Brunswick Cycling Club » Reports

Well done Alex – Winner Wangaratta Wheelrace

L. Hocking — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 21:47:12 +0000

WANGARATTA mountain bike star Alex Meyland showed his prowess isn’t just restricted to the dirt on Saturday night by taking out a thrilling win in the prestigious Wangaratta Wheelrace.
In a stunning night for the local youngster, Meyland not only won the wheelrace but also claimed both his scratch races and took out the 1000m handicap title.
But it was his victory in the wheelrace the feature cycling event of the night that was his best win and he said it took a while to sink in.
“I’m very happy to have won it,” he said.
“It was a bit of a shock for sure. It took the announcers a couple of goes to find out who won and then it took me a little bit to realise I had won.”
Starting off a handicap of 180m, the race was set up for a cracking finish when the entire field became bunched with two and a half laps to go.
Meyland, well aware of the pace of the riders that started behind him, placed himself exceptionally well and went for the win at the right time, just holding out a fast finishing Sam Crome.
“The plan was to keep an eye on what was going on behind me, initially,” Meyland said.
“But the field came together with about two laps to go so I had to place myself in the right spot. Then it was all about letting loose at the right time. Sam was on my wheel the whole last lap but I managed to just hold him off.”

Well done Emma Pane!!

Admin — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:01:39 +0000

Congratulations to Emma Pane on winning stage 2 of the Division 2 race at the Women’s Grand Prix yesterday. The race was won in a very tight fast finish in sweltering conditions. The Brunswick team is ranked 6th in the teams classification out of an impressive 16 teams. Well done to all team members Emma Pane, Rebecca Williamson, Sue Cox, Nonie Carr and Von Micich. Not all of us are Brunswick members but we are all flying the Brunswick banner. Stay tuned for round 3 in Bendigo on Feb 12th.

Brunswick Juniors make a Statement

H. Hart — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 09:05:54 +0000

Another weekend of track racing for the under-15 and under-17 boys and girls and this time the stakes were high with State Championship medals and State Team selection up for grabs…

Overall, we can be extremely proud of our juniors who all dug deep to deliver medals and and many PBs. Saturday saw the time trials and pursuits; while Sunday featured the Sprint and Scratch races. Might be easiest if we sum up each category individually.

JW15s
Well, Brunswick certainly got out of the blocks early with a 1-2-3 in the 500m ITT. Ruby first with a PB of 40.497, followed by Greta with a 42.836 and Gemma Waterhouse a close third with a 43.836. Emily Dunk was nursing a strained quad so sat the TT saving herself for the IP… and it was well worth it as she rode a strong 3:00.674 to take silver behind Ruby. Ruby’s time of 2:46.844 must make her one of the favourites for a medal at the nationals to be held in March back at DISC. On top of Ruby and Em, Gemma and Greta made it four Brunswick riders in the top 5!

Day two and it was the sprint and the scratch: in sprint qualifying it was Brunswick 1-2-3 and 5 and while the girls couldn’t quite fill the podium it was Ruby taking another win with Greta picking up silver; Gemma was fourth and Emily fifth. The scratch race was reduced to 15-laps and it was rolling along peacefully until 6-to-go when Gemma went down in turn two with Ruby being unable to avoid her. Another girl also went down. Both Ruby and Gemma were shaken but thankfully cleared of any major injury. The girls sat out the re-run which was won by Greta with Em holding on for third after leading out from 3-to-go.

So all in all: 4 golds, 3 silvers and 2 bronze – a dominate performance!

JM15s
Victoria probably has more depth in this category than any other state and it was evident why with fast racing and good times across all events. Brunswick was represented by Ryan Schilt, Riley Hart, Isaac Pane and in the scratch race final, after qualifying in Echuca, emerging riders Paddy Butler and Stephen Foggiato. All the boys really put in in hot conditions.

