If you’re planning on heading up to Ballarat this Sunday and haven’t already let Jonathan know you’re coming, please contact him on jprlacey@yahoo.com or 0488 212 880

Daryl Perkins has provided info on getting to Ballarat by train:

Thanks to Gordon Hayes for this fantastic tribute to Doug.

Doug Garley.

I sit at a keyboard located in a back office during a night shift … all in far away West Australia… I am looking at a blurry and ageing image of a young cyclist crossing a finish line.  He is holding his hands high in the air… It is a look back in time …just how far back it is hard to say now … almost 40 years perhaps.

The image is just a fuzzy photo taken years before the photographer had access to a quality camera and still some decades before the digital images that we know today. Yet I close my eyes and see a clearer image… because my image is not of the picture but of the actual moment. Yes I was there on that day so very long ago now … and just a kid myself as I watched in awe of this young sporting superstar… The fuzzy image is a 16 year old Doug Garley.  Doug Garley circa 1971, fresh out of the under-16 ranks, and this “kid” had just knocked off top senior riders like Gary Fromhold and Lenny Hammond, not to mention similar-age superstar and future legend David Allan.

To anyone reading today, these names will be meaningless… But perhaps a year before the photo was taken, the then 15-year-old Doug Garley  was already making a hell of a big impression… not necessarily  with race wins but with consistent rides in the under 16 scratch bunch, although Doug did not have the big sprint of either the all-time King of the Under 16 era in Chris Boone, or of his top lieutenant David Allan.

Doug was the guy both Boone and Allan recognized as “scary” strong.  And neither one of the “Chris an’ Dumps*” race winning juggernaut ever discounted Doug Garley, particularly around Blackburn’s tough and punishing Wandin North circuit.

And I reckon Chris Boone could still tell a few stories of Doug’s flashes of brilliance.

I have great memories of the Blackburn Cycling Club’s under 16 super era… riders like Chris Boone, David Allan, Doug Garley, Ken Boyer, Alan Peoples, Colin Lane… all just brilliant young riders.   And all of them could blitz that Wandin North circuit, mostly choosing to ride the single-gear 81-inch limit of the day.

When Chris, David and Doug reached in turn their 16^th birthdays, they, although still juniors (as under 18 year olds) were nonetheless immediately required to race in with the senior riders.  With the single restricted gears just a memory, it was the mark of their ability that they all took to the geared machines with results that hallmarked what us younger riders already knew, that they indeed had TRUE athletic brilliance.  Doug, like Chris and David, immediately mixed right in with the top seniors of the day, as evidenced by my brother Malcolm’s picture.

I can only wonder what the seniors felt about the potential of this group of still athletically under-developed yet amazingly gifted “Superkids” who arrived onto their “A” grade podiums.

Despite his great gift … life and youth beckoned, and Doug Garley would drift from the sport … Years later he showed up in a TV ad with a Holden car he had restored. The older Holden car no doubt benefited from Doug’s dedication to the task.  Then some unknown time later, Doug started to turn up at races once again… No such thing as an ex-bike rider, Dad would say.

And as suddenly as he had left the cycling world, Doug Garley, one of the great “Superkids” from years before, was again back in the bunch.

To me Doug never reached his true adult potential.  In my own estimation Doug will always remain a “what if” to the sport. I can see now that during his second visit to the sport, Doug balanced his life between family, work and sport, and like so many others he perhaps never again had either the time to devote to cycling, or that wonderful, carefree, less complex life that his first youth had offered.
Yet still Doug was still a talented “A” grade rider for many more of his racing years…

But standing on that road side so long ago, I was one of the lucky few that saw Doug Garley in the sunrise of a career that could have in another time – like right now 2012… this time – have led him into the teams of Europe and a sporting life of wider fame.  Simply put, Doug Garley had a mountain of potential.

I have always had a great respect for the honest sporting assessment of long time cycling follower Bob Farley… If anyone is in any doubt at all of my estimation of Doug… then by all means check in with Bob Farley… and I have not seen or spoken to Bob Farley for almost 20 years , but I’d still bet that Bob would say the same of Doug.

So there is nothing more that can be said.  If you have a million candles in a room and put out just one, then the room is darker for it… Doug is gone and the world is less for it…

Rest in Peace Doug … For all the years past and all the years to come you, shall always have my utmost respect… as both a super cyclist, and, as testified by all who knew you… a wonderful human being.

Rest in Peace David Allan.

Rest in Peace Colin Lane.

Rest in Peace Doug Garley.

