Sunday Stop Press!

GREAT MMBCC RESULTS AT THE Australian MTB Interschools

By Serena Vivash

Sienna Vivash and Miles Vivash and Cooper Hoebergen travelled to Thredbo NSW earlier this week to compete in the Australian MTB Interschools competition and came home with great results against tough competition.

Sienna in Grade 5 was in Division 4 (grade 5/6), Miles in Grade 3 was in Division 5 (grade 3/4) and Cooper in Grade 6 was also in Division 4 - a huge field of over 100 competitors.

• In the All Mountain Event Sienna placed 3rd, Miles 4th and Cooper 13th.

• In the Flow Motion Cup Sienna placed 4th, Miles 6th and Cooper 15th.

• In the Pump Track Sienna placed 2nd, Miles 5th and Cooper 24th.

• In the Cannonball Downhill event (not for the feint hearted!) Sienna placed 2nd, Miles 3rd and Cooper 12th.

• Overall in the Australian Interschools Sienna placed 3rd, Miles 4th and Cooper 9th.

Scarlett D’Arcy also competed at Thredbo.

She’s in Year 7 and competed in Division 3 (Year 7/8) and placed 8th in the Flow Motion and 9th in the All Mountain.

Well done all!

MMBCC News - Sat 8 Mar - Baz, Ben, Adam and Alex

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MMBCC VDHS round

The weekend of March 22-23 will see the club host a round of the Victorian Down Hill Series on South Blue Range.

We’re still looking for a few volunteers to fill some spots. If you can help out, please contact Melanie Green with your availability. This is the club’s only big event this year, with the Mansfield Tour not going ahead. So please help out if you can…

Dirt Critters Update

By Tim Ross

The Dirt Critters crew braved the hot weather this week with some timed XC laps, riding against their own times recorded six months earlier; the biggest improvement wins.

The younger group raced around ‘Bogans’ with honours going to Dayna (a massive 35 seconds faster than last time) then Angus C.

The older group firstly raced around ‘Critters’ with Micah doing best (shaving 15 second off his previous time). 

They then took on the longer ‘Joyride’ circuit and this time it was Baz doing best (over a minute better) followed by Micah and Jarrah.  DNFs for the other three, who all inadvertently took a shortcut home!!

Next week Luke will be back to run some timed Enduro laps.

Howdy Howdy Howdy

By Damian Grundy

Thanks everyone for coming out for another fun night cruising around Rifle Butts Mountain Bike Park for an Irish Handicap on Tuesday 4 March.

Welcome to three first timers: Lachlan Steel, Ruby Rademaker and Ben Hoogesteger, we look forward to seeing them become regulars.

Whilst the race handicapping was once again an Irish Handicap, It had been decided by the brains-trust that we would have a mass start race and apply time corrections to finish times.

I do enjoy a proper shoulder-to-shoulder race start, fun fun fun!😊

So the starter (thanks Adam) said go and off we all rushed to complete our allotted number of laps as quickly as possible.

At the end it was young Ben Ross coming out on top with a corrected time of 38min flat, Archie Smith 2nd 38:06, Willem Morphett 3rd, Ruby Rademaker 4th 3:27, and Damian (yours truly) Grundy 5th and also fastest on the night 39:06.

Here are the results.

Next week is a gravity night and then The Australian Mountain Bike National Championships at Mt Buller at the end of next week.

The long and the short of it

By Beau Geste

The short version.

They started first… they finished first. End of story!

The Longer version.

18 riders registered to race on the 6th of March, unfortunately Micala Jacobs was a late scratching due to Super Mum duties, we hope that Mica is feeling better soon.

Adam Baker, Wil Wilson and Ian Conrick were first to leave, they were followed by the pair of Steve Curnow and Janine Appleton (Last week’s winner), then came a strong group of Heath “the hammer” Hammond, Steve Duke, Adrian Dowd and Simon Mulvihill. Block was made up of evergreens Darren Bakker, Dev Moore and Simon Hall and an unusually large Scratch group comprising Ryder Chadd, Steve Brown, Damian Grundy, Bruce Halket and Andy Garrett were the last to leave.

Early tipping was in favour of the large Scratch group, where strong riders and stronger winds should have prevailed, however this was not to be.

Wilson, Conrick and Baker rode a beautiful team race.Conrick left the group early in affairs to provide a decoy for the big groups to chase. Whilst the strong and friendly southerly winds were mighty helpful pushing even bigger and older riders up “The Giant of South Barwite”, The Coombesberg, Baker waited for the larger and “older” Wilson to ascend the Coombesberg and they rode a strong leg on Barwite Road and into the now unfriendly southerly wind.

With several hundred metres to go and the climb to the showgrounds ahead, Baker was unleashed and crossed the finish line in a glorious first place. Wilson managed a creditable second, with Darren Bakker (aka Dario Baccarini) fresh from a non-cycling induced concussion protocol, winning the sprint for third. Steve Duke and Simon Hall rounded out the top five places.

This was truly a “Gingerbread man” race.

In some late news from last week’s race, the rarely achieved Bakker/Ross award was won by David Jagger who is now welcomed as a member of this esteemed club.

Thanks to the volunteers and officials without whom racing would not be possible.

Next week racing will be on the Long Lane Barwite Road Course, this being the third last race of the Summer series, results are crucial in the aggregate award.

Here are the results and thanks to Tony and Alex for the pics this week.

Last weekend to order club kit

The Ventou club kit portal will close after this weekend. Get your order in now or miss out for another year.

Here is the link to the Ventou MMBCC page. If you don’t already have the code you need to get access, email Bruce for the code.

Keep up to date with MMBCC WhatsApp

It’s the best way to keep up-to-date on any last minute changes to planned rides and races plus to find out the latest gossip.

For instance, did you hear the latest about VDHS organiser and Road Sub-Committee Chair Alex Green?

Many of you will know he used to be the CEO of Mansfield Shire Council.

He’s now in management at the Department of Transport.

And no doubt you heard about the recent road closures of the Melba Highway near the Kinglake turnoff.

Get your tinfoil hat ready because those three things are all connected!

Rumours have it that Alex is part of a secret cabal of Liberal Party and Mt Buller luminaries who plan to build a new underground motorway to allow Toorak residents much quicker access to the mountain.

The recent and upcoming roadworks on the Melba will be the tunnel entrance! And in a savage act of revenge, the Shire Offices will actually be the tunnel exit!

MMBCC News - Sun 2 Mar - Mt Stromlo, Mt Buller, Merinda Way and Rifle Butts

EXCITING Weekend results

Congratulations to all the following MMBCC members on some really impressive results over the weekend. Really exciting seeing such good results with the National Championships at Mt Buller in just a couple of weeks.

AusCycling MTB National Series - Stromlo, Canberra.

Friday, Round 5 - XCC (short track)

U15 Men:
Ben Ross - 8th

Elite Women:
Ruby Dobson - 4th

Saturday, Round 6 - XCO (Olympic distance)

U15 Men:
Ben Ross - 10th

U23 Women:
Ruby Dobson - 4th

Sunday, Round 7 - XCO

U15 Men:
Ben Ross - 11th

Masters 7:
Damian Grundy - 2nd (New bike made all the difference!)

U23 Women:
Ruby Dobson - 4th

Vic Enduro State Champs - Mt Buller.

U21 Men:
Ryder Chadd - 7th
Archie Smith - 12th
Finn Baker - 21st

U21 Women:
Selina Green - 2nd

Elite Women:
Bella Green - 3rd

Veteran Men:
Shannon Rademaker - 2nd
Stuart Clark - 8th

Masters Men:
Adam Baker - 12th

RC wins GE @ RB

By Kate Stonnill

A big thanks to Adam Baker for setting the gravity course in David's absence. From the feedback it was a good course for all and quite challenging in the top rocks for some. Thankfully all made it down in one piece.

Stuart Clark and Bruce Halket hit the dirt in the first run, explaining the blowout in their times, but redeemed themselves on the second run.

Mechanical issues saw Duke, Keegan, Trent and Colton retiring after the first run down.

The course proved pedally for all, favouring those who like riding uphills.

In the end the fastest run went to Ryder Chadd with a time of 2:42 min, Ryder also took out the overall win with a combined time of 5:28 min. Then there was quite a gap before Archie Smith came through with a time of 5:45min. In third place was a very jubilant double fist pump Cam Dobson just ahead of Spencer Carmen in 4th and Stu Clarke in 5th, which is impressive given he came off in the first run.

Special mention to Miles Vivash for his "steezy scrub over the last jump" - clearly a quote from Elise.

A highlight of the night was the crowd of riders gathered around Elise Empey's new gearbox bike, which she brought along for "show & tell" even letting some ride the prototype... much to her mother’s concern.

The club wishes Elise a speedy recovery for her upcoming World Cup series. 

Here are the detailed results and many thanks to Tim Ross for the action shots.

Janine goes on her Merinda Way

By Steve Curnow

We had 20 contenders for the ride that took in Stoneleigh Road, Merinda Way and Monkey Gully Road. It was quite a gruelling circuit, especially with a head wind start. There was plenty of water being poured over heads and bodies just prior to the start in an effort to ward off the heat of the day.

First off was Micala Jacobs followed by the two Daves, Bock and Jagger at five minutes. Craig Wilson was next with Tim Hall at 7 minutes. Then at 8 minutes came Janine Appleton with Steve Curnow and the new kid on the block, Bill Bainger. Bill had a mechanical so was unable to take a turn after three changes but did a good job keeping up for half the race.

Jarrod Appleton and Adrian Dowd were let out next at 10 minutes.

Jarrod and Micala did not finish the race for reasons not known to the writer.

Steve Duke, Jason Parker, Heath Hammond and Mick Pearce started at 14.30 followed by Simon Hall and Dave Moore at 15.15. Starting last were Andy Garrett, Bruce Halket, Ryder Chadd and Steve Brown.

The Janine team got off to a strong start rounding up Craig and Tim not far after the turn into Monkey Gully Road, Tim got on and did a great job until he dropped off at the same spot on the next time around.

Dave Jagger was next on the ‘to do’ list and Bill succumbed to a dropped chain.

So to the finish… Janine getting her second wind and doing a lot of work to get Curnow over the line for second place 10 seconds behind her. David Bock surprised himself coming a well-earned third place. David Moore had a good ride at fourth place. Next was Ryder Chad at fifth, also the quickest time on the night.

Thanks once again to the marshals and commissaires for looking after us all on the night. Here are the results and thanks to Alex Green for the pics.

