Late March News

A disappointing week for the mountain bikers with a storm on Tuesday cancelling racing. But there’s still lots of news…

And don’t forget to subscribe to the newsletter!

SOCIAL Road Ride - Sunday 2nd April 2023

This is an unsupported ride on open public roads in Jamieson area to be held on Sunday 2 April 2023, with five stages. You don’t have to complete all five stages, choose your own adventure. Maybe one is enough, or maybe three, or if you’re still on a coffee high, do them all.

Stage 1 - Mansfield to Jamieson, 36 km
Stage 2 - Jamieson-Licola Rd to end of bitumen and return, 13km
Stage 3 - Jamieson-Eildon Rd to Bald Hill Gap and return, 25 km
Stage 4 - Jamieson to 10 Mile return, 31 km
Stage 5 - If you’re still keen (and Darren Bakker ha ha), return to Mansfield 36 km

The intention is to meet at Jamieson township between 10-11am for coffee and again after the ride at Jamieson Brewery, Lakeside Hotel for lunch at 1pm.

For more information and to confirm your intention (either riding or helping out) please contact Allan Gerrans on 0427 250 035.

The club’s shout at Jamieson ride on Sunday…

The majority of the financial results have come in from the Mansfield Tour - and it looks very positive. We want to celebrate the results and thank you for volunteering your time. We’ll start by buying you lunch in Jamieson on Sunday after the social ride that Allan is organising.

All paid-up MMBCC members who attend will have all their food paid for by the club. We’ll even include the coffee before the ride too! Whether you’re a Bicycle Network member of the MMBCC, or an AusCycling member of the MMBCC, we’ll shout you a feed.

Contact Allan on 0427 250 035 and enjoy your lunch!

From dilemma to delirium in 24km

By Michael Pearce

Thursday night’s MMBCC Handicap Road Race started with a dilemma.

Diesel had been spilled on the southbound lane of Whitfield Road, just north or Dead Horse Lane, not far from the proposed finish at the Showgrounds on Mt Battery Road. Commissiaires Tony Copland and Bruce Halket decided to shorten the course to avoid the slippery, dangerous section of road.

The race was neutralised from the start at the Botanic Park through to Bridgestone Tyre Service and the new finish line was Kareen Court, reducing the usual 26km course to 24km.

Our group started steadily through the neutral zone and were set to accelerate after the tyre service when we almost ran over a tortoise on the road. Concerns that we were going so slow it might overtake us were dispelled and kudos to Jason Parker who moved our armour-plated friend off the road.

Then the lone Scratchie, Chris Miller, caught us and the pace went up a couple of notches. The race was super quick, upbeat and exciting even with a lot of the faster riders missing.

Miller and Darren Bakker got away over the Barwite Hill and looked capable of reeling in the lone Limit rider, Tony Morris, and taking the first two places.

But Elise Empey had other ideas! She sat on the front, doing 54km/h, in a courageous, selfless effort and dragged a few of us up to the leaders and in the process dropped most of the others.

Dave Moore again proved what an excellent handicapper he is as we caught the groups ahead of us along the last, fast, long straight and two small rises before the new finish line.

Bakker was seeing stars (ending in delirium?) trying to stay with Miller as our group caught them.

Scratch got up, making the 13 minute gap with about 1km to spare. Miller first ahead of me, Halket and Steve Duke; easily my hardest effort for the year.

Next week is the last race of the summer, so turn up and have some fun. It’s been a fantastic season and a huge thanks to all the marshals, officials and volunteers who turn up week after week.

Many thanks to Tony Copland for his pics and here are the results.

Jamieson Social Ride

SAVE THE DATE - SUNDAY 2ND APRIL 2023

This is an unsupported ride on open public roads in Jamieson area to be held on Sunday 2nd April 2023, including 5 stages. Please note you don’t have to complete all 5 stages, choose your own adventure. Maybe 1 is enough, or maybe 3, or if your still on a coffee high, do them all.

Stage 1 - Mansfield to Jamieson, 36 kms
Stage 2 - Jamieson, Licola rd to end of bitumen and return, 13kms.
Stage 3 - Jamieson-Eildon rd to Bald Hill Gap and return, 25 kms
Stage 4 - Jamieson to 10 Mile return, 31 kms
Stage 5 - If your still keen (and Darren Bakker ha ha), return to Mansfield 36 kms

The intention is to meet at Jamieson township between 10-11am for coffee and again at Jamieson Brewery, Lake Side Hotel for lunch at 1pm.

For more information and to confirm your intention (either riding or helping out), please get in touch with Allan Gerrans on 0427 250 035.

Hot Weekend News

Dirt Critters News

By Tim Ross and Luke Vivash

NEXT WEEK: Advance notice that next Tuesday Dirt Critters will ride alongside the Delatite River from Carter's Rd to Mirimbah and back. This is a wonderful, flattish ride thru the bush along a great piece of single-track. BOTH GROUPS will ride at the same time. We'll meet at the Carter's Rd picnic area at 4:30pm and I expect we'll be finished soon after 5:30pm (the Carter's Rd picnic area is easy to find on Google Maps; just off the Buller Rd past Sawmill Settlement; allow 25 minutes drive from Mansfield) . Parents are most welcome to bring their bikes and join the ride, or may prefer to walk out and back along the trail.

LAST WEEK: See below for photos of the two groups following their Enduro ride on Tuesday. Those kids who didn't go the wrong way recorded some seriously fast times! Quickest for the younger kids were Miles, Hugo and Jarrah; for the older group Paxton, Blake and Cooper.

RACING ANYONE? For any Dirt Critters who would like to try racing there are a few options. This Saturday morning the Alpine Cycling Club are running the next in their Junior MTB Race Series, in Albury. Tim attended the previous race in this series last month with his kids and found it to be well organised and fun (although with a 9am start, it's an early rise in Mansfield!). Short notice, but Google it if interested, and I'm happy to provide more details. Later in the year (starting in June) is the Victorian Schools Mountain Bike Series. Last year a small group of current and former Dirt Critters raced this series. I'll provide more details once they come out!

Dirt Crits catch-up

By Kate Empey

Senior Dirt Crits has been lucky to have Matt Empey set the course for the past two weeks, while his father had a brief holiday.

On March 7th the club ran a Gravity enduro, always popular with the younger riders. Due to a slight timing mishap the 14 riders rode a practice run followed by a race run. The course wound down from the highest point through some flat tight corners, which caught a couple of riders off guard resulting in a trip through the shrubbery.

Maintaining speed is crucial with any race but particularly important when the run only takes 3 to 5 minutes to complete. Matthew did come home fastest with a time of 2min 58sec. Close on his wheel was Nathan Dabbs and Ryder Chad tied for second with a time of 3min flat. They were followed closely in third by Ant Bateup.

Huge improvement seen by Leo Femor who is new to the club this season.

Tuesday 14th saw 15 riders turn up for the more traditional cross country racing. Matt once again set a new course and the riders split into A and B grades to test out the track. Although some protesting from a couple of younger riders wanting another gravity enduro night all seemed pretty happy with the course in the end with the mix of decending and climbing including a steep loose rocky ascent to the top of rubbish run before heading down to the start.

A grade completed six laps with our local XC champion Ruby Dobson dominating the race and finishing in 36:47 min to take out the top of the podium - a place she is now very familiar with. Second was Ant Bateup proving he is a force in both disciplines with a time of 40:40 min. To prove age is no obstacle came Bruce Halket in third with a time of 43:04min.

Due to the ease with which Finn Baker and Spencer Carmen raced their 4 laps in B grade they were given another lap and their own category pushing the rest of the riders into a newly created C grade. Spencer came in first with a time of 37:17 followed closely by Finn 37:41.

