True Spirit!

On a recent long weekend the word went around by text that the next training ride was Killawarra, Almonds, Thoona and back. A small, keen and enthusiastic bunch departed from the usual watering hole on their way for the mornings ride. This was soon dampened by a short rain shower that the fantastic Bom website had neglected to advise the bunch.

 

The bunch shortly rounded the bend from the main road and headed for the Warby's towards blue skies and rolling hills. The banter was high as we approached the first rise, Fred (a cool business man) had just came off a big turn at the front and was looking forward to a breather when a fellow rider notice Freds unusual rear tyre was about to have a major blow out. The bunch quickly pulled up to render assistance and see what was going on, Freds trusty Hutchinsons which appeared to have just kicked over on 10000+k's was about to lose a tread! 

 

At less than a third of the way into the ride, Fred a true rider ripped the loose tread from the tyre and said let's go! (On the canvas) and see what happens. The bunch proceeded flat-out through the Almond hills only to regroup at Lake Rowan to check if Fred's tyre was still inflated.

 

It was at this stage the banter turned in to betting on how long and far Freds trusty Hutchy's would last, would he make it home!, would it blow out around the next bend! who knows

 

Shortly the bunch rounded the half way mark as was heading home when Freds trusty Hutchy finally let him down. The boys pulled up, Fred quickly had the rear wheel off, tube out and started inspecting the damage, "its only a small hole, has anyone got a fiver to line the wall" Ronald quickly pulled out an Uncle Tody's muesli bar from his rear pocket, unwrapped the bar and handed the rapper to Fred as a make shift liner for the tube, shortly the tyre was inflated and the boys back on the way.

 

The odds had just increased on the betting stakes whether he would make it home or not. The bunch had the Warby's in sight and spirits were high when the Uncle Tobys wore through. Fred finally conceded defeat and said "keep going guys, I'll call Wilma to pick us up!" Several minutes later Wilma passed the bunch on the way out to find her belovered hubby waiting on the side of the road.

 

We believe that Fred and Wilma eventually made in home that, the bank account was raided on the day and there is a new set of Hutchy's being flown in from PBK in readiness for the next ride!

 

 Alpe d'Buffalo Junior Mountain Climbing Championships

Alpine Cycling Club - Alpe d'Buffalo Junior Mountain Climbing Championships were held on April 17th - 18th, 2010. These Championships are hosted in conjunction with Cycling Australia and the Alpine Cycling Club and consist of a Time Trial (Saturday) and a road race to the top of Mount Buffalo on Sunday.

 

Congratulations to James Boal finishing 3^rd in the Under 19 Men's Time Trial on Saturday, brilliant 2^nd in the Road Race on Sunday which placed James 3^rd overall for the weekend.

Other local riders and WCC members Results are:

Saturday Time trial

U 19 M            3^rd James Boal, 7^th Alex Meyland, 10^th Mark White

U 17 M            34^th James Fox

U 17 F             14^th Jessica White

U 15 F             5^th Emma Brown, 6^th Kate Brown, 8^th Nicole Clark

U 15 M            9^th Tomarsh Loki

 

Sunday Road Race

U 19 M            2^nd James Boal, 6^th Alex Meyland

U 17 M            29^th James Fox

U 17 F             11^th Jessica White

U 15 F             5^th Emma Brown, 6^th Kate Brown, 8^th Nicole Clark

U 15 M            9^th Tomarsh Loki

 

BAW BAW

 

 

 

Congratulations to James Boal for a great third placing in B Grade at the Baw Baw Classic, 104 kms from Warragul to Mt Baw Baw. James had to deal with and strong contingent of riders in very poor weather, with high winds for most of the race, then rain and snow on the mountain.

  

Katrina takes "Gold" in women's U 17 Australian MTB Championship at Adelaide's Eagle Mountain Bike Park

  

Katrina's Women's under 17 race was held yesterday at Adelaide's Eagle Mountain bike Park. She now has an Australian MTB Championship Jersey as well as the gold medal.

 

The race start was a group start with U15Women-U17Women, Vet Women, Masters Women and Super Masters women, Katrina was 5th to the top of the first hill just behind last year's champion and  80 mtrs  behind last year's Under 15 champion.

