DIRT CRITS

Dirt Crits 23/24

By Damian Grundy

Summer is coming! Though with the recent weather one could be forgiven for thinking it’s already here. The snow's ALL gone now so let’s get riding!

The format for racing this season will be Cross Country (XC) one week and Gravity the next, swapping week-in - week-out. Tuesday October 3rd is the first week with an XC night and then the first Gravity night will follow on October 10th.

The Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club Summer of Dirt Crits racing will once again kick off on Tuesday October 3rd as usual at the now WORLD FAMOUS Riflebutts MTB Park.

The first week will be an XC Race. The format for the first event of this season will be a lap consistency time test. The objective is to ride a minimum of two timed laps of the marked course.

The First winner will be the rider with the best consistency i.e. two laps with the closest elapsed times.

The second winner will be the rider with the lowest combined two lap times.

Rests are permitted between each lap and riders can complete as many laps as they want with a minimum of two required to be in the running.

The primary rules for the night are that the laps should be raced at your usual race pace AND no looking at any timing devices during the efforts!

Racing will start at 6pm sharp!

The course for the evening will be marked out earlier to allow a highly recommended familiarisation and warm up lap for all competitors.

This is about seeing where you are at without having necessarily going directly head-to-head with other riders. This will help establish rider handicaps and racing categories for subsequent races.

Preliminary rides:

Please join us for some pre-season rides at Riflebutts Park for some riding and training. Let’s see how the trails are holding up and have some input on possible XC courses for the season’s races.

While you’re there, ask Damian about training and technical tips to improve your racing.

• Sunday Sept 24th at 9.30am

• Tuesday Sept 26th at 5pm

• Sunday October 1st at 9.30am

See you there!

AGM reminder...

2023 Annual General Meeting

Just a reminder that the MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held this coming Wednesday, in the function room at the Mansfield Hotel. The meeting will begin at 7pm.

And please don’t forget to RSVP if you’d like to have dinner first from 6pm. You can do this via email to Bruce TODAY or SMS him on 0419 533 120.

Victorian Enduro Championships

Race entries are still available for the Vic Enduro State Champs!


Race Categories:

• 
Juniors U/13 (3 stages), U/15, U/17

• U/19 Male & Female


• Elite Male & Female


• Masters 35-44, 45-54, 55-64, 65+ Male & Female


• Veterans 30 -34 Male & Female


• Sport Male & Female 


• E-MTB 18+ Male & Female

Click here for more details and to enter.

Upcoming Events

Amy’s Gran Fondo - Sun 10 Sep, Lorne. Always a great weekend!

AusCycling Masters and Juniors National Road Champs - Thu 21-Sun 24 Sep, Shepparton (Dookie).

AusCycling 2023 Vic Enduro Championships - Fri 29 Sep-Sun 1 Oct, Mansfield.

Gravelista - Fri 27-Sun 29 Oct, Beechworth.

Mansfield Hotel Tour powered by Orcoda - Sat 16-Sun 17 March 2024, Mansfield.

MMBCC at the Glasgow Super Worlds and AGM Reminder

Lots of great stuff to read this week! Have you subscribed to the latest MMBCC News? Enter your details on the Homepage…

2023 Annual General Meeting

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 6 September, in the function room at the Mansfield Hotel. The meeting will begin at 7pm.

This is your chance to have your say and get involved! All the Executive Committee positions will be declared vacant and nominations are open to members.

Bookings are available for dinner from 6pm but an RSVP is required. You can do this via email to Bruce by Sunday 3 September.

2023 Glasgow World Championships Wrap Up

DOWNHILL - Fort William, Scotland.

By Dave Empey

Two Mansfield riders raced the 2024 Downhill World championships at Fort William this year. The course is the longest and one of the most brutal on the World Cup Circuit and usually has the worst weather. Nathan Dabbs and Elise Empey raced in the green and gold and both performed well in the toughest event on the calendar.

Nathan raced to a very credible 46th in the Junior Men category. Given this was his first international race, it was a very good result. He has stayed on in Europe to continue his racing with another 3 World Cups on the agenda over the next three weeks. These races will be held in Andorra, Loudenville in France, and Les Gets in France.

Elise raced her second World Championships however it was her first in Elite women. She came across the line in a very credible 24th position. This was Elise’s first real test post a serious shoulder injury. It was very pleasing to see her race well. She now will join the rest of her team in Andorra for the remaining five World Cup races.

Elise’s elder brother Matthew, was the performance coach for the Auscycling National Junior Downhill team. He will also join his sister in Andorra to race the final five World Cups with his team.

ROAD - Belgium and Glasgow, Scotland

By Talia Appleton

In the middle of July, I flew to Europe for a three week trip that included three races in Belgium as part of a two week training camp followed by 4 days in Glasgow for the world championships. It was my first trip to Europe, and the first time racing abroad. We were staying around an hour away from Brussels in Oudenaarde, in the heart of the Flanders region where the under 19 Australian team was based. The team consisted of 7 boys and 6 girls, some of whom were going on to Glasgow and others heading to Trinidad and Tobago for the Commonwealth youth games. 

The warm up races in Belgium went well. They were open age kermesse’s on 8-14km circuits with distances between 70 and 95 km and strong fields of up to 115 riders in the peloton. I stayed out of trouble and upright and concentrated on adjusting to the radically different racing format in Europe. Narrow roads, cobble stones, road furniture, curbs and always aggressively fighting for the front.

In the first race I sat tight in the peloton, readjusting to racing before I found more confidence and a more aggressive racing style in the next race. This race suited me the best, as there were a few punchy hills in the lap. I finished in the peloton, and you can watch 6 minutes of highlights using this link to Facebook.

The third race I was really finding my stride, despite there only being 20m of climbing over the 95km race! This was the biggest race in terms of starters - 115 and a few World Tour riders who were all doing their final preparations before Glasgow. You can watch the highlights by clicking this link. At about 20km to go a break of 4 riders went off the front, but the peloton was strung out at the time and I wasn’t aware of it. I didn’t want to wait for the bunch sprint and found myself at the front with 13km to go, and attacked off the front solo. However I was stuck in no man's land between the break and the peloton, eventually finishing 5th, one minute behind the break and 40 seconds in front of the peloton. This was a reassuring result only 6 days out from the road race in Glasgow. 

We flew into Glasgow on the Wednesday before the Saturday race, eventually arriving after a 13 hour travel day due to a missed connection. Just enough time to settle in, get the Aussie kit, and ride the circuit on Friday morning. It was super cool to be staying in the same hotel as the elite road riders and using the Jayco team bus to travel to the race, as well as doing the closed course recon with the elite men. Fortunately, the race started at 10am this year, which meant you didn’t have to get up at the crack of dawn. It was a viciously intense race with many hazards like off camber corners, a pavè section, a short cobblestone section, and lots of manholes and drains which became slippery in the rain. I fought hard but the repetitive sprinting out of every corner (52 per ~14km lap!) took its toll and I finished 19th, in the second large bunch behind the solo winner. A result I am satisfied with.

I would like to thank Donna Rae-Szalinski, the team manager from AusCycling for organising the trip and my parents for financing the trip (even though it is the Australian team, the juniors are self funded.) And MMBCC for both the financial support you have given me this year, and all the cheering you did during the race!

