October 2024 newsletter
UCI Gran Fondo World Championships
Tom McCosker’s report from the field
The UCI Gran Fondo was held on the first of September this year, in Aalborg, Denmark. Across all age groups, 3,270 riders from 74 countries participated. There were 95 Aussies present, including four from BNECC: Sally Caraher, Jess Wiggan, Kris Wall and Tom McCosker. The course itself was 152 km long, departing from Aalborg before heading out into the surrounding hills. The race itself was very hectic with rainbow bands on the line for age group winners.
Australia is hosting the UCI Gran Fondo World Champs next year in Lorne, Victora. Qualification can be earned by finishing in the top 25% in your age group in the upcoming Tour de Brisbane (2025). As it’s on home soil, BNECC will tailor a fair number of our club rides leading up to April to help with training for the TdB, so if you’re keen to pull on a green and gold jersey and represent the club on a world stage, now’s your chance...
If you’re curious, I’ve included a link to the rider briefing here.
A Word From the New Club Captain
Doesn’t he know the wheels go on the ground?
I’m excited to take on the role of club captain and step into the big shoes that Russ has left. From all of us at the club: thank you, Russ, for all the time and energy that you have put in
From my earliest rides at the club getting shelled on a G1 Full Gas, to the Brookie burger hit-outs, and on to more recent times hanging out on the Super Social Thursday ride, I feel incredibly lucky to have met so many amazing people, and to be so involved with this awesome club. BNECC has not only been an integral part of my own cycling journey, but it has been a community full of great people that I cherish.
This club is far greater than the sum of its members, so I encourage all of you to get involved! Please do reach out to me with any feedback, with your ideas, or just to chat. Whether it’s about running events or discussing new ride ideas, I’m here to listen and support so that we can continue to build on the fun, supportive and inclusive environment that this incredible club provides.
Looking forward to seeing you all out there stomping on the pedals! Please remember to hold the shoe 😉
Lachie
Club Rides this Month
A random assortment of
Super Social, Fig Tree Pocket
G1, Jacob’s Cane Fields
G2, Goat Track
Full Gas Friday 🥵
G4, The Avenue
We’re Looking for Ride Leaders
Want to help out?
If you are a regular participant in our Sunday rides and would like to contribute to planning and leading rides, then please get in touch with Lachie on 0414 109 997. Alternatively, just reply to this email! The club provides plenty of support, including ride leader training with Dave Shelberg and the gang, and First Aid/CPR training.
Dip your toe in the Lake[side Crit]
Beginner Racing & Race Support Crew
Hamilton Wheelers Cycling Club are running a reverse direction criterium at Lakeside this Saturday (5 October).
We had a fantastic turnout the last time the club made an outing to Lakeside (for ANZAC Crit back in April), with almost twenty riders repping BNECC across most racing grades. It was a terrific day out, and the consensus was that the spectating was at least as much fun as the racing.
The ride to Lakeside is really nice as well, so if you’re curious about racing, or just want to come and soak up the atmosphere, this weekend is a great shout. Full details are on the team app, but the "Racing and Support Crew" ride leaves Go Between Bridge at 05:00 on Saturday. The journey to Lakeside is about 30 km each way, and racing will last about an hour.
If you’d like to race, you can sign up on EntryBoss here. Entries close this Friday (4 October), and the cost is $22 in total. Registration on the day is open from 06:00 through to about 06:40. Races kick off at 06:45. If you’re new to racing, you’ll need a grading from HWCC (see the EntryBoss link above), and an AusCycling race license. If you’ve got any questions just reply to this email, or bail Phil Clarke next time you see him.
Here are a couple of snaps from the ANZAC Crit earlier in the year. Apologies to those who were present on the day who are missing from the photos!
Phil’s Racing Update
Not my artwork 👆
September saw some fruitful racing returns for the club across a huge range of grades and formats.
The month kicked off with the legendary Lifecycle Classic handicap race – this year raced in uncharacteristically hot conditions that would result in an extraordinary 28 DNFs across the race. Sadly, this would include our own Dan Seymour, who was driven into the red too early due to the conditions and made the wise call to pull the pin and fight another day. Our first win of the month would come from club captain Lachlan Ninness, who came home first in the para category as he gears up for the Transplant Games in October.
