Louttit Takes out Summer Series!  Final Round Report

A warm still morning welcomed everyone to the last round of the Summer Series.  With many riders away at either Interclub or holidays it was great to see 15 eager riders line up.  After 7 rounds there were still 10 riders with a mathematical chance of winning the series, especially with the double-points on offer for the first 5 placings.

Off limit Ben Phillips and Andrew Crawford started from the very generous mark of 10 and a half minutes – essentially a 5km head-start over the 26km course!  Next to go at second-limit were Dennis Louttit, Steve Doidge, Geoff Golden and Charlie Baldry who started off 4 and a half minutes.

Third limit consisted of Tim Meares, Cootamundra’s strongest rider Rod Fergus, Brent Louttit and in-form Tony Snell.  Unknown to the handicapper, the second-limit group in front were up the road waiting for this group in support of Brent, who stood a chance to clean up the series!

As chopping block headed off a mysterious breeze had sprung up much to handicapper Peter Rees’ surprise. Anthony Dean, James Watson and Tim Webster bore the brunt of the wind and lived up to their name, fracturing and getting caught early by scratch.  Back on scratch Steve Franklin and Hamish Nott headed off as a two-man-band into the headwind that was only getting stronger.

At the turn limit still lead ahead of the big group of second and third limit, with scratch catching Webster who was all that was left of block.  It was always going to be a hard task for 2 riders to catch the big bunch with a tailwind home, but Franklin and Nott fell 40 seconds short of the mark in 39 minutes 55.

Up front The Fox was driving hard on the front for Phillips as these two defied the pack with some great teamwork.  Ben took the win and the double points but the fight for the series was on in earnest behind.  With Series leader Tim Webster out of contention this brought Brent Louttit and Tony Snell into the mix and they didn’t disappoint.

Fergus, Meares, Baldry, Doidge and father Dennis were burying themselves in pain to get Brent up for the series win with Snell hanging in there in case any points were on offer.  In the final sprint Tony eventually nudged Brent out of second with Rod Fergus and Geoff Golden taking out the minor placings.

The double-points round made for an exciting finish to the series with the top 3 separated by just 2 points.  Brent Louttit, who has made a comeback to cycling over the summer, saw his hard work and long training miles rewarded.  Brent started 7 of the 8 races proving consistency was the key as the top 3 placegetters only missed 2 races between them!

Final standings were Brent Louttit 51 points, Tim Webster 50 points, Ben Phillips 49 points.  Special mention to James Watson who won the best ‘young’ rider competition!

A big thank you to our Peter Rees for handicapping the series, Tony ‘The Fox’ Manning and Al Moston for their commissaire work throughout, and the many other supporters and helpers who ensure things run safe and smoothly each Sunday morning.  Your efforts are greatly appreciated.  Also a thank you to the residents and drivers on Berthong Road for their courtesy each Sunday morning which helps keep the riders safe.

Summer Series Round 3

Despite the recent wet weather and a forecast of more, a sunny morning greeted riders for round 3 of the summer series last Sunday on Berthong Road.  After a rain cancellation and 2 interclub rounds, it was a chance for many to stretch the legs again and for others to see if the hundreds of kilometres per week were paying off.

As promised the handicapper looked after the outer markers the limit group of Charlie Baldry and Ben Phillips were sent off some 11 minutes and 15 seconds ahead of scratch. Four and a half minutes behind them were the second limit group of Scott ‘Motorway’ McLeod, David Holder and new rider Tim (Nicky) Webster.

Leaving at 8 minutes from limit were the chopping block of Martin Ryan, driving force Jamin Hall, Ken Clark, a bloke from the Coota show and Scott Adams.  Steve Hines was relegated to scratch after being swapped with Hall from the previous race.  According to the handicapper ‘Highway’ Hall paid a little more than everyone else to enter so his golden handshake had indeed worked well!  Hines headed off on scratch with Heath Wade (visiting from Goulburn Club), Steve ‘Strava’ Franklin and series leader Hamish Nott.

A strong headwind on the way out took its toll on the riders but no groups had joined by the half-way mark.  Second limit had splintered around the turn with Tim Webster leaving his compatriots.  He was making his way across to join the limit markers as he left the hill on the return trip, eventually joining Charlie and Ben and staying with them until close to the finish.  Meanwhile, behind block had joined McLeod and Holder and were working hard for the catch. Scratch had lost Hines on the hill but the other three were working hard in the chase.

In a brilliant piece of handicapping everyone but Webster came together in the last 500m of the race.  Tim had launched off the front of the limit riders and headed solo for home to take the win.  Charlie Baldry came in second ahead of Hamish Nott who had come through from scratch in the fastest time of 38.42.  ‘Highway’ Hall held on for fourth and will no doubt have caught the handicapper’s eye for next time.  David Jarvis (or a guy resembling him) rounded out the placings in fifth.