The TT was first and Ryan’s 38.456 was good enough for bronze. Riley’s 40.283 sewed up 9th while 43.104 left Isaac in 16th. To the IP and Isaac’s 3:01.035 was a 5-second PB; Riley laid down a time of 2:44:605 – good enough for sixth; while Ryan started like a rocket, leading at all intermediate splits before tiring to ride a great 2:40.087 – good enough to qualify second and put him into the Gold medal ride-off where he took Silver.

Day 2 and the Sprint qualifying saw Riley do a PB with a time of 13.375 qualifying him sixth while Ryan was oh so close to breaking 13-seconds with a ride of 13.037. Unfortunately, this qualifying order meant that if both Ryan and Riley got through the round of 16 they’d meet in the Quarters… And that’s just what happened: despite Riley putting up a good fight in both heats, Ryan’s superior strength and speed saw him go through to the semis. Riley comfortably won the ride off for 5th to 8th while Ryan went mano-on-mano with Coner Rowley in his best of three semi. Despite qualifying behind Conor, Ryan’s race tactics and cool head saw him win in two and progress to the Gold medal ride where he was to meet the dominate under-15 rider in Thomas MacFarlane. While putting up a good show, Ryan couldn’t quite match it with Thomas and took Silver. The boy’s scratchy saw constant attacking and when it came down to the pointy end, Ryan again showed his class to take another bronze while Riley, who was at the back with three-to-go flew home to pick-up fifth. Both Paddy and Stephen would have learnt from the experience despite being pulled off the track before the finish.

Medal: 2 silver and 2 bronze – good job boys!

With no JW17 girls, we’ll go straight to the JM17s
In the TT it was Nicholas Abels flying the flag for Brunswick. While not having spent a lot of time on bike, Nick did 39.679 to finish a respectable 19th in a big field. In the IP Nick made way for James Pane (arguably the most improved JM17 going around this season) and his time of 2:34.138 took 4-seconds off his Metros time and left him in 11th place.

In the Sprint it was Ian Herman who was flying the club colours and he did well to qualify for the round of 16 ride off with a time of 15.915 – meaning he was up against the top qualifier! But he took right up to eventual Gold medallist Jay Castles with a gutsy ride going out early but fading in the last half lap – good experience! So to the Scratch Race final and James Pane was joined by fellow qualifiers Ian Herman and James Butler. The pace was one from the whistle and it became a race of attrition with James Pane showing again he could mix it with the best finishing fifth.

So no medals but some promising rides from James and some terrific experience from the rest.

With the State team to be named this week, Brunswick has a very good chance of having as many as four juniors riding in the Big V skinsuit next month at the Nationals. We wish all those selected safe and productive training.

Brunswick finish Top Club in NJTS *

H. Hart — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 21:48:09 +0000

With the overall title for the JW15s going to Ruby – and Greta, Ryan and Riley all finishing in the top four of their respective categories – along with assistance from James and Isaac Pane (in Melbourne) and Riley Terrens and Emily Dunk (in Adelaide), Team Brunswick shone bright throughout the hugely successful National Junior Track Series. The series, a CA initiative, was dragged kicking and screaming to life pretty much singlehandedly by Max Stevens. Max has been in the sport for some years with stints heading up Cycling South Australia and as Stuart O’Grady’s manager amongst many other roles. Max has to be congratulated for pulling it off when many were doubting it could be done in five states in the first year.

After successful events in Sydney, Melbourne, Launceston and Perth in the later part of last year, it all came down to Adelaide for Ruby to clinch her commanding overall victory and for Brunswick to confirm itself as the strongest junior club in the land. The team arrived to a warm Radelaide welcome – if you call 39-degrees warm – and it was straight to an O’Connell St café to carb up for the big day/night ahead. After lunch we checked in to our hotel and set up the bikes. With racing starting at 5pm, the kids jumped in the pool (against the old Belgium advice of not swimming before a bike race) while the adults (Soulla, Andrew and Harry) went shopping.

