Ventoux Cycles John Daffy Memorial Race Report #7- 4 February 2024

Testing out the full use of the new transition location was a fitting start for the annual ‘longer than normal’ John Daffy Memorial Race that was gratefully supported by race sponsor Ventoux Cycles. Al and his team at Ventoux have you covered for all things cycling – upgrades, repairs and maintenance and lots of experienced advice on hand if you need help. Check them out opposite the Plaza.  To find out more about the late John Daffy and the amazing things he got up to, plus the significant life member contribution he made to Coffs Tri Club, please see the website and information brought together by Cliffy Lloyd.    A big welcome to new member Annie Scheepers, one day licensees and to the Grafton Triathlon Club members coming down to give our course a go.  A very special thanks to Chris Limbert from GTC for turning up early and helping get the gear out of the cage.   A testing shorebreak greeted 35 intrepid souls taking on the Longer course, Enticer, Aquabike and Aquathon with some dolphin diving skills on show as a few entered the water. A bit of cloud cover assisted with buoy sighting, and after all this humid weather we have been having, the water was pretty refreshing.   For the Enticer, Ian Nash led the way and took eventual line honours in 45:17 followed by Jane Rudgely swimming well, and having recovered from a foot injury, was carving up the course. The battle for third was a great grudge match between Cec Tempone and Peter Woods with all but 15 seconds between them in the end.  At the run turnaround Cec thought Woodsy had done a Houdini on him but somehow he turned up at the end! Great job Cec for third.    In the long distance, building on a consistent season, and showing some form on the bike, was Mel Sylvester taking first female in 1:45:29.  And as an introduction to the Club course new member Annie Scheepers came in second with a great run and picked up an Encouragement Award/$50 voucher from our sponsors at the Fishermans Co-op. The benefit of consistent training and rides with Andrew Gallagher of recent times had Rainee Herron charging in with a solid run for third.   In our males Sprint event, Pat Brennan and Adrian Hawke tussled it out and while Adrian showed great form on the bike, and to lead for most of the run, Pat edged past on the last run leg and crossed the line in first place in 1:34:10. That was about 4 minutes faster than last year’s time. Across the board most of the times seem to be a bit quicker! Third place was taken by Michael Brennan while not far behind a cluster of Ben Rose, Jamie Newling, Shaun Bayndrian and Chris Hamilton all finished within the 1:43 time. Great effort fellas!  Well done to Stephen Boyd returning to the Club races after a stint out west and to Sage Linden Flick back on the Coffs Coast for a solid effort. Robyn Mcgeary, Kathy Robson, Andrea Burth, Caron Mackie, Marg Roberts and Shirley Sneddon all put in a consistent race and looked strong across the run legs.     Congratulations to all for some solid racing!   We had some feedback on socials on Sunday morning from a member of the public about inappropriate bike movements at one of the roundabouts. We are following this through to try and establish details. We know there were other general cyclists out and about and from what our bike volunteers observed they weren’t always riding appropriately. There has also been reported and noted some erratic and poor driving that seems to happen at the roundabouts and a bit around the Jetty area and some drivers randomly stop and look for car spaces etc.  Regardless, it’s a good reminder to be safe on the roads – the road rules apply to us and while in some events we get used to having full access to the road, in our club races we share the road with other users. So please ride safely and in accordance with the sanctioning rules. Be courteous on the course and be aware of the unexpected when riding – ‘ride defensively’ is a good mindset to have!    Our race wouldn’t happen without our volunteers and it very nearly didn’t. To Maria Wood and club coach Annette Lee, thank you for taking up the last minute shout out. All volunteers received a Happy Frog coffee voucher for the extra effort this race needs. And thank you to Pete Timothy for cooking up the BBQ - great job! Volunteers for our next race the Women's Triathlon has now filled quickly and thanks to all those men picking up the roles. If there are other males able to attend the next race to provide some guidance and assistance, and help with bike escorting, please let us know through socials or send us an email if you're able.   Beyond that, we still have some volunteer gaps heading into March and April and it would be good to get them allocated so that Mark and I don’t have to ponder and wonder through Saturday afternoon how we will run the race in the morning! Do us a favour - if you know you haven’t done your volunteer role for the season get on the Duty man now – it's easy to do! Full results can be found on the web site at http://www.coffstri.com/results.html. For those using Strava check out this race report that can also be found there. Our next Club event is the much anticipated Women’s Triathlon on 3 March. The event will be coordinated by your Race Director, the fabulous Alira Bayndrian. Look out for Email and socials on details and some training/info sessions ahead of the day. And next weekend we have the Trial Bay Triathlon followed by the Tweed Enduro that are part of the North Coast Series with points up for grabs for the series. To all members heading to these races all the very best and wishing you good luck! See ya all in 4 weeks on 3 March for the Women's Triathlon!   Peter Birch Race Director