Postscript: “Chris an’ Dumps” – “Dumps” was the childhood nickname of David Allan, and it stuck with him for all of his life.

Not sure if it was Doug’s Mum or Stan Dunton’s Mum who recalled to my Mother at one time about how Doug’s bedroom wardrobe had all his bike clothes hanging up, and all the rest of his clothes on the floor.

Sincere condolences: Gordon Hayes / Perth West Australia.

Steve Gibson gave us a copy of the ‘Racing Details’ page from the July 1971 Australian Cyclist magazine, part of the report by Reg Ball is duplicated below, and references all of the same young riders.

Watched by a crowd estimated at 500 people, 170 riders set off in cold, windy conditions in the Four Club Combine, comprising Blackburn Amateur Club, Carnegie, Mordialloc and Brunswick. The races were the Bob Jane Senior and Junior Road Classic, and the Brendon Edwards Juvenile Fitness Trophy.

Of the 70 Juveniles in A & B Divisions, David Allen, who has been playing second fiddle to Chris Boone and Doug Garley over recent weeks, turned the tables and defeated Garley by 8 seconds in the 13 mile Brendon Edwards Fitness Trophy – ‘A’ Division (in 35 minutes 40 seconds). This prize will enable David to gain physical fitness with the right equipment, and strengthen his wrist which he broke in a fall near the end of track season. Peter de Longville rode well to be placed third.

In the ‘B’ Division of the Juveniles over the same distance of 13 miles, Garry Oates rode well to beat Gordon Hayes and Stephen Gibson. Considering the gusty conditions and the hilly course these youngsters rode an average of just over 20mph to record a good time of 39 minutes 41 seconds.

The men’s team’s race in particular proved to be a brutal war of attrition, with only 31 of the 160 entrants making it to the finish line. The race was brilliantly won by strong man David Kelly (Total Rush), who mastered the conditions to ride away from the select lead group in the closing laps for an impressive solo win.

The wind up from the chasers in the final two laps made some impression on the 20 second lead Kelly had built, but once he cleared the Lukey Heights summit alone on the final lap, his win was all but secured, and he cruised home to a six second win. Brenton Jones, riding for the composite White Team, led the 14 rider chase group home in second place, capping off a good day which saw him also take out the Sprint King competition one point ahead of John West’s James Boal.

Third and fourth went to Hometec duo Vaughan Bowman and Alex Smyth. Bowman was also a clear winner in the King of the Mountains competition, with the bonus seconds he gained vital in securing the all important Team win for Hometec, who along with Search2Retain were the only squads to finish with three riders in the front group.

The B Grade classification was won by the all masters Cycling-Inform squad, who were the only B Grad team to finish 3 riders. Conan Daley, riding for Team Blue, was the first B Grade rider to finish, with Michael Hale (Charter Mason) and Liam Hill (MDF-Seight) rounding out the B Grade podium.

Nicole Whitburn (LIV Giant) dominated the inaugural women’s team’s race, not only taking line honours but also claiming the Sprint and Queen of the Mountain prizes, and helping guarantee the LIV Giant team the team’s prize to boot!

Whitburn and team mate Sarah Riley made the winning move along side Loretta Hanson (Kosdown Blue), Amy Bradley (Total Rush) and Madeleine Pape (SKCC Giant), with the quintet eventually finishing 1’17″ ahead of the chasers.

Full results from team’s races:

Men: http://metarace.com.au/site/road/pigp/men.pdf

Women: http://metarace.com.au/site/road/pigp/women.pdf

Thanks to Leanne Cole for covering the race for us. To see the full gallery of her great photos visit her site at http://www.leannecole.com.au/photocart/index.php?do=photocart&viewGallery=12093

The nasty weather kept numbers very low for the afternoon club racing session, but the tough nuts who made the driver were rewarded with a dry circuit for the afternoon. The wind didn’t slack off however, and only the true hardmen and women survived to contest the wins in their grades.

Big Mark Thompson outlasted Adam Mulford to win A Grade, while the only successful break came in B Grade when local rider Tony Smith led home Jeremy Sawyer, Steve Duggan and Dennis Toce in their four up sprint.

Anthony Wallace won the C Grade bunch kick ahead of Scott Keeble, Jayden Cooper and Cyrus Monk, while Josh Goodall claimed his maiden win in D Grade with a good sprint to see off Adam Jones, Tim Lier and George Sarris with Hannah MacDougall taking the women’s win.

Local youngster Matt Minogue won the E Grade dash, with Tom Jones second and London Paralympic bound Carol Cooke third.

