August newsletter
The BNECC newsletter is back!
Dear BNECC Clubbies
First of all, I'd like to convey my sincerest apologies for the newsletter hiatus—especially to those contributors who have been patiently waiting for their hard work to see the light of day. Fortunately for the rest of us, it means we get to enjoy a total abundance of really wonderful stories all at once.
This edition we have Mike Jeffries with a report from the well-attended Gravel n Granite race back in March; Tim Durkin contributes an account of his epic Grafton to Inverell adventure; Liv Whitt and James Hammond share their experiences from the Tour de Brissy; and if that weren't already enough, we also have a great story from Beatriz Wall on her time at the Sunny Coast Women's Tour. And because she forgot to mention it herself, I'll note that Bea bossed the overall points classification, and placed in the top three of every race.
Listing this all out now—conscious I'm barely scratching the surface of the last few months—I'm amazed at just how much awesome stuff our club members get up to. On that note, I'm glad to report that the interruption in regular service has mostly been has been caused mostly by an overload of other fantastic happenings at the club. We had our inaugural club crit last month, and while it was a marathon to organise, I think we're all still a little shocked by how fantastic the turnout was. Both races were brilliant in their own right, but I have to say our A/B handicap was easily the most exciting crit I've ever witnessed. 22 June was a truly bad day to be a 20- or 30-minute power PB...
One of the less shocking things we learned while planning the crit is that putting on such an event costs money, and to that end we were very fortunate to be provided with sponsorship from Spot Productions. This support was an incredible boost to our event, and will enable us to be even more ambitious in the future. Check out the first story below for a bit about Spot Productions, and cheers to Michael Vink for making it happen.
Many of you will have seen Tom's notice on TeamApp about the AGM. We have a number of officer and director positions due for re-election this year, so please do take a look and see if there's anything that takes your fancy. Don't hesitate to get in touch with Tom if you're unsure, or if you have an idea for another way you could contribute to the club. You can contact Tom via email at president@brisbanecyclingclub.com.au or by phone/text on 0400 431 011.
Finally, we have a new website (and newsletter system 👀) in the works, so if you have any ideas about cool stuff we could do with the website, drop me a message.
That's all from me, enjoy the stories!
Cheers
Wil
Spot Productions proudly supports BNECC's inaugural crit race
Spot Productions was proud to support BNECC with its inaugural criterium race.
We’re a family-owned print company that has grown to become one of Queensland’s largest printers. From large-scale offset printing to small digital jobs, we offer complete print management solutions tailored to your needs.
If you require any printing or point-of-sale materials, give us a call on 3860 5300 or email reception@spotpro.com.au
Gravel n Granite
By Mike Jeffery
The Club recently participated in the Gravel n Granite event in Tenterfield, hosted by The Saddlers MTB Club. This gruelling race featured tough terrain, numerous creek crossings and unrideable hike-a-bike sections. The reduced oxygen at 1000m also added an unexpected challenge.
Caroline Shelberg, Dave Shelberg, Rod Brooks and Nikolas Lopez represented the Club in the 66km race. Mark Nemeth, Michael Jeffery and Lane Hamilton took on the 91km course.
Mark Nemeth delivered an outstanding performance, securing 5th place in the over 60s category. Despite a nasty fall and losing a fair bit of skin, David Shelberg demonstrated incredible resilience finishing a very respectable 38th (before being covered in bandages).
Thanks to The Saddlers MTB Club for hosting this fantastic event. We'll be back for more in 2026!
Grafton to Inverell
By Tim Durkin
Grafton to Inverell was first held in 1961 and is considered one of Australia's toughest one day races alongside the Melbourne to Warrnambool. The course is 228km with 3382m of climbing including the main 16.3km/1000m climb up the Gibraltar Range. It races a bit like (what I expect) a Milan to San Remo feels – you get to the point where your normal road races are finished, and then you still have 80km to go with a couple of climbs that look tiny on the course profile but are very decisive in the race.
My G2I story started in October 2024. The kid's winter sports had finished, and I had started Sunday G1s again with regulars Hammer, Norm and Ben. We had a great consistent run of very tough rides and were all finding some good form. G2I had been on my bucket list for a long time, and when it was announced it would be run in March as part of the ProVelo series (instead of the normal Mother's Day clash) I decided 2025 was the year.
By the end of December I was feeling pretty strong and started contemplating a wild card entry in ProVelo; not with any hopes of being competitive, but aiming to be good enough to stay with the main group and experience racing at that level. However, three weeks off the bike for Christmas holidays and a full American theme-park diet put an end to that dream. First Sunday G1 ride back in Australia had me on my knees! I reverted back to an Open entry, and after a very solid 10 week training block was happy with how I was riding.
