Canberra Cycling Club
Author: CCC President Steve Crispin
2022 was a great year for CCC, with a strong return to regular racing once all the COVID restrictions endured in the previous 2 years lifted and we were able to plan ahead with confidence in the events running. We celebrated numerous Australian Champion and national podium performances across the board, from juniors, through U19 and U23’s, to Elites and Masters, and we were proud to have another two of our up and coming riders receive professional contracts with Pro Tour Development Squad teams.
Locally, we benefited from the collective work of our committee and volunteers, without whom racing would not be possible. We said goodbye to a couple of invaluable committee members in Tristan Dimmock and Trish Ellis who remain in our community, but step back from formal responsibilities.
We also worked hand in hand with our sister club – Vikings – to deliver great programs beyond just racing bikes, with various junior and development program responsibilities being shared between the two clubs.
Our new automated system for entries and results – carefully overseen by our hardworking club secretary Rainer Wilton – has become more streamlined and has had more of the minor bugs worked through. Our club administration is far more sophisticated than ever, and simplifies the process for future succession of responsibilities and roles.
It is from this platform that I am keen to share my vision for 2023, having taken on the role of president in October.
To begin with, we are keen to see racing participation increase this year now that the security of our calendar is standing on more solid ground. I am delighted to announce that our road season sponsor from 2022 – Alivio Tourist Park – have signed on for a second year of support, underwriting our road season and offsetting the increasing costs associated with running races on our territory’s roads. It has been a fruitful relationship, and I look forward to working with them again in 2023.
While I cannot take credit for the initiative, I am keen to see the junior participation at our road events increase, giving our up and comers more road racing experience where roads enable safe running of events. The 2022 trial of running concurrent Junior events was very successful and saw consistent participation.
I would also like to see women’s participation increase in our activities. We have some excellent programs running to encourage participation from juniors through to newcomers and through to seasoned riders, and we have seen some growth in numbers in 2022. An area of focus will be to try and coordinate the various programs to operate together under a broader umbrella of women’s cycling, and to encourage more community discussion between various stakeholders and participants. We will also be implementing Women’s specific grades in some of our larger races in 2023, continuing on the work of offering specific opportunities in our criterium season.
Finally, one of the things that has been discussed fairly regularly over the past few years I have been on the committee for has been the absence of larger race events that encourage interstate riders. On this front, I am pleased to announce that this year we will be organising and promoting some larger events, and targeting NSW riders to get more involvement locally. This will likely mean an increase in our requests for volunteers over a couple of events, but I feel the net benefit will be substantial.
Firstly, the Uriarra Roubaix has evolved into the Hayman Classic, with CCC stalwart Matt Hayman agreeing to lend his name to the new course and event. The new event, which is in the final stages of planning, will be included in the AusCycling NSW/ ACT State Open series, and serves as the season opener, which is very exciting.
The new course is likely to start at Uriarra Crossing, before climbing up Fairlight Road and turning left onto Mountain Creek Rd and again onto Uriarra Road before returning to the start line to complete the lap. We will be running womens and mens grades for this race, and we’re expecting some serious interstate interest.
Secondly, the Iron Mike classic is set to evolve into a 3 stage weekend long event, with a short prologue Time Trial and a Criterium on Saturday, and the Iron Mike course road race on the Sunday. This will hopefully entice some interstate riders to make a weekend of it and develop into a popular event on the calendar going into the future.
As with any community organisation, the club will only be successful if the community is happy with how things are running, so your feedback is important to us. While the past few years have been a little interrupted and difficult, it’s been great to see our community enjoy what we do best. If there’s something you think we could do better, we’d love to hear from you. And as always, if you want to make a difference and contribute more formally, committee members are always welcome. The shared load is not taxing, and our meetings are a satisfying social event.
Finally, 2023 has kicked off to a great start with a couple of new Australian Champions crowned, and a host of podiums and top 5’s achieved. Participation in our Crit series is at a 4 year high, and enthusiasm is palpable. This year is shaping up to be a great one, and I look forward to sharing it with you.