The rest of the riders fought it out for the C grade podium. Finishing the four laps in first place was Rueben Bateup (33:25min), Dave Bock in second (38:55) and Rylan Fox in third (44:07), the XC didn’t kill him after all. The younger riders really looked like they had been challenged as they rested up after the race. ( see photo). Thank you again to our timers and spectators.

Road race article headline

By Belinda Cipa

Text…Course 10 is a popular 25klm out and back ride for many Club Members with glorious rural views, undulating terrain, “punchy” climbs, and smooth flat time trial sections. Departing from Lords Oval along Malcolm Street, riders turn left at Howes Creek Road and follow to the end of the bitumen where Cummins Road intersects. A U-turn at this point sets riders to retrace back along Howes Creek Road, often giving those out front on handicap the opportunity to sight and assess the position of chasing groups before finishing just past the Malcolm Street intersection.

Head Marshall and “Trust my Numbers” Handicapper Dave Moore had all the equipment and running sheet ready for the 6.00 pm start. Commissaires were happy for Starter Mel Green to send Micala Jacobs off first and riding solo followed 4’ later by David Bock and John Eisner. Craig Wilson, Steve Curnow, and Tim Hall set off 2’30” later.  Next up and 1’30” later was Belinda Cipa and Adrian Dowd who got acquainted for the first time on the start line, and ably chaperoned 1’30” behind by Janine Appleton. Darren Bakker and Tim Ross followed behind with another 1’30” gap to close. The final group of Steve Duke, Ryder Chadd, and Bruce Halket had to contain their enthusiasm (or find it) for another 1’30” before launching their chase. With Steve Curnow suffering a puncture and having to abandon early and Ryder Chadd having “a very hard day out”, the race essentially boiled down to pairs chasing pairs at 1’30” intervals. Adrian and Belinda were the most successful pair finishing 1st and 2nd. Craig finished strongly for 3rd, Janine and Tim 4th and 5th, Darren just behind and 6th. Steve Duke claimed 6th and the prize money for the fastest time with Bruce 5” behind and placing 7th. Tim Hall finished a further 7” behind in 8th. Just under 1’30” behind were John Eisner and Dave Bock and, remarkably, with another time gap just under the miracle 1’30’ number Micala finished in a time of 58’12”. Ryder was the last and arguably the most relieved rider to cross the finish line.

Thank you to all Marshalls and the Mansfield Hotel for assisting, encouraging, and supporting our local races. Thank you to all drivers for your courtesy in passing us safely on these roads.

Here are the results and below is a pic showing three things: 1 - those Orcoda jerseys look alright; 2 - doesn’t Darren look as though he had fun; and 3 - how badly we need Tony back to take some decent photos!

Ride2School Day

Ride2School Day is just around the corner - Friday 24 March.

Here’s all the info you need from the TAC - let’s get a few more kids out of their parents car and onto a bike!

Finally…

A note from Annina Gallagher from AusCycling Victoria about the Mansfield Hotel Tour powered by Orcoda:

Thanks again for all your work and support for putting on another great event in Mansfield. The weather certainly didn’t disappoint either! 😊 I believe overall the event ran very smoothly, including the new stage 1 ITT.

Please pass on a massive thank you to all your volunteers as well as sponsors. They all did a fabulous job and riders very much appreciated it with very positive feedback from everyone I spoke to.

Save the Date - Sunday 2nd April 2023

This is an unsupported ride on open public roads in Jamieson area to be held on Sunday 2nd April 2023, including 5 stages.

Stage 1 - Mansfield to Jamieson, 36 kms
Stage 2 - Jamieson, Licola rd to end of bitumen and return, 13kms.
Stage 3 - Jamieson-Eildon rd to Bald Hill Gap and return, 25 kms
Stage 4 - Jamieson to 10 Mile return, 31 kms
Stage 5 - If your still keen (and Darren Bakker ha ha), return to Mansfield 36 kms

The intention is to meet at Jamieson township between 10-11am for coffee and again at Jamieson Brewery, Lake Side Hotel for lunch at 1pm.

For more information and to confirm your intention (either riding or helping out), please contact Allan Gerrans on 0427 250 035.

Mid March Mupdate

Sorry for the terrible aliteration but there’s lots to get through this week. Grab a cuppa and have a read…

2023 Mansfield Tour powered by Orcoda

(article to appear in the Mansfield Courier next week.)

By Bruce Halket

The weekend of the 4th and 5th of March saw the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club host the 2023 Mansfield Hotel Tour powered by Orcoda. After a few days of catching up on some sleep, it’s time for the Race Director to reflect on a successful opening to the Victorian Road Series

236 entrants, plus family and friends, travelled to Mansfield from all over Victoria, and interstate, for the race and it ran like clockwork all weekend. Feedback from entrants has been terrific, with many commenting on how well organised the race was and how welcomed they felt visiting Mansfield. In particular, the new Individual Time Trial Course around Merinda Park was a real winner! For the last few years we’ve used Graves Road which necessitated a road closure - we wanted to be less disruptive to residents this year, so changed to Merinda Park course because we didn’t need to close the road. 

No race like this would be possible without a generous team of sponsors. The whole MMBCC would like to thank Lesa and Steve Brown of the Mansfield Hotel; Grant, Simon and Susan from Orcoda Logistics (FYI, Orcoda is the ASX-listed logistics company which organises transport on Mt Buller during the ski season and they’re keen to be involved in the local community); Narelle and Shannon Rademaker of All Terrain Cycles, Kate and Dave Empey of Paton Air Helicopters; Ant Bateup and the team at Mansfield Crushing; as well as Emma and Matt Darcy of Krush. Plus there’s also Ventou clothing, Lezyne and Goodyear.

I’d really like to give a special thanks to the Tour organising committee who made the weekend so easy to organise: Chief Volunteer Rangler Melanie Green, MC J-Rod Jarrod Appleton, Grand Logistics Poobah Dave Jagger, Purveyor of Permits Alex Green and General Dog’s Body Cam Dobson. And a big thanks to the MMBCC Minister of Finance, Janine Appleton.

The highlight of the weekend for the MMBCC was seeing a local member win on General Classification for the first time ever! Talia Appleton dominated Womens A-grade, winning two stages and finishing second in the other, to take a commanding win. Congratulations Talia!

Congratulations also to Chris Miller, Steve Duke and Jeremy Wah. And to ‘adopted’ locals Andy Garrett, Jake Lay, Chris McKnight and prodigal son Dan Purcell.

A huge thank you needs to go to all the MMBCC members and The Third Hand who volunteered to help out over the weekend: sweeping gravel off corners, helping riders with registration, setting up and packing down starts and finishes, holding riders at the Time Trial start, driving Lead Cars, marshalling corners, officiating, collecting transponders… there’s a lot of work involved and it was all done brilliantly!

Finally, I’d like to thank local motorists for being patient on the roads over the weekend. The club realises a road tour can be an inconvenience but we really try to minimise any disruptions - and Mansfield motorists are renowned for their patience, which helps us attract such a large number of visitors. Those 236 entrants and friends last week brought with them an estimated $100,000 in economic activity! So while delays are unavoidable and unfortunate, the club believes any inconvenience is far outweighed by the financial benefit to local tourism.

Many thanks to Jean-Pierre Ronco for the majority of the images above.

Dirt Critters

By Tim Ross

Dirt Critters continues each Tuesday afternoon at Rifle Butts reserve.  The younger group (grade 3 and below) meet at 4pm, while the older group (grades 4 to 6) meet at 4:45pm.  The kids ride the various trails in and around Rifle Butts, exploring and practicing their skills.  Next week will see us all doing an enduro course designed by Luke. 

Some of the younger group after a skills session up at the saddle, Tuesday 28/02

More Junior Racing

By an anonymous but extremely proud Dad

Club members Ben & Alastair Ross travelled to Thredbo earlier this week to compete in the Australian MTB Inter-Schools. 