BMX - Glasgow, Scotland

By Adam Baker

Attending the Worlds has been a long time coming for a 47 year old who has now qualified four times! (The previous three missed due to travel restrictions or injury.)


Coming into the meet I’d been recovering from a hip dislocation (racing DH in November) and with minimal training coming into the event, I had no expectations of a result or even making it out of the motos phase.


With a tough gate draw for the motos (1, 7, 8 and with the track favouring gate 3 - 5 for best position from the start of each race) racing went well from the start on a technical and long track.


Placing 4th in the first two motos, I needed another 4th place to ensure that I progressed to the 1/4 final phase. Starting from gate 8, I made hard work of it, having to come across from the outside and in a stacked moto (with the eventual winner, 3rd and 4th placed riders in the final) I hit the corner in 5th having to dice for positions with two other riders to eventually take 4th by the slimmest of margins.

The 1/4 final would see the first four make it through to the semis. Once again I was up against the eventual winner of the event, and again drawing gate 8, made it really tough. After a poor start and slipping a pedal in the first straight, I pushed to make up ground on the field but fell short. So I slowed in the third straight to soak up a bit of the atmosphere of the event.

Making it through to the quarter finals was an achievement way above expectations!
 I was also lucky enough to make it up to Fort William to see fellow locals Elise Empey and Nathan Dabbs doing their thing at the Downhill.

Pic 1: Battling for fourth in Moto 3. Pic 2: The start gate of the quarter final. Pic 3: Enjoying the moment on the third straight.

Ruby rides Cross

Congratulations to Ruby Dobson who rode the Australian and Victorian CX Championships last weekend at Ballarat. She won silver in the Australian Under 23 titles on Saturday, then backed it up by winning gold at the Victorian U23 titles on Sunday. Awesome!

Big shout out too to former MMBCC member and all-round good bloke (apart from his choice of football team) Brett Kellett who took out the Australian Masters 6 CX Championship. Good onya Bretto!

Full Saturday results here.

Mansfield Hotel Tour p/b Orcoda

Mansfield Mount Buller Cycling Club and Alpine Cycling Club have formed a strategic alliance to support each other in delivering and  promoting our fantastic races. Below is a poster (and flyer) which Jarrod has had printed which you should all see a bit more of in the coming months.

2023 AGM

2023 Annual General Meeting

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held on Wednesday 6 September, in the function room at the Mansfield Hotel. The meeting will begin at 7pm.

Are there any changes you want the club to make? Is there something not being done that you think should be done? Is there something we’re doing you think we shouldn’t?

This is your chance to have your say and get involved! All the Executive Committee positions will be declared vacant and nominations are open to members.

We’ll also announce the successful recipients of the Rider Development Grants.

Bookings are available for dinner from 6pm but an RSVP is required. You can do this via email to Bruce by Sunday 3 September.

Upcoming Events

Amy’s Gran Fondo - Sun 10 Sep, Lorne. Always a great weekend!

AusCycling 2023 Vic Enduro Championships - Fri 29 Sep-Sun 1 Oct, Mansfield.

Gravelista - Fri 27-Sun 29 Oct, Beechworth. Part of the UCI Gravel World Series. Was in early Sep last year so hopefully the weather will be better this year.

Mansfield Hotel Tour powered by Orcoda - Sat 16-Sun 17 March 2024, Mansfield.

End of July Worlds Update

Cycling Club over-represented at World Championships

By Janine Appleton - due to be published in this week’s Mansfield Courier

Scotland is all set to witness the exhilarating 2023 Cycling World Championships, commencing this Thursday, 3rd August. The international event promises exhilarating competition with the most elite cyclists in the world from all disciplines converging on Scotland. Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club is extremely over-represented for such a small rural club with seven riders selected to represent Australia.

Leading the charge on day one for the Australian contingent is Nathan Dabbs, a Year 12 student at Mansfield Secondary College. Nathan's passion for cycling will be on full display as he takes on the Junior Men's Downhill Qualifying round on the opening day of the competition. Supported by his family, including his mum and grandparents, Nathan will realize his dream of competing against the world's best riders. In the pits, he will have the technical expertise of Matt Empey, officially assisting the Junior Australian Downhill Team as the Junior Downhill Performance Assistant.

Friday, 4th August, will witness the fearless Elise Empey in action, competing in the Elite (Open) Women's Downhill event. Having honed her skills through the European World Cup races since May, Elise's consistent performances have earned her selection in the national team. Elise rode to 6th place at last year's World Championships in the junior division. Despite the competitiveness of the elite category being much greater, Elise embraces the challenge with confidence. Another promising young talent from Mansfield, Bella Green, was selected to race in the same category as Elise, however she cannot participate this time. She is heading to Europe later in the year for several races.

On Saturday the 5th of August, the spotlight will be on Talia Appleton, competing in the junior women's road race. Balancing her year 12 studies at John Monash Science School with approximately 20 hours of training each week is a challenge Talia embraces. She has spent the last fortnight racing in Belgium to familiarise herself with European racing. The roads are narrower, with sections of cobblestone paving, and the peloton is tightly packed and aggressive.

In the BMX Masters category, the lightning-fast Adam Baker is all set to tackle the snake-like track, replete with jumps, bumps, and banked turns. Embracing the thrill of BMX racing and mountain biking alike, Adam's adrenaline-packed rides promise to be a treat for spectators.

Though Ruby Dobson (Junior Women's Mountain Bike Cross Country) and Hayden Fletcher (Elite Men's BMX Racing) couldn't make it to the event, the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club takes immense pride in supporting its junior riders financially through their Junior Rider Development Grants. If anyone is interested in giving mountain biking or road cycling a go, the club has a pool of loan bikes to get you started, so please email the club at mmbcc.info@gmail.com

For those keen to catch the action live, tune into SBS On Demand, where the riveting races will be televised. Don't miss Talia's race at 6.45pm AEST on Saturday, 5th August, followed by the Elite Women's Downhill final at 9.15pm the same day. Let's rally behind our talented cyclists as they strive for glory on the world's grandest cycling stage!

ALL CLUB MEMBERs inVitiation to WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP PARTY

SBS On Demand are showing Talia's and Elise's Race next Saturday the 5th. Junior Road Race from 6.45pm and Women's Downhill final from 9.15pm. The Appletons are inviting all of the MMBCC to join them to watch the events.

Where - Matt and Shaz's farm at Merrijig.

When - Saturday 5th August from 5pm (don't miss the sunset)

Food - BYO.  It is a potluck dinner. Make something simple and tasty that will be part of a buffet that everyone can enjoy

Drinks - BYO

RSVP - SMS Jarrod before Thursday on 0448 043 413.

Deadline looms for the RDG

2023-2024 Rider Development Grants

With thanks to the Australian Communities Foundation, the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club is accepting applications for Rider Development Grants for 2023-24. The Grants are designed to encourage and support the development of young riders, to assist with the cost of travel, accommodation, equipment or training.

Click on this link to the Documents page where you can download the Rider Development Grant PDF.

All the details you need to apply are in the PDF.

Applications are due by the close of business on Monday 31 July.

