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2024 Club Presentation Day Sat 26th October

Thanks to all our members and family members for coming along after racing to our Presentation Day. Congratulations to all riders, and special thanks to Wayne Wilson who puts in a massive amount of work organising the presentation day including purchasing and engraving trophies & medals, event organisation and presenting awards.

Here's a list of all the award winners and thanks to Col Howkins for all the photos!









Overall Club Champions
B Grade Men - David Wadsworth
C Grade Men - Gerry Forde
D Grade Men - Peter Allonby
D Grade Women - Trish Sutton-Davies
U15 - Elliot King
U11 - Judd Larkins
Full Club Championship Event Results
All other Event Results

L-R David Wadsworth, Trish Sutton-Davies, Ludd Larkins, Elliott King, Gerry Forde, Mick Cole (2023 champ with replacement jersey!), Peter Allonby


Volunteer of the Year - Paul Dahl. Paul has very quietly put in a tremendous amount of work mowing and whippersnipping the Nundah Circuit, a very well-deserved winner!


Most Improved Rider - Josh Newman. In a season Josh has come from racing C grade to A grade to National events. Well done Josh!


Junior of the Year - Neve Parslow. Neve has had a fantastic year, being crowned the National U17 Criterium champion, and being selected to ride in the ARA team in 2025!


Aggregate Points Winner - Andrew Friebe. Andrew has had a great season capped off with winning the National Masters 3 Road Race
The perpetual trophy is always awarded to the club rider who scores the most number of aggregrate points over the season. The winner also gets a cheque to the value of double of their aggregate points. As well as getting points for placing in events, points are awarded for starting and finishing, fastest times, first unplaced lady etc. The points are weighted to give more incentive to the higher grades to compensate for competition from visiting riders. It is thus a trophy that rewards results and consistency.



Trophy Events - riders receive an individual trophy and retain the perpetual shield for the year. Thanks to Andrea Alexander for presenting these awards
Soldiers Honour Handicap Andrew Friebe
Frank Papp Memorial Handicap Div 2 Lachlan Walters (Hannah standing in!), Div 1 Andrew Mohr
Ted Alexander Memorial race - Craig Wiggins (not present)


C Grade Medallists L-R Perry Judd ITT Champion (Also national TX Para TT champion from the RoadNats this year) , Gerry Forde (overall winner), Nick O'Sullivan (Crit Champion) 


D Grade Medallists L-R Nick Rogers (ITT), Peter Allonby (Overall and Criterium), Chris Marty


C Grade Ladies Criterium Medallists  Katie Cole (2nd), Mhari Hughes (1st), Tully Schweitzer (3rd)


U15 Medallists L-R Harrison Dowling (2nd overall, 2nd Crit, 1st ITT, 2nd Road, Elliott King 1st overall, 2nd Crit, 1st ITT, 2nd Road, Ren Wei Tsen (3rd overall)


Trish Sutton-Davies (D Grade Ladies Champion) trying out the new Club Champion Jersey designed by Matt Smart


U17 Road Race Championship Winner Lachlan Chamberlain


U 17/19 Competitors



Andrew Mohr (B Grade ITT And Frank Papp Memorial winner) with Club Captain and B grade Champion David Wadsworth

U15 ITT Winner Georgia Dowling


Juniors Coordinator Alistair Lang presenting Junior Awards


Ladies Caption Katie Cole presenting the Aggregate Trophy


U13 ITT Champion Tex Green


U11 Medallists Riley King and Judd Larkins


U11 Medallist Hugo Lang


Volunteers Random Luck Prizes - 1st Prize and Free AusCycling membership Trish Sutton-Davies. Random but well deserved winner, Trish is always there at the desk at every Twilight Series race! 


Just helping out!

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Junior Nationals Report from Loxton SA

Some of our talented juniors recently travelled to SA for the Junior Nationals. The club provided some financial support as part of our junior sponsorship policy, and the riders have kindly provided some reports on their experiences. Well done Neve and Aidan Parslow and Lachlan Chamblerlain!