The event was sold out with hundreds of kids from grade 3 upwards thronging the village, racing both downhill and XC.  Wind played havoc with the downhill schedule, with lifts on wind-hold for much of Monday and all Tuesday. 

Both boys rode the XC race on the Friday Flat loop; the course featured a brutal start straight up the ski slope before reverting to single track. Both boys had great rides, Alastair placing 16th in Division 5 (grade 3,4) and Ben decisively winning Division 4 (grade 5,6).

The event is open to all, and all the kids gain inspiration and enjoyment from riding with their peers.

Ben & Alastair before the XC start, Ben atop the XC Division 4 podium.

Steve Curnow’s article

By Steve Curnow

Thursday nights cycle ride got off to a late start due to a late trailer pick up. Thanks goes to Cameron Dobson for stepping in to take up the job. It was perfect weather for the ride, not too hot and not a lot of wind. All went well on the first part of the journey, nice smooth turns on the relatively flat going on the way to the Coomesberg on Old Tolmie Road, but that’s where it came unravelled. The Coomesberg inflicted a bad case of dropsy. Terry dropped Micala, Conrick dropped Selina, Steve Curnow dropped Will, Janine dropped Adrian and Rob was dropped by his group. While on the top of Coomesberg Steve Curnow was determined to catch Conrick before the top of the berg and did so. They had a social drink of water before getting on with the job at hand catching up to Micala before the stony section, where she got on and to their surprise stuck with them to the end. Tony didn’t get rounded up until just before the left turn into Mt Battery Road. He came an honourable third with Conrick and Steve Curnow vying for first and second place. Conrick piped Steve on the finish line to come first in a gallant effort.

Micala Jacobs came in fourth followed by Janine Appleton in fifth place and Ruby coming in sixth. Well done Ruby for producing the fastest time overall.

Once again, thanks goes to the marshals, Dave Moore the scratch master and the marshal that shouted the bar.

Here are the results - sorry, no pics this week.

Speaking of steve curnow…

Steve and Lise travelled to Forrest a couple of weeks ago for the Otway Odyssey. And they both won their categories. Congratulations!

Summer Road Race Series

It’s hotting up at the top of the ladder!

Here are the top ten points scores with only a few weeks left.

1 Ryder Chadd 88
1 Mick Pearce 88
3 Janine Appleton 86
4 Craig Wilson 70
5 Steve Duke 59
5 Micala Jacob 59
7 Tony Morris 54
8 Steve Brown 53
8 Rob Skinner 53
10 Andy Garrett 50

By the way, this is the last time you’ll see a points score until the final scores are known.

Some feedback from the Tour

By Julie Hooper

I just wanted to say thank you again to yourself , your team , all the selfless volunteers and everyone involved - families of organisers and volunteers and the locals - for putting this race on and organising a brilliant weekend of racing.

Thank you also for allowing me to ride as a paracyclist in c grade and to be all inclusive x it really means a lot - i never thought 5 years ago when i got crushed by a truck at work that i would ever walk again let alone teach myself to ride again. Thanks to amazing people like yourself putting these races on and treating everyone as equals i was able to fulfill a dream this weekend of not just racing with women whose both legs work but of being an active and competitive racer in the bunch - attacking and constantly having a go. My life is so different now - but thanks to yourself and team and everyone involved i felt like the Julie i was 20 years ago.

You are all amazing - i managed to throw up over myself 4 times in the last 5 km today but the amazing support and kindness and compassion shown by everyone i have met and spoken to this weekend - just gave me the strength to carry on and push through when my chronic pain was screaming, my good leg was tiring and my sij had popped out.

Thank you all for making me so happy this weekend, for all the smiles and the friendly encouraging comments and for being the amazing beautiful and good humans you are by selflessly giving up your time to allow people like myself to follow our passion and dreams.

Please know you have all made a beautiful and positive difference in my life this weekend and words can not express how grateful and appreciative i am to each and every one of you. I cant wait for next year.

Go and enjoy some RnR you have all earnt it.

Stay safe and God bless you all.

My kindest and heartfelt and genuine regards, Julie (Hooper)

World XCO Ranking

Check out who has stormed into the top 10 of the “Riders Ranking Cross Country Olympic Women Junior”, a super effort by Rudy Dobson moving 4 places in the rankings, well done!!!

No road racing last night - but here is last weeks race report

New bike, first win

By Selina Green

On Thursday 23rd February – a hot humid evening. Sixteen riders headed to the Botanic Park for the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club handicap race. The first riders to leave the park were Tony Morris and Micala Jacobs. They headed off at speed with the next bunch of four riders which included Ian Conrick, John Eisner, Dave Bock, and Selina Green. This group supported new-to-riding Selina into their group and became a force to be reckoned with as the race headed towards the Long Lane turnaround.

Next to leave was Adrian Dowd on his new bike with Craig (Will) Wilson. Followed by the group of three Rob Skinner, Darren Bakker, and Janine Appleton. Our final group with 12 minutes to find were Michael Pearce, Bruce Halket, Ryder Chadd, Steve Duke, and Jake Lay.

All groups worked well together gradually closing gaps with Adrian 'new bike' Dowd the eventual winner with a sprint to the finish closely followed by Selina Green and Tony Morris. Ian Conrick and Jake Lay, with the fastest time on the night, rounded out the top five.

We would like to thank the marshals and commissaires who did as usual a fantastic job to keep us all safe. Many thanks to Tony Copland for his race images.

MMBCC News Update

Dirt Critters

By Dave Empey

Another gravity enduro was held at Rifle Butts MTB Park Tuesday night. The race consisted of two runs down the same track. 

As usual, the racing was tight with positions 1, 2, and 3 all on the same second. Eventually, after a count back, it was Zac Empey who prevailed after a busy week of racing Downhill at the national titles in Thredbo. Zac posted the fastest time down the track with a 2.17 closely followed by Ant Bateup on 2.18 and another second in arrears Elijah McGuigan on 2.19. 

Rounding out the top five were Ryder Chad and Charlie Dobson. 

Steve Curnow chose to rest his legs in anticipation of destroying them this coming weekend at the Otway Odyssey. Good luck for the coming weekend Steve. 

It is great to see not just our younger members having a crack but the older guys as well. 

Next week it will be back to the pain cave with an XC race at Rifle Butts.

Dirt Critters is for primary school kids

Dirt Critters is up and going for the year.  Dirt Critters is for primary school kids who enjoy riding and want to gain experience and skills in a fun environment. The group meets at Rifle Butts reserve on Tuesday afternoons with juniors (grade 3 and below) on at 4pm and the older group at 4:45pm.  Tim and Luke lead the group with help from parents.  

Junior Racing in Bright

Club members Ben & Alastair Ross travelled to Bright on Saturday to join in the Alpine Cycling Club’s junior MTB series.  This 6 race series over the summer features events in Yackandandah, Beechworth, Bright, Mt Beauty, and Albury.  Kids from U5 to U15 from all over the North East participate, mainly in XCO style events.  At Bright almost 100 kids entered, with the biggest contingent in the U9s. The races are well organised, fun, and focus on participation.  To top off their day, Ben placed 1st in U13, while Alastair placed 3rd in U9.

MMBCC News Update

Dirt Crits Cross Country - finally!

Seventeen racers at Dirt Crits on Tuesday night for a Dobson-organised XC night.

A-grade did four laps.

Ant Bateup started well but was overcome by a bunch of far-too-energetic-for-their-own-good teenagers until Ryder Chadd punctured.

Charlie Dobson took the win ahead of Archie Smith with Bateup hanging on for third. Elijah McGuigan took fourth ahead of comeback kid Bruce Halket.

