ANZAC day is probably about the most important national occasion, marking the anniversary of the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand Forces in the First World War, where an allied expedition landed at dawn on the shores of Gallipoli in 1915......the objective was to capture the capital of Turkey but after around 8 months of fighting and suffering huge casualties, the ANZACS were evacuated and now it is the day where we as Australians remember that original landing and the loss of life and now we also remember the sacrifice of those who have died serving Australia in times of war.
The services are traditionally held at dawn to coincide with the landing of the ANZAC forces at Gallipoli and incorporates military protocol, two minutes silence and the sound of a lone bugler playing the "The Last Post". (Australian War Memorial, 2012)
Anzac Day is a public holiday and many join in dawn services around the country and it is the only day where playing "Two-Up" is legal and many other traditions are celebrated included the Collingwood vs Essendon game at the MCG and locally for me......the "Sale to Bairnsdale" bike race. I went along today to capture the battle on the roads.
The start of the race is at 1pm to confirm with Anzac Day protocol and today there were riders from Bairnsdale (who ran the race), Wellington (Sale), Latrobe City and Warragul and it was overcast and riders were going to face a crosswind for a while, but surviving that would then have a tailwind to Bairnsdale, it was going to be FAST!.
Interestingly, C grade seemed to notice the tailwind more than B grade and finished the race ahead of them???? Handicappers have taken notes.....All pics will be up on
the actionpactpix website by tomorrow night and results will be at
BRCC website (but they aren't there yet!)
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| Craig Keane, spares a thought for the Diggers on Anzac Day |
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| Stu Derham, has everything running smoothly |
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| Fast wheels in, ready for a fast race. |
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| Rob Murray, rolls around the corner where "race under control" ends.......IT IS NOW ON! |
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| Half of the A grade field who survived the crosswinds. |
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| The Jones Boys look very comfortable in the bunch |
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| The Jehu's not quite so comfortable, but going very well. |
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| BRCC did an excellent job of putting up signs, there was a sign approx every 5kms along the 70km road |
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| The A Grade - 2nd bunch working hard |
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| The A Grade 3rd Bunch |
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| B Grade (still ahead of C Grade at this point). |
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| B Grade may be having a bit too much fun...... |
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| C Grade on the other hand were steaming along and working hard! |
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| D Grade were also split into small bunches thanks to a crosswind. |
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| Asher Kelly enjoying his role as "Flag Bearer" |
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| Brenton Jones takes the win making it his Third Year in a Row |
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| Sam Beveridge rolls in for second |
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| The sprint for third saw Jarrod Jones just ahead of Colin Aitken and Justin Gravett |
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| A Graders fromWellington waiting for the other bunches to finish |
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| Winner of C Grade (B grade haven't finished yet!!!!) |
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| B Grade winner, still enjoying himself! |
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| Aaron Wain from Wellington crosses the line. |
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| Damien Crozier wins D Grade |
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| Bairnsdale got to use their brand new trailer for the first time today. |
What a great day of racing and although numbers were down from last year, it is still a popular event and next year will again be a big day on the bike as I think it may return to the "Other" course..........
Reference:-
Australian War Memorial Website at: http://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/anzac/anzac_tradition.asp accessed on April 25th 2012.
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