Benalla Road.........

 A field of 27 cyclists fronted up for the fast and furious Benalla road handicap last Thursday evening. Dave Clark and Di Condie were first off pursued by Rod Manning, Tony Morris and Andrew Calvert-Jones. The bigger group of Tony Williams, Tim Hall, David Bock, Ian Conrick, Craig Wilson and John Eisner were next and after some settling the group worked well to reel in the out markers who were feeling the heat after the turnaround.

Will MacDonald, Christine Hopkins and Alain Guerin formed the next group with Cam Lachel, Jason Parker and Anthony Plummer chasing them. Damian Grundy, Paul Lange, Darren Bakker and David Heatley were next with Jock Brega, Kian Lerch-McKinnon, Matt Young and Bruce Halket forming the block group. Josh Hopwood and Mitch Greenway were last off in scratch.
Riding well, MacDonald and Hopkins joined the merged faster groups who had dropped several riders by the turnaround. Halket set a pace coming back past Duerin lane that dropped the mid field but was leaving something in reserve for the inevitable attack on the final hill. Predicatably the attack came and it was a nice move by Kian that saw him gain fifty meters off the front which he held for a well deserved win. Bakker chased and looked for help but none was forthcoming and the run down the hill was filled with a certain amount of elbows and positioning for the minor sprint finish. David Heatley got up for second place followed by Bakker, Brega, Halket, MacDonald, Lange, Eisner and Hopkins with Cam Lachal taking out tenth. Fastest time on the night was shared between Josh and Kian.
Thanks to our crew of volunteers and the Delatite Hotel for providing a relaxing venue to rehydrate and analyse the race form. This week’s race is a 4 up sprint on Graves road. Entries to Di by Wednesday 8pm please.
previously......
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Masochism. There’s a fair bit needed to be good at the Individual Time Trial. Those members of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club who are keen on self flagellation lined up on Chapel Hill Road on Thursday 30 November for 11km of pain* out to Three Chain Road and back.

First away was Jodie Batchelor (resplendent in her new ‘aero’ helmet) on the comeback trail after injury. Another 19 sickos followed her at one-minute intervals.

Unsurprisingly, Josh Hopwood rode the fastest time of 15 minutes and 46 seconds. Closest to that was Tristan with 16:19 followed by Bruce Halket, Matt Young, Darren Bakker and Paul Lange as the only others to break 18 minutes.

However, with Handicaps taken into account, Josh also took the win, which was only slightly less surprising. He was followed in the final results by Halket (16:00), David Bock (16.05), Lange (16.08) and Young (16.18). Mioni, Alain Guerin, Bakker, Damian Grundy and Cam Lachal rounded out the top ten.

Many thanks to our officials and volunteers: John, Tony W, Tony M and Will. I’m sure they all volunteered this week since it’s easy to organise a Time Trial and so they could avoid the masochism. Or perhaps they’re just sadists!

The MMBCC’s Summer Series continues on Thursday 6 November with next Handicap Race along Benalla Road, starting at Dead Horse Lane. Entries via SMS to 0438 513 355 by 8pm Wednesday please.

*The pain isn’t really that bad… I’m just a whinger.

Bruce Halket

 

Previously.............

Dear Dirt Critters,

 

Here is a wrap up of the latest mountain biking news.

 

Dirt Crits Race 3- Irish Handicap 

Will McDonald and Trevor Arnold ran the senior event last week with 15 riders starting. It was great to see Jodie Batchelor back on the mountain bike and feeling confident after a clinic with Shannon, which contributed to taking out 1st place. Keoni Bruner rode well to finish in 2nd place. Keoni and his family have relocated to down on the Peninsula and are making the trip up each week to race Dirt Crits- That’s commitment! Taking out 3rd place was relative newcomer Ethan Lee- Well done! Janine Appleton also showed that she can ride strongly on the road bike and MTB, finishing in 8th place.

 

Mont 24hr MTB Race

The Bike Buller team competed in the Mont 24hr MTB race this weekend. The riders were- Kian Lerch-Mackinnon, Matt Young, Cam Lachal, Anthony Bock, David McCoombe and Rohan Essex. This is a relay race with one rider representing the team on the course all of the time. The team of six category is always the most competitive category, so the boys did really well to finish in 7th place, covering 497km!

 

Enve Victorian Gravity Enduro Series- Barjarg 

It was great to go out to Barjarg to watch our local riders compete in the Victorian Gravity Enduro event. Our vantage point was looking down into the gully that the riders rode through, always a great spectator spot.

 

Our local riders had a great weekend of racing-

1st Dave Empey (Super Masters),

1st Matthew Empey (U13) (pictured right),

1st Shannon Rademaker (Veteran 30-40) (pictured left) and Graham Slaney.

 

 

 

Dirt Crits this week 

This week, Monday 27th October, Shannon Rademaker will be running the Dirt Crits event at Riflebutts MTB park. The format will be two timed runs of an Enduro style course, which is predominantly downhill.

