December Handicap podium.
Lots of updates for you. There was the December Handicap Training Exercise, the Mini Tour of December and the 2024 Gala Breakfast.
First up the Handicap Training Exercise.
A bumper field of 26 took on the training exercise, here is how it went.
0:00 Ken E, Bob E and Rene- Super Limit
2:30 Glenn, Greg, Lewis, Jon, Lorenzo and Ian- Limit
3:30 Eddie, Dave P, Allan, Rodd, Richard F and Phil - Block part one
4:00 Paul K, Seb, Colin P, Tom, Tony and Rob S - Block part two
4:30 Chris, Rob H, Frank, Jeff and Dave J - Scratch
Super Limit went hard early knowing they were a good chance of taking the win. Ken E was leading the way up the hill with plenty of power.
Limit worked together very well despite losing Ian early in the exercise. An epic win was well within reach.
Block 1 blew apart on the first hill with Eddie and Richard F driving a solid pace up the hill. The others struggled early but were happy in the knowledge their team had victory in their sights.
Block 2 made an impressive and well organised start. All riders worked well together with victory only a few short laps away. With two strong finishers in the group, Paul K and Rob S, the workhorses set about making sure they would be right up there at the end.
Scratch were left with the simple task of dragging Frank up to the front to enable him to hold onto his Tour Of December yellow jersey. Despite Rob H announcing his poor health at the start line, Scratch set about this simple task with the usual high level of skill and teamwork. Unfortunately it didn't happen that way and Frank was unable to stay with his loyal support group, dropping back into the distance.
With 2 laps to go the exercise had become 2 groups. Ken from Super Limit had joined up with Greg, Glenn and Lewis from Limit plus Eddie and Richard F from Block 1 to form the Lead Group. Somewhere behind was most of the Scratch and Block 2 groups forming the Chase Group.
The Chase Group were slowly making up ground on the Lead Group, the gap was only about 200m with 1 lap to go. Tom pulled a double turn at pace to further reduce the gap before Dave J dragged the top sprinters to within range just before the final hill.
Chris, Jeff, Paul K and Seb all attacked hard and got in front of the Lead Group with about 300 metres to go. Rob S came from the back and made his own way toward the finish.
Chris was too strong and held Rob S out on the line with Seb taking 3rd. Here is the full finish list.
Mini Tour of December
To spice up the end of the training year a 3 stage Mini Tour Of December was held. This included 3 training exercies: scratch, points and handicap. Here are the results and podium photos.
Div 1 Podium
Div 2 Podium
2024 Gala Awards Breakfast
The third key item was the Annual Gala Awards Breakfast including the Annual Group Photo.
Our award winners were:
Participation Award - Frank (85 sessions attended)
Rookie of The Year - Allan
Best Comeback - Colin P
Most Inspiring - Eddie
Coach's Favourite - Jeff
And the Group Photo
After the training exercise riders enjoyed breakfast with a coffee / milk based beverage at Good George whilst telling tales of how POSITIVE they will be in 2025.
