Gravity says no and Limit's Lively Loop - MMBCC News - Sat 17 Oct

Gravity says no to beer and skittles

By Dave Empey

The first gravity enduro was held last Tuesday and it wasn’t all beer and skittles.

Darren Bakker attended, raced one lap and decided that he had survived and didn’t wish to run out of talent on the second lap so went home for a beer.

Damian Grundy had a whoops and injured his thumb, managed to finish but again went home early to assess his injury. Hope you’re OK Damian.

Line honours were taken out by Ryder Chadd, hot on his heels was Blake Riley, then followed by Luke Vivash.

The track was a little more technical than we had done previously. The top 10 riders were separated by less than a minute, racing was tight and no mistakes could be made.

We also saw the reinvigoration of the work boot brigade with Cody and Zac racing in their work attire.

Here are the results.

Next Gravity Enduro will be held at Vanderheydons in two weeks; the top section of the Rookies Cup track will be used - 6pm sharp at the top of the track.

Next week it’s XC.

Limit’s lively Loop

By John Eisner

Another strong field of 18 riders fronted up for the second road race of the 2026/7 summer series, held this time on the Barwite Loop.

Di Condie and John Eisner headed out first in the handicapped format. Di set a solid pace until the Coombesberg but once that was successfully negotiated, a true team effort saw a fast and smooth ride to the finish. With no other contenders in sight, a race report deal was agreed on, and John took the win and the honour of writing the report.

In other news, Allan Gerrans and Tim Hall dropped Steve Curnow near the Barwite Sawmill and continued to chase and pass Judi Duke. The two battled it to the end with Allan earning a credible third place.

It was good to see the Seymour lads back with Fletcher Christiansen placing sixth off a solo Scratch mark and achieving fastest time in the process.

Was also good to see Janine Appleton making up the trio of women racing and Fletcher, Ryder Chadd and Ben Ross all racing at the young and fast end of the club.

Here are the results.

Thank you as usual to our great team of marshals, Commissaires and photographers (Dave Taylor and Alex Green) and to the Mansfield Hotel weekly sponsor with this week’s prize being awarded to David Bock (Happy 60th!!)

Racing: Rookies, Road and Off-road - MMBCC News - Sun 11 Oct

Matt Empey in Australian colours in North America

Welcome home to Matt Empey who’s been racing another couple of World Cup Downhill races. He gives the impression he’s enjoyed it!

Rookie Cup round 2

The second race of the Rookie Cup series was held this weekend at Barjarg, with some impressive results from MMBCC riders.

Miles Vivash - 1st, U11 Men

Sienna Vivash - 1st, U13 Women

Hunter Hoebergen - 29th, U13 Men

Scarlett D’Arcy - 2nd, U15 Women

Blake Riley - 37th, U17 Men

Spencer Carman - 15th, U19 Men

Jake Terry - 19th, U19 Men

Dirt Crits Combo Night

By Damian Grundy

The first Mountain Bike race for the 2026-2027 MMBCC summer season was a combined XC and DH night with one race of each discipline. This was a great test of versatility with skills being tested across both cross-country (XC) and downhill (DH) racing. With overall positions determined by combining each rider’s results from both disciplines, consistency and versatility were key to securing a strong finish.

Overall Race Results

Ben Ross claimed the overall victory with an outstanding display of consistency, finishing second in both XC and DH. His combined total of just four points secured him first place overall.

Duke Hoogesteger followed closely in second overall, recording third-place finishes in both disciplines for a combined six points. Alastair Ross rounded out the overall podium in third place with seven points, taking the win in XC before finishing sixth in DH.

Ben Grundy secured fourth overall with matching fourth-place finishes in XC and DH, finishing on eight points. His consistent performance across both disciplines kept him among the leading riders throughout the event.

Cross-Country and Downhill Highlights

Alastair Ross led the way in the XC event, taking first place ahead of brother Ben in second and Duke Hoogesteger in third. Ben Grundy finished fourth, while Nicole Hoebergen put in a strong ride to claim fifth place.

In the downhill event, Micah Chadd delivered the standout performance, taking first place. Ben Ross and Duke Hoogesteger followed in second and third respectively, while Ben Grundy secured fourth. Cody Stevens rounded out the top five.

Micah's downhill victory was particularly impressive, lifting him to fifth overall despite a tenth-place finish in XC. Cody Stevens also delivered a solid combined performance, finishing sixth overall with seventh in XC and fifth in DH.

Close Battles Across the Field

The overall standings featured several close contests. Damian Grundy, Willem Morphett and Nicole Hoebergen all finished on 15 points, taking equal seventh.

Elliot Leatham finished tenth overall with 19 points, while Hunter Foy and James Cameleri finished eleventh and twelfth, both recording 24 points. Steve Curnow unfortunately recorded a DNF in the downhill event.

Congratulations to Ben Ross on taking the overall win, and to all riders who competed in the event! And congratulations to all competitors. Here are the detailed results.

Next week: Gravity!

Coming up: part two of the weekly Damian Grundy newsletter…

Historically significant road race

By Damian Grundy

Ben’s gone motorcycling so I have had to step in to prepare this race report. I suppose that given I was second to last for the evening there is some connection with Ben’s second place…

The first race of the 2026-2027 season and a great turn out greeted the starter. And welcome to Adrian Morphett for his first MMBCC Road Race.

The course was a simple out and back to Sawpit Gully (that is an interesting name, do people know what a saw pit is? They are quite a historical thing from our earlier settler days; here is a pic for illustration purposes.

That is a sawpit! Needless to say, the poor bloke in the pit got covered in sawdust. Does anyone else notice the small flaw in this set up with the supporting timber?

Anyway, this isn’t a history lesson but rather a race report. Apologies for the digression.

The finish line was as usual at the Showgrounds on Mt Battery Road.

Thanks to all the marshals and commissaires, especially thanks to Tim Ross for the riveting and informative pre-race briefing.

And so, to the race. Forgive me please, as I don’t have the results in front of me, so I apologise for those who I overlook or miss in this report. I did get to see all competitors of course on their return journeys from the turnaround at Sawpit Gully Road. But given I was well out the back at that stage thanks to the strong legs (stronger than mine) of Mr B Halket and Mr R Chadd and having been well over my limit for 15 minutes I was seeing stars and not fully taking in the faces going the other way.

Congratulations to the Scratch boys for a strong ride. Unfortunately, they didn’t catch everyone, and so Ryder had to settle for fastest time and I did notice on his Strava that he had set a PB for power output for 45 minutes, well done!

At that point in the race Mr D Bock and Mr J Eisner were leading with Mrs J Duke in a group of three but I quickly grasped that their task looked forlorn as there was a small gap back to an especially strong-looking group containing Mr S Mulvihill, Mrs J Appleton and Mr B Grundy. Unfortunately Mr C Wilson had been dropped from this group though he was chasing valiantly.

The Block group were still all together at this point with Mr B Ross, Mr S Duke, Mr D Bakker & Mr S Brown. Mr Brown did look to be enjoying himself especially.

At that point it was clear that the Scratch riders had made inroads but it was clearly going to be a close thing.

And so to the finish. The group of Grundy, Mulvihill and Appleton appeared to have caught most by the return to the City Limits. Grundy made a rookie error of taking a drink on the final rise past the housing estate and Mulvihill didn’t need a second invitation; he was off and rounded up the final out markers in the home straight to take a great and well-deserved win.

Mr Grundy was second by 13 seconds and Mr B Ross (youngest in the race btw) took a flier from the block group going up to the housing estate and also passed all the out markers for a well-deserved third place.

Here are the detailed results and, once again, many thanks to Tony Copland for his images.

Next week’s race will be around the Barwite Loop, starting at Nutrien on Buller Road and finishing at the Showgrounds.

Annual General Meeting

The MMBCC AGM was held last Thursday and congratulations to Tim Ross who was elected unopposed as Club President.

Many thanks also to Kate, Janine and Damian who all stood again and were elected unopposed to their previous positions of Secretary, Treasurer and Vice President respectively.

If you couldn’t attend, here is a link to the Documents page, where you can download the Minutes.

Finally…

You might remember a few weeks ago, on WhatsApp, news from Tim Ross that Melbourne-based MMBCC member, Dan Purcell, won the Victorian Masters Road Race Championship (Masters 1 Men) at Philip Island. Thanks to Jason Parker for finding this, here’s a great little video about the race. Worth a look for all roadies.

Final Reminders - MMBCC News - Sat 3 Oct

Have you subscribed to MMBCC News? Why not!? Go to www.mmbcc.org.au and enter your email address on the Home page…

Final Summer Reminder

The 2026/2027 summer of racing and riding kicks off this coming week!

Tuesday 6 October - Rifle Butts MTB Park

Dirt Critters (Junior Dirt Crits) starts at 4pm.

Dirt Crits (Seniors) starts with a Combo Night at 6pm.

Here are the details.

And a reminder that ALL riders need an AusCycling membership - see below.

Thursday 8 October - Whitfield Road

Handicap Road Race starting at 6pm from the Botanic Park.

Here are the details.