In B-grade, Asha managed to arrive late for A-grade so she streeted the field and ensured he won’t be allowed in B-grade again. Reuben Bateup was second ahead of Rylan Fox, Dave Bock, and Charlie Hall.

Next week it’s back to Gravity racing.

Here are the results.

Brownie Takes the Bakker Plumbing Handicap

By Mick Pearce

It was the Bakker Plumbing Handicap at Jamieson on Thursday last week - the highlight of the MMBCC season and the most popular 28km race track in the High Country.

In the calm (before the storm?) 27 degree conditions at the start, all the groups huddled separately discussing tactics, while my group of Darren Bakker and Janine Appleton discussed what to have for dinner at the Jamieson Brewery afterwards.

Handicapper Dave Moore… nice job! 16 riders, 7 groups; a fast race loomed for sure.

Tony Copland, the Commissionaire, was busy doing safety checks of riders and bikes to ensure a safe course to race on. Kudos to you and the other officials and helpers who made the night a success.

At the halfway mark we were going ok but it looked likely we’d be caught by the chase group behind us - Steve Brown, Bruce Halket, and Steve Duke.

We didn’t see much of the Scratch group; Andy Garrett had to do most of the race on his own after Jake Lay punctured early on. (Huge kudos to both Andy and Jake who drove all the way from Euroa to race!)

And we didn’t see much of the Block group either! Chris Miller rode mostly solo after Ryder Chadd’s legs succumbed to a big day of school sport.

Front markers Tony Morris, Micala Jacob, the Two Daves (Jagger and Bock) then Craig Wilson and Adrian Dowd (welcome to the club mate) had pace but couldn’t match our speed on the way back to Jamo.

So Brown, Halket, Duke, Bakker, Appleton, and myself were left to battle it out for the last 2km.

Steve Brown took the win (in the fastest time of 47.10) ahead of me in second. Then came Steve Duke in 3rd, Darren Bakker 4th with Janine Appleton 5th seemingly riding effortlessly.

The rest of the top ten were Halket 6th, Wilson 7th, Dowd 8th, Miller 9th, and Andy Garrett 10th.

Great finish to the night with a presentation, dinner, and a beverage at the Brewery.

Many thanks to Tony Copland and Jenni Sparnon for the images and here are the results.

Next week sees the MMBCC racing on the Whitfield Road, turning at Long Lane, heading around the Barwite Loop, and finishing on Graves Road.

Highline Gravity Enduro Race Report 7/2/23

By Dave Empey

Everyone turned up because it was a Gravity Enduro race night, forgetting that they needed to ride to the top of South Blue Range. There were questions regarding being shuttled up. However, these were met with deaf ears.  We had 20 racers and racing was tight.  The race was incident free with the Dobsons managing to avoid catastrophe both whilst racing and in the warm down.  Two challenging tracks were utilized. In the end, it was Archie Smith who took the win with a combined time of 3.37, in second position it was Ryder Chadd on 3.46, third Elijah McGuiggan on 3.47 followed by Zac Empey on 3.50, and rounding out the top 5 was Elise Empey on 4.00.  many thanks to Tamara and Louie for allowing the club to utilise their property.  Thanks to Mel and Kate for battling the 747 size mosquitoes and timing. Click here for the race results.

Road Race Report

Dark Knight - Howes Creek Handicap

By Chris Miller.

The night was dark and stormy as the MMBCC gathered for the Howes Creek Handicap. It was a brave group of souls who somewhat reluctantly kitted up for an evening of racing knowing that their tiny layer of lycra was barely enough protection against the roaring southerly and black clouds on the horizon. As I left the bike shop Tim Ross eye-balled me saying "I hope you checked the weather radar as we will need a spinnaker tonight!!"

Capital Mel Green ran the show at the start line with strict instructions to hold your lines and watch for strong wind gusts. 3, 2, 1, and Tony Morris was off with a 5min lead then Jacob, Bocky, Jagger, Dr Eisner rolled out and were the first bunch to take on the headwind. Tim Hall, Belinda Cipa, and Bella Green were next off with a nod and wink from Capital Mum. Off next with a 4 min gap to chase was the engine room of the race with Bruce "The Don" Halket, Cannon Ball Bakker , Tim "Spinnaker" Ross, Elise "What is a road bike?" Empey, Janine "I'll show you what a road bike can do" Appleton. With a 3 min gap chase the next group welcomed the local Member for Tourism Chris McKnight to the MMBCC with Chris Miller as his only wingman as handy fella Matt Empey had been called out by the CFA for a fire at Balmattum. Last but not least was the crack Scratch Squad with Jake "Youth" Lay, Andrew "Freight Train" Garrett, and local legend Josh "Legs and Lungs" Hopwood.

The tempo needed to be kept high as the bunches took on the headwind out to Howes Creek Rd. All were too scared to look up and see the weather front and black clouds getting ever closer. We all navigated the Howes Creek Rd intersection safely thanks to the marshals. Allen Gerrans, Rob Skinner, and Mike Peace.

The cross winds continued to strengthen as we headed east with McKnight providing some excellent turns on the front with Miller and maintaining the gap back to the scratch pack. We took on the rolling hills and winding course before we saw the first rider. Tony Morris was doing a great job staying at the front of the race. Then we passed a few more groups that were all ahead of us before the turn at Cummins Rd. That’s when the rain started with some heavy raindrops on the course. Slowly McKnight and Miller bridged the gaps of the groups encouraging others to join the train home. Soon we caught the engine room bunch with Bruce the Don jumping on the wheel and leading his group to do the same. The rain was now heavy as we hit the rolling hills and steep pinches. Everyone did a great job cresting together and then supporting each other on the descents.

The storm was now really upon us with heavy wind gusts and thick pouring rain. During the long final descent, I could barely see through my sunnies as the rain was so heavy. Everyone did a great job riding safely in very tough conditions and looking after each other. With the final rollers to go Miller put in a final push but from nowhere came the great local legend Josh " Legs and Lungs" Hopwood who used his momentum to pass and gap Miller just enough to hold him off for the win. Followed closely by Andrew Garrett, Chris McKnight, Jake Lay, Bruce the Don, Eilise Empey, Belinda Cipa, Darren Bakker, Dr John, Tony Morris, Tim Ross, Bella Green, Tim Hall, Dave Jagger, and Bocky.

Well done Joshy as you rode the perfect race and especially well down to all riders taking on the challenging conditions, looking after each other, and all getting home safely.
Huge kudos to all marshals for volunteering and ensuring our presence is known while on the roads.

Many thanks to Tony Copland for his race images.

Early Feb News

There’s a fair bit going on this week…

Dirt Crits

What was scheduled as a Cross Country night at Rifle Butts Reserve last Tuesday was hijacked by the young nad fit “We don’t want to ride up hills, it’s too hard!” crowd and was therefore changed at the last minute to a night of Gravity racing.

With Matt Empey working it was left to Elijah McGuigan to take the win, much to the chagrin of second placed Archie Smith with Ryder Chadd in third. Detailed results might appear eventually.

In celebration of his win, Elijah went back up to Highline on Wednesday night, crashed badly landing a jump and concussed himself! Get well soon Elijah.

Festivities continue next week; the calendar says it’ll be a Gravity Enduro at Highline.

Dirt Critters is BACK for Term 1

We meet at Rifle Butts Reserve at 4:30pm on TUESDAY.

Dirt Critters is for primary school age kids (but anyone who has just started high school is welcome back) who enjoy riding.  The aim is to gain experience and learn new skills in a fun environment.

So welcome back to all our riders from last year, and feel free to bring along your friends.

There is NO COST to attend each week - the only requirement is that all riders must have an AusCycling membership. Click here to go to the Join Now page and follow the AusCycling links. An AusCycling membership is valid for 12 months and costs $60 for 7yo and under; $85 for 8 to 12yo. For those who haven’t previously had a membership, a free, four-week ‘come and try’ membership is available.

