News and Results

2026 Club Championship Series - Update after R3

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:25:00 GMT

With thanks to Adelaide Hills Cycling Club, Round 3 of the PACC Club Championship Series was run at the Terlinga Road Race. This course has one major climb, which really isn't long enough for the pure climbers to drop the strong rolleurs, and the course favoured tactical racing. Although the rain came down during the race, everyone stayed safe, and we were thrilled with a strong PACC contingent starting and finishing the race.

Darren Searle, whose climbing ability was well suited to this course, took home maximum points in the men's race in C-grade, leaving Barnaby Grant struggling a few minutes behind. David Slater continues to be consistent, taking home 3rd PACC rider on the day. Darren now leads David by 8 points, with one round to race!

Virginia Riches was the only PACC woman to race, and takes home both maximum points AND the series lead. She now leads Kayla McSporran and Vicki-Lynne Birks by a commanding 18 points, with only the CX round on 5 July 2026 to come.

Results from Round 3 are available here: Terlinga Road (Mt Torrens), 12/04/2026 : : my.race|result

Full series standings are available here: Championship Standings after R3

The final round will be at Round 2 of the Crossfire Cup. Entries aren't open yet, but will be here: Crossfire Cup Round 2 - EntryBoss

Annual General Meeting 2026

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 07:19:00 GMT

PACC gives notice of the 2026 Annual General Meeting to be held on Wednesday 20 May 2026 at 6:30pm, at The Golden Wattle, Pirie Street Adelaide.

___________________________

Supporting documentation for the meeting:

Agenda
Minutes of the 2025 AGM
President's Report (TBC)
Treasurer's Report (TBC)
Audited Financial Statements (TBC)

___________________________

All members of the Club are invited and welcome to attend. Business to be transacted at the meeting include:

President's Report
Treasurer's Report
Consideration of the 2025/26 Audited Financial Statements
Appointment of Auditor
Announcement of the Junior Scholarship Awards
Appointment of Life Members
Volunteer of the Year Award
Election of the 2026/27 Board

Nomination to the Board

As a volunteer-run Club, we need assistance from our members to run all facets of the club and we would like to see members nominate to serve on the Board. The Board is a passionate group of members and we seek nominations from our passionate and talented member base to ensure we can plan and execute measures to ensure a sustainabile future for the club.

Nominations must be received on the attached nomination Form, approved by the proposer and the nominee. Forms are to be lodged with the Secretary by 5:00pm on 1 May 2026.

The PACC Board is committed to supporting diversity on its Board. Nominations from women and/or gender diverse members are welcomed, as are nominations from younger (IE U23) members interested in gaining experience on a governing committee. If you have any questions about Board membership, please reach out to president@pacc.org.au, or any of our other Board Members.

Nomination for Life Membership

Life membership is the highest award available for recognising the exceptional contribution of individuals to the Port Adelaide Cycling Club. It is awarded to members who have demonstrated a significant, sustained and high quality service leaving a lasting legacy as outlined in PACC's Life Membership Policy. Life members include Kellie Hards, Michele Primaro, Gemma Kernich, Mark Gregory, David Miller, Will Lyons, Paula Hollambhy, Alex Bates, Matt Donnon, Stuart O'Grady OAM, Mike Turtur OAM and Gordon "Pud" Brooks OAM.

Nominations are to be made in writing on the attached nomination form and returned to the Secretary by 5:00pm on 8 May 2026.

Volunteer of the Year

Like all sporting clubs, volunteers make up the lifeblood of Port Adelaide Cycling Club. We rely on them to run the Club as part of the Board, organising training and racing events, setting up and packing up, supporting our other members and ensuring compliance with keeping the club running. The Volunteer of the Year award has been running since 2019, and we ask members to reognise their favourite volunteer by nominating them for the 2024 Award. Fill in the attached nomination form and return to the secretary by 5:00pm on 8 May 2026.

Junior Scholarships

If you are under 23, have been selected to a state or national team, or are racing at the national level regularly, you may be eligible for our junior racing scholarhsips. The eleigibility period is the club financial year (1 April - 31 March) and we will announce the recipients at the AGM. To apply, please send us an email outlining your achievements and highlights of the past year and what you hope to achieve in 2026-27. Don't forget to include a photo! Emails must be recieved to committee@pacc.org.au by 8 May 2024.

AusCycling Special General Meeting - Call for Member Feedback

Wed, 18 Mar 2026 06:15:00 GMT

Port Adelaide Cycling Club members will have received notice from AusCycling of a Special General Meeting to be held on 23 April 2026, calling for the removal of the AusCycling Chair Craig Bingham.

Background:

In mid 2025, members of the Harlequin Wheelmen cycling club began communicating with clubs, accusing AusCycling of seeking to ‘divide and conquer’, and minimising clubs’ input into the governance of our sport. Whilst the tone of the communications was hyperbolic, they did raise some legitimate concerns, including:

Failing to effectively support cycling in Australia below the elite level;
Inadequate engagement with stakeholders;
Lack of transparency and accountability, particularly with regard to membership costs.

The original proposal from the Harlequin Wheelmen called for a return to ‘state-based management of cycling disciplines’. Whilst the PACC Board shared some of the concerns, particularly in relation to the lack of support for non-elite cycling, there was no proposal which the Board saw as solving these issues.