Next week it’s another loop, Barwite this time.

MMBCC News - Sun 23 Feb - A mad dash and the luck of the Irish

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Mansfield Mad Dash Ends in Twilight Drama

By MC Spandex

The Mansfield Mad Dash delivered yet another thrilling sunset showdown last Thursday, as riders battled crosswinds, questionable tactics and a disastrous gravel detour in this week’s handicap race.

And a big welcome to Bill Bainger (visiting from SA for a few months) for his first outing with the MMBCC.

Micala Jacobs set off first, riding a smooth, metronomic pace, while the faster riders behind worked in groups, chasing hard. Simon Mulvihill, Heath Hammond and Mick Pearce executed a perfect echelon, slicing through the field like a well-oiled machine.

Further back, an unnamed rider made a bold but disastrous move, veering onto a gravel in the hopes a detour may alleviate the pain in the legs. His bike wobbled violently as he fought to keep momentum, watching helplessly as the race disappeared ahead.

Meanwhile, Andy Garrett, the final rider to start, was unleashed like a sunset Terminator. Devouring the field at an alarming rate, he blew past struggling competitors, his aero silhouette cutting through the golden light like a hunting falcon.

But Andy had left his charge too late. Mick Pearce’s echelon group, working like a machine, held him off to take the win just as the last light of the sun faded.

At the finish line, exhausted riders swapped stories of crosswinds, magpie attacks and gravel-fueleld regret with Mick Pearce 1st, Simon Mulvihill 2nd and Heath Hammond 3rd.

The Mansfield Mad Dash had once again lived up to its name - a race full of thrills, spills, and lessons in why you should never trust a gravel shortcut. The best part being riders get to take it on again next Thursday night - two and a half laps around the Merinda Way Loop.

Many thanks to all our dedicated volunteers and officials and to Tony for his photos. Here are the results, including the updated, revised version.

Dirt Crits Irish Handicap - Tue 18 Feb

By Damian Grundy

It was a pleasant evening, not baking hot. A small crew of committed mountain bikers lined up for another roll in the dice in the dust.

A relatively simple lap of approximately 2.9km had been set and as usual riders were competing together but based on ability and fitness their number of laps varied.

Shooting off first was Ant Bateup with 5 laps followed a minute and a half later by Ryder Chadd also on 5 laps. And so followed the rest at their allotted timed and with their individual numbers of laps.

Cody Stephens put in a blistering first lap and was looking good for a high placing.

The leading riders kept turning away and approaching the finish it was Tom Logan-Williams with a ever decreasing lead over the hard charging young fella Ben Ross.

Tom had just enough juice in the tank to resist young Ben’s charge and he crossed the line first to win the night. Ben Ross finished barely a bike’s length back in 2nd. David Bock was third and Tim Ross fourth with Cody Stephens holding on for fifth Less than a minute separated the top five! Well done to Ben Ross who had the fastest lap times for the evening.

Here are the results. Next week it’s Gravity Enduro time again.

All aboard!

This is your last chance to order club kit from the Ventou MMBCC Portal. Especially if you want a nice, warm jacket for the upcoming cooler months. Email Bruce for the code.

MMBCC News - Sun 16 Feb - Ryder the rider

Vic Champ Series - Bendigo

Some great results from members who travelled to Bendigo for the final two rounds of the Vic Champ MTB Series.

SATURDAY - RD 7 (and AusCycling Vic State Championships)

• Alistair Ross: 2nd, U13 Men.

• Ben Ross: 7th, U15 Men.

• Ryder Chadd: 3rd, U19 Men.

• Ruby Dobson: 2nd, Elite Women.

• Bruce Halket: 4th, Masters 7/8.

• Damian Grundy: 5th, Masters 7/8.

SUNDAY - RD 8

• Alistair Ross: 2nd, U13 Men.

• Ben Ross: 6th, U15 Men.

• Ryder Chadd: 3rd, U19 Men.

• Ruby Dobson: 2nd, Elite Women.

• Bruce Halket: 2nd, Masters 7/8.

FINAL SERIES PODIUM WINNERS

• Alistair Ross: 3rd, U13 Men.

• Ruby Dobson: 2nd, Elite Women

First gravity enduro for 2025.

By Dave Empey

It was like the start of 2025; hot and unpredictable!

It was a very dry race on Tuesday 11 February but the tracks seem to be holding up after the early season maintenance.

The surface was a mixture of rock, loose rock, hard pack, loose hardpack (sand) and marbles. So traction was key.

There was a close tussle for positions 1 and 2 with Ryder taking the win by 1 second over Archie on his new bike. (Ryder also on a new bike but it was an XC bike, so it doesn’t really count)

Cam Dodson took 3rd with Stu Clark coming 2 sec behind Cam in 4th. Maybe Stu should try and keep his wheels on the ground as the unauthorised landing in soft sand may have cost him a position.

Rounding out the top 5 was Spencer Carmen.

In the family battles Ben Ross prevailed over Tim, again!

Nicole Hoebergen just pipped Cooper by 1 second.

Here are the results. Next week it’s back to the cross country pain cave.

The 2025 Bakker Plumbing Handicap

By Ryder Chadd

The Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club was out in Jamieson this week racing along the Woods Point Road for the Bakker Plumbing Handicap, with a total of 19 riders.

Craig Wilson set off on his own in the Limit group, followed by Adrian Dowd, Oliver Hall, Janine Appleton and Steve Curnow.

The next group in line consisted of Steve Duke, Simon Hall, Jason Parker, Mick Pearce and Heath Hammond. Darren Bakker, Ant Bateup and Dave Moore were the next group.

Steve Brown, Damian Grundy and Ryder Chadd rode in the ‘Block group and Andy Garret and Carl Simmons were up the back off Scratch.

Woods Point Road, being a twistier road with little hills, makes seeing the groups ahead quite tricky. The six groups only really get a gauge on where everyone was at the turn around point, roughly 15km out, at Sailor Bill’s Creek. By that point the second, third and fourth groups had almost merged together, making the push for the Block and Scratch groups just that little bit harder.

Steve, Damian and Ryder managed to pull back the big group in the lead with less than 5km to go. And this is where the racing got exiting!

With less the 500m to go, Dave Moore set off the first attack. Damian, Steve and Ryder followed over the final rise. Steve and Ryder push to the line, though Ryder not having enough gears, Steve couldn’t hang on slipping Ryder the win going for the fastest time of the night too.

Darren Bakker crossed the line in 3rd, with Simon Hall and Dave Moore rounding out the top five.

Adrian, Heath, Oliver, Damian, Janine, Jason and Ant closed out 6th to 12th (in that order) all being part of the finishing bunch.

Here are the results and many thanks again to Tony for his images.

Next week it’s the Whitfield Road to Long Lane, then clockwise around the Barwite Loop, finishing on Graves Road.

Upcoming Events

The Seymour Broadford Cycling Club winter race calendar for 2025 is now available to download here. They’re a great group of people to ride with and their races are really good fun. They’ve included four gravel races this winter too!

Sea Otter Australia Festival: 22-26 Oct, Bateman’s Bay, NSW.

Gravelista: 25 & 26 Oct, Seymour, Vic. Early Bird entries now open.

MMBCC News Sun 9 Feb - Ryder rides away!

No Dirt Crits this week due to the heat policy. So it’s straight into Thursday’s road race…

Ryder rides away!

By Ant Bateup

It was a challenging night for racing with hot temps, wind and a finish on the Coombesberg.

Dave Bock was the first of 18 riders to set off, followed by Dave MacDonald and Craig Wilson at 3’30. At 5’30 Steve Curnow was going solo until the 8’30 group of Adrian Dowd and Oliver Hall, the 9’30 of Steve Duke, Simon Hall, Simon Mulvihill and Mick Pearce, all merged to form a large group by the turn around.

The 11’30 group of Darren Bakker, Ryder Chadd and Ant Bateup were working well together to advance on the lead group and holding off the 12’45 group of Bruce Halket, Chris Miller and Damian Grundy. Little did they know that Chris retired from the race with a puncture and Bruce was feeling the hurt after a week of dead lifts and squats in the gym with Wardy.

Andy Garrett was the lone Scratch rider, setting off at 13’30. Andy was gaining on the field at the turn around but couldn’t quite bridge the gap.

After the turn into Barwite Rd, the larger “lead group” was fast becoming the “splinter group”, allowing Ryder, Ant and Darren to work their way through the field. Ryder had his sights locked onto the lead riders and was carving his way through the field, determined not to carry any potential sprinters with him.

At the turn into Old Tolmie Road, Ryder, Steve D, Oliver and Simon were starting to look around to see who had something left in the tank for a sprint finish. Ryder proved too strong and bridged a gap up the climb, maintaining this to the finish to take the win by 3 seconds.

In the background, Mick had put in a huge effort to get back on the lead group and drag Ant with him. It was then a sprint for newspaper article rights, with Ant narrowly getting 2nd, Mick 3rd and Oliver in 4th, all on the same finish time. Closely followed by Steve D, Simon, Damian, Darren, Steve C and Bruce. Damian continued with his current good form, riding fastest time for the night.

Thank you to all the marshal’s and Tony again for the photos. Here are the results.

Next week is one of the highlights of the MMBCC road calendar, the Bakker Plumbing Handicap at Jamieson. Keep an eye on the club WhatsApp feed early in the week to find out about RSVPing for dinner and presentations at the Jamieson Brewery afterwards.

Other news…

The above image is how Elise Empey’s practice ended at Red Bull Hardline at Maydena in Tasmania. While her right arm is a bit black ‘n’ blue, thankfully she’s ok.

Talia Appleton still leads the points for both the Overall and Under 23 in the Women’s ProVelo Super League after coming 5th in the Women’s Warrny on Sunday.

One more week left to order club kit from the Ventou MMBCC Portal. Now it even includes aero socks and gloves! Email Bruce for the code.

The first round of the Victorian Enduro Series was held at Falls Creek over the weekend. Congratulations to:

• Ant Bateup - 6th in Veteran Men.

• Adam Baker - 18th in Masters Men.

• Finn Baker - 19th in Under 21 Men.

• Ryder Chadd - DNF in Under 21 Men; he broke his rear rim.

Lots of MMBCC bikes for sale at the moment! There’s a 52cm Liv Langma, a newly-listed 56cm Cube and a coffee bike!

Too hot!

Dirt Crits cancelled

By Damian Grundy

Due to the persistent high temperatures and the forecast for the same on Tuesday, I have decided to cancel Senior Dirt Crits for Tuesday 4 February. Hopefully next week will see some cooler weather.

