Following a huge weekend... it's a HUGE newsletter!

MMBCC Road Race - Black 'n' Tan - Thursday 28 Jan

by Ian Conrick.

The Black and Tan course was ridden last week. It's a grueling and feared ride, known as the Hell of the NE. The race starts on the 'tar' and includes a 'tan' or dirt section of the course.
Pre starting time a heavy cloud storm appeared in the west which released its contents in a blast that made the start damp and humid.
A total of 15 riders started for championship points from the BP Roadhouse; first off the mark were Ian Conrick, Craig Wilson and John Eisner followed by David Jagger, David Bock and Steve Flew; then came a lonely Will MacDonald after Jason Parker's late scratching.
At the Graves Rd turnoff the front three grades of riders settled into a steady pace with Jarrod Appleton, Dave Moore, and Alex Green 3 minutes behind with Rob Skinner, Jock Brega, Bruce Halket and Darren Bakker followed by the two guns Tom MacMunn and Kian Lerch-MacKinnon.
From the Graves Rd turnoff the riders climb up 'Coombes Hill'  and down to Barwite Rd. At this stage the Conrick-Wilson-Eisner group had a clear lead on the field with all the others groups now heading into the Mansfield Whitfield Rd.
Lerch-MacKinnon, Brega, Moore, Flew and Conrick were starting to lift their workrate and plan on closing the gap on the finishing line as the dirt of Mt Battery Rd was looming. That section of road has the challenges of any country road with livestock, dust, potholes and loose gravel. The descent onto Graves Rd being the final turn then back onto the 'tar' with asprint to the finishing line.
Lerch-MacKinnon was an easy winner followed by Conrick and Flew.
Many thanks to Damian, Will, Tim, Tony C, Tony W and Margaretanne for officiating. And big thanks to Talia and Kody for the cow bells and cheering. Good work!
Next week's race is on the 32km long Course 6 - entries via SMS to 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday.
It will be followed by the club's first Sunday morning race in a long time on 7 February… and it's a ripper: 42km around the Old Tolmie Road loop!

Dirt Crits start again Monday

First race on Monday 1 February is a Mass Start race with concealed handicaps.

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Upcoming MMBCC road races

Sunday 7 February sees the first race on the Old Tolmie Road Loop. The race starts on Graves Road and finishes on Whitfield Road near the Botanic Park. If you don't feel like racing up the Old Tolmie Road, please come along for a look as we could do with a few extra marshals for this race.
Thursday 18 February will see the Bakker Plumbing Handicap held in Jamieson. This will be a late start (Rego from 6pm, racing at 6.30) to allow everyone time to drive out to Jamieson. Dinner afterwards will be at Mingo's… Thursday night is pasta night - $18.

Volunteers

Once again, many thanks again to all of you that volunteer for the VDHS round at Mt Buller. We hope you like the t-shirt too!
Didn't get one? More t-shirts will be up for grabs if you volunteer to help out at the Mansfield Tour on 19 & 20 March. Please contact Di on 0438 513 355.

Other upcoming events

Great Ocean Road Race Sunday - Go Gerro! 11am to 4pm on Channel 7. It's also meant to include highlights of Saturday's Women's Race, won by Orica-AIS' Amanda Spratt.

Cyclo-cross World Championships - from Heusden-Zolder, Belgium can be live streamed here.
Get into the atmosphere by setting the a/c to about 8°C, wear an inadequate coat, make up for it by drinking lots of beer, eat piles of frittes (hot chips) and heckle the riders as they go past the TV! What could be more fun?

The Herald-Sun Tour - Stage 1 will start and finish at Healesville this coming Thursday. Simon Gerrans won't be riding (GreenEDGE will be in South Africa on a training camp) but reigning TdF winner Chris Froome will! More details here.

The annual Gravity Oz Women's Mountain Bike Skills Weekend is coming up on Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 February. This weekend is the perfect way to get into mountain biking, instructed by the best female coaches in Australia. To book, head to the Gravity Oz website.

See below the flyer from Cycling Victoria about a Life Cycle Program they're hosting for older riders on Saturday 6 February, in conjunction with the Sun Tour.

Cycling Victoria are also holding 'The Women's Ride' on Sunday 6 March. The MMBCC hope to host a ride on the day… more details soon. In the meantime, please visit the website.

Another MMBCC update after a HUGE weekend!

VDHS round 3 round up

Thanks to the MMBCC members and their families that supported the Vic downhill series this weekend at Mt Buller.

Ben Annear, Bike Buller rep and club Secretary, coordinated the event - super effort!

Friday involved bunting the entire course in less than ideal conditions - great work Damian and Will Grundy, Bruce Halket, Dave Empey and Jason Parker - we were all waterlogged by the end!

Soaked through but happy to be almost finished...

Practice was held on Saturday on a drying track. Thanks to the following marshals who did a great job… Damian and Will Grundy, Bruce Halket, Dave Empey, Adam and Finn Baker, Cam Dobson, Tony Williams and Margaretanne Hood, Tim Day, Di Condie and Mauro Brega, Angus Durkin, Karisse Hunter, Dan Purcell, Tim Ross, Kieren Payne, Anthony Plummer, Dan Friday, Ian Conrick and Jane Lottkowitz, Tamara Watson, Dave Bock and Jason Parker.

We were greeted with beautiful weather Sunday morning, race day, and the track was in tip top condition. It ran smoothly thanks to our excellent marshals: Dave and Kate Empey, Adam Baker, Anthony Plummer, Dan Friday, Trevor Arnold, Stuart Oates, Tom MacMunn, Ivan Pacak, Julie Dolling, Bruce Halket and Jenni Sparnon, Katie and Dave Moore, Clarissa Leatham and Jason Parker.

Nice t-shirts!

Also, thanks to Andy Railton for responding to a request for accommodation by donating two beds for club members officiating over the weekend.

Club sponsor, the Delatite Hotel, has kindly donated a $50 meal voucher to a volunteer, which has been won by Anthony Plummer.

A highlight of the weekend was seeing our local riders competing and achieving success at this level: Charlie Jones, Matty Empey, Will Phipps and Shannon Rademaker.

Kian wins in the west

Kian Lerch-MacKinnon travelled to Pemberton in WA for rounds 3 and 4 of the MTBA National Series.

He got away to a comfortable victory on Saturday but found the going much tougher on Sunday with Cameron Wright on his wheel for the whole race.