And a reminder that ALL riders need an AusCycling membership - see below.

All roadies please take a look at the race duty roster to check when you’re on volunteer duty. And if you’re racing for the first time, or haven’t raced for a while, it’s probably worth having a read of our Road Racing Info page, especially the section on Race Duty and the last one about Safe Road Racing.

Final AGM reminder

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held at the Mansfield Hotel on Thursday 8 October, after the first road race of the summer. Here are the details.

AusCycling memberships

AusCycling have updated and simplified their membership categories and moved to a new payment platform called JustGo. Use this link to go to AusCycling’s Membership page.

If you’re renewing, just enter your email address which you used in the previous system to log in. 

If you haven’t been a member before, they’re still offering a 30-day Trial Membership for free!

What are the new categories?

RIDE - If you ride but don’t race, this is the membership for you. It’s only $149 (Reduced to $99 for 13-18 and over 65s) and includes all the benefits of the AusCycling insurance cover.

CLUB - This is perfect for MMBCC members who only want to do our races, with maybe in dabble in other club events, for example, roadies doing do some of the Seymour Broadford Cycling Club’s road races. At $249 for adults (Reduced to $149 for 13-18 and over 65s) it’s quite a bit cheaper that the Race - All Discipline that was required previously.

RACE - If you want to do any National or State level events, such as the VDHS or State XC Championships at Eildon, this is the one you’ll need. It’s $319 for adults, which is a little bit cheaper than the Race - All Discipline too. And it’s reduced to just $169 for 13-18 and over 65s!

Under 13s get a RACE membership for $99.

Here’s an explanation of what is and isn’t included in AusCycling’s insurance cover, which comes with every membership.

And a final, final reminder; no AusCycling membership - no start!

WhatsApp updates

By Tim Ross

You will have noticed some recent changes with the MMBCC WhatsApp.  WhatsApp is a primary channel of communication for the Club.

What’s Changed? 

We have setup a WhatsApp ‘Community’ entitled “MMBCC – Bike Club”. 

This encompasses a number of “Groups” – both interest specific (Road, MTB, Gravel, Junior Dirt Critters) and some special groups (Committee, Road Commissaires, etc).

Other groups will be added as needed – we expect that a ‘Social’ group will soon be added.

Why Change? 

Bringing all groups together under the one Community lets the club ‘talk’ to all members/ supporters with a single post.

Having all groups under the one Community allows all members/ supporters to see what groups are available and to join groups of interest on a self-service basis.

What can I do?

Hopefully everyone has been migrated across and has become part of the new Community.

Check you’re a member of all groups that interest you, and ‘join’ any new ones (a small number of groups have limited membership and require admin permission to join)

Feel free to ‘add’ new members to any of the groups (limited to locals or others with a genuine connection to this community).

At the moment there are around 90 in the MMBCC WhatsApp – it would be great for the club to have contact with many more of the local riding community

Questions?

Current admins are Mel, Tim and Bruce – feel free to contact them with any questions or suggestions.

Loan bikes

By Bruce Halket

A reminder that the club is having an ‘audit’ of our loan bikes. If you’ve got one, can you please let Bruce know with a quick email?

We don’t necessarily need all the bikes back, we’ve just lost track of who has what.

Club kit

By Bruce Halket

The new club kit has been dispatched from Ventou in Brooklyn, so should in Mansfield on Monday or Tuesday. Keep an eye on WhatsApp.

Finally …

By Bruce Halket

Last call for anyone interested in the Dirty Docker Festival and it’s COBAWesome gravel event next weekend of 10-11 October. There are discounted entries offered for a few MMBCC members. Email Bruce for more details.

Land Access Issues - MMBCC News - Mon 21 Sep

ROOKIE CUP TRACK FOLLOW-UP

A group of MMBCC members volunteered at the Joyride Rookie Cup last weekend and it was a great success. You might have noticed a lot MTBs in town - there was close to 300 entries!

The event was the first in a series focused on young riders, with skill development, participation and fun the primary objectives. It was run by Joyride - which run a variety of events and provides skills coaching - with assistance from MMBCC. The track was designed by Matt Empey, with assistance from his brother Zac and follow up work from Ryder Chadd and Lucas de Vent. Dave and Kate Empey did a heap of work on preparation and logistics. On the day a bunch of people helped out with the club’s barbecue tent, marshaling, driving the shuttles and general logistics. Busy!

The track was at Blue Range - a private property on Rifle Butts Rd that Tamara Watson and Louie van der Heyden have allowed to be used for a number of events over the years. Access to this property is not a given and the club appreciates the privilege.

Unfortunately, after the event a friend of the owners hunting deer on the property came across a bunch of kids riding the track. They and the owners were not aware that people were on site and had not given permission for the track to be used! 

Beyond the fact that none of us would appreciate people trespassing in our backyards, there is an obvious safety issue with clashing land uses and the legal exposure to the landowners if any incidents occurred.  

If this was you or your kids on site, please DON’T access the property again outside of an advertised event! MMBCC only has access during specific events when we have permission organised with the owners. At all other times it’s OFF LIMITS!

Ruttiman and Ross Results

Over in Canada, Mark Ruttiman is visiting his son and raced in the Revelstoke Gran Fondo, finishing 7th overall in the 100km Medio Fondo.

The handicapper will have to keep an eye on Mark when he gets back here in mid-October!

Shifty Fifty Round 6 - Blores Hill, Gippsland

Ben Ross - 3rd U19 Men, that’s 7th overall!

Tim Ross - 8th Open Men, 25km Shifty Shorty

Alistair Ross - 1st Open Men, 11km Shifty Smally

Finally …

Is anyone interested in the Dirty Docker Festival and it’s COBAWesome gravel event on the weekend of 10-11 October? They’ve offered discounted entry for a few MMBCC members. Email Bruce for more details.

Rookie Cup, Renewals & Reminders - MMBCC News - Mon 14 Sep

Have you subscribed to MMBCC News? Why not!? Go to www.mmbcc.org.au and enter your email address on the Home page…

Rookie Cup Wrap-Up

A huge weekend at Van der Heyden’s with round 1 of the Rookie Cup! Thank you to all the club members who helped out, especially those that built the new track and all the cooks and helpers on the barbecue set-up.

Here are some local results from the race:

Miles Vivash - 2nd, U11 Men

Sienna Vivash - 1st, U13 Women

Hunter Hoebergen - 25th, U13 Men

Scarlett D’Arcy - 2nd, U15 Women

Cooper Hoebergen - 32nd, U15 Men

Micah Chadd - 51st, U15 Men

Blake Riley - 21st, U17 Men

Spencer Carman - 7th, U19 Men

Jake Terry - 10th, U19 Men

Reminder about racing

Just another quick reminder that club racing starts early next month; Tue 6 Oct for Dirt Crits and Thu 8 Oct for Road Racing. (Dirt Critters - Junior Dirt Crits - will also start on Tue 6 Oct.)

New AusCycling memberships

In case you haven’t heard directly from AusCycling, they’ve updated and simplified their membership categories and moved to a new payment platform. The next time you renew, or if you’re joining for the first time, it will be through a new online platform called Just Go. You can either pay for 12 months upfront or pay monthly. And if you haven’t been a member before, they’re still offering a 30-day Trial Membership for free!

What are the new categories?

RIDE - If you ride but don’t race, this is the membership for you. It’s only $149 (Reduced to $99 for 13-18 year olds and over 65s) and includes all the benefits of the AusCycling insurance cover.

CLUB - This is perfect for MMBCC members who only want to do our races, with maybe in dabble in other club events, for example, roadies doing do some of the Seymour Broadford Cycling Club’s road races. At $249 for adults (Reduced to $149 for 13-18 year olds and over 65s) it’s quite a bit cheaper that the Race - All Discipline that was required previously.

RACE - If you want to do any National or State level events, such as the VDHS or State XC Championships at Eildon, this is the one you’ll need. It’s $319 for adults, which is a little bit cheaper than the Race - All Discipline too. And it’s reduced to just $169 for 13-18 year olds and over 65s!

Under 13s get a RACE membership for $99.

Here’s an explanation of what is and isn’t included in AusCycling’s insurance cover, which comes with every membership.

The Join Now page has more details.

AGM reminder

Another reminder that the Annual General Meeting will be held at the Mansfield Hotel on Thursday 8 October, after the first road race of the summer.

For sale

There’s currently a nice Trek hardtail for sale - an absolute bargain!

Loan bikes

The club is having an ‘audit’ of our loan bikes. If you’ve got one, can you please email Bruce know with a quick note? We don’t necessarily need all the bikes back, we’ve just lost track of who has what.

Finally …

Congratulations to Talia Appleton for being selected for the Australian team for the upcoming Road World Championships in Canada.

REMINDERS - MMBCC News - Wed 2 Sep

It’s a reminder kinda day …

Annual General Meeting REMINDER

The MMBCC AGM is just a little over a month away on Thursday 8 October. This is the first night of the Summer Road Race Series, so the AGM will be held at the Mansfield Hotel, after the race finishes.

More details soon. All members are invited to have their say.

RACING REMINDER! WHAT?