The schedule will remain unchanged with a gravity night on Tuesday 11 February.

MMBCC News - Sun 2 Feb - Club kit and Archimedes

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

MMBCC Kit

Club kit is now available on the Ventou web portal.

Here is the link to the Ventou MMBCC page. If you don’t already have the code you need to get access, email Bruce for the code.

The Ventou MMBCC Portal is open for a limited time only!

Small field - big results!

By Damian Grundy

It was a small turn out for the first Gravity night of 2025 on Tuesday 28 January. It is possible that the heat of the day had discouraged some, however by 6pm the temperature was quite tolerable; certainly less severe than had been experienced a week earlier for the first XC night.

But even with small numbers there is always a high level of competitiveness. Lots of points to prove and many different battles between riders.

Two courses were set, with Cam Dobson and Adam Baker setting the first course and yours truly arranging a second challenge. Both courses were long by Rifle butts standards.

As usual the riders started at 30 second intervals.

For me, I was most happy to complete both runs without incident and I am glad that this seemed to be the case for all the competitors.

Ryder proved once again that he is a talented rider across most of the racing disciplines. He produced the fastest time on both courses and with a 2 run combined time of 9min46sec was overall 25seconds faster than Damian Grundy with a 2 run combined time of 10min11sec. Archie Smith was 2 seconds slower overall than Damian in 3rd.

Here are the results.

I would like to thank Cam and Adam for setting the course, and then Cam again and Tim Ross for managing the timing.

XC Night on Tuesday 4 February. Hope to see you all there.

Archimedes, Carl and Curnow

By Ian Cervelo

A beautiful warm summer evening greeted the start of the Howes Creek 25 kms handicap race on Thursday 30 January. It was reduced to 18 riders but had the welcome appearance of a new member, Simon Mulvihill.

A light south-easterly and a few undulating rises challenged most of the starters, giving some of the lighter-framed riders an equal footing with the stronger riders who had downhill momentum. With the above conditions, riding in a bunch and rotating turns, effectively gives each person a rest, tucked in behind the leads, who act as a windbreak.

The club handicapper, Mr David Moore, plays a critical part in this event, spending endless hours planning, selecting and judging the previous form of each rider and how they are to be grouped. Often we front him, in a good-humoured way, after a couple of drinks at the Mansfield. The Handicapper (please note, not an underworld crime boss) may get the sad story of “how come?”, “why me?”, “he should” etc.

With the race at the halfway mark and a tailwind home, the stronger groups worked together very effectively and gained on the rest of the field.

Three kilometres from the finish everyone is trying to gain the slightest edge, finding the gap to power through the field, and sprint to the finish at speeds of up to 60-70km/h.

The eventual winner on the night was Steve Curnow, who with his wife Lise, had just finished the 700km Great Alpine Walk.

In second place was the former Mansfield identity, the quick and clean shearer, Carl Simmons, now residing in Euroa. Carl clocked the fastest time of 37 minutes and 55 seconds averaging a credible 39.4 km/h!

Ian Conrick, fresh from an intense training camp at Club Med Phuket, took third place but an unnamed person commented that Cornick’s side profile looked more like a holiday at Club Pizza.

So back to the remaining riders and my new bestie, Mr Moore, the *Archimedean-like mathematician, astronomer, inventor and the engineer of modern calculus” who applied these rules to 12 cyclists so that they all finished within a minute of each other. Well done again Mr Moore!

Here are the results.

As usual, many thanks to our volunteers, the ever-present photographer Tony Copland, the ongoing support of The Brown Family and the welcoming staff at The Mansfield Hotel.

Newcomers and onlookers are always welcome at the club. Please see the MMBCC website for further details or call into All Terrain Cycles, High Street, Mansfield and ask any of the helpful staff.

*footnote: Archimedes died at the siege of Syracuse in 212 BC, aged 74. So you’re safe for a good while yet Dave!

Another bike for sale

The Espresso Velo coffee bike.

Upcoming Events

Benghazi Handicap, Lancefield, Anzac Day - 25 April.

Dirty Pig and Whistle, Creswick, 3 & 4 May. Already a few from Mansfield showing interest in this gravel event.

MMBCC News - Sun 26 Jan - Oz Day Update

We’re back! First Dirt Crits of 2025

By Damian Grundy

It had been a hot day on Tuesday 21 January and there was some discussion about racing but it didn’t seem horrendously hot, so the event proceeded.

11 hardy mountain bikers were in attendance.

The race format was team race - teams of three with Nicole Hoebergen being the lead out rider for two teams.(Don’t ask how that works but it did!)

The teams were:

• Adam Baker, Cam Dobson and Damian Grundy;

• Nicole Hoebergen, Rueben Bateup and Tim Ross;

• David Bock, Ben Ross and Ant Bateup; and

• Nicole Hoebergen, Archie Smith and Ryder Chadd

The course was a relatively short combination of trails starting out on Bogans, straight to the south end on the bottom of the XC loop, back across to the road and then to Rubbish Run and back to the finish via the zig-zags in the finish area.

And the format? Teams had to ride together, one rider in each team to complete two laps, another to complete four and the 3rd rider to do six laps. As the first rider, ideally the slower of the three, completed their two laps the remaining two riders could accelerate; and again after the 2nd rider completed their four laps the (ideally) fastest rider raced to finish their final two laps. First rider across the line winning the race for the team.

It was a mass start and I won’t lie, there was a lot of argy-bargie, Adam Baker went to an early lead but seemed to have some trouble with the concept of directional arrows. Nicole Hoebergen took full advantage and lead her two teams in to the lead at the end of the first two laps. Adam had somewhat recovered and came in 3rd and Bocky was 4th.

Racing remained tight but the leading group had whittled down to Ryder and Archie, Rueben and Tim, duking it out with Cam and Damian.

At the end of four laps however Cam and Damian had moved to a clear lead, Archie and Ryder in 2nd, then Rueben and Tim in 3rd.

Disaster struck at the end of the 5th lap with Ryder succumbing to overheating and wisely deciding to stop.

At the finish it was Damian taking the win for his team with Rueben rolling in for 2nd and Ant finishing it off for 3rd.

1st: Adam Baker, Cam Dobson and Damian Grundy.

2nd: Nicole Hoebergen, Rueben Bateup and Tim Ross.

3rd: David Bock, Ben Ross and Ant Bateup.

Baker stays away

By Beau Geste

19 Riders entered for Thursday night handicap racing on Thursday 23 January, with a strong south westerly wind.

Micala Jacobs was first away, honing her time trialling skills, followed by the intrepid trio of John Eisner, David Bock and Adam Baker. Next to leave were the first of the fab fours: Craig Wilson, Tim Hall (The first of 3 Halls) Ian Conrick and David MacDonald. This group proved to be a strong combination, working well together throughout the course.

The next group included the first of the young guns, Rueben Bateup and Oliver Hall who were ably supported by Mick Pierce -Oliver on a “New to him” bike.

Block was occupied by another Hall, Simon, another young gun, Ryder Chadd, Darren Bakker and Ant Bateup rounding out the family affair.

Scratch group was another fab four of Bruce Halket, on a brand new and very pretty bike, Euroa’s Andy Garrett, Steve Brown and, in a return to racing, Chris Miller.

Wilson, Conrick, MacDonald and the first of the Halls rode strongly managing to stay away from the strong groups behind.

Towards the finish at Possums Hill, Hall and Wilson parted company with Conrick and MacDonald and sprinted strongly for the win at the finish at the show grounds… or did they?

Adam Baker, having ridden a blinder in a solo effort had finished several minutes earlier. By the time Wilson and Hall crossed in second and third place respectively, Adam was relaxed, rehydrated and thinking about dinner at the Mansfield Hotel.

The Handicapper will take note of Adam’s effort for future races, I’m sure.

A strong ride by young gun Ryder Chadd produced a fourth place with David MacDonald coming in fifth.

Thanks to the volunteers and commissaires, next weeks race will be from the Lords Ground out to Howes Creek Road.

Many thanks again to Tony Copland for his images (above) and here are the results.

Road bike for sale

Just listed, Katie Moore’s beautifully looked-after Liv Langma is for sale.

Club kit

Keep your eye out soon for news of the Ventou Webshop opening for those interested in club kit. All pieces will be available for sale, including road and mtb kit.

We need a minimum of 10 pieces for the order to go into production.

Keep an eye out for next week’s newsletter and the MMBCC WhatsApp feed for links to the Ventou Webshop when it opens (you’ll need a code to get access!)

Speaking of WhatsApp…

It’s the best way to keep up to date with what’s happening in the club.

For instance, recent revelations on the feed shed new light on club president, Dave Empey.

His surname is a typo - it should really be EMPTY. The ’T’ was accidentally changed to an ‘E’ due to an administrative error by AusCycling when they looked into Dave’s eyes and saw the contents of his soul.

MMBCC News - Sun 19 Jan - First road race & HUGE weekend results

First MMBCC road race for 2025

By Rueben Bateup

Racing is on for 2025 and what better way to start off than the hardest finish on the calendar, with the steep, uphill finish of O’Hanlon’s Road!

To add to the challenge, there was a strong southerly wind that was going to play into the hands of the Scratch riders and make it torture for anyone who gets dropped by their group.

The first group to set off on-course was Adam Baker and Dave Bock, followed by Tim Hall and Craig Wilson at 2 minutes. These groups were caught prior to the McMillan Point turnaround by the largest group of Mick Pearce, Jason Parker, Rueben Bateup, Tim Ross and Heath Hammond, starting at 5 minutes 30. (A big MMBCC welcome to Heath for his first race.)

At 7 minutes was Steve Duke, Ant Bateup and Adrian Dowd, followed by Ryder Chadd and Damian Grundy at 8 minutes. The Scratch group consisted of Andy Garrett, Bruce Halket and Carl Simmons at 9 minutes 30.

Damian and Ryder caught Steve and Ant prior to the Lakeside Caravan Park and Adrian dropped off the back. Scratch then caught this group close to the halfway mark. With Bruce and Carl powering up the hills and Andy towing the group on the flats, the others were throwing in a turn when able.

With 2 large groups formed, the gap was small at the turnaround and the tailwind allowed the lead group to maintain their advantage. This was until Andy had other ideas and sprinted away from the chase group and passed the lead group like a freight train. This caused some turmoil in both groups with everyone trying to chase down Andy or just hang on.

