Dear Canberra Cycling Club Members
Hello and welcome to the first of my, quite possibly irregular, updates. I wanted to write to the CCC membership to introduce myself to new members, reacquaint myself with old members (or long term rather than old) and let everyone know what the Club Committee has been up to recently.
The road season is now well and truly underway with Club members travelling far and wide over the last few weeks. Early April saw the very popular Blayney to Bathurst weekend with a few club riders taking part in the Saturday criteriums and then many more taking on the main event on the Sunday.
CCC was represented by 30 juniors at the Wagga Wagga Junior Tour on the weekend of April 26 & 27 with some great results from all age groups. This was the first time many of the riders had been to such a large event and it was a great learning experience for all of them. I would like to thank Chris Beitzel for all the hard work he has put into the club’s junior development over the last 2 years or so. This huge turnout is a testament to his efforts. Thanks Chris.
This weekend coming we have the Peter Blackshaw Junior & Women’s Tour here in Canberra as well as the Cootamundra Haycarters Handicap and Recovery racing which is always well attended by Canberra riders.
Have you been away racing? Send me details of your travels so we know what you have been up to.
Club Road racing has been held regularly with round 6 of the revamped calendar held in arctic conditions on Saturday. Thank you to all the riders who have come out to support local club racing, and also to the volunteers who have committed their time to ensuring the racing can happen in a safe environment
Without volunteers, there would be no racing. If you can help out on any of the upcoming rounds please get in contact with me. In particular we need 4 people to help with Round 8 on May 24th. Why not get together with a few team mates and make it a team bonding experience!
The requirement for the club to use professional traffic controllers is still in place which has resulted in club road races running at a financial loss. The club will not lose its commitment to provide club level racing for our members and we continue to seek a better resolution. I have attended several meetings over the last few weeks with the relevant ACT Government agencies and things are starting to look a little more positive. I will keep you updated.
It is great to have the refurbished Narabundah Velodrome open again. Our Autumn track series has been hampered somewhat by the rain but a couple of successful Saturday afternoon meets have been run. Track racing continues through until the end of May, with the exception of this coming weekend when we take a break to help with the running of the Junior & Women’s Tour.
We are looking to host a Women’s 100 ride on July 20th in conjunction with the global event that is happening on that day. Stay tuned for further details.
Finally, the date for this year’s Ball has been set for November 14th and will once again be at the National Press Club. So save the date and start thinking about what to wear!
I am always keen to hear from club members about the type of racing they would like to see, training programs that could be run, or any other cycling related matter.
Cheers
Stuart Jones
President
Canberra Cycling Club