More recently, members of the Canberra Cycling Club and Midlands Cycle Club began reaching out to clubs also calling for a special meeting, but this time setting out a more coherent list of concerns and proposal for various resolutions at a SGM.

You can read here:

A letter from Jack Lindsay dated 26 January 2026 summarising the resolutions that Midlands Cycle Club (WA) and Canberra Cycling Club (ACT) were proposing;
A 1-page summary of the proposal;
A more detailed summary of the proposal.
Notice of General Meeting

PACC did not sign the requests to call a SGM, but sufficient clubs did, and the GM has now been scheduled.

There are concerns raised by Mr Lindsay and others about the fact that although 4 proposals were put forward, only one has been placed on the agenda for the Special General Meeting, raising a concern about transparency and how much AusCycling is prepared to listen to its members.

The problem:

When it launched, AusCycling proposed a 3-phase approach. ‘Horizon 1’ was titled ‘Strengthen the Foundations’, and promised to engage more riders, grow the number of coaches and officials, build credibility and trust in the AusCycling Brand, and create a sustainable economic agenda.

Horizon 2 was to focus on ‘driving tangible growth’. Whilst AusCycling has acknowledged that it did not meet its Horizon 1 goals, it’s not clear how AusCycling has reflected on its performance or how it intends to 'catch up'. The PACC Board shares concerns regarding the future of cycling in Australia. We recognise that whilst more people are riding bikes than ever before, fewer people are connected to cycling clubs. Races are getting harder and harder to organise, more expensive, and fewer people are taking part. Many clubs are shrinking, volunteers are harder to source, and there doesn’t appear to be a coherent plan from AusCycling to address this.

PACC has written to AusCycling asking for a report into its Horizon 1 results, and what its plans are to reverse the trends of dropping member numbers and increasing costs. We will advise you if we receive a meaningful response.

The proposal to devolve AusCycling back to a set of State-based organisations was not rational, and fortunately that proposal is not on the agenda.

We do share concerns that the leadership of AusCycling has not demonstrated its ability to support clubs and grow members. However, the Board is not convinced that removing the chair of the AusCycling Board will necessarily lead to improvements. We understand that the challenges facing clubs are not limited to cycling, and that reduced involvement with community associations is a feature of the 21^st century.

So this is where you come in. Your feedback to the Board will be incredibly important in shaping our response. Do you think that the current leadership of AusCycling deserves more time to implement its Horizon 2 Strategy, or do you think that AusCycling has had enough time, and has failed to meet its goals?

Your feedback by 10 April 2026 would be greatly appreciated, by email to president@pacc.org.au.

2026 Club Championship Series - Update after R2

Tue, 10 Mar 2026 21:29:00 GMT

With thanks to Norwood Cycling Club, Round 2 of the PACC Club Championship Series was run at a Tuesday Night Criterium last night.

Taking out first place amongst PACC Riders, young gun Evan Hawkes won his C-grade race, earning maximum points for the round! Scooping up points as well was the new series leader, Darren Searle, whose finish in the C-grade race earned him 2nd place amongst PACC riders, leading home George Vlahos.

The men's series leaderboard is now taking shape, with Darren leading with 38 points, narrowly ahead of David Slater on 34. Both riders won their category in Round 1 taking maximum points, and are developing a healthy lead over the chasing pack, now ably led by Evan.

The women's standings are unchanged, with Kayla McSporran and Vicki-Lynne Birks both sitting on 20 points.

Full results from R2 are availalbe here, and the full series standings are available here: PACC Club Championship Results and Standings - R2

The next round will be the AHCC Road Race at Terlinga on 12 April 2026. Entries are now open, and we'd love to see PACC riders get around and support this race.

PACC Club Championships Series Underway

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 21:34:00 GMT

Round 1 of the PACC Club Championship Series is complete, with 10 PACC riders taking the start line of the Zero Friction Cycling Time Trial on 8 Feb 2026.

Leading home the women in the Time Trial bike category was Vicki-Lynne Birks, only 25 seconds ahead of Bronywn Dolman. In the women's Road Bike category, Kayla McSporran flew around the course, beating home Virginia Riches and Jane Johnson.

In the men's Road Bike category, David Slater was the only PACC finisher, although an honourable mention goes to Cameron Mack, who ended his race early to assist another rider who had crashed. Cameron takes home the Fair Play award, and an honorary placing in the Series.

Finally, Darren Searle was the first PACC rider across the line in the TT bike category, beating Chris Cochinos and Carl Purczel.

The next round will be the Norwood Cycling Club Tuesday Night Criterium on 10 March 2026. We encourage as many PACC riders as possible to get out to this event, and need at least 3 volunteers to help run the event on the day, supporting NCC which has generously allowed us to use their race. Please email committee@pacc.org.au if you can assist.

Full results from R1 are avialable here, and full series standings are avialable here: PACC CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS AND STANDINGS.

Chris Harper's Course Record Falls!

Sun, 04 Jan 2026 22:06:00 GMT

Zero Friction Time Trial Series – Round 1 Recap

Sunday 4 January 2026

Round 1 of the 2026 Zero Friction Time Trial Series got underway on Sunday morning in near-perfect racing conditions, setting the tone for what promises to be a fast and fiercely competitive season. Cool conditions, very light winds, it was definitely a day for setting a fast time.

