Old School Canberra Crit Courses

[j_young_80]

I was chatting to someone over the weekend about the old crit courses that used to be raced in Canberra - can the old salts give any more info. on where these used to be and what they were like?

I started racing at Kingston in its last year, and the new riders will only really know Stromlo and Sutton Driver Center. another favourite course of mine is/was the ANU course and i'd love to have a crack at that one again.

I was told there used to be a course that ran out TGA way? Any chance we could have a revival of some of the older courses?

I'd love to ride at the Causeway again but I think the locals would probably be out with the pitchforks, guns and banjo's rather quickly. I can still remember little street urchins hurling obscenities and throwing branches onto the track mid race. Luckily they are probably in jail now - either that or politics.

[j_young_80]

Oh and as for new Crit courses - i'd like to run one at;
New parliament house circuit (road approvals would be a big ask)
Anzac Pde loop
Old Parliament house loop

[SueP]

Vets run a few in the Geoscience Austrlia carpark - its a great little technical course.

I still reckon it would be a great add-on to the Friday norman to duck in there and do a few laps instead of the gallop now and then.

[SimonD]

I've heard the old hospital carpark, where the museum is now. Also, I'm pretty sure I've heard there was a Kingston course that we got booted off before the causeway. Peter McLennan has some info somewhere on his site but I can't find it! http://raceforever.com

[Hoops]

http://raceforever.com/Stromlo/index.html

[Adam]

Interesting site, but a dog's breakfast visually!

[SimonD]

Good spotting!

So we've got Old Hospital Carpark, PM's dept carpark, AGSO, Amtech in Faulding St, Kingston causeway.

[Skip]

There was also a course at Mitchell & the best one of them all, the Bruce tafe car park.

[Hoops]

Good spotting!

So we've got Old Hospital Carpark, PM's dept carpark, AGSO, Amtech in Faulding St, Kingston causeway.

That PM's dept carpark is my work carpark and I couldn't think of a worse course to ride - guttered islands everywhere and you'd need to be 3 a breast the whole time. Also there are a fair few coppers logs intersecting the proposed course which would test out our jumping abilities.

[SimonD]

There was also a course at Mitchell & the best one of them all, the Bruce tafe car park.

Interesting! All this history just goes missing. Someone needs to write a well researched and definitive history of Canberra bike racing.

[Bean]

Interesting site, but a dog's breakfast visually!

Hmmm... comments PM??:)

[RobF]

Did the rollerbladers ever sign up?

[Simonsky]

Don't forget the old Dairy flat road course. Hot dog, full of cow p** and rough, but still fun.

There must be a car park out there somewhere we can use. I'm really missing a good old fashioned technical crit course. ANU course would be great to race on again (my favourite!).

[Driver]

The new carparks at Brindabella Business centre were shaping up to be dewseys. I watched them under construction but slowly they became unusable. The surface area was huge, nice flat hotmix but as they installed the islands etc and maximised the car spaces it became unworkable. Brand Depot was the same - even though the carpark is 90% empty all the time the turns are just too tight and too many obstacles. I'm sure there must be some unwritten building code for car park designers just to make them too dam hard to go too fast (in a car). Makes sense I suppose.

I really like dairy flat as a course, it's easy to get to, no traffic, plenty of on-off the gas.

The Albury club run awesome crits on a disused caravan park site. The actual road surface isn't great, it's only about 800 metres and includes some tight narrow sections AND a hot dog turn but for some reason it has a lot of character and is great fun. A crit course doesn't have to be long to be good.

GCC use part of Wakefield Park, the motor racing circuit. It's not that exciting, but v wide and smooth flat hotmix.

I'd love to see a crit race around Bunda st - once they've resurfaced it of course.

[Driver]

You know with the CRITS system the CCC club is using (that was designed to Fi and I's spec), it is very portable - all you need is a broadband i'net connected lappy.
Every rider that has ever ridden a CCC crit in the last three years is in the system.
Relatively easy to have a crit with mass rider entry anywhere - not just at stromlo.
No timing but.

[j_young_80]

A city crit would be awesome but I can't see it getting off the ground in terms of approvals. The reason I liked the ANU course was that you could get out of the line of sight of the bunch (not me, but other people could) and it kept the bunch guessing and active. It also had a decent pinch in it that drained the legs after the thowsandth time you'd done it.

Bathurst Crit course is pretty unreal - though the downhill section can get pretty sketchy at times.

Wasn't there going to be a crit at Gunning once that got canned?

[SimonD]

Wasn't there going to be a crit at Gunning once that got canned?

Gundaroo. Got canned at the very last minute because of the general store bloke. So never spend your money there. It was just a square block though - nothing too fancy.

