lackburn CC, Eildon Training Camp, 20-23rd September 2009

The third Blackburn CC Eildon Training Camp has been unanimously hailed as a triumph. Over 30 junior riders, a bunch of parent helpers and a few adult riders thrown in for good measure, enjoyed varied weather conditions over four days of riding. The Camp, based in the Rubicon Valley, offered great ride-routes, excellent tuition from Simon Quick, and a safe and happy environment for these young people to enjoy their riding, make some new friends, and develop as a strong group.

Back: Judy & Brian H, Rob M, Anthony D, Laura & Paul P, Chris D, Angus & Alex S, Vaughn, Mark D & Simon Q (obsc.), Jack, Rob B, Liam, Ray.
3rd Row: Fiona T, Rob S, Patrick, Richard, Jonathon, Heidi, Liz, Leanne, Chris, Trevor, Mitchell Barry, Mitch Burden, Connor, Rhys, Caitlin, Alex, Stephen, Jacob.
2nd Row: Cameron P, Jack F, Briony, Janine, Anthony, James D, Emerson, Pierce, Michael, Gary
Front: Kurt, James, Emma S, Emma T, Kyle, Kallum, Thomas.
Behind the Camera’s: John N, Andrew M, Jenny W, Judy and Brendon F, Cathy S, Judy D, Garrie.

Many thanks go to:
James Moffat (JM15, Haw. CC), for the following Camp Report, and dad Andrew for the great shots..
Judy Flood & Family, for the incredibly good nosh, prepared day, after day – again. Top Notch.
John Nicholson, for an enthralling discussion about his experiences as a World Champion Sprinter and Olympic Silver medallist. His insights and wise words were very well received. Thank you, John.
Simon Quick, Mark Dove and Rob Santagada, for putting together the groups, ride-programs and rides – which by my reckoning, were right on the money. They’ve established a couple of “legend rides” which all future riders can look forward to, as rites of passage. Well done.
Parents, who cooked, rode, drove, repaired bikes and bodies (only a couple...!), cleaned, encouraged (!), and absolutely made the whole week possible. I think they even had fun, too!
Janine Muir and Leanne Cole, for hosting the most raucous game of Cycling Trivia ever.
The guys from Wheel Chair Sports Victoria, who seemed to revel in the cycling culture, and put in harder than anyone else! Gotta love Mt Pinniger, eh?
Rubicon Outdoor Centre, for providing the perfect venue for our purposes.

Blackburn Eildon Junior Camp 2009, By James Moffat.

This Eildon camp has been a great experience for me. We Started by meeting at the Clock tower to organise transport before heading up to the Beechworth Bakery( Which was funnily enough in Healesville). There we had a bit of carbo-loading morning tea. In my case I had a doughnut though some others had a healthier sandwich. After a break and our doughnuts we headed up to the Rubicon outdoor centre the base for the camp.

We had a little talk about behaviour that was necessary in the camp and were showed where our rooms were. After lunch that we brought up we went for our first ride. I was in Group 3 and we went out to Taggerty for our first ride. The older groups did a lap around local roads. We did the ride in relatively good weather which was not something that held up for the whole week. After our first meal which was a great turnover cooked by Judy Flood, we had a chat about hygiene and John Nicholson the President of Blackburn and winner of two world championships talked to us about his Olympic career.

The next day the 1st and 2nd groups climbed Lake Mountain. My group mainly consisting of u/13s was let off and we climbed the Dam Wall. Up this climb I misjudged my tactics thinking it was longer and was beaten to the top. After the climb we climbed the steps up to the top of the scenic lookout where we had the best look over the Eildon Dam. We got back to the camp and an intense session of table tennis and pool got underway.

After a couple of hours the group 2’s got back and we were shocked about the difficulty of Lake Mountain. After lunch groups 3 and 4 got into a straight line sprints championships. I am the first to admit I am not a good sprinter and I got blown away. After some heats three riders contested the finals. We were lucky and we had a good 25 spectators. The majority of the spectators were black cows - the hills on the side created perfect a perfect grandstand for the cows. Luckily we were protected from the spectators going onto the road by an intimidating electric fence. In the final Angus Flood beat Kurt Santagada and Tom from Caulfield Carnegie. We had finished the Straight line sprints at 4:00pm leaving Angus 4 hours to enjoy and celebrate his victory. That night we had the Trivia Quiz where Team Quickstep came home with the victory. The format had been three children’s teams and two adult teams. My team, Milram thought that the buzzers were rigged. That was just our opinion though.

On the Tuesday the first two groups tackled Jerusalem Creek as an experiment to see whether it would be suitable for use in the Eildon tour. The climb didn’t get the all clear for the tour after the last two kilometres were just dirt roads. Unfortunately the weather on that day was horrible with a constant drizzle clouding the ride. We did the Eildon Loop which was round the Dam. This was done at a slow pace on the way out but we raced back attacking each other. Again Angus proved the goods after coming together for an unofficial sprint. Lead out man Rob Santagada managed to drop the rest off the field before trying to win the sprint with Angus just holding on.

After Lunch the top two groups did the Eildon Loop with the dam wall. My roommate (who was in the second group) said that it surprised him how short it was after doing Lake Mountain. Groups 3 & 4 had a talk about the upcoming track season.

On the final day we all climbed Skyline - for me it seemed to be all hyped up and when I got to the mountain I attacked my group and dropped my Dad which was a huge moment for me. About 23 minutes later I finished on top of Skyline. It was a huge thing beating Dad for the first time. When we had got back to the time we packed up and had a BBQ for Lunch sort of as a celebration. After Lunch we packed up and departed at various times.

I would really like to thank Richard Stringer and Rob Santagada for organising the camp, Judy Flood for cooking the great food and all the parents who helped out with the camp.

Thanks to Simon for his great help and coaching.

Group 1 blast their way up the Alexandra cutting (again!)
(l-r: Alex M, Alex S, Chris D, Emerson, Vaughn, Cameron, Chris Dann, Stephen, Rhys, Liam, Jack, Connor
Buried in the Bunch: Mitchell Burden, Mitchell Barry, Trevor, Rob M
Out of Frame, but not DownAndOut: Paul P!)

These JM17, JM19, U23 riders (above), including a couple of our Masters, conquered Lake Mountain & return in glorious conditions, multiple turns of Eildon Pondage, Skyline and Thornton-Alexandra-Taggerty loops and a smash-and-grab run up to the Mt Pinniger lookout.

Group 2 enjoy the sunshine at the top of Lake Mountain.
(l-r: Michael, Patrick, Briony, Pierce, Jonathon, Caitlin, Richard, Leanne, James D. Missing: Andrew M)
JW17, JM15 and a couple of game parents also conquered Lake Mountain (though on a reduced route) which was a highlight. The Eildon Pondage, Skyline and Thornton-Alexandra-Taggerty loops were also part of a strong program.

Gary, Squizzy and Ray take a well-earned break.

Group 3. While practicing their standing starts, Thomas and James stay focused. Rob S, Angus, Robert and Kallum observe closely.

Group 3. Kallum and Emma grit their teeth up the Rubicon Rd, while Simon and Robert look on attentively.

Group 3 and 4 enjoyed out-and-backs to Taggerty and Thornton, Eildon and the Pondage Loop for a bit of fun. With some straight-line sprinting and Individual Time Trial drills, these guys and girls are keen to emulate their older Club members, and move into the hills a little bit more at the next camp in April 2010.
The way many of them attacked the Skyline climb, it won’t be soon enough!

Group 3. Anthony and Jacob battle out a straight-line sprint.