 

It took Katrina till the top of the course to get on her wheel which she held all the back to the start line, managing to pass her on the finish line straight at the start of the second lap.

 

Katrina open up a 180mtr gap by the time she got to the top of the first hill and went on to finish the race 3 minutes in front of second. 

 

 

This picture shows Katrina just behind the leader approaching the start finish line.  She went past 15mtrs up the track and went on to open up her lead.

 

Tour of Bright 2009

K

 

 

With more than 550 cyclists contesting this year's SP AusnetTour of Bright over the weekend, the event has quickly become one of the most popular tours on the road cycling calendar.

The competitors were separated into nine grades - Men A, B & C, Masters Men 1/2/3, 4/5 & 6+, Women A, B & C.

Three stages were contested over the weekend with stage one a 104 kilometre road race travelling from Bright through Ovens, Rosewhite, and Tawonga Gap before finishing just out of Bright.

Stage two was a 16km out and back time trial from Bright to Wandiligong.

The final stage was another road race, this time leaving from Bright and finishing on Mt Hotham.

Wangaratta Cycling Club was well represented with a total of ten riders entering for the event.

Matt Clark and James Boal were both entered in the B grade category and performed extremely well with Clark finishing first on general classification and Boal coming in in third place.

Both recorded the same time in the first stage bunch sprint and then went on to record personal best times for the time trial to be sitting in third and fifth places respectively before Sundays final stage.

Sitting roughly a minute behind the overnight leader the two riders knew they had to ride strongly on the gruelling final stage if they had any chance of standing on the podium at the conclusion of the tour.

Clark managed to finish third over the line on the top of Hotham while Boal crossed the line fifth.

James's ride was particularly gutsy given he broke a spoke and he had to stop to change the wheel.

By winning two of the four Hill Climb sprints over the weekend, Clark was also able to take home the 'King of the Mountain' winners jersey to go with his Tour Winners jersey.

Laurie Lyster put in another stellar effort by finishing the tour in fifth place overall in his category while son Tully had the misfortune of a fall in the first stage and had to abandon the event.

Steve O'Brien, Colin Stokes, Gavin Frawley, Mal Kaye and Chris Howard all battled on over the two day event while the youngest member to tackle the tour , Mark White, also rode bravely in his first attempt at the tour and senior open competition.

 

 

 

'Giro Delle Bellbridge'

 Matt  Clark in the middle, James Boal in the Red outfit and Brendan Washington in the Blue and Yellow.

 

Wangaratta Cycling Club was well represented on Sunday when the Albury Wodonga Cycling Club conducted the 'Giro Delle Bellbridge', the third race in the five race 'Tour of Two Rivers' series.

The race was conducted over the demanding Bellbridge, Bethanga and Talgarno Gap loop with the riders completing two laps of the 33 kilometre course.

In the A-Grade event Matt Clark and James Boal were able to get away from the peloton just after passing through Bethanga for the second time and had put 30 seconds into Brendan Washington from Albury as they crested the Talgarno Gap with 20 kilometres to the finish.

The remainder of the group was a further 20 seconds behind with a number of the riders in some difficulty.

At the finish Clark crossed the line first with Boal just behind while Washington ended up winning the bunch sprint to take third place some 3 minutes after the 2 leaders had finished.

Tully Lyster managed to come across the line in eighth place with Damien Semmler right behind in ninth.

In the C-Grade event Laurie Lyster emulated Clark's efforts by also finishing first with Gavin Frawley riding strongly to finish fourth. Chris Howard and Mal Kay finished further back in the pack while Peter Gottschling had the misfortune of a puncture after only one lap into the race.

The results for Clark and Boal were the same as that at the recent "Bike Week" Criterium in Albury in late September.

Both will now compete at the Victorian Schools Cycling Championships in Carlton on Saturday as part of the final days events of the Herald-Sun Tour.

Sunday 30^th August - 6^th September 2009

Ashley Baines drives the leading quartet towards Wentworth       (Photo Credit Shane Goss)

Results

Stage 3, 31 August 09,  Moama to Barham, distance 112.9 km, Average Speed 39.63 Km/Hr 1^st in the "Tyebar Fellow Deer Sprint.

