Latest News

Come and try tandem cycling! 2nd Feb
Friday, January 25, 2013

FIT-ability needs experienced sighted cyclists to help our visually impaired riders participate in cycling. We will have tandems of various sizes available to try at Dairy flat on Saturday 2/2/13 from 4pm. Novice tandem cyclists can use the cycle path to practice riding in safety with an experienced tandem partner. New visually impaired riders are also welcome to come and try. You can also support FIT-ability to keep our tandems on the road by buying a cold drink next Saturday at the event. For more information call Rosemary Robinson on 0417898917 or visit www.fitability.org.au.

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Club training program for 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013

The Vikings training program for 2013 are now taking registrations. The club program will be divided into two streams: Race and Development. These programs will cover pretty much the whole of the regular VCC club level racers, from those just getting started right up to those looking to hit up B grade road races. The programs will be easy to follow, free of mumbo jumbo and enjoyable to follow.

To sign up and for more details, click here.

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More awards to Sue!
Saturday, December 8, 2012

Vikings rider and 2006 novice program graduate, Sue Powell, has won the ACT Sportstar of the Year for 2012! Sue is not only a star on the bike but a huge contributor to the club. From the press release: 'Sue cemented her standing as one of our country’s most prolific athletes by winning gold in the C4 Individual Pursuit and silver in the C4-5 Individual Road Race at the Paralympic Games in London this year. She also won gold in both the C4 Individual Time Trial and Road Race at the Para Cycling World Championships, and also two silvers in the C3 3000m Pursuit and the C4 500m time trial at the Para Cycling Track World Championships.'

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Canberra's own Muenster Photo! Volunteers seeking fame wanted!
Monday, August 20, 2012

'The Cycling Promotion Fund will be taking the ‘Canberra Transport Photo’ - a very descriptive single image, demonstrating the space required ‘to move’ 69 people using a bus, on bikes or in cars. The Canberra transport photo will be replicating the famous ‘Muenster’ photo in Canberra on the morning of Sunday the 9th of September. We will be taking a series of photos and filming the time required to get ‘into place’ a bus, 69 bikes or 60 cars (the average car has 1.1 occupants).

To complete the project, we need your help; 70 volunteers 69 bikes 60 cars Sunday 9th of September Between 8am and 11am – should finish earlier. Allara St Civic, between Constitution and Nangari streets. We ask that all volunteers are over 18 years of age, indicating whether you will have a bike, a car or both. All participants will be asked to sign release forms to have their image included in both the photo and short film of the event.

Any questions about registering, please contact the office at 6248 7995 or Peter on 0438871271.'

Sign up: http://www.volunteersignup.org/W994P

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Paralympic update from Sue
Monday, August 20, 2012

Newport Staging Camp
15/8/12

Hi all
We had a beautiful sunny day here on Saturday. A couple of local riders came and met us and Sally took myself and Alex out for a 50 mile loop around the Welsh countryside. We had a lovely ride through green rolling hills, country lanes and even a flying visit through Sally's home town of Usk, 'Britian in Bloom' large village award winner. The town in decked out in flowers and gardens. If you don't have a front garden, then hanging baskets are in so flowers everywhere.

Sunday was time to head over to Cardiff staging camp to get kitted out in our paralympic kit. Shoes first up with asics joggers and getting into the Aussie theme with green and gold tigers. Then onto the clothes. Now we did get sized up some 18 months ago but obviously some of us would have changed a bit since then. Nice that it was down sizes, not up!! Quick repack of our bags with the correct sizes by an army of volunteers and we were presented with our bags. I think I could comfortably get inside my bag – its huge. Almost enough kit in there to give us clean casual gear every day without washing!

Back to serious business on Monday with a double track session and starting to get some speed and intensity. The local community are getting behind the training camp with 160 spectators last night coming in to give us a cheer and see what we get up to at training. Bit weird getting applauded every lap doing motor pacing but sort of cool once you get used to it. Hopefully will help us all get used to the noise and having an audience as we don't get that experience very often. Here is a nice little write-up in the local paper and a cool photo of me being motor paced (that’s basically where we sit behind a motor bike getting used to going as fast as we have to in the race but saving a bit of energy so we can do it more in training).

Rolled out on the time trial bike on Tuesday morning for a recovery ride then back down to the velodrome for some team sprint practice. For those that haven’t done any track cycling, much of the time is spent sitting recovering from one effort and getting ready for the next one. Each effort only last a few minutes so it’s probably not that exciting for the most part.

