll not only pay them for their time at the Tour, we’ll also donate to their community group. Plus, they’ll get a qualification they can use to earn a good wage!
If you do, please get them to contact Bruce.

And don’t forget…

One of the races of the pro season tonight - the Tour of Flanders. Live on SBS Viceland from 9.30pm.

Here is the news

Battle around the Barwite Loop

By Talia, Janine and Jarrod Appleton

Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club road racers had perfect conditions last Thursday for the 22km handicap race which started at the BP Roadhouse. The race course went around the “Barwite Loop” and finished with an uphill sprint on Mt Battery Road outside the show grounds. This circuit includes the short but steep climb over the hill on Old Tolmie Rd which is affectionately know by local riders as the Coombesberg. It was guaranteed to break up the field and have a big influence on the eventual outcome of the race.
Ben Grundy was the lone Limit rider making the best of his five-minute start over the chasing group of Ruby Dobson, Rachael Grundy, Bella Green, Dave Bock and Talia Appleton.
They were followed by Steve Curnow, John Eisner, Dave Jagger and Craig Wilson.
Chasing them was Janine Appleton, Tim Hall and Jason Parker. Next off in the ‘Block group was Cam Lachal, John Lazarov and Rob Skinner.
Bringing up the rear of the field was a large Scratch group consisting of Steve Duke, Damian Grundy, Bruce Halket, Tom MacMunn, Dave Moore and Lewis Dowie who was still keen to race only four days after his great result at the Mansfield Subaru Tour.
Scratch had a disastrous start! Lewis dropped his chain which lead to confusion amongst the rest of the group as to the merits of waiting for him or heading down the road. Bruce and Steve waited to help pace him back to Damian, Dave and Tom. Steve paid dearly for his generosity. Lewis, no doubt determined to make amends for holding the group up, powered down the road. Bruce and Steve tucked into his slipstream and managed to hold the wheel. However, this huge effort caught up with Steve at the next rise in the road and he was dropped by the group leaving him to ride as lantern rouge for the rest of the race.
The race plan of attacking on the hill paid off for Ruby and Talia, leaving Bella, Rachael and Bocky in their tracks. They teamed up brilliantly and backed themselves for the remaining 14km, staying clear of the chasing group of Tim Hall, Dave Jagger, Steve Curnow and Janine Appleton.
Talia put her last 100% effort into the sprint after the Mt Battery corner, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Ruby, who dashed past to take the win in a time of 44.23 (corrected to 39.53). Talia a very comfortable second ahead of Janine in third to fill the podium with women.
For the first time ever, the MMBCC presented the First Unplaced Male to Dave Jagger.
Tom MacMunn won Fastest Time in 31.21.
Thanks to all the volunteers and Commissaires for assisting on the night.
Next week is the last road race of the summer, on our ‘traditional’ course on Whitfield Road out to Sawpit Gully Road and back.
Here are the results and many thanks to Antonio Coplandia for the pics.

Some snippets on the Tour...

Our website averages about 300 page views per month for most of the year. Not surprisingly, this goes up a lot in the lead-up to our Tour.
During March 2018 we had 4,980 page views, from 1,780 unique visitors, which we thought was really good.
But this March we’ve had 6,366 page views from 3,574 unique visitors!
That’s double the number of unique visitors from last year! So we’re definitely attracting more interest in the Tour; and we really hope this translates to more value for our sponsors.
Speaking of sponsors, more thanks again to Martins Garage, All Terrain Cycles, Torq Nutrition, Lezyne (and Cannondale), Krush and the Delatite Hotel. Please support those that support us (below is a page from the Tech Guide which appeared as both the inside front cover and the back cover).

In case you hadn’t seen them, here are the Welcome pages from the Technical Guide that each entrant received.

View fullsize

Finally, here are a few more pics from the Mansfield Subaru Tour. There are heaps more from Ernesto on the Cycling Victoria facebook page.

MTBA Nationals

Good luck next weekend to a slew of MMBCC members who’ll be competing at Bright at the Australian Mountain Bike Championships. Good luck. Ride well.