Elite performances across the board

The women’s TT Bike category delivered one of the standout rides of the day, with current U23 National Time Trial Champion Alli Anderson putting down an exceptional performance. Anderson stopped the clock at 23:56, averaging an impressive 43.78 km/h to take the win.

Her ride saw her defeat Jill Seeman, the reigning UCI Gran Fondo World Champion (55–59 Time Trial) who finished in 24:38, averaging 42.56km/h.

Future stars on display

The junior categories once again showcased why the Zero Friction TT Series is such a vital development pathway. Joel Gooley was particularly impressive, completing the U15 course in 14:37, but Bear Finn deserves a mention, completing the course for the first time on a mountain bike!

A stacked men’s field

The men’s field was stacked with serious firepower, with several big names turning up to test themselves early in the season. Riders such as Aston Freeth, Connor Doyle, Tristan Saunders and Wil Holmes ensured the competition for the win was fierce and that every second mattered. At the sharp end of the race, however, it was Mitchell Mulhern who stole the headlines. Mulhern delivered a blistering ride to take overall line honours in 20:45, averaging 50.52km/h, breaking the long-standing course record previously held by Chris Harper since 13 February 2022.

Mulhern is no stranger to the podium, having ridden for Australia's Team Pursuit team in its Gold Medal performance in the 2014 UCI Track World Championships in Colombia alongside Glenn O'Shea, Alex Edmonsdson, Luke Davison and Miles Scotson, and Bronze in the same event in 2015 in Paris. With the Australian National Championships on Thursday, it's clear that Mulhern is in peak form, and could challenge for a seriously impressive result, although Aston Freeth, Tristan Saunders will also be expecting good results, as will Connor Doyle and Wil Holmes in the U23 event. Sarah Dally will be racing the U23 women's TT on Thursday, and it's not hart to see Alli Anderson going back to back in the Women's Elite event as well!

Volunteers appreciated:

A massive thanks has to go to our team putting this event together. Commissaire David Birks, medical by Vivien Bing, traffic marshalling by Lynton Harding and the team from ACRM, and club members Alfie Trimming, Benny Janssen, Will Lyons and Barnaby Grant keeping the show on the road.

Also crucial to several participants getting on the track, Michele Primaro from Primaro Service Course continued to support PACC with his mechanical expertise.

Finally, a shout-out to Zero Friction Cycling, for all your low-friction goodies!

PACC Club Championship Series

Sat, 03 Jan 2026 01:10:00 GMT

PACC is delighted to announce the return of the Port Adelaide Cycling Club Championships! Raced over four races in four different disciplines, this series will crown Port Adelaide CC’s best cyclists. The Club Champions (male and female) will be the riders with the most points accumulated over the series, and trophies will be awarded at a ceremony after the last race.

So, dust off your TT bikes, Road Bikes, and CX bikes, and we’ll see you on the start line!

Details:

Riders competing for the Club Championship may compete in any kit, not just PACC kit to score points. (**Please note this rule has changed since this was first published).
Championship points may only be earned in open or senior grades.
Points will be awarded based on finishing positions amongst PACC riders in club kit only.
- For the Time Trial, the fastest PACC rider in club kit will receive 20 points, second gets 18 points, etc. There will be separate rankings for Road Bike and TT bike categories, so the fastest PACC member on a road bike will get 20 points, as will the fastest on a TT bike.
- For graded races, all finishers will receive points based on their position relative to other PACC riders in all grades. Riders racing in A-grade will receive points based on their position in their grade, followed by PACC riders in B-grade, etc.
- There will be a separate Championship and trophy for women and men.
- If a race is cancelled, a subsequent race may be nominated as a Championship Race.
- Riders are not required to race every round.

Races:

Round 2 of the Zero Friction Time Trial Series on 8 February 2026.
Norwood Cycling Club Criterium on 10 March 2026*.
Adelaide Hills Cycling Club Terlinga Road Race on 12 April 2026*.
Round 2 of the Crossfire Cup on 5 July 2026.

* Subject to approval by NCC and AHCC

Points:

Highest placed PACC member in club kit in the highest grade gets 20 points, then a countdown as follows:

Place	Points	Place	Points
1	20	7	10
2	18	8	9
3	16	9	8
4	14	10	7
5	12	11	6
6	11	12+	5

PACC on Track at Austral week 17 to 20 December

Sun, 28 Dec 2025 10:15:00 GMT

PACC on Track at Austral week 17-20 December at Melbourne’s DISC velodrome

A big few days at the Austral with William Brown, Maeve Plouffe, Tayte Ryan, James Brister, Max Liebeknecht, Maddie Wasserbach and Alli Anderson all in the action at DISC, Melbourne.

William Brown (Watersley R&D) U19 Omnium National Champion!! – tied on points but won the final sprint across line in Points Race to take the title on countback! Earlier in the week, William teamed up with Ollie Ward (NCC) to win U19 Madison title. Congrats Will!

Maeve Plouffe (O'Shea Redchilli) teamed up with Nicole Duncan (CCCC) to win the Women Madison National Championship.

Tayte Ryan (ARA Australia) won the Austral UCI C1 Sprint competition against international competition from Japan and Malaysia.

Fellow PACC Sprinters James Brister (SASI) finished 5th and Max Liebeknecht (SASI) 10th (would make a formidable ‘club’ team sprint team!)

Same 3 riders featured in the UCI C1 Keirins, with Brister finishing 4th , Liebeknecht 11th and Ryan 12th.