Yes, you read that right - road racing starts in a month!

The calendar has been published, which includes two new courses using the recently sealed Rifle Butts Road. The duty roster will be published soon too. (The permits are still ‘in the system’ and should be granted very soon, hopefully.)

Dirt Critters and Dirt Crits will start on Tuesday 6 October - as usual the first Dirt Crits race will be a Gravity Enduro.

Club kit REMINDER

Ventou have updated our jerseys to Pro Plus style, which includes heat sealed sleeves (no arm bands) and a thicker silicon waist band (not traditional silicon gripper). There’ll be a jersey and a vest in white, while all the rest of the gear is still available in the classic colours. The black jersey has been updated to Pro Plus as well.

Here’s the link for the Ventou MMBCC portal - get access with the login code, which you can get by emailing Bruce. The portal is open to take orders until Sunday 6 September!

Order and pay online. You can either collect your kit from All Terrain Cycles or pay a bit extra at checkout and get it delivered straight to your door.

The Ventou portal will close this coming Sunday. Get your orders in for Summer now!

Rookies Cup VOLUNTEERS WANTED REMINDER

Joy Ride Rookies Cup (Downhill) - 12-13 September, 2026 - South Blue Range (Van Der Hayden’s).

This is next week! Please email Kate or contact her through the MMBCC WhatsApp feed to let her know which day or days you can help out.

New club kit and volunteers needed - MMBCC News - Mon 24 Aug

Have you subscribed to MMBCC News? Why not!? Go to www.mmbcc.org.au and enter your email address on the Home page…

New Club kit

Club kit is now available! … on the Ventou club portal.

This will be the last offering of our classic MMBCC kit before we move to a new design sometime in the future.

As a limited offer, we’ve asked Ventou for a white, road version for summer.

Ventou have updated our jerseys to Pro Plus style, which includes heat sealed sleeves (no arm bands) and a thicker silicon waist band (not traditional silicon gripper). There’ll be a jersey and a vest in white, while all the rest of the gear is still available in the classic colours. The black jersey has been updated to Pro Plus as well.

Here’s the link for the Ventou MMBCC portal - get access with the login code, which you can get by emailing Bruce. The portal is open to take orders until Sunday 6 September!

Order and pay online. You can either collect your kit from All Terrain Cycles or pay a bit extra at checkout and get it delivered straight to your door.

Rookies Cup Reminder

Joy Ride Rookies Cup (Downhill) - 12-13 September, 2026 - South Blue Range (Van Der Hayden’s).

This is less than a month away so the club is seeking volunteers now.

Once you know which day or days you can do, email Kate or contact her through the MMBCC WhatsApp feed.

Finally …

Kudos to Jarrod Appleton for his great idea of a Sunday Arvo Gravel Kermesse. 12 ‘graveleers’ turned up for a few laps yesterday, followed by an ale and some ‘sports science approved’ hot chips at the Mansfield Hotel.

It’s on again next Sunday - meet at the pub at 3pm.

Club kit & Empey to World Cup - MMBCC News - Mon 3 Aug

Have you subscribed to MMBCC News? Why not!? Go to www.mmbcc.org.au and enter your email address on the Home page…

Club kit time

Do you need new kit? Worn out the old set or ‘grown’ out of it?

MMBCC Towers has had an enquiry about getting the Ventou Online Portal opened for club kit orders. However, we need a minimum of ten pieces and we don’t have that yet.

If we get the portal opened soon, orders placed now should be ready by the time racing starts again in October.

Please contact Bruce if you’re interested.

Empey to World Cups

While Elise recovers from injury, big brother Matt has been selected by AusCycling to head over to race the next three World Cup downhill races.

His first race will be in Les Gets, France and he leaves in another week or so.

Congratulations Matt and ride well!

Upcoming Events

Joy Ride Rookies Cup (Downhill) - 12-13 September, 2026

Venue - Louie Van Der Hayden’s. There’ll be a new track built for the event and the club will be seeking volunteers, so stay tuned for updates.

Annual General Meeting - Thursday 8 October, 2026

The Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club Inc Annual General Meeting is on Thursday 8 October.  This is the first night of the Summer Road Race Series, so the AGM will be held at the Mansfield Hotel, after the race finishes.

Stay tuned for more info and RSVP details soon.

VDHS - returns to Mt Buller 21-22 November, 2026

Club will again be seeking volunteers.

Wagga and free kit - MMBCC News - Mon 29 Jun

Recent XC Racing in Wagga

By Tim Ross

The weekend before last Bruce and three Rosses raced the final round of the Snowy Riverina 3x3 Series in Wagga Wagga. The race was held at the Wagga Multisport Cycling Complex, which has a mountain bike park, an outdoor velodrome, a huge pump/BMX track and a sealed crit circuit all on the one site. We wish!

Alastair and Tim did the 1-hour race, on a fairly straight-forward loop, 10 to 15 minutes per lap.

Ben and Bruce did the 3-hour race, riding a larger loop that partly incorporated the shorter course, 20 to 30 minutes per lap.

After a wet-ish week the track was always going to be damp but light rain at the start certainly spiced things up; the red, clay-heavy soil churning up and sticking to rider and bike alike.

In the 3-hour, Bruce was third in the old blokes category, while Ben was fourth in Open Men. (Third in the unofficial U19 Men category.)

In the 1-hour, Tim was second in Open Men and Alastair third in U13.

Longest ride of the day went to Ben who, luckily or unluckily, came through the start/finish only about a minute before the 3-hour cutoff and had to do it all one more time. (Bruce finished his 6th lap in time to do a 7th but pulled a heart muscle.)

All in all a great day at a great venue, a very inclusive event with something for everyone - younger kids, social riders and those who wanted to race.

The full series includes races at Tumut and Tumbarumba as well; let’s try to get a few more MMBCC members at the series next season!

Free to a good home …

Bruce is having a clear out of some old kit which he doesn’t use, mostly in Medium or Large.

There’s a Castelli rain coat, a brand new (Chinese copy) Rapha jersey in Large, a near-new Solo soft shell jacket in Large, great for chilly mornings, a Ground Effect YJA with zip-off sleeves and even a brand new (Chinese copy) pair of black Maap bib knicks in Large. Plus other stuff too.

All in very good condition and all free. Call into All Terrain Cycles from Tuesday onwards to have a look at grab whatever you want.

MMBCC Junior Update - MMBCC News - Tue 16 Jun

Talia to start Tour de Suisse tomorrow night

By Jarrod Appleton

Talia's biggest race of the year to date starts tomorrow. Janine and I are on the ground in Europe for the race. We're going to be spoilt attending this race because for the first time both the women and men race on the same day. And the biggest stars of the sport are competing.

We visited Talia in Girona a few days ago and she said she is feeling good on the bike. Her team, Liv Alula have her listed as number 81, so their favoured rider for the general classification. This is a big step for Talia and it's important to consider a few things to have perspective on what is and isn't achievable.

Talia is only 20 and she's up against the world's best who are in their prime (25-35). Because she's new to the team Talia has not had a structured race and training program this year unlike her GC rivals. For example she hasn't done altitude training blocks whereas her rivals will have done two. Talia's still finding her way with a new life style, new continent, new team, new equipment etc. Whereas for her opposition it's business as usual. 

You may be able to watch the race on YouTube. I don't think SBS is covering it which is surprising considering the star studded line up. You might need a VPN if it's georestricted. Here's the link to the YouTube Channel.

Recent Junior Racing

By Tim Ross

Round 3 of the Victorian Schools MTB Series was raced at Ballarat on Sunday 7th through the grounds of Mt Clear Secondary College. About 170 racers from U9 to U19 competed including 4 representing MMBCC.

In U11 Novice Logan Hughes placed 4th with his brother Hunter a big improver in 8th.

Ben Ross placed 5th in U17. Alastair competed in U13 Race category, but a flat on his second last lap meant he had a slow walk back to base.

Round 3 of the Vic Junior Road Series was raced at the State Motorcycle circuit at Broadford over the past weekend, with Ben being MMBCC’s sole representative. Open to age groups from U11 to U17 (Ben), the tour included a time trial (6 laps, 13.8km for U17) and two road races (20 laps, 46km). 

The road races (one each day) were done in alternate directions, good to see the organisers spicing up their offering! 

Racing on his dad’s bike, Ben surprised himself with a mid-field finish (11th of 19 starters) in the Time Trial. He placed 14th of 18 starters in both road races. 

Racing as a ‘bottom-ager’ in U17 is a tough gig but the series is providing valuable experience. While this is good for Ben, it’s not such good news for those of his elders who’ll be racing against him in our Thursday night handicaps over the summer.

Upcoming Events 

The Snowy Riverina 3-hour Series culminates at Wagga on Sunday 21st June (this Sunday); a Halket and a trio of Rosses are riding.

Also this weekend is Eastern Cycling Club’s Kermesse at Gruyere, near Coldstream. The next one at Gruyere is Sat 11 July.

Around The Bay In A Day is on Sunday 18th October with a range of ride options from 50 to 220km plus a family ride option around Albert Park Lake.