[j_young_80]

Nothing too fancy, yet something different.....a course with a nice kicker in it suits me - what's the generally accepted length of a criterium course? Max and Mins?

[Bean]

The big prob with the ANU course is that it's extremely marshal hungry. Also, there's now a huge speed hump almost at the bottom of the downhill section which is a bit of a pain in the proverbial. If we ever did it again I'd recommend the middle of the summer holidays when the stupids aren't around. I agree though. It's a very good course.

[theFightinPussy]

Agree with the Bathurst one except the start is straight uphill. The Wagga one is pretty good too. Another one that is short ~800m and looks boring but is fun to race is Moruya.

[SimonD]

The old Bathurst one was good too. It was up the top on the roads you finish the hill climb on. Unfortunately the prickles gave about 50% of the field flats!

I had a check at uriarra where the new development is, but the roads seemed too gravely. New developments where the roads have been built but not houses yet might be some rich pickings for potential weekend crit courses.

Yeah, ANU was brilliant! But unfortunately, the attendance was not worth the massive effort and stress.

[Andrew Mohr]

Some of us older folk will remember racing the Wednesday night crits in the Technology Park at Symonston off Canberra Avenue (where the Canberra Eye Hospital is now). The ACT Government had kindly laid down all the roadwork but none of the buildings had been built yet.The course start/finish was on Wormald Street, went down Taubman Street and then up and around Faulding Street. Had everything including parked cars, roundabouts, medium strips & square concrete gutters. It was the initiative of the late & great Mark Carter and proved hugely successful in getting cycling in Canberra back on the rise in the mid to late nineties after the Canberra Cycling Club looked like folding. Carts provided commentary, handicapping, swept the corners, mowed the metre high grass around the start finish line, compiled a weekly hilarious email race report on every grade, race directorship and then raced B grade (or A grade when he was fit). The email report resulted in Carts writing for Ride Magazine for the first couple of years after it was launched.
Once the buildings were completed the occupants complained to the ACT Government & the racing was moved "The Causeway".

[RobF]

I had a check at uriarra where the new development is, but the roads seemed too gravely. New developments where the roads have been built but not houses yet might be some rich pickings for potential weekend crit courses.
.

Hmmm...I might be able to assist here(although this is not the place to talk about my employer). Simon, will talk to you in person one day.

[pm0203]

There was also a loop at the AIS, but too many entry roads. Used once by the vets in 93/94.

BarrenJoey Drive was going to be the New Criterium cite but it got bumped in preference to Diddums Close Belconnen, which ultimately got bumped by Stromlo.

Diddums Close would have been the best due to its central locality, but Mountain Bikes would not have had a great haven as Stromlo.

[pm0203]

Hmmm... comments PM??:)

The Stromlo Web page is my highest hit page. The rest of the site is about the RMS software. I spent a fair bit of time documenting the history of the creation of the Criterium site, because a bit of revisionist history makers were at work....

So I guess that page is a story from top to bottom. But heck if you dont like it fair call...

[Raymondo]

Nobody mentioned the hotdog crit at Dairy Flat with a sprint prime on every lap.

[Raymondo]

If you want to join up with the Vets there's a SA Vets Crit in the city Streets of Adelaide next year as part of the TDU.

[HenryT]

I think it is well worth keeping ideas about more central courses to SFP alive. It would be good to have a true Kermesse course (being in a city location). I recall that the Commonwealth Bank Cycling Classic used a civic circuit and until a couple of years ago the Canberra Cycling Club held its ITT's on Parkes Way regularly. Civic, the parliamentary triangle and New Kingston (old Causeway) would be good locations and maybe not out of the question especially if an event was organised as a demonstration event in conjunction with another event such as the festivals around Canberra Day, Floriade or the big Canberra Bike ride and bike week (October?) and the like. It might mean dealing with both the ACT and National Capital Authority for road approvals.

I think parliament house is out esp with as more cement curbing/kerbing is being poured over Parliament Drive.

Henry

[j_young_80]

Where did the course run out at Mitchell?

[_ABC_]

How about something crazy like Sydney Ave in Barton, or even New South Wales Cres onto Telopea Park rd? I'm sure they're pretty empty on a Sunday afternoon.
If we were interested in getting resident approval we could even run something on quiet suburban streets. There's a 720m loop around Murray Cres, Grant Cres and LaPerouse st in Manuka that would affect around 30 households which could be quite fun not to mention scenic! Could be a bit cramped though.

[Chris]

If you are looking for new routes I am not sure where the road leads but there seems to be an interesting road running around the new Arboreta.

The other place that could be good would be around Russell offices. There seems to be a nice loop with some 90 degree turns.