After 3 rounds Webster has moved up into second place behind round 1 and 2 winner Nott. Hall, Franklin and Baldry round out the top 5.  With the sliding scale and a possible double-point round proposed for the series finale it is still anyone’s series.

There are two more rounds before Christmas with a hill-top finish planned in 2 weeks.  A round in Young has been proposed too for February, yet to be confirmed.  A full list of current standings can be found here

A random downhill Mountain Biker sent these through this week from Whistler B.C., Canada – Nice top!!!!

Summer Series Round 7 Report

The last race of the Summer Series took place on Sunday with 22 starters greeting the handicapper.  Once again, even after last week’s very generous handicapping, limit were given 13 minutes with Phil Bowden and newcomer Dave Moore starting proceedings.  Steve Green, Darren Garnon and Barry Rose left 2 minutes behind them on second limit.

Treasurer Tim, Anthony Dean, Charlie Baldry and William Adams were asked to leave another 5 minutes behind off third limit. Steve Doidge made his long-anticipated return to Sunday events off fourth-limit.  He was joined there by Kevin Ford, Geoff Golden, Mark Bolger and series contender Glen Oakley who all began just four minutes in front of scratch.

The chopping block were Al Baker, Ken Clarke, Mark Ward and Dave Jarvis who left two and a half minutes in front of scratch.  Scratch consisted of Cootamundra’s fittest riders Steve Franklin and Brendan Forsyth along with Young’s fittest riders Kevin Goodman and Peter Telford.

With the overly kind marks up front the three back groups were on a hiding to nothing once again and though Telford rode fastest time in 38 minutes 25 seconds they were still a minute behind at the finish.

Darren Garnon went solo off the front ( though no one saw it bar his group!) to victory by 11 seconds over Dave Moore.  A good first-up showing by Dave but one the handicapper is unlikely to forget!  Tim Condon, Charlie Baldry and Will Adams took the remaining points on the day.

Despite being away at his mother-in-law’s 90^th Birthday lunch, and being unable to secure any points in the final round, Phil Davies hung on for the overall victory over the 7 race series.  Phil’s early solo win paved the way for victory doing most of the second half of that race alone to hold on for the win.  In all there were about 200 starters over the series with 73 club members participating.  Thank you to all riders who supported the series throughout and we are looking to have some organised events through the winter too.

Interclub racing continues this weekend with the Cootamundra hosted  stage at Stockinbingal.

Back Markers Do it Tough

Bright sunny conditions and a firm easterly wind greeted the 21 starters for Sunday’s penultimate round of the Summer Series.  With main handicapper Zeke back a few changes were made to the groups from last week’s Foxing!

That said the marks did not decrease much given the huge margin of victory last week – scratch still had to give limit a whopping 12 minutes!  Barry Rose, Steve Green and Phil Bowden were licking their lips at the prospect as they departed.

Last week’s strongest block rider, the in-form Glen Oakley was somehow promoted to back to second limit (no doubt some sort of golden handshake had occurred with the new handicapper!). He was joined by Peter Lott, Jane McNamara, Chris Richards, Charlie Baldry and Darren Garnon. Darren has kindly donated a full cycling kit as the prize for the summer series winner.  However this didn’t encourage his group to wait for him!

After his victory last week Phil Davies was pulled a group along with the super-strong Anthony Dean and Cootamundra’s fittest rider Geoff Golden.  Tim Condon and Rod Holder joined them off the 4 minute mark.

Block left 1 and a half minutes ahead of scratch and their pace was driven by Al Baker.  Hangers-on included Dave Jarvis, Ken Clark and Garry ‘Retro’ Halloran.  Steve Hines, Brendan Forsyth and Anthony Slowman chased these guys from scratch.

With the huge time gaps up front it was always going to be a hard task for the back markers to make up time.  Even after a minor spill from second limit, in which they literally stopped for over a minute to make sure everyone was OK, scratch were still nearly a minute off catching!

Second limit worked hard to catch limit, with McNamara showing the guys how to do it and Lott, Oakley and Richardson proving up to the task.  Up front Rose and Green had shed Bowden and were heading for victory.  Behind these two bunches the rest of the field were toiling away but to no avail.

Richardson took up the chase as Green faltered but veteran Barry Rose had his ears pinned back and was home free.  He took the win from Richardson who won a ding-dong battle with Oakley for second place.  Fourth was Steve Green and Peter Lott took the last of the points.  Brendan Forsyth took the fastest time in 39 minutes 31 seconds.

