10 May - CyclingNSW AGM at Bankstown Sports Club 7.30am
13-15 May - Battle of the Border (NSW/Qld)
14 May - Lyndoch Classic (Barossa Valley)
14-15 May - Tour of the South West (VRS-Warnambool)
15 May - Waratah Masters (Western Speedway)
The CyclingNSW AGM will be worthy of a ringside seat this year, with nobody seemingly happy about anything. The following weekend of racing offers some of the best of the season.
The Giro had the first road stage today (Arnhem to Nijmegen) and passed through Otterlo just 30k from the start. The Wilier team car won the Team Car Award. The crowd was enormous with everybody in a festive mood. Otterlo is blessed with endless cyclepaths with not a car to be seen.
Rob Hadley (Hunter Districts CC) and Mike O'Reilly are in Apeldoorn for the start of the Giro. Whilst staying at the pretty village of Otterlo the burgers of Apeldoorn aren't so lucky (sort of Green Square meets Warringah Mall). Went into Apeldoorn for the Teams Presentation - the half naked Eurovision performer twirling gold batons took some explaining ....
Eurovision meets the Giro with a half naked performer wrapped in a white sheet twirling a gold baton
* May 7 - Grafton to Inverell Classic (NRS)
* May 7-8 - ACT Womens & Junior Tour
* May 8 - West Head RR (Manly), Eastern Creek Raceway (Waratah Masters)
Weather for the Molong Road Race was atrocious - wet, windy & hard racing with a short hard uphill finish. The Criterium on the outskirts of Orange was a cracker - fast flowing with plenty of spectators. The ITT was the best day of the Championships - around the Orange Airport loop.
BiciSport results -
Road Race - M1Brad Hamblett 15th @ 1min 6secs. M2 Anthony Lowes 5th @ 1-11, David Munro 7th @ 1-19. M4 Dean Gale 9th @ 2-12, M5 Anthony Colantonio 23rd @ 30secs, M8 Ian Grainger 6th @ 23sec
Criterium - M1 Brad Hamblett 10th, M2 David Munro 4th, Anthony Lowes 18th, M5 Graham Cockerton 4th, Anthony Colantonio 13th, W6 Sue Tierney 1st
Individual Time Trial - M5 Anthony Colantonio 6th, Graham Cockerton 14th, M6 Dom Zumbo 12th, M7 Ian Grainger 3rd, W6 Sue Tierney 1st
Graham Cockerton & Anthony Colantonio in the Criterium
Sue Tierney in the Criterium
Ian Grainger and the ITT M8 podium
The Belgian Cycling Federation conducts numerous cycling promotions and their primary cyclo sportive program is the Heroica Series - being 14 cyclosportives from March until September.
The SuperKlassieker cyclo sportive (www.superklassieker.be) was held on 1 May and attracted approximately 2,500 starters for the six ride options that started/finished in Oudenaarde (home of the Tour of Flanders). Mike O'Reilly rode the 120k option (85k to the Roubaix Velodrome then 40k back to Oudenaarde).
Ride Report - Blue skies and O degrees greeted the 7.30am start outside the Flanders Museum in the Oudenaarde main square. The bike of choice was an Avanti carbon mounted on 28c Vittoria tubulars set at 95psi. The proposed course was to go over the Koppenberg after just 6k and the Patersberg at 15k which was really silly considering what lay ahead into Roubaix (not to mention the ride home). Anyhow, I elected to give the 'bergs' a total miss (who needs to do the walk of shame up the Koppenberg after just 6k) and went straight to the Kluisbergen climb (similar to say the McCarrs Creek climb) and headed straight towards the village of Celles and the French border for the Carrefour D"Arbre & Hem cobbles. Avoided the crashes into the Roubaix Velodrome (there were a few) after clocking up 75k on delightfully quiet French country lanes and roads built by Napoleon. A lap of the Roubaix Velodrome then a dodgy French coffee and it was a 40k struggle to get home via the Schelde River bike path back into Oudenaarde. No punctures, no crashes, no rain, no wind. A good day out.