I was looking forward to heading out in the countryside for a longer ride today but the heavens opened up and gave us some good old welsh weather. Totally drenched 15 mins into the ride and, with water covering much of the road, we decided enough was enough and headed home. Rest of the day was spent visiting the coffee shop, getting a run down on what to expect in the village dining hall, physio/massage and getting the legs in good shape for tomorrow with our evening stretching session. I think the US and British teams are also coming to Newport next week to train so the next few sessions will be our last days with the velodrome to ourselves.
Cheers for now.
Sue 

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The Novice Program 2012
Tuesday, August 14, 2012

The Novice Program 2012

Click here to get the full details and sign up!

The 2012 Novice Program starts on Sept 3 and is open for registration. The Program is perfect for you if:

• you own a road bike with drop handlebars
• you ride your bike regularly and are keen to improve skills, fitness and confidence
• you would like to know more about local racing and perhaps give a race a go when you are ready.

The Program takes novice riders and turns them into bike racers. Over eight weeks experienced and accredited coaches teach you all you need to know about safety, bunch skills, race techniques and tactics. At the same time you’ll be getting fit, fast and having fun. For 2012, the program will be coordinated by Michael Milton. Michael graduated from the novice program in 2006 and has since gone on to represent Australia at the Beijing Paralympics. Novice Program head coach, Simon Dwyer, has many years of experience in bringing novice riders into the sport and knows exactly what is needed, both physically and technically. Guest coach, John Armstrong, is one of the most experienced coaches in Australia, having worked with elite athletes, juniors and athletes with disabilities. Assisting the coaching team at each session will be will be a number of experienced riders and each group will have two accompanying mentors to help them through the program.

The Novice Program consists of five main components:

1. Coached session. 6-7.15am weekday mornings. Simon will lead the session and cover different skills, tactics and aspects of the sport.  The venue will change each week depending on the session. Start locations include Stromlo Forrest Park, Old Parliament House and the AIS.  Most of the time the group will learn a short route or lap and will then do the drills at their own pace on the same loop. Some riders may ride 15 laps and others may ride 10. The session is about skill development, improving fitness and having fun.
2. Bunch ride. 6am Friday mornings from ANU.  Covers a variety of routes between 25km and 40km with a friendly coffee at the Purple Pickle afterward. Through the program and for a couple of weeks afterwards there will be a easy paced novice bunch supervised by experienced riders. This group has a “nobody gets left behind” policy and will help new riders develop their fitness and practice their skills in a group environment.
3. Race practice. Towards the end of the program there will be practice races around the Stromlo Forrest Park area. They will cover the main 3 forms of club events:  Individual Time Trial (ITT), Road Race(RR) and Criterium (Crit). These races will be supervised and will be a great stepping stone to entering club level events.
4. Off the bike sessions. We will run a basic maintenance session covering things like fixing a flat, lubricating a chain, use of pumps and CO2 cylinders.
5. Social Gatherings. There will also be some social gatherings to meet each other off the bike.

We hope to see you there! For all the info and to sign up - https://eventdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=main&EventDesqID=722&OrgID=8529

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Basic Skills this Saturday
Tuesday, June 19, 2012

The Vikings social riders group will be doing a basic skills session this Saturday at the Stromlo Forest Park crit circuit and all club members are welcome. We will be covering bike handling, braking, gear changes and general bunch riding. Plus there will be some sprint practice thrown in for good measure!

9am on the grass under the SFP 'grandstand'. Plan for about 2 hours.

Contact me if you have any questions or if you are a new rider looking to get involved: simonadwyer@yahoo.com.au

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VikingsCycling on Twitter
Tuesday, June 19, 2012

For updates and news, follow the club on Twitter: https://twitter.com/#!/VikingsCycling

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Sue Powell selected for Paralympic team
Saturday, June 16, 2012

Congratulations club member to Sue Powell on her selection for the Australian Paralympic team: The London Paralympic Games begin 29 August through to 9 September, 2012.

2012 Australian Paralympic Cycling Team
Nigel Barley – Parkerville, WA
Carol Cooke – Northcote, VIC
Michael Gallagher – Taylors Lakes, VIC
Alexandra Green – Balgowlah Heights, NSW
Felicity Johnson – Melrose Park, SA
Simone Kennedy – Ryde, NSW
Bryce Lindores – Nobby Beach, QLD
Kieran Modra – Hallet Cove, SA
David Nicholas – Proserpine, QLD
Jayme Paris – Quakers Hill, NSW
Susan Powell – Canberra, ACT
Stuart Tripp – Northcote, VIC
Mark Jamieson (pilot Bryce Lindores) – Acacia Hills, TAS
Scott McPhee (pilot Kieran Modra) – Wayville, SA
Stephanie Morton (pilot Felicity Johnson) – Moana Heights, SA

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Call for volunteers for the DBR Tour
Saturday, June 16, 2012

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS
Yes it’s that time of year again. The DBR Canberra Junior & Women’s Tour will be held over the period Friday 6 July to Sunday 8 July 2012.

