CMC Race report for Opening Day 11 February 2017 at Ramarama

Mike Giddey, Club President here – I wanted to do some announcements at morning tea after Saturday’s race but riders weren’t too keen to gather back in the hall so here goes in print. I’ll give the first words to our Club Captains:

Firstly Alice Chaplin, Ladies Club Captain

Hi all,

I thought it was a great opening day, fantastic to see so many riders. There were many familiar faces but perhaps most pleasing was to see so many either returning to CMC races after a long gap and those giving club racing a go for the first time. It was fantastic weather & racing conditions which definitely helped. C grade which I raced in was generally not too bad in terms of etiquette & racing incidents. I do think that the idea of grade captains is good - we need to self police as too many people try & cut up the outside over the wrong side of the road, sometime at huge risk to themselves & the bunch. From what I've heard the crash in B grade was caused by someone going up a non-existent gap on the inside. D grade was won by Jef doing his 1st CMC race, going solo from the hill. Fantastic - great to see positive racing, rather than sitting in for a bunch sprint. I think we could perhaps improve the briefing? It was hard to hear, maybe we get everyone to line up closer together in the grades & use a megaphone? I thought the cones at the finish were well placed, they forced people to not cross the white line.

Alice.

Secondly Graeme Blackwood, Mens Club Captain

As Club Captain it was great to see so many riders participating. I would like to welcome all new members to the club and I will endeavour to welcome you personally at the next event. Going by the fact that I received no complaints I assume everything went well. Look forward to seeing you all again at Ararimu.

Whilst in the heat of battle during an event it is often difficult to remain aware of the road rules. However, we need to remain safe and remind offenders they risk all riders not having an event in the future.  I did receive a call from a police officer on his way to work about riders over the centre line on a blind corner! In this instance he agreed to take it no further. So please remind each other if you see rules being broken for the good of the collective.

Thought it might be worth a quick mention - Cliff Olsen on his 2nd lap stopped and helped Ellie Parry repair her puncture then out the back came across Ruth Whitley and Sophie Hamer, two social grade women, unable to repair Ruth’s puncture and helped them out as well. Not sure what the award could be called – Legend Cliff J.

Graeme.

And now the announcements from me:

• The Committee has 3 vacancies – talk to me if you’re keen to be co-opted.
• Thanks to the riders for coming out in great numbers – over 150 starters and over 140 finishers – not sure when last we did that in a Club race.
• As Alice mentioned we are going to institute a system of having Grade Captains in each race – call them policemen/women – from next race.
• Please try and enter the race via the CMC website as early as possible – we will probably close entries on Thursday night to give Claire a chance to prepare start sheets, timing chips etc. At present entry fees are the same as in 2016 but with traffic management costs having risen significantly we will have to review them. We are also looking for sponsorship to help cover the increases – if you know of potential sponsors that we could approach please let either myself or Graeme Blackwood know.
• The results were up on the website before Claire got back to the hall on Saturday – another Legend ClaireJ. Well done to all finishers – as in 2016 we will be running Points Competitions this year in each grade – CMC members will earn points - 10 for a win down to 2 for ninth place and 1 point for all other finishers – and at the end of the season prize money will be paid out. We will endeavour to put progress reports of the Points Competitions on the website during the season.
• Cycling New Zealand licences are due – UCI (the world cycling body) and Cycling NZ require all riders in races run by registered clubs to be members of the national federation – you have to be a member to participate. If you have never had a licence you may ride un-licensed twice before you need to get a licence. In 2017 the Adult licence costs $130 of which CMC gets $30, Auckland Centre gets $35 but pays us back about $4,000 pa to cover some of our costs, and Cycling NZ gets $65. Licences need to be obtained through the Cycling NZ website and you nominate CMC as your Club.
• Communications – we are doing our best to improve and promote club racing in Auckland by all the social media at our disposal but please be aware that everyone on the committee is a volunteer with a day job and a family life to try and balanceJ.
• Club 50 – I will do a separate E:News and Facebook posting about the Club 50 but for those in the know if you would like to reserve your lucky number(s) for 2017 please email me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
• The next race is from the Ararimu Hall in Steel Road on 25 February and entries are open – after that is the Bruce Kent Open memorial race at Karaka on 11 March – the event will open on the website shortly. The 2017 race calendar is on the CMC website.

Take care out there all,

Mike Giddey.