Dave’s handicapping was again on point, as the two groups merged into one as they turned the corner into O’Hanlon’s for the final climb to the finish. Andy’s lead was diminished as the peloton hit the base of the climb and it was at this point that every rider pictured themselves as a contender for the win, it was on! Everyone was soon at max effort as the hill continued to steepen.

It was Carl who took the win narrowly over Rueben and Ryder in 3rd, followed by Bruce, Heath, Ant, Tim Ross, Steve, Damian and Mick to round out the top 10. Of the 17 riders, the top 11 were only separated by 1 minute which was a close race given the hill climb finish!

Thank you to all the marshals and officials for making this possible.

Here are the results and many thanks to Tony Copland for his images.

Next week it’s the Mansfield-Whitfield Road, from the Botanic Park out to Sawpit Gully Road and back, finishing near the Showgrounds on Mt Battery Road.

Huge weekend of MMBCC results

ProVelo Super League, Round 1, Adelaide

Talia Appleton: Stage 1 Uphill TT: 1st. Stage 2 Crit: 7th.

General Classification with one stage to go: 1st.

VDHS Round 3 at Mt Major, near Shepparton

Matt Empey, Elite Men: 4th.

Ryder Chadd, U19 Men: 14th.

Keegan Carman, U15 Men: 11th.

Shannon Rademaker, Masters Men: 3rd.

Stu Clark, Veteran Men: 7th.

Vic MTB Champ Series at Falls Creek, Round 5, Saturday

Ben Ross, U15 Men: 5th.

Ruby Dobson, Elite Women: 3rd.

Bruce Halket, Masters 7/8: 3rd.

Vic MTB Champ Series at Falls Creek, Round 6, Sunday

Ben Ross, U15 Men: 6th.

Alistair Ross, U13 Men: 2nd.

Ruby Dobson, Elite Women: 3rd.

Bruce Halket, Masters 7/8: 3rd.

Club kit

MMBCC Towers has had some enquiries regarding club kit.

Club kit comes in road and mtb versions from Ventou.

Have a look here.

We need a minimum of 10 pieces for Ventou to open the webshop. If you’re interested, please email Bruce.

BIKES FOR SALE

If you’re around about 6’2” and want a bargain road bike, this is for you.

MMBCC News - Sat 14 Dec - a tale of two Ryders

First up; last weekend…

After a stuff-up with last week’s issue of MMBCC News, congratulations go to Damian Grundy for finishing second at Round 4 of the Vic XC Series at Red Hill last weekend. Bruce finished 4th.

Now, onto this week. A lot can change in just a few days; this is The tale of two Ryders

Dirt Crits Gravity - Ryder finished first

By Kate Stonnill

The last Dirt Crits of 2024 saw 22 entrants for two timed runs at Rifle Butts Reserve.

Ryder Chadd took the win by just two seconds from Rueben Bateup. Rueben won the Bateup Cup by four seconds ahead of Dad Ant.

Fourth was Shannon Rademaker (even though there was some controversy over the last corner) with Adam Baker and Luke Vivash equal fifth.

Speaking of Adam, he said a few words of farewell to all.

The club thanks Adam for all his trail work and support of the club and riders and we wish Ariel, Finn and Adam all the best on their 2025 adventure in the Yarra Valley. Speaking personally, I will miss his mathematical genius with results.

Sienna Vivash won the Women’s race albeit after a crash in second run, even crossed the line with a bit of “bark” off.

Equal second shared between Nicole Hoebergen and visiting Danish rider, Anne Bruhn Andreasen.

Thanks to Adam for setting a tricky but enjoyable course.

Here are the results.

Dirt Crits will be back on Tue 21 Jan with a cross-country race at Rifle Butts MTB Park.

Merinda Way road race - Ryder finished last

By Bruce Halket

Seventeen riders were on the start line on Stoneleigh Road last Thursday night for the last Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club handicap road race of 2024.

Despite starting right outside the cemetery, there wasn’t too much thought given to the location being some kind of omen. In fact, after two and a half laps (about 24km) around the Merinda Way Loop, we should have increased our fitness enough to prevent us from going into a hole in the ground anytime soon.

First away was the Limit Group of Tony Morris, followed by six more groups until the Scratch Group of Andy Garrett, Bruce Halket and last week’s winner, Ryder Chadd, started 19 minutes later.

The first group to look threatening was Adam Baker and Dave Bock. They’d started off 9.30 (right in the middle) and had caught both Morris and Micala Jacobs and looked strong going into the second lap.

Steve Curnow, Ian Conrick, Craig Wilson and Allan Gerrans, who’d started off 8 minutes had other ideas. At about two-thirds distance they caught Baker and Bocky and looked strong. Baker managed to hang on, Bocky didn’t.

But then Scratch started to get involved.

Andy Garrett is an absolute beast on the flat. He doesn’t really enjoy hills all that much; and he goes around corners with all the agility of an ocean liner, only more so! So with Chadd helping where he could, especially on the first lap, and Halket doing what he could on the hills, Garrett tore through the other groups. The Block group (Damian Grundy, Steve Brown and Ant Bateup) was caught near Quarry Lane and the 3.30 group (Mick Pearce, Steve Duke and Rueben Bateup) was caught near the cemetery.

With just a couple of km to go, Garrett accelerated to catch the leaders. When he tired a little, Halket had a go. He caught Baker and Wilson.

When Grundy caught the tiring Halket, Garrett blasted past again to overtake Curnow and Conrick and take the win and Fastest Time.

Halket took second (Where were you Adrian? You owe me an article!) just ahead of Conrick, Grundy, the Steves Duke and Curnow, Rueben Bateup, Baker, Wilson and Brown took another top ten finish.

Ryder got dropped on the second lap, showing there’s a big step up from Block to Scratch. At one stage he even thought he might even die, but he didn’t. The cemetery can wait. Plus he did the right thing and rolled in with his Mum, Micala, even letting her over the line ahead of him.

Many thanks to all the marshals and officials for a safe, well-run race.

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

Road racing now takes a few weeks off - we’ll be back on Thursday 16 January for a race on Howes Creek Road, finishing on the dreaded O’Hanlon’s Hill.

In the meantime, the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club wishes all of Mansfield’s road users a safe and Merry Christmas - except for the young bloke in the big 4WD who hassled a group of local cyclists near Spring Creek Road on Saturday morning; I hope Santa brings you three demerit points!

MMBCC News - Sun 7 Dec - Young guns win!

MMBCC at the Rookie Cup

By Luke Vivash

A group of young riders proudly represented MMBCC this spring at the Joyride Rookie Cup – a youth downhill mountain bike series held across four events. Serving as a pathway into the Vic DH series, this event has become one of the most popular races in Australia, attracting talent from across the country.

Mansfield riders Cooper Hoebergen, Keegan and Spencer Carman, Ewan Rogan, and Sienna Vivash competed in the series, with the final race held last week at Mt Major in Dookie.

The competition wasn't without its challenges, as Saturday's practice saw bikes caked in mud so thick that the wheels would no longer spin. Youth pit crews lined the track, scraping mud from racers’ wheels as they pushed through the final sprint. Thankfully, Sunday brought perfect conditions for race day.

Sienna Vivash had an exceptional series, bringing home the trophy for the overall U11 Girls category after placing 1st in all four races with impressive times.

All the Mansfield riders delivered clean runs, aside from a gust of wind affecting Keegan’s flight path on the final jumps, causing him to crash-land outside the bunting.

It was a fantastic series and an incredible experience for young riders aged 9-16 interested in trying downhill racing.

Dirt Critters Update

By Tim Ross

Next Tuesday Dirt Critters will be at Rifle Butts Reserve. As usual 4pm for the younger group, 4:45pm for the older group with teenage ex-Dirt Critters encouraged to join adult Dirt Crits at 6pm.  

We had a fantastic ride along the Delatite River from Carter's Road to Mirimbah and back last Tuesday, one of the best single track rides around! Three groups separately navigated the track with only a couple of minor scrapes and blackberry scratches. 

Pictured is the whole group at Mirimbah prior to their ride back to base. 

As usual a massive thanks to the parents who rode with us, without them we simply couldn't do these rides.

Our final Dirt Critters for the year will be on Tuesday 17 December, more details next week.

Dirt Crits Long Course

By Damian Grundy

This was a true test for the committed racers from the MMBCC Dirt Crits crew.

Yes, the day had been hot and sticky, and yes, there was remote threat of a storm… maybe. But it never eventuated.

But when the going gets tough, the sensible stay at home!

Fourteen intrepid souls turned out for the final 2024 XC edition of Dirt Crits on Tuesday 3 December.

A long, long, long, course had been set out, essentially taking in 95% of the available trails. I do love this long course lap 😊

Based on ability and age, riders had to negotiate either a single lap, or a lap and a half or, for the faster types, two full laps.

First out of the start gate was Cam Dobson on his 2-lap effort followed by the rest at their allotted start times.

And so the race went.

At the end it was Reuben Bateup crossing the line first with a finish time of 40 min 04 sec. It is great to see Reuben returning to some good form after a recent heavy crash. Stay upright out there Reuben.

Darren Bakker crossed the line in 2nd at 41 min 08 sec, a first ever MTB Dirt Crits podium for Darren. It is worth mentioning that Darren took a couple of dives during the race and finished a little bruised and bloodied but obviously happy for a well-deserved podium. Darren also finished second at the Jamieson Road race on Thursday evening, a very consistent week.

Shannon Rademaker was 3rd another couple of minutes later.

It has to be noted that there is no coincidence that the first three place getters were all on 1.5 laps. The handicapper NEVER makes mistakes like calculating handicaps with an incorrect lap distance. 😊 Of course, if any participants are deeply offended by the idea that handicapping mistakes might happen they are more than welcome to take over the job. 😊

In 4th – Dan Hall and 5th Adam Baker.

Congratulations to everyone and thanks as always to the time keepers on the night, Rob Holmgren and Ben Grundy

Racing for pizza

By Dario Cippollini Gazetta

23 riders greeted the starter on a hot night in Jamieson to race one of the club’s favourite courses.

Tony Morris was first away followed by Micala Jacobs, then Di Condie and John Eisner. Next off was Adam Baker, Daves Bock and Jagger; then Steve Curnow, Ian Conrick, Tim Hall and Craig Wilson.

Next away was Jason Parker, Adrian Dowd and Mick Pearce (back for his first race this season.)