Late May update - Trophies and grants

Summer Presentations were held last Thursday at the Mansfield Hotel and here are the highlights…

DIRT CRITS

In his first season of consistent racing Archie Smith was the most consistent in both Cross Country and Gravity races to take the overall win ahead of Zac Empey and Luke Vivash (who swapped 2nd and 3rd places from last summer.)

Many thanks to Dave, Kate and Mel for all their work organising the series. Plus thanks to Damian for filling in when he could.

L to R: Luke, Archie, Zac and Master of Ceremonies, Dave Empey.

Dirt Crits Final Scores

Summer Road Racing Series

In a very close competition, Mick Pearce took the win ahead of the ever-consistent Janine Appleton and Ryder Chadd.

Many thanks to Dave Moore for a great job doing the handicapping and to the road committee (Janine Appleton, Alex Green, Dave Jagger, Dave Moore and John Eisner) for a terrific race calendar and to all those who raced for a friendly, fun, competitive atmosphere.

L to R: Janine, Mick, Ryder with Club President Dave.

Summer Road Race Series Final Scores

Women’s Road Racing Trophy

Janine Appleton was the highest placed woman over the Summer Road Race Series, ahead of the Micala Jacobs and Bella Green.

L to R: Bella, Janine, Micala and some bloke called Dave.

Summer Road Race Series Womens Trophy Final Scores

Alain Guerin Memorial Crossover Trophy

Ryder’s consistency saw him win the Alain Guerin Memorial Crossover Trophy ahead of (second again) Darren Bakker and Bella Green.

L to R: Bella, Ryder (with the Alain Guerin Memorial Crossover Trophy) and Darren.

Alain Guerin Memorial Trophy Final Scores

---

2023-2024 Rider Development Grants

With thanks to the Australian Communities Foundation, the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club is accepting applications for Rider Development Grants for 2023-24. The Grants are designed to encourage and support the development of young riders, to assist with the cost of travel, accommodation, equipment or training.

Click on this link to the Documents page where you can download the Rider Development Grant PDF.

Applications are due by the end of July - all the details are in the PDF.

---

Keep up to date…

Don’t forget to subscribe to Latest News on the Home page so you can keep up to date with any changes, especially the Rider Development Grant.

Presentations reminder

Summer Presentations Reminder

MMBCC Summer racing presentations will be held at the Mansfield Hotel on Thursday 25 May - with a slight time change.

If you’d like to come for a bite to eat before presentations, dinner will be served at 6.30pm. RSVP to Janine on 0428 150 800 by 7pm this Tuesday.

If you only want to come for a drink and the presentations, see you at 7.30pm.

Trophies will be awarded for:

• Dirt Crits; 


• Summer Road Race Series; 


• Women’s Road Trophy; and 


• the Alain Guerin Memorial Trophy (Combined Dirt Crits & Road Race.) 


If you scored a few points and think you might be on the podium, your name might be engraved on a trophy, so you’d better come along. Plus there’ll be more giveaways and other stuff!

Join us for a bite to eat, or a drink (or even both) and celebrate a great summer of racing!

2023 Victorian Schools MTB series

By Tim Ross

AusCycling has just released details of the 2023 Victorian Schools MTB series - use this link.

The format is Cross Country - think of an undulating course with plenty of pedalling - rather than all downhill.

This year the series includes FOUR events from June through to September and caters for kids from U9 through to U17, for both boys and girls.

The events are widely spread (so a bit of travel involved) and riders can do individual races as a 'one-off' so there is no need to commit to the whole series.

The series tries hard to encourage those new to racing, with separate 'Race' and 'Novice' categories.

Last year, current and former Dirt Critters Micah & Ryder Chadd and Ben & Alastair Ross participated. My general perception was that the events were well organised and fun.

If you’d like to be involved or have some potential entrants in your family, please feel free to contact me via email to discuss it further.

May Update

The missing final Dirt Critters report

Dirt Critters concluded the summer program with a break-up on Tuesday 28 March. As is now customary, both the older and younger group met at Rifle Butts Reserve for a final lap or two before riding down to the Botanic Park for a feast (hot-dogs and icy poles!) 

Our Dirt Critters (all Primary Schoolers) have had a great summer program despite some inclement weather; mostly riding a Rifle Butts Reserve with the occasional foray along the Rifle Butts Road single track, or along the Delatite River at Carter’s Road. 

Thanks to Luke and Tim for leading the group, to all the parents who’ve helped a little or a lot (special mention to Nicole H and Dion), and most of all to our keen and committed group of Dirt Critters who so obviously enjoy riding and hanging out with their friends. 

Dirt Critters will start up again in Term 4, though we might squeeze in a bonus ride or two over the next couple of months.

Summer Presentations…

will be held at the Mansfield Hotel from 7pm on Thursday 25 May.

Trophies will be awarded for:

• Dirt Crits;

• Summer Road Race Series;

• Women’s Road Trophy; and

• the Alain Guerin Memorial Trophy (Combined Dirt Crits & Road Race.)

If you scored a few points and think you might be on the podium, your name might be engraved on a trophy, so you’d better come along. Plus there’ll be more giveaways and other stuff!

Join us for a bite to eat, or a drink (or even both) and celebrate a great summer of racing!

(So that we have an idea of numbers for the kitchen, please RSVP to Janine on 0428 150 800 by 7pm Tuesday 23 May if you’d like to join us for dinner.)

Upcoming events

Melburn Roobaix - Sunday 25 June. There are definitely a few MMBCCers going; join them for a really fun day on Melbourne’s cobbled backstreets.

Post-April-Fools-Day News

No joking - there’s a lot to catch up on this week. Updated now with Bocky’s road race article…

STOP PRESS!

Congratulations to Talia Appleton who won the Oceania Championships in Brisbane yesterday. She broke away with 20km to go and won by over two minutes! Awesome work Talia - we’re all really proud of you.

A great night at the Mansfield Hotel after the final road race of the season!

Speaking of the pub on Thursday night, did anyone pick up or see a black Mountain Designs puffer vest? Please contact Micala Jacobs if you did.

A big final night of Dirt Crits

by Dave Empey

The final Dirt Crits for summer 2023 was held on Tuesday night amidst thunderstorms and failing light. 

We had 16 riders turn up and again racing was tight at the top of the table with Ant Bateup taking the win by one second ahead of Matt Empey closely followed by Archie Smith. 

There was a little bit of uphill this week and a longer track was utilised. Judging by the times there were some tired legs in the group this week. 

This season has been a little up and down with poor weather characterising most of the season and the deteriorating condition of Rifle Butts MTB Park not helping the player comfort level. But hats off to everyone who has turned up every week and put in. 

Here are the detailed results.

Here’s to another season… well done everyone!

There’ll be an announcement here in the News Pages soon about an upcoming presentation night.

Social road ride on Sunday

This is an unsupported ride on open public roads in Jamieson area to be held on Sunday 2 April 2023, with five stages. You don’t have to complete all five stages, choose your own adventure. Maybe one is enough, or maybe three, or if you’re still on a coffee high, do them all!

• Stage 1 - Mansfield to Jamieson, 36 km


• Stage 2 - Jamieson-Licola Rd to end of bitumen and return, 13km


• Stage 3 - Jamieson-Eildon Rd to Bald Hill Gap and return, 25 km


• Stage 4 - Jamieson to 10 Mile return, 31 km


• Stage 5 - If you’re still keen (and Darren Bakker ha ha), return to Mansfield 36 km

The intention is to meet at Jamieson township between 10-11am for coffee and again after the ride at Jamieson Brewery, Lakeside Hotel for lunch at 1pm.