From Neve Parslow:
My last ever Junior Road Nationals was amazing. 

There were three events, the ITT, road race, and the criterium, all located in Loxton,SA. The week started out with the 16km, incredibly windy, ITT. The wind left zero room to hide. I finished in 5th place, and the 3rd Queenslander.

Friday was the road race, a long, flat course. I managed to get in a breakaway quite early on, but after we gapped the bunch by 30 seconds, we were neutralised for the
u17 boys race passing us, and therefore caught. Towards the end of the race I was in another breakaway of 9, however, I was boxed in during the sprint and finished 8th
out of 29. Although the road race was not suited to me, I gave it my all.

The last event was the criterium. The course was 1.4km long, with a steep, hill-top finish, reaching 6°, and dragging on for about 500m. The back of the course was technical, with two down-hill, right-hand corners, where the bunch quickly split up. We started the race with a neutral lap. This was one of the times of the race where good positioning was crucial to staying in that top group, so I did not let myself shy away to the back. I was able to follow the fastest riders through, making a four person break, including three Queenslanders. Each time we went up the hill, I made sure to conserve my energy and spend as little time on the front as I could, as I knew every pedal made a difference. 

On the last lap, I rolled off the front as I passed the finish line for the second last time. I cut into third place, to secure a good position for the final sprint. As we went around the last corner, I made sure to watch the other three riders. Two of them started to stand up, but I held on. With about 150m to go, I saw a chance. I jumped out on the left hand side of the group and sprinted past. I managed to gap two, with one rider just hanging off the back of me. I sprinted as hard as I could, and made it over the line first, by about half a wheel.

The hill-top finish was just about made for me, and it was such an excellent way to conclude my time as a junior cyclist. I am so grateful for my coach, Alex Quirk, my family, friends, and my cycling club, Hamilton Wheelers. I am incredibly lucky to be part of such an amazing group of people who continuously support and encourage me to chase my dreams.

I am super excited for what is to come next year as an u19!
Neve Parslow

From Aidan Parslow:

This year I was selected to ride for the Queensland state road team at nationals. We flew down to Adelaide on the 17 th of September, and drove to Berri, about 3 hours away, where we were
staying.

The team went out for a recon ride on the first day to get used to the courses. There was a generous tailwind on the way out, but the headwind on the way back ripped us all apart.

Our time trial was held on Thursday morning in Loxton, the town over from Berri. The wind had changed from the day before, to a nasty crosswind for the entire course out and back. Time
trialing is not my strongest point, but it was a good experience. 

Our next event was the road race, held on Friday. We didn't have a neutral zone at the start, so we started with a full out sprint. This caused quite a few crashes and as a result we had to pause our race at the one kilometre mark to wait for people to catch back to the group and continue the race. Further in, I got into a bad crash with about six other riders who all came out better off than me. I lost a lot of skin, but I was cleared of possible concussion and was told that I would be allowed to race the criterium on Sunday.

The crit was held in the center of Loxton, and it had a hilltop finish of about six percent. The race started fast but unfortunately after Friday’s crash I couldn’t hold on. I rode in a small group with one other Queensland rider and three more from other states. I was still happy that I raced.

Although my first time at Nationals did not go as planned, it was a brilliant experience to race in Loxton and represent Queensland and Hamilton Wheelers. Thank you to my parents and Hamilton Wheelers for the coaching and support to allow me to race at all these events.

From Lachlan Chamberlain:
I was proud to represent QLD and HWCC at my first road nationals. It was some of the hardest conditions and racing I’ve experienced. 

The ITT was the first event and the head wind for the return leg was horrendous, however I had a pretty solid hit out claiming 19th out of 41. 

The road race was too fast for me so I got dropped early but worked with a Bundaberg rider to finish the race off in 35th out of 51 starters. 