On race day there was a heavy fog in Grafton but comfortable weather conditions compared to what has happened in previous May editions of the race. The event used to run with waves for each separate grade, but reduced numbers over the years mean that there is now just Elite and Open bunch starts (note: there were still 90 people in the Open category that finished, and 19 DNFs, so not small numbers). We had a fairly long neutral out of town, and unfortunately an early crash took down BNECC riders Jason Simmonds and Lucas Taylor resulting in a very nervous peloton.
Once racing began, the constant rolling terrain started but there were no real break attempts given the looming Gibraltar Range climb. The KOM for the climb is just over 40 minutes, and I assume that it is a switchback-laden, scenic ascent, but I can't confirm because I was full gas with eyes fixed on whatever wheel was in front of me. With about 1km to go a gap started forming and I rolled over the top about 200m behind the lead group. I knew that this was going to be a deciding moment but quickly determined that I wasn't going to get back on in a one vs ten situation. So I spent the next few minutes getting as many carbs into my body as I could, and reformed a group with the next five over the climb. We worked very well together all the way to Glen Innes but the lead group was still putting time into us.
After the second feed station at Glen Innes our group was down to four and we started hitting those small climbs. Forget FTP, Vo2 Max, and lactate testing – these small climbs after Glen Innes are the best measure of your body's physiology. The conclusion for me is that I'm not a diesel… After being dropped on one of the climbs I spend the remainder of the race riding intermittently solo and in small, reformed groups as people ahead of me dropped and people behind caught up. A solid tailwind for this section definitely helped the mindset as we maintained a high average speed.
I arrived in Inverell after 6 hours and 31 minutes having completely emptied the tank, but happy to be in a small group that had held off the main bunch. Was great to see solid representation from BNECC including Tom Simmonds, Ben Simmonds, Jason Simmonds, Riley Sheehan, Neil Shannon, Sasie Pieterse and Lucas Taylor. I also need to mention Darren Potts who had put in a lot of work training for G2I but came down sick just before the event, and Giuseppe who helped me find a support crew at the last minute (Richard Moran - thank you!).
Initially I thought G2I would be a once-off event because logistically it is quite challenging to complete, but I've come away thinking that it is a very special race and one that I'll definitely repeat. Riding this years' Tour de Brisbane reinforced this - TdB is great for cycling more broadly, but it's definitely not the same experience that a well designed race gives you. Given the challenges in conducting an event like this and the reliance on a large number of volunteers it's amazing that it has run for so long, and I encourage everyone to support it in future year.
Tour de Brissy
By Liv Whitt
Tour de Brisbane marked one full year since deciding to dip my toes (or rather, cleats) into the cycling world, and what better way to celebrate than with Brissy’s biggest race?
First things first, let’s take a moment to appreciate the sheer strength of the 19-34 female group. These women are nothing short of incredible. Speed? Check. Power? Absolutely. Mental grit? Off the charts. It’s impossible not to feel a little in awe (and let’s be honest, a little humbled) racing alongside them.
I started off in a solid position, comfortably rolling with the lead-out group, feeling optimistic… for all of a few kilometres. Then came Elis Drive—a route choice that can only be described as questionable. A messy group split and a bit of cleat ice-skating, and suddenly, the race became a chase.
I burned through every last bikkie trying to bridge the gap, but with the lead group nowhere in sight and my coach’s words—“Don’t go too hard early”—ringing in my ears, Plan A gave way to Plan B. A little strategic group-hopping and a few lucky breaks later and I found myself on the back of the men’s 50-54 A team – game on.
From that point, the race was truly exhilarating. Speedy, smooth (mostly), and packed with solid teamwork. There was even a brief glimmer of hope—we might catch the lead women’s group! But hope is fragile, and so are calf muscles, apparently. The worst cramps of my life struck with vengeance. A mid-race off-bike stretch and two ineffective Cramp Fixes, and my dreams of catching the girls and planned ‘grand attack’ on Cootha were slipping away.
By the time I reached the base of Cootha, my calves were staging a full-blown rebellion. Another stretch, and a DNF seemed pretty appealing. But stubbornness prevailed. I dropped into the lowest gear possible, spun like a caffeinated hamster, and miraculously, my legs finally decided we were back on the same team.
Back in action, I kicked it into gear down Cootha, landed in a men’s chase group, and rode that wave to the finish line (thanks, lads).
Not a flawless race, but an incredible experience nonetheless. Great comradery, unreal performances from the women’s field, a well-earned post-race beer, and even a surprise Q to wrap it all up. Couldn’t ask for much more!
