14/04/2013

By Rob Monk

It was a huge weekend of cycling for the Warragul Club Club.

Members contested a scratch race at Shady Creek on Saturday and the annual Baw Baw Classic Road Race on the Sunday.

With many A graders racing on Sunday and choosing to rest on Saturday A and B grade were combined. Doing 4 laps of Shady Creek was always going to take something out of the legs for the next day. On lap 1, Paul Yeatman tested his legs  heading out of Sthurs Road and soon had a break with Jayman Prestidge.  Yeatman was not keen on working due to riding in the Baw Baw Classic the next day and the two were caught by the top of the Shady Creek hill on lap 2.

The race then stayed together until it split up on lap 3 going up the climb. Leigh Hauxwell and Jason Laird took off and established a 500 meter gap going over the top. A muddling chase resulted as Shane Stiles continually let riders roll of the front. When Stu Battley and Brett Rollinson were allowed to roll clear Rob Monk jumped across to them and all of a sudden it was race on. Stiles refused to chase. Finlayson hesitated wanting Jack Walk to go. Jack looked at Jayman to chase meanwhile Monk, Rollinson and Battley were charging away. Rollinson drove the break hard then attacked and bridged to Hauxwell and Laird. Stiles rode over the gap with him but decided to let them go, preferring to see what was happening back down the road. Battley and Monk worked in tandem to distance the rest of the field.

Rollinson led out Hauxwell and Laird in the final sprint. Hauxwell took the victory in a sprint. It was his first win beyond C grade but Glen Marriott made comment that the field lacked quality (he was resting for BawBaw) and the victory was a hollow one. Laird was second and Rollinson third.

Rob Monk sat on Battley for most of the final lap then sprinted him to take 4^th place. Battley was 5^th and clearly the 4^th strongest rider in the race.

In C grade the bunch stayed together for most of the 4 laps. Col Brown tried to push the pace on the Hill didn’t manage to shake too many of them. In the sprint Zvonko Maric was on Col’s wheel. In the strong cross wind riders needed to hug the centre line but Col didn’t seem to understand this. He opened the door and let Zvondo ride up shielded from the wind. Zvonko made sure a fast finishing Paul Rowse had to cross the white line and be disqualified to pass him. Zvonko was first with Col second, Peter Sorenson third, James Blyth forth and Bruce Staben fifth.

D grade raced over 3 laps. They were evenly matched on the flat but on the hill each time Andrew Jackson and Rob Waddel were able to get a slight break on Pete O’Donnell, Ben Stein, Con Mitropoulos and Louise Clarke. The dropped riders would work together to get back on. The third time up Waddel, Clark and Jackson made the decisive break. Rob won the bunch sprint from Louise and Andrew. Ben Stein rode well for fourth and Con Mitropoulos took out 5^th in his first race start.

The newly formed E grade bunch rode 3 laps the first of which was under control. Pete Whelan rode acted as chaperone as he was competing in the Baw baw Classic.

Adele Whelan welcomed the longer race distance as the extra lap allowed her more time to rid her body of the excesses of the night before.

At the start of lap 2, Michelle Scurr powered away over the hill.  Frank Benstead used his descending skills to give chase and the bunch reformed.   On lap 3, Michelle Scurr showed her strength and rode off the front, figuring she would ride a time trial. Frank Bensted, Adele Whelan and Robyn Baker chased hard but they could not catch Michelle. Kristen Theile rode strongly in her first start in a road race and will be better for the experience. Michelle rode away to take the victory. Frank finished well to take second from Adele in third, Robyn fourth and Kristen fifth.

The Baw Baw Classic Race was contested on Sunday. It starts in Warragul and finishes at the Baw Baw Alpine Village. This takes in the toughest climb in Australia. Warragul riders did well. Cy Monk finished second in C grade mens and Kate Prestidge 3^rd in C Grade Womens. Just completing this race is a significant achievement. Congratulation the following WCC members who finished BawBaw in 2013.

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Tags: Baw Baw Classic, hills, scratch, shady creek

06/04/2013

By Rob Monk

Warragul Cycling Club contested their “annual” Hill Climb Championship on Saturday. This year was the first time since 2009 that the club has held this race.  Lots of rain in 2010 resulted in land slips and the race was not held.  The 2011 and 2012 editions of the race were held up Mt. Tassie as part of the Gippsland Hill Climb Championships.

This year saw the return of the race to a local hill with a different format.  Rather than the mass start seen in previous years, the format was that of a time trial.  Riders were started at 30 second intervals, with the slower riders starting first and the fastest starting last. This means there is always someone in front you should be able to catch, but someone behind chasing you.  Unlike a regular time trial where raw power is the determining factor, the addition of a slope means the rider who is lighter tends to triumph as power to weight really comes into play.