Parents can help in lots of ways, from riding with us to cutting up oranges to marking the roll - please make yourselves known to us if you'd like to help!

Contact dirtcrits@gmail.com or call Luke on 0455 604 785 for more information.

Mansfield Tour 4 & 5 March

The Mansfield Tour is just around the corner. As usual, Bruce is pleading for volunteers to make sure the event runs as smoothly as usual. If you were involved in 2022, thanks very much and we’ll put you on the list for the same job in 2023, if that’s ok. Mel Green will confirm it all soon.

There’s a big change this year - a new Time Trial course for Stage 1. Click on the Tour page for more details.

Another change is… polo shirts have been ordered!. They look a bit more professional than t-shirts. And you can turn the collar up to protect your neck from the sun.

All volunteers to the Tour will receive a new cotton club polo, produced by Ventou. And MMBCC members who volunteered for the VDHS race at Mt Buller in January, are eligible for one too!

FNN

Friday Night News

Change for next Thursday

We had planned a road race next Thursday, Australia Day, but we’ve decided to cancel. The roads around here are a bit too busy during ‘holidays’ - so we’re doing a bunch ride instead!

Meet at the Botanic Park at 8, ride around the Merinda Way loop, then along Ogilivies Road and Jamo Road out onto the Barwite Loop then to wherever you want - Old Tolmie Road, Whitfield Road or back to Mansfield.

The plan is to be back at the Botanic Park…

Official council Oz Day celebrations start at the Botanic Park from 8:30am with free barbecue breakfast courtesy of Rotary Club and a coffee from Jan Forrest until 10:30. See you there!

First race of 2023

By Mick Pearce

The first road race back after the Xmas break saw numbers down a little, to 14 legends, as there’s a few in Adelaide to watch the Tour Down Under and a few still recovering from a massive downhill MTB event on Mt Buller last weekend.

Those that did race who knew the wind was going to be a nuisance on the return leg after the turnaround at Sawpit Gully Road.

There were six groups - Tony Morris off first solo, not a great course to be on your own but well done on a good ride Tony. Next group was Dave Bock and John Eisner; then Tim Hall and Steve Curnow all keen to get going.

My group was next Rob Skinner, Bruce Halket and Tim Ross; then Steve Duke and Chris Miller were the ‘Block group. The Scratch group of Talia Appleton, Andrew Garret and Juke Lay were looking very confident.

The outward leg, with the roaring southerly was fast but didn’t see many positional changes, except our group dropped Skinner - sorry mate.

At the three quarter distance mark, things started getting interesting. (Seriously, the wind was a shocker but knowing Scratch was catching we just pushed on.) Halket blew a phoopha valve and dropped off just after we caught Hall and Eisner near MacLeods Lane. Then Ross dropped off near the new estates. Then Eisner near Dead Horse Lane.

At the last corner in Mt Battery Road it was just Tim Hall and myself left to battle out up to the finish line at the Showgrounds. Well done to Tim Hall for sprinting past me for the win.

Appleton came from seemingly nowhere to snatch third and fastest time of 39.11. Although she did pay for her effort, stopping shortly after the line to deposit the contents of her tummy by the side of the road, earning herself the first Bakker-Ross Award for 2023.

Then came Miller, Duke, the Seymour boys Garrett and Lay 6th and 7th followed by Ross, Halket (first race back after a long spell, good effort) and Eisner rounded out the top ten. Here are the results.

The rest were very close behind, showing the handicapper, Dave Moore, is doing his job well.

Thanks to the officials, marshals and volunteers for a well-organised, safe race and a really fun night.

The post-mortems began even before we got back to the pub for presentations. Image: Bruce Halket.

Mansfield Tour 4 & 5 March

The Mansfield Tour is just around the corner. As usual, Bruce is pleading for volunteers to make sure the event runs as smoothly as usual. If you were involved in 2022, thanks very much and we’ll put you on the list for the same job in 2023, if that’s ok. Mel Green will confirm it all soon.

There’s a big change this year - a new Time Trial course for Stage 1. Click on the Tour page for more details.

Another change is… polo shirts are coming. They look a bit more professional than t-shirts. And you can turn the collar up to protect your neck from the sun.

All volunteers to the Tour will receive a new cotton club polo, produced by Ventou.

Dirt Crits is back!

Next Tuesday 31 January will be the first night of Dirt Crits of 2023.

It’s a Cross Country night at Rifle Butts MTB Park.

Hello MMBCC members,

I’m reaching out for volunteers to help with the Victorian Enduro Tour @ Highline, 28-29 January 2023.

The event is at Highline MTB Park, off Riflebutts Rd, Mansfield.

 We desperately need help to deliver the event safely with track marshals on the course on Saturday and Sunday.

Track marshaling is simply keeping an eye on the riders as they ride the course, being a touch point for the public, and informing me via radio if riders need any assistance.

You don’t need any special skills, just comfortable shoes, a big hat, and a mobile phone.

Lunch is provided to track marshals and you will be placed in a draw for some awesome prizes!

We have other roles available and signing up for any shift will help us immensely 😊

Please sign up at this link. Your contribution will make a huge difference to your local community!

Thanks in advance, 

Jules Hill, Highline Volunteer Manager. Phone: 0428 030 011

Tour de Trail might be looking for you

The Friends of the Great Victorian Rail Trail are organising the Tour de Trail on Sunday 12 March (Labour Day Long Weekend).

They are looking for a first aider, preferably one who can ride a motorbike to help cover the rail trail more easily. If that’s you, please call Ross Vaughan on 5775 1332.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone.

New MTB jersey

You’ve only got a few days left to order club kit. And now a mountain bike jersey is available!

Click here to visit the Ventou website - don’t forget to email Bruce to get the access code.

Last chance…

The MMBCC round of the Victorian DownHill Series is on at Mt Buller this weekend. And there are 350 entries!

It’s going to be a huge weekend as it’s also part of the National Series and an Australian Team selection race. 

We are still looking for a few more volunteer marshals. If anyone can assist, please email Mel Green. 

And on Saturday, when it’s due to be 38 degrees down here in Mansfield, it’s forecast to be a lovely 24 on the hill. So escape the heat and give us a hand.

Finally…

A couple of notes for roadies:

• The Stoneleigh Road - Merinda Way link has opened. So a safe, new 10km loop is open;

• A reminder that road racing starts again next Thursday; and

• The following week we’re racing on Australia Day this year!

Final update before Xmas

With yet another cancelled Dirt Crits due to rain, the only mtb news this week is…

Call for VDHS volunteers

The annual Mt Buller Downhill is being held on 14 and 15 January 2023. This summer’s race will be an Australian Team selection race, be part of the national series and is the first round of the Victorian Downhill Series. 

We are again looking for volunteer marshals for the event. If anyone can assist, please email Mel Green. 

The event has almost sold out and Australia’s best racers will be in attendance. Hopefully, the weather gods will smile on the event this year.

Team Appleton take a 1-2

By Talia Appleton

After wet and wintry weather, 18 MMBCC cyclists were glad to be greeted with dry roads and the sun shining on Thursday night for the final handicap of the year. Regarded by many as the toughest course on the calendar, the race finished up the gruelling O’Hanlons Road climb, and with a noticeable headwind on Howes Creek Road towards the turnaround it was sure to be a solid night out for all.

First away was Tony Morris, followed by three groups of three riders. The block group consisted of Steve Brown, Talia Appleton and Ruby Dobson, with Josh Hopwood hot on their heels going off Scratch. Brown set off at a blistering pace down Malcolm Street while Dobson and Appleton kept grinning at each other, knowing we were in for a tough race. Our group was working nicely and it wasn't long before the group of Steve Duke, Jarrod Appleton and Dave Moore came into sight in the distance. However, Dobson had a seatpost malfunction and was forced to abandon Appleton and Brown, leaving only the two to chase.