I have had a trickle of volunteers come through but it’s now time to get serious. I need everyone’s help to provide a safe and successful event.

This year will be one of our most exciting. The Women’s race is again a part of the National Road Series, this means that SBS will be there to film highlights for broadcast on Cycling Central!

We have also moved into social media and you can now follow us by:
• Searching for Canberra J&W Tour on Facebook
• Following @CanberraJWTour on Twitter
• Our existing webpage at http://canberratour.actcyclingevents...sp?IntCatId=29

We plan to provide live updates and photos over the event weekend via Facebook and Twitter with final results to be posted on the webpage.

So how can you help?

We need to cover the following jobs over three days of racing. If you could let me know your availability and your job preference I will do what I can to match them.

JOBS
• Marshals (heaps of jobs here, choose a favourite location if you can)
• Drivers for lead cars, spares plus a mechanic, commissaire’s, SAG wagon
• Motorcycle riders to provide rolling road closures
• Signage placement and retrieval
• ITT Holders
• An assistant for me at the co-ordination point
• Set up and pack up

Hartley Teams – yes we will be offering a donation to your team’s fundraising via the Hartley Foundation, make sure you indicate which team you are with. If one person could co-ordinate your team please, that would be great.

I’m looking forward to seeing you all again and a fabulous weekend of racing!

Cheers,
Cherrie Kneebone
0408 263 337
Vollie Co-ordinator
DBR Canberra J&W Tour 2012
Cherrie_kneebone@bigpond.com or Cherrie.kneebone@team.telstra.com

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Vikings at the ACT Track Championships
Wednesday, April 18, 2012

This event was run by Cycling ACT at the Dunc Gray Velodrome in Sydney for the first time. Successful Vikings riders were:

• Raymond Gorrell: GOLD MMAS5
• Anton Wurzer: GOLD MMAS6
• Jim Veal: GOLD MMAS7/8
• Kayla Stevenson: GOLD u13 girls
• Jordan Louis: GOLD u15 boys
• Patricia Rooke: Silver WMAS4
• Amelia Crane: Silver u17 women
• Angus Hayes: Silver JM19
• Bill Liang: Silver MMAS4
• Steven Jones: Bronze MMAS4
• Thomas Peel: 5th u15 boys
• Stuart Nicholls: 8th u17 men
• Matthew Huckstep: 10th u17 men

Congratulations to all our winners and medallists and thank you to Cycling ACT for running such a great event..

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New race results system is up and running!
Monday, April 16, 2012

The Vikings club now has a database for all race results. This will allow members to easily search through race results from past and present. Eventually we will be migrating the entire calendar over to this system so that all the race information is available in one easily update-able place. We sincerely thank club captain and handicapper Chris Drew for his efforts and time in setting up this great system.

To view all race results and pointscores for the past few seasons, visit http://raceresults.vikingscycling.org.au/

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Vikings riders clean up at the Paracycling Road National Championshipss
Monday, April 16, 2012

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2012 Stockinbingal Fair Handicap Report by Andy Collins
Saturday, April 14, 2012

By Andy '_ABC_' Collins
No, not that kind of Stock Report. A report from the 2012 Stockinbingal Fair Handicap Race:

The Stockinbingal Fair was a triumph for the Vikings in a display of hard work and team spirit which kept the 7 minute bunch pushing hard all the way to the end. The 7 minute bunch started with Brad Drew, Andrew Thaller, Alex Cooke, Rob Fisher, Tim Ainge, Adam Ballantyne and myself. A few minutes up the road were Matt Burgess and Steven Callahan with another limit bunch ahead of them. With the display of very expensive bikes and exceedingly fit looking guys behind us we knew that we would be up against it.

The 7 minute bunch left with around 15-20 riders to start with and immediately Tim and myself got to the front to set the tone for the race with a fast start around 40km/h. We swapped off a few turns but the paceline didn't immediately kick in. After a few words of encouragement from the back I realised that the paceline had to be initiated from 2nd wheel so I came around Tim again and we were off and rolling. The hammer was down up the very slight gradient into a pretty decent crosswind and riders were dangling off the back pretty early in the piece. My heart rate barely dipped below my max heart rate zone of 191 for the first 9km until the first turn! Rob was popped by then along with plenty of others and there were several times along that section that I thought there was no way we could keep this up, or certainly not with me still in the group.

