THE Central Victorian Veteran Cycling Club is experiencing a busy return to normal scheduling.<\/p>\n
On Saturday at 1pm, the group will host its Harry\u2019s Handicap 60-kilometre race starting and finishing at Melville Caves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope to get 30 odd riders, it\u2019s open to everyone but it\u2019s more of a club event than an open event,\u201d Central Victorian Veterans Cycling Club president Brett Williams said.<\/p>\n
The club holds 15 sponsored events throughout the year varying from 35 to 65 kilometres across Central Victoria including in Emu Creek, Newbridge, Castlemaine, with its main clubrooms in Woodstock-on-Loddon.<\/p>\n
Membership numbers vary between 80 and 120 members a year and Mr Williams said COVID has convince people that have never cycled before to take up the sport.<\/p>\n
The club uses handicaps, where less experienced or older riders can start races up to 45 minutes earlier, with the quicker riders challenged to catch up to them before crossing the finish line.<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s premier event, the 65-kilometre Profound Civil Contracting Classic was held in March with prizemoney of $3000.<\/p>\n
Mr Williams said they had several cycling greats, including Olympic cycling coach Tim Decker and UCI cyclist Robbie Hucker compete.<\/p>\n
The club\u2019s rich history has also seen Olympian cyclists Phillip Sawyer, Jack Tricker and Scott McGrory compete.<\/p>\n
But Mr Williams said what the club is really about is \u201cthe everyday bike hacker or caf\u00e9 racer who just wants to come out and enjoy an hour or so out on the bike and have that competitive spirit\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have our very experienced cyclists, I\u2019ve been doing it for 47 years, and we do offer plenty of help to anybody that wants to take it up, either setting up their bikes or short training programs or anything like that to help them get started,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE Central Victorian Veteran Cycling Club is experiencing a busy return to normal scheduling. On Saturday at 1pm, the group will host its Harry\u2019s Handicap 60-kilometre race starting and finishing at Melville Caves. \u201cWe hope to get 30 odd riders, it\u2019s open to everyone but it\u2019s more of a club event than an open event,\u201d […]<\/p>\n