For those who can’t quite bring themselves to get out on the road over winter, there are spin classes at Wardy’s Mansfield Gym on Monday at 6am plus Tuesday and Thursday at 6pm.

Talia, Ben, Elise and Chumpy - MMBCC News - Mon 8 Jun

Talia APPLETON wins her first pro race

Talia raced the Alpes Gresivaudan Classic near Grenoble in France on Sunday, a climber’s race with five categorised climbs and 3600m of climbing. And she won!

Here’s a write-up from her team website. (She’s so new to the team she hasn’t even been added to the page of riders!)

Jarrod sent a link to the coverage on YouTube. If you watch from 2 hours onwards it’s mainly Talia versus Clemence Latimer, who came second. It’s all in French and they even interview Latimer after the finish, I guess because Talia doesn’t speak French. Yet.

Recent XC Racing

By Tim Ross

Sunday saw Round 2 of the Vic Schools MTB series at Lysterfield. Almost two hundred kids aged from U9 to U19 contested the XC (Cross Country) events at the site of a Commonwealth Games event held before any of them were born!

MMBCC was represented by Hunter and Logan Hughes, both competing in U11 Novice category. In a crowded field, both rode well with Logan finishing 4th and taking family bragging rights. 

Some interesting scheduling has the next round happening at Ballarat this coming Saturday (yep, just one week later and in the middle of a long weekend). The round will be held in the grounds of the Mt Clear Secondary College.

 The weekend also featured a double-header in the Shifty Fifty series (XC courses, sort of racing, sort of participation), held at Yackandandah. Saturday’s race was held within the Yack Tracks MTB park, while Sunday’s race headed UP the Epic Trail much of the way to Beechworth then back DOWN into Yackandandah (much faster on the way back!). 

MMBCC was very well represented. The Ross family rode both on Saturday (Ben and Tim doing the 25km ‘Shifty Shorty’ and Alastair doing the 15km ‘Shifty Smalley’) and Sunday (with Ben stepping up to the full 50km course). 

Simon and Jack Mulvilhill together rode the ‘Shifty Shorty’ on Sunday (it looked to me like Jack pipped dad Simon on the line). 

Damian & Ben Grundy also made a cameo appearance on the Sunday, both racing the ‘Shifty Shorty’. Damo subscribes to the hard parenting model, taking the opportunity to show son Ben that he still has some ground to make up. 

The Shifty Fifty series takes a winter break now, resuming in mid-Sept for another couple of rounds. 

Also coming up in the next few weeks is the next round of the Vic Junior Road Series at Broadford motorcycle track, while the Snowy Riverina 3-hour event is at Wagga in a few weeks (1 hour option available for the not-so-tough).

What’s Elise Empey up to?

By Kate Stonnill

As many of you know Elise had surgery to reattach her tricep tendon in January ’25 after crashing at Red Bull hardline in Tassie. Unfortunately she required further surgery in January ’26 to release scar tissue. Since then she has gradually built up her strength in the gym and on her bike with 3 training sessions a day to combat the ongoing nerve pain and weakness in her arm and shoulder.

In March we discovered she has also torn tendons in her shoulder from previous dislocations. With that knowledge she adjusted her program, with the ongoing help from Steve Ward, and pushed on; but eventually decided to miss the first world cup in South Korea.

Elise headed over to Dvfy in Wales on May18th to join her team Continental Atherton. After a couple of days at their bike park she flew with the team to Loudenville in France for the second World Cup (photos below). She was so excited to be back racing after missing most of last season.

Loudenville proved to be very dry and racers were reaching speeds of 70 - 80 km/h on the top section of track - the fastest times seen at Loudenville! She loves the track and had her best result there in ‘24.

She went in hoping to kick off her season. However, the ongoing weakness in her arm made it difficult to hold her line in the tight corners. After lots of heart felt discussion with team, and home, she has decided to head back to Dvfy to get stronger and "punch out laps" back at Atherton base, where she will get ongoing support. The team have been amazingly supportive.

So fingers crossed she can return later in the season to the form she had in 2024 and hopefully even better.

The Chumpy Project

Mansfield Shire Youth have teamed up with Chris Pullin to deliver an exciting new opportunity for Mansfield’s Young People!

Join Coach Nam Baldwin and Olympian Cam Bolton for a three night camp at Mt Buller, focusing on courage, composure and character!

If you would like to find out more information, click here.

If you’d like to apply click here.

Keep in mind, applicants must be a resident of the Mansfield Shire and aged between 15 - 17 at the time of the camp.

Spaces are limited. And ALL applicants must go through application process.

Finally …

It’s been announced that Gravelista will be hosted in Seymour for at least two more years.

Bocky, Janine, Ryder and Ryder - MMBCC News - Sun 24 May

Presentation Night

Here’s a brief rundown on the results from the MMBCC summer of racing for 2025/26. Plus the Rider Grant recipients were announced.

Summer Road Race Series

Dave Bock won the Summer Road Race Series ahead of Steve Duke and Craig Wilson.

The top ten (total of best 12 results)

1st Dave Bock - 106; 2nd Steve Duke - 102; 3rd Craig Wilson - 97; Eq 4th Ryder Chadd and Simon Hall - 91; 6th Dave Jagger - 90; Eq 7th Darren Bakker and Bruce Halket - 76; 9th Adrian Dowd - 75; and 10th Tim Hall - 63.

SRRS Women’s Trophy

Janine Appleton comfortably won the Road Series Women’s Trophy.

Dirt Crits

Ryder won Dirt Crits ahead of the two Ross brothers, Alistair and Ben. The top ten:

1st Ryder Chadd - 185; 2nd Alistair Ross - 166; 3rd Ben Ross - 159; 4th Luke Vivash - 142; 5th Ben Grundy - 138; 6th Dave Bock - 127; 8th Spencer Carman - 110; Eq 8th Micah Chadd and Steve Curnow - 99; and 10th Cooper Hoebergen - 94.

Alain Guerin Crossover Trophy

Ryder won this one too!

1st Ryder Chadd - 276; 2nd Dave Bock - 233; 3rd Ben Ross - 209; 4th Bruce Halket - 158; and 5th Ben Grundy - 153.

Congratulations to all the winners.

MMBCC Rider Grants

Congratulations to five MMBCC members who were announced as recipients of grants.

High Performance Grants

TALIA APPLETON

ELISE EMPEY

(who are both now in Europe to race)

Rider Development Grants

RYDER CHADD - Gold

BEN ROSS - Gold

COOPER HOEBERGEN - Bronze

Congratulations to all of you and we look forward to hearing about your exploits.

And finally …

An interesting article about councils, governments and cycling infrastructure.

Presentation Night

MMBCC Presentation Night

Trophies for the Summer Road Race Series and Dirt Crits will be handed out this coming Thursday 14 May at the Mansfield Hotel.

All MMBCC Members will have their dinner paid for by the club! But if you’d like to come for dinner, please RSVP via the MMBCC WhatsApp feed by 8pm on Tuesday.

Dinner kicks off from 6 pm, presentations will start after dinner, around 7pm.

Ben, Ben, Micah, Janine, a Bugatti and Presentations - MMBCC News - Sun 5 Apr

MMBCC Presentation Night

Trophies for the Summer Road Race Series and Dirt Crits will be handed out to all the winners at the MMBCC’s night of nights - a glittering awards ceremony where the stars of the MMBCC’s race scene will be out in their finest: shimmering gowns, plunging necklines, high heels … and I can’t wait to see what some of the women will be wearing!

Save the date - Thursday 14 May at the Mansfield Hotel - more details soon…

Dirt Crits 25/26: THE FINAL HURRAH

By Damian Grundy

I would like to start this race report with a series of “THANK YOU’s”.

Thanks to everyone who has been involved with the XC Dirt Crit evenings! Thanks especially to Kate Stonnill, Cam Dobson and Tim Ross for their regular help in timing races.

Thanks to all the competitors who have raced at any of the races. I hope you have been challenged, had some fun and gained some fitness through the series.

Given that this was the final event for this summer season I got very ambitious as handicapper and decided that rather than just one race we would have two in the same evening! I have booked some extra sessions with my counsellor in the coming weeks to discuss this clearly insane idea.

Anyways … two races, one slightly shorter XC followed by a sort of Gravity Enduro stage, milking the Riflebutts MTB Park for as long of a DH as could be done (inevitably with a little uphill).

For the XC there were three different length laps (creatively named A, B & C). Riders were given different combinations of laps depending on ability and handicapped accordingly.

The final result of stage 1: Micah Chadd 1st, Cody Stephens 2nd and Ben Grundy 3rd. Times were close with less than a minute gap covering the first 5 places.

A note to some of the riders: Arrows point in the direction of the course, you should follow them 😊. Or come early and do a practice lap!

For stage 2 Gravity Enduro: Ryder Chadd 1st, Ant Bateup 2nd and Ben Ross 3rd.

Overall was determined by a points system. With 17 starters first place got 17 points, 2nd place 16 points and so on down to 1 point for 17th.