Jersey for sale

Bruce ordered a Tour Souvenir Jersey in the wrong size. He should have ordered a Medium Club Cut but he ordered a Medium Race Cut by mistake. It’s basically a Small.
Price negotiable. Drop him a line…
Also, if anyone else wants one of these, we’re considering opening up for another kit order. Let Bruce know if you’re interested.

What a week!

Mansfield Subaru Tour wrap-up

As that old saying goes, if you want to break a drought, hold a bike race!
With 280 entrants, the largest field in years, the Mansfield Subaru Tour kicked off under grey skies and the chance of showers on Saturday morning with the Individual Time Trial. But the unfamiliar wet stuff falling out of the sky wasn’t enough to dampen spirits or affect racing.
Saturday afternoon saw the racing start in the centre of town for the first time, adding a great atmosphere to an already spectacular event. The Martins Garage Subarus at the front of the A-Grade bunches really added to the event.
As expected, the Old Tolmie Road (the Col du Tolmielet) proved the hardest stage of the race.
A huge turnout at the Delatite Hotel on Saturday night saw the winners of Saturday’s races rewarded and thousands of prizes given away - most of them generously donated by Shannon and the team at All Terrain Cycles.
The weather did as was told and provided perfect conditions for Sunday’s race to Mt Buller which saw some fierce racing.
In Masters B, Dan Purcell sprinted for the All Terrain Cycles crown in Merrijig, to take the classification for the second year in a row!
Mens A-Grade saw a record broken - Simon Gerrans’ long held best time was beaten by Jesse Featonby who clocked 39:28, beating Simon by just over 30 seconds.
Josh Hopwood in Masters B broke away from the bunch at Changue Road and almost made it - riding alone up the mountain only to be pipped on the line and finishing second on the day. Confusingly, those of us at the finish line thought he’d won.
Many thanks to all the courteous Mansfield motorists - we apologise if you were inconvenienced on your travels over the weekend but we greatly appreciate your patience.
Thanks also to our local SES, Traffic.com, the Delatite Hotel, Martins Garage / Mansfield Subaru, All Terrain Cycles and all the members of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club who donated so much of their time to make the weekend a huge success. In particular, many thanks to the Tour Committee: Jarrod Appleton, David Jagger, Dave Moore, Nathan Pelling and Craig Wilson.

Winners:
Mens A-Grade. GC: Sam Hill; ATC Sprint: Pat Eddy
Womens A-Grade. GC: Kate Perry; ATC Sprint: Alana Forster
Masters A-Grade. GC Tom Leaper; ATC Sprint: Dom Dudkiewicz

Notable local results:
Masters B ATC Sprint: Dan Purcell - 1st.
Masters B GC: Josh Hopwood - 6th, Dan Purcell - 23rd.
Mens C-Grade: Lewis Dowie - 16th.

A message from Perry Cummings…

For those that aren’t aware, there was a crash at Merrjig during Stage 2. For a little while, it seemed much worse than the eventual outcome. This is a message sent to Damian from the injured rider, Perry Cummings.

Hi Damian,
Just wanted to say thank you to your club members and volunteers who assisted me after my crash yesterday. They did an absolutely amazing job, I couldn't have been in better hands.
I got off fairly lightly in the end with a hole in my elbow requiring quite a few stitches and a grade 1 strain to my AC joint in my right shoulder. I should be back on the road within about 2 to 4 weeks.
Thank you again to all that assisted, you should be very proud of them all and the event that you run. Hope to see you again next year.
Regards,
Perry Cummings

Dirt Crits Gravity Enduro

Surprise, surprise… Matt and Elise won. But so did James Griffin!
Here are the results. Thanks to Kate Stonnill for the pics.

The O’Hanlon Road Hill Handicap.

