Thursday 30 January 2014. Black & Tan

MMBCC race report

 

The Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club held another Black ‘n’ Tan race on Thursday 30 January as part of the current Summer Series. 

With a scorcher of a day forecast, the normal course of 30km with two 'tan' sections was shortened to 26km with only one section of dirt - Mt Battery Road. Even with the concession to the heat, only 16 names were on the start list; a couple of late scratchings meant only 14 ‘hard nuts’ actually started.

In his second race after a fairly long lay-off, Tim Hall won easing up by 10 seconds in a time of 59.19, corrected to 56.19.

Second was mountain biker Kian Lerch-MacKinnon in his first ever ‘proper’ road race, in a corrected time of 45.58 to also claim fastest time. The dirt obviously suited him.

Third place went to Cam Lachal in 48.13; another mountain biker on the podium.

Alain Guerin, Tom MacMunn, Jodie Batchelor, Mauro Brega, David Bock, David Clark and Tony Copland rounded out the top ten points-scoring positions.

Special commendation to Andrew Calvert-Jones who was last to finish on his heavy, upright hybrid bike. It aws also Andrew’s first race back for a long, long time. Despite his pleas on the start line that the Handicapper must have mistaken him for his brother Will, he was sent off with Tony Copland and Will MacDonald, rode most of the race alone and completely lived up to his expectations!

Jodie Batchelor’s first Handicap Race with the MMBCC since moving to Mansfield last year was a rude welcome; she was heard to say she thinks this type of race will kill her or toughen her up!

Steve Plummer and Bruce Halket both punctured on the dirt of Mt Battery Road and need to take a good, hard look at themselves; and their equipment.

Many thanks to our officials and volunteers: Jenni, Di, Julie, Sue, Helen, Tim and Daryl. We couldn’t race without you! 

The MMBCC’s Summer Series continues on Thursday 6 February with a Handicap Race along Howes Creek Road, starting at the Lord’s Ground. Entries via SMS to 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday 5 February please.

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Thursday 28 November - Handicap Race

Handicap Race - Thursday 28 Nov - Whitfield Rd / Coombes Hill (Course 16) - 29km

Another wet Thursday didn't deter a good field of starters in the 34km Whitfileld road handicap last week.

Rachel Greenway, Deb Salatenna, Will Grundy and Sue Hall took of first as the limit bunch. Dick Forrest, Jeoff Jones, Di Condie, Daryl Rielly and Gerard Canavan were next followed by Mark Calvert-Jones, John Eisner, Ian Conrick, Tony Williams, Peter Ellett and David Bock. Craig Wilson, Allan Gerrans and Will Calver-Jones made up the intermediate group being chased by Anthony Plummer, Steve Plummer, Christine Hopkins Mick Feeney and Will MacDonald. Lastly, 20 minutes after limit, the scratch bunch took off consisting of Jock Brega, Foley and Cam Lachal, Ross Hopkins Jarrod Appleton, Damian Grundy and Darren Bakker.

Limit more or less fell apart leaving that group to do a long time trial and similarly David Bock and Gerard Canavan felt the heat of their respective groups. Di and Darryl worked well and got caught half way down the Barwite road by the Tony Williams group who were quietly working away in the wet. Further back scratch and block joined up but it was Allan Gerrans who rode strongly through his group and the next to take the lead heading up the Coombsberg. At the jump it was with some surprise that Ian, John and Tony latched on to Allan and stayed to the sprint finish where Allan pulled away to take the win. Tony rode well to take second over John with Ian coming fourth after leading out. Craig Wilson finished soon after in the money in fifth position.

Thanks to all our helpers and officials and to our sponsors: The Deck and Alpine Butchery. Congratulations to Allan who won the Alpine Butchery best effort for the night voucher.

Thursday 14 November - Handicap Race

Handicap Race - Howes Creek Road - 14 November

 

An impressive field of thirty cyclists lined up for the Howes Creek Rd 25km Handicap last Thursday. First off were Rachel Greenway and Zoe Coghill Followed by Loretta Armitage and Sue Hall. Six more bunches set off until finally Foley Lachal and Mitch Greenway departed as the scratch group with a fifteen minute handicap.
In a solid headwind, Rachel and Zoe held the pursuing bunches back until just before the turnaround where the bunch of Di Condie, Julie Dolling ,Geoff Jones, Tony Morris, Daryl Riley and Janine Appleton caught them. At the rear of the field , Jock Brega faced mechanical difficulty and settled in for a cruise with James Black while Josh Hopwood sat up to wait for Mitch. Together these two worked through the field that was slowly consolidating into a large, fast finish towards Malcolm street.
In a consistent effort, Janine Appleton rode off the front of her bunch to take out a good win with Tony Morris riding well to finish 17 seconds behind. In a mass finish forty seconds later, Mitch Edged out Stefan Vaivars who rode well tactically in the final k's. Julie , Di , Josh , Darren Bakker, Cam Lachal and Steve Plummer made up the top ten.
Thanks to our crew of volunteers and officials and to our sponsors, The Deck and The Alpine Butchery.

