Allan's online diary

Bronze Medal - NSW Masters Criterium Championships

2010-05-18T17:16:00.000-07:00

Just holding on for third, after a huge tussle up the back straight

L to R BONTJER Allan, GRIFFITHS Stephen, BAXTER Geoffrey

Full Results of the Championships

Men Masters 4 Criterium Results

No.	Name	Gender	Team	Event	Division	Place
112	GRIFFITHS Stephen	Male	St George CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	1
99	BAXTER Geoffrey	Male	St George CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	2
102	BONTJER Allan	Male	Vikings CC ACT	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	3
103	BROWN Stephen	Male	Bicisport	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	4
97	ARNOLD Neil	Male	Illawarra CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	=
133	SANSOM Richard	Male	Lidcombe Auburn CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	6
123	MEEHAN Paul	Male	Bicisport	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	7
110	GOODSPEED Bruce	Male	Eurobodalla CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	8
121	MCLENNAN Neale	Male	Northern Rivers CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	9
127	PETERS John	Male	Sutherland Shire CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	10
130	RUBIE Gary	Male	St George CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	11
101	BELLSTEDT Michael	Male	Parramatta CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	12
136	TOPARIS Con	Male	Goulburn CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	13
117	LANGDON Michael	Male	Dulwich Hill BC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	14
109	GOLDSMITH Peter	Male	Northern Sydney CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	15
132	SANCHEZ Wayne	Male	St George CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	16
122	MEASURES Richard	Male	Peloton Sports	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	17
126	PEACOCK Darryl	Male	Hunter District CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	18
115	JAMES Brett	Male	Hunter District CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	19
118	LEWIS Martin	Male	ADF Cycling	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	20
96	ALLEN Anton	Male	Sydney CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	21
129	RICE Philip	Male	Nowra Velo Club	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	22
104	CLEMENT Michael	Male	Dulwich Hill BC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	23
119	MANDER Rob	Male	Bicisport	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	24
134	STOLL Jeffrey	Male	Griffith CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	25
141	VAUGHAN-FLOYD Jeff	Male	Illawarra CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	26
131	RUSSELL David	Male	Illawarra CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	27
98	BAILEY Paul	Male	Waratah Masters CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	28
111	GRAY Jeffrey	Male	Illawarra CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	29
100	BECKWITH Rodney	Male	Central Coast CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	30
140	HODGETTS John	Male	Central Coast CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	DNF
142	COTTEE Brett	Male	Penrith CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	DNF
116	JONES Steven	Male	Vikings CC ACT	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	DNS
125	PAYNE Michael	Male	Canberra CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	DNS
105	CRAMPTON David	Male	Randwick Botany CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	DNS
128	PICELLO Alf	Male	Waratah Masters CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	DNS
139	WAUGH William	Male	Sutherland Shire CC	MMAS4 Criterium	M4	DNS

Melbourne to Canberra, April 2010

2010-04-27T01:54:00.000-07:00

A Pictorial story of my trip from Melbourne to Canberra after the Masters Track Nationals 2010. This was to be the second leg of the trip in 2009, after the 2009 Masters Track Nationals in Tasmania. My frame broke last year, aborting the trip. This time I made it all the way back home.

Parkville Terrace, stayed here for a week while racing in the 2010 Masters Nationals Track Championships

Day One - Tuesday 20th
Parkville to Warragul
129 km
Route Map
Bikely Route Map

Notes: Visit to Bunyip State Park, Puffing Billy
Bunyip State Park, Puffing Billy

Main Street of Warragul

Moe Street-scape, moved off the Priness highway here to more rural Latrobe Valley roads

Yallorn Power Station, Moe local urged me to give it the finger as I rode past

Day Two - Wednesday 21st
Warragul to Bairnsdale
186 km
Route Map

Main Street of Bairnsdale

Day Three - Thursday 22nd
Bairnsdale to Omeo
122 km
Route Map

Omeo Golden Age Hotel

Day Four - Friday 23rd
Omeo to Bright
107
Route Map

Climb to Mt. Hotham
Day Four - Saturday 24th

Bright to Albury
118 km
Route Map

I rode the railtrail from Bright to Beechworth, a wonderful and peaceful trail

www.railtrails.org.au

Day Five - Sunday 25th
Albury to Junee
177 km
Route Map

Junee Railway Square

Day Seven - Monday 26th
Junee to Yass Junction
160 km
Route Map

Binalong, NSW on the way back into Yass. Worth a visit

Did not quite make it!

