Irish Eyes Are Smiling – 17 March 2019

St. Patricks Day Handicap

Ercildoune – Addington Loop – 55 km

IRISH QUINELLA – TO BE SURE, TO BE SURE

There are only two kinds of people in the world, The Irish and those who wish they were.
? Old Irish saying

It was Saint Patricks Day and whilst most of those with Irish heritage were thinking about getting an early start at Irish Murphy’s or the Munster’s Arms, some of the more crazy ones were lining up to ride bicycles.  They prepared to tackle the infamous Mt Ercildoune circuit – with the Addington Loop up Harrisons Road thrown in for good measure.

Twenty eight brave starters, including many from good Irish stock!
The field was littered with Gaelic heritage…there was O’Callaghan, McMillan Linane, Dawson, Whelan and Livitsanis (what the Janey Mack – that’s not Irish!).

Today, lady luck would smile on the Irish, but we of the clovered isle were only too pleased to see names like Schiemer, Kiel, Verberne and Burzacott.
Seven groups started the race, spread out from 33 minutes for the out-markers to Scratch for the big guns.
Mal Rock and John Faulkner led the race out – neither would finish.

Robert Young and Graeme Parker were next away at 31 minutes.  They would have the race lead until the infamous Harrison’s Road climb.

John Creek and Jakkii Dawson were away at 21 minutes and rounded up by halfway.

Darryl Brown, Brian Lee, Roger McMillan and Rob Parker formed the 18 minute group, their fortunes would vary greatly.

Yours truly (the future hero of the day) was in the 15 minute bunch, and that’s really where we take up the story…
Three with Irish heritage: Linane, O’Callaghan and Whelan (the anglicized form of the ancient pre 10th century Gaelic name O’ Faolain, meaning a male descendant of Faolan, itself a personal name meaning ‘Young wolf’)…actually, ‘Old fox’ would be more appropriate, but I’ll get to that later.
Livitsanis with Greek heritage, and Burzacott with possible Cornish heritage. *He was seen eating lots of pastries after the race!

The 9 minute group saw the return of Cameron Farrington – the lone rider of English heritage, surrounded by yet more Irish lads – Shaun Martin, Grant Dawson and Geoff Martin.

Dennis Neale returned to the fold and rode from 6 minutes with Matt Angus and newcomer Mark Verbene.

Scratch welcomed Brendan Schiemer back.  Matt Bowman brought his brother Vaughan along to play.  Jason Birch, Peter Kiel and Rob Ellis rounded out an impressive bunch.  However this day was not to be theirs!
This day, Irish eyes would be smiling as the 15 minute group raced away…

Up and over Weatherboard and into Ercildoune Rd – the bunch was working together beautifully.  Burzacott (following Whelan) was heard to remark to Linane, ‘Wow, he pushes through pretty hard’.  ‘Yeah’, thought Linane, ‘that’s why I’m doing my turns after O’Callaghan, but I’m not letting you in on the secret!’
Unfortunately, Burzacott realised the error of his ways a little too late and was dropped once the bunch turned into Black Bottom Rd.

The remaining four kept sharing turns, but Livitsanis was having heritage flashbacks and raised the white flag once they turned into Beaufort-Waubra Road.  Only the three Irish laddies were left.
They drove past the 18 minute bunch, with a quick tag on from McMillan and Brown, before they both realised this was no place for pretenders.
O’Callaghan bravely hung on until about halfway up the seemingly never ending rolling hills of Beaufort-Waubra Road, but he too eventually surrendered (must be from Northern Island!).

It was down to the ‘Old Fox’ and the ‘Young Dog’… Linane and Whelan kept working together taking turns and when they rolled onto Edmonston Road they caught Mal Rock, who let them know that there were only two in front, Parker and Young.

To the foot of the Harrisons Rd climb and Whelan says to Linane ‘I’m going to need a bit of a hand getting up here’.
Linane, an ex-catholic schoolboy trained to respect his elders said ‘No worries, kind Sir, just sit on my left and I will block this nasty north wind for you’, which he preceded to do.

Three quarters of the way up Harrisons Rd and Whelan thought ‘sucker’ and took off, getting a nice break on Linane.  They both went past the front markers – Whelan cresting the climb in the lead and Linane finally clawing over the top some seconds later.
Much cursing was heard as Linane proceeded to chase down Whelan over the next 4 km.  

Linane caught Whelan as they turned back onto Beaufort-Waubra Road and thought ‘No more turns from me you old fox!’

Whelan screamed back down onto Edmonston Rd and proceeded to do what Whelan does best – try to drop anyone who’s trying to get a sit on him.  Linane hung on for dear life over the bumpy bits of Edmonston Rd, but once it smoothed out, started thinking of his victory speech…ah to be young and cocky…

Linane and Whelan kept working well together, with Linane deferring to his elder and letting Whelan have the lead, before deciding 100 metres out to be a complete mongrel and take the win.