Maddie Wasserbach (Butterfields Ziptrak) finished 2nd in the Austral Wheelrace (cha-ching!) behind fellow South Australian Leani Van de Berg (NCC). Wasserbach also partnered with Odette Lynch (NCC) in the Women Madison finishing 6th, with Alli Anderson (Butterfields Ziptrak) and her team mate in 5th.

Adoption of new Role Statements - Women and Girls' Participation Officer, Social Events Coordinator, Junior Development Officer

Tue, 11 Nov 2025 03:00:00 GMT

On behalf of PACC, I am delighted to announce the adoption of three new Role Statements:

Women and Girls' Participation Officer:

PACC has a reasonably high proportion of female members, with approximately 1 in 3 members identifying as female. However, we believe that we as a club can do more to promote pathways for women to get involved with cycling as a sport, and to remain in the sport. The Women and Girls' Participation Officer will advocate to the Board on behalf of women in cycling, and promote ways to reduce barriers to women getting involved. We are really excited to see what the right person might bring to this role, and how they may shape the role in the future.

Social Events Coordinator:

PACC has a tradition of being a social, inclusive club, but since the COVID 19 pandemic, many of our regular events have fallen off the calendar. We also see challenges with the rise and rise of indoor training, and fewer and fewer people participating in regular outdoor club rides. The Social Events Coordinator will assist the Board to organise non-racing events, whether on-the-bike or off-the-bike, in-person or online, and may assist in promoting and delivering events. The SEC may attend Board meetings, or may work with the President to establish a calendar of social events out of session.

Junior Development Officer:

We want to see more junior riders taking part in cycling, and the Junior Development Officer will promote ways to get kids involved, and keep them engaged. Whether kids have olympic potential, or just an appetite for fun, we want to ensure that they have a place at PACC. The JDO will come up with ideas and promote them to the Board.

None of these roles are Board positions, and the members are not expected to attend every Board meeting. Instead, we want these roles to come up with, and promote ideas for the Board to consider and implement. (We would also love if the members holding these roles also delivered events, but that's not mandatory).

If you are interested in undertaking any of these roles, please reach out to president@pacc.org.au!

Also, if you think you'd be interested in one of these roles, but with a different approach, we'd be keen to talk!

Feedback sought on Women and Girls Participation Coordinator, Junior Development Coordinator, and Social Coordinator Role Statements

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 05:51:00 GMT

Member Feedback – Role Statements:

PACC is seeking feedback on a range of role statements, including:

Background:

Consistent with trends across Australia, PACC is seeing a decline in our member base, a decline in the number of people volunteering, and with a few exceptions (Cyclocross), a decline in participation in organised events. We are seeing more and more work being done by fewer and fewer people, which creates a risk to the Club’s ability to continue delivering events in the future.

Following the strategic planning and member consultation process earlier this year, the Board has identified several key focus areas, including:

Improving junior member attraction and engagement;
Building on PACC’s reputation for exciting and interesting racing events, and friendly and welcoming social events; and
Improving pathways for women and girls to participate in cycling activities.

We have decided that one approach is to create roles covering women and girls’ participation, junior attraction and development, and social event coordination, and have drafted Role Statements for each of these roles. Following some initial targeted consultation, we now seek broader member input.

These Role Statements are one approach to addressing the identified issues, but we would be delighted to hear from our members about other ways to improve the club’s offerings. How do you think we can attract new members? How do you think we can improve our offerings for juniors, women, and members generally?

The documents are linked above, and we invite you to download them and make any comments or changes and provide your feedback directly to president@pacc.org.au.

PACC Riders at the CX National Championships

Tue, 19 Aug 2025 07:35:00 GMT

Port Adelaide Cycling Club saw a strong contingent travel to Ballarat for last weekend's Cyclocross National Championships, as well as the final round of the National Cyclocross series.

Juniors:

In the U15 Men's category, Austen Decker and Lyndon Winter took home 2nd and 3rd respectively.

In the U17 Men's category, Evan Hawkes rode an admirable 3rd, in a fiercely competive field where the top six riders were swapping the lead back and forth. Evan also took home Bronze in the National Cyclocross Series, with 3 podiums, and never lower than 4th in the 5 rounds that he raced. Evan was one of the recipients of PACC's Junior Scholarship, and we're delighted to see him using the funds to get to races interstate.

In the U17 Women's field, Monika Seibert continues to impress, taking home a National Championship, finishing 24 seconds ahead of Sylvia Dagg. Monika spent the winter months tearing up the Crossfire Cup, regularly racing as fast or faster than the elite women, despite being only 14.

Elite:

Maddie Wasserbaech continues a strong run of form, taking bronze in an incredibly competitive U23 Women's field.

Masters:

PACC's Masters riders brought home a ton of bling across most of the categories.

MMAS5 saw Troy Bryant missing out on a podium by 1 place. Troy has been instrumental in keeping CX going in Adelaide over the last year, and has managed an admirable set of results during the Pedla Crossfire Cup, despite spending his weekends preparing for and setting up the course.

MMAS6 saw Dan Bottrill take home silver.

In WMAS1, Laura Tomlinson is your new National CX Champion!

Annabel Cox and Jodie Batchelor took 2nd and 3rd respectively in the WMAS6. Jodie also took the win in the National CX Series, racing a clean race and keeping the kit shiny!