The climb up the Yarragon – Leongatha Road is 7.2km long with an average gradient of 4.9%.  A good time is anything under 20 minutes.

First off was Cathy Cooper who would complete the climb at an average of 13.4kph.  The fastest time was posted by James Henry who completed the climb in 18:16 (23.6kph).  Cyrus Monl gean 30 seconds ahead of James and just managed to stay in front by the end of the climb.  Jack Walk was third in the open category with an average speed of 19.3kph.

Third fastest overall up the hill was a tie between Glen Marriott and Brett Rollinson who both clocked 20:26 (21.1kph).  They share the Masters123 Championship. Scott Keeble was third in the Masters 123 category averaging 19.9kph.

In the Masters 456 Category Ross Henry showed his form by posting a time of 20:30 (21.1kph) . Pete Whelan (20.4kph) was second and Pete Finlayson (20.3kph) was third in this category.

Kate Prestidge won the women’s section in a time of 21:55 (19.7). Louise Clark (17.0kph) was second with Adele Whelan (14.9kph) third.  Breaking the women’s race into age group categories, Louise Clarke came first in the Elite category, Kate Prestidge in WM123 and Robyn Baker (14.2kph) was first in  WM456.

Bill Frew (12.6kph) was the masters 7+ Champion.

Quite a few riders were passed by those behind them, while others failed to be caught.

Next weekend there is a scratch race at Shady Creek on Saturday at 2.00pm and many club members are doing the Baw Baw Classic on Sunday.

Our next championship race will our road race to be held on 25th May at our Larner Park couse.

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Tags: hills, time trial, yarragon hill

30/03/2013

By Rob Monk

Warragul Cycling Club race was ruined last week by a dog. This week race director Neil Walker was the wrecker. He decided to move the finish line to the top of the hill ruining the chances of half the field. The sprinters would have no hope today.

The D grade field of 6 didn’t stay together for long. Louise Clark and Pete O’Donnell didn’t give the others a chance. In a WASP (Warragul Anti Social Peddlers) display they rode away from the others. For the next two laps, Pete O’Donnell tried to shake Lou on the flat but hold onto her on the hill. Lou was able to sit behind the human tonka truck on the flats. O’Donnell sat on a constant 18km/h up the hill but Lou average 18.1km/h. Lou took the victory from Pete with Adele in third. Robyn Baker was forth. Sue Elsdon did her usual trick and took a wrong turn.

The C grade race was dominated by Kate Prestidge who did most of the work on the front. She would have won if she’d just saved her energy for the final climb. In the end the final ascent saw visitor John Broeren surprised the locals by riding away. Paul Rowse climbed well for second place with Kate in third. Then followed Greame Patrick and Charlie Pragnell.

The B grade race was always going to come down to a sprint up the final climb between Roland Elsdon and Pete Finlayson. This didn’t stop Paul Yeatman from continually trying to jump off the front only to be reeled in by Stuart Battley and visitor Warren Howe. Ross Henry was never far from the front. The most promising break of the race was instigated by Brett Miller. He was joined off the front by Ross Henry and Stuart Battley. They held an advantage for half a lap but were reeled in on the hill. Jason Dastey launched his usual “death or glory” attack on the final lap. The field was all together on the bottom of the final climb. Dastey, Battley, Prestidge, Howe, Miller and Yeatman had all burnt too many matches to feature in the finish. – the men who were fresh would dominate.*

Roland Elstrom started the attacks on the final climb Pete Finlayson was next to go launching off the front. He established a 50 meter gap and looked the winner. Pete Whelan and George Tambassis dug deep and started the chase down. Roland was not done with either through and rode across to Finlayson and kept going. Roland went away to take the victory. Ross Henry was still strong and took out second. Finlayson weakened badly and took third. Then followed Pete Whelan and George Tambassis.

The A grade bunch of 9 rolled through strongly on the first 3 laps setting a cracking pace. Glen Marriott cracked as he could not go with them. James Henry tried to get away a couple of times on the final lap but Cy  Monk and Graeme Parker were able to reel him in. The battle on the final climb was slow to develop. Everyone was waiting for James Henry to go but he was waiting for someone else. Greame Parker played his hand first. James and Cy were boxed in as he jumped and he established a small break. James got out and closed it down late. Cy was on his wheel and sprinted away to victory. Graeme Parker held on for second with Leigh Hauxwell making a welcome return to A grade taking third place.

Next week is the club Hill Climb Championship to be held on the Yarragon Hill course.

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* I still had plenty of matches left.  A pothole on the final lap took out my back wheel so I got to watch from the passenger seat of Shane Stiles’ car.  Paul – Webmaster.

Tags: hills, scratch, shady creek

24/11/2012

By Rob Monk

Warragul took on Leongatha cycling club in a combine at the tough Poowong East circuit on Saturday. It was hills, hills and more hills and the hot conditions meant there were some tired riders at the end of the race.