For more information and to confirm your intention (either riding or helping out) please contact Allan Gerrans on 0427 250 035.

Working Bee soon

There’ll be a working bee soon to help clean out the shipping container and tidy up the soccer field shed.

Keep an eye out on WhatsApp for details.

A Night For “The Bunny” Racing to Save Daylight.

by David Bock

Seventeen riders fronted up to contest the last MMBCC Thursday race before Daylight Savings ended.

First out on the road was Tony Morris, the club`s perennial “bunny”, that everyone else would try to chase down. That chase started two and half mins later with David Jagger, David Bock, and John Eisner, off and going, with the trio of Ian Conrick, Steve Curnow and Craig Wilson, on their way three mins after that; with four mins separating them from the quartet of Darren Bakker, Adrian Dowd, Elise Empey and Tim Ross.

Out on Graves Road, with Tony Morris just visible heading over the next crest, Bocky took a turn leading up the rise from the ford, and was disconcerted to look behind and find John and Dave had dropped off his wheel. Waiting up, he was told to “just go”, so the chase of Morris resumed.

Back near the start, the “block” group of Steve Duke, Mick Pearce, Bruce Halket, Ryder Chadd and Dave Empey were on their way, eleven and a half minutes after Tony; and with an advantage of only 45 seconds ahead of lone Scratch rider, Chris Miller. Dave Empey’s first turn on lead caused fear and consternation, setting a pace the rest of his group found difficult to match. Fortunately for them, Dave’s subsequent turns were less blistering.

Descending the “Coombesberg” at the northern end of Old Tolmie Road, Bock could see Morris appearing ever closer and likely to be overtaken in the next kilometre or so. However, this was an illusion - the overtake occurred ten km later at the bottom of the descent of the Barwite Hill, coming back into town, on the Mansfield-Whitfield Road.

Motivated by not wanting to write this article (an honour bestowed to second-place getters) Morris re-took the lead on the last rise to the finish to take the win from Bock.

The chase group of seven had gotten so close that Bock and Morris should’ve felt them breathing down the back of their necks; Chris leading them across the line to pick up third and fastest time, just ahead of Darren Bakker, Mick Pearce, Dave Empey, Steve Duke, Bruce Halket and Elise Empey. Nineteen seconds later, John Eisner crossed to round out the top ten, just ahead of Steve Curnow. The final six came in individually within the next two minutes, demonstrating the closeness of the handicapping. So thanks Dave Moore, the Handicapper, and to all the Committee members and volunteers who have enabled the season’s racing to happen.

Many thanks to the Mansfield Hotel for their support too - keep any eye and ear out for news on Presentation Night soon.

Here are the results and many thanks again to Tony Copland for his great pics.

Club Member Discount on Crankworx tickets

Crankworx Cairns - where the world's elite and Australia’s best freeride athletes shred the iconic Smithfield tracks in a head to head battle. 

There's plenty to do on both sides of the tape, with elite and CWNEXT racing, Kidsworx for the groms, a pumping mtb expo, food, drinks, and an all-round epic festival.  

It’s 5 days of bumper vibes and the highest level of freestyle mountain biking – what more could you want?  

 There are multi-day and single day passes available – buy yours now and use code ‘CLUBS15’ at checkout to get 15% off your passes! Buy yours here.

Upcoming events

Northern Cycling’s Chooka’s Wheelrace, Broadford, Sunday 16 April.

Shepparton CC’s Euroa Town Crits, Saturday 22 April.

Northern Cycling’s Benghazi Handicap, Lancefield on Anzac Day, Tuesday 25 April.

Tour of Flanders tonight

One of the best pro races of the year is on Sunday night, De Ronde van Vlaanderen, the Tour of Flanders. Here’s a really good explanation and preview of the Men’s race.

It’ll be live on SBS Viceland from 8pm Sunday, from 6pm on SBS On Demand. It’ll be followed by the Women’s.

The forecast is for rain which will make the cobbles and steep bergs all the more challenging and entertaining.

Late March News

A disappointing week for the mountain bikers with a storm on Tuesday cancelling racing. But there’s still lots of news…

And don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter!

SOCIAL Road Ride - Sunday 2nd April 2023

This is an unsupported ride on open public roads in Jamieson area to be held on Sunday 2 April 2023, with five stages. You don’t have to complete all five stages, choose your own adventure. Maybe one is enough, or maybe three, or if you’re still on a coffee high, do them all.

Stage 1 - Mansfield to Jamieson, 36 km
Stage 2 - Jamieson-Licola Rd to end of bitumen and return, 13km
Stage 3 - Jamieson-Eildon Rd to Bald Hill Gap and return, 25 km
Stage 4 - Jamieson to 10 Mile return, 31 km
Stage 5 - If you’re still keen (and Darren Bakker ha ha), return to Mansfield 36 km

The intention is to meet at Jamieson township between 10-11am for coffee and again after the ride at Jamieson Brewery, Lakeside Hotel for lunch at 1pm.

For more information and to confirm your intention (either riding or helping out) please contact Allan Gerrans on 0427 250 035.

The club’s shout at Jamieson ride on Sunday…

The majority of the financial results have come in from the Mansfield Tour - and it looks very positive. We want to celebrate the results and thank you for volunteering your time. We’ll start by buying you lunch in Jamieson on Sunday after the social ride that Allan is organising.

All paid-up MMBCC members who attend will have all their food paid for by the club. We’ll even include the coffee before the ride too! Whether you’re a Bicycle Network member of the MMBCC, or an AusCycling member of the MMBCC, we’ll shout you a feed.

Contact Allan on 0427 250 035 and enjoy your lunch!

From dilemma to delirium in 24km

By Michael Pearce

Thursday night’s MMBCC Handicap Road Race started with a dilemma.

Diesel had been spilled on the southbound lane of Whitfield Road, just north or Dead Horse Lane, not far from the proposed finish at the Showgrounds on Mt Battery Road. Commissiaires Tony Copland and Bruce Halket decided to shorten the course to avoid the slippery, dangerous section of road.

The race was neutralised from the start at the Botanic Park through to Bridgestone Tyre Service and the new finish line was Kareen Court, reducing the usual 26km course to 24km.

Our group started steadily through the neutral zone and were set to accelerate after the tyre service when we almost ran over a tortoise on the road. Concerns that we were going so slow it might overtake us were dispelled and kudos to Jason Parker who moved our armour-plated friend off the road.

Then the lone Scratchie, Chris Miller, caught us and the pace went up a couple of notches. The race was super quick, upbeat and exciting even with a lot of the faster riders missing.

Miller and Darren Bakker got away over the Barwite Hill and looked capable of reeling in the lone Limit rider, Tony Morris, and taking the first two places.

But Elise Empey had other ideas! She sat on the front, doing 54km/h, in a courageous, selfless effort and dragged a few of us up to the leaders and in the process dropped most of the others.

Dave Moore again proved what an excellent handicapper he is as we caught the groups ahead of us along the last, fast, long straight and two small rises before the new finish line.

