Huge weekend at the VDHS
A huge thanks to all everyone who came to Mansfield for the MMBCC’s round of the Victorian DownHill Series.
But a special thanks to all the MMBCC members who volunteered to help run the race.
And a special thanks to Dave, Kate, Mel, Alex, Matt and Zac.
Here are a few of the MMBCC member results:
Matt Empey - 2nd, Elite Men. Congratulations to Matt for winning the series in Elite Men!
Bella Green - 2nd, Elite Women
Stu Clark - 1st, Veteran Men. Second in the series in Vets Men for Stu - well done Stu!
Jake Terry - 11th, U19 Men
Spencer Carman - 16th, U19 Men
Ewan Rogan - 5th, U17 Men
Blake Riley - 14th U17 Men
Cooper Hoebergen - 20th, U15 Men
And thanks to Tim Ross for organising the pics. Here are the official results.
When Dave has time to breathe again, he’ll probably put a bit of a report together.
Dirt Crits Gravity Handicap
Another big night at Rifle Butts with 18 riders on the start list for just over a kilometre of descending and a tiny little climb in the middle, just for Bruce.
The fastest combined time was posted by Shannon Rademaker of 5.55 for two runs. Next came Spencer Carman on 6.04, Cam Dobson on 6.17 just ahead of Cooper Hoebergen on 6.18 and Luke Vivash got the final spot on the podium in a time of 6.23.
But the final results on handicap saw Cooper Hoebergen take the win ahead of Cam Dobson, Elliot Leatham, Spencer Carman and a three-way tie for fifth between Luke Vivash, Micah Chadd and Steve Curnow.
Here are the results. Thanks to Kate, Dave and their visitors for handling the timing. And to Tim Ross for all the action pics.
Well done all. Cross country next Tuesday and the AusCycling MTB Nationals on Buller starting on Wednesday through to Sunday on Mt Buller.
Pipped by a tyre
By Bruce Halket
A cooler night than usual greeted 12 MMBCC riders last Thursday. Starting at the Botanic Park, the course took riders north along Whitfield Road with a turnaround at Long Lane, then left onto Barwite Road to the end, then another u-turn back to town and finishing the 24km journey near the Showgrounds on Mt Battery Road.
The start list showed a couple of Daves to begin proceedings; Jagger off 13 minutes, followed by Bock off 10. The first group to go was Dave MacDonald and Craig ‘Wil’ Wilson off 6 minutes. Fresh off 3 Peaks last weekend, Dave MacDonald was expected to feature heavily at the pointy end with his highly improved fitness. At 11.30 was the ‘Block group of Simon Hall, Jock Brega, Tim Ross, Christy Rilen and Adrian Dowd.
Last on the list was Steve Duke, Darren Bakker and yours truly off Scratch. But just before the start, Simon Hall decided to start with the Scratch group, throwing the feline amongst the rats of the sky.
Scratch started strongly; we caught Dowd just before the turn into Barwite Road and the rest of Block shortly after the turn at about half distance. We then had six doing turns on the front once Jock and Christy had gotten their breath - then we really started to make headway.
We caught Wil and Dave just after returning to Whitfield Road and rounded up Bocky not long after that.
But we couldn’t even see the Handicapper, out front on his own.
Over Possums hill and we finally caught a glimpse of the Handicapper. We caught him just after the final turn onto Mt Battery Road and he let it be known he was none too pleased; his expletive-laden tirade was the amusing moment of the night.
First to attack up the Mt Battery Road finishing straight was Dave MacDonald but Simon Hall was quickly onto his wheel. I jumped onto Simon’s wheel, hoping he wouldn’t get too far ahead. With about 150m to go, I eased past Simon and with a clear road ahead, put my head down for the line.
With a high cadence, high heart rate and breathing at such a high volume, I could hardly hear a thing. All I could ‘hear’ was the crowd cheering me onto a glorious win.
But as any good St Kilda supporter knows, it isn’t over till it’s really over! The crowd cheering wasn’t in celebration, it was a warning. Danger loomed. Darren Bakker was sprinting and gaining.
Timing it perfectly, Bakks caught me mere centimetres before the line, so perfectly timed that I didn’t have time to react. Strongly motivated by not wanting to write this article two weeks in a row and channelling the late, great Denis Cometti, he snuck up on me like a Librarian, to take the win. Simon Hall was third.
A few seconds later, Jock Brega took fourth ahead of Steve Duke. Then there was another small gap to Dave MacDonald, Christy Riley, Wil Wilson and the Daves; Jagger and Bock.
A word of thanks to our Commissaire, Janine, and our officials, Micala, Mel, Steve and Tony, for running the race so smoothly and safely. In fact, with safety of the utmost important, one of the racers was disqualified for disobeying a marshals signal. Safety always comes first!
Here are the results.
Only three races to go this summer; next week it’s the classic Whitfield Road course, out to Sawpit Gully Road and back.