Vicki-Lynne Birks took silver in the WMAS8.

Full results can be found at AusCycling Cyclo-Cross National Championships

Check out some images of our riders over on Facebook!

Series Standings: The Pedla Crossfire Cup - After Round 3

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 06:52:00 GMT

Round 3 of the Pedla Crossfire Cup was as good as CX racing gets! The rain over the previous week meant that the course was muddy, but the sunny day meant that it was still fun to race. The return to Mulch Hill on a course expertly mapped out by Troy was a massive hit, and we're sure to come back again next year!

The overall standings in the series are taking shape, and in each grade, it's still anyone's game.

In the Women's A-grade, Jenny MacPherson is leading Kayla McSporran and Anna Kubilius, with Talia Simpson on equal points with Anna, just outside the podium. (I think a count-back might favor Talia, but hopefully next round sorts it out!)

In the Women's B-grade, Lana Adams has a strong lead over Genevieve Zlatkovic and Gretchen Willis, but Genevieve could still overtake her to take the series!

In C-grade, Pippa Gower continues her excellent entry into CX Racing, finishing in the top 4 every race so far, and leading Virginia Riches and Erin Oliver-Landry.

In the Juniors, current leaders are:

Thomas Brinkley (U17W)
Austen Decker (Junior A)
Albert Ford (Junior B
Elisse James (Junior A)
Maeve Winter (Junior B)
Monika Siebert (U17W)

Finally, in the Men's A-grade, Harry Williams has a tiny lead over Tristan Jones, with Tommy Chapman another 38 points behind. Can Liam Underwood repeat his win from last week and overtake the old fellas? A notable mention for Aiden Launer, who won is first ever CX race (in C grade), his 2nd ever CX race (in B grade), and next week will be competing for the first time in A grade!

In the Men's B-grade, Luke Orr's consistency has him leading Joan Oakes, with Tim Klein only 7 points behind.

In the biggest field of all, Men's C-grade, Chris Sproston emerged victorious last weekend, to overtake Robert Grove by a mere 9 points. David Miller is still within reaching distance, as are Carl Purczel, Adam Hughes, Mark Nolan, Jamie Moore, and a host of other riders.

No podium is stitched up - we cannot wait to see what happens at Ellis Park for Round 4!

As always, we truly appreciate our sponsors who make these events possible.

Pink Carat Jewellers have continued to support us, enabling us to provide overall series cash prizes for the senior grades. Giant Adelaide has provided incredible support on the day, as well as donating a bike for the winner of the random prize draw next round. Burgh Cycling keeps us supplied with incredible podium goodies, and as always, The Pedla keeps this event happening.

Full results here: Series Standings After Round 3

President's Report - 2025 AGM

Tue, 20 May 2025 22:29:00 GMT

President’s Report – 2025

Barnaby Grant

This marks the end of my second year on the Port Adelaide Cycling Club Board, and my first year as President. This is the club where I first started competitive cycling, and I am loving the opportunity to give back to the club that gave me so many opportunities.

That said, I’m in awe of the amount of work that has been done by the people whose shoes I am standing in. I am rapidly coming to understand the phenomenal amount of work which is required behind the scenes to deliver events such as our Zero Friction Time Trial series, and the Pedla Crossfire Cup.

I would like in particular to acknowledge Tim Tuppence, whose work on the Crossfire Cup in years past has been, I think, largely unacknowledged. Even with his support and background knowledge, I’m finding it really hard to keep up with the work required to get the event off the ground.

This has been something of a theme for the board this year. The work required to deliver PACC’s events has largely fallen to a few of us who want to see the Club continue to be the vibrant, exciting, active club that we’ve been in years past.

Successes:

Reflecting on some of the things the Club has achieved this year, we got the Zero Friction Time Trial series back up and running after a two-year hiatus, and the events were a whole lot of fun. We were lucky with amazing weather, and I want to extend a big thank you to Pete Davis who did the start lists and timing, Will Lyons who set up all the signs every single event, Benny Janssen who came every week and helped with the junior starts on the other side of the course, and Darren Searle who assisted with the finish line. We couldn’t do this without your help.

Thunda in Tanunda was my first foray into event management, and it was a huge success, albeit a financial loss for the club. The wind made racing really tricky on the day, but the atmosphere was phenomenal.

We again ran the Roller Frenzy at the Tour Village. Daniek Hengeveld and Maeve Plouffe each made an appearance, and Andre Greipel, whilst he didn’t compete, was fascinated by the event. I want to acknowledge again Peter Davis for running the technology behind the event, Marky G for MC’ing, and the rest of the team that ran the event.

Our weekly Motopacing sessions continue to be well attended, and I want to acknowledge Troy here, who has been delivering this event nearly single-handedly in the last few months. I’ll speak more about Troy in a moment.

What’s coming up?

Looking forward, the Board is considering what the future of the Club is, and what the future of the sport is. AusCycling is embarking on Horizon 2 of its 'renewal', and is intending to start delivering on some of the plans which have been developed over the last 2-3 years. We are excited but cautious about what that may look like.

From the club’s perspective, there are a few core themes which we identified during our Strategic Planning process.