Patersberg climb near Oudenaarde where everybody heads for the tiny left side gutter
* 29-1 May - Mersey Valley Tour (NRS Women)
* 30-2 May - NSW Masters Road Championships (Orange)
* 1 May - ATTA (at Calga), Waratah Masters (WSID), Mt Ku Ring Gai (NS)
* 25 April (Mon) - M7 Bikepath Ride over 70k (8am from Bella Vista)
Normally a dull & drab affair the upcoming CyclingNSW AGM at the Bankstown Sports Club looks like being a tickets only affair with 7 nominees for the 3 Board positions on offer and some interesting motions to be put to a vote. The sport itself is facing many challenges. Many aspects of cycling generally are looking very positive but the racing side of the sport faces many challenges - not least being a crippled NRS program (NRS stands for Not Really Special), a very poor cyclo-sportive strategy (private promoters now dominate the calendar), high membership fees (nationally our fees are excessive), a declining racing membership (for the first time in years) and rapidly diminishing velodrome attendances (when was the last time you went to DGV ?). Paradise needs some work.
Orange is one very pretty locale
Review by Mike O'Reilly (Orange Masters Championship course designer)
The NSW Masters Road Championships have been pencilled in for Orange for over 5 years but the roads around Orange are generally pretty poor (not helped by the local Gold mine traffic). Eventually a road course at nearby Molong was located so after a 5 year wait the Championships finally got into the Orange district. Getting there .. don't speed through the village of Lucknow just before Orange (you've been warned)
Road Course at Molong
The Molong RR is a 28k loop and starts in the Molong main street and heads out towards Manildra onto Packham Drive on a generally uphill profile. The road is neither wide or smoothe. A right hand turn through the hamlet of Gara sees the road improve and a chance to see some great scenery but if you're racing you won't see much. A couple of small testing climbs along Gara Rd takes you to the main hill of the day (this is also the finish on the last lap). After you've crossed the finish line its a right hand turn and a quick descent into Molong township, past the local Hospital and back out onto Packham Drive towards Manildra. Its a tricky uphill finish and the rider who gets the uphill sprint finish right will win easily - be brave and attack with 2k to go, or be smart and wait until the death.
Criterium Course at Orange
Located around the Narambla Industrial Estate on the outskirts of Orange this 2.1k criterium circuit offers smoothe roads, a nice long uphill finish and sweeping corners. Plenty of places to attack and a nice long uphill finish gives everybody a chance.
Individual Time Trial at Orange
The ITT is a 20k course starting & finishing just behind the new Orange Base Hospital and heads out towards the Orange Airport and return. The road condition is average to good, with a couple of small climbs on the way back into Orange to drag you out of the saddle.
BiciSport Prospects
BiciSport contenders are certainly up there but with over 400+ riders in the Road Race alone its a fiercely contested Championships. BiciSport riders include Ian Cocks, Anthony Colantonio, Brad Hamblett, Simon Lempriere, Jeremy Hopson, Dean Gale, David Munro, Graham & Sue Tierney, Dom Zumbo, Ian Grainger, Ben Pines, Kirsty Flanagan & Graeme Cockerton.
Steenbeekdries cobbles outside Oudenaarde. The only thing worse than going up a cobbled climb is down the other side. Steenbeekdries is used in every Flanders professional Classic from either direction.
Mike O'Reilly will be in Oudenaarde Belgium from 25 April until 18 May. This year the Tour of Italy starts in the Netherlands & Oudenaarde is just a short drive to the Prologue start in Apeldoorn. After the Prologue there are two road stages in the Netherlands (Arnhem & Nijmegan).
* Ian Grainger was sighted in Bright getting in some secret MTB training then surfaced at the Golden Triangle MTB event in Bendigo
* 24 April - West Head (MW), Lansdowne (Waratah Masters)
* 25 April - ANZAC Day Track Open (Bowral Velodrome)
* 21 April - Centennial Park 11am
Ian Grainger at the Bendigo Golden Triangle MTB
Nominations are now open for BiciSport TTT teams to the Nowra State Championships on Saturday 16 July. The weekend offers a great teams event, accommodation & dinner at Greenwell Point on the Saturday night, plus a 60k ride around the Nowra beaches on the Sunday morning. The full details of this great weekend are listed in the Racing section of this website - then just click on the State & National section. Katie Brown is the new BiciSport Team Coach for 16 July at Nowra.
This year we are planning to enter at least 8 teams. Riders who have already nominated are listed in the Racing-State & National section of this website. Riders who wish to nominate please email to bicisport1@gmail.com
* Good rides at the Bathurst Weekend by Ian Cocks, Brad Hamblett, Conor Tarlington & Anthony Colantonio. The Saturday criteriums are around the Bathurst Racing Circuit and a great venue for a bike race. The event organisation was exceptional.