We turned left at the 9km mark and straight into a block headwind and some rolling terrain. The paceline was still working well though there were a few riders that were a little sketchy and clearly at their limit. At least into a headwind it gave us a decent place to hide and recover for a bit. It was along this next 10km where I took a few breaks from the paceline at the back letting 3 or 4 riders come through before taking anther turn figuring that the group would do better with me pulling turns every now and then and staying attached than pulling turns until I went nuclear. Brad, Andrew, Adam and Tim were pulling like sled dogs every time they got near the front with no sign of slowing. The last 3km of this section was up a 3% gradient hill where the pace slowed a little but not for lack of trying. Brad took offence 2/3 of the way up that there were hangers on at the back of our group so pushed ahead and tried to drop them. He only succeeded in showing some impressive power by riding away from the entire bunch! When he turned around to see daylight behind him and a group of riders with their eyes popping out he sat up and waited for us - thanks Brad.

3% gradient may not sound like much, but with a determined group and a decent tailwind it was hang on to your hats stuff on the way back down the hill! We saw that there were a few groups heading up the hill after us so we knew we needed to absolutely drill it on this next section. I spun out to 78km/h and if I wasn't breathing so hard I would have had a grin from ear to ear! By the time we got back to the original turn at about 28km race distance we caught the limit bunch and had our noses at the head of the race.

The next 9km was new to this year's course and we didn't know what to expect or how far it would go. We still had a tail/crosswind and were rolling turns with a few of the previous bunch who had managed to tack on. Team QUON's Dominator obviously hadn't read the play book for handicaps and attacked the bunch on this section only to be caught fairly quickly and then spat out the back. We arrived at the turn and only realised that it was the turn because there was a guy with a lollipop standing there - no cone to go around, so I made the executive decision to turn and pull the bunch back into the headwind. The chasing groups were a little closer this time when we passed them, but we still had enough of a gap to feel a little confident. The group of riders that were pulling turns kept whittling down but Brad, Andrew, Tim and myself were solid and pulling strong smooth turns at the front with a few riders from Wagga riders and one from CCC. When we got to the last turn I had a look back and surprisingly saw daylight behind us, and what seemed like about 20 riders hanging in behind our paceline group. We might just make it.

We were off like scalded cats on the home stretch with a right hand crosswind and the slightest hint of a tailwind and downhill. The paceline established itself in the correct rotation which was opposite to how the rest of the race had transpired and we passed Rob who was making his way back and offered some Presidential words of encouragement from the side of the road. The four Vikings Speedshop riders were constantly within the driving paceline as more and more riders elected to hang on rather than pull turns. Brad was still obviously super strong, Tim and Andrew were pulling through like it was still the start of the race and strangely I felt less and less knackered the further we went and more confident that the team would get a good result. We had a few cars go past us with thumbs up and a ute driver trying to tell us how far in front of the chasers we were. Personally, I couldn't hear a thing.

Shortly after we passed the 1km to go mark, the paceline rolling all of a sudden stopped as everyone came to the realisation that we could see the finish! As luck would have it, I was on the wheel of our very own Cancellara/Renshaw power machine Brad in 3rd wheel. A quick glance behind me and I saw that I had either Tim or Andrew on my wheel and knew that if Brad didn't take it and I faded that whoever that was would get to the end. We had another rider come up and squeeze in front of Brad but we could tell that he had gone too early and didn't have the pace needed. Brad had to back off slightly to get around him and with a bit over 500m to go he pulled out and lit the afterburners. Thankfully I saw him about to wind up and could go with the move. With 200m to go I leapt off Brad's wheel, immediately thought 'oh crap, I've gone too early' but spun my legs as fast as I could for as long as I could and managed to keep them going all the way to the line for a great team victory!

Brad came through and finished 2nd, Tim came across in 5th and Andrew finished 9th! Thanks to all the guys who came out to the race. It was a very proud moment talking to the TV sports reporter when I could thank you all for the great job you all did.

FYI - Stuart Shaw from Drapac set a course record of 1hr 7min which was just over 5 minutes quicker than our bunch.