Firstly, the Club is known for its events, particularly time trials, CX, and motopacing. We’d love to see our range of offerings expand, but for the moment, we’re focusing on getting those events delivered to a high standard.
Secondly, we want to develop the Club’s social identity, and continue to engage with our members to deliver an inclusive and engaging community, and continue to engage with our sponsors to build those partnerships.
Thirdly, we want to focus on recruiting junior riders, and offering them pathways from ‘bike curiosity’ to ‘cycling as a sport’. Whether that is recruiting parents and training them in the AusBike or Coaching programs, or whether that is delivering Junior-only events, or engaging with schools to promote inter-school competition, we’re still exploring those options.

If you have other ideas, we’d love to hear about them.

Help Needed:

This is now a call-out for assistance with some upcoming events:

Crossfire Cup:

We need help setting up, please arrive at 8:00am. Any volunteers there before 8:30 will be rewarded with caffeine and baked goodies from Social Coffee.
We need help timing and managing callups.
We’d love an MC!

We’d also really appreciate if you spread the word on your social channels, and with any of your friends who you think might be keen on getting involved. Remember you can do the races on a 4-week trial licence, and kids under 9 race free. (as long as they have a licence).

National CX Series:

We’re hosting two rounds of the National CX series on 25 and 26 July. I’d love some help arranging that event.

Club Sponsors:

I can’t let this opportunity go by without acknowledging some of the businesses who contribute to the Club.

Long-time supporter Bevan at Pink Carat has continued as a club sponsor, but is also supporting the Crossfire Cup and enabling us to offer prizes for the podium winners in the senior grades.

Seafaring Fools continues to support the club, as does Keystone Project Advisory, with Luke Medhurst's contributions extending from club support to running his own team.

Giant Adelaide has come on board for the Crossfire Cup, offering a massive $4,199 bike prize for participants. Michael Slater at Giant is keenly focused on supporting club-run events, and in particular ensuring that there are opportunities for women’s racing.

The Pedla is our naming rights sponsor for the Crossfire Cup, again coming on board with huge prizes and this year, leaders’ jerseys for the leaders of each senior grade.

The Burgh Cycling is also supporting the Crossfire Cup, offering a range of podium swag.

These businesses support our club and our events, and we encourage you to support them.

We’ll be opening up the club kit store in a few weeks, in time for the Super Series. We’re going with a new kit supplier in Tineli, and whilst the kit will be a little more expensive, we’re looking at some amazing value from a company that supplies into the National Road Series, the ProVelo League, and other national level teams. It would be awesome to see more people repping the club. I note that if there are particular items which aren’t in the store, Tineli can produce them for a slight surcharge. Please reach out to us for more details

If you are interested in racing in the Super Series for PACC, please speak to the Committee! We'd be delighted to support you to do so.

Finally, I want to acknowledge the significant contributions made by retiring Board Member Peter Davis. Pete has designed the architecture behind our tech systems, from our website to our timing systems, to the way the Board communicates. We would be paying huge amounts for the support that Pete gives the club for free, so I want to acknowledge his time on the board, and thank him for his massive support.

Here's to 2025/26!

EOIs sought for the AusCycling Commissaires Course

Thu, 06 Mar 2025 23:04:00 GMT

Cycling events can't be run without commissaires, and PACC has a proud history of producing some of the nation's best Commissaires. We regularly see club members travelling across the country to officiate at National level events, such as the National Championships in Perth earlier this year. In addition to national level events, Commissaires help out at the weekly Norwood CC criteriums, the Port Adelaide CC cyclocross races, time trials, and other events, Adelaide Hills CC's road races, and a bevy of track events across the State.

PACC is seeking club members who are interested in becoming accredited as Commissaires, who can help run events across the year. The more accredited Commissaires we have, the less work each one will be asked to do.

If you are interested, the process for accreditation is relatively straightforward. You will need:

- A current Working with Children Check

- A current AusCycling membership

- To complete the online modules

- To get accredited in person at an event/events

Working with Children Check

If you don't have a working with children check it's pretty straightforward.

Follow this link and click start a new screening check. Note you will need some ID to prove your identity.

It's free so long as you select volunteers in the applicant type as below.

AusCycling Membership

If you don't have a current membership you can sign up for a non-riding membership which is free:

https://auscycling.org.au/become-a-member/non-riding-membership

Commissaire Course

You'll need to sign up for the Regional Commissaire course and do the modules.

You'll need an e-learning account with AusCycling to access the modules which you can sign up for here (note this is a different account to the one that you would have set up to do your membership through, so you'll probably need to create a profile!):

https://learning.auscycling.org.au/login/index.php

Once there you'll need to select the officials/commissaires option, and then regional commissaire road.

Sign off

Once you've finished your course, the SA Technical Delegate will coordinate availability and will lock in a date for practical sign-off, which may take one or more events.

Help!

If you run into any issues, let me know and I'll see if we can help troubleshoot.

If you have a technical question - Rachel who leads up the commissairing team in SA is your best bet if I don't know the answer. Please reach out to the club for her contact details.

PACCer @ TDU - Susan Mitchell

Mon, 27 Jan 2025 02:38:00 GMT

What roles have you got this year?

This year I’m on the Judging Panel for Women’s TDU, but decided not to do the Men’s - instead I’m doing the Men’s Classic as a Judge, Adelaide Track League (Chief Comm) and the Women’s Classic (Chief Judge).

Late edit!: Due to another Commissaire catching the spicy cough, Susan subbed in for the Men's tour as Judge for four days!

How did you get into those roles?