Stage 12, 5 September 09,  Merdiem Criterium, 3^rd at the end of lap 20.

Stage 13, 6^th September 09,  Merdiem to Wentworth, distance 81.03 km, Average Speed 44.58 Km/Hr 4^th place overall on the day.

Stage 13, 6^th September 09,  Merdiem to Wentworth, distance 81.03 km, Average Speed 44.58 Km/Hr 1^st in the Koorlong Primary School Sprint.

Stage 13, 6^th September 09,  Merdiem to Wentworth, distance 81.03 km, Average Speed 44.58 Km/Hr 1^st in the Lido Lodge Sprint

Stage 13, 6^th September 09,  Merdiem to Wentworth, distance 81.03 km, Average Speed 44.58 Km/Hr 1^st in the Merdein Mushroom Sprint

Stage 13, 6^th September 09,  Merdiem to Wentworth, distance 81.03 km, Average Speed 44.58 Km/Hr 1^st in the Yelta Silos Sprint

Stage 13, 6^th September 09, Merdiem to Wentworth, distance 81.03 km, Average Speed 44.58 Km/Hr  Most Aggressive Rider

Stage 14, 6th September 09, Mildura Kermesse, 3^rd at the end of lap 2.

Stage 14, 6th September 09, Mildura Kermesse, 2nd at the end of lap 6.

Stage 14, 6th September 09, Mildura Kermesse, 3rd at the end of lap 8.

Stage 14, 6th September 09, Mildura Kermesse, 3rd at the end of lap 12.

Stage 14, 6th September 09, Mildura Kermesse, 3rd at the end of lap 14.

Stage 14, 6th September 09, Mildura Kermesse, 3rd at the end of lap 16.

Ashley finished 22^nd overall for the tour, well done

2009 FRF Couriers Midlands Tour

Saturday, 12th September 2009

Baines takes Midlands Tour

 Photograph: Footscray CC

Ashley Baines (Wangaratta Cycling Club/Cycle City -Felt) claimed the 2009 FRF Couriers Midlands Tour.

Fourteen teams contested the event which covered six laps of a quite 133 km circuit around Meredith.

Ashley took the win by almost a minute from Peter Braunsteins, with team mate Charles Howlett just edging out Eric Sheppard for third.      (extract from Cyclesport Victoria)

Overall Results

1st Ashley 62 Baines of Team - Cycle City - Felt finished the 133.2 km race in 03:38:28.00 with an average speed of 36.58 Km/Hr

K.O.M

2nd Ashley Baines with 12 points       (a fantastic result)

Tas Gas Launceston to New Norflok Classic

Sunday, September 27, 2009 Distance of 209 km

Grueling weather destroys minds and souls

It was billed as Australia's most spectacular and challenging one-day bike race and the inaugural Tas Gas Launceston top New Norfolk Classic didn't disappoint.

Only 7 out of the 76 starters manage to reach the finish line, highlighting just how tough the race was.

Winds - estimated at 90 kph! - buffeted riders when they were out on the open roads and when they were in the hills surrounded by trees, there was constant rain over the top of Poatina Hill, riders had to contend with snow.

Due to the grueling weather conditions, race organizers chopped 60 km from the classic's 209 km distance and ferried the remaining riders to the Gretna Green and restarted the race with 20km left.

Results  1^st Bernard Sulzberger (Tas) 5 hours 1:02 minutes

                2^nd Ryhs Pollock (Vic), + 2 seconds

                3^rd Dylan Newell (Vic) +2:47 Minutes

                4^th Benjamin King (Wa) + 2:50 minutes

                5^th Ashley Baines (Vic) + same time            

(Extract from Cycling Tasmania News)        

U13 Girls Racing: 1st Sophia Drury                  2nd Rebecca Thompson   3rd Nicole Clark.

U13 Boys Novice: 1st Toby Fuhrmeister,          2nd Lachlan Opie        3rd Jamie Woodley.  U13 Girls Novice: 1st Shannen Hunter 2nd Kirra Hunter           3rd Samantha Thomson. 

U15 Boys racing: 1st Travis Hee. 

