BICISPORT TTT TRAINING - 5 JUNE CANCELLED
The BiciSport TTT training session on Sunday 5 June has been cancelled. See you on Sunday 12 June at Terrey Hills.
News Shorts - 30 May 2016
BICISPORT TTT TRAINING starts sunday JUNE 5
Details of the first BiciSport TTT session at Terrey Hills this Sunday can be found on this website at Racing/State & National. Park up time at Piemonte Café is 7.45am with an 8am departure
RACING THIS WEEK
* 4 June - Sydney Road Titles (Penrith Lakes)
BiciSport starters - Lise Benjamin, Graham Cockerton, Anthony Colantonio
Anthony Lowes, David Munro, James Thornton, Ian Grainger, Brad Hamblett
Peter Verhoeven, Dom Zumbo, Matt Coy and Stewart Campbell
* 4 June - Calga Club Race (Central Coast CC - 2pm), Fred Icke Classic (Creswick, Vic)
* 3-5 June - Battle of the Border (NSW/Qld)
* 5 June - St Ives Criterium (MW), Eastern Creek (Waratah Masters), Calga ITT (ATTA)
BICISPORT TRAINING THIS WEEK
* 2 June - Centennial Park (11am)
* 5 June - BiciSport TTT at Piemonte Café Terrey Hills (7.45am)
This US team car pic kindly supplied by BiciSport coach Alex Simmons. Lets hope its not him standing beside the car (no hair, hair, no shirt & the footwear is a nice touch). Who is the dude in the back seat ....
News Shorts - 23 May 2016
RACING THIS WEEK
* 28-29 May - Goulburn Junior Tour
* 28-29 May - Riverland Tour (SA)
* 29 May - Dinnerville Handicap (Dapto)
BiciSport starters at Dinnerville -
* Stew Campbell, Gio Pilu, Richard Bjorkman
* Ben Pines, Mike Foster & James Thornton
* 29 May - Waratah Masters (Lansdowne)
* 29 May - Preston Mountain Classic (Vic), Noosa CycloSportive (Qld)
BICI TRAINING RIDES THIS WEEK
* 26 May (Thurs) - Centennial Park (11am)
* 28 May (Sat) - Moorebank Railway Bridge (7.30am)
* 29 May (Sun) - M7 Cyclepath Loop (Bella Vista 8am)
Belgium Shorts - 16 May 2016
EDDY VERBUST MUSEUM
Eddy Verbust has been a long time friend to many Australian cyclists. Eddy has been the soigneur to the likes of Patrick Sercu, Danny Clark, Graeme & Matthew Gilmore and Scott McGrory (all have won the Ghent Six Day) and his major passion is the velodrome and the Ghent Six Day in particular. First met Eddy at the Tour of Flanders Museum over 10 years go. The Flanders Museum had just taken ownership of a genuine Eddy Merckx Molteni Volvo (hidden in a garage in Switzerland for many years) and Eddy introduced himself at the Molteni car presentation. The Eddy Verbust Museum (www.eddyverbust.be) is the biggest private collection of cycling memorabilia in Belgium and Eddy kindly opened the doors of the private collection yesterday. Eddy's jersey collection numbers some 850 and the Museum has numerous event posters and jerseys & trophies owned by Eddy Merckx & Patrick Sercu. Eddy has offered to give BiciSport members coming to Belgium in April 2017 a special guided tour.
... some 850 jerseys ...
Eddy Merckx & Eddy Verbust (in 1967)
Eddy Merckx Molteni Volvo sits permanently outside the Tour of Flanders Museum in Oudenaarde
News Shorts - 16 May 2016
RACING THIS WEEK
* 21 May - Hunter Districts Enduro Interclub (Kurri Kurri 2pm)
* 21-22 May - Cootamundra Weekend
* 22 May - Waratah Masters (Western Sydney Dragway)
* 22 May - Sam Miranda Winery Gran Fondo (Shepparton, Vic)
BICI TRAINING RIDES THIS WEEK
* 19 May - Centennial Park (Café from 11am)
* 21 May - Moorebank Bridge (for Homebush Loops) 7.30am
* 22 May - North Turramurra Shops, Bobbin Head Rd (8am)
GRAFTON to INVERELL Classic - results
* Anthony Colantonio finished 63rd in Division 3. Alex Simmons also drove Division 3 as a Race Commissaire.
Anthony Colantonio at the Grafton to Inverell Classic finish
Belgium Shorts - Conor Tarlington to ASFRA Racing Team
Conor Tarlington (BiciSport Under 23) is to ride for the ASFRA Racing Team in Belgium from July 20 until August 20. ASFRA is closely associated to Flanders Cycles in Oudenaarde and race a full domestic Belgian program. The ASFRA team website is www.asfrateam.webs.com. Ronny Assez is the Team Manager. Ronny is a former Belgian pro and rode the Commonwealth Bank Cycle Classic in the late 1980's.
