AusCycling starts 1 Nov

AusCycling is GO!

Cycling Australia today voted YES - meaning it will join with MTBA and BMXA in forming AusCycling. From 1 November AusCycling will start operations and your membership of the MMBCC will allow you to ride whatever discipline you want - road, mountain bike, track or BMX.

Here’s the link to the official statement.

You can find updated info over the next few weeks on the AusCycling bookface page or the AusCycling website.

In the meantime…

• Cheer on Ritchie Porte tonight as he tries to time trial his way to the Tour de France podium. #RoarForRitchie

• You’re now allowed to ride in bunches of 10, including weekend road bunch rides.

Sunday arvo update

AusCycling one step closer

Below is a statement issued by Brunswick Cycling Club on Saturday 12 September. The MMBCC is in total and utter agreement with the statement and looks forward to the implementation of AusCycling’

“We welcome the decision today by Cycling Tasmania to support AusCycling.
A significant number of clubs, many who were available to be signatories below, are also fully supportive of the AusCycling proposal that we endorsed on 19 November, 2019.
A single licence, giving access to the world of cycling and from the outset affordably priced, will be an important instrument in growing membership. As clubs this means more people at our events, either competing or spectating, buying from our canteens, purchasing our apparel and all bonded by the love of the bike. All of this will boost our club finances, add to our evolving cultures and grow cycling.
An open knowledge base, with a library of resources from all disciplines, from all over the country, sharing important tips and learnings, will, among other things, bolster our capability in applying for and receiving grants. We are delighted with the commitment by AusCycling to create a dedicated club support and development team as a priority. With workload on clubs easing we will be more efficient and able to better support our treasured volunteer base. From coaching support through to national bike education programs our capability is vastly improved.
In addition to the benefits derived via increased membership and club support, we believe a unified body will deliver improved commercial opportunities which our clubs will be a major and direct beneficiary of. Our current structure means competing codes such as AFL & Netball will continue to be far more attractive commercial partners as they are much easier to deal with. There are significant sponsorship opportunities when you can negotiate with partners on behalf of all disciplines.
It’s time our sport acted as one code with a single focus on improving the lives of all cyclists. Unified advocacy is a natural outcome and we know we are far more effective as one voice. One organisation with a powerful membership base calling for improved infrastructure and rider safety will give the sport a seat at the table when planning for smarter cities, a healthier society and overall mobility.
As clubs we have a long and rich history, individually and collectively. So too does our sport and we respect the legacy and where it has got us to. However the sport has evolved and the administration of the sport has not. We are very excited to finally be working as one for all cyclists.
Our clubs are committed to working with the new organisation and really look forward to becoming closer to clubs both locally and across state lines. We recognise there will be teething problems as with any new venture or business but we have a much better platform for it to evolve and continue to improve.
There is a lot to look forward to and though we know we represent a majority we are in this together with the whole cycling community.
Ag Giramondo
President - Brunswick Cycling Club

Alpine Cycling Club
Bairnsdale Cycling Club
Ballarat Sebastopol Cycling Club
Bendigo and District Cycling Club
Blackburn Cycling Club
Brunswick Cycling Club
Castlemaine Cycling Club
Coburg Cycling Club
Cycle Collective Cycling Club
Echuca Moama Cycling Club
Footscray Cycling Club
Geelong Cycling Club
Hawthorn Cycling Club
Italo-Australia Cycling Club
Latrobe Cycling Club
Leongatha Cycling Club
Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club
Rowville Riders
St Kilda Cycling Club
Wangaratta Cycling Club
Warragul Cycling Club
Wellington Cycling Club
Westside Cycling Club”

Summer of racing

We have our Victoria Police permits for road racing! This is usually the toughest part of the process, so to get it sorted so early is a great result - well done to our road race organising committee.

All we need now is permission from VicRoads, the Shire and the Department of Health and Human Services and we’re good to go! No news yet on when that will be but we’ll let you know as soon as we do!

For Dirt Crits, we just need permission from the DHHS for Community Sport to start again and we should be right.

In the meantime… wear a mask, wash your hands and keep your fingers crossed.

AGM News

We are still planning on a having our Annual General Meeting as soon as we can - it’s likely to be a ‘zoom’ or online meeting.

We’ll be formally calling for Executive and other committee nominations soon - proxy and nomination forms will be available download and will need to be returned a week before the meeting.

As soon as we finalise more details we’ll let you know.

Monday update

The ISO Cup results are in…

Well done to all club members who posted a time. Congratulations to all those on the ‘podiums’ … call into All Terrain Cycles to collect your prizes.

AusCycling Update

Cycling Tasmania will have a Special State Council meeting to vote on joining AusCycling on September 12.

If they vote yes, they’ll be the 6th state to vote yes, meaning Cycling Australia will have enough states voting yes to join MTBA and BMXA in moving to AusCycling. We’ll be one step closer to one cycling membership!

ISO Cup prizes!

All Terrain Cycles gift vouchers…

ATC is generously giving away gift vouchers for each of the four segments of this round of the Iso Cup.

1st - $50; 2nd - $30; and 3rd - $20. Yes, that’s right… three vouchers for each of the four segments. That’s a total of $400! (Thanks Shannon.)

Here are all the details. It all starts Saturday.

Rainy day update - the ISO Cup is back!

The ISO CUP is back!

