Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
Newsletter
President: Don Turner
Issue 03/15
Phillip Island
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www.islandbug.info
Secretary: Ron Hateley
1st March 2015
Anna Meares wins her 11th World Gold Medal
Australian Anna Meares set a new record haul of gold medals by
winning the women's keirin title at the World Track Cycling
Championships on Monday (AEDT).
The 31-year-old won her 11th gold to take her clear of the women's
mark she previously shared with Frenchwoman Felicia Ballanger.
The gold, along with earlier silver and bronze medals, also took
Meares' career tally to 26 world track title medals to surpass previous
record-holder, Briton Chris Hoy.
France's Arnaud Tournant remains the overall record-holder at the
world track titles with 14 gold medals.
On the final night of competition in Paris, Meares was joined by
team-mate Annette Edmondson, who won the women's omnium title.
"I had a dream before the Paris worlds were announced that the world
titles were in France, that I got to win my 11th world title, and that I
got to meet Felicia Ballanger," said Meares.
"Two of those have happened - I still haven't met the great woman but
there's still time."
Coach Gary Sutton said the Olympic sprint champion was an example
to all in the sport.
"What an absolute gem! She's been an absolute role model for our
girls and a role model for the sport to be honest with you. And
certainly one of the greats," he said.
Meares said winning a record 11th crown topped even her two
Olympic titles.
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
Page 2
Ride 2 School Day
(A Plea from Secretary Ron)
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Friday the 13th of March is National Ride 2 School day and we
have been requested by Cowes and Newhaven Primary Schools to
provide assistance by way of Marshalls to get the kids to school
safely. The Marshals will start at the following points and ride to
school with the kids, collecting others along the way. It would be
best if we could have 2 at every point.
Sunderland Bay
Wimbledon Heights
Silverleaves
Cowes..................
(1) Corner of Justice Rd & Church St
(2) Corner of Red Rocks & Settlement Roads
(3) Shearwater Estate at Golf Club
And anywhere else the school wants us.
Your reward for suffering this trying ordeal will be a free cup of
coffee/tea and the pleasure of seeing kids riding bicycles (safely)
ALSO
Newhaven P.S will be doing their Ride 2 School day on Tuesday
9th March and require 2 Marshalls at Cape Woolamai
Volunteers please advise me of your availability ASAP
Your Newsletter
Readers may note this newsletter could be construed as biased
towards the ladies. That is because they have performed
outstandingly. Check out the world championships, gold medals –
men, nil – ladies, heaps. Also Anna Meares for her 11th gold medal
at the Worlds. We may all remember Anna won a silver medal in
2008 at the Beijing Olympics having arrived home from LA 7
months earlier with a broken neck, in a cast and in a wheelchair.
The men were unlucky in the team pursuit and were a strong
contender to take the gold but ill-fortune hit in a big way. They
eventually had to settle for third
The other ladies’ achievement has to be “Everesting”. What is
Everesting you may ask. Simple, it requires climbing Mt Donna
Buang 8.2 times to achieve a climb height equal to the height of Mt
Everest To do this requires a distance of 250k and done in the one
day. I couldn’t do it a year as 1 climb would be enough, and that is
if I could make it.
Congratulations ladies, you have shown us blokes how it should be
done or how it can be done.
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
Page 3
Back On the bike
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After a number of weeks off the bike due various problems Deb is
back pedalling. For her first ride she chose the above area in Ankor
Watt, Cambodia
Great Ocean Road Away Trip
Its all happening, everything is in place for a great trip away.
Dates are: Mon 23rd Mar to Fri 27th Mar
Mon: Train to Warnambool departs Southern Cross 1.00pm
Tue: Warnambool to Port Campbell - 66k
Wed: Port Campbell to Apollo Bay - 96k
Thur: Apollo to Anglesea - 74k
Fri: Anglesea to Geelong - 38k -Train home
Total distance – 274k
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
Page 4
Great Southern keeps rolling out
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February 9 2015. The Great Southern Rail Trail is one step closer
to joining Victoria’s list of premium rail trails, with the latest
extension opened at the weekend.
With works on the trail extension from Toora to Welshpool
concluding this month bike riders only have to wait until the end of
the year to ride a continuous 74km trail from Leongatha to
Port Welshpool. Late last year the Government provided funding to
complete the missing link between Koonwarra and Meeniyan – a
long term priority of Bicycle Network.
