19/05/2013

By Rob Monk

Warragul Cyclists made the long trip to Harcourt to contest the Victorian Country Road Championships on Sunday.

The main prize on offer was the Elite Men’s Title and it was Warragul’s Brenton Jones who took the prize. A dangerous two man break got away from the field of fourty riders near the end of the race and Brenton rode solo across to them then showed them how to sprint taking a well earned Gold Medal.

In the under 19 boys race Warragul riders Cy Monk and Jayden Manintveld did well to stay with the field that included state and national champions. Cy finished 4th and Jayden finished 5th.

In the Masters divisions Michelle Scurr rode well to take gold in the Women’s Masters 2 Category. Rob Monk won Bronze in the Masters 4 Men’s division.

Next week is the Warragul Club Championship Race on Saturday at Lardner Park and the Gippsland Road Championships at Willow Grove on Sunday.  A number of our masters riders will be participating in round 2 of the State Time Trial series in Geelong on Saturday.  Good luck to all.

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Tags: championships, scratch

04/05/2013

By Rob Monk

Warragul and Latrobe City Cycling Club combined for a race at Willow Grove on Saturday. Forty nine riders turned out in great conditions.

A grade had the largest field of the day with 14 starters. The race was delayed as a replacement bike arrived for Brenton Jones as he stripped one on his cranks on his ride to the race. The rest of the field should have started without him. Jones was too good in the sprint and took the money in a tight contest. 1st Brenton Jones (WCC), 2nd Will Livesay, 3rd Darren Spiteri (LCCC)

B Grade had 10 starters and Paul Yeatman was on a mission from the start taking off down the hill. Yeatman is obsessed with training data and his TSB number was perfect. If he raced so his heart rate and power output were within his acceptable tolerances he would win. Even after setting the pace for nearly the entire length of Old Sale Road on lap 2, after being dropped on the hills after Tanjil South on lap 2 and chasing down a late break by Rolan Elison, he did.  Rob Monk lead the charge up the last hill and over the top, Peter Whelan intiated an early sprint and seeing a gap on the inside with 400m to go, Yeatman took off to win by 5 lengths. 1st Paul Yeatman, 2nd Pete Finlayson, 3rd George Tambassis.

The 10 starters in C grade stayed together well for their one lap. Col Brown is in a rare vein of form and took the win again. It was a combine so Col has still not won a WCC C grade race. 1st Colin Brown, 2nd Graeme Patrick, 3rd Bruce Staben.

D grade had five starters and the girls sat on Col Manintveld for most of the race then sprinted by in in the finish. 1st Lou Clark, 2nd Michele Scurr, 3rd Colin Manintveld.

Racing returns to Shady Creek next Saturday at 2.00pm.

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Tags: combine, latrobe city cc, scratch, willow grove

27/04/2013

By Rob Monk

Warragul Cycling Club riders dominated the ANZAC day Autumn Classic, the Stratford to Bairnsdale race. A big field of 58 riders from all over Gippsland contested the race. Warragul Riders took the win in 3 out of the 4 grades.

In A grade Warragul Riders filled the entire Podium. A break formed early in the race featuring Warragul Trio, Brenton Jones, Cy Monk and Jayden Manintveld. With them were Tom Deller from Bairnsdale, Craig Kean and Chris Webb from Wellington and Brett Van Berkel from Latrobe Valley. This group took time out the large chasing field. Cy launched a few attacks near the finish but Jones was able to shut them down each time. In the sprint BJ was too strong. Cy was second with Jayden in third.

In B grade Warragul riders Rob Monk, Pete Whelan and Matt Parkinson were in the winning break of 8 riders who got away on the hills mid race. Monk and Whelan lost contact in the run to the finish and Parkinson was just passed near the line when he led out the final sprint. He finished third.

Col Brown took out C grade by nearly 5 minutes in a very strong ride. Roger Bell won the bunch sprint for second from Shane Wakker.

Ben Stein was too strong for the D graders in the bunch sprint and also took the win. Viki Bell was the first female finisher in D grade.

Thirty five riders turned out for the club race on Saturday. A grade was strengthened by the arrival of 5 riders from the Zoom Video team. Team leader Nick Young showed the locals how to ride a breakaway. He took off on Sturs Rd on lap 3 and soloed for a lap and a half to take the win. Jayden Manintveld is getting stronger each race and finished second from an exhausted Graeme Parker.