Results for Saturday are here and Sunday results are here (select Junior under 'Categories' and hit 'Apply' to see the junior category results.)

Hayden Fletcher wins and loses

"You win some, you lose some."  That was Hayden Fletcher's response when asked how he fared in Cairns last weekend for rounds 3&4 of the 2016 BMX Australia National series.

Going into round 3 as the series leader in the Junior Mens Elite class. The Mt Buller Mansfield Cycling Club bmx racer decided to play it safe in the motos and semi finals; just doing enough to qualify for the 8-man final. Coming from lane 7, Hayden got a great start and came out of the first corner in 2nd place. As the riders headed into the big 10 metre long pro jumps Hayden caught and passed the leader to hit the front in the last corner and powered away for his 2nd win of the series!

The following day for round 4 saw the Howqua Inlet teen follow the same strategy from round three. Unfortunately in the semi final Hayden got caught up behind a few riders and was unable to carry enough speed to jump through the pro section, coming 5th in the race and missing a place in the final. The final was won by multiple Australian and Victorian age champion Matt White from Bendigo.

Hayden retains the green leader's plate with a narrow 35 point lead over world #8 Joshua Boyton of Queensland.

Rounds 5 & 6 will be held at the Shepparton BMX track on the 6th and 7th of February. Entry is free and food and soft drinks are available. Bring the kids over to Shepp to see the top riders in Australia battling for a place on the 2016 Australian Olympic team.

Simon Gerrans wins a fourth Tour Down Under

In case you're still under that rock, Simon Gerrans yesterday claimed his fourth TDU, the only rider to do so. Cycling Tips has some great photos from the final stage here and click here for the Backstage Pass videos fromGreenEDGE - keep an eye out in the Stage 4 edition (at about 4.20) for the Prez and Allan gets a guernsey at 50 sec in the Stage 5 edition.

Finally...

Black 'n' Tan on the road this Thursday and Dirt Crits start again on Monday.

MMBCC January 22 update

Two in a row for Gerrans at TDU

#GoGerro! MMBCC Life Member Simon Gerrans is hopeful of securing his fourth Tour Down Under title after taking his second consecutive win today on stage 4 the 2016 race. See what can happen when you stay upright on your bike!

Great to see Simon collecting his leader's jersey in a cycling cap (also known as a casquette) and not a baseball cap too! (The rules are not to be trifled with.)

Unconfirmed reports from Adelaide suggest a tall man wearing a green 'Team Gerrans' t-shirt has been seen roaming the streets proclaiming to live in Mansfield and claiming some connection to the MMBCC. The public is warned the man is likely delirious and should not be approached.

Cycling Tips has a good write up on stage 4 here. The GreenEDGE Backstage Pass video of stage 3 shows Andy Gerrans this time too.

Local road racing kicks off for 2016

Enthusiasm, new faces and great racing were on the agenda for the first road race after the summer break for the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club.

Alex Green convinced several out-of-town mates to race for the night and Andrew Clark, Dan Purcell, Andrew Letts and Cassie Pentony fronted up for their first taste of racing.

Prophetically, Kat McKean jumped off the front of her group leaving Lou Hopwood and Ian Conrick to battle the heat and hills by themselves. David Bock dug in hard early to catch the fragmenting group of Janine Appleton, Dan Purcell, John Eisner and Rod Manning. Appleton and Purcell worked well to create a gap while Andrew Letts rode off Alex Green and Will MacDonald to quietly mop up the field.

Josh Hopwood, John Ryan, Todd Baxter and Tom MacMunn had a tough assignment at the pointy end and weren't able to catch the main bunch who were methodically working their way through the field. Notably Jarrod Appleton and Dave Moore hung in well with Bruce Halket riding smoothly in a post-surgery return to form. Ross Hopkins did well to cross the gap and record the night’s fastest time.

Kat continued to ride well thanks to her solid post-injury training and had good win with Andrew Letts coming a well deserved second. A bunch sprint saw Darren 'quiet achiever' Bakker place third with Halket, Jarrod Appleton, Hopkins, Brega, Moore, Green and Purcell making up the top ten. Ian Conrick did well to place 11th and Cassie Pentony 16th leaving Clark and Eisner to review their training regime.

Thanks to our volunteers for the night and the Delatite Hotel for their support.

Thanks too to John Eisner for the write-up this week.

Post-race and post-presentations at The Delatite...

VDHS Round 3 at Buller this weekend.

The rain's stopped, the course has been bunted (for fans of The Cycling Podcast... yes, we have Humungous Bunting!) and the club t-shirts have arrived. We're all ready to go!

Thanks in advance to all our club volunteers and good luck to all the racers!

Good luck Kian

Finally, all the best to Kian Lerch-MacKinnnon who's racing the 3rd and 4th round of the National MTB Series this weekend in Western Australia.

MMBCC January 19 update

Road Racing starts again this week

The permits have been issued by VicRoads, the Police and Mansfield Shire, the course maps for marshals have been updated, the duty roster is done and we're ready to go! First up for 2016 is the Barwite Loop but finishing on Mt Battery Road, outside the Showgrounds. SMS John Eisner on 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday to enter. More details here.

Please make sure you bring your 2016 Cycling Australia membership card or your online receipt with you. If you need to renew your membership, use this link and scroll down to Road membership renewals.

In a slightly unusual development, Francesca Brega will have her lemonade stand outside the BP this Thursday evening for after we've all finished. Help this young entrepreneur by buying a glass of home-made refreshment.

VDHS Round 3 this weekend

Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard that the club is hosting round 3 of the Victorian Down Hill Series this coming weekend at Mt Buller.

If you have some spare time to do some course marshalling, please contact Damian Grundy on 0411 045 771. Amongst other goodies, there's a t-shirt in it for you. Speaking of which...

Is anyone driving up from Melbourne to Mansfield late on Thursday afternoon or Friday morning?

We need our new club t-shirts collected from Keilor Park, just off the Western Ring Road, not far from Tullarmarine. Please contact Bruce on 0419 533 120 if you are and you have room for two cardboard boxes.

New Dirt Crits Calendar…

is now available here.

Calling all roadies! BMXers too...

The Victorian Downhill Mountain Bike series is being held at Mt Buller on the 23rd and 24th of January.

This is an MMBCC event! Woo hoo!