Works on this section, known as South Gippsland’s ‘Black Spur’,
are expected to wrap up before the year’s end.
An upgrade of the existing shared path between Welshpool and
Port Welshpool is also due to be completed by the end of the year.
Compared to other multi-day rail trails in Victoria, Leongatha the
starting point of the trail, is particularly close to a large population
based in Melbourne’s south east.
Next summer holiday season South Gippsland should expect a
bump in visitor numbers.
The work of South Gippsland Shire on the Great Southern Rail
Trail is almost up with only a further 6km of the rail trail alignment
left within its border.
The baton now rests with Wellington Shire, who together with the
Andrews Labor Government should build the rail trail the
remaining 20km to link the Great Southern Trail to Port Albert and
the 5.6km Tarra Trail to Yarram.
On Saturday the 7th of February Bicycle Network joined the Great
Southern Rail Trail Committee and South Gippsland Shire in
Toora and Welshpool to celebrate the opening of the extension.
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
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One for the Weather Watchers
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This is the radar picture of Cyclone Marcia as it headed
towards Yeppoon on the Queensland Coast
(You can see why the centre is known as the “eye”)
Cycling was not recommended during the cyclone
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
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WHITE HOT – AUSTRALIA'S FEMALE TEAM PURSUIT
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Australian track cycling quartet Melissa Hoskins, Annette Edmonson,
Amy Cure and Ashlee Ankudinoff have obliterated the world record for
the 4000m team pursuit, with a time of 4 minutes 13.683 seconds.
Slashing nearly three seconds off the previous benchmark, the Australians
claimed world champion status in Paris on Friday morning (Melbourne
time) in stunning fashion.
The result came after the team improved on a national benchmark in
qualifying on Thursday. The team proceeded to blow reigning Olympic
champions Great Britain away in the final.
Riding at 56.763km/h on average, Hoskins, Edmonson, Cure and
Ankudinoff led at every 1000m split and held world record pace
throughout.
The previous world record over the distance was 4 minutes 16.552, set by
Great Britain at a world cup meet in Mexico in December 2013. But on
Friday morning (Australian time), three of the British riders involved in
that feat - Joanna Rowsell, Elinor Barker, Katie Archibald - had to settle
for the silver.
Laura Trott completed the British quartet racing in Paris where they
managed a time +2.991 seconds slower than the Australians.
A British female pursuit team had not previously been beaten over 4000m
in a competition of note.
Canada, third at the 2012 London Olympics, took bronze.
As Australia's male pursuiters have dominated competition in recent
years, their female counterparts have medalled in the discipline in the last
six world championship meets but have not been number one since 2010.
The women's success this week came after the Australian male pursuit
team suffered terrible luck on the first day of competition in Paris. Two
mechanical failures and a fall spoiled the men's chances of going for gold.
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
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Australia will not defend the men's team pursuit title at the track
cycling world championships after a freak accident in the opening
qualifying round in Paris.
In a bizarre incident on Thursday morning (AEDT) only Jack Bobridge
avoided trouble after Luke Davison's right crank broke off his bike on the
very first bend. A small axle bolt had failed.
Alex Edmondson then immediately suffered a rear puncture before
Mitchell Mulhern crashed over the top of him.
Australia was allowed a restart after a break to repair the bikes but could
only post the fifth fastest qualifying time.That means the two-time
defending champions will miss out racing for a spot in the gold-medal
final on Friday morning (AEDT).
National endurance coach Tim Decker says there is no doubt the crash
had an impact on the team's time of 3 minutes, 58.9 seconds - but he did
not want to make too many excuses. "It's pretty gut-wrenching to see all
that unfold," he said, adding it was always going to be very hard for the
riders to regroup for the restart. "They ran off adrenaline (early), you
could see that in the first three kilometres, because they were the fastest.
But it's really hard to control and it just got to them in the end.
"Our aim now will be to try and collect that bronze medal and try and ride
the fastest time of the championships to see if we can show that we
possibly could have made it to that gold-medal ride."
Australia has won four of the past five men's team pursuit titles.
Nevertheless, Bobridge, back in the national track squad after spending
the past few years focused on the road, was philosophical about the result.