I got into Commissairing in Scotland over 10 years ago - starting with track, then road and thanks to the support of the Club (& a little encouragement from Gemma) I am also a CX/MTB Comm. I was part of the first women’s TDU in 2016, when I was learning the ropes in the Comm car, and have been a Judge or Chief Judge most years since, except one of the Festival COVID years when I was a Comm in the car.

What does your day look like?

Typical day this year on the Women’s tour - as Tracy said we know our roles for each day in advance so Stage 2 for the Women’s was my most varied. I was parked by about 8 to get ice/lunch/drinks in the car. Then meeting in at the Hilton with the whole Comm team. The Chief went through stage 1 and any concerns for stage 2 - great to listen & learn from the UCI Comms!). Back over to the cars to be part of the convoy - but instead of going to the start, I was straight to Belair for the first Queen of the Mountain. We recorded the first 5 over the line visually then confirm on a video if needed. Back down the hill to Willunga for the second sprint - 3 places this time, then up to the hill - I was on the finish line getting as many places as we could, but at least top 10, and my car buddy was at the QOM. Back to the city to drop them off, quick visit to Car Wash, then back to the City for the Classic.

It’s great having such a variety of Cycling in Adelaide at this time of year! Commissairing means you’re part of big events and get to be right on the finish line (sometimes!)! The race also can’t happen without officials and the support team - Motos and Police as well as the Organisation and even the teams that set up and pack up all the sprint and QOM points.

PACCer @ TDU - Gemma Kernich

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 08:31:00 GMT

Whats your Role in the TDU?

I'm Moto Yellow Flag #1 (of 7 of us!). We're classified as Race Officials, as we work for the race organisation. Our job is to help keep the race safe by warning riders of upcoming turns or obstacles.

Yellow flag motorcycles are allowed to pass the peloton and take up positions within the race convoy. Generally I try to ride behind the Logistics car which is just on front of the peleton, until I have a planned or unplanned assignment over the radio where I will either jump forward to the pre-assigned point, or stop at the unplanned point as directed or spotted, then park somewhere safe, get off the bike and take up position in front of an obstacle or provide course direction information with a whistle and a triangular yellow flag to warn the riders about the danger. Usually there's a spectator who appears who asks what my job is 😅

Then jump back on and re-overtake all the race caravan and peloton by riding past it either on course or by attempting an off-course short-cut, but not on-course when there's a sprint/feed or KOM coming up - I have to just be patient during those.

When passing any small bunches I have to ask permission from the Commissaire car, or the Race Regulator (red motorbike official) for the main bunch, as they need to ensure sporting fairness that a passing motorbike won't give any advantage or be a hazard at that point in the race.

How did you get this role?

The OG women's Race Director Kimberley Conte recommended I give it a go in about 2019(?) - they were looking for people for both Tours that could ride a motorcycle well, and could read the bunch so you'd know when was a good time to pass the peleton, and on which side depending on the wind and race situation. It's a much shorter day than working as a team mechanic which I had done previously, but it's much more stressful! I've been asked back every year since. The motorcycles have been supplied by the race organisation each year except during the COVID year, where we had to supply our own, so I get a free bike for two weeks with fuel. This year was the third year we have been on Yamahas, which is nice, and getting them a few days before racing starts gives me enough time to get used to a different bike.

Whats your day look like?

I get up and check the bike over quickly (I got a puncture this year in the Norton's stage!), and head straight to the tour village via the BP for a full tank of fuel, and arrive about 40mins before the race convoy leaves for the start. Collect my lunch that is supplied everyday, and visit the poor coffee machine which the riders and mechanics hammer all day so it's only working 50% of the time. First job is to help get the team cars and vans out of the compound in the correct order (harder that is sounds) then jump into the race convoy that travels under police escort to the start. Then a quick meeting with the other Moto Yellows, race logistics and sweep car that will be ahead of us checking for last minute hazards on route that we might have to flag. Then we have about 50mins before the race start so another coffee and a snack and a last minute loo stop before rolling out to the first point assigned to me, usually within the Neutral Zone.

If I'm lucky I'm ahead of the race at the finish to watch the sprint, otherwise I cover for any dropped riders to ensure they're safely escorted to the finish, you'd be surprised how many cars and particularly cycling spectators think the race is done and become oncoming hazards.

Then I'm off straight home to plan for the following day, checking out the course maps and particularly checking elevation, (downhills and wiggly roads make it impossible to pass riders) planning any possible shortcuts, and writing the notes I carry on my tank bag each day of planned stops.. I cut up the race manual for these.. Upload the course GPX to both my phone and Garmin that I have on the moto to be doubly sure I don't get lost.

📸 Carl & Virginia

PACCer @ TDU - Nick Jehu

Sun, 26 Jan 2025 06:25:00 GMT

What’s your job?

Team Cofidis Physiotherapist / Soigneur

How’d you get it?

I’ve been working the TDU since 2016. Initially, Steele Von Hoff who was riding with the UniSA team called me to fill in with Team Dimension Data and from there, the ball kept rolling, I started working with Cofidis in 2020.

What does your day look like?