Original idea was to ride all the way into Canberra, become way to much, got dark and Paul Conner offered to pick me up on the way through on his trip back from Yackandandah

The full route from Junee through to Curtin is: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=3678128

Silver Medal - NSW Masters Scratch Race Championships

2010-03-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

I got my first state level championship medal! The Silver success came in the 10km MMAS4 NSW Masters Scratch Race Championships held at Dunc Gray Velodrome, Bankstown, Sydney on Satirday 20th of March 2010.

L to R BONTJER, Allan, ALLBON, Graeme and BARNARD, Peter

Recieving my silver with joy


Place	Competitor	Category	Club / Sponsors	Time
1	ALLBON, Graeme	MMAS4	Vikings Cycling Club ACT	13:12.32
2	BONTJER, Allan	MMAS4	Vikings Cycling Club ACT
3	BARNARD, Peter	MMAS4	Bicisport

Full Results here

World champions to the right!

A little surprised to be there in 2nd place

2009 Australian Masters Road Cycling Championships

2009-10-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

Win at Waratahs @ Lansdowne 6/9/09

2009-09-20T21:57:00.000-07:00

Cyclo Cross Ride with Lee

2009-08-11T18:05:00.000-07:00

Sydney Racing Weekend July 2009

2009-07-14T21:02:00.000-07:00

On Friday I packed two bikes and one frame to head off to Sydney for:

A visit to Peter Bundy Cycles to have my Surly Steamroller reworked into a road fixie
RAW Friday night track racing
A nice technical crit at Heffron park with Randwick-Botany on Saturday afternoon
The Caravello Cup Enduro road race at Eastern Creek dragway with Waratah's on Sunday morning
And finally a training session at Dunc Gray velodrome with the MACT crew on Sunday afternoon

RAW track racing was fast and furious and fun. I was a bit outpaced at first, but moved up a gear when I found my leg speed lacking.

I love the Heffron Park crit, dodgy corners, lots of them rough surface, everything a crit should be. Did I mention 15 corners or so per lap?

On Sunday I was keen to race, never mind the fatugue of two race days. I've always done well at Eastern Creek, another lopp with plenty of corners. This time a break got away and I could not bridge to it by myself, but managed to win the bunch sprint for 4th

In the afternoon we did some test pursuits, I only did one, that is 2km at 2:46. I bit slow, hope to improve with more speed/power work in the next few weeks

Screaming Fatties

2009-05-08T04:05:00.000-07:00

A Coen Brothers Montage

Someone spent a fair amount of time putting together this montage of music and scenes from all the Coen Brothers films up through No Country For Old Men. Worth a look.

Trip to Tasmania April 2009

2009-04-22T17:10:00.000-07:00

2009 Masters Track Titles

Training Monday

Got off the ferry and drove to Devenport to check out the Silverdome and rode down the big hill into town

Training Tuesday

Most of the talk and work revolved around 200 meter TT sprint qualifying line.

Wednesday, day 1 of racing-Time Trials

I did a time of 58.9s to finish 12th. Marginally faster than the NSW Titles, but under the magic 60 seconds which I hope to continue. Goal of around 55 for the worlds

Thursday, day 2 of racing- Pursuits

I rode 4:09.38 after cracking. Derek had me on a 3:50 schedule, which I was on until about 3 laps from the end. Hope to ride 3:45 for the worlds

Friday, day 3 of racing- Team sprint and point score

I rode with Bill and Mark, being quite concerned about my dodgy arm and slow starts. My start was good and with Bill's encouragement we raced to 6th place

Team Harris, Laing and Bontjer 6th with 60.493 seconds.

Points Race

Could not handle the ultimate pace, that is more than 60kph for the sprints. Topped out at around 55-58 and chased back on with Michael O'Brien from Bicisport a good number of times. Could not get on by myself late in the race and pulled out to my disappointment

Saturday, final day (sprints)

Was quite fatigued and was glad to only race 200 more metres. Goal of the day was to beat 13 seconds, bummer, rode 13.004, but I reckon I would have done better if fresh!

Sunday

Tour of Tasmania on the road bike

Waterfall near Lilydale

Launceston to Scottsdale via Lilydale 90km. A very windy day riding on the flat up the Tamar valley, finally turned off and then the hills started. Wonderful countryside with the road winding alongside an old narrow gauge railway. Would be a wonderful rail trail, being scenic and flatter than the road. Was very happy to find the Lords Pub in Scottsdale, got some supplies and lay in bed and napped, waking up to have mint infused lamb skanks in the pub for dinner, had a few beers and learnt quite a bit about forestry from a local pub guy at the bar.