The 4000m individual pursuit world-record holder said it was better to
have a mechanical failure now rather than during the Rio Olympics in
August 2016. "It's what happens, a bit of bad luck at the start, a bit of a
mishap, but we have to be ready for these things," the 25-year-old said.
"It didn't go our way today but we're in France, not in Rio, which is our
big objective. Bobridge said the team would now focus on winning bronze
with a fast time. "We can just show that we can ride the fastest time that's the only thing we can do."
New Zealand set the fastest qualifying time of 3:56.42 and will ride
against Switzerland for a place in the gold medal final.
The winner will meet either Great Britain or Germany.
Luke Davison’s
right crank and
chain wheel
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
Page 8
Another World Champion
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AUSTRALIAN Rebecca Wiasak quashed the disappointment of
missing team pursuit glory in emphatic fashion by stunning the
field to win gold in the women’s individual pursuit at the world
championships in Paris this morning.
At 30, Wiasak is the oldest ever world championship debutant for
Australia after making the switch to cycling from a triathlon and
running career in 2010 and joining the national program in 2013.
After being overlooked for a ride in the team pursuit yesterday,
Wiasak stood on the inside of the velodrome and screamed for her
teammates who set a world record on their way to a gold medal and
admitted she fought back tears watching them make history.
This morning however Wiasak went it alone and was the fastest
qualifier for the 3km race against the clock by more than two
seconds and took 0.6 of a second off the Australian record held by
Katie Mactier since Athens in 2004 with a time of 3:27.018.
Then in the biggest race of her life in the ride for gold against
American Jennifer Valente, Wiasak simply had too much power
and stormed to victory in 3:30.305.
In a solid result for Australia, Amy Cure backed up less than 24
hours after winning team pursuit gold to claim the bronze medal by
winning her ride against Great Britain’s Joanna Rowsell in the time
of 3:32.907.
“This is my first world championships, I’ve never won a national
championship, so it’s fantastic to get a world title,” Wiasak said.
“I missed out on a ride in the teams pursuit yesterday so it was very
emotional watching my teammates win gold, I was so happy for
them and they definitely inspired me tonight.
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
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And Another World Champion
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AUSTRALIAN track cyclist Annette Edmondson last night won
her second gold medal at the world championships in Paris with
a dominant final-day display in the multi-discipline omnium.
Edmondson won gold with a total of 192 points ahead of Britain’s
reigning Olympic champion Laura Trott (176 points) and Dutch
rider Kirsten Wild (175).
The 22-year-old’s first individual world title came three days after
she won gold in the women’s team pursuit with Ashlee Ankudinoff,
Amy Cure and Melissa Hoskins when Australia obliterated the
world record.
Edmondson, third in the omnium in 2014, went into the final 25kilometre points race leading Trott — who was part of the British
quartet that claimed silver in the team pursuit behind Australia —
by 14 points.
Belgium Jolien D’hoore was a further four points back in third. The
Australian inched further clear in the second sprint before Trott hit
back mid-race.
But Edmondson then put the omnium beyond doubt by winning the
seventh and eighth of 10 sprints in the final 100-lap race.
She’d actually done most of the hard work earlier yesterday by
winning both the 500m time trial and flying lap.
On Saturday the South Australian was consistent, coming fifth in
the opening 10km scratch race, second in the 3km individual pursuit
and seventh in the elimination race.
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
Page 10
Twenty women cycle the height of Everest on Mt Donna Buang
by Simone Giuliani
February 11, 2015
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At midnight 22 women stood at the bottom of Mt Donna Buang near
Melbourne in the light of the moon, steeling themselves for the many
hours of pain ahead. They were about to spend nearly all of Saturday in an
8,848 metre high battle with their legs, lungs and minds.
The aim for each one of them was to complete an Everesting, which
involves cycling multiple laps of one climb to achieve a vertical ascent
equal to the height of the world’s tallest mountain. But this was also about
much more than individual goals. The plan was to inspire other women by
pulling together the biggest mass Everesting attempt since Hells
500 launched the extreme climbing challenge nearly a year ago.
The attempt started as soon as the clock ticked over to Saturday. Twentytwo women rolled onto the slopes of Mt Donna Buang in the middle of a
still night with clear skies, a generous dose of moonlight and a mild
temperature. Fortunately the 1,245metre high mountain, which is the
birthplace of Everesting, had not turned on one of its renowned cold snaps
that night.