It’s time to put on your race face and lay down a winning time for the MMBCC ISO CUP round 3! This time there are a few new rules, new time limits and four different Strava segments.

Timing

This time it’s not just for a day, or even a weekend… you’ll get nine days to post your best time! Ride as many times as you want, on as many of the segments as you want, between 7am on Saturday 29 August until 5pm on Sunday 6 September. That’s two full weekends plus five midweek days! You have no excuses.

We’ll be using Strava segments again; so you’ll record a time automatically if you ride the whole segment and upload your Garmin/Wahoo/Lezyne ride data to Strava afterwards.

Membership

This time you need to be an actual paid-up member of the MMBCC - either Cycling Australia or Mountain Bike Australia, whichever you prefer. If you’re not already, go to the Join Now page for more information.

You also need to be a ‘member’ of the MMBCC on Strava.

Prizes

There will be prizes for each segment… not sure what the prizes will be but we’ll find something for you. Plus there’ll be a prize for the best cumulative time combining all four segments.

MTB XC segment - ISO CUP XC 2 MMBCC

At Riflebutts, follow the blue arrows on XC loop, onto Fourteen Farts, back onto XC loop into top of Rubbish Run, onto the 4WD track then sharp left onto lower Critters to finish. 4.34km long. Click here to see the segment on Strava.

Gravity Enduro segment - ISO CUP Gravity Enduro 2 MMBCC

Also at Riflebutts, follow the red arrows… start at top of Joyride, left onto Midland Link then into Rubbish Run to finish. 1.14km long. Click here to see the segment on Strava.

Road segment - 10km mark to Farmstay

Just one road segment this time… but it’s a new one. Follow the ISO Cup signs from near the tomato farm up to the Farmstay driveway. 4.9km. Click here to see the segment on Strava.

Gravel segment - ISO CUP Gravel RT-Pikes MMBCC

Another brand new one for those that don’t mind a bit of dirt. Start on the Great Victorian Rail Trail; the segment starts just after you cross over Withers Lane, turn right onto Pikes Road to the top of the hill. 5.5km.
Click here to see the segment on Strava.

Hints and Tips

• If you’re trying for one of the mountain bike segments at Riflebutts, we highly recommend you do a recce lap first. With so much rain and bad weather lately, there could easily be some changes to the track (surface erosion, trees or branches down, etc.) since the last time you rode it;

• Strava timing is done through satellites, so it’s difficult to get the start and finish signs in exactly the right position. We recommend you start riding hard well before the START sign and continue on well past the FINISH sign;

• Upload your ride data by 6pm each day to make sure your new best time is counted; and

• Please remember the Stage 3 COVID-19 restrictions - groups of no more than two unless you’re a family.

Signs marking all segments will be installed before Saturday 29 August. Good luck!

Event re-scheduling

There have been a lot of event changes lately.

L’etape Australia has now changed from late November this year to 19-20 March 2021.

The Mountain Bike Nationals at Maydena in Tasmania have also been moved to March 2021.

(When are we going to fit in the Mansfield Tour?)

And the Herald-Sun Tour scheduled for February 2021 has been cancelled!

Finally…

If Stage 3 restrictions are lifted on schedule, we hope to have the Annual General Meeting in late September. If we all do the right thing, hopefully we can start racing again, in some form, in October. So… wear a mask, wash your hands and stay safe.

Bike riding lockdown reminder...

Ride in pairs!

Just a reminder that now that we’re back under Stage 3 Restrictions, you can only ride with one other.

You don’t need to wear a mask during strenuous exercise but you do the rest of the time - so put one on as soon as you ‘slow down’ or get back to town.

Wash your hands, wear your mask and as Keif Richards says - “SAY STAFE!”

Early August Update

Want to keep up-to-date with everything that’s happening with the MMBCC? Subscribe to Latest News!

The beanies are here!

Did you order a club beanie? Even if you didn’t order one beforehand, we have some spares. So call into All Terrain Cycles (with $20 cash only please) to pick one up.

Proper mountain biking

Pink Bike have a new mountain bike field out. This time, it’s about mountain bikes that have less than 180mm of suspension travel, that will actually allow you to ride UP hills and don’t make you feel bad for wearing lycra!

Yes, that’s right - proper mountain bikes! Here’s the link.

Road racing has started

The first big one-day pro race was held over the weekend - Strade Bianche! This was the race that was cancelled just before the European corona virus lockdown started. Annemiek Van Vleuten won the Women’s race, Wout Van Aert the Men’s version.

Shame it wasn’t on TV. But, thankfully, almost all the pro road races from now on will be on SBS, either on TV or on their website - the only one they’re not showing is the Giro d’Italia.

So get set for some late nights - what else is there to do?!

Lost light

Cam Dobson lost a Knog PWR front light doing the Old Tolmie loop last week. It’s black, is about 15cm long, looks like a light. If you’ve found it and you’re feeling highly ethical/honest, or even just nice, can you please drop it off at ATC at your convenience? 

A 6-pack of craft beer, bottle of wine or equivalent quantity of chocolate offered as reward.

Mountain biking near Melbourne

We’re lucky that we’ve got some good mtb trails around here we’re allowed to use at the moment. But once the lockdown ends and you feel like going somewhere else for a ride, here’s a good rundown on what’s available around Melbourne.