Vikings results:
Andy Collins (1st place)
Brad Drew (2nd place, Sprint winner)
Tim Ainge (5th place)
Andrew Thaller (9th place)
Adam Ballantine
Alex Cooke
Matt Burgess
Rob Fisher

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Bonus handicap race - this SUNDAY!!
Monday, March 26, 2012

Because we were so disappointed at the cancellation of the Goulburn handicap (was to be race #2) and then being stymied by weather and road conditions/closures for the Lookout Hill handicap (was to be race #3), we have organised to run a bonus handicap this Sunday, the Nth race in the series! See the details on the Events page: http://www.vikingscycling.org.au/events/details.asp?IntCatId=3&IntContId=7980

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Smith Cycles SuperCrit Championship Race 2012 - Results
Saturday, February 18, 2012

A huge 'thank you' to Smith Cycles who provided some amazing prizes and support for this event. Here are the champions, and the full results and report at the event page.

MB
1 Paul Connor
2 Callum Fryer
3 Braydon Clews-Proctor

MA
1 Phil Jermyn
2 Lewis Cressy
3 Paddy Quiggin

MC
1 Mark Benkert
2 Matt Burgess
3 Ben Long

WA
1 Megan Bagsworth
2 Susie Forrest
3 Tegan Elferkh

Junior
1 Caitlin Crossman
2 Kayla Stevenson
3 Lachlan Kingsford

Tandem
1 Paul Kennedy/Elton Ivers

MF
1 Stuart Nicholls
2 Travis Elliot

WC
1 Katie Taylor
2 Laura Llewellyn
3 Gabi Millan

ME
1 Rohan Coghlan
2 Darryl Cram
3 Jon Lowe

MD
1 Stuart Griffiths
2 Jeff Irving
3 Chris Mutton

WB
1 Kim Crocker
2 Francesca Sanders
3 Anna Peterson

SMITH CYCLES. 3 Wiluna St Fyshwick 6280 7778

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Smith Cycles SuperCrit Championship Race 2012: 16th Feb
Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Thursday the 16th of Feb will be the inaugural Smith Cycles SuperCrit Championship Race. This race is the effective club criterium championship for the Vikings Cycling Club, however it is inclusive of all open age clubs. We welcome members of CCC, ADCC and the newly formed ANUCC to compete for medals and prizes across the grades. In addition to the usual SuperCrit grades, a special junior event will be held, starting at 5:20pm. This is the perfect lead up race to the ACT Championships in the following week. Prizes for the evening are kindly supplied by the team from Smith Cycles.

RACE DIRECTOR: Jeremy Rhind and Simon Dwyer
COST: $5
COURSE: Stromlo Forest Park Criterium circiut in the clockwise direction
GRADES: Juniors u15, plus the normal SuperCrit grade combinations of MF/WC, ME/MD/WB, MC/MB/MA/WA
MEDALS AND PRIZES: 1st - 3rd for all grades provided by Smith Cycles, Fyshwick

SCHEDULE:

•     5:20pm - Juniors 15 and under for 12 min + 1 lap
•     5:40pm - WC/MF for 24 min + 2 laps
•     6:10pm - MD/ME/WB for 49 min + 2 laps
•     7:05pm - MA/MB/MC/WA for 49 min + 2laps

(Sunset at 7:58pm)

We look forward to seeing you there for another night of dynamic criterium racing.

www.smithcycles.com.au

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ACT Criterium Championships 2012: 23rd and 24th February
Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The ACT Criterium Championships for 2012 will be held on the Stromlo Forest Park circuit over the evenings of the Thursday the 23rd and Friday the 24th of February. As a state championship this event will run on the standard age-based Cycling Australia categories: u19, u23, elite, masters etc. Racing will be in the clockwise direction with registration opening at 5pm on each evening. If you have a permanent race number, please bring it. We look forward to seeing you at Stromlo Forest Park for two exciting evenings of racing.

REGISTRATION: On the day at Stromlo Forest Park from 5pm
COST: $10
COURSE: Stromlo Forest Park Criterium track, run in a clockwise direction
RACE DIRECTOR: Jeremy Rhind, jeremy.rhind@finance.gov.au
COMMISSAIRE: TBA

THURSDAY SCHEDULE:

• Masters Women 5 – 7 plus, Masters Men 6, 7 & 8 - 5:20pm for 20 mins + 3 laps
• Masters Men 4 - 5:50pm for 30mins + 3 laps
• Masters Women 1, 2, 3 & 4 - 6:35pm for 20 mins + 3 laps
• Masters Men 5 - 7:10pm for 30mins + 3 laps

FRIDAY SCHEDULE:

• Masters Men 1, 2 & 3 - 5:20pm for 30mins + 3 laps
• Women, Elite & U19 - 6:05pm for 30 mins + 3 laps
• Men Elite, U23 & U19 - 6:50pm for 50mins + 3 laps

NOTE:
-The race will be run under the control of the Race Commissaire.
-A five minute warm up period will be provided on the track immediately prior to each race. At other times, the only people on permitted on the track are officials and competitors.
-Race times may be shortened subject to light condidtions. Sunset will be at 7:48pm
-To compete at this championship event you must have a 2012 GOLD licence, e.g. you can't race on a three ride permit or day licence.
-All riders must have an AS/NZ 2063 standard helmet WITH sticker. No sticker, no ride
-Handle bar ends must be plugged and bikes in mechanically sound condition as per the Cycling Australia Technical Regulations
-Junior grades under 17 are not included in these events. The ACT Criterium Championship for these age groups will be held in conjunction with the DBR Women's and Juniors Tour in July.

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Summer Handicap 1: Results
Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Summer Handicap 1 has been run and won on a great day for racing. With almost 60 participants and cool, calm weather conditions the day was pretty much perfect. Congratulations to all of our participants and in particular our winners: Stacey Hall (1st overall), Matthew Rizutto (2nd), Rob Fisher (3rd) and Belinda Wren (first non-placed woman) for their sterling performances. Full results HERE.

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Goulburn Track Open (7 Jan 2012) Junior (U9-U15) Race Report
Tuesday, January 10, 2012

On 7 Jan the ACT juniors competed in the Goulburn Track Open. We had 2 JM15, 2 JW15, 4 JB13, 1 JG13 and 1 U11. Many of our riders are from the Junior Development Program and this was their first race. The U17s raced during the senior program later in the evening.

The usual pre-race chaos ensued trying to organise roll-outs, setting up the gazebo and ensuring all are registered and ready to race. Our first rider out on Seiffert Oval was Mitchell Fowler (U11) racing in a field of 14 riders. It took 2 events for little Mitchell to find his legs and came out strong finishing third in the U11 Boys’ Derby. The cheers could be heard across the oval from the ACT camp. It is important to note that Mitchell’s bike was at least a metre under rollout.

Kayla Stevenson (JG13) dominated her field of 7 riders. She consistently pulled a placing for all her events, coming first in the U13 Girls Heart Starter and U13 Girls Scratch, third in the Handicap and second in the Elimination. Well done Kayla!

The JB13 field was split into A and B grade, where we had Johannes Beitzel in A grade and the other Canberra boys racing together in B grade. Johannes pulled a good effort with his cohort after a number of weeks off due to illness, consistently of placing fifth in all his events.

In the JB13 B grade, the field was dominated by Mackenzie Edwardson and Matthew Rice. Both of them were out fighting for the first placing in all the events. Mackenzie came first in the U13 Boys B Heart Starter passing Matthew who was doing all the work in front until the last half lap where he accidently unclipped his pedal. However, Matthew came out stronger in the Elimination by coming first, pedalling away from Mackenzie in the last lap. And the last event (5 lap Scratch race) we saw Mackenzie claiming first place by sprinting down Matthew from the 50m mark. The Canberra camp went wild as we are cheering for both our boys.

The most remarkable rider was U13B first timer Nicholas Short. Nicholas is new to racing and new to riding a track bike. He was the CCC – Canberra Times “Cadel Evans” competition winner few months back and received a free spot in our Junior Development Program. He was on a club loan bike which was at least 20cms under roll-out; however his perseverance and determination paid off as he completed all the events, with an impressive ride on the Elimination event.

Emeliha Jermyn and Gabrielle Millan represented CCC in the JW15 B grade within a field of six riders. It is the first time these girls are racing on their track bike outside Canberra and their performances improved progressively in every event. Emeliha came through placing third in the U15 Women B Grade Heart Starter. Gabrielle rode confidently in her last two races (Elimination and Scratch) placing first in the field. Congratulation girls!

And finally our U15 boys, Tom Peel and Tom Chester were placed in the JM15 B grade within a field of 9 riders. It was easier for the Canberra cheer squad as all our riders had the same first name. Tom Peel rode strong in his first race (U15 Men B Heart Starter), placing second overall. However, Tom Chester came back stronger riding in his very fashionable long footy socks, in his last two races (Elimination and Scratch) placing second and third respectively.

It was a lovely racing afternoon and the Canberra Juniors are ready to go for it again at Wagga next month.

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