Current point standings after Round 6 – Phil Davies still leads with 28 points, Glen Oakley 22, Barry Rose 16, Jack Stratford 15 and Hamish Nott 14

The last round of the Summer Series is this Sunday and it is the last chance for a warm up before Cootamundra hosts our round of the interclub at Stockinbingal Fair the week after.  It looks like a battle between Phil Davies and Glen Oakley for the win!

Phil ‘Out-Foxes’ Followers!

Perfect weather greeted the riders for the 5^th round of the Summer Series which returned to Berthong Road after Round 4 in Young.  With regular handicapper Zeke on leave it was left to the Fox to handicap and the scratch riders were already sweating before turning a pedal.  Fortunately long-time handicapper Pete Rees made a cameo appearance to help Fox out with the groups.  With the 23 riders sorted into 5 consistent groups the scene was set for some competitive riding – or so everyone thought!

Limit were sent off at the 13 minute mark confirming once again that Fox does have some affinity and allegiance with them ( 8 minutes would have been generous!!) Barry Rose, Steve Green and Phil Bowden were more than happy with this start.

At 9 minutes second limit were licking their lips at their opportunity.  Phil Davies, Anthony Dean, Tim Dowling and Cootamundra’s fittest rider Geoff Golden, knew if they could keep the group together they were assured of at least a placing.

A very strong 3^rd limit left at the 5 minute 30 second mark, a time usually reserved for limit over the summer. This bunch consisted of some very strong riders who would normally handle block.  These included James Watson, Al Baker, Tim Condon, Kevin Ford, Mark Bolger and James Baldry.  That said it was always going to be hard for them to make ground and for block to catch.

The block bunch saw the inclusion of Glen Oakley who had caught the eye of the handicapper with two second placings. The Fox took to him like he would a chook in a henhouse pulling him back a group!  He was joined by Jack Stratford, Joel Finucane and Dr. Martin Ryan.

The red-hot Brendan Forsyth was moved back to scratch after his fastest time in Young off block and was joined by Steve Franklin, Steve Hines, Kevin Goodman, Sean Williams and Hamish Nott.  They combined well to catch block before the turn but that was the last they would see of anyone in the race due to the generous gaps up front!

Limit were caught by second limit just after the hill on the return leg and with their big lead and fast time this group were not to be seen for the rest of the race. With Anthony Dean and Phil Davies driving the bunch the rest were relegated to the role of hangers-on.   Riding a time 3 or 4 minutes faster than expected they were even able to organise their finishing order (or so everyone else thought!).  Phil took the win with Geoff Golden second and the super-fit Anthony Dean completing the minor placings.  It looks like Phil’s bike riding has been the beneficiary of his sore shoulder, with time otherwise spent at the golf course now spent on the bike!

Despite riding a great time 3^rd limit rode the entire race by themselves – with all reporting that the pace they rode was just everyone trying to keep up with the in-form Al Baker.

Fastest time in a very slick 37minutes 30 seconds was Shaun Williams who arrived to see the winners just finishing their first coffee, so far were they in front!

The 6^th and penultimate round will be held this Sunday in Cootamundra at Berthing Road.  Current standings Phil Davies 27 points, Glen Oakley 17 and Jack Stratford 15 points. With 2 races left nearly everyone still has a chance but will need at least a win and a high placing to overtake Phil.

The question remains “Can anyone catch Phil?” – or will the Fox be let loose in the henhouse again!!

Below courtesy of Gerard Hines – thanks Gerard.

Just a quick follow up to the Sunday race, what a fantastic role up, 49 riders participating, on what was a challenging course and tough conditions! Also congratulations to the place getters, Tony Flanery, Shaun Oakley and John Coulter, tougher handicaps next time lads!! Fastest time was by a flying Brendan Forsyth at 48.45 minutes, closely followed by Shaun Williams at 8 seconds gap.

Well done to everyone who participated, excellent effort. It was particularly good to see the ladies have a crack at it, and it’s now a good opportunity to capitalize on this girls by joining us on the Tuesday night rides at 6pm, and Saturday mornings at 6am if you feel up to a longer ride. There are early groups that go out on both of these rides to allow you to ease yourself into it, so please join in and keep up the momentum.

This was a fantastic thing for our club to do, and has also resulted in a lot of new memberships to the Coota club, so thanks for your great support. Thanks also to Shaun Stuart for doing the initial ground work to get this underway, it’s a  shame you and Tami couldn’t be here to enjoy the occasion.