Let’s keep moving

Cycling advocacy group We Ride Australia has launched a new campaign to urge local councils to improve cycling infrastructure so more people can walk and ride during and post coronavirus.

The Let’s Keep Moving campaign centres around an animation, which highlights how we have changed our travel habits during the coronavirus pandemic and how the community has benefitted as families and individuals walk, scoot or ride in their local neighbourhoods.

Road Racing Update

The road race committee met 7 July 2020 to plan the 20/21 racing season. We are still uncertain the impact of COVID-19 may place on the season but we are proceeding on the assumption that it will be able to proceed.

The committee considered several aspects of the race season plus feedback from riders throughout the season and discussed issues for a couple of hours.

The outcomes are below:

• Marquee Events: Alain Guerin Memorial and Rob Curtis Memorial are two main events on the calendar that commemorate members that have passed away. Greater promotion of our marquee events is something the road race committee is keen to explore and support. This would include promotion as interclub races, with riders from other clubs encouraged to participate. We will be looking for assistance from the membership to assist in this. 

• Gravel: Two courses that include gravel sections will be retained in the road race program. These are Course 17 (Chapel Hill Road) and Course 7 (Mount Battery). These are relatively short sections of gravel within the overall course and provide variety for riders throughout the season. A separate gravel series was considered, but given the uncertainty of the season, it is not considered viable to get enough riders and organisers to bring this together. It may be considered in future seasons.

• Steep Hill Finish: Course 15 finishing up Campagnolo Road is a particularly steep finish when compared to other courses. It has been decided to retain this course to provide an opportunity for fast uphill finishers. An issue with this course is the distance from Mansfield upon finishing and the way in which riders group upon return. This will be managed more closely on the night, with riders asked to regroup before turning onto Howes Creek Road. We will also review the timing of the event so it is scheduled during longer daylight hours.

• Sunday Hill Climb Series: Re-introduction of this series was considered as an alternative. Similar to a standalone gravel series, the uncertainty of the 20/21 season makes this difficult. It could be considered in future years.

• Benalla Road: Course 3 (Benalla Road) will not be included in the program 20/21 season. Traffic on this road has increased over the years. It was included 18/19 season with a later start, but traffic was still heavy during this event. Dick Forrest, a long time member, lives at the Highway Intersection and has sponsored this race in the past. The committee will discuss the opportunity to sponsor other races.

• BP Roadhouse: Discussion around the safety of starting at BP Roadhouse / Rodwells carpark was considered. Traffic can be heavy at this location, but the off-street parking, marshalling and potential for off-street starting are excellent. It will be retained as a starting point for races.

• Buller Road: Course 2 (Mansfield - Hearns Road return) was reviewed for safety. Traffic is a consideration on this road during racing, but it is not as heavy as Benalla Road. Graded Scratch Races had traditionally been held on this course and this format will make a return for 20/21 on this course. The finish at Walsh's stockfeed was reviewed and poses some difficulty with traffic and space to manage people. A new finish point will be investigated on Jamieson Road or Crosby's Lane to avoid these issues. Timing of this event will also be reviewed to ensure sunset does not impact on rider visibility.

• Marshalls: The committee debated the appropriate number of marshalls required to run and oversee a safe race for members. Three marshalls will continue to be rostered for each race.

  • Review of marshall roster will consider active members available for marshalling and ensure those rostered as Chief Marshall are comfortable with this role.

  • Chief Marshall allocates tasks and directs other marshalls in their roles. It is important if rostered for marshalling that you listen to and take direction from the Chief Marshall. 

  • Each club member must take note of when they are rostered and take full responsibility for attending. If they can not, they must organise a replacement and advise the Chief Marshall of this change.

  • The marshall roster is balanced throughout the year to ensure balance and equal sharing of the tasks.

  • Additional volunteers are still strongly encouraged to attend and assist with marshalling.

  • Timing and organising races caused a number of issues during 19/20 season. For this reason, new timings are proposed for racing in the coming season:

    • 5:00pm: Chief Marshall arrives with trailer and sets up.

    • 5:30pm: Marshalls arrive.

    • 5:50pm: Race registration closes. Members racing must be registered before this time and are encouraged to arrive around 5:30.

  • Chief Marshal will have discretion to recognise the efforts of marshalls and volunteers at presentations (drink of choice) using club funds.

• Commissaires: A Chief Commissaire and Second Commissaire will continue unchanged. The Commissaire oversees the race and works closely with the Chief Marshall to ensure racing is safe for members. Commissaires are rostered separately from Marshalls. If you are interested in completing a Commissaires course please get in touch with Janine Appleton. It is critical we continue to have qualified Commissaries to allow competitive racing to continue.

The road race committee considered all of these issues carefully and debated them from different perspectives. Not all members of the race committee had identical views and discussion throughout the meeting was robust. The outcome we have decided on for the 20/21 season is supported by all members of the road race committee.

If you do have feedback for us or are interested in becoming involved in the committee please do not hesitate to get in touch with Alex Green via email or 0428 369 886.

We will move forward planning the season for 20/21 and getting the administrative approvals in place. This takes several months. We hope to see you on the start line in early October.

Alex Green
Janine Appleton
John Eisner
David Jagger
Belinda Cipa

Mid July News

M&DCB road safety

The MMBCC does its banking with the Mansfield & District Community Bank. And because they know that many of our members depend on the roads being safe, they’ve sent us a link to a 30-minute video presented by Carmen’s Road Safety Education, in an effort to help reduce road accidents and save lives.