Armed with ice for the towels and the food, we arrived at the track to set-up and warm-up. We shared a pit, and a fan, with our good friends from Blackburn and got down to business. All the under-15s kids qualified for the Venue Blaster Final while Riley T finished midfield and didn’t look at all out of place racing in his first event outside of Tuesday night. Ruby went on to win her final with Greta 5th and Emily 11th (after pulling up with a screaming quad which meant some time on the massage table). In the boys final, both Riley H and Ryan were still on Melbourne time as they drifted back and then missed the decisive break to finish midfield – not the sort of start the boys were looking for!!!

So to the Keirin Heats and while Riley T didn’t quite make it through you could see he was not at all out of his depth. The other kids all qualified for the keirin semis (for Ryan and Riley H) or straight through to the A-final (for Ruby and Greta). It wasn’t all smooth sailing though with the very strange ‘draw’ for the boys semis seeing all the heat winners meet in one semi while all the second placed riders met in the second semi and the third placed heat riders raced in the third semi with only the first two from each semi going through to the final. Ryan got through with a strong second but unfortunately Riley H, in the same ‘winner’s heat’ had to deal with six-laps of a Sydney rider wanting his spot behind the bike and pretty much riding on top of him in the sprint lane for the whole time making it hard to qualify (Riley H was pretty happy he didn’t give the kid the pleasure of taking the spot and passed on a good few head-butts and elbows to boot. The boy was spoken to by commissaires after the race).

So to the finals and in the girls Ruby was second and Greta fourth scoring more important points for the team; while Ryan rode a brave race with a long range attack but just failed to hang on for the win taking a good second. The invitation-only cyclone sprint saw Ryan continue his run of seconds while Ruby was back on the top step of the podium with a commanding performance.

Emily’s quad was starting to feel a bit better and she decided to ride the elimination. The girls rode well looking out for each other with Ruby showing good strength to hold on for victory with Greta 6th and Em 11th. In the boys both Ryan and Riley H qualified comfortably for the final while Riley T hung in for a good way in his heat just missing out on a place in the final. Both Ryan and Riley H seemed to be cruising only to find themselves suddenly in the wrong spot as the race got towards the pointy end – a bit of disappointment especially after Riley H had placed in the last three NJTS elimination finals, but that’s racing!

With one race to go, some people were counting ranking points and the JM15 Sydney boys ganged up against the the Brunswick boys trying to get one of their own up into fourth position on the rankings. After some rather unpleasant tactics of letting gaps open, slowing the pace in the chase group, etc. Riley and Ryan worked it out and Ryan gave a Riley an armchair ride up to contest the second-last sprint where he took second and then backed up to take third in the last sprint giving him fourth place and shoring up fourth overall in the rankings. Ryan’s earlier efforts had done more than enough to tie up third place overall. Ruby dominated the JW15 points race to win riding away with Greta also picking up points before finding herself caught underneath on the line.

Riley T rode the JM17 B-grade scratch as his last race and was super competitive. He hit the front with four to go, then drifted back, got in, but found himself on the wrong wheel for the sprint so finished mid-field but took a lot of positives back to Melbourne with him.

Righto, so to the State Junior Track Champs on the weekend… Woo hoo, two more long days at the track.

* The Greater Sydney Combine actually scored the most points but as this combine basically cherry-picked the best riders from around Sydney, Brunswick is definitely the moral/ethical winner. Interestingly the Penrith club would have likely come a close second to Brunswick had two of the Greater Sydney riders ridden with their club mates (and in the spirit of the series).

Wagon Wheels & Piggy Banks Saturday had it all!!

C. McFarlane — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 06:19:22 +0000

The Brunswick Carnivale of racing on Saturday was a race fest!

We had the U11 & 13′s pencilled in for a flying lap TT, the 30 second challenge (350m TT), 3 Kerins each, and a points race.
Throw in a Handicap to finish off with and you have 10 kids who were guaranteed a good nights sleep!

Sarah Gigante was the lucky one who got to take home the box of wagon wheels for her efforts.