Minutes later the Scratch riders raced through the finish line – with visitor Vaughan Bowman taking third place and Fastest Time ahead of Brendan Schiemer. 

Race results:
1st – Steve Linane (15 mins)
2nd – Danny Whelan (15 mins)
3rd – Vaughan Bowman (Scratch)
4th – Brendan Schiemer (Scratch)
5th – Matt Angus (6 mins)

Fastest Time – Vaughan Bowman (Scratch) in 1h 26m, ave. 38.4 Kph

 

Eureka Criterium Championships Day – 11 March 2019

OSCAR’S Hotel & Cafe 2019 CRITERIUM SERIES

Victoria Park criterium circuit, Ballarat

Everything for this day!

“A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.”

- Billie Jean King

The Oscar’s Hotel & Cafe 2019 Criterium Series concluded with thirty riders contesting the four championship events on a cool and overcast day.
Early morning rain left the circuit damp, however the light north breeze aided the drying…

John Creek won the Super Vets Championship over a galant Mal Rock, with Robert Young in the bronze position.  This is the first time the Super Vets have raced for a criterium championship.
In a side note, Creek was the only medal winer from 2018 (Gold in Division 3) to win another medal this year.

Division 3 saw a tactical contest with a close sprint finish deciding the outcome.
New member Geoff Martin took the win just ahead of Peter Livitsanis, with Mark O’Callaghan in third place.

Action aplenty in Division 2 with break-aways during the race.  Everything was brought back as the powerful sprinters weren’t about to let their chance slip.
Ash Burke threw caution to the wind with 3 laps remaining and got away.  Holding strong to take the bell, Burke put in a final supreme effort to lead into the straight with the pack closing fast.
The sprinters started to wind up as Burke began to fade.  Shane Cody was in the perfect position when he launched – but his chain dropped and it was game over.
Up ahead and Burke was pedalling squares in the shadow of the post as Al Cureton and Cam Farrington both jumped from the pack.
Too late, the courageous Burke took the well deserved victory.

The Club Championship race promised much with the likes of Matt Bowman (2019 Victorian State Criterium Champion – Division A), Craig Lee (Eureka Club Criterium Champion 2017/18, Damien Keirl and Tim Canny all signing on for the fray.

The first lap was gentle and allowed everyone to get a good look at the wet tarmac.  Canny launched the first attack of the day on lap 2 and had everyone scrambling for wheels.  This set the scene for the day, with the favourites all competing in their own race whilst virtually ignoring the bit players.

As expected, Bowman provided many attacks.  Less expected was Lee being aggressive throughout the event.
Canny was left to do much of the chasing.  Whilst Keirl played a cool hand and marked all Canny’s moves.
Jason Hendry (backing up from the Bendigo Open) and Peter Gunston both kept themselves in handy positions.
Stu Brien, Jason Birch and Andrew Sullivan each spent time off the front.
Matt Ayres and Dean Wells did some long chases.  Bob Braszell (backing up from the Bendigo Open) forgot his age and entered in with the “young blokes”.
Tony Mirabella was back for his first race in weeks and was clearly still carrying his injury.

Attack, chase, counter-attack, sit, gasp, repeat…

For all the attacks, the bunch was mostly still together as the race drew towards a close.  Braszell and Mirabella had retired, however the remainder of the field was all intact until an incident sent Brien off the tarmac and onto the dirt.  He chased hard for a few laps and almost made contact when another surge put paid to his efforts.

Lee had forced his way off the front and was gradually opening a gap.  After a lap out front Hendry jumped across and the pair started working together.
It was the dying stages of the race – maybe the pack wouldn’t chase…
But they did.
Wells put in the first effort, which was quickly followed by Keirl then Canny.

The catch was imminent with 2 laps to go.  The leaders saw their effort was futile and they half sat up as the ten remaining riders regrouped nearing the bell.

Bowman launches from the rear.

Canny and Keirl respond.  The field is lined out.

Bowman is caught and dropped.

They race down the trees straight and take the sweeping corner. The bunch is tight.
Back in the pack a momentary lapse of concentration sees Wells off into the grass.  The riders behind him scramble for the wheels of the leaders.
Sullivan eases in time to avoid a fall.

Home straight and Keirl launches with Canny.  They quickly open a gap.
Gunston and Hendry look to be fighting for bronze ahead of Ayres and Lee.  Birch flies past them.

Canny is a clear second and Birch is racing towards the bronze, but Keirl is streaking away to the Championship victory.