Thanks as always to the volunteers who made the day possible, led by Doug Moody, Frank Cipriano, Ann Johnstone and Brian Reeves for CCCC, and to the Cycling Victoria commissaire’s team under the watchful eye of David Danson.

Thanks to Adrian Vlok for also contributing photos for this report.

Men A&B Grade

• Race distance: 111km
• Race time: 2h46:55
• Average speed of the winner: 39.9 km/h
• Number of starters: 137
• Riders abandoning the race: 101

A Grade Teams

B Grade Teams

KOM Championship

Sprint Championship

Women

• Race distance: 66km
• Race time: 1h50:14
• Average speed of the winner: 36.3 km/h
• Number of starters: 43
• Riders abandoning the race: 3

Womens Teams

KOM Championship

Sprint Championship

If you placed an order you’ll be able to collect it from Mal at Phillip Island on Saturday.

Orders for JDP participants will be collected by Penny and distributed at JDP training next week.

If you’re not coming to Phillip Island, shoot Mal an email or text to arrange collection

mal.sawford@carnegiecycling.com.au or text 0400 644 073

Jenny says she’s overwhelmed by the support she’s received from the cycling community and from her friends. She asks anyone who’s thinking about sending flowers to instead make a donation to the Amy Gillett Foundation.

More soon.

Photo courtesy Malcolm Hayes

The format is similar to the last few years.

In the morning, Men’s and Women’s teams race are held. Entries for these races must be completed direct with Cycling Victoria. New for 2012 is electronic timing for all riders in the teams races! Entries close soon, so visit http://www.vic.cycling.org.au/?ID=46199 to get your team (or individual entry in to be place in a composite team) in.

The afternoon sees normal graded club racing, catering for A to E Grades. All entries for the club races are taken by CCCC at the circuit on race day. Racing will start at 2pm, and you should plan on being at the venue before 1pm to allow for the long queue! See the flyer for more details.

Seniors entry fee is $20, Juniors (up to Under 17 pay $10)

Volunteers Needed

We still have a few spots to fill for both morning and afternoon sessions. If you can assist with the teams races in the morning we’ll give you a free entry to the afternoon club race. If you’re interested in driving in the race convoy, as a spares vehicle or lead car, we’ll cover petrol costs also. You’ll need to be available from 8am.

In the afternoon, we need 5 lead car drivers. This will suit someone who is racing in the morning, or the parents/friends of someone racing the club race. Once again, we’ll cover petrol costs and provide a free race.

If you’re interested, please contact Mal asap at mal.sawford@carnegiecycling.com.au

Club race flyer

To our kids and parents who did not know Doug he was such a vibrant, friendly, helpful and welcoming person you could ever meet. When I returned to racing with Carnegie on the track Doug was so welcoming, friendly and helpful to me personally, it was such a pleasure to make friendship with him. Many of the Clubs Elite riders racing internationally and domestically today were young kids who were taught and encouraged by Doug.

It amazed me how Doug in his late 40′s and into his 50′s would be in nearly every break at Glenvale with the very best A graders. At the track which he lived a few feet from Doug loved hard points races and endurance races and won his fair share again against men years younger than himself. I recall picking Doug up along with Dan Ives and driving to Bendigo for the International Madison. His knowledge of the sport was so complete and he knew just about every second person at the meeting.

I recall Doug getting Sandy Williamson and yours truly to join Troy Clarke and others including Shane Perkins and Michael Ford on a fund raising ride for these two young men going off to the Junior Worlds. Doug took us all over the place on dirt tracks etc to finish about a 90k ride at Hawthorn bike track.

As everyone has said, a true gentleman and a great honour to have been a friend of Doug’s. 

RIP Doug.      

Numerous photo albums from proud parents have been posted on the unofficial CCCC Facebook page here:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/115459020444/

This weekend, some juniors are travelling to Warburton for the road race (Saturday) and the time trial up Mt Donna Buang (Sunday).  Then the first junior tour kicks off with the Ararat Junior Tour the following weekend!

______________________________________________________________________________________

Our Juniors kicked off the winter road racing season with a busy and successful weekend at the Leongatha Junior Experience.  Riders from Under 11 to Under 17 from all over the state competed in 6 events over 2 days with the feature event being the Victorian Hill Climb Championship.

Saturday morning, cold and fine, started with a 700m time trial “lap of the footy oval”.  Jack Hickey started a strong days riding with a clear win followed by David Koroknai in the U17 men.   U15 and U17 women’s events were combined and Emma Doyle taking 2^nd followed by Mietta Greig-Hurtig, Emma Chilton, Freya Wickenden, and Grace Mennen (U17) in 4^th to 7^th.  Georgina Cummings and Alana Field took 1^st and 2^nd in U13 women, while Jack Throssell and Cam Helding did the same in the U11’s.  The outstanding ride of the event goes to Liam Pino with the fastest time of the day in the U15M!  I think even he was a little surprised.