Monday

Scottsdale to St. Helens via Derby 100km was a wonderful day of riding, a little cold, a little wet, but very pleasant. I met Kate and Tony along the way, they looked a little cold out of the car, but they were off to do the local sightseeing. Just after meeting them I was frustrated behind a slow truck down a 12km descent, a little disappointing after dragging my arse up all the climbs.

A highlight of the day was coming across a bunch (is that the right word?) of echidnas, I sat and watched them fossick, dig and feed for at least half an hour. They would stick their heads into the ground and poke their spiky backs into the air and any sense of danger. I got downwind and kept silent to watch them as I did.

Ohh, Derby is a great place for morning afternoon tea, with plenty of tea houses, cakes and home made stuff. I can imagine plenty of people I know looking around the arts and crafts stores, some antiques and having a nice tea or coffee.

Tuesday

View leaving St. Helens on the way south

St. Helens to Swansea via coast road 120km was supposed to be a relief from the hills, it was, apart from a quite nasty head wind all day long. Wonderful coast though with pristine sandy white beaches, grass and cattle to the edges. Some fancy, fancy houses right up along the beaches and isolated headlands.

Wednesday

Swansea to Perth via Majors Town 125km, this day saw a climb from Swansea to Leake Lake Pass. The first 2okm flew past, from sea level to 840 metres actually. The climb went on forever, but I was greeted at the top by a pleasant couple from Queensland, doing the caravan thing around Tassie. We swapped a few tales over an instant coffee and some nice ginger snaps. I saw them later in the day in Majors Town, they were very surprised I had made the distance, but even then I had 40km more to go into the Perth/Longford area. The Midland Highway really flatens out, with heaps more traffic and big trucks. To counter that the highway is wide, with big verges to ride on. The big news of the day was a horrible noise emanating from the rear of my bike, I checked wheels, hubs, chain, but could not find the culprit. Got back on, same noise, a more comprehensive check revealed a big crack in the right rear drop-out.

So, what do I do? Ring Gary who kindly offered help. Call on Neil and Kaylene who were still in Tasmania. I looked for a welder around town for a quick fix, none on offer. So I sound a rudimentary hardware store, bought some glue and sat downto fix my frame while sipping a mercury cider. Well, the glue worked and I thought a tea spoon, duct tape and a zip tie would hold it all together. So, I left the bike to cure, went to dinner on deep fried chicken kiev, after I found out to my great disappointment that the kebab shop I saw was closed on what ever day it was. Did not sleep well that night, concerned about what the next day would bring. Would I make it to Devenport? Would I have to hitch, or maybe walk? Of course I could call on the cycling family all travelling in Tasmania.

The Spoon and tape

The Spoon exposed

The Crack

Thursday

Perth to Devenport via Deloraine 100km was a slow day, I had to take it really easy following the spoon, tape and glue repair the night before. The repair was very successful for 2km, yes until I hit the first rut on the road. Good thing was I could keep on going, gingerly, only riding in the saddle with little power being applied to the pedals. At Westbury I had a good coffee and cake, discovered a huge hedge maze and finally decided I could make it to Devenport that day so I re-booked the ferry trip for that night. Luckily the Spirit of Tasmania had available cabins, which was nice as I was originally booked on the ocean view recliners.

I met Neil, Kaylene, Terry and Mark in Devenport and had a good dinner. Went to bed early in a non-vibrating cabin and had a very good sleep

Friday

Good Friday, arrive in Melbourne and say farewell to Neil and Kaylene who are taking my bike and gear home. Got myself a 4 day metcard, then trammed off to have a nice breakfast at Birdman Eating in Fitzroy and made it my mission to catch lots of trams and trains around the city

Saturday

Trains, walks, Como mirrors.......................to be continued

Sunday

Trains, walks, Tiger flight...........................to be continued

Good day in Goulburn

2009-02-05T17:09:00.000-08:00

Lee sent me this pic from a recent trip to Goulburn for the track power carnival, in Lee's words:
"The perfect picture, cafe, ute and Track bikes"

ACTVCC Stromlo Points Race Criterium

2008-09-28T20:25:00.000-07:00

Lee Hopson made a couple of videos of the race on the weekend.

Southern Hemisphere Cup 2008 and other races

2008-09-21T07:21:00.000-07:00

On Friday I left for a big weekend of racing in Sydney, firstly off to RAW Friday night track racing

I subjected my self to Division 2, avoided a big crash and got a first place in the mystery race.