This presents a real opportunity for roadies to participate as volunteers in what is definitely the “excitement end” of Mountain Biking. Buller is the flagship of the Victorian Series and it promises to be a great weekend racing. Also this gives roadies the opportunity to help out in a MTB event and to look forward to this being reciprocated, ie. MTBer’s helping out at road and BMX events.

Marshals are required on Mt Buller Saturday 23rd January 9:30am – 4:30pm and Sunday 24th January 7:00am – 4:30pm. You might even like to share a day with a mate, say do a morning and have your besty do the afternoon.

In return each volunteer will be provided with lunch and refreshments each day, a volunteer’s pack from the MMBCC, including a new club t-shirt, a valid lift pass to access the course and a box seat to some of the best adrenaline-filled action on two wheels at Mt Buller this summer. Plus there will be a lucky volunteer draw prize held at the end of the event with a mystery bag of prizes for one lucky volunteer.

All interested parties should contact Damian Grundy via mobile 0411 045 771.

This is a great opportunity for our club folks, so get on board and let's make this happen!

The President (That was very official!)

First 2016 news update

Have you subscribed to the newsletter yet? It's on the home page, on the right, under the main pic, where it says "Subscribe to MMBCC News"...

Hayden Fletcher goes 'BANG'!

2016 started off with a bang for Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club's Hayden Fletcher. The 17 year old was at Nerang on the Gold coast over the new year period racing in the 7 round 2016 BMX Australia National Series.

Racing in his 2nd year of the Junior Elite class, Hayden was up against 30 top riders from around Australia, Japan and New Zealand.

Round 1 was on Friday night, the first of January. In the heats (or motos as they're called) Hayden took a clean sweep winning all three. A comfortable 2nd place in the semi final gave Hayden plenty of confidence going into the 8-man final. When the start gate dropped it was clear that the training and dedication is paying off as Hayden quite simply out-powered the opposition, leading from start to finish.

Round 2 the following day was almost a repeat of round 1, as Hayden stormed though the motos and semi final to book himself a spot into the final. Wearing the green Series Leader number plate saw Hayden again blast away from the start to lead the field into the first corner. However, a small mistake on the technical 3rd straight saw Hayden challenged by another rider going into the last turn; there was contact and both riders lost their pedals. Luckily for Hayden he was able to quickly get going again to finish in 3rd place; the race was won by Daichi Yamaguchi of Japan.

Hayden retains the Series Leader's plate as he heads to Cairns for rounds 3 & 4 on Jan 23/24. The Howqua Inlet resident will stay on the Gold Coast until then, training and preparing for his next challenge - to retain the green plate and race with it in front of his family and friends on his home track in Shepparton for rounds 5 & 6 on the 6th and 7th of February.

MMBCC Junior Road Racing

Calling for a meeting of people interested in developing some junior road racing.
Points of discussion:

• Where
• When
• How

It is my hope that we can dovetail a series of junior road races in the coming months with the Thursday night club races.

I hope we might have some different race formats including Time Trials and Handicap races. Possibly in the initial period we can conduct some training/instruction nights.

Please, if you are interested to assist with this project, call Damian Grundy on 0411 045 771.

Road calendar updated

The road race calendar for January to March is now complete, with the duty roster included. Please have a look - click here - to see when you're on duty.

Volunteers

Speaking of duty... a reminder about the call for volunteers for the Victorian Down Hill Series race the club is hosting at Mt Buller. Please contact Damian Grundy on 0411 045 771 if you have one or two days spare. There's a t-shirt in it for you!

Please give Damian a call... the DH weekend on January 23-24 is approaching fast.

Plus please call Di Condie on 0438 513 355 to volunteer for the Mansfield Tour on March 19 and 20. The Tour will be here before you know it too, so please lend the club a hand.

Road Race points scores

With road racing set to resume on Thursday 21 January, it's time we had a look at the cumulative points score. Josh currently has a handy lead but as they say in the classics, "There's plenty of time of they're good enough!"

Finally, with the nice rain we had last week, here's a little piece from GCN on keeping your bike clean. Rumour has it Tom Thoburne has offered to give lessons too! (Have you ever seen any dirt on Tom's bike?)

 

MMBCC End of Year Update

View fullsize

Welcome to the last MMBCC News of 2015. Lots to get into... Road, MTB and BMX.

Happy New Year!

Integrated Cycling Facility (including the BMX track)

We've finally had some good news on the BMX track at Wither's Lane. Here's a quote from an email we received from Ian Geer, Mansfield Shire's Tourism & Economic Development Manager: "Councillors and CEO are supportive of the project moving forward at Withers Lane (subject to the consideration and granting of a Planning Permit and tenure arrangements with MMBCC)."

Congratulations and thanks to Craig Wilson, Bruce Halket and Damian Grundy for putting together the presentation that Wil gave to the Councillors. Well done Wil! And a particular thanks and congratulations to Paul Fletcher and Adam Baker for all their persistence and tenacity for getting us this far. (Not forgetting Laurie, Uschi, Shannon and many others who've helped out in the past!)

Now the hard work begins!

Subscribe

If you're not getting this newsletter as an email, please make sure you subscribe to the MMBCC News on the website home page. (If you're signed up to Blogtrottr, that'll be turned off soon. You need to re-subscribe to this new version to keep receiving these updates by email.)

MTB News

On the weekend of 23-24 January, 2016, the MMBCC will host round 3 of the Victorian Downhill Mountain Bike Series at Mt Buller, in conjunction with Bike Buller.

We need YOU to help out! We need marshals on the downhill track on both Saturday and Sunday. Please contact Damian Grundy on 0411 045 771 or email himDamianGrundy@bigpond.com to let him know you're available or for more details of what's involved.

For further details on this event head to the Vic DH Series website.

More MTB News

Dirt Crits will start again in late January. Make sure you subscribe to this newsletter to stay up to date.

Road News

The Mansfield Tour is on again this coming 19 and 20 March, 2016. And yes, we need more volunteers! Contact Di Condie on 0438 513 355 or email her on diannecondie@bigpond.com to let her know you're available or for more details of what's involved.

We already have the club website set-up with Tour information; click here.

More Road News

Road races start again on Thursday 21 January with the Barwite Loop. Click here for the calendar till the end of March… there are a few new courses. We'll be adding the duty roster shortly. Make sure you check back soon to see when you're rostered on (did you notice that was not 'if' but 'when'?!)