We would encourage as many of you as possible to make the effort to travel over to Coota to reciprocate and participate in their Sunday morning race at 9am. It’s a lot easier course than what we endured on Sunday, and you will enjoy the experience if you can get over there. For those that haven’t done it, It’s held out on the Berthong Road a few kms west of town; you travel out the Temora road from Coota, and turn right at the cross roads, and the start is just over the railway line there at 9am sharp, so be there at 8.30 to sign up and warm up.

Thanks again for contributing to a great success at our inaugural development race. There will be another one held at Young as a part of their summer series, and we will communicate that date when we have it.

This weeks ride is in Cootamundra – Sunday morning sign on at 8.30am for 9.00am start.  Berthong Road southern end near the Golf Driving Range.

Click here for a preview of the Cootamundra Mountain Bike Track – video!

Hi All,

The Summer Series will recommence on Sunday 2^nd Feb, this will be round 4 of the series and it will be held in Young. The course is a out and back course starting at MA Steel on the Moppity Rd, it’s a nice undulating course just under 30km long.

Start time is 9am, so please arrive at least 30min before so we can organise the handicaps. Entry fee is $5 per person.

For those riders in Young who haven’t experienced riding under a handicap format before, then this is your perfect opportunity! All you need is a silver recreational licence (only $88 for 12 months). Below is the Cycling Australia link to join under the Cootamundra Cycle Club.

https://memberdesq.imgstg.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Registration_1&OrgID=4912

Top 5 so far in the Summer Series pointscore

Phil Davies: 14pts

Hamish Nott: 13pts

Jack Stratford: 13pts

Scott McLeod: 10

Pete Telford: 9

Look forward to seeing you all on the 2^nd Feb!

Cheers

Hinesy

Summer Series 2013-14 Race 3

“The Christmas Roast Turkey Handicap”

Race 3 in this year’s Summer Series was the first in which the weather would play a part. High temperatures and a hot north-west wind greeted riders as they signed on with handicapper Zeke.  Numbers were buoyed by the return of some veterans and some new riders making their series debut.  In all 29 riders started which was outstanding considering the conditions, which resembled that which the Christmas turkeys were about to face inside a fan-forced oven! 

Limit left first off 12 minutes led by Barry Rose.  He was joined by Janine Hobson, Simon Thompson and first-time starter Glen Oakley.  Three minutes behind chasing them were second limit, led by dark-horse Greg Ewings, along with series leader Phil Davies and Temora’s Paul Breust.  A strong third-limit group contained the handicapper’s sacrificial lamb James Lenehan who’s Saturday form was counting against him! Tim Condon, Edwina Hobson, Jack Stratford and Alan Baker ensured he would have a tough day in the saddle from the 7 minute mark.  These five would prove to be the smokies of the day!

Second block left 5 minutes ahead of scratch and were 6 riders strong.  Dave Holder, Michael Crowe and Kevin Ford did the majority of the work up font into the wind, whilst Rod Holder, Anthony Dean, James Baldry and James Watson were just hanging on.  Off 3 minutes behind them the chopping block contained a new rider this week with the in-form Scott McLeod leaving alongside Dave Jarvis, Brendan Forsyth, Ken Clarke and Garry Halloran for the first of what will no doubt be many times.  McLeod carried his group well doing long turns and facing the majority of the wind after taking over from Jarvis as group-leader.

Scratch consisted of the returning Kevin Goodman and Darren Russell from Young, Steve Hines, Hamish Nott and Steve Franklin.  With the two Young riders looking to catch block in the first 5km the pace proved too hot for Nott, who was cooked like a Christmas roast and dropped at Pettit’s on the way out! The chase into the wind continued as scratch caught block just after the turn on the way home.  This combined group were to catch second block and chase hard (and fast with the tailwind!) all the way home.

Up front Oakley, in his first race ever, was attempting to steal the win with a solo breakaway.  Generous handicapping and in-form riders in Baker and Stratford dragged Hobson forward and added impetus to the front chase group of Ewings, Davies and Breust.  These six were defying the chasers and beginning to make inroads into the solo leader as Oakley began to tire over the final 2 km.  Russell and Goodman continued to dish out the pain behind to all who could keep up as they chased hard from behind – at times doing well over 50km/h on the flat trying to catch.

As Oakley struggled on the home straight Stratford mustered all his strength to overhaul him inside the final 200m to take the win.  Al Baker, who worked well with Jack all the way home, held on for 3^rd with Greg Ewings and Edwina Hobson taking out the other placings.  Kevin Goodman took the fastest time in 39.28 – a great effort considering the conditions.

The series now sees a hiatus over the holidays before returning in February as a lead-in to the road racing season.  Stay tuned to the website for updates to the What’s On (calendar) and News sections.  For the points score click here.