With motor vehicle accidents and associated deaths, injuries and trauma occurring at a rate five times higher on Victoria’s regional roads compared to city areas, road safety education is essential for our community and our growing youth population.

We would like to share this video with your members, as it is relevant for every driver – whether it be learner, young driver, parent, or daily commuter.

John’s story is a very powerful message that will stick with you, whenever you are behind the wheel. We would like to encourage our community members to take the time with the drivers in their family, to watch this message together.

Cycling Victoria RACE Member Survey

Dear Cycling Victoria Race Members,

In light of the disruptions the COVID-19 health crisis has caused to racing, Cycling Victoria seeks to gain an understanding of our members future racing plans. To improve our racing services and adapt to the future aspirations of our members, it is important that we receive feedback.

To help guild our decision making and tailor our services to the needs of our members, please take 10 minutes to complete Cycling Victoria’s RACE member satisfaction survey.

More girls on bikes - Breaking Barriers

Belgium has long been considered one of the World’s strongest road cycling nations; but recently it’s mainly been about the men. Now, they’re finally doing something about getting more girls on bikes.

Carnegie Caulfield ISO Cup

CCCC are running an ISO Cup too. But rather than out on the road or trails like our’s, this one is virtual; starting this coming Tuesday.

So if you’ve got a smart trainer, here’s the link.

Plus a bit more…

Pink Bike has a weekly little video of some ordinary and some VERY ordinary riding - Friday Fails. Here and here are the links to a couple of recent episodes.

An article about cycling during and after the lockdown.

Finally… normally at this time of year we’re staying up late watching Le Tour de France. Here is an article about other times when Le Tour hasn’t quite started the right way.

Mid June News

Don’t forget to subscribe to MMBCC News…

Want a club beanie?

Ventou are offering to make club beanies for the MMBCC. They need a minimum of 25 orders.

Proposed layout is above. Cost will likely be about $22.50 without a pom-pom or $25.00 with a pom-pom. But they’ll all be the same, just depends on how many of you want which one.

So… do you want one? Email Bruce if you do.

Just to let you know, the next club kit sales window is likely to open in September.

Ventou survey

Speaking of Ventou, they are offering prizes to fill in their Survey 2020.

“We have just launched our latest Ventou / Brooklyn Project Survey!
We have a range of raffle prizes on offer... once you've completed the survey you will automatically go into the draw.
Our prizes include our new indoor trainer mat and customised face masks, along with a number of other prizes as outlined below.
Prize winners will be announced on social media by Friday 3rd July.
The survey is estimated to take 5 minutes.
Anyone can complete the survey, you do not need to be an existing Ventou / Brooklyn Project client.
We appreciate and value your ongoing feedback and thank you in advance for completing our survey.”

Click here to fill in the Ventou survey.

Big changes at GreenEDGE

In case you hadn’t see it over the weekend, Australia’s only World Tour pro road team, Mitchelton Scott / GreenEDGE have a new sponsor and a new name - Manuela Funacion.

There are some interesting thoughts on the change at Cycling News, Cycling Tips and Inner Ring. Worth a read.

Speaking of Cycling News…

Did you know it’s originally Australian? Do you know the first race it reported on? On their 25th anniversary they celebrating with an article about their very first race article - the 1995 Mt Buller Cup.

Upcoming events

Port to Port - 10-13 Sep - Newcastle, NSW.

Preston Mountain Classic - Sun 18 Oct - Strath Creek, Vic.

Cape to Cape - 22-25 Oct - Margaret River, WA.

Amy’s Gran Fondo - Sun 8 Nov - Lorne, Vic.

L’Etape Australia - Sat 28 Nov - Kiama, NSW.

STOP PRESS - End of May News - updated results

Bike Spot 2020

Tell the TAC which roads are safe to ride on… and which ones are not safe!

Use this link to add a ‘spot’ on a map and describe why you think it’s safe, or it’s not.

Sorry it’s so late to get this to you - the survey closes today (31 May) - but you’ve still got a few hours.

Road Iso Cup 2 Results

Here are the road results; firstly the 4km Sprint/TT. Apologies to a couple of members, who’s named seemed to have dropped off the last lot of results. (Special mention to the Appletons who won the TTT!)

… and here are the 10km Hillclimb results:

Congratulations to both Talia and Warren.

Mountain bike results will not be declared. Not enough riders entered and not enough of those that did were able to beat Damian. So it’s a draw!

Winners (including Dan and Arial from Iso Cup 1) get to choose between either a club t-shirt or a Mansfield Tour jersey from Ventou. Send us an email with your choice of prize.

There’ll be another round of the Iso Cup in a few weeks!

Iso Cup continues this weekend

There were some really good times registered on Strava for last weekend’s Isolation Cup, particularly on the road. However, there weren’t many on the mountain bike. So Damian has suggested that we continue through this coming weekend as well!

Even though the weather forecast isn’t as perfect as last weekend, it still looks reasonable. (It even looks like we’ll have a southerly breeze, making really fast times possible for the 4km TT on the road!)

Any time registered on Strava between 7am and 5pm (yep, extended by an hour) this coming Saturday and/or Sunday will count towards this round of the Isolation Cup.

Details of each of the two road and three mtb segments is in the previous two newsletters.

Results next week. Good luck!