Rolling long turns, Appleton and Brown made the catch before the turnaround, with only Duke and Moore able to stay with the pace. Brown pulled a massive turn to drag Appleton to the base of the climb, motoring past stragglers on the fast tail-wind section. As the four of us hit the base of the climb, all riders were in view - many of whom were already halfway up the climb. One of these was Janine Appleton, who had broken away with Tim Hall. Janine had too large a lead over all of the chasers, taking the win in emphatic fashion.

Mick Pearce paced his climb well, finishing in third. Dave Moore and Steve Duke rounded out the top five.

After a stellar solo effort, Hopwood finished the night with the well deserved fastest time of 37 minutes and 13 seconds.

Thanks to the commissarie and volunteers for another fabulous night of racing to round out the 2022 season.

Following the race, the riders and club members enjoyed a Christmas dinner and celebrations at the Mansfield Hotel.

Many thanks to Tony Copland for his race images and here are the results.

The top ten in the Road Race Summer Series points scores so far…

Ryder Chadd 84, Janine Appleton 65, Craig Wilson 58, Mick Pearce 47, Micala Jacobs 46, Rob Skinner 38, Steve Brown 37, Steve Duke 36, Andrew Garrett 30, Bella Green 28.

Merry Christmas

That’s it for MMBCC News for 2022. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all…

SAU 11 December

Sunday Arvo Update

Invitation to all MMBCC members - Xmas break-up

The committee of the MMBCC would like to invite all members to our annual Christmas party to be held this Thursday 15 December from 7.30pm at the Mansfield Hotel. 

The club is providing a couple of platters of nibbles for starters with a small tab on the bar. Everyone is encouraged to order something from the delicious menu to support our amazing long term sponsors, The Mansfield Hotel. Once again we would like to formally acknowledge the support from Lesa and Steve Brown over 2022, with meal vouchers at every road race, a venue to reflect on the drama's of the race or "could have beens" and catch up with familiar faces, whether racing or not. The Mansfield Hotel is also a major sponsor of the Mansfield Hotel Tour, which is planned again for 2023 on 4 and 5 March.

It would be especially wonderful to see some more mountain bikers there, so the club is paying for any Under 18 mountain biker's meal (must be a member - see Janine before ordering).

RSVP by 9pm on Tuesday 13 December to Janine via email.   

So come along for a feed and a drink and we’ll raise a glass to celebrate the start of our mid-season hiatus.

Matt gets revenge

By Dave Empey

Back to Gravity Enduro this week and a change of trails. This week’s course was a little more technical than the previous tracks but everyone raced well.

Racing was certainly tight across the entire field with less than one and a half minutes separating the entire field and just 13 seconds separating the top five.  Matthew Empey got revenge for last week’s drubbing by Nathan Dabbs in the XC, with Sam Mosley, Archie Smith, and Zac Empey hot on their heels. 

Here are the results.

Next will be the last race before the Xmas break and, as most have requested from Santa, it will be another Gravity Enduro.

Club kit open for orders

Ventou club kit is now available. Here is the link you need - email Bruce for the code to get access.

For those that ride off-road more often than on- there is a Ventou-designed mtb jersey coming soon. (As soon as the design is finalised, we’ll publish it here.)

Sales close online at the end of the year with delivery expected about mid-February.

Ian Conrick. Some say he’s a good lookin’ rooster. Here at MMBCC Towers, we think he looked good like this in 2007 but now it’s looking a bit too retro. Time to update the club kit Ian. (John, Dave - you blokes too!)

Don’t forget the ’S’

By Bruce Halket

The MMBCC’s first foray out to Jamieson this season was a ripper! Thirteen entrants made the trip south for 28km of quiet, undulating road to Sailor Bill’s Creek and back on Thursday 8 December.

First away was Micala ‘Don’t forget the S’ Jacobs and Tony Morris off Limit, 18 minutes ahead of Scratch. The conversation club of Dave Jagger and John Eisner followed at 10.30, with Steve Curnow going solo off seven minutes; next was Janine Appleton, Bella Green and Craig Wilson off 5.30; Rob Skinner and Mick Pearce off 2 minutes and Scratch saw Steve Brown, Steve Duke and Dave Moore start last.

First hiccup of the night was Bella Green who only realised just before the start that she didn’t have a tail light on. By the time she got back to the car and installed it, Janine and Wil had already started and Bella had to ride alone. She was caught not long after the fast-starting pair of Skinner and Pearce and these three were looking good during the southbound leg till Bella got dropped.

Appleton and Wilson caught Curnow before the turn and hunted down Jagger and Eisner not long after.

In the meantime, the Scratchies were steadily making ground on those ahead and Green even managed to hang on to them for a while near Sailor Bill’s Creek.

But Limit just kept plugging away and maintained a healthy lead throughout.

Coming to the finish line, opposite Sappers Track in Jamieson, Jacobs powered away from Morris to take an emphatic win, ensuring we won’t spell her surname wrong again. A mere 30 seconds later, Steve Brown stormed across the line to take third in the fastest time of 48.02.

The top ten was rounded out by Duke, Pearce, Appleton, Moore, Skinner, Wilson and Jagger.

Many thanks to Mel, Charlie and Darren for marshalling and to the Jamieson Brewery for the meal and presentations - until the power went out.

No photos this week as Tony was away and Bruce wasn’t organised enough to take any. Here are the results.

Next week’s final race of 2023 is around the Barwite Loop and is followed by the MMBCC Xmas Break-up at the Mansfield Hotel. All members are invited to celebrate the start of our mid-season hiatus; a break to either work on some fitness and skill before the second half of the season or to burn off the calories from Xmas.

Summer Edition - Finally it's Summer!!!

Dirt Crits

By David Empey

First XC in a while and we had dry tracks and fast racing with Nathan Dabbs taking the win in A grade ahead of Matthew Empey and Ryder Chadd. The pace and track were bit much for some who resorted to attempting to jump because it was getting a little tough at the pointy end. A spoon full of concrete is needed by some of our junior men.

B Grade was a hard-fought affair with the newly revitalised and trash talking mayor of Jamieson taking the win. Might be stepping up into A grade next week. Bax was closely followed by two young guns in Tom and Asher.

It was great to see some new faces at the race and numbers have been strong along with the competition. Next week is another Gravity Enduro so those soft little juniors won’t have to raise much of a sweat or push through a pain barrier.

Click here for the results.

Road Race

By Ryder Chadd

The first day of summer and what a great afternoon it was, with a beautiful temperature and a debatable easterly wind, great conditions for racing and the Rob Curtis memorial. Some of the faster riders stating the wind was certainly more challenging than what riders up the front were saying, especially towards the end heading over the last couple hills into town with the setting sun getting into the riders vision. 

Riders Andrew Garrett and Steve Brown were sent off scratch 18 minutes behind the limit riders, finishing 8th and 11th. Andrew getting the fastest time overall on the 30km Whitfield Road course. 

The block riders made up of Ryder Chadd, Steve Duke and Dave Moore started at 15 minutes and 30 seconds. Until about the last 7km when Andrew and Steve caught up. 

Michael Pearce and Darren Bakker started at 12 minutes and 30 seconds, Michael being able to catch the group ahead of Janine Appleton and Justin Berry, but Janine was able to edge Michael out at the end finishing 5th and 6th. Justin finishing 15th and Darren in 18th. 

The 8-minute group of Craig Wilson, Bella Green and Steve Curnow had a strong ride until they spread out through the course with Craig pulling away from Bella and Steve being behind them. In the end Craig was the first to cross the finish line with Bella finishing third being overtaken in the sprint by Ryder Chadd trying to get out of the job of the weekly write up, with Steve finishing in 17th.