[j_young_80]

Just reviving this thread in prep for our Summer Calendar. What are people's thoughts on some variety in crit racing in Canberra?

I'm told that SDTC is no longer an option, so we have Stromlo and Dairy Flat left. I'd be keen on throwing a few other workable* courses into this years calendar so if anyone's in the know on upcoming developments, or any areas they think would suit flick me a PM.

As I re-read the thread I note Pete M's contribution - damn shame he's not still with us.

*Bunda st is not workable at this stage

[Simonsky]

Corners, lots of tight corners!!!...with nice grassy exits

[Michael M]

What about the roads behind the DFO at Fyshwick?

Most people park underground – although I reckon Christmas day is probably the only quiet day out that way.

Iron Knob St (ha ha) and Beaconsfield St.

http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&q=dfo%20canberra&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wl

[_ABC_]

Corners, lots of tight corners!!!...with nice grassy exits

... and no hard curbs to get smashed up on.

[RobF]

i read somewhere that the new arboretum roads are intended as a road cycling circuit when they are complete.

[Ross]

I'm told that SDTC is no longer an option

Why's that? Too exxy or too many motorsport events or something else?
It was good to race and not to have to worry about cars.
I quite liked the ANU course the one and only time I raced on it - except for the fact I got smoked by some hipster bike messenger guy! :blush:

[Vanessa]

Why's that?:

SDTC is out due to insurance issues which we've been unable to resolve. For either club to race on this venue we need to sign a contract with a waive re: accountability which is unacceptable to us & would nullify our CA insurance. SDTC haven't even responded to my email about whether we could 'discuss' the options about particular clauses in their contract....

Jamie - Bob at Roads ACT told me he thought we could get an event up in the city with a similar route to the old commonwealth bank classic...the issue wouldn't be roads approval - we would need the support of local businesses...though this would not necessarily be a problem. But not really an option for 'regular' use but good option for a larger event.

[SueP]

What about EPIC when there is nothing on? Not sure what the road surfaces are like (if they are sealed or not) - but the area around the camping grounds on their map look promising... or over near where the farmers market/dog show area there are some loop options as well?

http://test.epic.act.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/Camping-Map.pdf

[j_young_80]

EPIC could be an option but is there ever nothing on there? I reckon closing that road entering DFO carpark would be a neddy no-no Michael.

This is more for local racing than a massive one day event - I believe a city crit is being mulled over by a few so i'll leave that to them.

Definitely keen on bringing the ANU crit back - catch is, better courses require more marshalls so if they're not supported it's not worth the effort.

Much as I would love to have a re-union at the Causeway i'm pretty sure the locals have honed their warcraft since those days and will be far more battle hardened than the "loveable" scamps we used to have to deal with.

[Sluggo]

Ok here goes, I'm admitting how old I am now.
CCC used to race in Belconnen, I'm talking 1972 now, near where Big B bikes used to be, can't remember the actual streets, I was only 8.

There was an open crit also held in Qbyn back in Nov 1972 (my first open race) it held was around the streets skirting the Showground, the day before the opening of the Narrabundah Snake Pitt aka Velodrome,where it made the Guiness Book of records for having the most crashes ever in a track carnival.

There have also been crits held in Faulding Street Fyshwick, and the car park of Campbell Park.

Some Kermesse type circuits were used by the CCC and the Qbyn Pro Cycle Club in Bugden Ave Gowrie, & Johnson Drive Richardson, I'm sure Skip and Allan Bontjer remember these course too.
When the Vikings first started we even had a crit in the carpark off CowlishawStreet Tuggeranong, part of bike week I think.

[faema]

We also used to race in the car park out at Defence at Campbell park. Not a bad circuit.

I even remember racing up and down Anzac Parade once and anther time around the block of the Canberra Center and through the Bus Interchange, that was pretty cool.

[j_young_80]

I'd love to run a crit on the Anzac Cct, or even the OPH loop would be a a great course. The work involved for that is definitely above a club level event, but certainly doable.

[Sluggo]

I reckon we could run a crit out at the new BBP carpark, I have walked it a few times. Yes there is speed bumps, but we could put witches hats up to avoid them and also to mark out the circuit. Would be happy to meet with anyone to have a look at it.

I'm sure the BBP people would be keen, as this would be empty on a Sunday morning, I reckon it's worth a try. We could mark out a real course with real corners, unlike Stromlo. Lets have a crack???

[j_young_80]

I'd be interested Sluggo - next few weekends aren't crash hot though. anyone have a contact for the BBP?

[milto]

I might. What is the BBP?

[Driver]

CIA.
Canberra International Airport.

good luck.