It was the perfect start for many. They caught glimpses of city lights and
twinkling stars through gaps in the forest on the 17 kilometre long ascent
and then focussed on safely winding their way back down the mountain
with just the beam of a headlight to show the way.
“I loved it. It was clear and I had great lights and it was a new experience
for me. I was just running on adrenaline for those three descents in the
dark,” said Katya Crema, an Olympic skier who started riding her bike as
cross-training.
But for others the start wasn’t so smooth. The mountain sits in a national
park heavily populated with wildlife, so startled wallabies, wombats and
birds at times emerged onto the road. The usually appealing sight of
native animals peering out from the thick undergrowth became unnerving
as they darted out into the thin beams of the headlights. One rider had to
dust herself off after falling because of a close encounter with a wombat.
By the time the sun started to rise and most of Melbourne’s cyclists were
thinking about setting out on their rides most of the women had already
climbed over 3,000 metres. They had three of the required 8.2 laps ticked
off.
The morning light delivered quicker descents, views over the Yarra
Ranges national park and a continuing flow of new support riders, but
even in the middle of the night the women didn’t have to tackle the
mountain alone. Friends, family and experienced Everesters all came out
to keep the spirits of the cyclists high as they worked their way up and
down the climb, which has an average gradient of 6.4 percent.
“I haven’t seen that sort of positive energy around an endurance event like
this before. That’s directly down to this incredible community that just
came out to support them through lap after lap,” said CyclingTips
Business Development Manager and Hells 500 founder Andy van Bergen,
who organised the event.
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
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Those keen to come out and cheer the women on went far beyond those
who knew the riders. Pro-cyclists sent messages, locals waved in
encouragement as they drove by and hundreds of men and women drove
hours to get out and ride with them.
“I came out today to support the individuals Everesting but also to support
women’s riding and the fact that women can get out there and do this epic
amazing thing,” said Shari Aubrey, who joined a support ride organised
by Domestique.
As morning turned to afternoon most of the riders were either on or soon
to start their sixth lap. This was the point when many said the lack of
sleep, the pain and the continued effort really started to weigh heavily. A
little rain also began to fall, resulting in slower descents because of the
wet roads. For some of the women it was time to take a longer break or to
slow down, one had to make the tough decision to withdraw but others
somehow managed to just keep going at the same pace.
It was the ability to keep the speed up that meant it was only 17 hours into
the mass attempt when Prita Jobling-Parker became the first rider to mark
on the lap sign off board that she had completed the challenge and her day
on the bike was over. She did it with a smile on her face and the energy to
lift up one of her young sons as her family came to congratulate her at the
finish.
“I’m so elated,” said Jobling-Baker. “I love this mountain. It is quite
special to me because it was my first big climb when I started road
cycling and it seemed so hard … I never would have done this alone.”
“It was actually hard from lap two and I said to myself well it doesn’t get
less hard if you go slowly so you might as well just keep going fast.” Her
last lap, was in fact her fastest of the day. She finished just before 5 pm.
From then a trickle of smiling riders started signing off that they had
completed their final climb, most with a surprising degree of bounce in
their step as the adrenaline and relief of having achieved a climb of 8,848
metres momentarily pushed the aches and pains aside.
Some also took the extreme challenge even further, targeting 10,000
metres of climbing. Gaye Bourke, who has now completed five successful
Everestings and two of 10,000 metres, was one of these.
“It is just fantastic when you achieve something you have set out to do so
it’s a huge buzz. It has been a wonderful day because … all the women
out there have just been inspiring to watch,” said Bourke, who was
managing to smile contentedly even as she eased her clearly aching body
down to the ground to take a seat.
“Everyone has been so positive, everyone has been focussed but really
upbeat and determined, really really determined. The people still out there
now, they have been out there since midnight. It’s a long time but people
are still focussed and they are still smiling. It’s great.”
As Bourke and the other earlier finishers headed off for a well-earned rest
some of those still out on the mountain were able to muster a smile and
keep pedalling strongly, knowing their target was nearly within grasp.
Others, though, were now hunched over the handle bars. As they
approached the top of the climb they wore that vacant look in the eyes that
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
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comes when there is so little energy left that all that seems to exist is the
few metres of road ahead and the next couple of pedal strokes
For some the thought of pushing their bodies any further after having
already racked up so many thousands of metres of climbing was starting
to look an impossible task.