By Steve Duke

We had a perfect Autumn evening for last Thursday night’s road race. There were 20 riders, in six groups lined up for the start at Lords Ground.
Heading out along the undulating Howes Creek Road, Block Group which included John Lazarov, Jarrod Appleton, Rob Skinner, Cam Lachal and Steve Duke worked strongly together as a team. By the Campagnolos Road turn three groups had been caught leaving only the front runners Courtney Lynch and Dave Bock out in front.
Block successfully held off the Scratch group, Dave Moore, Bruce Halket and Damien Grundy who had a tough handicap, starting three and a half minutes behind Block.
By the bottom of the O’Hanlon Road hill the front runners were caught. It was then that Talia Appleton made what appeared to be the race winning move and swiftly passed through the riders to take the lead at the base of the climb.
Steve and John took off in hot pursuit with Steve passing Talia on the steeper pinches of the climb to take the win from Talia with John 3rd and Ruby Dobson 4th.
Damien was the first of the Scratch group home, well down the field in 13th, but with Fastest Time as some consolation.
Next week sees the MMBCC tackle the Barwite Loop, finishing on Mt Battery Road opposite the Showgrounds.
Here are the results. Thanks for the pics Tony!

Final pre-Tour update

Volunteer Roster

Here’s the volunteer roster for this weekend’s Mansfield Subaru Tour.
It includes all the volunteer locations, including the All Terrain Cycles sprints, start and finish times… everything you need really.
There have been some changes in the last few days, even since you received your ‘Lucky Duck’ email.
Click on this link to download yourself a copy of the PDF.

Please have a look through and find your name. If you have any questions, please call Bruce on 0419 533 120 for clarification.
A final thank you to both Jodie Batchelor and Tony Copland who are volunteering as Commissaires for Cycling Victoria this weekend.

Who’s racing in the 2019 Mansfield Subaru Tour?

The following article and pics was meant to appear in the Mansfield Courier this week. It was aimed at adding a bit of local flavour for Mansfield readers that aren’t MMBCC members. But the Courier ran out of space for it, apparently.

The Tour is round two of the Victorian Road Series, sponsored by the TAC’s Towards Zero campaign, and is the first multi-day tour of the road season. It’s attracted 280 riders and teams from most states of Australia and even overseas, with a team from New Zealand registered to race.
But for Mansfield residents, and members of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club, much of the attention will sit with three local riders who’ll line up too.
Lewis Dowie teaches at Lauriston Howqua and has proven over the last couple of summers he’s one of the strongest in our Thursday night races. For 2019 he’s entered Masters B-Grade, one of the most competitive grades of the race; it’ll be a big step-up for Lewis and we’re keen to see how he goes.
Dan Purcell has also entered. Now that he’s joined the Masters ranks (yes, even boyish Dan is getting older!) he’ll be looking to add the Masters B-Grade All Terrain Cycles Sprint crown to the B-Grade ATC Sprint Prize he won last year.
And it’ll be much more worth his while this time - with time bonuses on offer, as well as the cash!

Finally, there’s Josh Hopwood…
With all the recent fires, it seemed work at DELWP would keep Josh off the start line in 2019; which would mean he wouldn’t be able to defend his Masters B Time Trial win from 2018. However, he seemed to have pulled a rabbit out from his hat and has entered the Tour.
Despite having a couple of weeks off the bike while work consumed everything else, he’s almost matched last year’s TT times in training and appears to be in really good shape.
Good luck to Lewis, Dan and Josh. While most members of the club will be busy ‘running’ the race all weekend, we’ll make sure we all find our voice for a little encouragement when you ride past.
The Mansfield Subaru Tour will be held this coming weekend, on almost identical courses to last year. The Individual Time Trial on Saturday morning will start on Graves Road and complete the ‘Barwite Loop’ around to the Mansfield-Whitfield Road and back to town. This will include the ominous ‘Coombesberg’ at about one-third distance.
The road race for Stage Two on Saturday afternoon will start from Erril Street in the centre of town, turn left at a couple of roundabouts and head for Mirimbah and back; then climb the dreaded Old Tolmie Road
Sunday morning’s Stage 3, the Mt Buller Road Race, again starts at Erril Street and heads straight up the mountain.
Details of roads used and expected delays can be found in the Public Notices section of the Courier. (As long as they’ve managed to fit it in… )

A duck, dirt, Dave and dames

There’s a lot to get through this week…

Tour Volunteers

By Bruce Halket

By now you should have received your ‘Lucky Duck’ email from Wil. If not, please let him know.