Bakker was seeing stars (ending in delirium?) trying to stay with Miller as our group caught them.

Scratch got up, making the 13 minute gap with about 1km to spare. Miller first ahead of me, Halket and Steve Duke; easily my hardest effort for the year.

Next week is the last race of the summer, so turn up and have some fun. It’s been a fantastic season and a huge thanks to all the marshals, officials and volunteers who turn up week after week.

Many thanks to Tony Copland for his pics and here are the results.

Jamieson Social Ride

SAVE THE DATE - SUNDAY 2ND APRIL 2023

This is an unsupported ride on open public roads in Jamieson area to be held on Sunday 2nd April 2023, including 5 stages. Please note you don’t have to complete all 5 stages, choose your own adventure. Maybe 1 is enough, or maybe 3, or if your still on a coffee high, do them all.

Stage 1 - Mansfield to Jamieson, 36 kms
Stage 2 - Jamieson, Licola rd to end of bitumen and return, 13kms.
Stage 3 - Jamieson-Eildon rd to Bald Hill Gap and return, 25 kms
Stage 4 - Jamieson to 10 Mile return, 31 kms
Stage 5 - If your still keen (and Darren Bakker ha ha), return to Mansfield 36 kms

The intention is to meet at Jamieson township between 10-11am for coffee and again at Jamieson Brewery, Lake Side Hotel for lunch at 1pm.

For more information and to confirm your intention (either riding or helping out), please get in touch with Allan Gerrans on 0427 250 035.

Hot Weekend News

Dirt Critters News

By Tim Ross and Luke Vivash

NEXT WEEK: Advance notice that next Tuesday Dirt Critters will ride alongside the Delatite River from Carter's Rd to Mirimbah and back. This is a wonderful, flattish ride thru the bush along a great piece of single-track. BOTH GROUPS will ride at the same time. We'll meet at the Carter's Rd picnic area at 4:30pm and I expect we'll be finished soon after 5:30pm (the Carter's Rd picnic area is easy to find on Google Maps; just off the Buller Rd past Sawmill Settlement; allow 25 minutes drive from Mansfield) . Parents are most welcome to bring their bikes and join the ride, or may prefer to walk out and back along the trail.

LAST WEEK: See below for photos of the two groups following their Enduro ride on Tuesday. Those kids who didn't go the wrong way recorded some seriously fast times! Quickest for the younger kids were Miles, Hugo and Jarrah; for the older group Paxton, Blake and Cooper.

RACING ANYONE? For any Dirt Critters who would like to try racing there are a few options. This Saturday morning the Alpine Cycling Club are running the next in their Junior MTB Race Series, in Albury. Tim attended the previous race in this series last month with his kids and found it to be well organised and fun (although with a 9am start, it's an early rise in Mansfield!). Short notice, but Google it if interested, and I'm happy to provide more details. Later in the year (starting in June) is the Victorian Schools Mountain Bike Series. Last year a small group of current and former Dirt Critters raced this series. I'll provide more details once they come out!

Dirt Crits catch-up

By Kate Empey

Senior Dirt Crits has been lucky to have Matt Empey set the course for the past two weeks, while his father had a brief holiday.

On March 7th the club ran a Gravity enduro, always popular with the younger riders. Due to a slight timing mishap the 14 riders rode a practice run followed by a race run. The course wound down from the highest point through some flat tight corners, which caught a couple of riders off guard resulting in a trip through the shrubbery.

Maintaining speed is crucial with any race but particularly important when the run only takes 3 to 5 minutes to complete. Matthew did come home fastest with a time of 2min 58sec. Close on his wheel was Nathan Dabbs and Ryder Chad tied for second with a time of 3min flat. They were followed closely in third by Ant Bateup.

Huge improvement seen by Leo Femor who is new to the club this season.

Tuesday 14th saw 15 riders turn up for the more traditional cross country racing. Matt once again set a new course and the riders split into A and B grades to test out the track. Although some protesting from a couple of younger riders wanting another gravity enduro night all seemed pretty happy with the course in the end with the mix of decending and climbing including a steep loose rocky ascent to the top of rubbish run before heading down to the start.

A grade completed six laps with our local XC champion Ruby Dobson dominating the race and finishing in 36:47 min to take out the top of the podium - a place she is now very familiar with. Second was Ant Bateup proving he is a force in both disciplines with a time of 40:40 min. To prove age is no obstacle came Bruce Halket in third with a time of 43:04min.

Due to the ease with which Finn Baker and Spencer Carmen raced their 4 laps in B grade they were given another lap and their own category pushing the rest of the riders into a newly created C grade. Spencer came in first with a time of 37:17 followed closely by Finn 37:41.

The rest of the riders fought it out for the C grade podium. Finishing the four laps in first place was Rueben Bateup (33:25min), Dave Bock in second (38:55) and Rylan Fox in third (44:07), the XC didn’t kill him after all. The younger riders really looked like they had been challenged as they rested up after the race. ( see photo). Thank you again to our timers and spectators.

Road race article headline

By Belinda Cipa

Text…Course 10 is a popular 25klm out and back ride for many Club Members with glorious rural views, undulating terrain, “punchy” climbs, and smooth flat time trial sections. Departing from Lords Oval along Malcolm Street, riders turn left at Howes Creek Road and follow to the end of the bitumen where Cummins Road intersects. A U-turn at this point sets riders to retrace back along Howes Creek Road, often giving those out front on handicap the opportunity to sight and assess the position of chasing groups before finishing just past the Malcolm Street intersection.

Head Marshall and “Trust my Numbers” Handicapper Dave Moore had all the equipment and running sheet ready for the 6.00 pm start. Commissaires were happy for Starter Mel Green to send Micala Jacobs off first and riding solo followed 4’ later by David Bock and John Eisner. Craig Wilson, Steve Curnow, and Tim Hall set off 2’30” later.  Next up and 1’30” later was Belinda Cipa and Adrian Dowd who got acquainted for the first time on the start line, and ably chaperoned 1’30” behind by Janine Appleton. Darren Bakker and Tim Ross followed behind with another 1’30” gap to close. The final group of Steve Duke, Ryder Chadd, and Bruce Halket had to contain their enthusiasm (or find it) for another 1’30” before launching their chase. With Steve Curnow suffering a puncture and having to abandon early and Ryder Chadd having “a very hard day out”, the race essentially boiled down to pairs chasing pairs at 1’30” intervals. Adrian and Belinda were the most successful pair finishing 1st and 2nd. Craig finished strongly for 3rd, Janine and Tim 4th and 5th, Darren just behind and 6th. Steve Duke claimed 6th and the prize money for the fastest time with Bruce 5” behind and placing 7th. Tim Hall finished a further 7” behind in 8th. Just under 1’30” behind were John Eisner and Dave Bock and, remarkably, with another time gap just under the miracle 1’30’ number Micala finished in a time of 58’12”. Ryder was the last and arguably the most relieved rider to cross the finish line.

Thank you to all Marshalls and the Mansfield Hotel for assisting, encouraging, and supporting our local races. Thank you to all drivers for your courtesy in passing us safely on these roads.

Here are the results and below is a pic showing three things: 1 - those Orcoda jerseys look alright; 2 - doesn’t Darren look as though he had fun; and 3 - how badly we need Tony back to take some decent photos!