The final result:

Three riders on 29 points taking equal 1st place: Ben Grundy, Ben Ross and Micah Chadd. Next came Ryder Chadd 4th on 28 points; Cody Stevens 5th on 26 points; Ant Bateup 6th on 24 points; and Luke Vivash 7th on 22 points.

Thanks again everyone. Here are all the results.

Keep your ear to the ground for some MMBCC winter mountain bike activities.

If you have any feedback on how we might do things better for the next season please shoot me a message.

Merinda Way a fitting finale

By Timothy Hall

A beautiful autumn evening for the final race of the season, this time 2 ½ laps of the Merinda Way loop – nicely out of the way of the Easter car traffic, which was certainly starting to stream into town.

David Jagger and John Eisner led the proceedings from Limit, followed by the trio of Tim Hall, Craig Wilson and Janine Appleton at 3 minutes. Jock Brega and Adrian Dowd followed at 5 ½ minutes, Brega dropping his chain early on and having to stop to disentangle it. Dowd raced away, unaware of the mechanical issues for Brega who, despite turning himself inside out in effort, never managed to get back onto him.

The ‘Block group was at 9 ½ minutes, consisting of; Darren Bakker, Steve Duke, Ben Ross, Simon Hall and Mark Ruttiman. Ruttiman in fine form, having just won the B-grade championship with Seymour Broadford Cycling Club the previous Saturday.

Scratch was dominated by some fast riders coming out of Euroa and Seymour (we really appreciate that they come over and race – it makes it great fun for everyone); Carl Simmons, James Hender and Andy Garrett. Hender was also a club champion with Seymour Broadford, having just won the A-grade championship with them. Rounding out Scratch was MMBCC club stalwart Bruce Halket, and up and coming Ryder Chadd. Sympathy to Halket, who was supposed to be under the knife for a knee operation, which was postponed, but at least he could come and race.

T Hall, Wilson and Appleton had a great ride, adjusting tempo a couple of times to stay together, and relying on Wilson’s downhill speed and Appleton’s climbing to make the most of their advantage. Catching Jagger and Eisner on the first lap, Jagger put in a massive effort to stay with the group for the next 1 ½ laps. Eisner working hard, but being caught by successive groups out the back.

Block group working well, but young gun Ross is champing at the bit and stretching the group when he came through – it won’t be long before he is pushed back to the Scratch group.

Scratch caught Brega and then S Hall on the last time around.

Other than that, no-one caught anyone really, with each of the groups mostly staying together but not catching each other.

Appleton made the most of the last couple of hills to get clear of Wilson and T Hall with a well-deserved win. Chadd catching the Block group nearly on the line, and just behind the front markers. Great handicapping.

Here are the results and thanks, as ever, to Tony Copland and this week Alex Green for the pics.

The club prides itself on being ‘The Social Club with a Cycling Problem’, and this holds true with all our disciplines. On behalf of the riders, a shout-out to all those who volunteer their time, particularly; the team of Commissaires, the super-regular volunteers Mel, Judi, Tony, the Executive team of Dave E, Damian, Kate, Janine, Ryder and Steve, and the Road Committee of Alex, John, Dave J, Janine and Darren. Thanks everyone for a great season.

A reminder…

The Tour of Flanders, or Ronde Von Vlaanderen, is on tonight. The best race of the season with Mathieu, Wout, Mads, Remco (for the first time) and, of course, Tadej. (Yes, of course we’re on a first name basis!) Tune in to SBS Viceland (channel 31) from 6pm till about 12.30. Then it’s followed by the Women’s RVV.

You got an extra hour’s sleep last night and tomorrow’s a holiday … why not stay up!?

Finally…

Looking for something for the cyclist in your family who already has everything? Factor bikes have just what you’re after.

Earlier this year they launched a new road race bike called One. They call it the World’s Fastest Road Bike. It’s a very, very nice bike. Not cheap but very nice and it looks fast just standing still.

Now, they’ve announced a new collaboration and produced the Bugatti Factor One.

It’s a beautiful bike too, although not technically UCI-legal. But don’t let that stop you … look at the price! Why not order two?

Ben, Dave & Ruby - MMBCC News - Sun 29 Mar

Lots to get through this weekend…

Last gravity night for the season 

By Kate and Dave Empey

Dirt Crits avoided threatening rain clouds for another dusty night. 13 riders in total climbed the hill for another President’s Challenge evening. 

First run down took its first casualty with Cooper taking a little dirt nap on the last dusty corners; but regained his composure to cross the finish with a time of 3.21. However, he had to head home to fix a flat tyre.

Second lap saw Ryder again fastest with 3.53 and fastest overall. Micah Chadd’s showing huge improvement coming in 3rd.

Cam Dobson and Willem Morphett showed great consistency with both laps the same.

Alastair Ross survived his dad’s maintenance regime and will need to revue the rattle in his front brake.

Dave Bock had a Little Rock garden excursion at the top where he left his bike behind and went for a stroll, only to then finish the track.

Cody Stephens put in an impressive ride in jeans & work boots as he came straight from work.

Chris Williams, after a fall whilst tyre testing, finished first in the e-bike category. 

Results

Gravity: 1st Ryder Chadd, 2nd Cam Dobson, 3rd Micah Chadd, 4th Damian Grundy and equal 5th Ben Grundy and Cody Stephens.

Handicap: 1st Ben Grundy, 2nd Willem Morphett, 3rd Alastair Ross, 4th Cody Stephens and again equal 5th Micah Chadd and Lucas Belman. 

Here are the full, detailed results.

Racing in the rain

By Dave ‘The Handicapper’ Jagger

You know that the race season is coming to a close when a cool, south westerly wind is blowing with rain showers. The weather was cold enough to have some riders pull out before the start.

Fifteen hardened riders still competed in the penultimate race and were led off by the David pair of Jagger and Bock. They headed off quickly, not to get a headstart but to warm up!

Craig Wilson and Janine Appleton were following four minutes behind.

The Barwite loop course is short but it does include the Coombesberg, a short, steep section of pain at the start of the Old Tolmie Road. This section of the course will separate the good hill climbers from the less-good hill climbers.

The block (second last) group to head out was made up of Simon Mulvihill, Adrian Dowd and Tim Ross. Simon was unable to hold on up the Coombesberg resulting in him crossing the finish line last.

Bruce Halket, fresh off a podium mountain bike result on the weekend was able to get away from the Scratch group up the Coombesberg and kept in front of his group for the race.

The ride along the Barwite Road was straight into a solid headwind which favoured the competitors riding in a group. The Davids worked well together and held the lead with David Bock coming home the winner. Craig was slightly stronger riding upwards towards the finish at the showgrounds than Janine to finish third.

Bruce managed to hold off the Scratch group to finish fifth with the rest of the riders finishing in the next twenty seconds.

Here are the results and thanks to a very damp Tony Copland for the race images.

One more race left next week with the 2025/26 championship results still open to several competitors. Last week’s points leader, Steve Duke, by his own admission had a bad night on the bike and has given way to this week’s winner, Dave Bock. Bocky leads with 106 points ahead Steve on 99, Wil on 97 and Simon Hall on 95. Breathing down their necks is the Handicapper on 90. One race left!

Shifty Fifty Round 1 - Woodend

By Tim Ross

Sunday saw the first of the Shifty Fifty series decided. 

The Shifty Fifty is a series of seven events over autumn/ spring. The course is generally a mixture of single trail and bush tracks. The main event is the Shifty Fifty, generally two laps of the course. Also on offer is the Shifty Shorty (25km, one lap) and the Shifty Smally (usually about 10km, aimed at kids or riders wanting a first taste of MTB racing). The events are part race (for those that want to go hard) and part participation event with many riders just looking for a well-organised, longer ride at some great venues.

Sunday’s ride was in the Wombat State Forest just out of Woodend, incorporating the Wombat MTB Trails and some adjoining fire road, and had over 200 starters. MMBCC was represented by three Rosses and one Dobson. On this occasion, the day was fine and cool, but some overnight rain had made the trails particularly greasy. 

Ruby did her 50km in 2h47m to place first in Open Women!

Ben knocked out his first 50km event in 2h45 to place third in U19 Men, Alastair tried out the Shifty Smally placing 4th in 42m, while Tim went for the 25km event and but for an unfortunate mechanical would possibly have beaten them all (end result, DNF).

Next race in the series is a Creswick in a fortnight, with races in Anglesea, Yackandandah, Gippsland and Warburton later in the year.  A great option for anyone who’d like to keep their XC legs turning over during winter.

Dirt Critters

Junior Dirt Critters ventured away from Rifle Butts last Tuesday for their annual ride along the Delatite River from Carters Rd to Mirimbah (and back). This is a real highlight for the kids with the trail being flattish and fun to ride. 

As is usual Luke led the faster kids at the front, parents Cam and Greg (thanks guys) kept order in the middle while Tim played sheepdog at the back (this was more challenging than usual after one of his cranks dropped off the bike!). 

Despite staying dry in Mansfield, it was a bit damp in the foothills but our intrepid crew mainly dodged the showers and ended up only a little bit wet.