We are generally prepared for the day the night before which includes organizing the race food and planning the feeds. In the morning we pack the bus and team cars. If it’s hot, make ice stockings. I will drive the bus with the riders, or second team car to the start line. From there, once the riders are ready for the start of the race, we will make our way to a feed zone and set up. We will usually travel in front of the race or take alternate routes to beat the riders to a few different feed zones through the day, then meet them at the finish. Then it’s back to the hotel, quickly unpack the bus, the riders will shower and we are straight into massage and treatments, it can be straightforward if the riders haven’t crashed and don’t have pains, or this can be quite complex as the aim is to have the rider fresh and ready to race the next day. Pain means poor sleep, and poor recovery which compounds.

After massage, we all have dinner and then prepare for the next day.

PACCer @ TDU - Rachel Goud

Thu, 23 Jan 2025 21:47:00 GMT

What's your role at the TDU?

My role at TDU 2025: this year I have been appointed as Commissaire 2 (or Commissaire 3, as we rotate positions for the different stages of the race) for the WTDU and the Principal of the Commissaire’s Panel (the PCP, better known as The Chief!) for the Men’s Villawood Classic (the East End Criterium).

How did you get this role?

How I got into commissairing: Well, it’s all because of Tracy Johnson! Back in 2019 the WTDU race director was looking for a scribe for the green light vehicle so Tracy asked if I was interested. And well…. here we are! I saw the other side of the race that year, which ignited a new interest and set me on the training pathway to becoming a Commissaire a few months later. The green light vehicle, as the driver, was where I sat for the next 3 TDU’s / SFoC’s, before joining the TDU judging team in 2023 and taking up Commissaire 4 at the MTDU in 2024.

What does your day look like?

DILO: Commissaire 2 (Comm 2) is the Commissaire car at the head of the race, and is responsible for managing any breakaway riders and the vehicles that support the riders in the break (Shimano Neutral Service or the riders team car). If there is no breakaway it can be a pretty straightforward day! When there is a breakaway it’s very important to manage the number of vehicles sitting in the gap and moving them in and out when the timegaps are more than or less than 1 minute. Once the gap to the peloton is over 1 minute, Comm 2 will fall in behind the breakaway riders to monitor the racing for any infringements whilst continuing to manage the vehicles in the gap. Performing timechecks is big part of my day when there is a big break as everyone (commissaires, race radio, teams, race organiser etc) need to know what is happening on the road. At the end of the race we may sometimes move to the finish line to judge the sprint from front on, checking that riders are having a clean sprint. Ultimately our roles as commissaries is to ensure that the right person wins the race.

Once the race is done, I join the other commissaires at the finish line to discuss any infringements. The UCI commissaires will then make their determination on whether there are any penalties to issue to riders, teams, drivers etc. The yellow card system, introduced in full by the UCI this year as part of their strategy to address safety in the race, is in play for the first time at this TDU so it has been very interesting to observe the discussions around safety and the issuing of a yellow card.

After all this, it’s hometime and reviewing the course for tomorrow!

PACCer @ TDU - Jade Lean

Sun, 19 Jan 2025 05:49:00 GMT

Another PACCer you might have seen around the TDU is Jade Lean, Mechanic for ARA Australian Cycling Team for the Women's race (which also features PACC riders Maeve Plouffe and Alli Anderson!).

So, How did you get your role in the TDU?

"I work with the Australian track cycling program, which means we're always an option to lean on if needed. I'm just doing the womens race at this stage."

What does your day look like and what are you responsible for?

"I'll get into the tour village at about 7 or 7:30am to make sure all the bikes and spares are OK. I'd prefer to have time to spare instead of rushing around at the last minute. The bikes are checked and prepped then they are loaded onto the team car, and some spares go in the van. Then I'll help the carers pack and load up the drinks and eskies into the the van so we're ready to roll out in the team convoy that leaves the village. When we're at the start, the bikes are unloaded ready to race. During the race I'm sitting in the car hoping not much goes wrong, yesterday it was handing out a lot of bottles from the team car, and also filling up more bottles and mixing drinks, but yesterday most of the riders didn't want mix, they just wanted water. Other than that, sitting in the back of the car scrolling Instagram (LOL). After the race it's loading everything back up and returning to the village, giving the bikes a wash and check, and I'm all done by about 7pm."

PACCer @ TDU - Milo Johnson

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 06:27:00 GMT

In our first of this week's series of PACCers involved the TDU - from officials to riders to everything inbetween - we're covering Tracy 'Milo' Johnson who is Chief Judge for the Women's race.

So, How did you get into the TDU?

"I started when the TDU started 25 years ago! I started in a police role in the Operations room, (Met Lance Armstrong b4.....). Then I was the Tour Parade Police navigator, then driver, then I was a driver of one of the Commissaires for a couple of years. Changed role again, was a driver for the Beat Cancer tour, a part of Pro exerience for the TDU. Then I finally trained as an official and became a Commissaire and got a Judge role. This year is my first year as Chief Judge."

What does your day look like and what are you responsible for?

"I have to plan where my three Judge cars go each stage, I do this well in advance. We meet at the tour village every morning and drive to the start in the race convoy. We manage sign on, lost race numbers, and check the team car order in the race convoy. There are six Judges in three cars. We drive ahead of the race, set up to Judge the Intermediate Sprint and QoM/KoM, then relay the results to the Chief Commissaire, timing and tour radio. We also Judge the riders across the Finish line until the last rider. Then I finalise all results, including Jersey winners, stage winners and time and points bonuses and have results to the podium for presentations and to send out the race communique. Then plan for the following day."