* April 17 - Beaumont Rd Criteriums (NS), April 16-17 - Tolland Weekend (in Wagga), April 17 - Western Sydney Dragway (Waratah Masters), April 17 - Great Otway Classic CycloSportive (Torquay Vic)
* 13 April (Wed) - M7 Cyclepath 8am for McDonalds, 14 April - Centennial Park 11am on Lower Loops, 16 April - Meadowbank Bridge 7.15am for Homebush Loops, 17 April - Piemonte Café 8am for West Head
Ian Cocks at Bathurst Weekend
BiciSport is happy to announce that Katie Brown is the new BiciSport Teams Coach/Selector for the NSW Teams Championships at Nowra on 16 July 2016. Katie follows on from the fine work undertaken in the past by Alex Simmons and more recently by John Crouchley.
Katie was a National Junior Road Champion, National Womens Team member (2000-2005) and rode for the Dutch professional team Vrienden Van Het Platteland. Katie was involved in a tragic accident in Germany (with Amy Gillett).
Katie is also the Sydney Academy coach and sister to Graeme Brown (Olympic Champion and leading World Tour professional). Her comprehensive career can be viewed at www.KatieBrown.com.au
Katie Btrown in action at DGV
Slim Ward was a true character from the 1970's. Slim owned Slim Ward Cycles in Greenacre for many years up until 1982 and was a strong supporter of cycle racing in the Bankstown district and the creation of the Bankstown Sports Cycle Club. Slim moved to Kangaroo Valley and contributed strongly to the local community for over 35 years. Slim was 90 when he sadly took his own life.
Many of the extended cycling family attended the service in Kangaroo Valley and BiciSport was represented by Steve Dixon & Mike O'Reilly
Slim Ward in Kangaroo Valley
The National Masters Track Champs were originally set down for Perth, but economic realities forced a late venue & date change back to Melbourne. The late date change to Melbourne accounted for David Willmott who was by then committed to going overseas & missed the Championships.
BiciSport took 6 Gold medals (5 Gold if you consider that the Masters Kieran was a "demonstration event") and 2 Bronze medals.
Day 1 - TT & Team Sprints ... M3 - Kevin Babakian 8th, M5 - James Thornton 10th, W4 - Kirstie Dolton Bronze, W6 - Lise Benjamin Gold, Team Sprint - Lise Benjamin 4th
Day 2 - Sprints & Indiv Pursuit ... M4 - Mike Smith Gold, M7 - Mike Lawson 7th
Day 3 - Sprints .... W4 - Kirstie Dolton Bronze, W6 - Lise Benjamin Gold, M3-4 Kieren Mike Smith Gold
Day 4 - Scratch ... W4 - Kirstie Dolton Gold, W6 - Lise Benjamin Gold
Mike Smith takes Gold
Kirstie Dolton on the Darebin boards
Kirstie Dolton
Kirstie Dolton takes Gold
* National Masters Track Championships have just concluded (a separate report to issue this week)
* Alex Simmons is settling in well into his new digs in Bellingen & looks forward to organising a BiciSport Training Weekend (details to follow shortly)
* Conor Tarlington rode in the Under 23 State Road Championships at Berrima over the weekend and it was a real baptism of fire. All U23 races are fast & furious from the start and this was no exception. Conor was a 'DNF' (numerous other riders suffered the same fate) but a good learning experience for his racing trip to Belgium in July.
Conor Tarlington (BiciSport) at Berrima. Conor races for the Fixed Wheel Team
* 4 & 6 April - Piemonte Café at 8am for Akuna Bay
* 7 April - Centennial Park at 11am, DGV at 4pm (with John Crouchley)
* 9 April - MeadowBank Bridge at 7.15am (for Homebush Loops)
* 9 April - Bathurst Hill Climbs & Criteriums
* 10 April - Blayney to Bathurst CycloSportive, Lansdowne Park (Waratah Masters), Mt Baw Baw Classic (Victoria)
I was riding my bike to work on the morning of 13th January, 2016, the same route I had ridden every day for the past 5 years. On this morning however, I was told I had an accident just past the Spit Bridge. I have no recollection of the accident or the days leading to it. According to the police I lost control of my bike and was thrown over the handlebars with my head colliding with the road first, it is also known that a nearby motorbike fell off his bike to avoid colliding into me. I sustained injuries to my head, face and body and was immediately treated by a passing emergency doctor who stopped to care for me until the Paramedics arrived.