Starting next was Damian Grundy, Steve Duke and last week’s winner, Simon Hall, followed by the dangerous Block group of Dave Moore, Steve Brown, Ryder Chadd and Darren Bakker. Chasing off Scratch was Bruce Halket and Smokey Garrett.

By the half way mark the race was coming together as the Block group powering through the other riders and the Scratch group not making enough headway to feature in the finish.

Coming into the final few kilometres, the Block group had collected a large amount of riders that were all jostling for position for the all-important sprint into the city limits. Big Steve Brown decided to dispense with as many riders as possible by doing a big turn of speed, spitting out a few riders that were only just hanging on. Bakker jumped on his wheel but drifted to the front way too early for the sprint with all the others looking for a lead out.

Bakker started his sprint early, trying to catch the others off guard, which worked to a certain degree. But he couldn’t maintain the gap; young gun Ryder Chadd powering to the line and collecting fastest time too!

Bakker held on for second ahead of Grundy in third after a strong ride. Everyone else came in not far behind.

Here are the results and many thanks to Jenni Sparnon and Tony Copland for the pics.

Thanks to all the marshalls, Commissaires and helpers on the night. Also Thanks to Janine for organising the delicious pizzas at the Brewery and a good evening was had by all.

Next week is the last race of the year, around the Merinda Way Loop.

MMBCC News - Sat 30 Nov - Pizza, Perfection & Pretty in Pink

Xmas pizza!

By Janine Appleton

The Executive Committee invite you to the MMBCC Christmas Party out at Jamieson road race next Thursday evening at the Jamieson Brewery.  Pizza provided by the club for everyone that attends.  

All you have to do is RSVP to Janine Appleton 0428 150 800, or email Janine with your name/s and Pizza preference by Tuesday 3 December.  We would like to have all the pizza orders in the day before so when we arrive at the venue from 8pm, everything is ready to serve.  Drinks at your own expense.

So if you haven't raced in a while, this is a fantastic opportunity to have a go next week and join us for what I think is the best circuit on our calendar.  You can jump in the river for a quick dip afterwards… if you are brave enough.  

Dirt Critters News

By Tim Ross

Advance notice that on Tuesday Dirt Critters will ride alongside the Delatite River from Carter's Road to Mirimbah and back. This is a wonderful, flattish ride thru the bush on a great piece of single-track.

ALL Dirt Critters will ride at the same time (though we'll split up into groups based on speed/ experience).  

We'll meet at the Carter's Road picnic area at 4:15 pm and I expect we'll be finished by around 5:45pm (the Carter's Road picnic area is easy to find on Google Maps; just off the Buller Road 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.

We had a relaxed ride at Rifle Butts Reserve last Tuesday, with both groups enjoying a ride around the upper trails and successfully negotiating some rougher tracks.

Entries are now open for the next event in the Alpine Cycling Club Junior MTB Race Series, in Yackandandah only a week away. For those of you not on their email list here is the info;

Round 3 of the series is coming up shortly on Saturday the 7th of December.

This year, The Yack team has prepared a fresh new course for you closer to the town in the local Sports park so don't miss this one.

Here is the rego link and all the course details will follow in the coming days.

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

See you on Tuesday!  

Rifle Butts Time Trial

By Damian Grundy

Dirt Crits Tuesday 26 November and who could believe it's already the second to last XC race of 2024. 

For something completely new, at the suggestion of Tim Ross, the evening consisted of two timed runs along the Riflebutts Road single track. This is a really cool bit of trail; nothing too difficult, fast and flowy.

The course length was 3.3km. The objective for the competitors was to produce two runs with the most consistent times.

Ben Ross came out victorious with two efforts producing identical times of 9 min 23 sec - perfect!

Second place on the night was awarded to the rider with the lowest combined two laps and in a break-out performance this was produced by young Tom Logan-Williams with a combined time of 18 min 07sec. Bruce Halket had the second fastest combined time of 18 min 20 sec.

3rd place overall was Damian Grundy with 2 sec difference with laps of 9 min 24 sec and 9 min 22 sec.

In 4th overall and second in the Ross vs Ross Cup was Tim Ross with a 3 sec variation.

In 5th and 1st Female was Nicole Hoebergen with a 7 sec difference between runs.

Thanks to everyone and especially Cam Dobson and Darren Bakker for managing the timing.

Here are the detailed results.

See you next week for another XC night!

Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap

By Simon Hall 

After a few wet days that provided more rain than any cropping farmer would like in the middle of harvest, race day arrived fine and dry but windy. A small field of dedicated riders braved the weather and signed on to race.

Di Condie and Micala Jacobs were first off the line, Di proving to be too strong for Micala and quickly riding away from her. A brave move to be leading the race by yourself that early on.

Dave Jagger and Dave Bock were next in an awkward position - 7 minutes to the pair in front and an equal distance to the bunch behind. This is a decent gap considering the wind.

They were followed by Jason Parker, Adrian Dowd, Oliver Hall and Simon Hall. Oliver struggled to keep up in this bunch but they worked well together and looked after Oliver for as long as they could.

With some late scratchings, the handicappers job was difficult for the back markers. Dave Jagger and Dave Bock where the next bunch. Ryder Chadd was pulled from this bunch to keep Andy Garrett company at the back of the race. The plan here was that Ryder would help Andy to get up the hill to the turn around, but the flats beforehand proved too hard for Ryder and he struggled to keep up.

With a great ride, Darren Bakker and Damian Grundy breezed past the bunch in front on the climb. Only Adrian and Simon managed to grab a wheel and keep going with them. The rest of the climb and the return to Mansfied proving to be fast with this new bunch managing to chase down all riders in front. After a sterling ride by herself, Di was unfortunately caught on the approach to the finish. A close bunch finish saw Simon just in front of Damian and Darren. Everyone else was close behind. Di after a long ride by herself was just able to stay in front of Andy at the finish.

Here are the results and thanks again to Tony Copland for his images, making us all look good.

Bike racing is a lot of fun and my appreciation goes to the volunteers who help out each week to make it all possible.

MMBCC News - Sun 24 Nov - Ryder wins and Wil does two. Er... too.

Gravity Wrap

By Dave Empey

Another perfect evening for gravity racing at Rifle Butts MTB Park with a huge turn out of racers. We had 26 people race. Not bad for an evening’s racing.

Racing appears to be getting tighter across the board.

A new winner this week: Ryder Chadd. He had the fastest lap just pipping Rueben Bateup for the hot lap by 1 sec.

The top five this week were Ryder Chad closely followed by Thing 1 and Thing 2 (the matching Bateups) on the same second with Ant getting the honours on a count back.

The All Terrain Cycles Cup was taken out by Shannon finishing 4th just ahead of Archie Smith, who is washing bikes for the week.

As said earlier times were tight all the way through the results sheet. Dan Friday may have done better but a pre-run mechanical had his trusty or not so trusty Banshee not performing optimally.

Tim Ross should undertake a course in bike maintenance as a slow leak will only usually get you to the top of the hill. Although I don’t think Tim’s pumped up tyres would have been enough for him to catch Ben.

Nicole Hoebergen took her first win over the very speedy Sienna Vivash with Ariel rounding out the women’s field.

It’s great to see big turn outs, so well done everyone. Here are the results.

On the last Gravity Enduro of the year there will be gear available to anyone who wants it. It will include tyres, Camelbaks, helmets and some clothing. If anyone has some stuff they don’t want bring it along and get it re-purposed.

The Heat Is On!

By Micala Jacobs

Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club came together for its first hot evening of racing on Thursday. In line with what seems to be the warm Spring season it’s turned out to be.

This week saw the racers line up for the 23 km Course 2 - an out and back starting at the Mansfield Commercial Complex, turning around in the dip between Hearns and Buttercup Roads and finishing on the Mansfield-Woods Point Road about halfway up the airstrip.

At 6pm when the flag dropped it was still a solid 30 degrees. Any wind throughout the day had dropped to a gentle 9kmph WNW which I feel had dropped to nothing by the time we were out near Glenroy Road.

Of the 19 starters we were set off at various times that represent our levels and abilities. The handicapper has an immense job of determining this but it is not an exact science as external factors such as non-starters, bad days and just ‘not feeling it in this heat’ take their toll on the race outcome. Each group had good numbers allowing everyone to do a bit of work on the front.

Di Condie, Micala Jacobs and Judi Duke were able to stay away until the turn around. The steady long incline up to Hearns Road either offered the chance for some stronger riders to ‘blow up’ their fellow contenders while others worked together to overcome the gaps and catch the little taillight glowing in front. It’s all racing!

Coming back in from Hearns Road riders engaged the big gears, got in ‘the drops’ and turned the legs hard to try and make up for the slower accent. Many riders dug deep.

You know the handicapper is doing a good job when the time gap between the first and last rider has the entire field crossing the finishing line in a 4 and half minute window. Andy Garrett (Euroa) who got sent off solo as Scratch, 12min and 30 secs after the first riders were set off, was able to lay down the fastest time of the evening of 36 minutes and 51 seconds.

Craig Wilson was able to bridge the gap to Di and Micala and took them all the way to the finish line, in that order, in a time of 42min 35 seconds. That’s two in a row for Wil!

The top 10 across the finish line looked like this:

1. Craig Wilson

2. Di Condie

3. Micala Jacobs

4. Oliver Hall

5. Adrian Dowd

6. Janine Appleton

7. Steve Curnow

8. Ryder Chadd

9. Dave Bock

10. Jarrod Appleton

Here are the detailed results and see you all next week for the Rob Curtis Memorial Handicap.

MMBCC News - Sun 17 Nov - Wil wins Alain's race

Tenth Alain Guerin Memorial Bike Race

By Jarrod Appleton

This week’s Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club’s handicap road race memorialised the tragic death of a beloved club member, Alain Guerin in 2014. Alain’s life was taken by a motorist ten years ago as he was riding along Mount Buller Road close to Stoney’s Road. The driver was convicted on multiple charges and imprisoned.

Despite the sombre occasion, Alain’s memorial race is a highlight of the club’s racing calendar due to the attendance of Alain’s family, and many extra riders who knew Alain, coming from far afield. Thursday evening was warm and sunny with a moderate south-westerly wind. The 25km handicap race started on Malcolm Street at Lords Oval and went out Howes Creek Road to the turn around at Cummins Road before returning along Howes Creek Road to finish near Malcolm Street.

