the state junior criterium championships were run today before our normal summer criterium series. results are up on the events & results page. or here.
the 4th race of our summer series was also held today along with a special women’s ‘b’ & ‘c’ grade race sponsored by hall cycle training. this concluded our criterium race series for the summer and the final leaderboard has been updated. results can be found here.
a special thanks to all those that have helped out during the course of the race series, especially those that have come down when they are not racing. we really appreciate all the help and cannot run a race series without you.
Well it’s that time of year again. MTB season is upon us and the 1st race of the season is a PMBC Club race next weekend 17th March at Langford Mountain Bike Park, Jarrahdale.
The race entries are $15.00 for all grades. A current MTBA membership is required to race. A day license can be purchased if you don’t have a MTBA membership. Entries close at 11 pm Thursday 14/3/2013. There is a $20 late fee for entering on the day (NO Exceptions).
Race Classes
The club races will be run as mixed classes. The idea is to hopefully have some exciting, fun and close racing. It will give you the chance to race against riders not normally in your class and to grade yourself for the upcoming state rounds. Below is a guide to help you determine which class would best suit you.
A Grade = Elite Men, Expert Men, Top 3-5 Masters, Top 5 Vets (30 to 50 riders)
B Grade = Elite women, 5 – 10 masters, 6 – Vets Men, Top 3 Sport Men (40 to 50 riders)
C Grade = Expert Women, Super masters, Sport Etc (40 to 50 riders)
D Grade = Sport women, Juniors etc (40 to 50 riders)
Please note: we will change your class if we feel you are clearly in the wrong grade.
Race Distances
The courses will be shorter and faster tracks. We will be trying to keep the racing close and fun, so the tracks will reflect this, with fast flowing single-track and limited climbing.
A and B Grades= Approx 1.30hrs
C and D Grades= Approx 1.00hrs
We will set the number of laps for each grade once the course has been selected.
Race Day Schedule
Registration = 8am to 9am (collect race numbers)
C and D Grades= 9:15am (first wave)
A and B Grades= 10.45am (second wave)
Presentations = 12.30 pm (or a bit earlier if possible)
Giant Bikes Test Bikes
As part of their sponsorship Giant will be at both races with a range of test bikes. Feel free to test one of their great bikes; just remember to bring your pedals, drivers licence and credit card for a ride.
Fundraising: Gold Coin Donation.
Once again BBQ and Drinks will be provided by Rock and Roll Mountain Biking. We ask you to bring a gold coin donation; all money raised will be used for junior development and trail maintenance with PMBC.
Rubbish
DEC will be removing rubbish bins from some DEC managed properties, including Langford Park. Please take your rubbish home with you PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE. If you don’t, one of the PMBC volunteers has to. Rubbish cannot stay on site after we have left. That goes for gels and bars, it’s not the world championships, please don’t discard your wraps on the race track.
this sunday is the final race of the summer criterium series held with the rccc. this event will actually be three events combined together.
firstly we are running the state junior criterium series from 7:30am starting with the under 13 riders. the under 15 and under 17 riders will follow and we will finish off with the championship presentation.
at 9:30am the senior races start with ‘d’ grade. these races are as per the usual criterium series and you can enter on the day and day licences are available. this is also the culmination of the race series and the series winners will be announced.
in between the ‘b’ and ‘a’ grade races there will be a special race. in conjunction with hall cycle training, there will be a women’s ‘b’ & ‘c’ grade race. this is an opportunity for any of the female riders to give cycle racing a go on a nice short circuit close to town. if you don’t have a race licence, don’t worry as we have organised a special rate for the day licence at $15 (usually $33). entry is only $15 if you are a spr/rccc/hall member or $20 if not.
if you are thinking about it but are not sure which grade to go in, i would recommend that if you can ride in main 1 then you can race ‘b’ grade, if you ride in main 2 then ‘c’ grade. if you ride in main 3 and want to race, then this is a great opportunity to see what the pace is really like. you have nothing to lose, and trust me, people will be encouraging you the whole way around.