Next up were the 15 & 17′s and with the final round of the NJTS and the Vic Titles less than a week away the program was tilted towards keeping the speed in the legs and the mind on full alert.

The Paced Warm Up / Handicap quickly became a girls v boys challenge saw those who hadn’t gone for a ride in the morning going off in search of gaining a lap within a nominated distance.

The flying lap was next then the 30 sec challenge and as the U11&13′s did each rider had to nominate a time that they thought they would cover the distance in, this is a great exercise in making the young mind have to “think” about what they are doing and many were comparing what they normally do in a 30 sec challenge and taking 5 sec or so off for their flying lap prediction.

The Boys v Girls Team Pursuit Handicap was run over 2 heats, the girls taking out the first heat, but the boys came back strong in the second, changing their start order and really talking throughout the 5 laps to keep their team intact, even though they were 50 metres down at the halfway point they kept their composure and finished 20m in front.

I look forward to the decider!!!

A Kerin round robin was next with some smart thinking on display from everyone, their NJTS experience is showing!

The Handicap was close, with Issac finishing a length clear of a “flyin Ryan”, it was fitting that he recieved the “Stiggy Bank” to keep his fortune in!

The clock chimed 7 and the big kids took to the track, with a large field it was decided that a night of teams racing was in order, so the Flying laps and 30 sec challenges were “2 up”.

Follow that with a lung busting 40 lap point score with 8 sprints and the lads and ladies were looking for some respite.

It came in the way of an A & B Motor Pace, one team member rode in the A the other in the B, 20 laps and one could say the pace was somewhere between a cool down and a warm up with the last 2 a hell for leather affair.

By now everyone was fully charged for the “Finale”, the teams stuff was over, time for some “mano on mano” action and the only event to bring out the pain on a Saturday is the Paced Points Race!

With everyone eager it was decided 10 mile (50 laps) with 10 sprints, 5 points for a lap gained and the pacer was going to sit on 40.

All was quiet in the first 3 laps, kind of the “calm before the storm” you could say, then BANG they were off!!!

Sprints and laps became a blurr of flashing pedals (good name for a cycling show) and grimaced faces, for every attack there were 2 counters and the 40kph set by the pacer seemed to stretch them that little bit more.

The end result was that both the mens and ladies divisions recieved a bouquet of lovely home grown flowers, the winner of the mens category also recieved some delicious Chorizo sausage! (If you want an explination see Sean Hurley) which meant that the runner up got the Stiggy Bank!! Cam said Phoebe would really appreciate it however the Chocolate coins probably wouldn’t make it home!

A big thank you to everyone who came down and helped with the Kiosk, Registration, Lap scoring, Judging, Holding, Pushing, Cheering, Eating and Drinking, we couldn’t have done it without you!

See all the action at https://picasaweb.google.com/camngeorge/SaturdayCarnivale?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Next saturday we will do some madisons as a tune up for the Australia Day celebrations at Blackburn.

onya.

Wind, rain, mud and a little bit of racing…

H. Hart — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 09:13:02 +0000

The largest Brunswick Junior contingent in living memory (my memory anyway which maybe spans five-years) made the trip to the border towns of Echuca/Moama for its annual Junior Carnival. The two-day weekend event included novice racing – which appealed to many of the our clinic kids – as well as the State Scratch Race Champs for the under-15s and 17s. With 13 licensed Brunswick juniors competing together with half-a-dozen novices’ and a BIG contingent of hangers-on/taxi drivers (mums, dads and siblings) there were 36 for dinner on the Saturday night, and even then we missed maybe another 10 club members (sorry to those that missed the impromptu invite!).

The EMCC track is the same length as the Launceston Silverdome, that is 285.71m – the thinking is that it’s 7-laps to 2000m. You couldn’t call it a ‘fast’ track, with its grippy concrete covering but the approx. 40-degree bends and wide surface makes for safe and fun racing. The carnival is designed to give an opportunity to novice riders as well as a full event schedule for under-11s through under-17s for two days. The EMCC crew have a strong club and a similar philosophy to junior development as Brunswick, so with Dave Morgan commissairing you knew it would be fun and safe for the little tackers!

