As you can see above, very slight change to the club kit layout - the three colour panels are larger; they’ll be larger on the back of the knicks too.
Samples have been posted and should be here this week; we’ll have them at the road race presentations this coming Thursday (assuming they arrive in time.) We’ll also try to get them to the first Dirt Crits of 2020.
The Ventou online shop should be open very soon.
Don’t blame it on the Handicapper, blame it on the Green!
By Alex Green.
Thursday night last week turned on near perfect summer conditions for club racing. In any normal year this would mean mid 20’s, a light breeze and clear air. Given this year’s fire season it meant the world wasn’t burning and the smoke wasn’t so thick as to make your eyes water. It was both things last Thursday.
Eight riders gathered at the sign-on at the Botanic Park carpark, along with what felt like around 10 marshals, commissaires, soignieurs, masseuses and at least one Osteopath. There were several no-shows from the handicap list, but there was some conjecture that this was all John Eisner’s fault as handicapper, putting down names randomly rather than confirm attendance of riders. Whilst he has been distracted recently, the feeling amongst the riders at the start line was there was no excuse for any administrative oversight in this important role and it was going to change the race dynamic.
Jason Parker post-race claimed to be a victim of John Eisner’s administrative tardiness. “I never said I was going to race” he said over coffee a couple of days later. But he was supposedly spotted turning up at Botanic Park just prior to race start in a Camry to take his new dog for a walk. He denies ever owning a Camry and strongly denies ever have driven one. He also said he “does not” have a new puppy. Investigations are continuing and he has, as yet, offered a reasonable excuse for not racing.
Micala Jacobs set off solo at Limit of 17 minutes. Despite being in this unenviable position in her post race interview she said “I might not have stood a chance out there tonight – thanks for nothing Eisner! – but at least it gave me a chance to say ‘hello’ to everyone else racing as they passed me. Or I would have if I wasn’t out of breath”. Micala got the largest round of applause as she finished as she started - solo.
The real action of the night was between the two other starting groups of Alex Green, Steve Curnow and Janine Appleton at 10 minutes and the Scratch group of Bruce Halket, Dave Moore, Steve Duke and Kody Appleton. I won’t keep you in suspense and pretend to be an award-winning author able to create a suspenseful narrative arc – they didn’t close it down. There is no point even pretending they were even close. As Alex, Janine and Steve crested the Coombesberg and looked back into the hazy distance along Barwite Road, they still couldn’t be seen. Scratch had no chance.
At his post-race interview Dave Moore said “Some say we were a victim of circumstance out there today. We all know who the victims were and who was responsible. I don’t care how sick he has been. We woz robbed!”. Commissaires are continuing their investigation into claims Mr Moore has brought the game into disrepute.
The winning group had nothing to complain about. They worked well together throughout the race, quickly settling into a rhythm from shortly after the start. There seemed to be headwinds out and back from Spring Creek, but once onto Barwite Road, the tailwind really pushed them along. Alex Green did one last big turn before turning onto the Coombesberg, thinking he had no chance holding their wheel up the climb.
Appleton in particular was pulling strong turns throughout the race. Curnow and Appleton pulled a few bike lengths ahead on the climb, but Green’s ‘positive’ weight advantage came into play on the descent to Graves Road, bringing the group back together.
A sprint for the finish saw Green just beat Appleton by half a wheel, with Curnow coming in third, a similar result to the same race last year. Curnow summed up the nights racing at his post-race interview when he was quoted as saying “I know there has been some controversy about the handicapping this week, not everyone is critical of Mr Eisner. Give the guy a break he puts his whole heart into each week. It’s great just being out there!”
In only his second win in 8 years of racing, Green thanked his group at the presentations. He ordered the chicken for dinner that night. He was heard later in the evening stating “I am not critical of Mr Eisner. Never have been, never will be. I would never make jokes at his expense. Oink.”
Next race is Thursday 30 January 2020. Start at Bot Park, racing Course 5 Whitfield Road – Sawpit Gully Road – Return to Botanic Park.
Here are the results and thanks to J-Rod for the pics.