brad hall from hall cycle training approached the clubs to put on this race to cater for the growing number of women’s only training courses that are around. we have a strong women’s contingent within the club so it would be great to see them out and racing in spr colours.
see the flyers below for more information.
as with the other criteriums, we need volunteers to help run the event. we have often seen the same people down at the races, so do something for the club and come and help out. put your name in the comments if you can help out. we need people from 7:00am through till 12:30pm.
so i woke up at 4am and listened to the thunder and wind and rain and more wind. thought, “wow, it is going to be an interesting race”. i had packed the car the evening before and thought about the nice deep carbon wheels that were sitting on my bike. probably not the best for a windy race with some quick descents. a few other negative thoughts before drifting back off to sleep. finally awoke to more wind and rain and a quick check of the radar showed more fronts coming through. luckily the race was close and didn’t start till close to 10am. it looked like the worst of it would pass before kick-off. i grabbed a low profile front wheel and chucked it in the car just in case.
we had a few riders in today race. jono doing it solo in the open event. dianne in the women’s race. myself, bonner, julian (regular), andrew (mr rice), morrison (mr flexible), paul o (DiD) and jerry (mr “i won’t ride if it is too wet”). it was only 4 laps of the carmel, repatriation, observatory circuit and made up 65kms. fairly short for a state champs, but after last years debacle, we were just glad it was on. the course had a number of climbs in it though, and more than made up for the lack of distance. at the end of the day, the four circuits meant that we will have climbed 1,200 vertical metres, probably about as much as a normal sunday hills ride.
i drove carefully out to the start, noting all the water running over the road, the debris scattered by the wind and the amount of gum nuts everywhere. it was going to be great. i pulled in to the carmel school and expected that the place would be teaming with people as it was when the peter clark was held here earlier in the year. however, i was surprised to see very few cars around. maybe the rain was keeping people away. i quickly caught up with a few guys and we got the tent up so we had some shelter in which to get prepared. the rain and wind had eased off a bit and there was a strange calm up in the hills. smaller showers came through, but nothing like the mornings weather events.
mr bonner eventually showed up after catching the start of his daughters hockey grand final, but he didn’t look prepared for racing. he said that if it didn’t stop raining before 10am, he wasn’t going to play. last weekend he endured similar conditions in belgium and was fearing a deja vu. jerry had heard the rain and decided against racing, but the others were all set to go. well, as set as could be expected. there had been much debate on what to wear. some were worried about getting cold, while others were worried about overheating on the climb. there was a fair variation of vests, jackets, arms, knee warmers and big gloves through out the peloton.
we lined up and waited for the “gun”. spr made up close to half the field and the aim was to control the race rather than allow it to be dictated to us. julian and i got on the front to start and lead the field out. the pace was moderate and i said to jules to only go as hard as you need to get warm rather than wear yourself out. the group tucked in behind and we meandered our way to the base of the patterson climb. jules peeled off but i said that i wanted to stay on the front. we weren’t going hard and i wanted to make sure i could react to any attacks. andrew replaced jules and we continued the main climb to the observatory. i was listening to andrew breathing and it didn’t sound that good. i eased the pace off a couple of times to make sure he didn’t blow too early, but he eventually peeled off the front. we were 3/4 up the climb by then and paul prottey attacked the group. i responded and jumped on his wheel but no-one else followed. i wasn’t sure if i should work with him or not so i sat on his wheel till the top. on the descent i did a few turns, but by the time we hit the base of the final climb to the finish, the main group was with us. by then we had already lost a few but i wasn’t sure who.
i should probably say now what my plan for the race was. simple really. get mr bonner a state championship title. the course suited him to a tee. lots of climbing, descents that weren’t too tricky and no flat sprint finish. my aim was to control the race for at least the first 3 laps and then let him go and smash everyone else up. easy really.