“Post 8,000 metres I was struggling. I think I was completely delirious. I
couldn’t even lift my arms to my face to lift my sunnies off,” said Anna
Thompson, the co-founder of women’s cycling clothing group Fondo.
Thomson was five kilometres from the top of Mt Donna Buang on her
eighth lap when she got off the bike exhausted. To complete the challenge
she needed to finish that climb, descend and then face up to another few
kilometres of ascent to complete the distance. She managed to convince
herself that she could get back on the bike with the encouragement of
other riders, her friends and her husband.
“I was ready to pull the pin but once I decided to keep going I think I did
that last five kilometres (of the climb) quicker than I had done it on any of
the others. I got to the top and just kept saying to myself you can do this,
you can do this.”
And she did. When Thompson finished it was well and truly dark and
about 21 hours had passed since the start. Others were still out there
continuing their long day in the saddle. It was around 23 hours in to the
challenge when the final rider completed the 8,848 metres and 24 hours
had gone by before the last rider called it quits on her monumental
Everesting attempt.
In the end 20 women successfully completed the challenge, with three
taking the extra step and ascending 10,000 metres. The two who didn’t
make the 8,848 metres still racked up an admirable total of more than
6,000 metres of climbing each. Each of the finishers cycled more than 250
kilometres and combined the 22 women ascended more than 190
kilometres. The success rate was way beyond expectations as it is usually
closer to 50%, said van Bergen.
In just one day the number of women entitled to a place in the Everesting
hall of fame list nearly tripled.
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
Page 13
Bike Ed Instructors Course
The Bass Coast Road Safety Committee has funding for
another Bike Ed Instructors’ Course. The course is fully
funded for approx. 15 applicants.
When: Monday April 27 and Tuesday April 28.
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Where:
Bass Valley Primary School
What:
2-day course (New applicants)
Half-day course (Re-registration)
Who:
Teachers, ESS Staff, Parents, Volunteers.
How:
Register with the Cycling Safe Web-site at
www.cyclingsafe.com.au click on Course
Registration. Under Organisation, enter your
school and Bass Coast Road Safety C’tee.
Then contact me to ensure you are fully funded. First-come
first-served.
Don Turner
Road Safety Committee
Ph 0409 856 053
Phillip Island BUG (Bicycle Users Group)
Page 14
Ride Calendar for March 2015
Sun 1st Mar
Wed 4th Mar
Sun 8th Mar
Wed 11th Mar
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Sun 15th Mar
Wed 18th Mar
Sun 22nd Mar
Mon 23rd Mar
Tue 24th Mar
Wed25th Mar
Wed 25th Mar
Thur 26th Mar
Fri 27th Mar
Sun 29th Mar
Wed 1st Apr
Start: A Maze’N Things 10.00am
Casual Sunday ride to Big Wave for coffee and
debrief on Avalon Air Display
Start: A Maze’N Things 10.00am
Nobbies via Gap Rd and Ventnor Beach Rd
Coffee at the Nobbies
Road bike 30k
Start: Inverloch Cuttriss St near Holiday Park
Inverloch, Koonwarra, Outrim, Inverloch
Early lunch at Koonwarra
Road Bike 64k
Start: A Maze’N Things 10.00am
Tour de San Remo
Coffee at the Big Wave
Road bike 20k
Start: A Maze’N Things 10.00am
Casual Sunday ride to OzBikes for coffee
Start: A Maze’N Things 10.00am
The Rhyll Circuit
Coffee at the coffee shop in Rhyll, if open,
otherwise OzBikes
Start: A Maze’N Things 10.00am
Casual Sunday ride to Big Wave for coffee
Day 1 of Great Ocean Road Away Trip
Day 2 of Great Ocean Road Away Trip
Day 3 of Great Ocean Road Away Trip
Start: A Maze’N Things 10.00am
Churchill Island
Of road bike 24k
Day 4 of Great Ocean Road Away Trip
Final Day of Great Ocean Road Away Trip
Start: A Maze’N Things 10:00am
Casual Sunday ride to OzBikes for coffee
Start: A Maze’N Things 10.00am
Smith’s Beach circuit
Coffee at Smith’s Beach General Store
Road Bike 20k