The crit pace was hot from the gun and the pace was crazy up the hill and it wasn’t long until the race was blown apart. I was slowly chasing people down until I caught up to a Qld teammate, however it wasn’t long til we got red flagged due to the lead group closing in behind (along with 30 others out of 45 starters). 

Thank you to Hamilton for their continued support, Lachlan. 

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Quinn Findlay's Euro Report

Long term junior member Quinn Findlay travelled to Europe for two months to train and compete in some UCI races. The club provided some financial support as part of our junior sponsorship policy, and Quinn kindly provided some reports on her training and racing. Well done Quinn - what an adventure!



Part One 16th April 2024
My first ever European racing trip began on March 18 th departing from Brisbane to later arrive in Milan, Italy; before settling in the small town of Illasi in the Italian hills. The training ground has been amazing with no shortage of bergs and uninterrupted roads. I am beyond grateful for this opportunity provided my Down Under Cycling Academy (DUCA), giving me the chance to train and race in one of the most influential cycling countries. 

After recuperating from jetlag and finding my training rhythm again, we were given the opportunity to undergo Vo2 max testing with the UAE women’s world tour teams coach,
Luca Zenti. This provided new testing information for myself, my coach and the UAE and DUCA staff. The experience was so unreal, couldn’t wipe the smile off my face; after seeing a threshold increase and my uptake of oxygen per minute. Again, I cannot express my gratitude considering how rare and expensive Vo2 testing is for amateurs.

The next key moment so far was starting Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry. This was already a very ambitious first European race, being a 1.1. We travelled to France by car,
crossing the border at Mount Blanc which provided unreal views to boost the morale. Pre-race was nerve-wracking after seeing the unforgiving course, where the initial ‘short and flat’ 2 laps included a 13% climb (super flat haha!). The following 5 laps were an 18km circuit that included 2 longer climbs as well as the earlier one. Lining up on the start line was the most intimidated I’ve been to say the least; we were accompanied by FDJ, Jayco, UAE, AG Insurance Soudal NXTG, Arkea, Canyon Sram and other notable continental teams.

Unfortunately, my race ended very early on from a crash in the wheels in front of me. We were travelling at speeds higher than 50kmh along the flats prior and subsequently had nowhere to go to avoid people front flipping in front of me. I surprisingly have pulled up with very minimal road rash but badly bruised hips and tailbone, and a dash of whiplash after a head knock. I was able to continue riding until being pulled while concluding the third lap. Unfortunate circumstances for my Euro debut but welcome to racing! I am super excited to build towards my next races and keep this space updated.


Part Two 11th May 2024

After crashing out of Grand Prix Féminin de Chambéry on a Sunday, I had to have a speedy recovery to be ready for racing to resume the next Friday. Thankfully both my whiplash and bruising faded rather quickly, being back on the bike after two days!

Our next race was Giro Del Mediterraneo in Rosa, this was a 5-day UCI 2.2 tour, that was the most challenging race i’ve done both mentally and physically. Each stage was 100-120km with relentless climbs and descents. Day 1 and 2 provided difficult racing conditions with cold almost torrential rain, resulting in an insane number of crashes. This race was situated in Southern Italy which is regarded as a lower socioeconomic area, where most of the cars are less efficient and release more oil and grime onto the roads. To add to this, the roads hadn’t seen rain in many months - so to say they were slippery was an understatement. On both of these days I would have passed over 20 girls who crashed on their own accord descending, not even a bunch crash! On multiple hairpins my back wheel was next to me from the inevitable skidding. Despite being terrifying, it was awesome to finish these two stages!

Stage 3 provided nothing for me to write home about, as it was more of a flatter transition stage. The final two stages were the hardest days I’ve ever had on a bike, Stage 4 consisted of a circuit around an 8km climb (so practically 3 x 20min FTP tests).

Stage 5 was another circuit through a wind farm and 12km climb to complete three times. Both of these days I was able to make the select front group during the first climbs, where the bunch was reduced from over 100 riders to less than 40. I finished both these stages in good company surrounded by multiple UAE devo riders and other notable continental teams, so safe to say I’m proud of my performance.