Craig Wilson (Mansfield) won by a huge margin of one minute and eight seconds over Fletcher Christensen (Seymour) and Oliver Hall (Benalla) who sprinted for second and third place respectively. They only narrowly held onto a four second lead over Simon Hall (Benalla) and Damien Grundy (Mansfield). Fastest time was again set by Jake Lay (Seymour) who has established himself as the king pin this season despite the attendance this week of Dan Purcell and Nick Zhang, a couple of Melbourne-based power houses who started off scratch with Jake.

A huge MMBCC thanks to all our marshals and officials and to Tony for the images. Here are the results.

Next week it’s the Buller Road handicap; see you there!

DONALD TRUMP TAKES CONVINCING VICTORY… oops. Wrong race!

By Damian Grundy

Blake Riley has taken his first win… in his first race at Dirt Crits! A two-lap flyer and duly noted by the handicapper for the next race. But a creditable first-time performance zipping around at a very impressive 16km/h (another warning shot from a young rider across the bows of the older crew 😊). It is my prediction that in pretty short time these young guns will be topping the speed charts easily.

The podium consisted then of 2nd - Stuart Clark (welcome back Stuart, first XC race in a while). 3rd – Tim Ross (taking this week’s honors in the battle of the Rosses but sadly for Tim, Ben had the higher speed on the night again.) Tim, I think that horse has well and truly bolted)).

4th – and First female Nicole Hoebergen. 2nd Female Ariel Stava, 3rd Female Micala Jacobs.

And 5th – Mr Consistency David Bock. Juniors please take note of David’s dedication to his sport, continuing on for an extra (practice) victory lap after completing his race, only to sadly miss his podium appearance for this race. Well done David 😊

It was a great turn out as has been the case every week of this season. Great to see everyone.

Here are the detailed results.

Special greetings to first timers Willem Morphett, Blake Riley and Dave Blunden. And welcome back Stuart Clark.

Looking forward to the next XC night on November 26th, I am trying to come up with ideas for a Team Race format or another thought is that we divide off into categories. Men, Women, U17 and U15 and have individual category races. If you have any ideas please call me: Damian 0411 045 771.

I will be doing course reconnaissance as usual on Sunday November 23rd at 9am. Look forward to seeing anyone who is interested to join me.

NICA registrations now open!

A few weeks back we included news of an American MTB series that has been brought to Australia by Trek Bikes. Registrations for the National Interscholastic Cycling Association Try-It-Out Events in Australia are now open.

The closest ones are Falls Creek and Beechworth in January. Plus there’s a race at Stromlo in Canberra in November. For more info and registrations, click here.

MMBCC News - Sun 10 Nov - Apples and juniors

Appleton’s apples!

By Bruce Halket

A breezy evening greeted the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club’s handicap race last Thursday. Starting at the Botanic Park, riders headed north along the Mansfield-Whitfield Road to a turnaround at Sawpit Gully Road, then it was back towards town and around the Barwite Loop to finish on Graves Road - a total of 32km and the longest course on the MMBCC calendar.

Before racing got underway, we welcomed a newcomer to Thursday night racing; Oliver Hall (son of Simon, nephew of Tim) who pinned on a number for the first time.

Then drama at the start when a sudden air leak could be heard from Jarrod Appleton; thankfully it was just his front tyre going down and nothing more anatomically disturbing.

There were 23 entrants on the start list, starting with Micala Jacobs and Judi Duke, off as Limit, through to Talia Appleton and Jake Lay as the Scratch group 19 minutes later. The two most likely groups were the larger ones: the four-strong 9-minute group of Jason Parker, Adrian Dowd, Rueben Bateup and the hastily re-inflated Jarrod Appleton followed by the five-strong 4.30 group of Darren Bakker, Steve Duke, Dave Moore, Ryder Chadd and Ant Bateup.

As expected, the larger groups rode well in the windy conditions, especially the 9.00 group; Parker, Dowd, Bateup and Appleton rounded up all the out markers by the Coombesberg and began to discuss which of them was fresh enough to sprint for the win; they decided it was to be Rueben’s turn.

But two of the Halls, Oliver and Simon, had other ideas. They were the only two caught riders able to hang on over the hill and were looking to become the flies in the nine minute group’s ointment. When it became clear that Bateup didn’t have the kick to outspent the Halls, Appleton sprinted instead and took the win. Jarrod mentioned later it was only his third MMBCC win in his 12 years living in Mansfield.

Simon Hall got up for second ahead of son Oliver who got on the podium in his first race.

Next came Adrian Dowd, Rueben Bateup, Jason Parker, Andy Garrett, Ryder Chadd, Darren Bakker and Bruce Halket rounded out the top ten.

Fastest was Jake Lay in 50.30, which is an average speed of 39.7 km/h!

Many thanks to our Commissaires and marshals, especially the last-minute fill ins. Here are the results and thanks to Tony Copland for the images.

Next week’s race is the Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap, to be held on the Howes Creek Road course for the first time.

Junior MTB race at Beechworth

By Tim Ross

On Saturday a group of twelve current and former Dirt Critters, ranging in age from U7 to U15 travelled to Beechworth for Round 2 of the Alpine Cycling Club's Junior MTB race series. 

This round was an XCO course around the Beechworth MTB Park. On a perfect spring day, around 90 kids from across the north east competed. 

All of the Mansfield contingent rode well on a course that was a bit technical, featuring more than its share of rocks, tree roots and sand. Highlights of the day included Baz and Jarra each completing his first MTB race; well done to both of them. 

Ben (second) and Scout (third) both made it onto the podium, but the real achievers were all twelve kids who fronted up, had a crack and enjoyed a great ride against their peers.

After the race a few of the riders adjourned to the Indigo Epic trails for more fun on their bikes. 

Pictured below are some of the Mansfield crew after the racing.

Rookie Cup at Narbethong

By Luke Vivash

Congratulations to our young riders, Cooper Hoebergen and Sienna Vivash, for their impressive performances in the Rookie Cup!

Competing in Under 13s, Cooper placed 12th with a swift time of 3:02.

In the Under 11s, Sienna took the top spot, securing 1st place with a time of 3:20.

Both showed remarkable skill and determination on the track. Keep an eye on these rising stars.

Fantastic effort, Cooper and Sienna!

Upcoming event

Giro della Donna - Marysville - Sat 23 & Sun 24 November

MMBCC News - Sun 3 Nov - No gravel for you!

Heaps to get through this week.

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Junior MTB Series

By Tim Ross

Last weekend (19th October) a group of twelve current and former Dirt Critters, ranging in age from U7 to U15 travelled to Bright for Round 1 of the Alpine Cycling Club's Junior MTB race series. The series runs over the summer and involves 7 races across the North East, including Bright, Beechworth, Yackandandah, Albury, Falls Creek and Bright, with a mixture of XCO and Enduro events. 

The first event was an XCO course using the Roger Packham loop along Morse's Creek.

All the group acquitted themselves well on a course that was a bit slippery and difficult after some heavy rain overnight (especially for the older kids). 

Highlights of the day included Jedd completing his first race, and older brother Duke popping a mono as he crossed the finish line. 

Congratulations to Ben and to Scout who each placed first in their race.

Old blokes rule, ok?

By Dave Empey

Another perfect evening for Gravity Enduro with mild temperatures and a very dry track.

It was a very pedally downhill (we missed you Bruce Halket) utilising both sides of the mountain bike park and on average a 4-to-5-minute track.

In a turnaround from last week, the more seasoned riders tended to prevail without last week’s winner Rueben Bateup having to sit this week out due to a dirt nap at the VDHS Downhill at Barjarg on the weekend.

In first position was Matthew Empey. He didn’t have it all his own way with Ant Bateup taking the first run by 3 seconds. However, Matt went 9 seconds faster on his second run. He must have woken up and realised it was a race.

Ant Bateup came in second just 4 seconds behind Matt and Luke Vivash pulled one out of the bag for a third closely followed by Cam Dobson and Spencer Carmen on the same time, with Cam taking the honours on a countback having the fastest time over Spencer by just one second.

Stu Clark may have done better but due to being geographically embarrassed he lost a little time on his first run.

Dan Friday may have picked the wrong bike, big travel and lots of pedalling don’t seem to equate to going as fast as you normally do.

Dave Blunden turned up for his first race EVER and finished in the top ten, so well done to Dave.

We had another full class for the women’s race again this week, with Nicole taking the honours (despite an ‘off’ and some bruising/scratching) ahead of Serena and Ariel.

Here are the results and thanks to Kate for the images, above.

Well done to everyone who raced last night. Having big numbers makes the race a lot more fun and interesting.

Alain’s race is moving

By Bruce Halket

Due to a clash with Oaks Day, Coral Guerin has asked the club to move Alain’s race from its original date of 7 Nov to a week later, 14 Nov.

But it’s not just a date change. With the way Police and VicRoads permits work, the race will now be held on the Howes Creek Road course, instead of the usual 32km course finishing on Graves Road.

And due to this course change and time constraints, Coral has asked that we not ride out to Alain’s bike on the Buller Road, but head back to the Mansfield Hotel for presentations instead.

Nowhere to hide on Chapel Hill Road

By Micala Jacobs

In a spirited display of competition and camaraderie, Chapel Hill Road was the site of an individual time trial that brought together 13 enthusiastic participants from the local cycling club. Despite the smaller turnout, the event highlighted the club's commitment to fostering a diverse range of age categories and abilities, making for an inclusive and exciting atmosphere.

The weather on race day was nearly perfect for racing: partly cloudy skies and a comfortable 17 degrees Celsius, though competitors faced a challenging SSW wind that tested their resolve after the turnaround. With staggered starts set at one-minute intervals, each cyclist had the chance to battle against the clock and themselves, a hallmark of the individual time trial format.

Participants pushed through the course, which spanned almost 11 km, with many competitors remarking on the mental toughness required when racing solo. “In this type of race, there’s nowhere to hide,” one competitor noted. “It’s all on you to keep your legs turning and push yourself to the finish.”

Local cyclist Craig Wilson was particularly enthusiastic about the event, showcasing all the time trial gear and creating a festive atmosphere. Darren Bakker also added to the camaraderie with his possibly unintentional vocal encouragement at the finish line, rallying support for those crossing the line.

When the dust settled and the results were tallied - after applying the handicapping that accommodates the varied age categories and abilities - Judi Duke claimed the top spot, followed closely by Micala Jacobs in second and Jarrah O’Brien in third (welcome to MMBCC racing Jarrah!) The results demonstrated not only individual achievement but also the club's spirit of friendly competition.

As always, a big thank you was extended to the volunteers who served as Commissaire, timing officials, and marshals, ensuring the safety and smooth operation of the event. Their dedication is vital in creating a safe and enjoyable environment for all participants. Thanks again to Tony Copland for his images, above.

