Brunswick CC - Steel Bike Day

 It’s a Steel!

A small, but illustrious field gathered at the Brunswick Velodrome for Steel Bike day last Sunday 23rd March. In true Brunswick style, there was no plan or schedule, just a desire to have a great time on two wheels.  Chief Commissaire Mr. Pink’s first decree of the day was to make himself redundant and hand over the reigns to the juniors of the club who were there to “watch dad go round” and cheer on the riders.  With microphone in one hand and notebook in another, our four tireless junior commissaires, Ralph, Indra, Jonathon and April, kept order, counted down laps, waved flags, added scores, interviewed riders and did party tricks.


And there were some pretty slick looking bikes in action








The event was held to raise funds for Tour de Cure.  Anna Nicolas, lost her partner and former member Peter “Trigger” Traeger.  Peter tragically, lost his battle with cancer in November 2022, just 11 days after his son’s first birthday.  Anna said "I’m determined to keep Pete’s vibrant spirit alive! In his honour, I’ll be riding from Airlie Beach to Port Douglas in May 2025 to raise as much money as possible for cancer research. Pete was my best friend, an avid cyclist, my partner, and a truly beautiful person. He fought with incredible courage." Club President, Ben Eltringham-Smith welcomed Anna and her family, and paid tribute to Peter, who was renowned for his racing style of pulling the trigger and getting one over his rivals.  So far the club has raised $564. You can still contribute using the QR code.

 

Events

  • 8 lap scratch
  • Aussie Crawl
  • 30 lap Ascending Points race
  • 20 Lap points race

Results were inconsequential, everyone had a great afternoon watching the riders go around on steel bikes.

A few highlights

The president (first wheel) wearing a vintage woollen jersey, once worn by club legend Alan Grindal


Kieren Hopkins (father of Ralph) riding in his first track event

The Vintage bike display
 

The trophy, a steel BMX frame painted gold       

·        


Being interviewed by Ralph and Jonathon


·       





Finishing a track race in front of the president. If I only beat one person this year, it has to be the prez!

Needless to say, steel bike day will be back in 2026, so if you don’t have a steel track bike, start looking for one.



 

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