Brunswick Cycling Club

And what better place to kick off proceedings than Ararat; or more correctly, Moyston, the birthplace of Aussie Rules Football – about halfway between Ararat and beautiful Halls Gap. Brunswick had six riders in the field of some 150 juniors who came from as far as Tassie, NSW and SA. This three stage/two-day tour is now in its 14th year and is well run and supported by the Ararat Cycling Club and the broader Ararat Community. While we had the usual delays with the TT results from Tours that don’t opt to use the available electronic timing, the tour was run pretty smoothly and I think widely enjoyed by all. I’d like to see a fourth stage to make all the travel worth while – especially by the interstaters. It seems most of the interstate junior tours are four stages, but in Victoria, we tend to limit it to three – not sure why?

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Brunswick’s Mitch Cooper (now part of the Charter Mason / Drapac Development Team) has scored the biggest win of his M23/elite career with a great victory in A-grade at the Cycling Express Warburton Road Race. Typically misty conditions met competitors in what is fast becoming a favourite event on the CV Winter calendar. Blackburn should be congratulated for running such a well organised race over a sensational course.

By all reports Mitch spent pretty much the whole day in a break and attacked his remaining escapees to win solo just ahead of the chasing pack. In a strong A-grade field, Mitch put his European racing experiences to good use by getting in the break and worked hard all day over the 113km course to give himself the best chance of staying away. His late attack showed he was the strongest and it is a well deserved win.

James Pane continued his stella form to take 3rd in the Junior A race, while Riley Hart managed a good win in Junior B over the tough 53km course.

Other Brunswick riders to race included Stuart Grimsay and Conor Murtagh (A grade), Sean McIver and Anthony Ives (B Grade), Michael Sparke and Jarrod & Geoffrey Peck (C grade) and Emma Pane and Madeleine Cardillo (Women).

Well done to all in trying conditions over tough terrain.

Results here: http://www.vic.cycling.org.au/default.asp?Page=46440
Some Photos here: http://m.flickr.com/#/photos/blaze429/
And
here: http://gallery.me.com/mmcritchie#100164&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=98

While I wasn’t there, a number of members also competed in the Donna Buang ITT which bookended Blackburn’s Warburton weekend. Some more great results including a win to Sarah Gigante in JG13 and a strong 5th to Lewis Rattray in Men’s A-grade.

A regular supporter of all things Brunswick for the past four or so years, James Pane felt right at home in the hills surrounding Leongatha for it’s now famous season starting Junior Experience.

James was just below the top tier of the JM17s on the track this season and anyone who knew anything about how he was training was licking their lips waiting for the track to turn into a road reaching towards the sky.

James is the new Victorian Hill Climb Champion, besting Ballarat rider Josh Liston and CCCC’s David Koroknai to the top of Misery Hill in Outtrim just outside of Leongatha. It’s a nasty 3.5km climb with three sections of around 10%.

Pane also performed well in the handicap road race, scoring second fastest time and he won the straight-line sprint on the first day.

James wasn’t the only BCC rider to perform well on the weekend, with Ruby Roseman Gannon also winning the Victorian Hill Climb Championship crown along with a number of the other combined JW15/17 events; and Riley Terrens won the B-grade race up the climb. Riley’s win was then topped when he took out the JM17 handicap road race winning a four-up sprint from the four-minute markers.

Sarah Gigante managed a number of podiums while Riley Hart finished fourth in the handicap road race taking the prize for fastest time. Ian Herman also continued his improvement looking stronger in every race.

Next up, the Ararat Junior Tour – which is part of the Victorian Aggregate Championships.

Full results can be found on the Leongatha website www.leongathacycling.com

If it wasn’t for a lack of numbers and therefore depth, I would suggest the Central Districts Cycling Club Santos Junior Tour had a massive claim on this title.

The 45th running of the CDCCSJT (for short) was run and won on the weekend over the best course I’ve ever seen host a junior tour – and that includes Canberra and Eildon! Set in the picturesque Barossa Valley, the tour even featured an ascent of the feared Mengler’s Hill (3km @ 7.1°) – as seen in the TDU!

But beyond the parcours and the history (the honour role includes names like: Jack Bobridge, Leigh Howard, Rohan Dennis, Brett Aitkin, Pat Jonker and Luke Roberts to name a few) the tour is faultlessly run by a group of dedicated volunteers and with locals who were incredibly welcoming to interstaters like us.

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The National Junior Track Championships provided 4 days of great racing where each of the Brunswick kids who proudly pulled on a Victorian skinsuit, Emily Dunk, Greta Curran, Ruby Roseman-Gannon & Ryan Schilt came away with many PBs and great experiences racing against top Juniors from all around the country.

Day 1 the U15W 200m sprint races saw the girls up first with great qualifying times PBs. The girls were placed respectable 5th (Ruby) and Greta 9th. Ryan’s PB time of 12.166 sec was enough for him to take the bronze medal, 0.28sec behind the new Australian record set by Cameron Scott in 1st place.

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Yes the Sprint leg of the 2012 Club Championships had it all.

So much so that there will be some big reforms needed so next year we avoid the sudden death style of racing we had to adopt due to time issues.

The great thing was that everyone was happy to enjoy the night and rip out a couple of sprints.

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Bright and early on Sunday the 4th of March, the cream of Melbourne’s junior racing talent gathered around the Preston Velodrome for what was to be a long days’ racing. With ominous storm clouds looming in the distance, everybody was keen to get started.
First up was a U11 and U13 Victorian Championships Flying 200m – Sarah Gigante placed second to Alana Field of Carnegie-Caulfield, while Nathan Bof came a close fourth, only 2 milliseconds behind third place. The U15s and U17s also got a chance to ride a 200m – not only as qualifying for the sprint derby, but also as an attempt to break the track records set in 2009 by Tirian McManus and Imogen Gelbart. While no records were broken, Brunswick had a good representation in the placings, with Ruby Roseman-Gannon and Georgia Mylonas taking the one-two for Brunswick in the U15/17 women, while in the U17 men, Nicholas Ables placed dead-set in the middle of the field and Liam Hood, Brunswick’s prodigal son, came in third.

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Hands up who sooked last Saturday because it was wet?

Well those who have got to understand the saturday track sessions at Brunswick came down to the soggy outdoor track with rollers in hand and had an awesome hour and a half indoor session of fun, sweat, laughter and learning. (along with the occasional crash)

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