There are a few new courses and start times this year too. Click on the maps section to see the new courses. It includes a Handicap race at Jamieson starting a little later than usual to give you time to get out to Jamieson. And, check out Course 16… it's a doozy! Look out for it on Sunday 7 February. (Yes, a Sunday morning race!)

Yet More Road News

It's Road Membership Renewal Time! With the first 2016 race scheduled for 21 January, you'll need to make sure you renew your Cycling Australia membership to be able to race. No renewal, no start. Please make sure you bring your 2016 CA membership card (or online receipt) to the first race to make sure you're allowed to start.
Here's the link to the membership page to renew.

Mountain bike for sale

Jodie is selling her extra small Giant (no, that's not an oxymoron!)

Merry Christmas

There'll be lots of news coming up soon... including news on 2016 road races, the MMBCC hosting a round of the Victorian Downhill MTB Series at Mt Buller in January, the Mansfield Tour in March and Mansfield Shire Council's 'approval' of our proposed BMX track.

But until then, to all members and friends of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club... MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Friday news update

Xmas break-up

Great turn-out last night to Jock and Di's for the Xmas party. Thanks very much to them for allowing us to invade their space for a few hours. And to Jenni and Di for organising all the salads and desserts. (That apple and cinnamon cake was sensational!)

Summer road rides

Just a reminder about our heat policy on weekend bunch rides, which currently start at 8am... if the Bureau forecast is for 35° or more for Benalla, the ride will start at 7am.

A stinkin' hot night for a road race.

A hot Thursday night on 17 December saw the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club host their last road race of 2015 with a 32km Handicap Race, starting at the Botanic Park, out to Sawpit Gully Road, then around the 'Barwite Loop' to finish on Graves Road.

In fact, it was officially classified as a 'stinkin' hot night. And stinkin' hot nights are the perfect conditions for Scratch. The backmarkers group was made up of two usual suspects, Kian Lerch-McKinnon and Josh Hopwood, plus a brace of visitors: James Dunn and Peter Wilkie from the Melbourne Cycling League and Chris Eddy from Echuca Moama CC.

Actually, Chris brought his whole family along; wife Kirsty and kids Samuel, Patrick and Jasmine all had a pedal and all respondent in EMCC kit. Danielle Garden, a semi-regular visitor from Echuca, also took to the line.

As expected, the strong northerly played into Scratch's hands, so to speak, and they'd reeled in almost the whole field before the end of the Barwite Road.

Wilkie made his break on the rolling hills on Graves Road and got to the line well clear in a time of 1.02.10 (corrected to 49.10 to also give him the Fastest Time.)

In a reduced bunch finish, Dunn got the better of Lerch-McKinnon, Sam Eddy and Chris Eddy. They were followed, in ones and twos, by Rob Skinner, Ross Hopkins, Dave Moore, Chris Hopkins (first unplaced female) and Danielle Garden rode strongly to make the top ten.

Top ten results and times can be found here.

Many thanks to our officials; Loretta, Louise, Leonie, Euan, Dave and Tony.

The race was followed by the club Xmas break-up at Chateau Condie/Brega which included a visit by Cycling Santa. He wished everyone a very Merry Christmas and made a particular point of hoping everyone, drivers and cyclists, stayed safe on the roads during the holidays.

With many thanks to our sponsors (All Terrain Cycles, Delatite Hotel, Eisner's Pharmacy and The Produce Store) for their support through 2015, MMBCC road racing starts again in 2016 on Thursday 21 January.

Friday news update

disqualifications at the Team Time Trial

Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club held its annual Team Time Trial on the Buller Road on Thursday 10 December.

Unlike our more frequent Individual Time Trials, it's up to the group to ride together as a team. And unlike our much more frequent Handicap Races (where groups race as 'teams' until just before the finish, when they then race for individual glory) a TTT means they have to stay together for the whole course - the team's result is based on the fourth rider across the finish line.

This means there's no point the faster riders in a team leaving a slower rider behind… the point is for the whole group to work together for the whole race. Handicaps from our usual races are also taken into account so each group has a chance to win.

With so many work and school Christmas break-ups on the calendar, the field for the TTT was a little thinner than usual with only three teams of four on the start list. Team one was the likely fastest group of Josh Hopwood, last week's winner Tom Macmunn, Darren Bakker and Mauro Brega. They were followed one minute later by Alex Green, Aaron Peterson, Dave Moore and David Jagger as Team two. Team three was the last group to start, containing Craig Wilson, Rod Manning, Ian Conrick and Louise Hopwood.

The blustery night suited the tightest team formation and Team one showed great teamwork throughout. Despite being held up by a few cars at the turnaround, and despite Darren dropping a chain on the way up to Hearns Lane, they stayed together and posted a very quick 33 minutes and 56 seconds.

Team two also stayed together well but didn't seem to have the same intensity as team one. They posted 40.10.

Team three were headed for a good result, posting 41.36, which gave them a chance on Handicap. However, two riders from the team were disqualified for disobeying the turnaround marshal, meaning the whole team missed out on a result.

The win went to team one on a corrected time of 40.56, ahead of team two on 43.10.

Many thanks to Di, Tony, Margaretanne, Tony, Dave and especially Deb, for a great job at the turnaround.

The final race of this year will be the 32km Handicap from the Botanic Park to Sawpit Gully Road, then around to Graves Road. (Entries via SMS to 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday.) This is followed by the club Christmas break-up at 7.30.

Results here.

MMBCC Xmas Break-up Barbecue

Thursday 17 December - 7.30pm - Jock & Di's place,
Riflebutts Road (2nd house on the left after the bitumen finishes, not far up from the Reserve.)

Salads and dessert provided by the club. To give us an idea of numbers for catering, please let Jenni know you're coming either by email here or SMS on 0400 896 364.
Bring your own meat, drink, chair, bathers and towel (Jock and Di have a new pool!)

Santa will be coming along with something for the kids too. Just not sure if he'll actually arrive on a bike.

Everyone welcome!

The Cycling Glossary Word of the Week

Casually Deliberate // The easy sense of style and calm exuded by a Velominatus.
This is true whether they are on the bike, off the bike and is exhibited by a sharp dress sense and air of confidence. Details here.

Finally, something for roadies taking to the dirt this summer...

