EUROPA W.A.R.S. – 18 June 2017

Winter Aggregate Race Series
round 2

Mt Misery reverse – 46 km, graded scratch racing

deja vu

deja ‘vu’
noun

a feeling of having already experienced the present situation.

“a feeling of déjà vu”

STOP the PRESS!

REWIND to June 5th 2016 and double check the results for round 1 of the EUROPA W.A.R.S. on the Mt Misery reverse circuit…

First in C Grade = Steve Linane
First in B Grade = Peter Livitsanis
First in A Grade = Matthew Ayres

FAST FORWARD to June 18th 2017 and check the results for round 2 of the EUROPA W.A.R.S. on the Mt Misery reverse circuit…

First in C Grade = Steve Linane
First in B Grade = Peter Livitsanis
First in A Grade = Matthew Ayres

YES it happened…SAME winners, SAME circuit, SAME series!!!

A Grade

A Grade saw plenty of early action with most of the riders launching the odd attack whilst heading west along Ercildoune Road.  Nothing stuck, however the animation made for a solid race.

Peter Kiel launched the first attack that really had riders gasping as they arrived at the base of the Mt Misery climb (see video on Facebook).
Kiel’s attack saw Tony Mirabella try a few short attacks before breaking away from the pack as they crested the first part of the climb.  The bunch quickly rallied their effort to ensure Mirabella didn’t get too far ahead.
Mirabella was still out of sorts during the race following a close encounter with a football (ok, a soccer ball) on the Saturday evening.  His lead never stretched beyond 250 metres and some solid efforts from Paul Pickersgill and Rob Phillips up the long climb kept Tony within reach (and had Stuart Brien and Matt Ayres clinging on at the rear of the bunch).

Mirabella was back in the fold before the turn at Addington, a few attacks from him up the next climb were countered by the bunch, however first time A grader Mark O’Callaghan was finding the increasing pace a touch too hot.
Pickersgill put in a huge turn of pace before the turn out of Edmonston Rd, he had the bunch stretched out before peeling aside and leaving Brien on the front with a kilometre remaining.
New to the circuit Brien was unsure where the finish line was and he was quickly jumped by the “old stagers” as they struck out for home.

Mirabella opened the sprint early with Phillips challenging, but Ayres wound up and reminiscent of his win a year earlier, blew them away.  Brien rallied late to nab third on the line.

Results:
1st – Matt Ayres
2nd – Tony Mirabella
3rd – Stuart Brien

Tony Mirabella on the attack

A Grade chasing Tony

B Grade

Due to a number of absentees, the remainder of the riders found themselves facing off different foes… B Grade saw some exciting attacks from Jeremy Humber, some extraordinary “shut downs” by Dan Whelan, some calm pacing by Bob Morley, some yo-yoing by James Gretton, a long solo effort (off the back) by Brian Ure and was rounded off with a perfectly timed sprint by Peter Livitsanis. Peter has raced around Mt Misery so many times that he has the exact spot to launch his sprint dialled in to the millimetre! Standout effort by James Gretton stepping up a grade and somehow fighting back after being dropped twice – to be able to contest the sprint.

Results:
1st – Peter Livitsanis
2nd – Jeremy Humber
3rd – James Gretton

 

 

 

Dan Whelan leading B Grade up the early slopes

C Grade

EUROPA W.A.R.S. – 4 June 2017

Winter Aggregate Race Series
round 1

Windmill circuit – 53 km, handicap

AYRES ATTACKS!!!

Matt Ayres has claimed the first win in the 2017 EUROPA cafe Winter Aggregate Race Series.
Twenty three starters greeted the referee on a race morning which was dry and very crisp.  A handicap consisting of three laps of the Windmill circuit was the order of the day.

The six man strong 9 minute group (Roger McMillan, Peter Livitsanis, Jeremy Humber, Dan Whelan, Duncan Bates and Steve Biram) had rounded up Brian Ure and James Gretton (11 mins) nearing the end of the first lap.

The limit riders (Graeme Parker and Robert Young off 26 mins) were still out ahead and lone rider off 16 minutes – Kevin Lee – was somewhere in between.

The 7 minute group also had six riders to share the load (Matthew Ayres, Grant Dawson, James Knipe, Paul Pickersgill, Mark O’Callaghan and Bob Morley) and they caught the McMillan/Gretton group just passing the hallway point of the race.
Kudos to Bob Morley for hanging onto the 7 minute group after he had MISSED the start for his 9 minute bunch…
The north westerly breeze was not strong enough to aid the back markers in catching the super-sized bunch which had now formed, but they would chase hard anyway.

Scratch consisted of just Tony Mirabella and Tim Canny. T hey set off 4 minutes after the Second Scratch group (Stuart Brian, Rick Calvert, Peter Canny and Jeremy Vanderklift) and in a superb display, the Scratch duo caught the “chopping block” passing the quarry on the last lap.  The Second Scratch riders hadn’t made any inroads on the middle markers and had started to lose ground before Scratch joined them.
Once united, the back markers quickly formed up and started rolling turns – they had fourteen kilometres to try and bridge the two and a half minute gap to the leaders…

Up ahead and the united Ayres/McMillan/Gretton super bunch had the race at their mercy with only the two Limit riders (Parker and Young) to catch.
Down Donovans Road for the final time and a huge surge after cresting the rise wasn’t enough to blow the bunch apart – this race would be decided by a sprint.  Their gap over the chasers was significant and it would even afford them a little bit of “play time” as they sized each other up.
Inside the final kilometre and the pace ramped up quickly before O’Callaghan launched the first long range sprint, the others bided their time before pressing their GO buttons.
{The valiant effort of Limit riders Graeme Parker and Rob Young was all to no avail as they were caught inside the final few hundred metres by the field sprint.}
Ayres launched next, passed O’Callaghan and opened a small gap. Gretton came flying out of the pack as Dawson and McMillan both loomed as threats, but Ayres was able to hold out all comers for the win.
Mere seconds later and the back markers stormed across the line with Mirabella claiming Fastest Time.