Handicap Classic History
In 2017 a new activity was born. The monthly handicap classic. Riders are divided into groups according to perceived ability and set off from a standing start with a time gap in between each group with the goal of seeing who is first across the line. The top 3 in each activity so far are:
2017
Aug – PDC / Tom / Marcel
Sep – Jason / Chris / Dave J
Oct – Dave J / Jason / Rod
Nov – Dave J / Harry / Jason
Dec – Harry / Josh / Rene
2018
Jan – Mark / PDC / Colin
Feb – Tom / Chris / Josh
Mar - Jeff / Glenn / Colin
Apr - Dave J / Jeff / Rod
May - Jason / Rod / Andy
Jun - Harry / Chris / PDC
Jul - Harry / Jason / PDC
Aug - Chris / Dave J / Dave P
Sep - Andy / Jeff / Tom
Oct - Andy / Chris / Jason
Nov - Dave J / Jason / Chris
Dec - Rob S / Jason / Andy
2019
Jan – Andy / Harry / Dave P
Feb - Chris / Jason / Rob V
Mar - Eddie / Frank / Rob S
Apr - Harry / Chris / Jeff
May - Rob S / Tom / Colin
Jun - Rob S / Jason / Chris
Jul - Tom / Jason / Jeff
Aug- Rob S / Harry / Andy
Sep - Dave J / PDC / Chris
Oct - Ken E / Daniel / PDC
Nov - Richard W / Ken E / Rob S
Dec - Dave J / Chris / PDC
2020
Jan – Rob S / Jason / Darren
Feb - Rene / Andy / Eddie
May - Colin / Eddie / Frank
Jun - Andy / Jason / Rod
July - Jeff / Seb / Rod
Aug - Rob V / Jason / Seb
Sep - Chris / Dave J / Glenn
Oct - Andy / Eddie / Frank
Nov - Tony / Eddie / Frank
Dec - Seb / Paul K / Jason
2021
Jan – Ken E / Glenn / Rene
Feb - Dave J / Harry / Paul K
Mar - Jason / Dave J / Eddie
Apr - Seb / Adam / Rod
May - Tom / Rob H / Seb
Jun - Chris / Jeff / Seb
Oct - Rob S / Rob H / Paul K
Dec 2 - Tony / Ken E / Richard W
Dec 21 - Richard F / Seb / Eddie
2022
Jan – Paul K / Rob S / Chris
Aug - Seb / RobS / Jason
Oct 4 - Dave J / Jason / Tom
Oct 27 - Chris / Jason / Dave J
Nov - Rob S / Chris / Jason
Dec - Jason / Dave J / Eddie
2023
Feb 2 (delayed Australia Day) - Chris / Jason / Harry
Feb - Harry / Jason / Rod
Mar - Jason / Seb / Rob H
Apr - Jason / Jeff / Chris
May - Rob S / Paul K / Tony
Jun - Rob H / Jeff / Dave J
Jul - Tom / Jeff / Dave J
Aug - Rob S / Paul K / Rob H
Sep - Seb / Rob S / Paul K
Oct - Chris / Dave J / Eddie
Nov - Dave J / Chris / Paul K
Dec - Paul K / Tom / Rob S
2024
Feb 8 (delayed Australia Day) - Rob S / Seb / Rob H
Feb - Rob S / Tony / Glenn
Apr - Rob H / Tony / Jason
May - Frank / Glenn / Jeff
Jul - Tony / Rob S / Glenn
Aug - Jason / Seb / Frank
Sep - Jason / Rob H / Chris
Oct - Jason / Chris / Jeff
Nov - Chris / Jason / Rob S
Dec - Chris / Rob S / Seb
Here are the podium places for all our Grand Tours.
Dec 2024 Div 1 - 1st Rob S, 2nd Jeff, 3rd Chris and Paul K Div 2 =1st Glenn, 2nd Lewis, 3rd Ken
Oct 2024 Div 1 - 1st Chris, 2nd Jason, 3rd Rob H Div 2 =1st Allan and Glenn, 3rd Greg
Jul 2024 Div 1 - Jason, Frank, Jeff Div 2 - Allan, Glenn, Greg
Feb 2024 Div 1 - Chris, Eddie, Jason Div 2 - Greg, Allan, Glenn
Nov 2023 Div 1 - Paul K, Seb, Dave J Div 2 - Glenn, Bob E, Allan
Jul 2023 Div 1 - Jeff, Dave J, Frank Div 2 - Glenn, Greg, Ken
Feb 2023 Div 1 - Rob H, Seb, Adrian Div 2 - Rod, Eddie, Frank
Dec 2021 - 1. Jason, 2. Dave J, 3, Chris
Feb 2021 - =1. Chris and =1. Dave J, 3. Paul K
Oct 2020 - 1. Jason, 2. Dave J, 3. Rob V
Jul 2020 - 1. Harry, 2, Chris, 3, Rod B
Feb 2020 - Dave J, 2. Chris, 3. Rob V
Nov 2019 - 1. Chris, 2. Paul K, 3. Rob H
Jul 2019 - 1. Dave J, 2. Chris, =3. Colin and =3. Tom