Day one and riders were met with a balmy 36-degress and a warming Northly wind. The under-13s kicked things off for BCC riders with Sarah G and Nathan Bof making an immediate impression with quality wins in their scratch races – Luke Plapp made his racing debut and learnt the lesson that you can’t miss the start! The JW15s followed with their warm-up (not that warming up was required) scratchy: while new Brunswick member Emily Dunk (welcome), looking resplendent in her BCC skinsuit, hit out early, it was the familiar pairing of Ruby RG and Greta taking the quinella with Grace Mazzarella also riding a strong race. The JM15 boy’s first event was qualifying for the State Scratch Race Final, scheduled to be held the next day. Stephen Foggiato was in heat one and rode a smart race to make it into the final, while Ryan, Riley and Paddy Butler were in the second heat and finished in the first eight to also progress. Looks like the final will now be ridden as part of the State Champs on the weekend of the 21/22 January.

In the JM17 B-grade category, James Butler was making his Open debut and put up an excellent ride to hold on for third, while Ian Herman, also relatively new to Open racing is improving in every race. In JM17A James Pane was right at the pointy end and was unlucky not to podium with a strong ride for fourth.

So to the main event – the first of the novice races and Timmy Butler put his fluid pedalling technique to good use with a run-away victory, while in the second novice category another of the Butler clan, five-year-old Tommy kept the Butler name alive with a canny ride that would ensure him a good mark in the handicap to come!

So to the wheelraces… And while the handicapper didn’t do scratch markers Nathan or Sarah any favours in the under-13s, young Luke Plapp found his 120m mark to his liking. He was fast away, steadied in the middle and took a sit and then powered home to take the win and pick up a cool $80 and a trophy for his trouble. The JW15 Brunswick contingent found their marks a little tough while Riley managed a good 3rd in the JM15 5-lap Ivan Collings Memorial Wheelrace. The two James’ (Pane and Butler) battled gamely in the JM17 Wheelrace while in the novices the Butler’s were at it again with a win to Timmy (or was it Tommy – I get confused?).

Next up the eliminations and another win to Nathan in the JB13 with Sarah second on the JG13. Another Ruby and Greta one-two in the JW15s with another third place to Riley in JM15… And then the wind came…

It was all hands on deck to keep Brunswick’s four marquees from taking off and ending up in Broken Hill (or just plain broken!). It was shades of 2011 when the BCC marquee needed to be repaired, but luckily this year teamwork prevailed and all four marquees survived to tell the tale (unlike one marquee from a CCCC family which has now gone to God).

Dinner, as mentioned was a highlight at Antonio’s and it was good for Brunswick members new and old to chew the fat about the day and life in general – there were so many kids there was a girls table and boys table and never the two shall meet… at least until they’re a bit older!

Day 2… The end! Well, we all got there, set up the marquees, the kids warmed up, Ruby, Greta, Emily and Grace even started their State Championships Scratch Race, but then the heavens opened and didn’t stop. Highlights of day two was Connie slipping and sliding down the hill while keeping it upright (nice save!) and that we got home in time to watch the exciting men’s road race!

Next year may the weather Gods smile on this terrific junior event.

Saturday came back with a sting in it’s tail

C. McFarlane — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 05:25:05 +0000

That’s right, last saturdays race action caught a few by suprise as those who had spent their Christmas cheer doing the Carnivals had some sting left in their legs.

The warm up rose to new heights with the final lap becoming an upupupupupupupupu up fest reaching 69 kph for the white wheeled wonder Brendan Bailey

The Saturday “elimination” had 5 200m sprints which had everyone’s tongues hanging out by the end.