 

Thursday 31 October - Stewart's Bus Lines ITT

Stewart's Bus Lines Individual Time Trial - 31st October

A big field of 28 cyclists fronted up for the annual, Stewart's Bus Lines individual time trial over 11km last Thursday, held at the start of the Chapel Hill Rd. In perfect spring conditions, competitors took to the road with thirty second gaps. Sue Hall rode strongly to record a time of 22mins 35 seconds with first time appearances for the season from John Lithgow, Mick Feeney, Jack Hutchins, Tristan Mioni and Rod Stewart.
 
Mitch Greenway rode strongly with a record time of 15mins 16 seconds for the course to take out the fastest time for the night followed by Bruce Halket (16.27), Tristan Mioni (16.39), Mauro Brega (17.19) and Cam Lachal (17.57). Christine Hopkins was the fastest female with a quick 18.59. It was Sue Hall's ride though that saw her edge out Geoff Jones by a second for the handicap honours ( 23.35 vs 23.36). In a close result Mitch Greenway came third (23.46), Zoe Coghill fourth (23.54) and Janine Appleton fifth (24.05).
 
Thanks to Rod Stewart and Stewart's bus lines for sponsoring the event again and likewise to the Deck and Alpine Butchery for their support. This weeks race is the 4-up sprint on Graves Rd - entries to John by 8pm Wednesday 0428503437.

Saturday 26 October - Black n tan

Porter, pot holes and punctures 

As part of Tourism North East´s Cycle Salute festival, the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Club hosted its `dreaded´ Black `n´ Tan race as an Open event on Saturday 26 October.

The Black `n´ Tan is regularly held by the club but this was the first time riders from outside the club were invited to race. The idea of dirt roads must be a bit intimidating as only three visitors braved our roads; Roeland Suys, Lewis Rattray and Scott Gigante made the drive up from Melbourne to take part.

What´s with the name? Here´s how the race was promoted on the Cycle Salute website -

Black `n´ Tan: (noun) a blended beer drink comprising a mix of stout and lager.

Black `n´ Tan: (noun) a splendid Road Race comprising a mix of sealed (black) and unsealed (tan) roads. Often ends with the consumption of the liquid Black `n´ Tan (fermented recovery beverage!) by participants. A 30km road race with two sections of dirt road on an `eyeglass-shaped´ circuit on the outskirts of Mansfield.

The mix of bitumen and dirt presented an equipment selection problem for riders. Bike and tyres needed to be robust enough to cope with about 5km of dirt but be fast enough for the 25km of sealed road. Some interesting choices were made which had consequences for many among the 16 starters.

Julie Dolling began proceedings from the Mansfield Holiday Park, as the sole Limit rider. Rattray and Gigante made up the Scratch group 15 minutes later.

Rattray was the first to succumb as he punctured almost as soon as he got onto the dirt of Scullys Lane. That left Gigante on his own off Scratch and made his job extremely difficult.

Suys was flying! He dropped all his companions from Block in the first half of the race; but tactically waited for Foley Lachal and Josh Hopwood to help him into the wind along Barwite Road. It did the trick... he dropped Hopwood and Lachal near the Showgrounds and rounded up the remnants of the 6-minute group (Steve Plummer, Cameron Lachal and Darren Bakker) on the dirt of Mt Battery Road.

Then his equipment choice cost him - he punctured hear the top of the hill.

That seemingly left the two Lachals, Hopwood, Plummer and Bakker to fight it out; but gaining fast was a flying Gigante! He´d gone right through the field on his own and had the leaders in sight with only a kilometre of dirt left.

Then HE punctured!

Foley attacked and got a gap on Cam and Hopwood. It looked to be Foley´s race with just the dirt descent to Graves Road left.

However on that short, rough section Foley, Cam and Bakker all punctured too!

Instead of stopping, the Lachals kept riding. A rapidly finishing Hopwood was able to get past Cam at the ford but there just wasn´t time to catch Foley, who took the win on a flat front tyre!

Hopwood took second ahead of Cam with Plummer fourth. Bruce Halket, Dolling, Alain Guerin, David Jagger, Stefan Vaivars and Tony Copland rounded out the top ten.

The Alpine Butchery prize for Fastest Time also went to Foley Lachel for a corrected time of 51 minutes 14 seconds.

Many thanks to our officials and volunteers: Sharron, Leonie, Tilly, John, Tony and Geoff. We couldn´t race without you!

Many thanks also to Dean, Chris and the new team at the Hotel Delatite for sponsorship of this race. Once the liquor license is sorted out, we´ll celebrate the Black `n´ Tan with a few Black `n´ Tans!