Tour de Brissy
By James Hammond
At the start line you get a sense of the scale of the event. Thousands of people of various abilities and millions of dollars worth of carbon fibre, electronics, lightweight components and lycra all lined up. Some lining up with the goal of crossing the finish line being a feat while others are lining up trying to race the course and beat as many people as possible.
My plan for the race was to sit in the pack, stay upright and do as little as possible until Mt Coot-Tha and then launch it and see what happens. My form has been good this year since focusing on cycling and not dividing my training load between swimming, cycling and running. I thought I was a good chance of getting on the podium but there were a few unknowns with a new course and a lot of interstate cyclists lured by the prospect of a ticket to the UCI world fondo race in Victoria.
The start was uneventful for our 40-44 age group and I felt fairly safe throughout despite the evidence of smashed carbon and scraped bodies on the side of the road at various points. The first 70 km was mostly uneventful. A few surges to work our way out of the city, bridge a few gaps at times and make a few U-turns but otherwise sitting along in Z1 for half that time and being carried along at 40 kph wasn’t too taxing on the legs. Ahead of Coot-Tha, I positioned myself at the front of the peloton ready to launch as planned. I had intended to sit on wheels for the first minute or two when the gradient kicked up but I found myself drifting off the front without much energy being expended while everyone nervously sat up ahead of the climb a few km ahead. How good. I took my chance off the front with a bit of threshold effort to put a small gap into the peloton and went hard from the planetarium up. One other guy from the peloton bridged to me at the start of the climb and we set 2 of the 3 fastest times on the Coot-Tha front segment for the day. He had a bit more in the tank across the top and dropped me. I descended cautiously down the backside of Coot-Tha with wet roads and slower people strewn all over the road. On a dry day I would’ve been aggressive on the descent, but I know it doesn’t take much to go down on wet roads and it’s not worth the risk. A group of 4 bombed the descent and caught me by the bottom of Coot-Tha. I couldn’t believe how fast they were travelling for the conditions. No regrets for descending cautiously as the guy that did drop me across the top got caught on the flat too. I saw another group with Tim Durkin not far behind at the first U-turn after Coot-Tha. Eventually we merged and then we also merged with a 35-39 group ahead of us to make a peloton of about 30 across both age groups. I tried with a couple of others to make a break around the airport turnaround, but the peloton wasn’t letting us get away. We got soaked around the airport which was quite good as I really needed to go to the toilet without stopping. I tried again to make a solo break on kingsford smith and lasted a few km out front but was caught on the ICB. The group had some strong riders controlling the front and the roads were too flat for any ad hoc breaks to get away. The end of the race was very anti climatic. We rolled through a tunnel and without warning we crossed a finish line and were waved to slow down. That was it. No breakaways. No jostling for position. No sprint (not that I have one anyway). I finished in the lead bunch with 2:55 and was happy I fired a few shots and had good legs throughout, but the end was disappointing.
I thought the start from Queen’s wharf was safer with less city streets to navigate and Southbank was a much better post-race location but it was to the detriment of the race dynamics and finish line. It was a gran fondo though, mass participation being its core value and to that the TdB achieved, but as a race it was unsatisfying.
SCCC Women's Tour
By Bea Wall
I had a great experience at the Sunny Coast Women's Tour, mainly because of the female support and friendship vibes that were there from Stage 1. Participating in women-only events is amazing, but also, seeing so many girls from BNECC was such a great feeling—it made me feel like I truly belonged, even though I've only been racing for four months.
Coming from a triathlon background put me in a good position for the Prologue and Hill Climb, but the Crit was so hard! I've raced at Lakeside, Muzz, Ipswich, and Nundah, and none of those crits felt as tough as Skippy Park. The lack of opportunities to swap places, move around, or attack definitely taught me a few things that day.
When I started the Road Race on Sunday, I was super nervous and upset with myself at the same time because I was putting a fair bit of pressure on my results. However, the way all the girls worked together in that race was outstanding. Soon, the nerves went away, and I realised I was just surrounded by friends. Special mention to the best team player, Alison Sullivan, for calming me down after the hill climb and for being an amazing lead-out so I could get the best result for the club!
The whole weekend was a vibe and taught me so much—not just about the sport. It was fabulous to watch everyone race their hearts out. Super inspiring to keep giving your best! And what's even better—many girls racing for other clubs joined BNECC after the weekend because we definitely had a massive contingent supporting each other. Yay the Girls!!!
Sign up for Balmoral Women's Tour ladies!!!