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MMBCC Xmas PartIES
The ‘formal’ one; from 6pm, Friday 19 December in the courtyard of the Mansfield Hotel. Club will provide food for all members.
Please RSVP via the MMBCC WhatsApp feed by Wednesday 17 December.
The much less formal one: this coming Tuesday XC Dirt Crits will be held at the Mansfield Botanic Park. Rego from 5.45 for a grass-track race, followed by some novelty events, then by a sausage sizzle.
All club members welcome but especially those Gravity racers that don’t usually come to XC nights.
Elliot takes the win
By Kate Stonnill
Last Tuesday saw another great turnout for Dirt Crits; 21 riders headed up the hill to tackle the track set by Cam Dobson.
Stand-in starter Matt Empey sent the riders off from the top, with 30 second splits.
At the end of the two runs the comradery was evident with a big cheer for Elliott Leatham who rose to the top step of the podium after handicap calculations were completed.
In second was James Camileri, 3rd Blake Riley, 4th Cam Dobson and equal 5th Ryder Chadd and Alastair Ross.
Great to see Scarlet D'Arcy return so Nicole was not the only female.
Newcomer Osten Cook showed he has some good speed and may be one to watch.
All riders obviously dug deep to better their time with their second run. Fastest combined time was from Ryder Chadd, followed by Archie Smith, Ben Ross, Blake Riley 4th and Cam Dobson coming in 5th fastest.
Here are the results and thanks to Tim Ross and Ben Ross for the photos across all of Tuesday’s Dirt Crits and Dirt Critters.
Final cross country of the year next week.
Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap
By Tim Hall
It is worth while remembering our friends, and those taken too soon. Rob Curtis passed away on Dec 27th 2018, following a battle with Leukemia. Rob was a champion of winter sports and a great cyclist, particularly on the hills around Tolmie.
The Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap was held last week. One of the longer rides on the program, we raced from the Botanic Park out to Rob’s driveway on the Whitfield Road and back again, finishing on the uphill pitch to the showgrounds, completing 31km on a hot afternoon.
Leading the way off Limit were Craig Wilson, David Bock, Tim Hall and Steve Curnow. At 6 minutes, what looked like a strong team of Heath Hammond, Simon Hall, Simon Mulvihill and Adrian Dowd. Mulvihill was back on the bike after an enforced break due to injury. Steve Duke and Mauro Brega chasing them at 7 minutes. Then Bruce Halket, on his own at 9 minutes, but having to cope with a timing mixup that almost saw him sent off early. (Nice try Bruce…) Finally, Scratch rider Andrew Garrett at 10 minutes.
The limit group quickly got themselves organised, taking turns and trying to keep the pace steady but not too ‘hot’. It’s a long race and consistency is the key.
Behind them, the second group had imploded before Long Lane with Mulvihill dropped early, feeling the effects of that injury, and Dowd struggling. Brega was also feeling the heat and the pace, affected by fatigue after a run of master’s competitions and not fully recovered. Duke leaving Brega to chase down the next group.
On the way back in, the chasing group had resolved into a group of 5, with Duke, Simon Hall, Halket, Garrett and Hammond all pushing the pace along.
Meanwhile, the front group was working hard on the run back into town, fearfully looking over their shoulders for the chasing group but hopeful of holding them off.
Wilson launching himself off the downhill run past Buller Freight, lightweights Curnow and Bock struggling to hold his wheel, but Tim Hall managing to catch a lift. Still swapping turns, Hall and Wilson powering to the Mt Battery Road corner and Wilson up the incline to the finish, desperate for the win (second place gets the pleasure of writing the report…).
Wilson has won both the memorial handicaps this year – well done! The chasing group were in within seconds after this, breathing down their necks.
Thanks as always to the marshals and officials. Here are the results and thanks for the pics Tony.
Next week is the Xmas Handicap on a modified loop around Merinda Way due to the roadworks.
Vale Rob Curtis.
Tour of Bright
Congratulations to Talia Appleton who rode to second place overall in Women’s A-grade at the Tour of Bright on the weekend. The only one who could beat her was experienced World Tour pro Brodie Chapman.
Here are the results.