Mid May Update Update

MTB Isolation Cup update

Here are the Strava Routes for this weekend’s Isolation Cup at Riflebutts:

• The Cross Country loop;

• The Hillclimb; and

• The Downhill.

Tomorrow afternoon we’ll save the segments and use them to sort out the results over the two days.

As mentioned in yesterday’s News, times can be posted to Strava between 7am and 4pm Saturday and/or Sunday. Your best time on each segment will count towards the final result, based on Damian’s handicapping.

The XC Loop is signposted with blue on white arrows. The HC and DH are signposted with red arrows.

If you haven’t already, you’ll need to download the Strava app to your phone.

And don’t forget to subscribe to MMBCC News on the website Home page to keep up with results.

New date for Amys Gran Fondo

Usually held in September each year, the 10th anniversary edition of Amy’s Gran Fondo will see a one-off move to November for 2020 due to corona virus. The new date is Sunday 8 November.

L’Etape Australia route announced

To be held on the weekend of 27-28 November, L’Etape have announced the new route for 2020. It starts and finishes in Kiama, on the NSW south coast, is 136km long and has 2,770m of vertical gain. Worth checking out.

Registrations open on 27 May.

If you listen to podcasts, Simon Gerrans is on a L’Etape Aus podcast called Cycling Insights with commentator Matt Keenan and it’s good!

Mid May Update

The Isolation Cup is back!

This weekend the Isolation Cup will be held again, with just a few small tweaks. The main change is we will take entries logged on Saturday and/or Sunday. Your best time on either day will count.

The road competition will be held on the same two Strava segments as last time. Both courses are still sign posted. You still need to have a time posted to Strava between 7am and 4pm.

• The 4km TT along Whitfield Road, from Barwite Road to the Broken River, has a segment called MMBCC Isolation Cup 4km TT/Sprint on Strava. Here is the link.

• The 10km climb on Whitfield Road, from Sawpit Gully Road to Spring Creek Road, has a segment on Strava called MMBCC RR Course 18 (Sawpit Gully - Spring Creek). Here is the link.

The mountain bike competition will again be at Riflebutts Reserve but we’re aiming for it to be split into three different segments; a hillclimb, a downhill and a cross country loop - something for everyone!

Details of the Strava segments will be available tomorrow (Friday).

Download the COVIDsafe app

We’re sure everyone is excited by the announcement of the State Government to relax and lift the social isolation rules. We are still a long way from ‘back to normal’ but it feels like we are on the road to recovery!

As part of the changes, non-contact sports and exercise such as cycling are now permitted as long as physical distancing is maintained. There will be more guidance to come about how we might progress back to group riding and even racing in the months to come.

We have gotten to this point because we have come together to support each other to be safe and followed what our health experts have recommended we do.  A big part of continuing this progression will be to use the COVIDsafe App. The executive of the Club discussed this issue at its last meeting and resolved to recommend to all club members to download and use the app.  We think it is important to do this to support everyone in this effort and give us all a better chance to getting back to doing all the things we love and had taken for granted. Download the COVIDsafe app now!

Once we’re back to normal…

How about we emulate the feat of a couple of the team at Cycling Tips who tried to ride every single street in their suburb (Ivanhoe, Melbourne). We could do all of Mansfield, including the gravel!

Friday Night News

Isolation Cup results

Apologies for the delay… but it’s a bit tricky trying to organise handiapping afterwards. However, John and Damian have managed to work their Handicapping Magic and come up with the following:

Congratulations to Ariel and Dan on their wins!

We’ll try to find some kind of ‘prize’ in the trophy cabinet. (The pressure in now on Dan to back this up over winter and maintain it through all of next Summer’s Road Race Series!)

Keep your eyes out for the next Isolation Cup in another newsletter soon. It’ll be on Strava again but probably just an existing Strava Segment next time.

Upcoming Events

L’Etape Australia - The course hasn’t been revealed yet (due next week) but it’ll be based somewhere around the Shoalhaven/Illawarra/Southern Highlands area of NSW. Simon Gerrans is the Ambassador for 2020… maybe a few from Mansfield should go to show him some support. Here are the details.

7P7D - There’s already talk about doing Victoria’s Seven Peaks later this year, once we’re allowed. Starting near Mt Baw Baw, the aim is to ride all 7 peaks in 7 days, including all the ‘flat’ bits between the peaks… it’s over 1,000km in distance and over 18,000 vertical metres of climbing! Current rumour has departure pencilled in for early to mid November.

The Isolation Cup!

We’re racing again… kind of.

The MMBCC are hosting the Isolation Cup this weekend. It’s just a bit of a test and if it works, we’ll try to do this more regularly over the coming months.

Saturday 11 April, it’s roadie day. There’ll be two stages, both on the Whitfield Road.

Stage 1 is a 4km time trial / sprint section between Barwite Road and the Broken River, heading north, away from town.

Stage 2 is a 10km hillclimb between Sawpit Gully Road and Spring Creek Road - the same as the Rob Curtis Memorial.

Update! Each course will be signposted. There’ll be signs installed on Whitfield Road near the start and finish line of each road stage on Saturday. Keep in mind that Strava is only accurate to a few metres - so get a flying start!

Sunday 12 April is mountain bike day. It’s the most of the standard, full XC Loop at Riflebutts but doesn’t include Bogan’s Beginnings, Ants Pants and Fourteen Farts. Your time will be taken on two consecutive laps! Update: arrows will be installed marking the course at Riflebutts on the day.