The MMBCC´s Summer Series continues on Thursday 31 October with the Stewarts Bus Lines Individual Time Trial on Chapel Hill Road. (Barbecue afterwards at Chateau Wilson - BYO everything.) Entries via SMS to 0428 503 437 by 8pm Wednesday 30 October please.


Thursday 10th October - Graded Scratch

 

Race 1 - Thursday 10 October - Graded Scratch

After a few weeks of warm spring weather, winter returned for the first road race of the Mansfield MtBuller Cycling Club's summer series. Despite the cold, wet and windy conditions, twenty five cyclists turned up for a 25km graded scratch race on the Whitfield rd.
 
Clearly there had been some training for some over winter and not so much for others but in all grades there were several attacks and it wasn't long before the field was well and truly mixed despite the grades starting at different intervals.
 
Bruce Halket and Josh Hopwood broke from the A Grade bunch to sort of contest the finish with Bruce edging Josh out and Tom MacMunn coming third.
 
New member Anthony Plummer had a strong ride to take out B grade with Foley Lachal and Bob Beattie placing second and third. Luckily for him , Euan Friday snuck into C grade and had a good win over Christine Hopkins and Ian Conrick and In D grade Sue Hall returned for a good win over Geoff Jones and Zoe Coghill in her first race.
 
Thanks to the Alpine Butchery and The Deck for supporting the night. This week sees a return to the Benalla rd for the first handicap of the season. Entries to John on 0428503437 by 8pm Wednesday.

24th September 2013 - Winter Series Results

Hi everyone,

Well done to all those who took part in the winter series and to all who helped out, particularly Jock , Bruce and Jen. Congratulations to Josh - the handicapper will be watching !

Here's Bruce's race summary and final results - thanks Bruce.

John

 

Yesterday saw the final race of the MMBCC Winter Road Series.
Seven starters, with the win going to Steve Flew in exactly 50 minutes, corrected to 46.30 (seems turning up to the last race on his hybrid did wonders for his handicap!) He held off Josh Hopwood by 20 secs who rode the fastest time of 40.50.
The final race had double points on offer, which saw the SHCCC entry prize go to Josh ahead of Jock Brega and Steve Flew.
Congratulations to Steve on the race win and Josh on the series win.
Many thanks to all our volunteers and officials and to all the members who tried to keep up their fitness with a bit of a pedal over winter.


Final Winter Series Points

1 J. Hopwood 33
2 M. Brega 29
3 S. Flew 28
4 B. Halket 27
5 D. Bakker 22
6 W. MacDonald 20
7 C. Wilson 16
7 D. Ethakada 16
9 A Plummer 15
10 D. Jagger 12
11 R. Hopkins 10
12 A. Mitchell 7
12 I. Conrick 7
14 C. Hopkins 6
15 D. Condie 4

Summer Road Racing starts soon - Thursday 10 October!
Keep an eye out for details in the lead-up. Also remember that you'll need to bring along your valid membership card to get a start.
If you'd like to join and race on Thursday nights, this link to the Cycling Australia website - http://www.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=43895&MenuID=Membership%2Fc20013%2F43895 - will be updated with the 2014 prices and details on October 1. (Any membership paid for from Oct 1 onwards includes the rest of 2013 and all of 2014.)

Finally, Wangaratta CC are launching their Spring Series next Sunday with a kermisse at 10am. Might be worth a look!

21 February - Bakker Plumbing Handicap results

In contrast to the hot weather seen over the past few weeks the Mansfield Mt Buller Cycling Clubs race last Thursday was held with lightning flickering in the distance and the threat of being caught in a downpour.

Generously sponsored by Bakker Plumbing, twenty two cyclists headed out on the Howes creek Rd course. A last minute scratching left Clare Bennetts off limit by herself in her first race. This left Julie Dolling , Di Condie and Dick Forrest chasing with the bunch of Guerin , Jagger , Riley , Conrick and Bock next in line.

Despite lack of any real road time the bunch of Feeney, Friday , Calvert-Jones , Copland , Wilson and Eisner charged off next chased by Plummer , Christine Hopkins , Beattie and Macdonald. Scratch was last to leave , comprised of Halket , Ross Hopkins and Bakker.

Bennetts rode solidly and noisily on her bike and did well to hold off the bunch until after the turnaround. Jagger's bunch was sorting itself out coming out of the turnaround as the bunch of Feeney etal closed in. It seemed inevitable that the groups would join however after a good tunaround the group was not seen again. Halket , Bakker and Hopkins worked well to join block and it seemed they too would reel in the slower groups however a series of efforts fragmented the group and similarly other groups cracked giving David Jagger the opportunity to push out for a good win.

Julie Dolling rode consistently to place second and Ian Conrick tactically completed the podium. Ross Hopkins edged out Bruce Halket in a good finish for fastest time.

Thanks to Darren and Trish Bakker for sponsoring the night as well as the Alpine Butchery and the Delatite Hotel. Thanks too to our usual officials and helpers and the residents of Howes Creek.

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