Ride2School Day

Ride2School Day is just around the corner - Friday 24 March.

Here’s all the info you need from the TAC - let’s get a few more kids out of their parents car and onto a bike!

Finally…

A note from Annina Gallagher from AusCycling Victoria about the Mansfield Hotel Tour powered by Orcoda:

Thanks again for all your work and support for putting on another great event in Mansfield. The weather certainly didn’t disappoint either! 😊 I believe overall the event ran very smoothly, including the new stage 1 ITT.

Please pass on a massive thank you to all your volunteers as well as sponsors. They all did a fabulous job and riders very much appreciated it with very positive feedback from everyone I spoke to.

Save the Date - Sunday 2nd April 2023

This is an unsupported ride on open public roads in Jamieson area to be held on Sunday 2nd April 2023, including 5 stages.

Stage 1 - Mansfield to Jamieson, 36 kms
Stage 2 - Jamieson, Licola rd to end of bitumen and return, 13kms.
Stage 3 - Jamieson-Eildon rd to Bald Hill Gap and return, 25 kms
Stage 4 - Jamieson to 10 Mile return, 31 kms
Stage 5 - If your still keen (and Darren Bakker ha ha), return to Mansfield 36 kms

The intention is to meet at Jamieson township between 10-11am for coffee and again at Jamieson Brewery, Lake Side Hotel for lunch at 1pm.

For more information and to confirm your intention (either riding or helping out), please contact Allan Gerrans on 0427 250 035.

Mid March Mupdate

Sorry for the terrible aliteration but there’s lots to get through this week. Grab a cuppa and have a read…

2023 Mansfield Tour powered by Orcoda

(article to appear in the Mansfield Courier next week.)

By Bruce Halket

The weekend of the 4th and 5th of March saw the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club host the 2023 Mansfield Hotel Tour powered by Orcoda. After a few days of catching up on some sleep, it’s time for the Race Director to reflect on a successful opening to the Victorian Road Series

236 entrants, plus family and friends, travelled to Mansfield from all over Victoria, and interstate, for the race and it ran like clockwork all weekend. Feedback from entrants has been terrific, with many commenting on how well organised the race was and how welcomed they felt visiting Mansfield. In particular, the new Individual Time Trial Course around Merinda Park was a real winner! For the last few years we’ve used Graves Road which necessitated a road closure - we wanted to be less disruptive to residents this year, so changed to Merinda Park course because we didn’t need to close the road. 

No race like this would be possible without a generous team of sponsors. The whole MMBCC would like to thank Lesa and Steve Brown of the Mansfield Hotel; Grant, Simon and Susan from Orcoda Logistics (FYI, Orcoda is the ASX-listed logistics company which organises transport on Mt Buller during the ski season and they’re keen to be involved in the local community); Narelle and Shannon Rademaker of All Terrain Cycles, Kate and Dave Empey of Paton Air Helicopters; Ant Bateup and the team at Mansfield Crushing; as well as Emma and Matt Darcy of Krush. Plus there’s also Ventou clothing, Lezyne and Goodyear.

I’d really like to give a special thanks to the Tour organising committee who made the weekend so easy to organise: Chief Volunteer Rangler Melanie Green, MC J-Rod Jarrod Appleton, Grand Logistics Poobah Dave Jagger, Purveyor of Permits Alex Green and General Dog’s Body Cam Dobson. And a big thanks to the MMBCC Minister of Finance, Janine Appleton.

The highlight of the weekend for the MMBCC was seeing a local member win on General Classification for the first time ever! Talia Appleton dominated Womens A-grade, winning two stages and finishing second in the other, to take a commanding win. Congratulations Talia!

Congratulations also to Chris Miller, Steve Duke and Jeremy Wah. And to ‘adopted’ locals Andy Garrett, Jake Lay, Chris McKnight and prodigal son Dan Purcell.

A huge thank you needs to go to all the MMBCC members and The Third Hand who volunteered to help out over the weekend: sweeping gravel off corners, helping riders with registration, setting up and packing down starts and finishes, holding riders at the Time Trial start, driving Lead Cars, marshalling corners, officiating, collecting transponders… there’s a lot of work involved and it was all done brilliantly!

Finally, I’d like to thank local motorists for being patient on the roads over the weekend. The club realises a road tour can be an inconvenience but we really try to minimise any disruptions - and Mansfield motorists are renowned for their patience, which helps us attract such a large number of visitors. Those 236 entrants and friends last week brought with them an estimated $100,000 in economic activity! So while delays are unavoidable and unfortunate, the club believes any inconvenience is far outweighed by the financial benefit to local tourism.

Many thanks to Jean-Pierre Ronco for the majority of the images above.

Dirt Critters

By Tim Ross

Dirt Critters continues each Tuesday afternoon at Rifle Butts reserve.  The younger group (grade 3 and below) meet at 4pm, while the older group (grades 4 to 6) meet at 4:45pm.  The kids ride the various trails in and around Rifle Butts, exploring and practicing their skills.  Next week will see us all doing an enduro course designed by Luke. 

Some of the younger group after a skills session up at the saddle, Tuesday 28/02

More Junior Racing

By an anonymous but extremely proud Dad

Club members Ben & Alastair Ross travelled to Thredbo earlier this week to compete in the Australian MTB Inter-Schools. 

The event was sold out with hundreds of kids from grade 3 upwards thronging the village, racing both downhill and XC.  Wind played havoc with the downhill schedule, with lifts on wind-hold for much of Monday and all Tuesday. 

Both boys rode the XC race on the Friday Flat loop; the course featured a brutal start straight up the ski slope before reverting to single track. Both boys had great rides, Alastair placing 16th in Division 5 (grade 3,4) and Ben decisively winning Division 4 (grade 5,6).

The event is open to all, and all the kids gain inspiration and enjoyment from riding with their peers.

Ben & Alastair before the XC start, Ben atop the XC Division 4 podium.

Steve Curnow’s article

By Steve Curnow

Thursday nights cycle ride got off to a late start due to a late trailer pick up. Thanks goes to Cameron Dobson for stepping in to take up the job. It was perfect weather for the ride, not too hot and not a lot of wind. All went well on the first part of the journey, nice smooth turns on the relatively flat going on the way to the Coomesberg on Old Tolmie Road, but that’s where it came unravelled. The Coomesberg inflicted a bad case of dropsy. Terry dropped Micala, Conrick dropped Selina, Steve Curnow dropped Will, Janine dropped Adrian and Rob was dropped by his group. While on the top of Coomesberg Steve Curnow was determined to catch Conrick before the top of the berg and did so. They had a social drink of water before getting on with the job at hand catching up to Micala before the stony section, where she got on and to their surprise stuck with them to the end. Tony didn’t get rounded up until just before the left turn into Mt Battery Road. He came an honourable third with Conrick and Steve Curnow vying for first and second place. Conrick piped Steve on the finish line to come first in a gallant effort.

Micala Jacobs came in fourth followed by Janine Appleton in fifth place and Ruby coming in sixth. Well done Ruby for producing the fastest time overall.

Once again, thanks goes to the marshals, Dave Moore the scratch master and the marshal that shouted the bar.

Here are the results - sorry, no pics this week.