up past the finishline, it was clear that paul prottey wanted to thin the field a bit more. i asked jules to drag him back and he did, even though it meant that he popped off the back afterwards. the field had thinned and i had a quick chat to paul prottey. he was worried about a couple of riders and wanted to thin it a bit more. between the two of us, we set the pace and dragged the group around to the observatory climb again. this time i eased up on the climb as bonner moved to the front. i drifted back to see who was left and was surprised to see a gap start to open almost instantly. i jumped around the other riders and sat in a group of around 5 or 6. as we came to the slightly steeper section, there was a touch of wheels and jamie from rccc went down by himself. there were now 4 of us left on the front with jules trailing about 50m or so behind. paul wanted to work again, so it was going to be hard to convince him to allow another spr rider onto the group. all that was left was myself, bonner, paul prottey and paul lamond.
we crested the top and i hit the descent as hard as i could so that we could put more distance into the chasers. prottey wanted to work, but lamond was a bit reluctant. my plan was to do double the work and let bonner stay on the back. this way he would be fresh, but the others couldn’t say that spr hadn’t contributed to the workload. we climbed to the finish, and i threw my wind vest to andrew who had not enjoyed the first lap. the efforts were starting to take their toll and i was getting hot. even the brief showers didn’t really cool things down.
starting the third lap and it was clear the lamond didn’t really want to work too hard. a few turns between us and then i jumped on the front to lead us through repatriation road and back to the observatory climb. this time bonner got on the front and set a pace that was just too much for me. i watched them head up the road as i lost more and more ground. i waved the commissaire and spares car through and tried to find a rythmn. about halfway up, i noticed that bonner pulled off the front. i guessed that he noticed my absence and wanted to slow the group down. i kept my pace and by the top there was only 10 sec between us. i bombed down the descent and managed to catch the convoy of cars. there was a non-race car behind the group and he started moving to the left. it was not the best move but i managed to jump around the cars and catch the three riders. knowing that they would have me on the next climb, i kept smashing passed them and took off down the road. my theory was that they would then need to chase and bonner could then just sit in. i was caught by the final climb to the finish and that was my race essentially over.
i was going to finish anyway, so started the fourth lap knowing that it was going to hurt. as i continued along, i thought, well i am still 4th, so maybe someone will get a flat and i can pick up third. then another rider caught me and passed me. i couldn’t hold his wheel so the chance of a medal went out the door. another guy came by soon after and also went straight passed. hmm. not good for me. my legs were shot. i started the observatory climb and jules caught me on the lower slopes. he asked if i wanted him to wait for me and i said that there wasn’t much point as i was shot. i tapped away the remaining kms and started the final climb to the line. was caught by one more rider and the cramps in my thighs kind of put paid to any chance of even keeping him at bay. i finished 8th.
for the front runners though, they sped ahead once i was dropped at the end of lap 3. prottey was a bit worried that i would get back on so he drove the pace all the way to repatriation road. on the long drag of an incline, bonner attacked and set his normal high pace. lamond went straight off the back but prottey tried to hold on. he said that he stayed on wheel for about 600m but all the while watched his heart rate climb higher and higher. he was pretty sure that bonner was going to slow down but no such luck. prottey blew and bonner kept going for the win.
this race and the dardanup open last week were the best two races i think i have ever done. it wasn’t the finishing position that i achieved, but more the work that i did was for a result for spr. it makes it more exciting and brings about a totally different race when you race as a team and are prepared to sacrifice your own race for others. congratulations to mr bonner as he is a very deserving masters state champion. well done to the others that also fronted up in conditions that were far from ideal.
this weekend will be the state senior road championships to be held at carmel. there are 3 categories; open, masters & u19. each category has a men’s and women’s field and will determine the state champion for each. as this is a state title, there are no day licences available but instead you race in the category shown on your licence. i.e. if you licence says “elite” then you are in open. if it says “MMAS#” or “MWAS#” then you can enter the masters race.