A field of 13 contested B Grade. Jason Dastey and Pete Whelan escaped for nearly all of lap one before being reeled in. Jayman Prestidge was allowed to dangle off the front and tire himself out on lap two. The crucial break of the race happed in lap 3 when Pete Finlayson and Jason Dastey got away on the hill. Ross Henry and Stuart Battly did the initial chasing but could reel them back in. Rob Monk tried to get some organisation in the bunch in the finishing straight and managed to get Roland Elstrom, Pete Whelan and George Tambassis to do a few turns. With 3k to go Dastey and Finlayson were within sight. After some subtle encouragement Jayman Prestidge tried to jump over the gap towing most of the field with him. Whelan crossed the gap then Rob Monk bridged using George Tambassis up in the process. Monk went past the leaders with 400meters to go and looked good until he blew up completely. Dastey still had enough left to sprint over the top to take a well-deserved win. Monk was second with Finlayson third. Then followed Pete Whelan and Ross Henry.

The C grade bunch stayed together for most of the race. Only Mick Blackwood and Andrew Gordon were dropped. Roger Bell decided to see who could sprint from 500 meters out. He strung out the field and the experienced Ray Rhodes was the only rider to time his run to the line perfectly. He wove his way through the tiring riders passing all just in time to take the victory. The consistent Bruce Staben was second, James Blyth third, Roger Bell forth and Col Brown Fifth.

D Grade did 2 laps and Rob Waddel won again earning promotion to C grade. Lou Clark was second, Pete O’Donnel third and Sue Elsdon fourth. In E grade Fran Bensted took the win from Adele Whelan.

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Tags: scratch, shady creek

20/04/2013

By Rob Monk

A disappointing showing of only 25 riders turned out for scratch races at Cloverlea on Saturday.

Due to the low number A and B grade were combined. They didn’t stay together long as after an initial attack by Paul Yeatman at the start, Chris Beales and Jayden Manitveld took off immediately after the first corner on lap one and were not seen again. The chase was disorganised as usual in a mixed race as the B graders wanted the A graders to do all the chasing. Graeme Parker, Col Brown and Glen Marriot did most of the work to chase the break down but had little help from the rest. Pete Finlayson tried hard to get others organised but Geoff Thompson, Rob Monk and especially George Tambassis were reluctant to go near the front. Tambassis didn’t do a single turn for the whole race.

Beales out muscled young Jayden in the run to the line to take the win. In the sprint for third Monk led out but was passed by the fresh legs of Tambassis and Thompson. Pete Bailey finished well in his comeback race. Zvonko Maric was not out of his depth in his first B grade start.

The C grade field dawdled around their four laps and were caught by D grade. New rider Georgina Beech showed the men how to do some work on the front. At the finish a close sprint was contested between Bruce Staben and James Blyth. Bruce just prevailed to bring up his first race victory. Well done Bruce. James was second with Georgina in third, Mark Oakley Browne was fouth and Roger Bell fifth.

Mick Blackwood, for the last time, told the sob story that he had not ridden for 4 weeks and wanted to be in D grade. He then proceeded to push the pace and he, Rob Waddel and Col Manintveld were on the back of C grade after one lap. Eventually C grade got a move on and left this trio of bandits behind. Col won the sprint at the end of the race to take victory from Rob with “C Grade for Ever” Blackwood in third. Michelle Scurr was fouth and Pete O’Donnell a close fifth.  Note that if you race and can sit on the grade above you, the handicapper will promote you to that grade.

Warragul’s climbing specialists headed for the Gippsland Hill Climb Championships on Sunday. The race started at Loy Yang and headed up Mt Tassie. Rob Monk, Cy Monk and Jayden Manintveld did the club proud. A race of attrition up the 9 km finishing climb saw an elite group of 5 riders left to contest the finish. Cy Monk dominated the sprint to take victory and the crown of Gippsland Hill Climb Champion. Jayden was a creditable 5th after having some mechanical difficulties in the sprint.

Next week’s race is a scratch race Shady Creek.

A number of riders will be contesting the Stratford to Bairnesdale race on ANZAC day, and a couple of our members will be racing the Tour of the South West in Warnambool next weekend.

Congratulations to Sharon Gordon, who last week ventured over to the Masters  Track Nationals in Perth and came home with a bronze in the 500m WMAS1 ITT.

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Tags: championships, cloverlea, scratch, velodrome

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

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