Looking ahead, the next event on the calendar is a Handicap race that promises to challenge riders with a 32 kilometre course taking them out Whitfield Road to Sawpit Gully Road, and on to Barwite Road, finishing on Graves Road. Meet us at Botanic Park from 6pm to cheers on the starters.

Ride High Country Gravel Network launched

Tourism North East has launched their new gravel network throughout north east Victoria. Here’s the launch information and here is a link to the Ride High Country website to check it all out.

Isn’t it funny how Mansfield isn’t mentioned!? It must be due to all those thousands of gravel cyclists coming here threatening our Mansfield way of life. (Can someone please insert a ‘rolling my eyes’ emoji here.)

We just have to be patient…

Busfleet’s shuttle service for bike riders from Mansfield to Mt Buller for the coming Summer started this weekend!

It’s called the Locals Day Out. With a day pass you can get on and off the bus, with your bike, at different points between town and the hill, including Delatite Winery, the Hunt Club in Merrijig and Mirimbah.

And for MMBCC members, Busfleet are offering a discount on the 8am service.

Use this link to their booking portal and put in the code MMBCC when it’s time to pay.

Go to their website for more details. Please note: the discount only applies to the 8am departure from Mansfield. 

Volunteers wanted

The Great Vic Bike Ride is coming to Mansfield for two days later this month. Bicycle Network and the Shire are looking for volunteers to help out…

Finally…

Congratulations to the Chadd boys for some great results at the Rocky Trail Shred & Flow at Haunted Hills on Saturday.

MMBCC News - Sat 26 Oct - Debuts, Comebacks & Kids

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It was another great week of MMBCC racing, starting Tuesday night at Rifle Butts MTB Park…

Women Dominate

By Damian Grundy

Lots and lots and lots of competitors. And an evening dominated by our female competitors.

Congratulations to Miranda Farrall on her first win at her second race! Winners are grinners!

In second place Arial Stava and third was Serena (soon to be) Vivash. Dan Friday snuck into 4th… great to see you back Dan.

5th was Bruce Halket. Bruce was also the fastest on the night knocking off the race at a very respectable 19.6km/h average speed. Congratulations Bruce, without question one of the club’s most dedicated and deserving competitors.

Thanks to our timekeepers on the night Jason Parker and Nicole Hoebergen. Here are the results.

The next XC race night will be the week after Melbourne Cup Day Tuesday November 12th.

And I’ve had an idea! It is a bit of a process preparing for the XC race nights. A course has to be decided upon and then it needs to be mapped on STRAVA to get the distance in order to sort out the handicaps.

So… for the rest of the season, on the Sunday morning before the XC races I will be at Rifle Butts at 9:00am to do this reconnaissance. Please feel free to join me for the ride; have some input into the race lap for the coming race and even the race format. Also learn the lap for the race (a very useful advantage).

Feel free to ask me for some coaching tips. Even if I don’t know, I will always have an opinion 😊. But seriously I am a qualified coach.

I look forward to seeing you there.

The comeback kids

By Bruce Halket

It was a week of comebacks for the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club’s third road race of the season on a clockwise course around the Barwite Loop on Thursday 24 October. But with a stiff southerly blowing, it was also likely to be a night for the back markers.

First away was the Limit group of Craig Wilson, Dave Jagger and the first of our Comeback Kids, Di Condie, off 11 minutes.

A minute later, next to start was Steve Curnow and Adam Baker; another minute later came Janine Appleton, Tim Ross, Jason Parker and winner of the last three races (including the last one of last season, Ian Conrick; at 7.00 was Jarrod Appleton, Adrian Dowd and the second Comeback Kid, David MacDonald of Tolmie. David, from Tolmie, joined the ATC Gravel Expo ride last Sunday and decided on a comeback to road racing 8 years after his last.

Darren Baker and Ryder Chadd were the 4 minute group; then came the 2.30 group of Fletcher Christensen, Bruce Halket, Carl Simmons and James Steward, brother of Seoul Olympian Scott and the third rider on the comeback trail, racing on the road for the first time in 10 years! It’s never too late.

Block saw Ruby Dobson and Talia Appleton start together off 45 seconds, just in front of the lone Scratch rider, recently returned from racing in Belgium, Jake Lay.

The outward leg saw most groups break up. One that stayed together was the 2.30 group of Christensen, Halket, Simmons and Steward who rode strongly with the wind and had caught Bakker and Chadd just after the Long Lane turnaround; Bakker rolled through for a few turns but his ticket expired not long after turning left onto the Barwite Road; Chadd had only booked a passenger’s ticket, so he hung on.

The other group riding well was the 9 minute group of Appleton, Ross, Parker and Conrick. But they were also the only group to be stopped by the traffic marshal at the turnaround, losing them about 30 seconds.

All the while, Jake Lay was stalking. He picked up Talia Appleton and set about hunting down the field.

After the decisive turn onto Old Tolmie Road, the headwind played havoc with riders spread all the way up the Coombesberg. Ross and Parker first dropped Conrick (there was to be no three-in-a-row for him!) then Appleton, picked up all the out markers and looked to have a good lead going over the top.

The 2.30 group picked up Jarrod Appleton over the hill and with Chadd in tow, could see the Lead Car and catch a faint glimpse of the two riders in MMBCC kit up ahead. But it looked like they had enough lead.

At the ford over Ford’s Creek, the Lay train, with Talia Appleton on board, caught them all and the pace lifted again! Suddenly, Ross and Parker were within catching distance.

With just 300 metres to go they were caught as Lay whistled past.

Simmons sprinted for second ahead of Chadd, Halket, Jarrod Appleton, Christensen, Talia Appleton, Steward, Ross and Parker.

Surely, without the traffic stop, Ross and Parker had it won. They was robbed!

Lay was also fastest in a corrected time of 31.56.

Here are the full results.

Many thanks all our wonderful volunteers and marshals, with a particular thanks this week to John Eisner, who made a temporary comeback to Handicapping with great success. And to Tony Copland for his images.

Next week will see more comebacks at the Individual Time Trial on Chapel Hill Road, with the return of club Handicapper, Dave Moore, after a fortnight cycling the Munda Biddi trail in WA.

There was also talk of legendary Australian cyclist Sir Hubert Opperman making a comeback from the dead. But in an administrative mix up, Dr Robert Oppenheimer, the father of the atomic bomb, was named instead. It should be a real blast!

TREK Youth MTB program for 12-17 year olds launches in Australia

The National Interscholastic Cycling Association (NICA) is a US-based youth development organisation dedicated to building strong mind, character and communities through mountain biking.

NICA is for everyone aged 12-17 who wants to give it a go. There's a place for everyone.

Trek is a Lead Partner of NICA, and is supporting their Australian pilot program of "Try-It-Out" and Race events across this summer.

Try-It-Out events start 30 November, and are free to participate. Registration opens start of November.

Visit the NICA Australia website for more information and to sign-up to stay informed.

Finally…

The Specialized gravel demo bikes are still available for the coming week at All Terrain Cycles. Call in and take one for a ride…

MMBCC News - Sun 20 Oct - Demo a gravel bike!

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Dirt Critters gets off to great start

By Tim and Luke

Great to see so many of the Dirt Critters on Tuesday, including several new recruits. We had 8 in the older group and 9 in the younger group, all of whom enjoyed riding the upgraded tracks at Rifle Butts. 

Rifle Butts is riding better than ever now so I hope you can take the opportunity to get your kids using it during the week and not just on Tuesday afternoons.

Dirt Critters follows a rough program designed to expose the kids to some different types of riding; some nights it'll be XC (cross country), some will be more Enduro/ Downhill, and some will be Single Track rides. Next Tuesday we'll be doing some timed XC laps; then just before the Christmas breakup we'll do it again to see how much the kids have improved over the term.

MTB riding doesn't finish after Grade 6, and it has been pleasing to see a number of our ex-Dirt Critters moving up into the open-age ranks (at Rifle Butts Reserve from 6pm each Tuesday).

We do encourage kids to have a go at MTB racing once they are confident on their bikes, through our participation in the Alpine Cycling Club's Junior MTB race series. There are seven races over the summer, and we will post a link to info/entry details prior to each one. We have 12 current or former Dirt Critters travelling to Bright this weekend to compete in the first race; best wishes to Blake, Duke, Ben, Errol, Hunter, Baz, Finley, Alastair, Miles, Angus, Jedd and Scout.

We have plenty of room for extras, so please feel free to spread the word around and invite friends to come along.

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

Gravity Enduro Review

By Dave Empey

It was the first Gravity Enduro of the year on Tuesday and following on from the huge turn out for the XC the week before we had 26 riders turn out in near perfect conditions.

The trail work that has been done recently has been a big improvement and made racing a lot more pleasant (if there is such a thing as pleasant racing?).

Racing was tight but Rueben Bateup showed everyone a clean pair of heels and took the win by 10 sec from Ryder Chadd and family bragging rights. In third place we had Ant Bateup with a solid performance. Ant, may I suggest buying Rueben, a 26-inch bike that weighs 30 kgs?

We had a dead heat for fourth in the battle for All Terrain Cycles workshop bragging rights with Archie Smith and Shannon Rademaker not being able to be separated, even on a count back.

Another significant family contest that took place was Ross’, with Tim being outdone by Ben ;although Tim did have quite the dirt nap at the last corner.

The Vivash’s also had a 3-way family battle with Luke coming out on top followed by Sienna and Serena.

It was great to see The Workshop team turn en mass with Stu Clarke, Ronnie and Fred all racing.

It is good to see so many new faces and old faces turning up and enjoying the racing.

We had a full class of female riders last night again; this is very pleasing! Sienna Vivash took the win over Serena Vivash closely followed by Arial Stava.

Here are the results.

Many thanks to Ant Bateup, Damian Grundy and Cameron Dobson for the work they have done in rectifying the trail damage of the past wet years. It’s a great improvement on the past trail conditions.

It was a dark and stormy night…

By Tim Hall

20 riders lined up for the second race of the season, held Thursday 17 October on the Howes Creek Road ‘out and back’ course. Only two late scratchings from the list and, given the inclement weather, that’s fairly good. We’re a hardy bunch at the club! (A note to anyone who scratches late before the race, it’s helpful to the handicapper if you send them a text message as well – thanks.)

We rode between the bands of rain, with a dump before the start, drizzle throughout and a dump afterwards when we were finished and rolling back into town. Everyone stayed upright in the wet, so well done riders.

