A packed back-to-back schedule meant things quickly went pear shaped when a JW15 rider had a very serious accident on the final corner. No event medic on site (why not!?), 30mins for an ambulance from Bendigo (!!). Chopper soon at the local oval for transport to the Royal Childrens. In a separate incident, a lady dislocated her hip on the footpath and none of the three ambulances 100m away could respond to her due to some scheduling/job assignment/lock up/whofcukingknows.
For my event, there were 4 MMAS1 starters and 9 in MMAS2. Both M1/2 were combined but according to CV/CA Tech Reg 3.30.03 - When three or more competitors have entered an individual or teams championships the medallions shall be awarded as follows. 1st Gold, 2nd Silver, 3rd Bronze. We'd have a race within a race, right? Womens Masters was a mass start due to low numbers, and we'd just seen medals awarded to all represented age groups (10 riders, 5 age groups). But there was a twist for us.... It was pre-determined that M1/2 were racing for one set of medals, what? Disregarding their own governing rules? Inconsistent much? As riders we're accountable when we break the rules. Who is accountable here?
aaaannnddddd to the race... A midget crit, 16.7km. 25mins. Maybe they'll run the other half of the crit championships at a later date? Even our weekly summer Kew crits are 45-50mins long, on a tougher course. #1 on my back. Marked. Attack. Marked. Attack. Marked. Solo off for a few laps. Pulled back. The guys who came across dagged half the field, nice one! Attack. Marked. Attack... that's about it. Near bell lap two riders bridged back across to our front group and latched onto the back straight surge on the final lap. I missed an ideal launch spot and was 4th wheel into the final corner. Woolcock (HCC) was first around the bend, the rider on his wheel screwed the pooch and ended up in the fence, this allowed Woolcock to gain a few lengths as Robert Reid (3rd wheel into the corner) and I tried not to molest that invisible terrier too. Woolcock took the win by a few lengths. A deserved win with precision positioning tactics. Damn trackies! Reid was 2nd by a wheel, me in 3rd. The race was over way too quick. Getting '3', '2', then bell lap is the usual protocol for crits too. 50-60mins and 3-2-bell was good enough for the main events later in the day, not us?
Cycling Victoria and host club Castlemaine CC will probably claim a successful day of racing. It wasn't too bad, a fast race, a good hit-out. In my opinion, (yeah, hold on) in no way was it up to the standards I'd expect for a state level championship. Course safety issues, no medics, inconsistent medals, short races cut even shorter, two races at once on a 700m circuit (MMAS3 were on course with us)..... we were all a little let down on the day. I appreciate those who give their time to make these events happen, but there were just too many age groups to cater for. CCCC, StKilda, Hawthorn, Coburg, all run crits like clockwork all summer long. I hope next year we see the championships hosted by one of these clubs on a safe course we race all summer long...
Whining tales aside, thoughts are with the JW15 rider who fell today, her family, friends, and those who attended to her.
Results MMAS1/2
1st Cam Woolcock (ABOC/HCC) MMAS2
2nd Robert Reid (Latrobe City CC) MMAS2
3rd Shane Miller (Kosdown/HCC) MMAS1
4th Shannon Johnson (Bike'n'Bean/Preston CC) MMAS1
Update Tuesday 12th April: The official results initially omitted MMAS1. Cycling Victoria noted this and were on the case resolving the issue. Daniel from CV called me up today and apologised for the mistakes about the medal assignments and they would recall them and correctly issue MMAS1 and MMAS2 medals separately. Two hours later I had the MMAS1 Gold medal, but more importantly the state title.
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| The finish. |
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| Totally won the sock height championships. |
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