On Saturday I headed down to Heffron Park, Maroubra to race a long crit with the Randwick-Botany Club. It was hot and windy! My first day of racing this summer at 30 degrees plus, hung in there and finished with a second group behind the breakaway winners.

On Sunday I headed over to Eastern Creek to race the Southern Hemisphere Cup, hosted by the Waratah Veteran's Cycling club. I managed 5th place in B grade (full results here) in a fast and attacking race. It was great to race with a different bunch, with different dynamics and tactics.

Fixed...not really? Sturmey Archer SX-3

2008-09-16T00:25:00.000-07:00

Sturmey Archer blog is reporting the long-awaited 3-speed fixed cog system is finally to prototype. Made famous by Sheldon Brown is the SA ASC 3-speed fixed. The cogs are fixed - sure, but by the magic of internal gearing, there various speeds are fixed.

I have mixed feelings about this, especially now as I'm considering turning my Surly Steamroller into a single speed/fixed/crit racing and commute bike. It would be cool to have all the right mounts on the frame as well as I'm getting the rear brake and bottle mounts done.

It would be very handy to be able to ride to the crit on a fixed 74, switch using the flip flop to a single speed 90 and then ride bike home on an easy single speed gear.

I suppose I'll decide when Michelle is finished with my old track surly.

Richard Wright dies at 65

2008-09-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

1943-2008: Pink Floyd keyboardist Richard Wright.

Pink Floyd keyboard player and founding member Richard Wright has died at the age of 65 after a short cancer illness, his spokesman said.

Wright died at his home in England on Monday.

Wright, guitarist Roger Waters and drummer Nick Mason founded the band that became Pink Floyd in the 1960s when they were students.

Pink Floyd went on to become one of the biggest names in rock.

"The family of Richard Wright, founder member of Pink Floyd, announce with great sadness that Richard died today after a short struggle with cancer," his spokesman said in a statement.

"The family have asked that their privacy is respected at this difficult time."

Wright co-wrote five songs on the Dark Side Of The Moon LP which was released in 1973 and spent 14 years on the Billboard 200 album chart to become one of the best-selling albums ever.

Wright left Pink Floyd after falling out with Waters during sessions for The Wall.

He rejoined the band in 1987.

My Llewellyn Road Frame is here!

2008-08-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

My Llewellyn Road Frame is here! Expect to see the bike on the streets on Monday

Friday Night Track Racing

2008-08-18T00:02:00.000-07:00

A few of us have made the trip to Dunc Gray in recent weeks for Friday Night Track Racing

Here are some snaps, courtesy of Action Snaps who supports the series

More pics at the Masters ACT Team Blog

Ever wonder about the devil?

2008-08-01T17:40:00.000-07:00

While thinking about the TdF, have you ever wondered about the devil?

Well, this website might answer some questions

http://www.lifeinthefastlane.ca/worlds-weirdest-and-largest-bikes/offbeat-news

The 2008 Tour de France

2008-08-01T17:28:00.000-07:00

The 2008 Tour de France cycling race is now over, won by Spain's Carlos Sastre, with a time of 87h 52m 52s. Sastre beat second-place finisher Cadel Evans of Australia by only 58 seconds, over a 21 stage course that added up to over 3,500 km.

Cadel Evans tried, but came second. Healing scars indicate a hard TdF

By conquering Alpe d'Huez with panache Carlos Sastre was a deserving winner on the on the Champs-Elysees

Sastre on the podium with his kids.

Yellow fever as Tour hits high point

2008-07-29T18:17:00.000-07:00

BY DAVID STOCKMAN (Canberra Times)
24/07/2008 9:59:00 AM

Tour de France fever has taken hold of Canberra as locals will Cadel Evans on to claim the yellow jersey at the Champs-Elysees on Sunday night.
Competitive cyclist Ally Roche, 36, has been following Evans and the large contingent of Australian riders in the Tour for the last three weeks.

And she hasn't been alone, with fellow cycling junkies regularly taking a place on her couch to watch the action.

The Curtin resident regularly dons the Team CSC jersey of Stuart O'Grady in her living room as she marvels at the skill and endurance of the riders.

On Tuesday night Ms Roche had a group of fellow cycling junkies in her living room to catch another stage.

''We have Tour de France parties, people come over for drinks and dinner and we sit down and watch the tour,'' she said.

The house Ms Roche shares with Allan Bontjer contains a special ''bike room'', with a collection of bikes set for training in the cold Canberra nights.