ASFRA Racing Team 2016 (Ronny Assez far right, kneeling)
Belgium (Plum) Shorts - 13 May 2016
Gilbert Van de Wiele (Plume Vainqueur Pro Team)
In 1910 Pol Desnerk opened a tiny bike shop in Ghent. Originally the shop was called La Plume as everything that sounded French stood for quality (even in Flanders). The name changed to Plume Vainqueur, and finally it became Plum. Plum started sponsoring riders and teams and had a full pro team from 1949 until 1961. The shop soon started taking upstairs tenants including numerous Australians (Alf Strom, Reg Arnold, & Alan Peiper) and several Englishman (Gary Wiggins & Tom Simpson). Tom Simpson was the 1965 World RR Champion and died of a drug overdose in the 1967 Tour De France. Mike O'Reilly last visited the shop in 1987 and nothing has much changed since he visited yesterday (everything just seems to have got older or is that 'retro'). The antique bike museum in the basement of the Plum shop is a bit chaotic (understatement) but the Gios bike of Fons De Wolf was worth a look.
The Plum Gent website is www.plum-gent.be
1980 Gios (in team blue) of Fons De Wolf with full Campagnolo groupset including Delta brakes
Mildly chaotic but plenty of nice retro steel
... not exactly Shimano Di2 and the front changer had a hand operated lever (no cables) ...
Belgium Shorts - 12 May 2016
After the Giro had moved on did likewise to Slenaken in the Limburg hills outside Maastricht. Looked at Meijs mopeds (in Maastricht) for electric powered options for the CyclingNSW Derny restoration project. After Slenaken, got an early start and drove just 2 hours onto Roubaix and walked around the famous Velodrome. The Roubaix Velodrome looks a lot more "bling" on race day with Matt Hayman giving a victory salute. Barren of the Classic bling the Velodrome looks forlorn & rundown and the less said about Roubaix town the better. Final coffee of the day was in the Tour of Flanders café at the Oudenaarde museum.
Meijs electric powered Moped
Slenaken climb used in Amstel Gold Race
Roubaix Velodrome ... with no Paris Roubaix in town the velodrome cuts a sad, forlorn & drab sight
Tour of Flanders Museum coffee shop
Giro Shorts - 9 May 2016
Stage 3 of the Giro was pan flat running through the Rhine Valley between Nijmegen & Arnhem. Drove to the village of Brummen (115k into the race). By chance the whole population threw a street party and the crowds were again massive. No sure about the pink Volvo and less sure about it carrying the "Made in Italy" tag ...
News Shorts - 9 May 2016
RACING THIS WEEK
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.
Giro Shorts - 7 May 2016
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.
Giro Shorts - 5 May 2016
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
News Shorts - 3 May 2016
RACING THIS WEEK
* 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)
ORANGE NSW MASTERS - BICISPORT takes 2 GOLD & 1 BRONZE
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
Oudenaarde SuperKlassieker - 1 May 2016
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
News Shorts - 25 April 2016
RACING THIS WEEK
* 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)
BICI TRAINING THIS WEEK
* 25 April (Mon) - M7 Bikepath Ride over 70k (8am from Bella Vista)
CYCLING NSW AGM - SET for 10 MAY
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.
News Shorts - 25 April Orange NSW Masters Edition
Orange is one very pretty locale
NSW MASTERS ROAD CHAMPIONSHIPS - 30 APR to 2 MAY
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.
BELGIAN & GIRO ADVENTURES
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).
News Shorts - 18 April 2016
BICI MEMBER NEWS THIS WEEK
* Ian Grainger was sighted in Bright getting in some secret MTB training then surfaced at the Golden Triangle MTB event in Bendigo
BICI RACING THIS WEEK
* 24 April - West Head (MW), Lansdowne (Waratah Masters)
* 25 April - ANZAC Day Track Open (Bowral Velodrome)
BICI TRAINING THIS WEEK
* 21 April - Centennial Park 11am
Ian Grainger at the Bendigo Golden Triangle MTB
News Shorts - Nowra Teams Time Trial Edition
NOWRA TEAMS TIME TRIAL - APPLICATIONS NOW OPEN
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
BICI MEMBER NEWS THIS WEEK
* 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.
RACING THIS WEEK
* 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)
TRAINING THIS WEEK
* 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
News Shorts - Katie Brown the new BiciSport Teams Coach
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
Vale Slim Ward - A True Gentleman
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