Weekend Results

VIC ENDURO SERIES, Rd 2 - Lake Mountain

Nicole Hoebergen - 1st, Vets 35-44 Female

Ryder Chadd - 8th, U21 Male

Lucas de Vent - 11th, U17 Male

Cooper Hoebergen - 4th, U15 Male

SEYMOUR BROADFORD CC ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS - Avenel

Mark Ruttiman - 1st, B-Grade

Ben, Dave and MTB Nats - MMBCC News - Sun 22 Mar

Congratulations to Siena Vivash - Under 13 Women Australian Downhill Champion!

Scroll down for more on the AusCycling MTB Nationals at Mt Buller on the weekend.

Dirt Crits Irish Handicap

By Damian Grundy

Ben Ross lays down a marker and sends a message for the National Championships!

Once again the rain gods have smiled on MMBCC Dirt Crits and sent some rain which settled the dust and had the trails in absolute mint riding condition.

As is the case with Irish Handicaps everyone is on their own mission, with individual lap numbers and staggered start times. But everyone is in the same race so the objective is to complete your target number of laps and get to the finish line first! Simple.

First out of the gate on this occasion were 2 5 lappers, Damian Grundy (the real old fart) and Cam Dobson (the younger old fart), followed by the rest. Last at the start line was Scarlett Darcy some 19minutes later, on her 2 lap mission.

Bruce Halket arrived a little late and had one lap trimmed from his original 5 laps with an appropriate adjustment to his start time.

Ben Ross was clearly on a flyer rounding up everyone at a rate of knots.

Riders circulated, people were caught and passed, Cam Dobson had a forced stop to loosen a tight back.

Heading into the final lap it was the two Ross youngsters heading up the hill at the front of the race with Alastair doing everything he could to hold off his older brother Ben.

In the end Ben, clearly on great form heading to the National Championships on the weekend, caught Alastair at the top of the course and rocketed down the final descent to take a well deserved win in a personal best overall race speed.

Alastair Ross finished a strong 2nd, Eliot Leatham 3rd also in a personal best race speed.

Willem Morphett 4th, Jasper Watts 5th.

A special mention to the night’s final finisher Cody Stephens for racing a warm and humid race in jeans and a long sleeve cotton top. Nothing like adding some additional challenge to an already hard sport! Well done for finishing Cody.

Thanks to Tim Ross for managing the timing. Great to see everyone out for the race.

Here are the results. Next week it’s the final Gravity Enduro night of Dirt Crits.

Biking and Boating

By Craig Stannard

The Eastern Cycling Club boys (Craig O, Dean T, Dale W [who was withdrawn from the race due to BA syndrome] and yours truly Craig S) have arrived for our annual March sojourn to Mansfield/Bonnie Doon for a bit of biking and boating.

First thing is the biking.

We arrive on the Thursday for the 24 km Whitfield handicap. It’s perfect weather with a bit of a slight cross/head wind for the leg out so it will be a fast return with the help of the slight downhill. We get our numbers and I’m in the 13 min Scratch group with Steve D, Simon H, Darren B and Dean T.

Limit (David J) is away & we begin the agonising wait. Next away is David B at 2 min then the 7 min bunch of Janine A, Craig W, Tim H & David Mc, next bunch away at 11 min is Simon M, Craig O, Jock & Tim R.

Then we are away & we quickly settle into a nice rolling turn tempo, negotiate the first big pot hole (come on Vic Roads get your act together!) & top the first hill. It’s not till we have done about 9km that we see a distant tail light that gives us a bit of boost to power on.

At about 10.4ks Limit passes by us on the way back & I try to do the calculation of time & distance required needed but give up and look for the turn around as the other groups pass us by.

We are all back on after the turn & head home but the cohesion is a bit ragged. We start mopping up a few stragglers, first one bun, then the next at about the Barwite Road intersection. We are down to three of us doing turns on the front.

Heading on down the last downhill Darren & Steve do a big turn and roll off which leaves me on the front. Dodge the last pothole and into the left hand turn into Mt Battery Road. Put the power on and open up a 20 metre break on the bunch. Can’t see the limit rider up the road so second place is available, hit the sprint button and head home not realising just how far uphill is the line! Manage to maintain the gap to take 2nd and fastest time

Good fun race and, as per any handicap, full on from start to finish.

Thanks to all the Marshals and Commissaire on a great race, can’t do it without you.

Strava says 26.27 km in distance in 41.10 minutes at an average 38.3 km/h but here are the official results.

Now it’s boating time!

With only two races to go for the 2025/26 Summer Road Race Series, the point scores show a very tight finish. With only the best 12 results counting for each rider, Steve Duke leads the way with 97 points ahead of a tie for second with Simon Hall and Dave Bock on 91. Next comes Wil Wilson on 88, Ryder Chadd on 83, Dave Jagger on 78, Adrian Dowd and Bruce Halket tied for 7th on 75, Darren Bakker on 71 and Dave MacDonald rounds out the top ten on 58.

AusCycling Mountain Bike National Championships

13 MMBCC members raced on Mt Buller over the last few days, in various disciplines, resulting in a couple of podiums and an Australian Champion! Congratulations again to Siena on her win. (She even jumped the first road gap in her race run!)

SHORT COURSE CROSS COUNTRY (XCC) - raced on Friday

Ben Ross - 19th, U17 Men

Ryder Chadd - 24th, U19 Men

Ruby Dobson - 3rd, U23 Women

Here are the XCC results.

DOWNHILL - Saturday

Sienna Vivash - 1st and Australian Champion, U13 Women

Cooper Hoebergen - 14th, U15 Men

Shannon Rademaker - 9th, Masters 4 Men

Ewan Rogan - 21st, U17 Men

Blake Riley - 53rd, U17 Men

Spencer Carman - 38th, U19 Men

Jake Terry - 46th, U19 Men

Matt Empey - 30th, Elite Men

Here are the downhill results.

CROSS COUNTRY (XCO) - mostly Sunday

Ant Bateup - 5th, E-Bike Men (raced on Thursday)

Ben Ross - 15th, U17 Men

Bruce Halket - 3rd, Masters 7 Men

Ruby Dobson - 7th, U23 Women

Here are the XCO results.

Upcoming Events

Seymour Broadford CC Road Championships, graded scratch - Sat 28 March, Avenel.

Northern CC Ian Bishop Hcp - Sun 29 March, Seymour.

Shifty Fifty Round 1, The Wombat Classic - 29 March, Woodend. There are 7 rounds, 5 in Autumn, 2 in Spring.

Northern CC 46th Benghazi Handicap - Sat 25 April, Lancefield.

Finally…

Even if you don’t usually watch much Men’s Pro Road Cycling, take a few minutes to have a look at the highlights of yesterday’s 2026 Milan-San Remo - 298km and honestly, most of it is a snooze-fest. But the last 35km or so are brilliant with a win by the world’s best.

MTB Nats and Talent Wanted - MMBCC News - Tue 17 Mar

MTB Nats this weekend

By Tim Ross

AusCycling National Championships come to Mt Buller this weekend. MMBCC is well-represented with 13 club members racing.

In the Downhill, old master Shannon Rademaker leads the charge, with Matt Empey and Elise Empey lining up in the Elite, Jake Terry and Spencer Carman in the U19, Ewan Rogan and Blake Riley in the U17, with youngsters Cooper Hoebergen and Sienna Vivash in U15 rounding out the team. All competition is on the 'International' downhill track which begins at Spurs. Best viewing will be on Saturday with practice in the morning and racing in the afternoon.

In Cross Country, the MMBCC team is led by even older master Bruce Halket, with Ruby Dobson in U23, Ryder Chadd in U19, Ben Ross in U17 and Ant Bateup on the e-bike. Racing for the e-bikes is on Thursday, for XCC (short-course) is Friday, while the XCO (the main game) racing happens on Sunday. The XC courses are designed to be spectator friendly with the start/finish in the Buller Village Square.

Good luck to all our racers! If you want to see some top class MTB action get up to Buller on the weekend, I’m sure they’d appreciate your support. Here’s the event schedule.

Tourism North East looking for talent

By Korinne Arblaster

TNE (Ride High Country) is searching for some talent for Mt Buller on Monday 23 March. We’re looking for a road cyclist; just one. You!

Here some background information and what the day looks like:

The content capture is occurring to support a campaign promoting the reinvigorated 7 Peaks Challenge around the concept of ‘Climbs with Attitude’ and to showcase Victoria’s High Country’s amazing road riding. We will be focusing on capturing the personality of each ride, the emotion of riding it and the magnificent landscapes you ride through.

The day will be fun, consisting of capturing video and photo content of talent riding at 6 to 7 iconic locations on the route plus some supporting dining and accommodation to showcase the full ride getaway experience. For look and feel we are focusing on timeless and aspirational. Please see the schedule below.