Micala Jacobs was the lone Limit rider, followed by the pair of Craig Wilson and John Eisner. Tim Hall, Simon Hall and Ian Conrick followed, riding solidly together with Simon cracking the whip to keep the pace up. (Simon) Hall was over from Benalla for his second ride with the club. Hall, Hall and Conrick picked up Eisner and Wilson before the turn around point at the end of the sealed road to make a group of five.

Behind them, Steve Curnow, Jason Parker, Janine Appleton, Adam Baker and Tim Ross started well together, but dropped Curnow and Baker early. Second block consisted of Jarrod Appleton, Adrian Dowd and Rueben Bateup, riding well to stay away from Block with Ryder Chad, Steve Duke, Ant Bateup and Darren Bakker. Nice to see a bit of young blood out on the course with Ryder and Rueben.

Talia Appleton and Andy Garrett rode together from Scratch, Garrett coming over from Euroa to join us for the night. Bit of a mis-match between these two in terms of size, with Garrett probably twice the body weight of Appleton and looking powerful, and yet was heard lamenting afterwards that Appleton was riding away from him even on the downhills. It’s all in the power-to-weight ratio Andy.

Second Block, Block and Scratch all stayed away from each other, so they are all riding well.

Coming back into town, (Simon) Hall and Conrick slowly whittled away at the group. Eisner first to go, then Wilson and then (Tim) Hall.

Conrick took the honours at the line over (Simon) Hall, bearing witness to the benefits of all the gravel-ride training he has been doing. That’s two in a row for Conrick; actually three in a row if you count the last race of last summer.

Ross, Parker and Appleton were storming in behind them (pun intended), but (Tim) Hall couldn’t hold onto Wilson even on the uphills, thoroughly cracked after the effort with (Simon) Hall and Conrick.

Here are the results.

Thanks as always to the marshals and officials, particularly for keeping us safe with the rain and the road traffic. Racing next week is on the Whitfield Road, turning around at Long Lane and finishing on Graves Road. Hopefully it’s a bit drier.

Demo a gravel bike!

Many thanks to all of you that came along to have a look at All Terrain Cycles’ Mansfield Gravel Expo on Saturday. One of the highlights was a chance to go for a demo ride on one of the gravel bikes brought to town by Specialized.

The even better news is the bikes are still here! If you’d like to try one out over the next week or two, call into All Terrain Cycles and have a chat to Shannon, Bruce or Andrew.

Or maybe join the weekly ATC Gravel Ride on Monday at 5.30 and take one for a ride then. We have the Specialized Diverge STR in 52cm, 54cm, 56cm and 58cm available. (Although Bruce already has his name on the 58 for this Monday night’s ride.) We also have the Specialized Crux Expert (lightweight carbon CX bike) in 54cm and 56cm, plus the Specialized Turbo Creo 2 Expert (e-bike) in 54cm, 56cm and 58cm.

Just bring your shoes and pedals.

And finally…

Did you know the club has a WhatsApp feed? It’s a quick and easy way to communicate to other members about all sorts of things, like bikes, rides, riding bikes, races, sunglasses, weather, nuclear non-proliferation treaties and the viability of foam rubber fence posts.

It’s also a valuable source of information on other club members. For instance, did you know that Ian Conrick is only the second MMBCC roadie to win three races in a row? The other MMBCC ‘threepeater’ is local electrician and lapsed cyclist Craig Veneman; but Craig’s were all in one season, which makes them more important. There’s also the fact that Craig barracks for St Kilda whereas Ian follows Geelong, so there you go.

Send Bruce an SMS on 0419 533 120 to get invoived. Especially if you have an idea on how to make these bleedin’ fence posts stay up!

MMBCC News - Sun 13 Oct - And we're rrracing...

Don’t forget…

The MMBCC Annual General Meeting will be held at the Mansfield Hotel at 7pm this Wednesday 16 October.

Please RSVP to Cam Dobson on 0407 971 237 if you’d like to start with dinner from 6pm.

Start with consistency

By Damian Grundy

What a fantastic first night out for the Dirt Crits in the 2024-2025 season.

25 competitors with heaps of first timers and even an International competitor. It was a fun night for me and I hope everyone else had a great time.

One of the many highlights was the five female competitors. Great to see Serena, Nicole, Ariel, Rachael and Miranda. I hope to see you all regularly up there.

There were a number of younger competitors upgrading from Junior Dirt Crits, welcome and good luck for the season. For the 2024-2025 season the club is kicking off new season trophies for the Junior age category riders. There will be prizes for these categories at the end of the season.

The course and Race Site are in great shape after the recent rejuvenation works. We can’t thank Ant Bateup enough for all of his work. THANKS HEAPS ANT! And to those that gave you a hand!

Plus the working bee last weekend has made an amazing change to the Start/Finish Area, a huge lift in appearance and the feel to the place, so also a huge thanks to everyone who helped out with that.

There is still a lot of work that needs to be done so keep your eyes open for the next working bee day.

The racing for the night was our now traditional first week event of a 2 Lap Consistency Test. The winner on the night is the person who can complete 2 timed laps with the least time difference for the comparative times.

Have a look at the results sheets. It was a VERY competitive night. The eventual winner and 1st place getter for the evening was Reuben Bateup. He completed 2 laps in EXACTLY the same elapsed time of 9 min 51 sec. 0 seconds difference. I believe that that is an unbeatable result 😊

In Equal 2nd place were 3 first time Adult Dirt Crit riders all with a miserly 1 second difference, including the 2 highest placed women Serena Moring and Nicole Hoebergen. Also in equal second was Ben Ross. I think Ben deserves a special mention, still an U15 competitor and looking very quick. I predict it won’t be too long before he can show most, if not all of us older folks a clean pair of heels.

Luke Vivash managed a remarkable 3 second difference which on any other night would have potentially been a winning score but this night it was good enough for 5th place only - that’s cruel.

Other special mentions:

• Fastest 2 laps combine on the night – Cam Dobson.

• Fastest 2 lap Female – Serena Moring

• Fastest 1 lapper – Ryder Chadd

Here’s a link to the results.

Thanks everyone for turning out. I look forward to seeing you all for the second XC night in a fortnight’s time.

Busfleet are going to operate a shuttle service for bike riders from Mansfield to Mt Buller for the coming Summer.

It’s called the Locals Day Out. With a day pass you can get on and off the bus, with your bike, at different points between town and the hill, including Delatite Winery, the Hunt Club in Merrijig and Mirimbah.

And for MMBCC members, Busfleet are offering a discount on the 8am service.

Use this link to their booking portal and put in the code MMBCC when it’s time to pay.

Go to their website for more details.

Please note: the discount only applies to the 8am departure from Mansfield. 

Dirt Critters is back this week

By Tim Ross and Luke Vivash

A reminder that Dirt Critters resumes this Tuesday afternoon.  Meet at Rifle Butts Reserve on Tuesday after school – 4pm for Grade 3 and younger, 4:45pm for Grade 4 and older. 

Dirt Critters is for primary-school age kids who like to ride and learn new skills in a fun and social environment. 

Don't forget that a current Auscycling membership is required for all participants, but otherwise no charge.  Potential new riders are most welcome to come along for a look and ask any questions.

It is good to see that some of our older (ie: secondary age) ex-Dirt Critters have moved up to senior Dirt Crits which starts at 6pm on Tuesday afternoons and are giving some of the adults and older kids a run for their money.

The Alpine Cycling Club Junior MTB series kicks off next Saturday (19th October) in Bright.  These are friendly and relaxed events; there is no better place to give racing a go!  We expect a number of Dirt Critters will be entering making this a good chance to ride with friends. Details including entries here. 

For more details please email us.

A perfect start

By Dave Jagger

A perfect evening welcomed the start of the 2024/25 road cycling season.

A warm day, no breeze and a setting sun greeted the riders as they assembled on the Mt Buller road. They were all wondering how they would perform, had they trained enough during the winter, who was fitter. These were all unanswered questions that the riders were thinking about and would only be answered only as they crossed the finish line, 21 km away.

It wasn’t just the riders; the handicapper was also wondering who was in form and who had an easy winter.

First to start were Micala Jacob and Judy Duke. It was Judy’s first race for a few years and it was good to see her back.

Dave Jagger, Dave Bock and Ian Conrick were next to head off keen to keep a gap between them and the next group of Craig Wilson, Simon Hall and Tim Hall.

Jason Parker, Steve Curnow and Janine Appleton only started a minute later, and they had the advantage that they could still see the taillights of the earlier group as they headed out. This was no advantage as a minute was still too much of a gap for them and they never managed to catch them.

The race may have only been 21 km long but just after the start was a short steep climb that can make or break a group of riders. Stay together and the ride back to Mansfield along the Barwite Road would be fast and easy. Split up and it’s a long, slow, trek back by yourself.

Jarrod Appleton was able to join the next group of riders of Ryder Chadd, Steve Duke and Darren Bakker as they caught him but his partner, Adrian Dowd was not able to hang on.

The part to the finish is a 5km rollercoaster ride down into Mansfield. Carl Simmons and Bruce Halket must have thought they still had a chance as they were still in front of the fastest group of Andy Garrett, Shayne Kirby and Talia Appleton.

Out on his own was the fastest rider of the night, Jake Lay but was he quick enough? In a 45-minute race, could he really catch up 18minutes?!

The fist race of the season is always hard to predict as there are so many unanswered questions.

How fast were Jake and Talia after their European races?

How good were the new riders of Shayne Kirby and Carl Simmons?

What had Andy Garrett been doing over the winter?

In the end, the handicapper did a good analysis with all the riders crossing the finish line within a few minutes of each other.

Ian Conrick held onto the lead for most of the race followed by David Jagger, David Bock and Micala Jacobs. Jake Lay came in with the quickest time of 27 minutes, 54 seconds.

Many thanks to all our marshals and officials for keeping us safe and well-organised and to Dave Moore for his handicapping.

Here are the results.

Next week it’s the rolling hills and river flats of Howes Creek Road.

Upcoming Events

Seymour Broadford CC - lots of road races on Saturday afternoons and on Tuesday evenings starting in November. Download the full summer 24/25 calendar here.

Mansfield Gravel Expo - 19-20 Oct - that’s next weekend!

Lake Hume Challenge - Sunday 16 February

MTB National Championships, Mt Buller - 12-18 March 2025

UCI Masters MTB World Championships, Cairns - 14-18 May 2025