The second group was made up of Ian Conrick, Dave Jagger and John Eisner having a strong ride throughout the afternoon. Unfortunately, John had to stop with a DNF after a spoke snapped in one of his wheels, so it left Ian and Dave to continue without him. Going up the hill toward the showgrounds Ian and Bella had a good fight until Bella pulled away so Ian was left for third until Ryder flew past, leaving him for fourth. Dave Jagger cruising in for 12th. 

That left the limit riders that started off first, with Dave Bock, Micala Jacobs, Tony Morris, and Selina Green. Their effort was strong in the first half until the turnaround point when the faster riders put the hammer down splitting everyone up. Dave Bock finished in 10th, Micala in 13th, Tony just behind Micala in 14th and Selina in 16th.

Click here for the results. Many thanks to Tony Copland for the great images. Have you ever wondered how Tony captures such great photos? Check him out from last year’s Jamieson handicap road race, which is this week’s road race, entries via entryboss.

Tour of Bright

Keep an eye out for the ToB report coming out this week.

It’s MMBCC Ventou Club kit time again!

If you need/want more club kit (especially the winter jacket - it's great!) please get in contact so we can gauge interest in getting the online portal open again. So far there are two jerseys, a jacket, and a pair of knicks wanted. But we need to get to 10 pieces.

If you’re interested, please let Bruce know via email.

Stop Press - Talia’s Tasmanian Tour

Talia APPLETON WINS J19 NRS…

In the Stage 1 road race, Talia crashed with 10km to go; a crash in the peloton sent her off the road into a ditch and over the bars. With only minor grazes she chased back to the bunch. It diminished her punch for the finale, a 3km climb. But she was able to hold onto the leading group finishing 13th on the same time as the winner.

The Stage 2 road race was 78km long with 1900m of climbing. It was a very tough race of attrition and while the winner skipped away to win by over 5 minutes, Talia was next over the line in second.

Stage 3 was the Crit which Talia won for J19 and was 6th overall.

So Talia finished 2nd J19 overall at the Tour of Tasmania; but, more importantly, this gives her enough points to be crowned the winner overall of the J19 National Road Series!! Here are the results.

Congratulations Talia - brilliant result!

End-of-Nov News

No Dirt Crits this week with the state of Rifle Butts Reserve and more rain forcing another cancellation. But DC7 will be on next week (fingers crossed) with the next Gravity Enduro.

In the meantime, here’s what else has been happening…

Buzz on Buller Road

By Mick Pearce

A buzz and a bit of chaos at the start of this week’s race. The choice was “Vote at the early polling booth or go ride the bike fast with 16 others” - it was an easy decision for me! 

Apart from a few tetchy traffic marshals at the polling booth, it was a perfect night for racing on the out and back 25 km course on the Mt Buller Road, with a finish a few hundred metres after turning left up the Jamieson Road.

Our group, Darren Bakker, Tim Ross, Rob Skinner, Ryder Chadd and myself rode well but a bit of ‘surging’ with the nervousness of the  faster guys catching was on our minds. 

We lost Tim and Darren before the turn but managed to catch the group ahead of us; Janine Appleton and then John Eisner managing to hang on for the ride back to town.

Block splintered before the turnaround with Chris Miller trying to get to our group without Steve Brown or Dave Moore. It never quite worked.

The Scratch group of Josh Hopwood and Andrew Garret rounded up the remnants of Block one by one and set off after us.

Rob got a gap heading into the final turn and it was Ryder who closed the gap. 

I knew he’d have a strong sprint, so I started my sprint much earlier than logic suggested, just to try to surprise Ryder. But Ryder got the well-deserved win in a strong sprint. I hung on for second just ahead of a fast finishing Rob Skinner, Janine and John. 

A very fast finishing Andy Garrett was next in fifth and fastest in 43.59. Then came Chris Miller, Josh Hopwood, Steve Brown and Tim Ross completed the top ten.

Handicapper Dave Moore again proved his legend status plus the marshals, commissaire and other aficionados who helped to make a safe fun race, did a wonderful job too!

As usual, many thanks to Tony Copland for the great images and here are the results.

Next week’s race is the Rob Curtis Memorial, starting at the Botanic Park, out along the Whitfield Road but going an extra km or so to turnaround at Rob and Sue’s place, then back to town and finishing at the Showgrounds. Entries via Entry Boss by 8pm Wednesday. Not 8.30. And definitely not Thursday morning!

Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap

As mentioned above, next week’s race is the Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap. For those who didn’t know him, Robert Curtis was a quiet, confident and talented athlete. He loved the outdoors and was an early trailblazer in Multisport/Adventure racing in the 1990s and 2000s. 

Rob and his partner Sue lived at Bridge Creek, commuting to Melbourne for work and he spent the rest of the time cross country skiing, hiking, kayaking and cycling around the Mansfield area.

He was a member of the Mt Stirling Ski Patrol and enjoyed racing with the MMBCC on weekends or supporting others in their bike skill development.

Nicknamed “The Colombian” by locals, he excelled in the hills, with a touch of speed on challenging climbs a la Nairo Quintana. He’d roll down the hill towards town on a Saturday morning to join the bunch ride, chat for a bit along the flat, then dance on the pedals and disappear once the road tipped upwards!

In early 2018, Robert was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and passed away later that year. His partner Sue lives at Bridge Creek, the turn-around spot for this year’s memorial ride.

Mid-November News

Here is an update of all things MMBCC this week…

GE2 - Sibling Rivalry

By Dave Empey

It was a cold and windy night to race on Tuesday 15 November; the only saving grace was the wind kept the mosquitoes at bay!

The second gravity enduro for the year was held at Rifle Butts. The course designers had done a great job with track marking so there were no extra kilometres for Ruby this week and no sibling argy bargy mid race.

It was, however, the Big Battle of the Siblings for the Empey, Hall, Dobson and Baker families.

The tracks were all wet from the weekend rain but it didn’t dampen the enthusiasm. Racing was tighter than the week before but the top two positions didn’t change - Matt Empey taking the win with Sam Mosley 10 seconds behind.

Ant Bateup climbed the ladder and took third followed by Elijah McGuigan and Archie Smith rounding out the top five.

Here are the results.

The mayor of Jamieson was conspicuous by his absence. Hopefully he will return next week for the XC.

Howes Creek Handicap

By Micala Jacobs

Nice weather, school coming to an end and the opportunity to catch up with old mates were all conducive to a bit of a different field of racers this week. The clear sky was a bit of a red herring for the Southerly headwind that all the riders had to contend with for the first half of the race before the turnaround. A high light, for me anyway, was the greater number of women riders taking part this week. Instead of the usual 2 we had 7 on the start list. 

Riders Chris Miller and Ruby Dobson were sent off Scratch, 16 and a half minutes behind the limit riders. Both were able to finish inside the top 10 (8th and 10th respectively). Chris captured the fastest time of the evening, a 23km course out Howes Creek Road to Cummins Road turn off and back, with 36 mins 54 seconds.

Of the Block group riders, (sent off just before Scratch) Michael Pearce, Rob Skinner, Tim Ross, and Ryder Chadd at 15 minutes, the only one to make it into the top 10 at the finish was Ryder by staying with Miller and Dobson in the final few kilometres.

The group at 11 minutes, Janine Appleton, Justin Berry, Belinda Cipa were not quite strong enough to catch the 9-minute group of Elise Empey, Bella Green, Tim Hall and Craig Wilson (2nd 3rd 4th and 5th respectively). 

The 6-minute group - Alex Green, Dave Jagger, John Eisner, Ian Conrick proved valuable to bring Selina Green home safely in her first competitive road cycling race. Conrick the only rider of this group to hold on for a top 10 finish, placing 7th.