Finishing Giro Del Mediterraneo feels like the biggest achievement in my cycling career and provided the most testing moments of my life.

Then despite being shells of humans after this - we concluded the racing week with GP Liberazione 1.1 in Rome. This was a criterium/kermesse styled race with a 5km highly technical circuit that included 3 U-turns along with many other tight bends and road furniture. I started this race unbelievably sore and mentally exhausted but keen nonetheless, unfortunately I was caught behind a large crash very early on. Thankfully stayed rubber side up but lost contact with the bunch after.

Since concluding both these UCI races I have been back training and content with the progress being made, ready to rip into some more racing!



Part 3
After arriving home from GP Liberazione 1.1 in Rome, I had two weeks to both recover from the previous tour and get primed for more racing. Two weeks later we arrived in Porto Sant’Elpidio for ASD GC Tutti Campioni, this time we were greeted by beautiful coastlines and blue water. Prior to the race start we drove the course and had some very nervous commentary in the van. To our surprise – the gravel sectors we were warned about were both a -15% descent and someone’s driveway that only had two possible lines. This first sector was a mere 2km into the race, I unfortunately found myself on the rear end of the bunch approaching this. As expected, there was a pile up on this gravel driveway and I had to resort to some CX skills across the local’s farm to keep moving. After making it back onto the tarmac, the front group was already ascending the first climb about 300m up the road.

The next 5 minutes I spent chasing up climbs in attempt to make contact, upon cresting the main climb I was 20m off the tail end of the select group. Unfortunately, I lost further contact during the steep gravel descent (not quite as fearless as the Italians). For the remaining laps I was solo between the front and second bunch of girls, before being pulled with 1 lap to go. I am still annoyed about being pulled – being less than 2 minutes down. To my surprise, they only allowed 30 or so girls to finish this race out of the 140 starters.

The next day we raced Club Corridonia, where we had our largest peloton yet – 178 riders! This race began with 4 laps of a flat 8km circuit before ascending two laps of a 3km climb. During the flat laps I was keeping safe in the bunch and taking on my nutrition. When we hit the first climb, I was further back than I would have liked, having to climb past most the bunch. I managed to crest the climb in the second group of 7 riders, having 10 or so slightly  further up the road. During the flat section and descent, we reconnected with this group before ascending the final climb. The pace slowed in the initial 2km of the climb before the attacks in the final 1km; my legs felt good and I was able to finish as 10 th elite, finally getting my name printed on a results sheet!

Next up was Tour de Feminin, located in Czech Republic, had been classed as the ‘goal race’ for almost every rider in the team. Despite this, we departed Illasi with only 4 riders, due to sickness and injuries from nasty crashes. The 15-hour drive was rude on the body, but it was incredibly scenic through both Austria and Germany. We arrived at our accommodation very late and got straight to bed before stage 1.

The tour began with a 12km individual time trial, which was far from flat. There were several steep climbs, descents and sharp corners to keep it interesting. To my surprise, I was very pleased with my effort, finishing 61 st against a stacked field on time trial setups. Although finishing quite far down to the AG Insurance Soudal – Quickstep girls, I still felt as though I was strong enough the contest in the remaining stages. 

Stage 2 provided us with a storm that lasted the first hour of the race. This was some of the heaviest rain I’d ridden in, and this resulted me in being dropped on the descent a mere 3km into the race… I spent the next 40kms chasing through the convoy and dropping riders before reconnecting with the front bunch. By the time I made contact – it was reduced to about 60 riders, where I felt much safer. After wasting so much energy early on in the stage, I got dropped on the final GPM climb, joining the second group on the road. I finished this stage in 37th place, which I was rather pleased with. 