With the clouds threatening, tribal council decided to go straight into the now regular 10 mile madison, our super coaches Brendan and Sean spent considerable time and effort to ensure everyone was comfortable with slinging alone and in amongst others before declaring a race start.

Things got underway after the BBQ orders were taken where I might add the days chefs special was a very tasty Chick Pea and Sunflower Seed Vegie Burger, much to the delight of young Gene!

It wasn’t till after the first sprint that the now common Hurley “launch” occured with a noticable grimace on the face of his partner Brendan, realising that he was expected to maintain the rage.

John & Steve along with Tim & Sam worked together to keep the duo in sight while Rachel had to go solo when Gene pulled a heart muscle and had to wait for the emergancy to adjust the seat on Genes bike before jumping into the fray with her.

By the 4th sprint the effort was begining to take it’s toll on the team of Tim & Sam who up until then were dominating John & Steve and for the remainding distance it was a ding dong battle to see who would take 2nd place.

With 2 sprints remaining Sean & Brendan were under investigation by the race jury and Tim & Sam, John & Steve were equal on points.

In the end it was Sean & Brendan from John & Steve, Tim & Sam, Rachel & Gene / Chris.

The overall result for the day saw a tie for first between Brendan and Rachel with Sam a strong finishing second due to his appetite after proceedings.

Gene was lucky to pick up vital series points due his early departure from the Madison, however his delight in the vegie delights got him there in the end.

The leader board is busy as we enter January, it looks like it go down to the wire ladies and gents..pics from the day are at https://picasaweb.google.com/camngeorge/SaturdaysAreBack?authuser=0&feat=directlink

next saturday we have U11 & 13′s on in the arvo and 15, 17′s & seniors in the evening.

Keep an eye on the site for details as they come to hand

onya Cam

Vic Xmas carnival report brief

A. Gannon — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 23:34:05 +0000

I am typing this from the car on our return from Wangaratta the last of the four carnivals. I did not race but I feel exhausted! Brunswick riders did the club proud. Some memories from the carnival (apologies if I’ve missed any important results):

Nathan Bof dominated U13 boys and improved as the carnival progressed with many wins including a clean sweep at Wangaratta.

Sarah Gigante had some great racing among the U13 getting first and second places and was always puting in 100% despite some allergies in the last couple of days.

Ruby RG dominated U15 girls and after 3 day clean sweep was dragged to minus 20 for Wangaratta which ended her run in the handicaps. Greta Curran was usually on the next step on the podium in most races and with Ruby made the 7.5k Vic points champs a Brunswick 1 2. (Each day a U15/17 points champs was run- lucky U15 girls had theirs last!). Gemma Waterhouse wore the Brunswick colours proudly every day – her first track open and collected some prizemoney as well. Emily Dunk a new member rode at Wangaratta and did quite a bit of work in the points race.
U15 boys had Ryan Schilt frequently winning or on the steps of the podium and a win news TV interview – good job too! Isaac Pane was mixing it up with the boys every race.

In U17 girls Georgia Mylonas had a National level field to contend with and gave her best considering the last term was bike free at a school camp. In the Vic points she contested sprints up to the end.

U17 boys had James Pane in good form racing aggressively getting a handicap win at Wangaratta and being at the front of the race in the A grade often just off the podium in a high quality field. Ian Herman gave Bendigo a crack- his first track open and tried his best each race with support from the Brunswick people.

I only managed to get to a little of the senior racing but saw: Sean Hurley win a progressive points and a scratch off the front, Brendan Bailey win a scratch race at Shepparton and fill a million gaps in final Bendigo motorpace still got ~6th, Vanessa Bof and Jessica Morgan first and second in a few races. There were quite a few other seniors racing as well puting in a big effort.

A special mention to our commissaire David Morgan whose day often started at 12pm and finished at 11pm trying to ensure the riders stayed out of trouble and had fun!

Thanks to the Country Clubs Horsham, Bendigo, Shepparton and Wangaratta for hosting the racing and the various officials who made it possible.