There are a few rules though:

• You can ride anytime between 7am and 4pm to log a time;

• You can have as many goes as you want between 7am and 4pm - your best time counts;

• As per current social/spatial distancing guidelines, no more than two at a time, unless you’re part of the one household; and

• This will be decided on Strava!

If you’re not already on Strava, you’ll need to download the app to your phone - use this link - and start an account. It’s free. Or if you already use a Garmin or Wahoo computer, you need to upload your ride data to your Strava account.

Once you’re into Strava, or you’re already on it, request to join the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club within Strava. As long as you’re a current club member via MTBA or CA, you’ll be granted access!

After the weekend, we’ll check to see who posted the best times and try to find some prizes to award. Winners will be based on our standard handicaps and there might also be prizes based on weight and age (which Strava will want to know anyway.)

Please remember - no more than TWO RIDING TOGETHER unless you’re from the same household!

So… what are you waiting for? Go get Isolated!

April Fool's Day

Unfortunately, there haven’t been too many jokes today. So, here’s a bit of an update instead…

(Apologies there hasn’t been one earlier. Squarespace, the platform host for our website, is based in New York City and seemed to be having a few issues over the weekend. One of them was thinking our hosting plan was out of date. But it isn’t. All good now though.)

Bike riding in the times of Covid-19

Here’s the latest update from Cycling Victoria on cycling at the moment.

Stay safe.

There looks to be a few other relevant things on the CV site too, like this and this.

Other stuff to view and read while you’ve got nothing much on…

(Thanks to Pink Bike, Cycling Tips, Pez Cycling and SBS amongst others…)

An article on encouraging riding at the moment.

An almost unbelievable article about coronavirus being blamed on a bike rider!

Some good news in cycling circles during the lockdown.

Looks like this might be the only spectating option for a while.

We’ve often discussed we need to get more girls riding. We’re not the only ones, Behind The News thinks so too.

Cycling Australia are offering a series of coaching and Commissaire courses. Here’s the link to them - this is for the theory section which you’d normally do online anyway - the practical test will be held some time in the future when we all get out of ‘prison’.

Those who used to go to Club de la Lanterne Rouge will be a little familiar with this.

In case more of our riding has to go indoors only, an article about Zwift on a budget.

We should be getting ready to watch the Tour of Flanders this Sunday night. As that’s obviously not going to happen, SBS are showing highlights of the Classics online when the Classics should be on.

It’s starting this Sunday night with the whole of the 2013 RvV and follows on for the next few Sundays as well. Here are the details.

Until Sunday night, here are the highlights from the 2019 and 2018 Ronde van Vlaanderen.

Cycling Victoria withdraws event sanctioning - road racing cancelled

Due to COVID-19, Cycling Victoria has withdrawn sanctioning to all events, meaning the rest of the road race season is cancelled.

Here is the link to read the details on the Cycling Victoria website.

No news from MTBA so Dirt Crits continues… for the moment.

Mansfield Subaru Tour cancelled. And other news too...

The 2020 Mansfield Subaru Tour is cancelled.

With COVID-19 cases on the rise, Cycling Victoria and the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club have decided to cancel this year’s race, which was due to start on Saturday.

Even though we were unlikely to get to the government mandated maximum of 500 people, we still think this is the right thing to do. The number of people travelling to Mansfield, particularly from interstate, would have negated any community health benefits of social distancing.

Instead of having a cancellation forced upon us at the last moment, we decided it was prudent to give everyone plenty of notice.

In the meantime, you’ve seen and heard all the health warnings - wash your hands properly, and often, and cover your cough.

Once we’re all over this, we’ll start planning a bigger and better Mansfield Tour for later in 2020 or March 2021.

MTBA Nationals

GOLD to Elise Empey in Under 17 Women Downhill
SILVER to Ruby Dobson in Under 17 Women XCO and XCC too.
Talia Appleton 7th in Under 17 Women XCO and sprinted to 6th in XCC.
Matt Empey 10th in Under 19 Men Downhill
Zac Empey 17th in Under 15 Men Downhill
Bruce Halket 6th Masters 6 Men XCO
Tom Logan competed in the Under 13s and survived the dreaded wombat hole!

Here are the results for the Downhill, Cross Country and Short Track Cross Country.

Dirt Crits Team Race

By Damian Grundy

Team captains Charlie Hall and Ariel Stava selected their riders from the motley crew of mountain bikers in attendance.

Charlie’s Angels were: Charlie Hall, Ned Hall, Maddie Smith, Steve Morgan, Archie O’Brien and Selina Green.

Ariel’s Arrows were: Ariel Stava, James Griffin, Bella Green, Rachael Grundy, Phoenix Valerio and Dan Biram.

Riders all had 35 minutes to complete as many laps as was possible and the winning team were to be decided by the most accumulated laps by their team members.

Thanks to Rachael for marking out the course.

It was clear very early in the time that the result was going to be close. James Griffin  (Ariel’s Arrows) set a fast pace leading throughout. Ned Hall (Charlie’s Angels) stayed close to James even catching him briefly in the middle, though possibly because of James’s enforced and rather arbitrary wheel removal penalty. Bella Green (also Ariel’s Arrows) showing great improvement was near the front of the rest all night.