Stage 3... was insane. We began with a lovely day in the sunshine but were eventually
greeted by a hailstorm. Visibility was reduced to almost nothing, even without glasses, causing many crashes into barriers and bushes. The roads began to flood, with mud and
gravel running across the roads from the surrounding hills. Despite this – the race went on! I would be unplaying it by saying I was terrified, so I spent the remaining wet and dark kilometres at the rear end of the bunch. My goal was to stay upright and finish without losing time in the sketchy cobbled sprint, which I successfully achieved. 

Stage 4, the queen stage that contained over 2,100m of climbing and 12 GPM climbs. This was my hardest day on the bike yet (seems like I’ve had lots of those here). Each climb was full gas and I managed to grit my teeth and crest them in the front bunch 10 out of 12 times.For the second last GPM I re-made contact with the reduced front bunch whilst descending. The final climb was 1.5km in length, about 3km from the finish, before a fast descent back into the town. The field blew to pieces over this climb with everyone trying to establish a gap, my legs were riddled with cramps but I hung onto 30 th only 45seconds down from Julia Kopecky of AG. I finished exhausted knowing I’d given it my all. I’m proud of my performance despite the placing not sounding too high. 

This rounded out the camp with a high, as I could finally see large improvements both within the bunch and my results. After being home for 3 weeks, I have become even more grateful for this opportunity and experience. I have developed immensely, both as a person and cyclist; somehow, I am noticeably less timid and shy, which I’m grateful for. I cannot thank Four PL and Women’s Cycling Project enough for helping me achieve this! And I hope it has been interesting to follow along with my experiences.

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2024 Queensland Road Championship Report

Here's club captain David Wadsworth's great report!

Hamilton Wheelers had a large number of riders competing at the Qld Road Championships in Bundaberg this weekend.  The Bundaberg Cycling Club did a great job putting on an awesome event.  Riders competed across the 3 disciplines of the individual time trial, road race and criterium.

Friday ITT
The individual time trial was held on Friday in some tricky conditions with a strong breeze blowing.  Highlights for our Hamilton riders include:
🥇: Joanne Chamberlain, Colin Howkins, Mark Croonen, Andrew Mohr, Porter White (u17M), Gary Madigan
🥈: Nick Rogers, Narelle Coutts, Ryan O'Shaugnhessy (u17M)
🥉: Adam Robinson, Kirstin Leech
High placings for:
4th: Arthur Puie, Atilla Kiss, Kurt Jacobs, Luke Wadsworth, Neve Parslow (u17W), Matilda Taylor (u15W), Georgia Dowling (u13W)
5th: Lucie Scott, Darrin White, Ethan Lang, Jaydon Pahor (u15M), Hannah Walters (u15W), Riley King (u13M)

Saturday RR
Saturday's road race was on a unique course that consisted of 18km laps.  The first half lap could be described as a false flat uphill with a couple of short steep pinches, and the second half a false flat downhill ending in a downhill sprint finish.  I'm sure most riders were happy that the wind wasn't quite as strong as in the TT!
🥇:  Narelle Coutts, Jo Chamberlain, Ethan Young, Dane Linford
🥈: Kirstin Leech, Colin Howkins, Johnny Rose
🥉: Georgia Dowling (u13W), Neve Parslow (u17W)
4th: Edson Arthur (u11M), Aidan Parslow (u15M), Matilda Taylor (u15W), Nicole Mohr, Adrian Kelly
5th: Riley King (u11M), Jakob Cork (u15M), Luke Wadsworth, Paul Newman, Kurt Jacobs, Chris Jeffries, David Wadsworth

Sunday Criterium
Sundays criterium was on the Bargara beachfront on a technical circuit with a screaming cross wind making it a hard day requiring excellent bike handling skills. 
🥇: Joanne Chamberlain, Kym Kim Rasker
🥈: Colin Howkins, Johnny Rose, Neve Parslow (u17W), Robert Campbell
🥉: Gary Madigan, Nicholas Nick Rogers, Chris Jeffries, Kirstin Leech, Andrew Mohr 
4th: Dane Linforth, Aidan Parslow, Matilda Taylor (u15W)
5th: Adam Robinson, Nicole Mohr, Peter Oddson, Kurt Jacobs, Adrian Kelly , Jakob Cork 
What a list - some very impressive rides over the 3 day weekend!  I certainly saw a number of personal best rides from a variety of riders spanning every age group at champs, with some big improvements happening even if they didn't make the medals... yet!  You guys know who you are and my highest congratulations to you all.   My sincere apologies if I missed someone.   Attached are a couple of photos form the weekend.