MMBCC Xmas Break-up Barbecue

Thursday 17 December - 7.30pm - Jock & Di's place,
Riflebutts Road (2nd house on the left after the bitumen finishes.)

Salads and dessert provided by the club. To give us an idea of numbers for catering, please let Jenni know you're coming either by email here or SMS on 0400 896 364.
Bring your own meat, drink, chair, bathers and towel (Jock and Di have a new pool!)

Santa will be coming along with something for the kids too. Just not sure if he'll actually arrive on a bike.

Everyone welcome!

Latest News - Monday 7 Dec

Dirt Crits tonight

Despite the cancellation of last week's race due to a bushfire, and despite a section of the park being damaged and still closed, Dirt Crits will go ahead as planned tonight!

A reminder that Junior Dirt Crits will be held at Mirimbah. The All Terrain Cycles shuttle will be at Riflebutts at 4pm to take a load of bikes and riders out there.

Road Race Thursday 3 December

A field of 20 signed up for racing Last Thursday on the Whitfield Rd to Graves Rd Handicap Race. Conditions were warm, as expected, and the challenge of “the Coombesberg” (Coombes Hill) loomed toward the end of the race.

Tony Morris started 1st closely followed by Louise Hopwood; these two were nearly 3 ½ minutes ahead of the larger group of Ian Conrick, Rod Manning, John Esiner and Wil Wilson; a minute back from them was David Jagger, David Bock and Allan Gerrans; then a further two minutes to Will MacDonald, Jason Parker and AnthonyPlummer; then a further minute to Dave Moore and Alex Green who were followed at another minute by the “Block “group of Darren Bakker, Tom MacMunn and Rob Skinner.  Josh Hopwood held the Scratch position on his own which is always a tough ask.

Rob Skinner suffered a mechanical just prior to the start making the challenge for the block group a little harder.

After the turnaround at Long Lane, things came together pretty quickly at the front with the Conrick, Eisner, Manning and Wilson group catching Louise Hopwood and Tony Morris, and they in turn were caught by the Jagger, Bock and Gerrans group.  Out of this a new group formed before the turn onto the “Coomsberg”, with Eisner, Wilson, Manning, Bock and Jagger working together.  Bocky took a flyer up the Coombesberg “I thought you were all with me, but I looked back and you weren’t there” he stated later.  Bocky was reeled in before the Mt Battery junction and this group, was looking good to challenge for the sprint.

At about that time Tom MacMunn and Dave Moore, who had formed up out of the Block and second block groups, cruised onto the back of the group and showing a quality turn of speed, claimed first and second across the line. A very creditable third was John Eisner, emulating the exploits of Bakker and Ross in previous races. Fourth was Wil Wilson and in 5th place was David Jagger.  Fastest time on the night was Josh Hopwood with a blistering time for the 22km of 39.36.

Racing next week will be a team time trial on Mt Buller Rd, come down and join us on Thursday night at the race start (BP Roadhouse); helpers are always welcome. Or maybe join us all for the de-brief and presentations at the Delatite Hotel from about 7.15pm.
So with Christmas just around the corner and better weather here, it must be time to “get on your bike.”

More detailed results can be found here.

The Cycling Glossary Word of the Week

Belly Breathing // Excusing a gut as a breathing technique.

The assertion that one is not sporting a protruding gut but is in fact using a highly sophisticated respiration technique called diaphragmatic breathing.

Latest News - Nov 27 - all sorts of stuff.

Disc brakes legal for road races!

It's taken a while but disc brakes are finally going to be legal to use in road races - 2016 for the pros and 2017 for the rest of us. Which begs an interesting question... which year does Darren Bakker start using them? He's 'pro' as bro but doesn't have time to ride with GreenEDGE 'cause he enjoys being a plumber so much.

Here's an article from Cycling Tips explaining the rule change a bit more.

Catching up on a couple of Dirt Crits

Delatite Dash, Monday 16 Nov.

Monday 16th November saw the mountain bike crew traveling out to Sawmill for the second running of the Delatite Dash.

Each rider was to complete two individual time trials up the awesome Delatitie River Trail (also the final part of the Epic Loop) from Sawmill to Mirimbah. Rather than the rider with the fastest times it was decided that the rider with the most consistent times over the two runs would be declared the winner.

After exciting riding and unfortunate delays in timing calculations Cam Dobson and Harry Retief were declared equal winners with a time difference of only 4 seconds between each run.
Rider                               Run #1            Run #2     Time Diff         Ranking
Cameron Dobson             10.39               10.43        0.04              1
Harry Retief                       9.39                 9.43        0.04              1

Fastest overall time on the night went to Kian Lerch-McKinnon with a very quick 7min14sec. Detailed results of all racers can be found here.

The racing was enjoyed by all!

Enduro, Monday 23 Nov.

A great night of downhilling and thanks to Shannon for organising a really fun course. And it was great to see Mitch Greenway; thanks for the assistance with the timing.
 
Dave Moore smashed his runs and came away with both the fastest individual run and the fastest overall combined time of two runs. Awesome job Dave! Notable mention should also be made of the second fastest hardtail on the night, Damian Grundy. Well done Damian. (Kian was the fastest on a hardtail but beaten by Dave by 10 seconds overall for the win and so not really worth mentioning).

In B Grade Harry Retief stayed upright (as far as we're aware) and won comfortably. Detailed results here.

See you all next week.

Handicap Race on Howes Creek Road - 26 Nov.

An enthusiastic field of 24 cyclists gathered at the Lords Ground last Thursday for the second Howes Creek Handicap of the season. In blustery conditions the first three lone starters, Dave Clark, Tony Morris and Cherie Worthington, found the conditions tough. The group of John Eisner, Craig Wilson, Rod Manning, Tim Hall and Geoff Jones similarly found the wind disconcerting and it wasn’t long before Hall and Wilson rode off the front to form their own more efficient pair.

Cherie picked up Manning and Eisner and rode well until the turnaround at Cummins road.
The turnaround saw a mass of riders converging with Steve Flew jumping off the front of David Bock, Belinda Cipa and David Jagger.

With the wind behind, a fast single-file echelon formed for most of the trip home. Alex Green, Christine Hopkins, Will MacDonald, Anthony Plummer and Jason Parker joined the pack and in his first race, Joel Marrison did well to jump on from the two-minute group.