In the end however it was the power group of Charlie’s Angels middle riders consisting of Maddie Smith, Steve Morgan and Archie O’Brien who made the difference. At the end it was 32 laps to Ariel’s Arrows and 33 laps to the winning team of Charlie’s Angels. Well done all.

First Winners: Charlie’s Angels: Charlie Hall, Ned Hall, Maddie Smith, Steve Morgan, Archie O’Brien and Selena Green.

Second Winners: Ariel’s Arrows: Ariel Stava, James Griffin, Bella Green, Rachael Grundy, Phoenix Valerio and Dan Biram.

Back on Buller Road

By Jason Parker

Fourteen riders lined up for the start of the Mansfield Mount Buller Cycling Club’s handicap road race on Thursday night. The route was from BP on Mt Buller road to Hearns Lane and then returning to Walsh’s driveway. The last few years have seen only Graded Scratch races held on this course; this was the first Handicap race on the Buller Road for a long time.

The first group to roll off the start line was included Ian Conrick, Micala Jacobs, Belinda Cipa, Di Condie, David Jagger, Craig Wilson, and Jason Parker - such a large group was going to be hard to beat. Two minutes later Janine Appleton and Steve Curnow headed off; Mauro Brega, Darren Bakker and Ewyn Carter a further three minutes behind. Steve Brown and Dave Moore started their race a further minute and a half behind as the Scratch group.

The Conrick group were sharing the work and making good progress towards the turn around at Hearns Lane.

Ewyn and Mauro were on a mission and had dropped Darren early in the race.

After the turnaround Ian charged back up the hill and after the crest, Craig started rolling a big gear and David, Belinda, Ian and Jason came through and maintained a high speed.

Ewyn and Mauro had picked up Di and the group of Janine and Steve C and were advancing on the Limit group quickly.

With a few kilometres left it was clear that the outmarkers were going to have their day. Craig did the final turn coming up to the line, allowing Jason to roll through and take the win, ahead of Belinda, with a small gap to David and Ian.

Next over the line were Ewyn, Di, Janine, Steve and Mauro, rounding out the top ten. Steve B, Dave and Darren crossed the line next with Micala coming in a few minutes later.

Presentations were held at the Delatite Hotel and the fastest time was awarded to Steve Brown. (Speaking of the Delatite, as per our agreement, that’s where presentations will be held for the remainder of the season.)

Thanks to the handicapper, Commissaire and marshals on the night.

Here are the results.

Racing next week will be held on the Howes Creek course, starting from the Lords Ground at 6pm and finishing on the top of O’Hanlons Rd. Jason Parker, Anthony Plummer and Steve Curnow are rostered on for duty; Allan Gerrans and Janine Appleton are the Commissaires.

If you’re worried about your eyesight, don’t be. This is blurry. Blame John Eisner’s photographic skills. Debate rages whether this type of attention to detail is what goes into the handicapping. Jason says no.

Hanging Rock Handicap

You might remember a few MMBCC women raced the Topbike Tours Hanging Rock Handicap a few weeks back.

Here’s a really good article on the race, complete with a little video, with a few glimpses of MMBCC kit.

Maybe this is the kind of thing the MMBCC should look at hosting one day?

Upcoming event…

Labour Day Update

After yet another huge weekend, there’s lots to get through this week…

Pain and Suffering

By Damian Grundy

The saying goes “when the going gets tough the tough get going”! Well I was wishing. In truth, some were obviously going well. And yet some others took full advantage of their relative handicap obscurity (well done Steve)!

Steve Curnow is a LEGEND! He sadly doesn’t race often with the MTB crew but when he does he shows great ability. He scooted (metaphorically speaking) away for the win!

Ruby Dobson trains hard and her performance in this race was clear proof. A great second place and a quality race speed.

Ned Hall was focussed and rode strongly into third, Talia Appleton 4th and Elise Empey 5th.

Am I allowed to make note of the fact that the combined ages of 2nd to 5th did not equal Mr Curnow’s?

Regardless, in my mind this is proof positive that mountain biking can be sport for all ages.

Here are the detailed results. 

Good luck to all the local riders racing next weekend in Bright at the National Mountain Bike Championships.

Racing in the rain

By Janine Appleton and Bruce Halket

Despite knowing the radar predicted rain, we were always hopeful it would be more like drizzle rather than the heavy wet stuff that drenched riders for the first half of the graded scratch races on Thursday 5 March.

There was only four on the start line for A-grade - Darren Bakker, Steve Brown, Ewyn Carter and Dave Moore set off from the Botanic Park just as the heaviest of the rain fell. Good timing!

The first move of note was when Moore attacked just after the turn into Old Tolmie Road. This was soon negated by the other three but showed a glimpse of things to come.

Moore tried again just before Soldiers Road, on the way up the Coombesberg and only Brown could join him the second time.

It came down to a sprint on Graves Road which Brown started very early. Moore patiently sat on the wheel until just a few metres before the line, taking the win. This time around his timing really was good.

Bakker beat Carter for third.

B-grade’s slow start until the Barwite hill meant minimal change to heart rates, but at least it confirmed Janine’s feeling that the "girls had it in the bag". After only a couple of turns by David Jagger and Craig Wilson on the Mansfield Whitfield Road, the girl team of mother and daughter, Janine and Talia Appleton, pushed the pace along Barwite Road.