I was transferred to Royal North Shore Hospital and placed in an induced coma. A pod was inserted into my brain to monitor any brain swelling and I had surgery for a shattered cheekbone. I also had multiple grazes and a couple of hair line cracks in my spine. It sounds bad but it could have been so much worse.
I was in ICU for over a week and stayed in Royal North Shore Hospital for 3 weeks trying to wake up from a Traumatic Brain Injury. I suffered from a severe case of Post Traumatic Amnesia (PTA), one of the first stages of recovery after a brain injury. I have next to no recollection of my time spent there and have been reliably informed I was a babbling mess and had a tendency for ‘flashing’.
I was then transferred to Royal Rehab Hospital at Ryde for continued treatment. It was there I remember rising from my sleep (PTA) and having real conversations about my condition (apparently, I also tried to escape and joined a choir group !).
During my stay I discovered the left side of my body had been more affected than my right. Things I had taken for granted in my life such as hopping or jumping off my left foot were now a real effort to perform if at all. My short term memory wasn’t great and I struggled to understand complicated information or when information was presented with distractions. But the main thing to me was I was alive, I could talk and walk and I was so happy and thankful.
Life in hospital is not great as you imagine. At first I couldn’t understand why I was there and wanted so much to be with my family and felt I should be released immediately. It was only when doing my therapies such as Physio, Speech, Occupational Therapy (OT) and Neuropsychology that I gradually realised I actually had an accident and there were subtle deficiencies that needed improvement.
The therapies were hard work but the teams of doctors and nurses were so committed to helping me it inspired me to keep going.
My saviour was really all the visitors, notes and gestures of support that I had received from my family, friends, the local cycling community, businesses and even people I hadn’t met before. The visits from close friends and family relieved the boredom, and those conversations were just so helpful to me in getting back to normal. In terms of gestures, a collection was taken on my behalf and used to fix my backyard for my family. There were generous donations from the cycling community, supplies and services donated by local businesses and volunteer workers (cyclists) who come over and fixed up my yard in a Backyard Blitz. For all of those gestures I am forever grateful and humbled by.
During this stressful time my amazing wife Marylene managed all the turbulence such an accident brings and just kept things going with the family. I have 2 young daughters; Emily (2yo) and Jennifer (newborn) and they were so well looked after. They were also a constant source of companionship and support and mean everything to me.
At the risk of sounding corny it was my stay at the Rehab Centre that it hit home how easy it is for accidents to occur. Some of the patients beside me in the clinic had been through some horrific incidents, suffered massive injuries and were in hospital many months longer than me. Being in care for 2 ½ months, having the ability to walk and understand all that’s around me, I felt I was so lucky in comparison and I now more fully appreciate both the risks and joys of life.
I realise how much I love riding and the camaraderie it brings. I also know how precious life is and how much my family and friends mean to me. So while things can always happen, it is extremely important to have insurance and not to take unnecessary risks. You certainly don’t want your family to pick up the pieces afterward.
David Adcock Pilu Racing Team/BiciSport
David & Friends
David & Family
* Good performances by Mike O'Brien, Dom Zumbo, Anthony Colantonio & Team Pilu at both Waratah Masters promotions over the weekend
* John Crouchley spent last Thursday in Sutherland Hospital with a suspected Hiatus Hernia. John was cleared of anything serious.
* Mike O'Reilly has resigned from the NSW Orange Masters Road Championships (30 April to 1 May) as Race Director. Mike's last event (as Race Director) will be the National Masters Road Championships to be held in Griffith in October 2016.
* 29 March - Piemonte Café at 10am (for Akuna Bay)
* 30 March - DGV & John Crouchley at 11am (Motor paced training)
* 31 March - No Centennial Park loops this week
* 2 April (Sat) - Meadowbank Bridge at 7.15am (for Homebush SOPA Loops)
* 30 March-2 April - CA National Masters Track Championships (Melbourne)
* 2-3 April - CA National Hill Climb Championships (Bright, Vic)
* 3 April - Waratah Masters (Lansdowne Park), ATTA Time Trials (Calga)
* 3 April - NSW Elite & U23 Road Champs (Berrima) - BiciSport starter Conor Tarlington
Mike Smith
* A strong BiciSport contingent will contest the CA Masters Nationals in Melbourne from this Wednesday. Mike Smith, Kevin Babakian & Lise Benjamin will lead the sprinters. The Enduro riders will include Kirstie Dolton, Mike Lawson, James Thornton and Peter Verhoeven
Gio Pilu and the Pilu Squadra were sighted leading the peloton out of Bobbin Head during the Bobbin Head Classic Cyclosportive. The organisation & traffic management appeared to be at a very high level with an event strongly supported by the cycling community.