• 06:50: 1. Meet Mansfield Coffee Merchant (7 min drive) >

• 07:40: 2. The “long straight” on Mt Buller Rd (20 min drive) >

• 08:00: 3. Mount Buller & Stirling Resort Entry (5 min drive) >

• 09:00: 4. Buller Gnome Tree & First Nations Wall (5 min drive) >

• 10:00: 5. White Bridge (& First Nations Wall) (10 min drive) >

• 11:15: 6. Hell’s Corner (2 min drive) >

• 12:15: 7. Mt Buller Sign (5 min drive) >

• 12:45: 8. The Village Square (5 min walk) > Break for lunch

• 14:00: 9. Mt Buller Chalet Suites - TBC

• 15:00: Shoot complete

• 15:45: Arrive in Mansfield

The lucky talent will be offered a $350 voucher per shoot day for a Victoria’s High Country business or experience of your choice (you can also split the voucher up between businesses) on the Victoria’s High Country website.

If you’re available on Monday 23 March and would like a $350 voucher, please contact Korinne Arblaster from TNE.

Matt, Cooper & Darren - MMBCC News - Sun 15 Mar

Huge weekend at the VDHS

A huge thanks to all everyone who came to Mansfield for the MMBCC’s round of the Victorian DownHill Series.

But a special thanks to all the MMBCC members who volunteered to help run the race.

And a special thanks to Dave, Kate, Mel, Alex, Matt and Zac.

Here are a few of the MMBCC member results:

Matt Empey - 2nd, Elite Men. Congratulations to Matt for winning the series in Elite Men!

Bella Green - 2nd, Elite Women

Stu Clark - 1st, Veteran Men. Second in the series in Vets Men for Stu - well done Stu!

Jake Terry - 11th, U19 Men

Spencer Carman - 16th, U19 Men

Ewan Rogan - 5th, U17 Men

Blake Riley - 14th U17 Men

Cooper Hoebergen - 20th, U15 Men

And thanks to Tim Ross for organising the pics. Here are the official results.

When Dave has time to breathe again, he’ll probably put a bit of a report together.

Dirt Crits Gravity Handicap

Another big night at Rifle Butts with 18 riders on the start list for just over a kilometre of descending and a tiny little climb in the middle, just for Bruce.

The fastest combined time was posted by Shannon Rademaker of 5.55 for two runs. Next came Spencer Carman on 6.04, Cam Dobson on 6.17 just ahead of Cooper Hoebergen on 6.18 and Luke Vivash got the final spot on the podium in a time of 6.23.

But the final results on handicap saw Cooper Hoebergen take the win ahead of Cam Dobson, Elliot Leatham, Spencer Carman and a three-way tie for fifth between Luke Vivash, Micah Chadd and Steve Curnow.

Here are the results. Thanks to Kate, Dave and their visitors for handling the timing. And to Tim Ross for all the action pics.

Well done all. Cross country next Tuesday and the AusCycling MTB Nationals on Buller starting on Wednesday through to Sunday on Mt Buller.

Pipped by a tyre

By Bruce Halket

A cooler night than usual greeted 12 MMBCC riders last Thursday. Starting at the Botanic Park, the course took riders north along Whitfield Road with a turnaround at Long Lane, then left onto Barwite Road to the end, then another u-turn back to town and finishing the 24km journey near the Showgrounds on Mt Battery Road.

The start list showed a couple of Daves to begin proceedings; Jagger off 13 minutes, followed by Bock off 10. The first group to go was Dave MacDonald and Craig ‘Wil’ Wilson off 6 minutes. Fresh off 3 Peaks last weekend, Dave MacDonald was expected to feature heavily at the pointy end with his highly improved fitness. At 11.30 was the ‘Block group of Simon Hall, Jock Brega, Tim Ross, Christy Rilen and Adrian Dowd.

Last on the list was Steve Duke, Darren Bakker and yours truly off Scratch. But just before the start, Simon Hall decided to start with the Scratch group, throwing the feline amongst the rats of the sky.

Scratch started strongly; we caught Dowd just before the turn into Barwite Road and the rest of Block shortly after the turn at about half distance. We then had six doing turns on the front once Jock and Christy had gotten their breath - then we really started to make headway.

We caught Wil and Dave just after returning to Whitfield Road and rounded up Bocky not long after that.

But we couldn’t even see the Handicapper, out front on his own.

Over Possums hill and we finally caught a glimpse of the Handicapper. We caught him just after the final turn onto Mt Battery Road and he let it be known he was none too pleased; his expletive-laden tirade was the amusing moment of the night.

First to attack up the Mt Battery Road finishing straight was Dave MacDonald but Simon Hall was quickly onto his wheel. I jumped onto Simon’s wheel, hoping he wouldn’t get too far ahead. With about 150m to go, I eased past Simon and with a clear road ahead, put my head down for the line.

With a high cadence, high heart rate and breathing at such a high volume, I could hardly hear a thing. All I could ‘hear’ was the crowd cheering me onto a glorious win.

But as any good St Kilda supporter knows, it isn’t over till it’s really over! The crowd cheering wasn’t in celebration, it was a warning. Danger loomed. Darren Bakker was sprinting and gaining.

Timing it perfectly, Bakks caught me mere centimetres before the line, so perfectly timed that I didn’t have time to react. Strongly motivated by not wanting to write this article two weeks in a row and channelling the late, great Denis Cometti, he snuck up on me like a Librarian, to take the win. Simon Hall was third.

A few seconds later, Jock Brega took fourth ahead of Steve Duke. Then there was another small gap to Dave MacDonald, Christy Riley, Wil Wilson and the Daves; Jagger and Bock.

A word of thanks to our Commissaire, Janine, and our officials, Micala, Mel, Steve and Tony, for running the race so smoothly and safely. In fact, with safety of the utmost important, one of the racers was disqualified for disobeying a marshals signal. Safety always comes first!

Here are the results.

Only three races to go this summer; next week it’s the classic Whitfield Road course, out to Sawpit Gully Road and back.

Ryder, Talia and NICA - MMBCC News - Sun 8 Mar

Team Ryder riders ride for Ryder

By Darren Bakker

The Mt Buller Cycling Club held its Thursday night handicap race on the Barwite Loop, a testing 21 kilometre course that riders know well. The highlight of the loop is the infamous Coombesberg, which appears about one-third of the way into the race and features a steep kilometre climb that has been responsible for many riders suddenly questioning their life choices.

Heading off first was John Eisner, followed by Craig Wilson and Steve Curnow.

The next group away included Jock Brega, Christy Rilen, Simon Mulvihill and Adrian Dowd.

Following them were Bruce Halket, Simon Hall and Darren Bakker, with the final group made up of the hotshots: Brenton Jones, Adam Van Stokrom, Luke Bagley, Ryder Chadd and Paul Scouller.

To make things slightly unfair for the rest of the field, the Team Ryder riders had already completed 180 kilometres earlier in the day riding from Albury to Mansfield as part of the Chain Reaction fundraiser ride. Most riders would call 180 kilometres a big day out — Team Ryder called it a warm-up.

In what turned out to be perfect riding conditions, John Eisner rolled out to start the race. Normally, if a rider can crest the Coombesberg before the faster groups arrive, there’s a good chance they can latch onto the passing wheels and hang on as the race comes back together.

But not tonight.

With Ryder and his hotshots in the final group, they soon began steamrolling their way through the field. Jock had his group riding like a well-oiled machine, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the freight train coming from behind.

When Ryder, Brenton and Adam finally caught Bruce Halket and Darren Bakker, it looked like they would disappear into the distance as well. But after a massive sustained sprint, Bakker managed to latch onto the back of them, clinging on with everything he had.

As the group continued to collect the remaining riders at speed, no one else was able to grab a wheel.

Approaching the Tolmie Road turn-off, the group glanced back and could still see Bakker hanging on like a little red caboose, refusing to be shaken loose.

Coming into the finish, Brenton Jones and Adam launched the lead-out, setting Ryder up perfectly for the sprint.

Ryder Chadd powered across the line for the win, second was Brenton and Adam third, with Bakker rolling in behind them with teeth marks in his handlebars to finish fourth.

Here are the results. Thanks go to all the commissaires, marshals and the Chain Reaction crew for helping make it another great night of racing. Thanks also to Tony for his race images and Micala for the podium pic.

Next week it’s the T-shaped Whitfield / Barwite Roads circuit, finishing at the Showgrounds again.

Knock em Down and Drag em Out:
Teams Racing For Sheep Stations

By Damian Grundy

What a fantastic season we are going to have. It’s fair to say that family pride is going to be a dominant feature of the racing this year. 2 Rosses, 2 Chadds, 2 Hoebergens; there is definitely much interest not only in the overall placings but there is a high level of fierce intra-family rivalry. 18 overall competitors.

As mentioned, the racing came together at the end for a very close overall battle.

Young Alastair Ross took overall honours in a hard ridden and well deserved win and also, obviously, taking out family honours for the night.

Spencer Carman was 2nd and Mika Chadd held off brother Ryder (4th) by 5 seconds for 3rd overall. Ryder had metaphorically ‘come-from-the-clouds’, overtaking Ben Ross in the final few corners. So Ben Ross was 5th.

1st female on the night was Nicole Hoebergen who finished just off the podium in 6th.

Tim Ross had a very serious race focus for the night and whilst he was beaten by both sons he achieved a very noteworthy performance of being 3rd fastest rider on course for the night behind Ryder Chadd (fastest) and Ben Ross (2nd fastest).