 

Duty Roster 

This week Rod Sargeant and David Bock are on duty.

 

By Jason Parker

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And previously

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Hi Everyone,

Bruce has done a great job getting the road calendar up and going. It should appear under "Road Racing" to the left. Please note that there are a few spots left to fill in December for duty so have a look at those and let Bruce know if you can fill the positions.

Jason is keeping us up to date with the dirt crit report ( see below for the full report and check out the club's facebook site). Apologies for lack of pictures - I'm still learning to drive the site, Cheers, John.

 

Dear Dirt Critters,
Here is a wrap up of the latest mountain biking news.
Race 2
Kate Empey ran the senior event last week with seventeen senior riders.
Jem Davies made a welcome return to Dirt Crits and has obviously been working on his fitness, as he
came away with 1st place- Well done! In 2nd place was Keoni Bruner and in 3rd was Harry Retief in his
second race. Ethan Lee, 4th place, was joined by his dad, Mark, this week. Nick Watson might have also
been doing some training as well, finishing in 5th place. A notable performance was Kody Appleton’s top
ten placing after stepping up to the senior event- Well done Kody!
Matthew and Dave Empey
News on the grapevine is that Matt and Dave raced at Warbuton in
the first State Gravity event recently. Matt had his first win in the U13
category and Dave took out the Super Masters Category.
Dave also raced in Cairns at Round 6 of the Australian Gravity Enduro
series and finished 1st. This is Dave’s fourth 1st place and as a results
secured him the National series in his category- Congratulations!
Barjarg Victorian Enduro Series 6hr/3hr
The sixth round of the Victorian Enduro series, hosted by Alpine
Gravity, in association with Specialised and All Terrain Cycles, has
been run and won.
From all accounts it was a tough course with a lot of climbing and quite long and technical descents.
Our club was represent by Mitch and Matt in the pairs 6hr event (1st pace), Tom, Dan MacMunn and Jo
in the mixed teams (2nd place), and solo riders Anthony Plummer, Matt Jennings and Will McDonald.
Enve Victorian Gravity Enduro Series- Barjarg
This weekend October 24th-26th another MTB event will be held at
Barjarg. Even if you don’t intend to enter, it’s a great spectator event,
just a short drive from Mansfield.
Event Schedule
Friday- Registration from 8am. Practice from 9am to 4pm
Saturday- Registration from 8am. Practice from 9am to 4pm
Sunday- Registration from 8am. Seeded racing in categories from 9am
onwards
For more information visit www.alpinegravity.net
By Jason Parker
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Previously..........

MMBCC race report

 

The Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club summer season for 2014/2015 kicked off on Thursday 9 October with a Graded Scratch Race on the Whitfield Road. 27 riders were on the start line, at the Botanic Park for the 25km journey out to Sawpit Gully Road and back, to try to work off some of the internal insulation built up over winter.

First race to start was C Grade which saw Tony Morris battle it out with Amy Jewson in a somewhat ‘lean’ field of just two. Youth won out against wisdom with Amy taking the cash; a win in her first race marking a fine start to her MMBCC membership!

10 A-Graders were next on the start line. A patient start mean no one tried any serious moves until the road headed slightly upwards. Mitch Greenway and Josh Hopwood were the first to attack, just after Bridge Creek, with Foley Lachal the only one able to bridge across.

The rest of the bunch got organised and chased for the next few kilometres; swapping turns at the front to peg back the leaders, which was finally successful by Long Lane on the way back to town.

After a few small attacks, which strung out the field but didn’t produce lasting affects, the finale came down to a bunch sprint. Darren ‘Cipolini’ Bakker took the win so comfortably that he didn’t even need to stand to sprint! He finished just ahead of Mauro ‘Back in Town’ Brega and Lachal from Greenway, Jarrod Appleton and Hopwood.

B-Grade saw the biggest field of the night with 16 starters. True to expectations, there was an attack as soon as the neutral zone was completed at top of the Barwite Hill; Jason Parker, Anthony Plummer, Dave Moore and Matt Young putting the hammer down and gapping the rest of the field.

The status quo was maintained until just after Bridge Creek where Young just kept the same tempo up the climb and the others couldn’t go with him. Game over!

The other three got picked up by the bunch soon after; Will MacDonald took the bunch sprint for second ahead of Parker.

Special mention to Tony Williams who sprinted for 12th place over the top of Craig Wilson and John Eisner after the two had done all the work back into town. He must have been saving his energy for something else!

Many thanks to our officials and volunteers: Jodie, Dave, Jenni, Ian and Julie. We couldn’t race without you.

The MMBCC’s Summer Series continues on Thursday 16 October with the summer’s first Handicap Race along Benalla Road, starting at Dead Horse Lane. Entries via SMS to 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday 5 February please.

 

Cheers,

Bruce.

Also...

congratulations to club Commissaires Margaretanne Hood and Tony Williams on formalising their cycling credentials by getting married!