This just left the limit riders, Micala Jacobs and Steve Plummer, who apparently came up to 'see some old mates and have a ride'. Steve pushed (and pulled) Micala almost all the way to the finish line for her first win of the season. She was most appreciative. Plummer was also able to hold on for 6th place.

A big thank you to our volunteer marshals and commissaries and for Mansfield for donations and hosting presentations. Also, thanks to the vehicles who encountered our racers on Howes Creek Road, your patience and passing space is most appreciated.

Next week's race will be on Mt Buller Road; online entries open on Monday morning and close Wednesday night at 8pm - go to www.mmbc.org.au for more details.

Many thanks to Tony Copland for the pics and here are the detailed results.

Sunday News

L to R: Laurent Guerin; Josh Hopwood, 1st; Coral Guerin; Steve Brown, 3rd; Lulu Guerin; Andrew Garrett, 3rd.

Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap

By Josh Hopwood

A windy and stormy night, likely to suit the stronger riders, greeted 18 entrants at the Botanic Park last Thursday night.

The Alain Guerin Memorial is to remember our friend who was taken from us in 2014 due to a driver’s inattention. It’s one of three MMBCC ‘Monument’ events (the other two being the Rob Curtis Memorial on 1 December and the Bakker Plumbing Handicap on 16 February, which, thankfully, is NOT a memorial race.)

Communication and local knowledge would be key to all riders, given the state of the roads. Thanks to the local road crews for filling in some of the worst of the pot holes.

Near the Sawpit Gully turnaround groups started to form as the rain threatened; Ian Conrick, John Eisner, Alex Green and Dave Jagger had almost caught Micala Jacobs (who’d started alone off Limit) and accelerated; next came Janine Appleton, Steve Curnow, Allan Gerrans and Tim Hall who’d dropped last week’s ITT winner, Craig Wilson, and looked strong; a really strong group formed next with the Block group of Dave Moore, Steve Brown and Steve Duke joining up with the group ahead, Ryder Chadd, Tim Ross and Darren Bakker.

The heavens opened during the southbound Whitfield Road leg and Scratch started making really strong progress, being able to see all the groups lined up the road.

The turn left into Barwite Road and subsequent crosswinds was pivotal - it wasn’t long until the race was all together again, with Brown, Garrett and Hopwood putting the hammer down before the dreaded Coombesberg.

Race tactics started to come into play, as no one wanted to drive the pace up the hill. Garrett and Hopwood lifted the tempo dropping others off their wheels. Brown and Chadd were the only riders able to hang on, temporarily, until they too popped.

Descending off the Coombesberg Garrett and Hopwood topped out at 75kmh before making the right hand turn into Graves Road. Here Hopwood’s local knowledge gave him an advantage and he opened up a decent gap on Garrett. But with 3km to go Hopwood had two options - to go for the win solo, Time Trial style, or wait for his fellow Scratch rider. He chose the latter and the two joined forces again.

However, this gave Brown a chance to bridge back to the leading group too. With 1km to go, it was set for a three-up sprint, with Brown stuck on the front.

Hopwood kicked things off and sprinted to victory, in the fastest time of 50.55, with Garrett in tow. Brown was happy to settle for third and waive the responsibility of writing this article.

Hopwood was thrilled to finally win this race after 8 years of trying. In doing so, he became the first local to etch his name on the trophy. “I remember that tragic day as if it was yesterday. The thing I remember most was riding past Alain earlier that same day, saying good morning and his smile lit up the sky! I’ll never forget that,” he remarked post race.

Many thanks to Tony Copland for the pics and to Mel, Rob, Judi, John, Tony and Bruce for officiating and marshalling. Here are the results.

Next week it’s Howes Creek Road, likely with an amended start again due to road works.

Dirt Crits Gravity Enduro

By Dave Empey

It was the first Gravity Enduro of the year and some good weather assisted with the player comfort level.

It was a huge turnout 27 racers in all with some very tight times at the pointy end of the field.

There was some sibling argy bargy between course one and two. All ended well with everyone starting course two. A few of the competitors took a wrong turn on course one and rode significantly further than they had to. (Ruby needed some extra kms)

Great to see the mayor of Jamieson back on the right bike and riding well, just tailing in behind all those young guns.

At the end of the race, it was Matt Empey a clear winner by 11 secs from Sam Mosley with Archie Smith, Ant Bateup and Zac Empey rounding out the top five.

Here are the results.

Early November Update

One at a time on Chapel Hill Road

By David Jagger

With no Dirt Crits or Dirt Critters due to a holiday for a horse race, all the emphasis this week turned to the Individual Time Trial on Thursday.

The day was overcast and a bit gloomy but all the competitors were thankful that the rain had finally taken a break. The 14km time trial along Chapel Hill road was nice and clean from all the rain and there was only a slight breeze.

Micala Jacobs was supposed to be the first down the road but due to navigational difficulties (going to the wrong starting location) she and her son Ryder had to wait until the end of the start list. Steve Curnow was the first out of the blocks and was never seriously challenged from the next two riders of David Jagger and John Eisner. Craig Wilson came fitted out in his time trial gear and was out to make an impression. Ian Conrick lost sight of Craig but was able to hold off Allan Gerrans as he dropped a chain searching for an elusive easier gear. Janine Appleton tried to catch Allan but after twenty seven minutes of racing was a few seconds off. Darren Bakker, Steve Duke and Dave Moore all came in breathless having given it their all and proving that the handicapper doesn’t have any favourites.

Ruby Dobson was out to have a crack at her first road race in years and due to last week’s cancellation, her first outing was a short race (for her) and the third fastest time with Steve Brown just a few seconds quicker. The race belonged to Andrew Garrett comfortably keeping the local riders in check taking out fastest time.

The overall handicap placings went to Craig Wilson, David Jagger and Ryder Chadd, proving that each week you never know who will have a good day and it’s always worth racing.

Thanks to the officials, helpers and commissaire for making the race possible.

Next Thursday is the Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap, starting at the Botanic Park. This is one of the club’s highlights of the summer; hopefully the weather will play nicely this time.

Here are the results. And many thanks to Tony Copland for the pics.

Next week’s road race

As Dave mentioned above, next week is the Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap.

For those of you who never met Alain, he was an always-cheerful and optimistic Frenchman who met a beautiful Australian and followed her home to start a family on the other side of the world. And in recent years, he and Coral retired to Goughs Bay and he become regular MMBCC racer. He was one of the fittest 72 year olds you’d ever meet; a keen skier and cyclist.

Late in 2014 after visiting a friend who worked at Timbertop, he was riding home to Mansfield along the Buller Road when a van driver’s inattentiveness killed our friend.

About a week or so later, the whole town (or so it seemed) turned out on bikes for a Ride of Solidarity, along with Alain’s family. (Here is a link to some of the photos taken that night.) The ‘ghost bike’ out on the Buller Road was also erected in Alain’s honour.

It’s an unfortunate but timely reminder about how important road safety is for all road users. After Thursday’s race, if it’s light and safe enough, we’ll ride out to pay our respects. It’s not compulsory but if you feel safe enough, we’d love you to join us before we head back to the Mansfield Hotel for presentations.

Talia joins Team BridgeLane

Congratulations to Talia Appleton who has signed to ride with Team BridgeLane for 2023. The team has consistently been the most successful Men’s NRS team for a long time but 2023 will be the first year of a Women’s team.

“Super excited and grateful to be joining Team BridgeLane next year! I’m looking forward to getting more racing experience in a team environment and learning from other riders” Talia said.

Warburton trails

160km of mountain bike trails have finally been given the go-ahead at Warburton. Hopefully, World Trail will be able to start work soon and some of the trails will be rideable next summer.

However, if World Trail’s original advice had been heeded, some of them could have been built years ago. The contentious trails that World Trail had recommended against were the same ones which have been refused in this decision.

So it’s good but it could have been better.