Wilson and Hall continued to ride well out the front and it was only at the penultimate hill that Ross Hopkins and Josh Hopwood came from the pointy end to overtake them and contest a sprint finish. With a little extra left in the tank, Josh edged out Ross to take the win (and fastest time of 38’59” for the 25km). Tim came third with Joel and Christine rounding off the top five.

Thanks again to our crew of marshals, the Delatite Hotel and the motorists of Howes Creek for their courteous driving.

Results here.

The points for the season make interesting reading too; here are the top ten. Belinda Cipa currently leads on 38 points from Rod Manning on 34 and Geoff Jones on 30. Then comes Josh Hopwood on 29, Di Condie 27, Craig Wilson 23, Tony Morris 22, Louise Hopwood 21, then Lucy Clapham and Rob Skinner both on 20.

Road bike tyres

An interesting article on VeloNews about what makes a tyre fast; and a test on which ones are fastest.

Finally

... here are a few videos from the Global Cycling Network.

This is a good one on mountain bike tyres.

This one is 'How much faster is an aerodynamic position?'

And this one is 'How to improve your bike handling skills.'

And with the warmer months coming, one on climbing rhythm.

The Coombesberg - Thursday 19 November.

Thursday 19 November saw the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club host one of its longest races of the season so far – the 29km Coombesberg Handicap. Starting at the Botanic Park, 15 riders headed out along the Whitfield Road to turnaround at Sawpit Gully Road, then turn left onto the Barwite Road, then finally turning right onto Old Tolmie Road and finishing on top of Coombes Hill – or the Coombesberg as the MMBCC have dubbed it.
Tony Morris started alone as the Limit group; 12 minutes ahead of the Scratch group. Two minutes later he was followed by Di Condie and Louise Hopwood; then came Belinda Cipa, Rod Manning and Craig Wilson off 8 minutes; John Eisner, Steve Flew, Allan Gerrans and David Bock started together off 6 minutes; at 2.45 was Dave Moore, Will MacDonald and Rob Skinner; and last to leave were Mauro Brega and Darren Bakker off Scratch.
With a strangely warm south-westerly blowing, the outward leg didn’t see any significant changes in ‘running’ order (apart from Skinner and Moore dropping MacDonald) until after Bridge Creek. But the climb up to Sawpit Gully Road saw groups two and three come together and form an impressive unit.
Group four finally started making some ground on the lead group on the way back towards Mansfield. In fact, by the Barwite Road intersection, only Cipa, Hopwood and Manning were still on the front ahead of Eisner, Bock, Gerrans and Flew.
Eisner and Gerrans started to struggle near the Old Tolmie Road intersection, so Bock and Flew went on ahead to catch the frontrunners. But the three leaders were cagey enough to ‘jump-on’ when the two faster riders came by, leaving five to fight out the final kilometre up the Coombesberg.
Cipa proved too strong, taking the sprint ahead of Hopwood with Manning running out of legs and finishing third (which might have been due to riding up Old Tolmie Road in the morning… what a way to warm up for a bike race!)
Next came Flew, Bock, Skinner, Gerrans, Eisner, Wilson and Bakker rounded out the top ten and claimed fastest time. Full results here.
Many thanks to our volunteer officials for the evening: Leonie, Jenni, Deb, Dave and Matt. Next week’s race is a Handicap on Howes Creek Road, starting at Lords Ground at 6pm. Entries via SMS to 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday.

Alain's Ride 12 Nov

One year ago Alain Guerin was killed while riding his bike, just down the hill from here.
Tonight, cyclists from the Mansfield Mount Buller Cycling club and members of his family took time out to remember the life of a very special person, by visiting his ghost bike.
Rest in peace Alain.

More pics to come...

Dirt Crits Update 12 Nov

Dirt Crits Senior Race 5 Report 9 Nov

Tonight the riders arrived at Dirt Crits for the ‘Mystery Event’, which was a long-course event. This utilises the front and back side of Rifle Butts mountain bike park. The back side is rarely used for Dirt Crits and this course provides the opportunity for a longer race format. It also includes some more technical rocky sections for the riders to master.

It was a quieter night in terms of entries, with 13 riders being sent off in a handicap format. Most riders rode 2 laps but the lucky ones rode 3 laps!  The handicapper had a bit of a task trying to sort out the riders, to hopefully ensure that there was a close finish.

Harry Retief, who has had a break from Dirt Crits, was a bit of an unknown quantity, and as a result slipped under the handicappers guard to post an impressive win by almost a minute from Alex Green and in third place was Brett Stevens. Great riding Harry! Jem Davies crossed the line 7 seconds in front of Will Grundy, with a fast finishing David Bock 8 seconds further back. Adam Baker continues to improve and took out 7th place, followed by David Jagger 30 seconds behind. Then came the first of the 3-lappers with Dan Friday in 9th, Trevor Arnold (2 laps and missing a bit of bark here and there) 10th, Damian Grundy 11th, Matthew Empey 12th (moving up to the 3-lap group, and looking strong at the finish. BTW Kate, I don’t think you’ll be getting your bike back anytime soon!) and Anthony Plummer in 13th, having a recovery ride after competing in the Buxton Bootcamp event the previous day.

From the feedback received after the race many of the riders enjoyed the longer format and the variety of the terrain.

Thanks to Dave Empey for timing the event.

Delatite Dash

Next Monday 16 November is the Delatite Dash starting from Carters Road and finishing at Mirimbah.

Kate Empey will be running the Junior Dirt Critters at Rifle Butts Mountain Bike Park, as usual. Juniors are welcome to race with seniors if they can out to Carters Road.

Registration for the Delatite Dash will be held at Carters Road at 5:30pm for a 6:00pm start. We will plan on having two timed runs of the sections from Carters Rd to Mirimbah, time permitting.

You are most welcome to bring along a BBQ and have dinner at Mirimbah after the race.

Junior Dirt Crits Race Report, 19 Oct, 26 Oct & 9 Nov.

Hi All,

Just an update about Junior Dirt Crits.

The last three weeks has seen some great improvements as riders have got back on their bikes post the Winter break. The course has been so dusty it is hard to believe it isn't summer already!

Monday Oct 19th was taken by Damian Grundy. A real treat for the juniors to have an ex-Australian coach taking them and saw the return of the handicap race.

The following week was handicapped again with some surprises in the younger riders getting stronger. The time difference between the riders has reduced significantly with all riders showing considerable improvements in speed and ability.