U15 Boys Novice: 1st Norden Casper                2nd Nathan Prendergast   3rd Kyle Cornell. 

U15 Girls Racing: 1st Kate Boyd,                      2nd Jessica White       3rd Melanie Clark.

U15 Girls Novice: 1st Grace Thompson,           2nd Stephanie Horton

U17 Girls Racing: 1st Katrina Rose. 

U17 Boys Racing: 1st Thomas Madden,            2nd Alex Meyland,     3rd Jeff Miles. 

U 17 Boys Novice: 1st Corey St John,               2nd Brad Rose            3rd Zachary Drury. 

U19 Boys Racing: 1st Matt Clark,                      2nd James Boal          3rd Jai Howard. 

U19 Boys Novice: 1st Stephen Parker, 2nd Declan Gregory                 3rd Tim Day.

  Junior State Cycling Championships 2009

Wangaratta Cycling Club wins a gold and two bronze medals at the  Sate Junior Championships.

In Saturday's individual time trial Emily White in the under 11 girls' category was the best performed of the locals, winning a bronze medal with a time of 9:58 in her 4km event. The winner was Tess Carter from Bendigo with a time of 8:59. In the under 11 boys, the winner was Thomas Benton from the Carnegie-Caulfield club with a time of 7:50.

The winner of the under 13 boys was David Koroknai from the Carnegie-Caulfield club with a time of 15:36 for the 8km course. Tomarsh Loki was the best placed of the locals finishing in 7^th place with a time of 16:23 at an average speed of 29.28kph. Thomas McDonald was 8^th with a time of 16:28 & Fergus Samon with a time of 16:49 finished 11^th.

In a strong field of under 13 girls, Nicole Clark improved on her time from last year to finish in 6^th place with a time of 17:30 & an average speed of 27.41kph. Riding the same course as the under 13 boys, the winner was Emma Clinnick from Sunbury with a time of 15:31, with the minor placegetters within 2 seconds of her.

There were no local riders in the under 15 mens' division which was won by Zac Shaw from the Colac club with a time of 16:32 for the 10km course.

Melanie Clark was the best placed of the locals in the under 15 women's course of 10km finishing in 10^th place. She recorded a time of 19:50 with an average speed of 30.24kph. Jess White was 11^th with a time of 20:26, Emma Brown 15^th with a time of 21:43 & Kate Brown 16^th with a time of 22:03. The winner was Madeleine Cardillo from the Brunswick club with a time of 17:51.

Katrina Rose in her first year of open road racing, is steadily improving & finished in 11^th place in the under 17 women's category with a time of 19:52 for the 10km course, an average speed of 30:18. The winner was Stephanie Hansen from the Carnegie-Caulfield club with a time of 16:16.

The under 17 men's category had the largest field for the weekend's racing with 37 contesting the 14km time trial. George Tansley from the Bendigo club was the winner with a time of 21:39. Alex Meyland was the best of the locals to finish with a time of 22:29 in 8^th place. Tristan Boal, in his first year of open road racing recorded a time of 23:59, with an average speed of 35:02 finished in 21^st place. Mark White finished in 31^st place with a time of 25:07.

With no locals contesting the under 19 women's category, the winner was Shannon McCurley from Latrobe Valley with a time of 24:50 for the 14km course.

Matt Clark was just 1 second from the bronze medal position & 10 seconds from silver in the under 19 men's 18km time trial. He recorded a time of 26:40 at an average speed of 40.48kph. The winner was VIS rider & Carnegie Caulfield member, Eric Sheppard with a time of 26:04. James Boal finished in 9^th place with a time of 28:22.

Sunday's road races also produced mixed results for the locals, with most pleased with their efforts.

Emily White won herself another bronze medal in the under 11 girls' 8km race of 1 lap around 'Reith Estate'. The winner was once again Tess Carter.

The under 11 boy's race over the same course, came down to a sprint finish with William Lumby from Leongatha the winner.

Tomarsh Loki was victorious in the under 13 boys' race of 14km, 2 laps of the 'Reith Estate'. The field had remained together until the final turn into the saleyards, with Tomarsh putting in a huge effort in the sprint to the line to win the gold medal. Fellow club members were also thrilled with their efforts with Thomas McDonald & Fergus Samon in the bunch.