* 22 March - Piemonte Café carpark 8am, John Crouchley at DGV from 12noon
* 23 March - John Crouchley at DGV from 3pm (Melbourne Masters Squad)
* 24 March - Centennial Park 11am
* 27 March - M7 Bike Path - 7.30am fro M& Bikepath (contact 0417 403 244)
* 25 & 28 March (Mon) - Piemonte Café Carpark 8am
* 25 March - HART (St Ives) at 7am
* 27 March - Waratah Masters (Dragway)
* 28 March (Mon) - Waratah Masters (Eric Mather Trophy)
Long time BiciSport coach Alex Simmons has recently moved to the rural landscapes of Bellingen on the NSW North Coast. Alex is to remain a BiciSport member & coach and will assist at the Nowra TTT in July. Alex will also continue the aero testing program at both DGV and DISC in Melbourne. Alex is looking forward to hosting a BiciSport training camp at Bellingen in September2016 (details to follow)
Alex & John Crouchley at the new Bellingen residence
Held at Tempe Velodrome on Saturday 19 March the Classic Bike Show was a great success. Good crowds and excellent retro equipment of all shapes & sizes. Steel is real and certainly carbon was in short supply.
Classic English Holdsworth in the famous orange/blue with plenty of chrome
Mazda ... version 1963
Orbea ORCA ITT bike for sale
Small frame size (48 inches), as new and hardly used
Electronic Di2, 700 ZIPP 404 clinchers
RRP $13000 asking $6000 ono
Contact Merryn Truskett
0407 237 738 or email mezzie1@optusnet.com.au
The UWCT Qualifier over 11-13 March drew big fields with the overriding comment being that a Gran Fondo isn't a Road Championships. Both the course and the general organisation came in for some adverse comment and Joe Public depositing tacks on the road circuit (resulting in numerous punctures) didn't help.
The BiciSport results being -
* Time Trials
Div 60-64 - Graham Tierney 9th @ 2min 22secs, Div 55-59 - Sue Tierney 3rd @ 1-20
* Road Races
Div 19-34 - Brad Hamblett 13th @ 10 secs, Div 35-39 - David Munro 55th @ 35min
Div 45-49 - Dean Gale 52nd @ 24min, Gio Pilu 73rd @ 36min
Div 50-54 - Simon Lempriere 37th @ 17min, Anthony Colantonio 65th @ 30min
UWCT - Sue Tierney in the ITT
UWCT - Sue Tierney took 3rd in the ITT
UWCT - Anthony Colantonio
UWCT in Perth
Several BiciSport riders were in Perth for the UWCT qualifier. Separate report to follow shortly.
HART ST IVES CRITERIUM SERIES
A strong summer at HART St Ives Criteriums from several BiciSport members including Brad Hamblett, Conor Tarlington, David Munro & Ian Cocks. Conor won the A grade pointscore and will be racing in Belgium from mid July.
RACING THIS WEEK
* 19 March - Sydney Classic Bike Show (Tempe Velodrome from 11am)
* 19-20 March - Midlands Tour (Vic)
* 20 March - Lansdowne Park (Waratah Masters)
TRAINING THIS WEEK
* 18 March (Friday) - Centennial Park from 11am
* 19 March - Meadowbank Bridge 7.15am (for SOPA Loops)
* 20 March - Piemonte Café 8.00am (for Akuna Bay)
CYCLOSPORTIVES THIS WEEK
* 20 March - Orange Classic (NSW), Marysville Lake Mountain Classic (Vic), Bobbin Head Classic (NSW)
NEW CYCLING LAWS - A Total Public Relations Disaster
Whatever your opinion is on the new cycling laws before the cycling community, there is total agreement on the implementation, agreement and public relations strategy. It's a total shambles. Consultation with local clubs was virtually non existent and for some reason the "educational program" began with fining cyclists for the most menial of offences. The Variable Message Board on Military Rd said it all ... "Police Operation in Progress against cyclists". The whole "metre matters" strategy simply got lost in the public relations mess that followed.