''I know how hard it is to climb these mountain stages and the people who do it are just machines ... especially for the people not on drugs,'' Ms Roche said.

The long-time cyclist and member of the Tuggeranong Vikings and ACT Veterans Cycling clubs said she often fell asleep during the late Tour sessions, needing sleep for her early morning training rides, but was back in the lounge room for the daily highlights.

Her well-earned slumber meant she missed some controversy as Evans appeared to headbutt a TV camera crew out of the way after finishing the Tour's 16th stage.

Evans waved the camera away, to little effect, then continued travelling forward, using his helmet to break clear of the media throng.

President of the Canberra Cycling Club Jason Parkes said the group had one of their largest ever turnouts for a winter race at the weekend.

He said 75 riders raced the Iron Mike scratch race, a huge increase from 2007 when there were only 12 competitors for the 90km event, won by a 19-year-old Evans in 1996.

But he said many regulars were absent from early morning sessions as diehards struggled with the regular late nights in front of the television.

''You find most of the cyclists don't do training in the morning because they've been watching the event the night before,'' Mr Parkes said.

Brent Miller, from O'Connor cycling shop Bike Culture, said he had noticed more cyclists on the roads presumably inspired by Evans and other Australian Tour riders. ''Business always picks up for that time before and after [the Tour de France], people think 'I'll dust off the pushy again','' Mr Miller said.

He expected sales of new bicycles and cycling merchandise to soar after the event finishes late on Sunday Canberra time.

I stole this story from the Canberra Times.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/local/news/general/yellow-fever-as-tour-hits-high-point/1225402.aspx

Comments from Canberra Times site

I cant believe it possible that Cadel is still there after the attacks. How would we have been wwith Stuart O on Cadel's team. Grear for ussie cycling??

Posted by cindy484 on 24/07/2008 5:55:42 PM

Lugged frame construction

2008-06-22T23:10:00.000-07:00

Since I'm just about to take delivery of two new steel lugged frames I thought a spot of reading would be good. Found some good resources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lugged_steel_frame_construction

Why choose steel and lugs anyhow?

http://www.terrafermacycles.com/joinery/lugs/lugs.htm

Henry James produces many of the fine lugs

http://www.henryjames.com/productlug.html

Interesting read about a newbie frame builder having a go, includes a tutorial

http://www.littlefishbicycles.com/framebuilding.html

The passion of the bikes

2008-05-28T03:22:00.000-07:00

Jim Trail writes about Ian Downing..........

Some pics and a story from our local ABC

A passion for bikes. We all had it once. Learning to ride is a rite of passage for most everyone when we're growing up, but somewhere along the line most of us misplace it.

Ian Downing is one man who has enough passion for cycling to sustain an entire peloton of non-cyclists. He not only rides, he lives bikes. His house is part workshop, part bike museum. He takes the kids to school by bike, does the grocery shopping by bike, in fact he lives his entire life by bike.

According to Ian, it's not the bicycle that makes cycling great, but the ride. His Nirvana is the ability to travel through the world in an accessible and low-impact way, doing something that's as relaxing as it is uplifting.

666 ABC Canberra's Jim Trail is not in his league, but in the first of a series on cycling Jim talked to Ian about the Passion of the Bikes.

http://www.abc.net.au/local/photos/2008/05/28/2258332.htm?site=canberra

Road Frame Progress

2008-05-28T03:05:00.000-07:00

I've decided on the compact design after a phone conversation with Darryl on Friday. He also asked if it was OK to take artistic licence. I said "sure" and was very impressed. I'll choose the frame colour after I see the design. But you can be assured there is more polished stainless steel just like the track frame.

My Llewellyn Road Frame

2008-05-22T04:40:00.000-07:00

Now that my Llewellyn track frame is nearing completion, Darryl has sent me two plans for my new road frame. I've got to decide between a traditional horizontal top tube and one of those new fangled slightly sloping top tube.

Traditional horizontal top tube

Compact geometry, sloping top tube

My Llewellyn Trackie

2008-05-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

My Llewellyn Trackie is well underway.

My Frame

All brazed up

Rear dropout detail after filing and sanding

New Frames

2008-04-15T22:59:00.000-07:00

Hi,

I'm getting a couple of new bike frames built. A few weeks back I went to visit Darrell McCulloch.

For those not familiar with Llewellyn frames check out his website

I'm getting two frames built, lots of stainless steel, polished. My frames are being carefully hand crafted. The lugs will be standard, but Darryl is known for his custom cut and designed lugs.

The design for the track bike is below.