Criterium of varying distance were next with Jack and Cam repeating their 1, 2 in U11.  Tiger McNamara and Frank Hutton came to the fore in the U13 boys with another  1,2 for the club.  Trey Freeman showed good race skills to win U15 race 1 with Ryan Koroknai taking 3^rd.  In the second race Thomas Stevenson took 2^nd and Will Height 4^th.  Harry Irvine came 3^rd with Dylan Thomas 4^th in Race 1 of U17, while Hickey took 1^st in race 2 with David Koroknai 4^th.   Field reversed the order over Cummings with another 1, 2 in the U13 women.  Doyle took another 2^nd in race 1 of U15/17 while it was a clean sweep for CCCC in race 2 with Greig-Hurtig, Chilton, Wickenden and Shoshana Kogan-Lazarus taking 1^st to 4^th!

Straight Line Sprint had a novel twist – it wasn’t straight!  Notwithstanding that Throssell continued his fine form to win with Helding taking 4^th.  Field showed family traits by winning the sprint over Cummings with Freeman 4^th.  Height placed 2^nd and Helding 4^th in the U13s.  David Koroknai took a close 3^rd in the U17 and Freeman took the same in the U15.  Doyle took her first win with Wickenden 4^th.

Graded Scratch Races saw similar results with:

U11:                       Throssell (1^st), Helding (3^rd).

U13 girls:              Cummings (1^st), Field (3^rd), Freeman (4^th),

U13 boys:            McNamarra (A race 1^st),

U15/17 women:  Mennen (B race 2^nd), Wickenden (3^rd),

Doyle (A race 2^nd), Greig-Hurtig (3^rd), Chilton (4^th),

U15 men:            Alistair Christie-Johnstone (B race 2^nd), Height (4^th),

Pino (A race 2^nd), Freeman (3^rd), Stevenson (4^th),

U17 men:            Harry Irvine (B race 2^nd), Thompson (3^rd), Alex Holden (4^th),

Hickey (1^st), Koroknai (2^nd).

Heavy overnight rain had passed but the roads were still damp for the VICTORIAN HILL CLIMB CHAMPIONSHIP.  A difficult climb with little respite measured between 1.5 and 3.3kms was waiting the youngsters.

Jack Throssell again led the way with Helding taking 3^rd.  It was Field’s turn to better her rival, Cummings with another 1st, 2^nd finish for the girls.  Matthew Hunt took 3^rd in the U13 B race, with McNamara opting not to follow the early escapees but riding steadily to take 2^nd in the A race.  Height took a great win in the U15 mens B race, whilst James Tickner made his first appearance to take the Championship over Freeman (2^nd), Christie-Johnstone (4^th), Ryan Koroknai (5^th) and Pino (6^th).  Doyle took yet another 2^nd followed by Chilton (3^rd) whilst Mennen took a well earned 3^rd in the U17 womens race, which was ridden to the top of the hill for the first time (much to the surprise of the women who sprinted for the U15 finish line 1km before the top).   In the M17 B race Holden took 2^nd closely followed by Thompson (3^rd).  In the A race David Koroknai worked hard in the second half of the race to move through the field to take a well earned 3^rd.

The final event of the day was a Handicap Road Race with the handicapper creating some close finishes and bringing some new winners to the fore.  These include Irvine 2^nd in U17M, Chilton 1^st in U15/17W, Tickner 3^rd in U15M, Aaron Clarisse 1^st and Hunt 3^rd in U13B, Madeline Currie 1^st , Freeman 3^rd, Cummings 4^th in U13W, and Helding taking one back from Throssell with 2^nd and 3^rd in U11.

As a junior experience the Leongatha Club make no excuses for the fact that they aim to get all participants winning and taking away a positive experience from the weekend.  This was the 15^th running of this event and I hope that there are many more.  Well done to all participants.

Melbourne

Saturday 5th May 2012 at 8:30am join us in a Doug Garley commemorative ride to St. Kilda before stopping for a reflective coffee. Leaving from Leknicks, at Shop 4, 300 Beach Road, Black Rock. All welcome.