Speaking of steve curnow…

Steve and Lise travelled to Forrest a couple of weeks ago for the Otway Odyssey. And they both won their categories. Congratulations!

Summer Road Race Series

It’s hotting up at the top of the ladder!

Here are the top ten points scores with only a few weeks left.

1 Ryder Chadd 88
1 Mick Pearce 88
3 Janine Appleton 86
4 Craig Wilson 70
5 Steve Duke 59
5 Micala Jacob 59
7 Tony Morris 54
8 Steve Brown 53
8 Rob Skinner 53
10 Andy Garrett 50

By the way, this is the last time you’ll see a points score until the final scores are known.

Some feedback from the Tour

By Julie Hooper

I just wanted to say thank you again to yourself , your team , all the selfless volunteers and everyone involved - families of organisers and volunteers and the locals - for putting this race on and organising a brilliant weekend of racing.

Thank you also for allowing me to ride as a paracyclist in c grade and to be all inclusive x it really means a lot - i never thought 5 years ago when i got crushed by a truck at work that i would ever walk again let alone teach myself to ride again. Thanks to amazing people like yourself putting these races on and treating everyone as equals i was able to fulfill a dream this weekend of not just racing with women whose both legs work but of being an active and competitive racer in the bunch - attacking and constantly having a go. My life is so different now - but thanks to yourself and team and everyone involved i felt like the Julie i was 20 years ago.

You are all amazing - i managed to throw up over myself 4 times in the last 5 km today but the amazing support and kindness and compassion shown by everyone i have met and spoken to this weekend - just gave me the strength to carry on and push through when my chronic pain was screaming, my good leg was tiring and my sij had popped out.

Thank you all for making me so happy this weekend, for all the smiles and the friendly encouraging comments and for being the amazing beautiful and good humans you are by selflessly giving up your time to allow people like myself to follow our passion and dreams.

Please know you have all made a beautiful and positive difference in my life this weekend and words can not express how grateful and appreciative i am to each and every one of you. I cant wait for next year.

Go and enjoy some RnR you have all earnt it.

Stay safe and God bless you all.

My kindest and heartfelt and genuine regards, Julie (Hooper)

World XCO Ranking

Check out who has stormed into the top 10 of the “Riders Ranking Cross Country Olympic Women Junior”, a super effort by Rudy Dobson moving 4 places in the rankings, well done!!!

No road racing last night - but here is last weeks race report

New bike, first win

By Selina Green

On Thursday 23rd February – a hot humid evening. Sixteen riders headed to the Botanic Park for the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club handicap race. The first riders to leave the park were Tony Morris and Micala Jacobs. They headed off at speed with the next bunch of four riders which included Ian Conrick, John Eisner, Dave Bock, and Selina Green. This group supported new-to-riding Selina into their group and became a force to be reckoned with as the race headed towards the Long Lane turnaround.

Next to leave was Adrian Dowd on his new bike with Craig (Will) Wilson. Followed by the group of three Rob Skinner, Darren Bakker, and Janine Appleton. Our final group with 12 minutes to find were Michael Pearce, Bruce Halket, Ryder Chadd, Steve Duke, and Jake Lay.

All groups worked well together gradually closing gaps with Adrian 'new bike' Dowd the eventual winner with a sprint to the finish closely followed by Selina Green and Tony Morris. Ian Conrick and Jake Lay, with the fastest time on the night, rounded out the top five.

We would like to thank the marshals and commissaires who did as usual a fantastic job to keep us all safe. Many thanks to Tony Copland for his race images.

MMBCC News Update

Dirt Critters

By Dave Empey

Another gravity enduro was held at Rifle Butts MTB Park Tuesday night. The race consisted of two runs down the same track. 

As usual, the racing was tight with positions 1, 2, and 3 all on the same second. Eventually, after a count back, it was Zac Empey who prevailed after a busy week of racing Downhill at the national titles in Thredbo. Zac posted the fastest time down the track with a 2.17 closely followed by Ant Bateup on 2.18 and another second in arrears Elijah McGuigan on 2.19. 

Rounding out the top five were Ryder Chad and Charlie Dobson. 

Steve Curnow chose to rest his legs in anticipation of destroying them this coming weekend at the Otway Odyssey. Good luck for the coming weekend Steve. 

It is great to see not just our younger members having a crack but the older guys as well. 

Next week it will be back to the pain cave with an XC race at Rifle Butts.

Dirt Critters is for primary school kids

Dirt Critters is up and going for the year.  Dirt Critters is for primary school kids who enjoy riding and want to gain experience and skills in a fun environment. The group meets at Rifle Butts reserve on Tuesday afternoons with juniors (grade 3 and below) on at 4pm and the older group at 4:45pm.  Tim and Luke lead the group with help from parents.  

Junior Racing in Bright

Club members Ben & Alastair Ross travelled to Bright on Saturday to join in the Alpine Cycling Club’s junior MTB series.  This 6 race series over the summer features events in Yackandandah, Beechworth, Bright, Mt Beauty, and Albury.  Kids from U5 to U15 from all over the North East participate, mainly in XCO style events.  At Bright almost 100 kids entered, with the biggest contingent in the U9s. The races are well organised, fun, and focus on participation.  To top off their day, Ben placed 1st in U13, while Alastair placed 3rd in U9.

MMBCC News Update

Dirt Crits Cross Country - finally!

Seventeen racers at Dirt Crits on Tuesday night for a Dobson-organised XC night.

A-grade did four laps.

Ant Bateup started well but was overcome by a bunch of far-too-energetic-for-their-own-good teenagers until Ryder Chadd punctured.

Charlie Dobson took the win ahead of Archie Smith with Bateup hanging on for third. Elijah McGuigan took fourth ahead of comeback kid Bruce Halket.

In B-grade, Asha managed to arrive late for A-grade so she streeted the field and ensured he won’t be allowed in B-grade again. Reuben Bateup was second ahead of Rylan Fox, Dave Bock, and Charlie Hall.

Next week it’s back to Gravity racing.

Here are the results.

Brownie Takes the Bakker Plumbing Handicap

By Mick Pearce

It was the Bakker Plumbing Handicap at Jamieson on Thursday last week - the highlight of the MMBCC season and the most popular 28km race track in the High Country.

In the calm (before the storm?) 27 degree conditions at the start, all the groups huddled separately discussing tactics, while my group of Darren Bakker and Janine Appleton discussed what to have for dinner at the Jamieson Brewery afterwards.

Handicapper Dave Moore… nice job! 16 riders, 7 groups; a fast race loomed for sure.

Tony Copland, the Commissionaire, was busy doing safety checks of riders and bikes to ensure a safe course to race on. Kudos to you and the other officials and helpers who made the night a success.

At the halfway mark we were going ok but it looked likely we’d be caught by the chase group behind us - Steve Brown, Bruce Halket, and Steve Duke.

We didn’t see much of the Scratch group; Andy Garrett had to do most of the race on his own after Jake Lay punctured early on. (Huge kudos to both Andy and Jake who drove all the way from Euroa to race!)

And we didn’t see much of the Block group either! Chris Miller rode mostly solo after Ryder Chadd’s legs succumbed to a big day of school sport.

Front markers Tony Morris, Micala Jacob, the Two Daves (Jagger and Bock) then Craig Wilson and Adrian Dowd (welcome to the club mate) had pace but couldn’t match our speed on the way back to Jamo.