In A grade Leongatha dominated. Brett Franklin and Nick Youngs made the initial break on the first climb into Poowong. Stuart Smith was patient but eventually decided he’d ride across the gap to them. This trio rode the rest of lap one together off the front of the chasers. Turning left to the finish on lap 2 Smith put the pressure on and immediately had Franklin in trouble. Youngs proved a harder nut to crack though. Nick stayed with Stuart nearly all the way to the finish. Smith had to dig deep to break Youngs spirit within sight of the finish. Smith went away to take a strong win. Youngs second with Franklin not far away in third. The race for fourth was hotly contested. On the climb into Poowong the second time Jayden Manintveld broke from the chasing pack to go after the 3 leaders. Ron Purtle and Glen Marriott chased as well. Purtle broke away and Marriott and Manintveld worked together to bring him back. Manintveld blew up and Marriott rode on. On the final climb to the finish Marriott and Purtle were locked together. Marriott was just too quick in the sprint to take fourth.

The B graders stayed together for most of lap one. As usual Paul Yeatman struggled on the hills but ground his way back on when the road levelled out. Yeatman was forced to withdraw at the end of lap one with a mechanical problem. The race blew apart on the climb up to Poowong on lap 2. Roland Elstrom and Graeme Parker rode away and worked well together to maintain and even extend their break on the flats. Neil Walker and Stuart Battley gave chase but could not catch. Parker was too quick in the sprint for Roland. Walker just beat Battley in the sprint for third about 4 minutes later. Pete Whelan and Pete Finlayson looked hot and bothered when they rolled in for fifth and sixth place a further 3 minutes back.

The C grade race broke up on lap one as Peter Sorenson, Graeme Patrick and Shane Pettingill showed their strength. Going with them for much of lap one was soon to be promoted D Grader Shane Wakkar. Sorenson Patrick and Pettingill were together at the end of lap one but a long way apart by the finish. Shane rode away from Graeme and Peter on lap 2. He went on to win by over a minute from Graeme who was two minutes in front of Peter. The hills can take their toll.

Shane Wakkar was a clear winner in D grade with Pete O’Donnell in second. Pete believes the flats of Cloverlea next week will suit his physiology better next week.

A highlight next week will be O’Donnell taking on Bill Frew in his long awaited return to racing. This battle will be worth turning up for.

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Tags: combine, hills, leongatha cc, Poowong

31/05/2009

The LCCC held this event up Mount Tassie on Sunday 31st May.  Kane Walker came 2nd in a time of 0: 52:37.  This was six seconds behind the winner Nick Aitken.  Callan Barker came 11th in 0:58:23, Simon Baxter came 16th in 1:01:29.  Karen Munroe took out the women’s gold in a time of 1:08:55.

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Tags: championships, hills, latrobe city cc

23/05/2009

Warragul Cycling Club members assembled at Yarragon on Saturday to contest the Club Hill Climb Championship. Race director Shane Stiles decided to liven things up by combining the graded scratch races with a handicap as well to make sure that everyone had someone to chase while going up the hill.

First away were D graders Cy Monk and Tammy Patrick with 10 minutes head start on scratch. They set a solid tempo staying together for the first 4 km of the 7 km climb. At this point Cy picked up the pace a little and Tammy could not hang on.

Next away were C grade who had 7 minutes head start on the scratch men. Karen Munro set a solid tempo that Paul Kennedy and Lawrence Maskill were unable to follow.

The B graders had 3 minutes on scratch and set off at a solid pace from Yarragon to the bottom of the hill. As soon as the road kicked up Simon Baxter and James Lalor surged and Rob Monk, Neil Walker and Jason decided to set their own pace rather than be drawn into a chase from the bottom.

The scratch men stayed together for the first 2 km of the climb before James Henry got into a rhythm that no-one else could follow. He left Shane Stiles in his wake while Geoff Thompson and Tristan Marut were dropped by Callan Barker as he tried to move over to Stiles. Paul Yeatman struggled on his own for much of the climb but still set a pb (ride detail follows).

At the usual finish line James Henry had passed everyone in the field except Cy Monk. Cy kept going to win by a minute from James in the handicap race.

James recorded the fasted time of the day and was crowned Club Hill Climb Champion to go with his Club Road Championship he won a few weeks ago. Shane Stiles recorded the second fastest time of the day with Callan Barker in third.

In B grade James Lalor won from Simon Baxter with Rob Monk in third spot more than a minute and a half back.

C grade was taken out by Karen Munro from Paul Kennedy and Lawrence Maskill. D grade was won by Cy Monk from Tammy Patrick.

The race started at the 60km sign in Yarragon on the Leongatha Yarragon Road, and finished about 700m after the turn into Allemby Childers Road (about 750m from the KOM line).

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Tags: championships, hills, yarragon hill