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2024 Balmoral Junior and Womens Tour Report

Club Captain David Wadsworth provided this wrap up report from the Balmoral Junior & Womens Tour & U19 NRS
Lots of Hamilton riders were racing the BJWT this weekend, which saw riders compete across 4 stages (Prologue, RR, Mt Gravatt stage & criterium).  Lots of PB's set by riders on some awesome courses.  Once again thank you to the Balmoral Cycling Club for putting on a wonderful event and for the u19 track endurance squad for making it part of their pre-worlds preparations.
Highlights include:
New Mt Gravatt record in u19M set by Alex Correll this morning to take the win! ⭐️
GC wins to Alex Correll (u19M NRS) & Neve Parslow (u17W).  Congratulations! ⭐️
Round up of top results:
u11M: Riley King 3rd GC.
u13W: Georgia Dowling 5th GC.
u15W: Matilda Taylor 5th GC, 3rd stage 4, Hannah Walters 6th GC.
u15M: Harrison Dowling 3rd stage & 8th GC, Elliot King 9th & Jakob Cork 10th GC.
u17W: Neve Parslow 🥇GC, 3rd stage 1, 1st stages 2 & 3, 3rd stage 4.
u17M: Porter White 3rd GC & 1st stages 1 & 3, Lachlan Walters 6th GC & 3rd stage 2, Ryan O'Shaugnhessy 7th GC.
u19M: Alex Correll 🥇GC & 1st stages 1&3 & 2nd stage 2.
WC: Mhari Hughes 4th GC.
WB: Narelle Coutts 3rd on GC, 2nd stage 1&2&3, 3rd stage 4 (super consistent!).
WA: Imogen Francis 3rd on GC and 2nd stage 1, 3rd stage 2, 2nd stage 3;    Abby McLain 2nd on GC & 2nd stage 2 & 1st stage 4.








photos courtesy of David Wadsworth and Matt Cork

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Hamilton Hero Series 2024


Hamilton Heroes Series Winners after the third and final round:
A Grade 1. Nick Pedler 2. Kyle Gibbs 3 Toby Jones
B Grade 1. Fletcher Medway 2. Zahn Spies 3. Josh Newman
C Grade 1. Gerry Forde 2. Eli Taylor 3. Paul Theron
D Grade 1. Chris Marty 2. Mark McClennan 3. Dick Moran

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• Juniors

Our Juniors going to the Canberra Junior Tour

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• Track

Lachlan Walters rides track in Malaysia

Congratulations to Hamilton rider Lachlan Walters, who competed in the 4 nations YSD track series in Malaysia over the weekend. He represented Australia in the u17 category for the second year in a row.

Well done to everyone who competed. No doubt many things learnt and many memorable experiences.

 

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• Track

Australian Junior Track Series Round 3 (Adelaide) - Race Report

leading our U17 men in 24 th overall. Lachlan Walters was not far behind in 27 th and Ethan brought home the back of the pack in 43 rd . Meanwhile, Harrison Dowling took out 30 th in the U15 men. Our U17 Men will also be training hard now having been selected to the QLD junior track team to compete at nationals in April.

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Ren Bao Tsen at the Tour of Thailand 204

10th in the General Classification (+2:08)

4th in the ASEAN Classification (+1:59)

1stin the Young Rider Classification

Well done, mate. A truly great collection of results amongst some of the future stars of our sport.

Safe travels back to Australia
(Mick Cole)