After starting 5 minutes after the boys, four of the under 13 girls didn't quite catch up to the boys, but rode strongly with Courtney Field winning the sprint for the line to take gold. Nicole Clark, riding her best race for the season was not too far behind & finished in 6^th place.

In the under 15 boys there was no local rider & after a lap of the Taminick Gap course, the field was still largely intact with Braeden Dean from Bendigo winning the gold.

 The under 15 women also raced a lap of the Glenrowan-Taminick course, starting at the crossroads, covering a distance of 25km. There were five riders in the sprint for gold at the finish, with Grace Fryer the first to cross the line. Jess White was the best placed local rider finishing a few minutes behind. In her first year in the age group, Emma Brown rode strongly to finish just behind Jess, with sister Kate following shortly after.

Katina Rose was thrilled with her efforts in the under 17 women, finishing just 43 seconds behind the winning bunch. The winner of the race was Imogen Jelbart from Bendigo.

The under 17 men's race always attracts the largest entries. They raced 2 laps of the Glenrowan-Taminick Gap course, a total distance of 57km. A group of approximately 11 riders contested the sprint with George Tansley taking home his second gold for the weekend. Tristan Boal finished in the second bunch to cross the line, with Mark White a little further back.

In a small field of under 19 women, Shannon McCurley also took home her second gold for the weekend.

The under 19 men raced a 100km course of 4 laps of the Glenrowan-Taminick course. Wangaratta's Matt Clark joined a break with two other riders in the second lap, with one giving up early. Matt & Nathan Oman from Echuca-Moama stayed away until the last turn onto the Taminick Road when they were caught by a bunch of 18. Brent Nelson from the Blackburn club then took the opportunity to attack & went on to win the gold medal. Eighteen riders contested the sprint for the minor placings with Xavier Gstrien from Camperdown taking silver & Fergus MacLachlan from Carnegie-Caulfield winning bronze. James Boal finished in the bunch with Matt Clark having stayed away for most of the race finished a few minutes further back.

The Wangaratta Cycling Club is thrilled with the weekend's racing.  The weekend could not be so successful without the assistance of many volunteers, for which the clubis very grateful. The club's next major event is the 'Sam Miranda' High Country Road Race & Criterium on the weekend of 19^th & 20^th of September.

Junior Team Time Trials - Ballarat 19 July 2009.

Three junior teams represented Wangaratta Cycling Club at the Club Team Time Trial Championships in Ballarat on Sunday.

The event offered a change from the regular individual racing with the teams racing against the clock to see which team had the fastest time for their category.

Whilst there was no rain on the day conditions were cold & extremely windy.

The under 13 boys team of Fergus Samon, Reilly Murtagh & Thomas McDonald were the first to ride off on their 6km course. They were the first boys team to start & crossed the finish line in a time of 13 minutes & 7 seconds. In their first team time trial, they rode well to finish just outside the medals in 4^th place.

The under 15 girls team consisted of two pairs of sisters - 13 year olds Emma & Kate Brown, 14 year old Melanie Clark & Sister Nicole, age 11. They rode a 15km course over a number of undulating hills which combined with the blustery conditions provided a challenging course.  The team worked well together & caught he team from Ararat to finish in a time of 31 minutes & 36 seconds. This was enough to put them in the bronze medal position just behind the stronger clubs from Ballarat-Sebastopol & Carnegie-Caulfield.

It was the first time the under 17 men's team of Mark White, Connor Murtagh & Tristan Boal had raced as a team together & they performed well to finish in 8^th place in their category. They were unfortunate in having a mechanical mishap part way through the event, with Tristan 'dropping a chain' and then also suffering a slow leaking flat nearing the finish.  They managed to push on to the finish the 32km race in a time of 53 minutes &19 seconds.

All three teams performed well against the other clubs who have much larger membership numbers and can therefore enter stronger teams.

The local club look forward to putting more teams together for next year's championships, but riders will now focus on this week's state individual time trial & road championships which Wangaratta are hosting.