Ballarat

The Ballarat Sebasatpol CC is hosting a ride that makes a time available for “all” starting from the Velodrome Track – to fulfil Doug Garley’s great loves – Everyone else, (Cycling) -Track, Dirt, Road and beer.
Our normal BSCC time of 1.00pm Saturday will be a time for support and sharing on any bike with brakes. An approximate 30km (up to 2hr) roll is planned, that takes in some dirt on the rail trail. A social and drink at Doug’s favourite watering hole the “Mallow Hotel” will follow at approx. 3.00pm.

Please feel most welcome to ride in the vivid memory of the “Hard-Rider” style in lieu of club racing.

A combined ride with the Eureka Veterans coordinated by Adam Smith will also take place from “Racers” at 8.30 am Sunday.

Further to this the BSCC wishes to advise that there will be a farewell ride with “Doug G” on his wheels in the near future.
As these arrangements are confirmed by the family the BSCC will let you know.

The terrible news came through last night that long time CCCC member Doug Garley had been killed after being struck by a car on a training ride in his new home of Ballarat.

Doug, a former European and Australian Professional rider, and his family lived for many years just a few metres from the Packer Park Velodrome, and was an enthusiastic and old school trackie, always ready to help new-comers to the sport with tips and tactics, and single gluing (with shellac!) lessons. Shane Perkins was among the younger riders he took under his wing with great success.

Since relocating to Ballarat, Doug has been heavily involved in the Ballarat Sebastapol Cycling Club’s track program, as well as racing regularly on the road with both Ballarat and the Eureka Veterans. He won the bronze medal in the Master 6 road race at the Australian Masters Championships in Ballarat in 2006.

Our thoughts are with Jenny and his family. Funeral details will be passed on when finalised.

Some years ago, Doug took up the challenge of setting ‘The Hour’ record at Packer Park. Here’s the story in his own words.

The Packer Park Hour

Well, the Club has an hour record for someone to challenge thanks to the instigation of Bill Bowker and the club committee. With Mike Goldie throwing down the gauntlet for someone to break the 40km mark, plus the enthusiasm for all track disciplines of Bill Bowker, Daryl Perkins and Mick Hollingworth.

On Saturday the 10th the sun was out and there was little wind, I said to Bill Bowker we have to do it today particularly while numbers would be down at the track with the holidays and the Bay Series being run during the week. I chose the UCI standard with a conventional bike ie no disc wheels or bar extensions, and with the usual breeze that Carnegie is famous for I chose a 50×15 (90 inch gear) with a 23mm tyre and 170mm cranks (Perko said I should have ridden 172.5). I left my 42cm width bars on, so basically it was my normal pointscore set up.

I had planned to start at 12.30 but we had a bit of fun with the computer on the bike, trying to get one that I could shut the odometer off. I had been up late the night before trying to get it stable. We fitted a new one Bill had purchase (my son Eddy thought it quite amusing three grown men on their hands and knees looking for nuts and screws that had been dropped in the grass).

By the time I was ready to roll it was 1.30 and with people arriving for the afternoon’s racing plus the fear of that famous breeze lifting I had a five lap warm-up. Hayden Mead held me up while Bill counted down and I was away. As I wasn’t warmed up very well and a bit tense I went a bit hard for a few laps at about 45kmh then tried settling into 40/41kmh or close when the the wind blew on a couple of occasions I dropped a bit for a second.

The gear was OK as I could drive it into the wind and keep a cadence. And yes it is true all those old stories you read about the hour and the thoughts that flash through your mind for a moment you think ‘this is madness!! I’m quitting’. You find a rhythm but it’s hard not to ignore the feeling in your lower back from the continual driving and whether you intend to or not you have to get out of the seat for a split second to get the blood down into the groin region which I had to on two occasions.

Things get better when the clock is getting closer and with Daryl Perkins one man crowd encouragement from the trackside I managed to lift considerably for the final laps. The aftermath reminded me of a story that John (Sully) O’Sullivan told me when he attempted the Bendigo track’s hour record and after it he couldn’t  sit down or stand still. Well this is true as your glutes are like rocks and are so sore you can’t sit down for a while anyway.

At the end of the day we have a distance of 41.95km. I can’t thank Daryl Perkins enough for the coaching and encouragement, Bill Bowker, Grant Bowker-Bell and Eddy Garley for the time-keeping, lap counting and displaying the time during the hour. Mike Goldie and Bill for the computers, and Peter Homann for supplying the wheels.

The club training program is becoming increasingly professional under Hilton Clarke and Daryl and I thank Hilton for the awesome Monday ergo program and those wicked rev efforts with my road training buddy Shane Perkins.

Doug Garley

Doug Garley 7/7/1955 – 1/5/2012.  A true giant of the road taken too soon and sorely missed.