So Brown, Halket, Duke, Bakker, Appleton, and myself were left to battle it out for the last 2km.

Steve Brown took the win (in the fastest time of 47.10) ahead of me in second. Then came Steve Duke in 3rd, Darren Bakker 4th with Janine Appleton 5th seemingly riding effortlessly.

The rest of the top ten were Halket 6th, Wilson 7th, Dowd 8th, Miller 9th, and Andy Garrett 10th.

Great finish to the night with a presentation, dinner, and a beverage at the Brewery.

Many thanks to Tony Copland and Jenni Sparnon for the images and here are the results.

Next week sees the MMBCC racing on the Whitfield Road, turning at Long Lane, heading around the Barwite Loop, and finishing on Graves Road.

Highline Gravity Enduro Race Report 7/2/23

By Dave Empey

Everyone turned up because it was a Gravity Enduro race night, forgetting that they needed to ride to the top of South Blue Range. There were questions regarding being shuttled up. However, these were met with deaf ears.  We had 20 racers and racing was tight.  The race was incident free with the Dobsons managing to avoid catastrophe both whilst racing and in the warm down.  Two challenging tracks were utilized. In the end, it was Archie Smith who took the win with a combined time of 3.37, in second position it was Ryder Chadd on 3.46, third Elijah McGuiggan on 3.47 followed by Zac Empey on 3.50, and rounding out the top 5 was Elise Empey on 4.00.  many thanks to Tamara and Louie for allowing the club to utilise their property.  Thanks to Mel and Kate for battling the 747 size mosquitoes and timing. Click here for the race results.

Road Race Report

Dark Knight - Howes Creek Handicap

By Chris Miller.

The night was dark and stormy as the MMBCC gathered for the Howes Creek Handicap. It was a brave group of souls who somewhat reluctantly kitted up for an evening of racing knowing that their tiny layer of lycra was barely enough protection against the roaring southerly and black clouds on the horizon. As I left the bike shop Tim Ross eye-balled me saying "I hope you checked the weather radar as we will need a spinnaker tonight!!"

Capital Mel Green ran the show at the start line with strict instructions to hold your lines and watch for strong wind gusts. 3, 2, 1, and Tony Morris was off with a 5min lead then Jacob, Bocky, Jagger, Dr Eisner rolled out and were the first bunch to take on the headwind. Tim Hall, Belinda Cipa, and Bella Green were next off with a nod and wink from Capital Mum. Off next with a 4 min gap to chase was the engine room of the race with Bruce "The Don" Halket, Cannon Ball Bakker , Tim "Spinnaker" Ross, Elise "What is a road bike?" Empey, Janine "I'll show you what a road bike can do" Appleton. With a 3 min gap chase the next group welcomed the local Member for Tourism Chris McKnight to the MMBCC with Chris Miller as his only wingman as handy fella Matt Empey had been called out by the CFA for a fire at Balmattum. Last but not least was the crack Scratch Squad with Jake "Youth" Lay, Andrew "Freight Train" Garrett, and local legend Josh "Legs and Lungs" Hopwood.

The tempo needed to be kept high as the bunches took on the headwind out to Howes Creek Rd. All were too scared to look up and see the weather front and black clouds getting ever closer. We all navigated the Howes Creek Rd intersection safely thanks to the marshals. Allen Gerrans, Rob Skinner, and Mike Peace.

The cross winds continued to strengthen as we headed east with McKnight providing some excellent turns on the front with Miller and maintaining the gap back to the scratch pack. We took on the rolling hills and winding course before we saw the first rider. Tony Morris was doing a great job staying at the front of the race. Then we passed a few more groups that were all ahead of us before the turn at Cummins Rd. That’s when the rain started with some heavy raindrops on the course. Slowly McKnight and Miller bridged the gaps of the groups encouraging others to join the train home. Soon we caught the engine room bunch with Bruce the Don jumping on the wheel and leading his group to do the same. The rain was now heavy as we hit the rolling hills and steep pinches. Everyone did a great job cresting together and then supporting each other on the descents.

The storm was now really upon us with heavy wind gusts and thick pouring rain. During the long final descent, I could barely see through my sunnies as the rain was so heavy. Everyone did a great job riding safely in very tough conditions and looking after each other. With the final rollers to go Miller put in a final push but from nowhere came the great local legend Josh " Legs and Lungs" Hopwood who used his momentum to pass and gap Miller just enough to hold him off for the win. Followed closely by Andrew Garrett, Chris McKnight, Jake Lay, Bruce the Don, Eilise Empey, Belinda Cipa, Darren Bakker, Dr John, Tony Morris, Tim Ross, Bella Green, Tim Hall, Dave Jagger, and Bocky.

Well done Joshy as you rode the perfect race and especially well down to all riders taking on the challenging conditions, looking after each other, and all getting home safely.
Huge kudos to all marshals for volunteering and ensuring our presence is known while on the roads.

Many thanks to Tony Copland for his race images.

Early Feb News

There’s a fair bit going on this week…

Dirt Crits

What was scheduled as a Cross Country night at Rifle Butts Reserve last Tuesday was hijacked by the young nad fit “We don’t want to ride up hills, it’s too hard!” crowd and was therefore changed at the last minute to a night of Gravity racing.

With Matt Empey working it was left to Elijah McGuigan to take the win, much to the chagrin of second placed Archie Smith with Ryder Chadd in third. Detailed results might appear eventually.

In celebration of his win, Elijah went back up to Highline on Wednesday night, crashed badly landing a jump and concussed himself! Get well soon Elijah.

Festivities continue next week; the calendar says it’ll be a Gravity Enduro at Highline.

Dirt Critters is BACK for Term 1

We meet at Rifle Butts Reserve at 4:30pm on TUESDAY.

Dirt Critters is for primary school age kids (but anyone who has just started high school is welcome back) who enjoy riding.  The aim is to gain experience and learn new skills in a fun environment.

So welcome back to all our riders from last year, and feel free to bring along your friends.

There is NO COST to attend each week - the only requirement is that all riders must have an AusCycling membership. Click here to go to the Join Now page and follow the AusCycling links. An AusCycling membership is valid for 12 months and costs $60 for 7yo and under; $85 for 8 to 12yo. For those who haven’t previously had a membership, a free, four-week ‘come and try’ membership is available.

Parents can help in lots of ways, from riding with us to cutting up oranges to marking the roll - please make yourselves known to us if you'd like to help!

Contact dirtcrits@gmail.com or call Luke on 0455 604 785 for more information.

Mansfield Tour 4 & 5 March

The Mansfield Tour is just around the corner. As usual, Bruce is pleading for volunteers to make sure the event runs as smoothly as usual. If you were involved in 2022, thanks very much and we’ll put you on the list for the same job in 2023, if that’s ok. Mel Green will confirm it all soon.

There’s a big change this year - a new Time Trial course for Stage 1. Click on the Tour page for more details.

Another change is… polo shirts have been ordered!. They look a bit more professional than t-shirts. And you can turn the collar up to protect your neck from the sun.

All volunteers to the Tour will receive a new cotton club polo, produced by Ventou. And MMBCC members who volunteered for the VDHS race at Mt Buller in January, are eligible for one too!