Congratulations to all and a special thanks to Ben Ross for marking out the course, Kate Stonnill for the assistance with results and Ryder for picking up the arrows after the race.

Well done to all competitors on the night.

Here is the official results sheet for placings and race speeds.

Talia in Spain

Tonight will see Talia’s Jayco Alula team racing the third and final stage of the Vuelta Extremadura Féminas, a lumpy 139km. Below is the profile of the stage.

Talia is currently 9th on GC, only 48 seconds behind leader Zoe Backstedt.

Her team mate, and current Aus Champion, Mackenzie Coupland is 4th at 14”.

Give it a Go with NICA

By Lynn Frerichs | NICA General Manager

I wanted to reach out directly as I think your members and their families would really enjoy what we have planned.

NICA is hosting a FREE Give It a Go Youth MTB Festival in Tumbarumba on Sunday 15 March 2026, a fun and relaxed event showcasing what NICA programs are all about: inclusive, community-driven riding for students in Years 5 to 12.

(MMBCC members should keep in mind that this is the same weekend as the club is hosting the final round of the VDHS. So while NICA seem to be hosting a great weekend, we could really do with your help to run DH race at Blue Range.)

Whether your members are kids who love riding or adults interested in getting involved as volunteer MTB coaches, this is a fantastic opportunity to come along, have a go, and experience NICA firsthand.

The day includes a coached pre-ride, on-bike games, a time trial, and a Q&A session with the NICA team, including visiting leadership from NICA USA. With the event set in the magnificent Tumbarumba, we encourage families to make a full weekend of it and enjoy the trails on Saturday as well.

Full event details are included below. We’d greatly appreciate your sharing this with your members and encouraging families to register.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

Hope to see your crew out there!

Time to Ride!

Tumbarumba is an absolutely amazing place to ride. Join us for a fun weekend on bikes and meet other riders from around the region.

What is it?

This FREE NICA Give It a Go Festival is an exhibition event designed to showcase what NICA programs look and feel like — fun, inclusive, and community-driven.

Come along and see what it’s all about!

Who’s it for?

Students in Years 5 to 12.

You can participate in the full session or choose what interests you most.

Love racing? Jump into the Time Trial.
More into skills and games? The NICA on-the-bike games are for you.
Curious parent? NICA staff will be there to answer your questions.

Parents and community members are especially encouraged to attend and learn what’s involved in starting a NICA team in your community.

Schedule

Sunday 15 March 2026

8:30 – 9:00 am - Check-in

9:00 am - Session briefing

9:10 am - Session start, including coached pre-ride and NICA on-the-bike games

10:30 am - Time trial start

11:30 am - Presentations & Q&A

Please register early so we can prepare our NICA on-the-bike games and ensure Cycle Tumbarumba has time to organise lunch. Bring cash for the BBQ.

Make a weekend of it and ride the Mt Tumbarumba trails on Saturday, including the locals’ favourite trail, 'Tumba Rumble' with optional A-lines, huge berms and huge grins throughout. Be sure to book your pass and shuttles early: https://mttumbarumba.com.au/

We are also planning some fun activities on Saturday night at the Caravan Park. Details to follow.

Feel free to pass this along to anyone who might enjoy being part of a NICA program, whether as a participant or a coach. The more the merrier! Thank you!

Are you in?

Click here to register.

Questions?

Click here…

AusCycling Development Instructor course

By Melissa Ward | AusCycling Club Development Lead ‑ Victoria

As part of the Collaborative Club Capacity Building Program, focussed on strengthening our regional clubs, I am currently working with Cearna (CC) Mckenzie on our Workforce Team to provide training opportunities to clubs in regional Victoria.  With the funding courtesy of the Victorian Government’s Regional Sustainable Volunteer Workforce grant, our CCCB Program will provide financial support of 50% of the enrolment costs and will endeavour to conduct practical elements of the courses in the regions.

We have a number of regional VIC MTB clubs who have indicated that they would like MTB Development level training in the near future. I am pleased to share that the Workforce Team has connected with a regional club whose members are eager to host a Development Instructor MTB Course. We're currently reaching out to the community to gauge interest in joining Beechworth Chaingang on Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 March 2026.

For more information on the benefits of becoming a Development Instructor, please use this link. Note that you must already be an accredited Foundation Instructor MTB with minimum 20 hours logged instruction.

Action required: Could you please let me know as soon as possible if you are interested in being involved in the Beechworth Development Instructor course later this month and names / email contacts ASAP. 

If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in touch via email or 0478 778 445.

And finally…

A really good read on high-powered e-bikes.

Talia wins SPOTY - MMBCC News - Sun 1 Mar

Talia wins the Rotary Sportsperson of the Year!

Congratulations to the MMBCC’s Talia Appleton on her win in the Mansfield Courier / Mansfield Rotary Club Sportsperson of the Year for 2025.

Janine and Jarrod accepted the award on Talia’s behalf as she’s currently training and racing in Europe, based in Girona in north-eastern Spain.

Rilen rides away with the win

By Bruce Halket

A warm evening, competing social engagements, and possibly the lure of the couch saw a “select” turnout for the MMBCC Handicap Race on Thursday 26 February. Ten entrants faced the legendary Merinda Way Circuit - two and a half laps of lumpy, character-building terrain - now featuring a shiny new roundabout at the top of Highton Lane; this has replaced the old dangerous, bumpy corner with something slightly less confusing but significantly more symmetrical.

First away were the Limit riders, John Eisner and Dave “The Cruel Handicapper” Jagger: a man so feared he handicaps people in casual conversation. Six minutes later, Christy Rilen (visiting from Seymour) set off with Dave Bock. They were meant to be followed four minutes later by Adrian Dowd and Mauro “Jock” Brega, but when Jock pulled a Houdini, Adrian was promoted to Solo Artist.

At 11:30, Simon Hall and Tim Ross rolled out, with Darren Bakker scheduled to launch 90 seconds later. Darren had responsibly organised a substitute for his race duty, exercising his lawful right to pedal in circles instead. However, when another marshal couldn’t attend and no replacement could be found, Darren heroically pulled the pin on racing and resumed his post. In summary: Darren replaced the replacement of someone else. Cycling is simple.

Bringing up the rear at 13:30 was Bruce Halket.

From the gun, Bocky suspected he wasn’t at peak form. His suspicions were confirmed when Christy lost Bocky faster than a toupee in a cyclone and went full predator mode on the riders ahead.

Dave and John had begun at what could generously be described as “spirited conversation pace.” However, when Christy blasted past, conversation ceased entirely. Dave was in no mood to be overtaken by anyone else, so pulled off to the side of Monkey Gully Road with a puncture instead! John carried on alone, questioning life choices.

Simon and Tim reeled in Adrian at about halfway. A few kilometres later, Bruce joined the party. He briefly backed off to “rest”, planning a devastating attack that would leave only the worthy clinging to his wheel. The theory was flawless. The execution? Less so. Simon calmly followed, then rolled to the front and launched a surge that had Bruce reconsidering all previous life decisions. Eventually, Simon eased just enough for Bruce to survive, and the two worked together for the remainder, sweeping up nearly everyone in sight like vaguely aerodynamic vacuum cleaners.

Up front, Christy was untouchable, cruising home a minute and a half clear after a ride that can only be described as “ruthlessly efficient.”

Simon gallantly allowed Bruce to take second place — a selfless act motivated entirely by his desire to avoid writing this race report. Bruce also collected fastest time in 43:46.

Huge thanks to our volunteer marshals, without whom we would simply be a group of big kids riding around in circles with no supervision. And in recognition of Darren’s administrative gymnastics and general good-sport behaviour, he was awarded the Mansfield Hotel voucher for the week.

And a final message to those members who chose the couch - you’re a sad disappointment to us all.

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

Next week it’s the Barwite Loop. Entries via Entry Boss by 8pm Wednesday.

AusCycling Road Race Taskforce

Due to declining numbers in road racing, our sport’s governing body is finally doing something about it by putting together a taskforce to discuss ways of improving all levels of road racing.

When they send you an email asking for your opinion, be sure to respond!

Here are the details.

Upcoming Events

Junior and Masters National Championships, 17-20 Sep 2026, Sunshine Coast, QLD.

Weekend Results

AusCycling MTB National Series

Friday 27 Feb, XCC, Ruby Dobson - 1st, Elite Women.

Sat 28 Feb, XCO, Ruby Dobson - 4th, U23 Women.

Sun 1 Mar, XCO, Ruby Dobson - 4th, U23 Women.

Here are the details.

VDHS Rd 5, Falls Creek

Cooper Hoebergen - 15th, U15 Male

Ewan Rogan - 56th, U17 Male

Spencer Carman - 32nd, U19 Male

Jake Terry - 38th, U19 Male

Matt Empey - 18th, Elite Male

Stu Clark - 2nd, Veterans Male

Here are the details.

OTWAY ODYSSEY, 30km MTB Race

Steve Curnow - 2nd, 60+ Men

Lise Andreasen - 1st, 60+ Women