Damian Grundy added to AusCycling Hall of Fame
By AusCycling
AusCycling has announced five inductees to the AusCycling Hall of Fame: Olympic and world champion Anna Meares, coach Damien Grundy, dual-sport Olympian Donna Gould, early professional cycling pioneer Jackie Clark, and Paralympic champion Peter Homann.
The 2026 inductees represent a broad cross-section of Australian cycling history, from international competition and Olympic success to coaching, Para cycling and the development of the sport.
Damian Grundy played an important role in the development of Australian mountain biking. He coached Cadel Evans through the Australian Institute of Sport mountain bike program and served as its head coach through its six years of activity.
Grundy also coached national teams and supported international campaigns, contributing to the development of athletes across generations.
He continues to support grassroots cycling through the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club.
Congratulations Damian!
Shuttle Day postponed
In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Buller Shuttle Day on Saturday 31 October has been postponed due to the weather. It will now be on Saturday 14 November. Still 9am at Lower Tyrol car park, still followed by a barbecue in the Village at 1pm.
The added bonus is there will likely be an extra trail open by then!
Matt rules at Blue Range
By Dave Empey
The club was kindly given permission from Louie and Tamara to run the gravity Dirt Crits on the Rookies cup track up at Blue Range.
We had 18 starters in less than ideal conditions - a little bit windy and a little bit chilly. But it didn’t dampen anyone’s enthusiasm for the racing.
The track was a little faster than at Rifle Butts and a little steeper.
Racing was tight for places two, three and four with just 7 seconds separating these positions.
Archie Smith returned from hiatus to take third by 1 second ahead of Jake Terry and just 6 seconds behind Ewan Rogan in second.
Matt Empey showed everyone a clean pair of heels and took the win by 10 seconds.
In pre-race trash talk Matt said he would put 1 min into his younger brother Zac and did so. Zac Empey needs to do pre-race maintenance as he has two flat batteries in two weeks.
Big shout out to Micah Chadd who was the smallest person in the top five and Logan Hughes who was the smallest person in the race! And he pumped his dad, Cameron. To put Logan’s performance into perspective, he is so small he has to start dismounted and give his bike a push, then jump on! Well done Logan.
Here are the results and thanks to Tim Ross for all the pics.
No Dirt Crits (or Dirt Critters) next week due to Cup Day. Dirt Crits returns with XC Racing on Tuesday 10 November.
VDHS Round 2 - Mt Major
The second race of the Vic Downhill Series was run and won this weekend. Here are the MMBCC results from the Mt Major downhill, near Dookie.
Special congratulations to Matt, Miles and Sienna.
Matt Empey - 1st, Elite Men
Miles Vivash - 1st, U13 Male
Sienna Vivash - 1st, U13 Female
Jake Terry - 11th, U19 Men
Nick Hinneberg - 13th, Masters Men
Brown best around Barwite
By Tim Ross
MMBCCs twilight road race series rolls on. Sixteen racers lined up on Tuesday, the course starting at Botanic Park, out to the turnaround at Long Lane, then backwards round the Barwite Loop to the finish on Graves Road.
The Limit group of Bocky, Di and Judi were followed by four other groups spaced at regular intervals, before the Scratch group of Bruce and Mark some ten minutes later.
The dynamic duo of Janine and Adrian were quickly caught, latching onto the back of the Steve train (Browny, Tim Ross and Ben Grundy) but apart from that each of the groups battled away on their own for much of the race.
Turning from Barwite Road into Old Tolmie Road however, it was clear that the race would come together on the crawl up the hill, and the three front groups met up near Soldier’s Road.
Further back Ben G decided that he’d spent long enough (most of the race, actually) being towed along by this ‘team-mates’ and launched a blistering attack. He quickly passed all those in front, but was caught by Steve and Tim R heading down the Coombesberg, by which time it was clear that these were the likely podium.
Making the most of the downhill, Steve Brown rode away over the last couple of kilometres for a well-earned win. Tim and Ben G battled for the minor placings, with age and cunning proving more than a match for youth and skill.
Craig ‘Will’ Wilson outsprinted Janine for fourth followed shortly thereafter by Tim Hall, Adrian Dowd and the rest. The Scratch and Block groups battled away at the back, joining up on the Coombesberg but they were never a threat. With a minute less handicap it would have been a very different story.
Running a race requires a team of volunteers, led on this occasion by Commissaire John Eisner and Chief Marshall Simon Hall. No helpers, no race; thanks!
Here are the results and many thanks to Tony Copland, Alex Green and Dave Taylor for the pics. (We’ve got almost as many photographers as marshals!)
An update on the pump track…
As many of you will be aware, a pump track is being constructed as part of the station precinct redevelopment, with the site of the track having been fenced off for a couple of months. The late mail is that works are due this week, with completion expected by Christmas. Things often take longer than planned, of course, but it seems like we’re headed in the right direction!
Specialized Tarmac for sale
Adrian Dowd has his Specialized Tarmac SL5 for sale. Perfect for someone wanting to try out road riding, or looking for a bike to leave on the trainer.
Club kit again
Looks like there are a few members who are keen on the Ventou club kit. If you’re interested, please contact Bruce for details on when the Ventou webshop will open again - hopefully very soon.