Monday 9 Nov was time to refresh the riders on the importance of passing safely. Riders rode the small circle practising communicating with the rider in front and indicating if they were going to pass on the left or right. Yes a bit boring but important. This was followed by some fast laps where the order reversed on the second lap encouraging all riders to ride their fastest. The group was split in two to make it easier to run. There was then time for one timed fast lap for those riders still wanting more.

Riders are reminded to bring water bottles along to Dirt Crits.
 
Next week, 16 Nov we will continue at Rifle Butts. Juniors are welcome to race with seniors out at Carters Road if they can get out there.

Cheers, Kate.

Alain's Ride - 12 months on.

Don't forget that tonight (Thursday 12 Nov) is Alain's Ride. After the Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap finishes on Graves Road at about 6.45, everyone is welcome to join us for a gentle ride along the Buller Road, then back to the Delatite for race presentations and to remember our friend Alain.

Road race results, Targa and upcoming rides

Howes Creek under stormy skies.

Racing took place under threatening skies on Thursday 5 Nov, when a field of 23 riders took to the Howes Creek Road course.
Dave Clark started the racing off, followed by Tony Morris and then a large group of Geoff Jones, Di Condie, Cherie Worthington Will Grundy and Lucy Clapham; this group was always going to be hard to beat if they became organised, and organised they were. By the Turn around at Cummins Rd three groups were one and riding strongly.
Will Grundy suffered a mechanical on the home leg and was out of the running; the chasing group of Craig (Wil) Wilson, Belinda Cipa and Rod Manning were working well together to chase down the limit bunch... and they came close to achieving this.
At the finish Geoff Jones spoiled the party for women riders in this Melbourne Cup week and came away with the win. Second went to Lucy Clapham and a close run thing to third for Cherie Worthington.
Dave Clark found the pace a little willing on the return leg. However we are confident that his form will improve significantly after his annual training pilgrimage to the Great Victorian Bike Ride in the coming weeks.
Fastest time on the night was ridden by Josh Hopwood with a blistering 38.20.
Next Thursday is the inaugural “Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap” race, this being the first anniversary of Alain’s death. We hope that this will be a flagship event for the club and invite all riders to come and race, or perhaps join us for a ride after the race finish. The race will commence at the Botanic Park in Mansfield and finish on Graves Rd at about 7pm. (Day Licenses are available for those wishing to race and the club has some bikes available for loan to licensed riders.)
Bike riders of all types will then join together to ride out to Alain’s bike on Buller Road and back into town to raise a glass for Alain at the Delatite Hotel. All bike riders and friends are invited to join Alain’s family and the club on the ride and/or at the Hotel.
Thank you to our volunteers for their support… and see you on your bike!

Results here.

Bunch Rides this weekend.

With Targa High Country held this weekend, it's probably sensible to change courses for this weekend. Here are some details on roads to be used for Targa for the weekend. Leg 2 will be held on Saturday on the Whitfield Road. Leg 3 will be on the Jamieson Road on Sunday.
So… bunch rides should be the other way around - Jamieson Road on Saturday and Whitfield Road on Sunday.

Upcoming rides and races.

Barjarg round of the state downhill series - Sat 7 & Sun 8 Nov
Ride to the Divide - Sunday 8 Nov
They're also running a crit with 5 grades and a fair bit of prize money
Whittlesea Challenge - Sunday 15 Nov
River and Ranges Winery Ride - Sunday 22 Nov

MMBCC News 2 Nov

A message to all MMBCC members from Coral Guerin

Change to Nov 12 Road Race

The scheduled Four-Up Sprint planned for Thursday 12 November has been changed. Thursday 12 November will now be the Alain Guerin Memorial Handicap.
Held on course number 9 (click here and scroll along to Course Number 9) the race will start at Mansfield Botanic Park, head north along the Whitfield Road, turning around at the Long Lane intersection, then left onto Barwite Road, right onto Old Tolmie Road and right again onto Graves Road, finishing on our usual finish line on Graves Road.
After the race, we're planning a processional ride out along Mt Buller Road to Alain's 'Spirit' Bike. Then it's back to our 'club rooms' at the Delatite for race presentations and to remember our friend Alain with his family and the rest of the MMBCC.
Everyone is invited to join us for the Ride for Alain from Graves Road, out to Alain's Bike, then back to town.

Dirt Crits Senior Race Report Monday 27 Oct

The race on Monday 26th October saw 21 keen riders taking on something a bit different with a graded scratch elimination in the Senior Dirt Crits event.
The conditions were dry fast and skatey with rocks and dust flying. The last half of 'Rubbish Run' was included for a bit of a novelty. Luckily, no one binned it too badly, although Jem Davies had a bit of a go at it and there were also others losing it a bit with the argy bargy of a mass start.

Keoni Bruner took out a convincing win in C-grade with David Bock taking out the honours in B-grade. In A-grade Kian Lerch-MacKinnon was too strong winning easily with Bruce Halket fighting off a charging Dan Friday for second.

Detailed results to come...

ITT Thursday 29 Oct

It was a smaller but brave and enthusiastic list of starters that rolled up for the Mansfield MtBuller Cycling Club’s traditional Chapel Hill Road Time Trial last Thursday night. A moderate, swirling westerly wind didn’t affect the field or times considerably and first off was Dave Clark returning after a stint of not doing much on the hill over winter. Rod Manning followed with Cherie Worthington, Lou Hopwood, Tim Hall, David Bock, John Eisner, Craig Wilson, Rob Skinner, Aaron Peterson, Bruce Halket, Josh Hopwood, Steve Flew, Jarrod Appleton, Kian Lerch-MacKinnon and Christie Hamilton making up the rest of the field.

Enjoying one of his favourite courses and with a home ground advantage, Craig Wilson rode very well to record a road time of 19’42” over the 11.5km. Josh Hopwood and Bruce Halket got down to business, recording solid times of 16’04” and 16’54” respectively. Kian blitzed the tarmac with a fastest for the night of 15’49”. It was Rod Manning though who, undistracted by a bunch of other riders, rode a solid 20’04” coming in well ahead of his mark to take out the corrected win for the night. Josh placed second, Craig third, Kian fourth and Bruce fifth. Thanks to our crew of marshals and to the Delatite Hotel for supporting the presentations after the event.

Results here.