the course is not an easy one as it climbs over the observatory a number of times then finishes each lap up the steep climb to carmel. i am going to try to support mr bonner as best i can (i.e. 1 lap before he drops me) as he will be back from belgium. we will route the sunday hills ride passed this event so you can drop in and add a bit of cheering as we meander past.
add to the comments below if you are coming along so we know what club gear to bring (i.e. tent, esky). registration closes midnight tuesday. the state title was cancelled last year due to the crap that was going on in cycling wa, so lets make this years count.
as i mentioned before, the dardanup open is on this weekend down in….dardanup. this is just a bit passed bunbury and is run by the south west cycle club. there is an “a” grade (100km), “b” grade (72km) and a “c” grade (60km) being run as well as a participation event (24km or 39km) so there is pretty much something for everyone.
now, we need to support this event for 2 reasons.
firstly, we have a very good relationship with south west as their club is very similar to ours (ideology and rider-type) so we can see that they are also trying to grow the sport. we are also in direct competition with them as far as memberships are concerned. even though we have cracked the 200 member mark, they have managed to stay ahead of us and are growing as well.
secondly, the gauntlet has been thrown down after the pinjarra race, to see who is the “better” club. by this we are looking at having a small “inter-club championship” within the dardanup open whereby the first spr or swcc rider to cross the line in each grade receives a perpetual trophy. this is returned back to next years dardanup open to again see the “better” club. there has also been some “sledging” happening as this challenge has already been mentioned in the south west newsletter where we were refered to as “kermits”.
so, support the south west club, as they go to the effort to put on this event, and also support spr as we kick some southwest butt. we also need to come up with a good nickname for these guys if they are going to keep referring to us as kermits. mexicans, perhaps??? but maybe that is offensive to real mexicans. 🙂
flyer for the event can be found here and registration here.
participation event info can be found here and registration here.
registrations need to be in by midnight tuesday and day licences are allowed in “b” and “c” grade. add to the comments below if you are coming and see you down there in the spr tent.
the collie-donnybrook return race is one of those special handicap races that give everyone a chance of winning the major prize. in this case this race boasts over $4000 in prizes and trophies.
here is how it works. just say you are one of the top “a” grade riders in perth. well then you get to start from 0 minutes also known as scratch. if you are a decent “b” grade rider, the you may get 10 or 12 minutes headstart, if you are a girl, you may get up to 20 minutes headstart. all things are taken into consideration when a handicap is given including previous results in other graded races. you won’t be out there by yourself either. you start in a group of up to 10 and then you all work together to stay ahead while trying to catch those in front. the deal is, once you catch the ones ahead, then you should all work together to keep your speed up. if scratch does eventually catch you, then the group is usually pretty big by then so there are lots of places to hide.
it is run over 104kms so it may be a bit of a strecth for some of our regular racing guys. however, there are usually lots of others out there to get you home.
if you have never raced this type of event before, then you are in for something different as it is a real cat and mouse approach to racing. it is also on a saturday at lunch time for a change. there is also a support race (which is over 50kms and can use day licences) and a participation race for both road and mtb’s.
the flyer can be found here and registration can be found here.
registration closes monday 15th aug at 11:30pm, so basically get your in now. add to the comments below if you are heading down so we can get an idea of numbers.
if you can’t get enough of our crit series, then the northern districts club is also running a crit series over summer. none of the dates clash with our events so you can easily support both events if you need to get a bit more racing in your legs.
starting this sunday in landsdale and covering 4 dates over the next three months, this is a good opportunity for us to thank ndcc for supporting our race series.
the last road race of the season is coming up this weekend. the cyclemania classic hosted by northern districts cc is on sunday 5th dec at carabooda. entries close tuesday 11:59pm so you need to do it now. there is a thru to c grade for men and an a grade women’s race as well. this is the same circuit from earlier on in the year (peter clark classic) and we will have a full support tent on site so come along and have a race.
add your name to the comments so we know who is coming along.
i have added a new page to show the results of the crit series that we are holding with rccc. results from todays race are up now. thanks to everyone that came out today to support the event. any suggestions, let us know.