By the corner the girls had broken free from Dave and Craig, and Janine’s prediction that she didn’t have anywhere near enough acceleration to stay with her daughter up the Coombesberg held true.

Talia stretched her lead to 20 metres, then 100 down the cautious descent and 150 by the finish. 

Wil and Dave followed only 80 metres back, with Wilson taking third in a sprint from Jagger.

Here are the results. And it was so wet, no one managed to take a photo!

Next week sees racing Handicap racing return to the Buller Road for the first time in years!

Bike Buller MTB Fest

By Alex Green

A big weekend for the club with the running of the Bike Buller Festival 2020. Members of the club and local riders raced in the ABOM Down Hill Saturday and the Dharco Gravity Enduro Sunday.Numbers were strong with both events having representation of 10 or more local riders.

Huge numbers of younger riders took part, with Archie Hall taking out the youngest rider for the Enduro. At 9 years of age he took on the 35km course and was on the bike for over 4 hours.Many of the other Dirt Crit members took on the event for the first time in the tough muddy conditions.

The Empeys, Greens and Halls all made it a family event, with multiple members racing.

It was great to just be out with so many riders from across Victoria and interstate at our local hill, but several members also featured on the podium. Archie Hall for youngest rider, Maddi Smith for the down hill, the Green girls and of course the Empeys cleaned up in numerous categories.

Congratulations to the organisers, and special mention to Shannon Rademaker for organising the Highline Slopestyle event on Saturday afternoon. Part of the qualifying world events it was won by Mansfield’s very own Gaelen Slaney.

There were plenty of other familiar faces up on the mountain - riding, spectating and volunteering to make it a fantastic weekend.

ABOM Down Hill

• Archie Hall U15 M
• Phoenix Valerio U15 M
• Ned Hall U15 M
• Selina Green U15 F
• Finn Baker U15 M
• Arabella Green U17 F
• Tom Hall Masters Male
• Maddi Smith U15 F
• Zac Empey U15 M
• Sam Mosley U15 M
• Kevin Gannon U15 M

Enduro

• Archie Hall U15 M
• Tom Hall Masters Male
• Ned Hall U15 M
• Selina Green U15 F
• Alex Green Masters Male
• Arabella Green U17 F
• Zac Empey U15 M
• Elise Empey U17 F
• David Empey Super Masters Male
• Matthew Empey U19 M

MTB Interschools @ Falls Creek

By Ariel Stava

Nineteen young Mansfield mountain bike riders headed to Falls Creek on Friday 28th March to compete at the 2020 Victorian XC Mountain Bike Interschools and came home very proud of their efforts.

In an improved format for 2020, that saw boys and girls racing together over the same distance on a challenging but enjoyable course, Mansfield riders dominated. The weather was cool but sunny when 127 riders took to the course for practice on the shore of the Rocky Valley storage dam. The course included large sections of ascent on open gravel fire trail and flowing technical descents on single track.
The students from Mansfield Steiner led the charge for Mansfield with a team of 13 riders. This year’s event saw the addition of students from Grade 3/4, allowing more junior riders to compete for the first time.

On a 1.08km course the students rode 3 laps with Mansfield Steiner’s Avah Van der Heyden finishing 1st place in the Grade 3/4 girls and Ben Ross 2nd in the Grade 3/4 Boys ahead of Rueben Bateup in 5th, Finnigan Stokes in 6th and Archie Hall in 8th. A special mention must be made to Rueben who stopped to help Finnigan after he fell riding in particularly difficult section of downhill trail.

The Grade 5/6 riders tackled 3 laps of a longer 1.75km course and saw Mansfield Primary School’s three rider entries podium. In the Grade 5/6 Girls Selina Green led out strongly ahead of all the girls and boys for two laps before a mechanical set her back in the pack. She held on to finish as the first female rider ahead of Mika Smith 2nd for Mansfield Steiner and Cate Simms in 4th. Ryder Chadd from Mansfield Primary who celebrated his birthday in style finishing 1st very closely followed by Charlie Dobson 2nd ahead of Tom Williams from Mansfield Steiner in 4th, Finnegan Baker in 5th, Ethan Nealon in 10th, Spencer Carmen, St Mary’s Primary Schools only rider in 12th and Will Wettenhall Mansfield Steiner in 18th position.

The Year 7/8 riders stepped up with 4 laps of the 1.75 km course and saw another first place for Mansfield Steiner with Maddison Smith leading from beginning to end of the girl’s race and Ned Hall riding consistently to place 4th in the 7/8 boys.

The final race of the day was for our Year 9/10 riders who completed 3 laps of the longest course of the day at 3.64km per lap. The girls from Mansfield Secondary College dominated this event with Ruby Dobson finishing 1st nearly 5 minutes s ahead of her nearest female competitor. Tahlia Appleton finished 3rd and Bella Green finished 5th.

In the schools event Mansfield Steiner School again finished 3rd overall for the school’s trophy behind the much larger school of Cathedral College and the hometown favourites Mt Beauty.

It was an outstanding effort by all Mansfield riders and a huge thank you all parents for making the drive to Falls Creek, Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club – Dirt Crits and to coach Damian Grundy for his work developing our juniors on Sundays.

Best of luck to all riders heading to Thredbo for the Australian Mountain Biking Interschools on March 19-22.

Finally…

A good little read from Rouleur magazine about bike races being cancelled.