Championship results -

Division 3 (30 min, plus 2 laps):
1st – Geoff Martin
2nd – Peter Livitsanis
3rd – Mark O’Callaghan

Super Vets (35 min, plus 2 laps):
1st – John Creek
2nd – Mal Rock
3rd – Robert Young

Division 2 (40 min, plus 2 laps):
1st – Ash Burke
2nd – Cam Farrington
3rd – Al Cureton

Championship Race (45 min, plus 2 laps):
1st – Damien Keirl
2nd – Tim Canny
3rd – Jason Birch

      

OSCAR’S Hotel & Cafe Criteriums 2
2nd March 2019

2019 CRITERIUM SERIES

Victoria Park criterium circuit, Ballarat

Don’t dream of winning – train for it

Whatever happens, I’ll leave it all to chance
Another heartache, another failed romance
On and on, does anybody know what we are living for?
I guess I’m learning , I must be warmer now
I’ll soon be turning , ’round the corner now

The Show Must Go On

- Queen

Eureka Cycling staged short criteriums during the lunch break at the (Cycling VICTORIA) 2019 Victorian State Criterium Championships.
Eleven dual licensed Eureka Cycling / Ballarat Sebastopol CC members raced in the state champs.  Two of those riders then backed up in the Eureka crits!

The heat wave and strong winds deterred many from racing with Eureka today, however fifteen hardy/crazy soles still signed on.
Four divisions raced for vouchers supplied by criterium series sponsor OSCAR’S Hotel & Cafe, as well as vital club aggregate points.

Division 4
The race quickly evolved into a race in two as Mal Rock and Rob Kinna put on a show for the ages.
The younger rider proved strongest, however there was post race controversy as both riders fired in complaints to the referee – Bill Goldfinch.

Rock was adamant that Kinna’s brand new steed was not UCI legal.  Naturally that argument fell flat because AVCC racing is not conducted under the jurisdiction of the UCI. (AVCC is conducted under the rules and regulations of the ICF.)
Kinna complained that Rock talked too much during the race. Whilst this was immediately accepted as to be highly likely, the ICF rules do not prohibit riders for incessant talking.
Case closed.

Division 3
Three riders got away in a surprise early break in this epic contest.  Mark O’Callaghan, Peter Livitsanis and Phil McLennan rolled away from the start line and never looked back (except when being passed by faster bunches).  The strong headwind on the eastern straight caused some issues as the three battled their way towards the placings.
In the finale, the petite Livitsanis proved the most wiley as he shot clear of the larger boned riders to land the victory.

Division 2
The largest field of the day flew around the circuit.  Attack and counterattack was the order of the day.
Matt Angus was brave to pin a number on after using the Masters 4 State Championship race as a warm up.
Geoff Martin was often seen powering along at the front of the bunch.
Cam Farrington was questioning why he chose this day for his return to racing.

It was fun, but oh so hot.
Shaun Martin was being watchful and tried on occasion to split the pack.
Shane Cody was pleased that the stars had finally aligned to allow him to race.
Al Cureton was more than comfortable with everything thrown at him.

So there they were, six riders virtually unknown to each other.  Many new to the club.  Yet, hidden in the lot was a past Eureka Club Champion.
To the finish and Cody almost pulled off a great victory, yet was denied by Cureton, who on this day had the faster sprint.

Division 1
Pre-race the four riders discussed how they would put on a show for the spectators lining the finishing straight, then ease off and recover around the back, before once again putting on a display for the fans.  That lasted all of 50 metres as the race quickly settled into a four man time trial.
Tim Wright had power, Matt Ayres pulled long turns, Jason Hendry was brute strength and Dean Wells was backing up from the earlier Masters 4 Championship.

The pace was high, especially into the wind as Hendry, Wright and Ayres drove forward.  Wells was cunning enough to not be on the front into the headwind, however by the last few laps everyone was trying to do as little as possible.

Final lap and Hendry is stuck on the front.  Wells goes for the usual long range sprint and barely gets a gap before Hendry winds up and flies past.  Hendry finally lands his first ever win.  The race may have been short, yet the quartet still averaged 39.5 Kph with Hendry driving the pace for much of the time.

OSCAR’S Criterium 2 results

Division 4 (20 minutes + 2 laps):
1st – Rob Kinna
2nd – Mal Rock

Division 3 (25 minutes + 2 laps):
1st – Peter Livitsanis
2nd – Mark O’Callaghan
3rd – Phil McLennan

Division 2 (30 minutes + 2 laps):
1st – Al Cureton
2nd – Shane Cody
3rd – Shaun Martin

Division 1 (35 minutes + 2 laps):
1st – Jason Hendry
2nd – Matt Ayres
3rd – Dean Wells