Results:
1st – Matt Ayres (7 minutes)
2nd – James Gretton (11 minutes)
3rd – Grant Dawson (7 minutes)
4th – Roger Mc Millan (9 minutes)
5th – deadheat – Peter Livitsanis (9 minutes) and Dan Whelan (9 minutes)

Fastest Time – Tony Mirabella (Scratch) in 1h 18m 15s, ave. 40.6 kph

Riding for our mate – 21 May 2017

Race for Ray

Mt Misery circuit – 46 km

EUREKA Cycling hosted Geelong & Surf Coast CC, Geelong Super Vets and a few other friends (from other vets clubs) at Learmonth for the second staging of the Race for Ray.
Ray Hodgson was everyone’s mate and he would have celebrated his 75th birthday a few weeks ago…

As far as cycling goes, Ray loved everything about it…the racing…the training…the post training coffee…for that matter, the pre training coffee…and of course the BLING!  Matching kit, that new fandoozie thing that lets you do techno stuff.

Ray especially loved the camaraderie that cycling builds between people that would never have met…except for bicycles.  He always wanted to know about YOUR race and he was always interested in improving his own racing!  So, it was fitting that about 80 people rocked up to the Eureka club rooms on this special day.

The Race for Ray swaps between hosts – Geelong Super Vets will stage the next race in 2018.  This is to honour Ray’s commitment to both clubs where he raced.
The race was staged on Ray’s favourite “Eureka” circuit – Mt Misery.  About 60 riders arrived at the start line in very foggy conditions which only worsened as the race approached Waubra, then over the highpoint of the circuit the fog blew away and there was even a glimpse of sunshine.
It wasn’t cold, but there was a fair north wind that helped the various groups achieve some very high speeds.  The early groups away were quite small in number, so staying clear of the bigger groups would be a hard task.
There were some hard luck stories with some riders having flat tyres before their race even started…and others flatting less than halfway into the race.

One group saw interesting action with two members of their bunch riding away from them…up the road…into the fog…

The 9 minute group had there act together and averaged 38 kph to the turn into Ercildoune Road (30 km).  They had actually put 65 seconds into the 7 minute group that were chasing them.

The 3:30 minute group averaged 40 kph to that same point, but all kudos went to the awesome Scratch group who averaged 42 kph for that first 30 kilometres.

The 9 minute group had rotated well with everyone sharing the load, they rounded up the out-markers just 32 kilometres into the race.  The fun and games then started, with the pace backing right off and just a dedicated five or so riders trying to keep the supersize bunch rolling.

The 7 minute group were chasing as hard as they could, picking up the odd dropped rider along the way, then finally catching up to their two cohorts (who had ridden off from them some 25 kilometres earlier).  With the additional firepower they held onto their ever decreasing advantage over the Second Scratch group for a few more kilometres.

Second Scratch (3:30 min) had kept their small group of five working well.  Taking turns resting when required, but ever closing in on the 7 minute group.  The catch was imminent as they neared the turn into Weatherboard Rd, when WHOOSH!  Scratch had arrived!

The small Scratch group of five had sped along methodically ticking off the kilometres and closing the gaps.  No time to waste when you start 27 minutes behind Limit in a 46 kilometre race!
Scratch went straight onto the edge of the road as they passed the 7 minute group going up the Weatherboard climb.  Soon enough and Tim Canny had exploded to the front of the peloton with Tony Mirabella chasing.  They opened a gap over the crest and powered on to decide Fastest Time – for up ahead was where the race was being won…

The race was on for the supersize 9 minute group (and additional friends).  They spread across the road and lined up for the sprint.
Everyone was watching the leaders on the left side of the road when James Knipe used the cover on the right side to slingshot off the front and opened a nice gap.  The others sprinted…they were closing fast…but Knipe holds on to win the day!
Some 500 metres behind – Canny and Mirabella are clear of the peloton and racing each other for Fastest Time.  Canny taking the honours as the peloton explodes behind them with riders sprinting from everywhere for the line to close out a fantastically competitive race.

Results:
1st – James Knipe (Eureka), 9 min, in 1:14:35, ave. 37 kph
2nd – James Gretton (Eureka), 12 min
3rd – Mark O’Callaghan (Eureka), 9 min

Fastest Time: Tim Canny (Eureka), Scratch, in 1:06:35, ave. 41.3 kph

The winner received a trophy and sash.  Place getters received trophies.  A quirk of the current prize system for the Race for Ray means there is no recognition for the Fastest rider on the day – except the kudos from the other participants.

EUREKA Cycling take hold of the perpetual shield until the next staging of the Race for Ray.

EUREKA Cycling thank all our friends from the other cycling clubs who participated today – Ray would have been chuffed!
It was also wonderful to see Val Hodgson and so many other non racers out and about to make this special day happen – marshals, race vehicle drivers, kitchen staff, administrative staff (registration, numbers, etc.), referees and rider’s personal cheer squads.
A huge thank you to KREHALON Australia who provided the prize money for the day.
The prize money and day’s takings amounted to over $1500 and this is being donated to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Foundation.  Ray had fought off cancer TWICE and often said that the cycling had helped give him something to focus on.

 

Photo:
James Knipe and Mark O’Callaghan post presentations

 

 

Photo:
Winner’s sash with the perpetual and place getter trophies