MMBCC News

Dirt Crits Senior Race Report 19 Oct

It was a big turn out at Dirt Crits this week with 22 starters in the Senior event. Newcomers included Nick Hinnaberg, Joel Marison, Christie Hamilton and Cameron Dobson. It was great to see Jai Lerch-MacKinnon back into the Dirt Crits scene. Allan Gerrans, a newcomer to mountain biking, was keen to work on his skills.

Damian Grundy had worked hard on analysing the times from the previous weeks to make the Irish handicap a tight race. He did a great job as the majority of the riders finished within one minute of each other. First over the line was Jai Lerch-Mackinnon, followed by Joel Marison and Ben Grundy. Dave Moore had an excellent return to Dirt Crits taking out fourth place, followed by Alan Gerrans and Ollie MacDonald taking fifth and sixth place, respectively. Fastest rider of the night was Kian Lerch-MacKinnon. Great work!

Cam Lachal is running the event on Monday night so we look forward to seeing you there!

More detailed results can be found here.

Handicap Road Race 22 Oct

On a breezy evening last Thursday, the 22nd, 25 riders started on the Whitfield Road for the MMBCC’s first Handicap road race of the summer.
First time racer Belinda Cipa came away with her maiden win from the consistent Di Condie. Tony Williams and Will Grundy couldn’t be separated in a dead heat for third.
They were followed home by Lucy Clapham, Christie Hamilton, Geoff Jones, Craig Wilson, Allan Gerrans and Laurent Guerin rounded out the top ten point scoring places.
Fastest time went to Kian Lerch-McKinnon who, despite being fastest, could only manage 15th place.
This week’s race is an Individual Time Trial on Chapel Hill Road. Entries via SMS to 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday.
And... here are the results.

Weekly race round-up and news

Dirt Crits Monday 12 Oct

Junior Dirt Crits started back Monday 12th October and eighteen eager riders turned up. Once registrations were sorted the riders set off in two separate groups for a one lap time trial. A number of the riders showed considerable improvement in their times and their riding ability. Once that lap was done a rough handicap was worked out on their one lap times and they all raced another 2 laps. Max Next week Damian Grundy will take the race.
The Seniors turnout was a little smaller but the racing was nevertheless highly competitive. The first handicap for the new season saw some very close finishes within the field, however Adam Baker at the front was a clear winner by slightly more than a minute to Rachael Grundy in 2nd place and Dave Empey in 3rd.
Other results: 4th Bruce Halket, 5th Will MacDonald, 6th Jem Davies, 7th Dan Friday, 8th Mike Davies, 9th Ollie MacDonald, 10th Peter Coffey, 11th Will Grundy, 12th David Bock, 13th Ethan Lee, 14th Matthew Empey, 15th Alex Green and 16th  Kian Lerch-McKinnon. Sadly, Brett Stevens was a DNF due to a mechanical failure.
The MMBCC encourages all riders to come up and have a go. The courses aren’t too intimidating and the handicapping is designed to match race distances and time differences to each rider’s abilities in order to give all competitors a chance for a win at least every now and then. The emphasis is very much on fun and fitness. We would especially encourage females to come up and have a go.
For novice riders there is the possibility for some coaching and technical guidance, just ask at race registration.
Kids racing starts at 4.30 with registration from 4.15 onwards and seniors race at 6 with registration from 5.45pm.
Little Rippers start again on Monday the 19th. This is for prospective mountain bikers who are still on a balance bike! Riding starts at Riflebutts Reserve at 4pm.

Kian's big Saturday

While Kian may have finished last at Monday night's Dirt Crits, he had a reasonable excuse.
On Saturday he headed to the You Yangs for the Yowie; and won!
Then he jumped into the car for the drive to Bendigo, got there 30 minutes before the start and promptly won the State Schools MTB Final.
Great job by Ross for all the driving!
Then on Monday he had to ride all the way from Ancona to Mansfield to race Dirt Crits! I bet he slept well on Monday night! (He made up for it on Thursday night though…)

Graded Scratch Thursday 15 Oct

The second round of the Mansfield Mt Buller Cyling Club’s Summer road series was held last Thursday on the Buller road in perfect cycling conditions.
Twenty one starters fronted up for the graded scratch event with A Grade heading off first. It didn’t take long for Josh Hopwood to get restless and attack off the front. Reeled in twice, his third attempt was successful but it wasn’t long before Kian Lerch-MacKinnon made his own move on the long hill up to Hearns Lane. Interviewed after the race, Hopwood noted that, “I looked back and suggested we form a team but by the time I’d said that, Kian had passed me and was well up the hill on his own.” Eventually the peloton reeled in Hopwood but with a level head, Kian stayed well clear of the field earning a solid win. A bunch sprint decided the minor placings with Josh edging out Tom MacMunn for second and third place.
B Grade had a relatively uneventful trip out and back with Craig Wilson’s mechanical issues being the only point of note. The sprint finish was well contested, however, with Will MacDonald leading from “a mile out” and was able to hang on to reserve a tentative spot in A Grade with a good win. David Jagger judged the bunch well and placed second with David Bock coming a close third.
C Grade separated early on with Di Condie riding well out the front. Geoff Jones was pursuing doggedly and further back were Tony Morris and Christie Hamilton. Nearing the end Di looked back and was surprised to find Geoff quietly sitting right on her wheel. Tactically reversing the situation, Di dropped back before a good sprint finish saw her take the win over Geoff with Tonyplacing third and Christie Fourth. The evening finished well at the Delatite Hotel with presentations, dinner and appropriate rehydration.
The club welcomes anyone who is interested in having a go at racing or cycling in general. With Graded and Handicapped formats, the level of experience, equipment and fitness becomes less important plus it’s a great, social way to keep fit! Check out the club’s website at mmbcc.org.au.
This week’s race is the first of the handicapped races on the Whitfield Road. SMS John on 0428 50 34 37 by 8pm Wednesday to enter.

A-Metre-Matters becomes law in SA

Further to the recently announced trial of 'A Metre Matters' laws for two years in the ACT, South Australia has this week adopted it as law! Great news for South Australians. But what about Victoria?
The Victorian Minister for Transport is Jacinta Allan and our local lower-house member is Cindy McLeish... in case you think 'A Metre Matters' would be a good idea here too.  

Finally, with the 100th Melbourne to Warrnambool on this weekend, here are a couple of good articles on the world's second oldest road race. Click here and here.