The following weekend was Strade Marroni – a new road race to replace the Cunningham Classic but with a 2.8km gravel sector each lap to spice things up. This race would also form both the last race of the QCRS season and be part of the full weekend QRTS round. The racing was pretty savage with bodies scattered everywhere in each grade. In Men’s A grade, there were more DNFs than finishers, while in Men’s C grade, I (Phil Clarke) celebrated my graduation from the grade with an attack on lap 2 that ended up in a somewhat incriminating victory (and a cool light up pineapple for my son’s bedroom – I regret nothing).
On the Sunday, the rest of the QRTS round included a TT and a Criterium down in Ipswich. I was out on my roadie, and was mugged off by under 2 seconds by a 17-year-old prodigy in the TT. To make matters worse, I was beaten by the same kid again in a sprint in the crit (some would say karma). I would heartily encourage any keen racers to book out this weekend in the calendars next year – with more numbers it would have been pretty special.
Whilst that was the state-level racing in September, there was also some hard-fought action locally and off-road. At the Ted Alexander Memorial crit race at Nundah, fan-favourite Richie Cleaver put on a show for his travelling entourage with multiple attacks against what was a chunky sized-group. Sadly, Richie would miss the break that eventually won and would sprint home to is traditional 6th place finish. (Fact – with a buddy or two in the race Richie had the legs for the dub that day). And finally, in perhaps the highlight of the month’s racing action we had Norman Carl doing Norm things with 4th place overall and 2nd place age grade finish at the Flight Centre Epic Trail race. This despite losing MINUTES trying to work out what direction to go. There are levels folks, and off road none of us are on that man’s level.
Rounding out the month, Richie went back to Nundah seeking revenge – this time with company. Racing in C grade with crit debutant Tony Giblin, the boys managed to avoid the trouble of two crashes to come home in formation in, unsurprisingly, 6th and 7th place in what was a near 50-person field. We also had Chris Black back in action chopping solo in B Grade as the boys sharpen the tools before next weekend.
Finally, a huge shout out to the racers out in Copenhagen at UCI Gran Fondo World Champs, and to GC Mort up at Port Douglas.
Coming up…
Saturday 5th October. Lakeside Reverse. It will be epic, and you will be sad if you’re not part of it. Sign up on the app and enter on entryboss (or contact me for more info).
A final plea…
In the first half of 2024 our women returned some awesome race results. We would love to see our ladies out there racing again. If you’re keen to race, contact myself or Tiff and we will see if we can get a few together to make a proper day of it 😊
Your News Desk Needs You!
Something you want to see here?
If you’ve got some cracking content (pics, videos, rants, etc), breaking news, or know of an achievement you want to shout about, PLEASE send it through to our breaking news desk so we can include it in a future edition.
We’d also be especially interested in any smaller milestones you reckon are worth sharing. Seen an example of outstanding camaraderie in last month? Let us know.
Monton Store is Now Closed
Boring news time 😴
Monton open their doors (figuratively speaking) four times a year for BNECC members to purchase club kit. Dispatch date if you’ve just placed an order is supposedly 9 October.
For future reference, you can order our classic kit and our race kit through the BNECC portal on Monton’s website here.
The password is BNECC-2022.
If you are a new member, you will also need to create your own personal account with Monton. The club also benefits from an ongoing 20% discount (code: BNECC20) for the Monton’s other stocked items (i.e. not club kit).
Monton have also offered to stock a small amount of BNECC kit between ordering windows, but note that this is for emergency use only (i.e. new members who need kit). So if you can, please order up when the window next opens.
Of course there are no restrictions on purchasing the racing kit, but be prepared to have Phil forcibly sign you up for a race if he catches you wearing it!
Coming up
5 October: HWCC - Lakeside Reverse Direction Criterium
6 October: Around the Bay (Melbourne)
12 October: QRTS Celebration Criteriums
13 October: Brisbane to GC
17 November: Lifecycle DV Awareness Crit
4 December: BNECC Christmas Party (Crown & Rose Pub)
26 December: LSC Shop Ride (Mt Mee)
And a very happy birthday to the following clubbies:
Dave 🍰
Amanda 🍰
Carlos 🍰
Doug 🍰
Paul 🍰
Lachlan 🍰
Russell 🍰
Sharon 🍰
Troy 🍰