We’ll have the final volunteer roster for you in a couple of days (hopefully Tuesday evening or perhaps Wednesday morning) in a news update. So please click on the link in the next newsletter to get yourself a copy and have a read - it will likely include some last minute changes.
If you’re on the roster, can I please ask you to come along to the Delatite Hotel this coming Thursday night after the road race presentations?
That’s when we’ll hand out your high-vis vest and give final instructions.
This is particularly important if you’re a Lead Car driver; please come along on Thursday night for a quick chat.
It’s all go for the Tour…
Sponsors prizes are arriving, we’ve tried out the huge Subaru arch, the jerseys have been shipped (that includes the souvenir jerseys many of you have ordered) and entries close tonight.
Locally speaking… Josh Hopwood, Dan Purcell and Lewis Dowie have entered. Go Mansfield!

Dirt Crits

Irish Handicap this week with Ruby Dobson tuning up for the National Interschools at Thredbo this weekend with a strong win ahead of Talia Appleton and James Griffin.

Here are the results.

Speaking of the National Interschools…

Ruby Dobson: 1st Div 3 Cross Country.
Elise Empey: 1st Div 2 Cross Country; 1st Div 2 Downhill; 1st Div 2 Flow DH and Overall Div 2 Champion!
Maddison Smith: 2nd Div 3 Downhill.
Matt Empey: 7th Div 1 Downhill; 12th Flow DH.
Zac Empey: 61st Div 3 Flow DH , 45th Div 3 Downhill and 20th Div 3 Cross Country.

Well done Team Mansfield! Killing it!

Buller Road Handicap

By Dave Moore

18 people lined up to race on Thursday night - the smoke haze possibly putting some people off, not surprising given the impending lung busting efforts.
First out of the traps were Talia Appleton, Bella Green and Dave Bock, a further 4 groups set off before Josh Hopwood who brought up the rear, 9 and half minutes later.
We were able to welcome a grandson/father team from Shepparton this week, with the grandson Nick Torney doing a pre-Mansfield Tour recce. Nick started in Block with Tom MacMunn, Anthony Plummer and Dave Moore, and it soon became apparent that he was too strong for all three. Nick managed to drop all three by shortly after Graves Road!
Josh then caught Dave and Tom who were able to latch onto the Juggernaut and get some sort of recovery before contributing a few short turns to reel Nick back in by about Glenroy Road. This group of four then caught the next group on the climb to Hearns Road with only Steve Duke and Cam Lachal able to make the jump across before the turn.
The return trip into town was fast and furious for everyone involved in the race - in particular Dave Jagger who took a detour onto the gravel at 55kph but held onto to it well to stay with his group!
Some epic turns by the Juggernaut and contributions from others saw the last group of Craig Wilson and Talia Appleton caught with only 2km to go - a sterling effort!

The final sprint was lead out by Steve Duke who seemed more surprised than anyone else by this fact, he maintained his sprint for a solid 300m only being pipped at the line by Dave Moore and Tom MacMunn, with Josh and Cam rounding out the top 5.
Thanks once again to all the volunteer marshals and Commissaires, the races couldn’t happen without you so THANK YOU.
Thanks once again to Tony Copland for the pics. Here are the results.
Next week’s race starts at the Lords Ground and finishes at the top of the hill on O’Hanlons Road. See you all there!

High Country Womens Cycling Festival

There is a group from Mansfield heading to Bright from Fri 29 to Sun 31 March for the High Country Womens Cycling Festival. They’d like to let other ladies know if they are interested and want to go, there will be a small group from Mansfield going for the three days. Let Donna know here.
For more details of the event click here.

Social Ride in the King Valley

Despite a fire starting at Rose River on Saturday afternoon, the social ride went ahead on Sunday to huge acclaim.
The roads were quiet, the air not nearly as smokey as we’d feared and the grazing platters at Gracebrook Winery were a winner!
Many thanks to Margaretanne for organising a great day out.

The “I don’t have enough space in the garage for all these” sale

Tim Ross has some bike-related items he wants to be rid of.