Under 13 boys team - Fergus Samon, Reilly Murtagh & Thomas McDonald

Nicole Clark, Emma Brown, Melanie Clark, Kate Brown

Under m17 boys, Connor Murtagh, Tristan Boal, Mark White

 Wangaratta Cyclists at Country Championships June 21^st 2009

Left to right - Tomarsh Loki, Emily White, Kate Boyd, Riley Murtargh, Hamish Haynes, Nicole Clark, Connor Murtargh, Thomas McDonald, Kate Brown, Mark White, Jessica White. - Some of the Wangaratta representatives after the tour.                                                                             Photo by Roz Clarke 

One hundred & seventy nine junior cyclists converged on Shepparton for their annual junior tour.  They travelled to Shepparton from all over the state as well as a team of top South Australians & several others from the ACT & New South Wales.

Riders from the under- 11 age group to under -17 contested the three events which made up the tour - two road races and an individual time trial.

Wangaratta was well represented with 13 club members attending, as well as several who race regularly with the club.

Our youngest competitor for the weekend was Emily White racing in the under 11s. The under 11s raced the same distances as the under 13s & Emily showed great improvement to finish second overall amongst the girls.

Nicole Clark raced in a strong field of under 13 girls which includes Emma Bilston from Ballarat who is posting faster times than the under 13 boys. Though improving on her times from last year, Nicole finished out of the placings in 5^th place.

The under 13 boys had four Wangaratta representatives - Thomas McDonald, Tomarsh Loki, Riley Murtargh and Fergus Samon as well as a club regular- Hamish Haynes. With no break aways in the road races, they came down to a bunch sprint for the line with Tomarsh finishing 1^st in race 1 & Hamish placing 3^rd in the final event, with the others only metres behind. Tomarsh finished in first place overall,

with the other boys pleased with their efforts for the weekend.

The under 15 women's category had several strong interstate competitors including Samantha Fromentin who recently won the 'Alpe d' Buffalo' Mountain Climbing Championships. She was too strong on the weekend and won all three events. Wangaratta's Jessica White is improving all the time, finishing just outside the placings in fifth place overall in a field of 17. Also in the under 15 women were  Kate Boyd riding in her first road open & Kate Brown who both competed well.

Katrina Rose also riding her first road open competed in the under 17 women's category which also included state representatives and interstate riders. Amongst them was Letitia Custance from SA, who also won the 'Alpe d'Buffalo' in her age category. In a class field of 17, Katrina battled hard and learnt a great deal from the experience.

The under 17 men's field was divided into A & B Grades to cope with the large fields. In a highly competitive A Grade, Alex Meyland gave his best, finishing with the main bunch in both road races. There were four local riders representing Wangaratta in the B Grade category. James Fox only started riding with the club a month ago & although finishing well back, he enjoyed his first competitive hit out.  Connor Murtargh, Mark White & Tristan Boal also rode strongly to finish with the bunch.

It was a successful weekend for our young riders, with all enjoying the experience of open competition. Next weekend, several riders will head over to Castlemaine for the Country Road Championships. The Championships have categories from under 11s right up to Elite & Masters.

Alex Meyland will head to Wagga for the next round of the 'RAMBO' Mountain Bike Series. Alex sits in first place in the 'Expert' Category.

Hume Vets Three Day Tour

Queen's Birthday Weekend

Six members of the Wangaratta Cycling Club competed in the Hume Vets Cycling Club Tour held in Benalla over the Queen's Birthday long weekend. 

In Division 1 Allan Thrum took out 3^rd place overall (narrowly missing 2^nd place on a count back) with a dominating 40 km breakaway in Stage 3 which launched him to a podium finish.  Allan and Mark Finlay combined to hold off challenges from a six-strong contingent from Melbourne's Eastern Vets club.  Finlay took out Sprint Ace and King of Mountain Classification.

Peter Gottschling demonstrated his hill climbing prowess and sprinting ability to win Division 2 and the KOM classification.  He combined with fellow Wangaratta Cycling Club member Geoff Morley (who placed 1^st in the ITT) who demonstrated cunning race craft to seal victory for Peter.

In Division 5, the ladies and older men did battle.  Trish Beasley finished 3^rd overall with podium finished in 3 of the 4 stages and held off challenges from the 6 strong Central Victorian Vets Club.