History of Stromlo Criterium Circuit

TIME LINE

Project initiation for a permanent facility

2001 July ACT Veterans (ACTVCC) (Peter McLennan PM) Circulate discussion document in a plain text email with an attachment of the map as shown below. 

The email is about converting Barrenjoey Drive at Yarramundi Reach to a Criterium Circuit.  Two weeks prior to this Mark Carter, had sent an email to the Canberra Cycling Club email list "If anyone knows of another site where we can run criteriums, please come forward".  I had then poured over the Canberra maps in the central area and found a pre-existing dirt road at Barrenjoey Drive.

2001 August Original Discussion document amended by Jim Thompson JT (ACTVCC) I credit Jim with being the first to boost my original discussion document.  He also tapped me on the shoulder as we rode through Deakin in July 2001 on a training ride, and said "Good idea, but no one on the committee has time to work on this.  Could you do it?"
2001 July to December Endorsments sought by prominent ACT Cyclists, Triathletes, and inline skaters. This kicked the whole project off to a great start with lots of endorsements.
Support from ACT Veterans Cycling Club, Canberra Cycling Club, Tuggeranong Vikings Cycling Club, Females in Training, Pedal Power, Inline Skaters, Triathlon ACT, CORC, Oz HPV. Margaret Hemsley, Stephen Hodge, Tracey Gaudry, Mick Rogers, Jackie Fairweather (nee Gallagher) .  The AIS was approached to see if they would endorse the project, but declined on commercial grounds (AIS trade name).
2001 November PM and JT fly over Yarramundi Reach - Take photo's and video. Asked to move on as it was very soon after 9/11 Terrorist attack, and we were very close to the Governor Generals Residence.

2001 December PM Presentation to ACT Cycling federation of proposal. Full support.
2001 December PM chairs first Meeting at Chisholm Sports club of ACT Cycling, Triathlon, and inline skaters clubs
Graeme Cameron, Bill Frost, David Lundquist, Mark Carter, Tony Cory, Jim Thompson, Steve Hough, Vikings Triathlon President, Neville Reece, Stephen Hodge.
Agenda for first Meeting:

Mark Carter, endorses the project and provides some history of criterium racing in Canberra
2001 December First Meeting with National Capital Authority. Present: PM, Bill Frost BF, JT.  Initial support as the December fires left the Yarrmundi Reach requiring some form of rehabilitation. 
2002 January Meeting with ACT Local Politician Kate Gallagher (Lab), and ACT Federal Senator Kate Lundy. Present: Steve Hodge SH , PM, BF, Sam Nelson. Full support for a great idea. "Beware of the National Capital Authority".

2002 January Meeting with ACT Local Politician Steve Pratt (Lib). Present: SH, PM, BF, Graeme Cameron GC. "Great idea. NCA land may be a problem"

2002 January Second Meeting with NCA David Wright. Present: SH, PM, BF, Sam Nelson. Basically ANYWHERE but NCA land.... "It took me 13 years to get a soccer facility built..... Good luck!!" Also "Yarramundi Reach is reserved for the National Museum".  

2002 January Meeting with Minister for Territories Wilson Tuckey (Lib). Present: SH, PM, BF, JT, Sam Nelson. JT Quote "Maaaaattteeee..." End Quote. Gave support but was still deferring to David Wright.

2002 January Letter from NCA - "Yarramundi Reach is reserved for the National Museum". (Even though it had already been built at a different location)

2002 February Meeting with ACT Local Politician Roslyn Dundas (Dem). Present: SH, PM, BF, David New. Full support. Come back if any extra help is required.

2002 February Meeting with ACT Local Politician Kerrie Tucker (Green). Present: SH, PM, BF, GC. Full support given.

2002 March Meeting with ACT Federal Senator Margaret Reid (Lib). Present: SH, PM, BF, GC. Qualified support given, and she would speak to NCA about releasing (or Leasing) the Yarramundi reach area.  NCA quickly responded that the land is earmarked for the National Museum, and the Territory plan would have to change to accommodate the Criterium track.  The Territory plan could only be altered by parliament.   So forget it!!!  Politely of course..

• 2002 May - Not every one is happy with cyclists getting a purpose built facility

• 2002 April - Final version of the Barrenjoey Drive proposal which was started in July 2001.  It was presented to all of the politicians shown here.

BREAK THOUGH!!

2002 July Meeting with Ted Quinlan ACT Finance Minister and Sue Marriage of ACT Sport and Recreation. Present: SH and PM. Awarded $50,000 for feasibility study. Very unlikely to get the Yarramundi Reach Site.

2002 November Tracey Guadry to oversee feasibility study and creates "Request for Proposal" which allocates engineers "Young Cordno" after a tender process, and assigns project plan for the feasibility study.
Stromlo Before the 2003 Bushfires:

2003 January 18 Canberra Bushfires
2003 Young Cordno meetings to discuss 20 potential sites, including Yarramundi Reach, MacArthur Horse paddocks, Diddums Close, Area near Naval Radio station at Belconnen, Yarralumla near YMCA, Cork Plantation, Stromlo east of Deeks Reserve. Finally narrowing down to 4 sites of Narrabundah near the old velodrome, Dairy Road which was recently decommissioned, Lynham sports Precinct, and Diddams Park (Diddums Close road)

2003 December Young Cordno release final report (2.8Mb) which proposes Diddums Close, Tracey Gaudry assists the presentation of the report. 
Diddums Close criterium Circuit With One inner and two outer loops
The Diddums Close Design was based on Nerang which had three different circuits.  This concept was lost in the final design for Stromlo, althought the hard stand area at Stromlo was proposed to short circuit the track, but in reality it does not work compared to the specially designed Nerang circuit.
• 2003 Sandy Hollway asks the Bush Fire Task force "What do you want to get out of this?"  To which Robert De Castella replies "A world Class Running facility"
• 2003 December ACTCF President Lochie MacLean approaches ACT Government with a proposal to use the burnt out eastern area of Mt Stromlo to build a Criterium circuit. As Robert De Castella's suggestion takes off.  This is a close up view before works began, and this is a higher altitude version of the same area and time.
• 2004 September Lochie produces document based on the feasibility document for creating a Criterium circuit at Stromlo
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• ACT ELECTION ANNOUNCEMENTS OCTOBER 2004
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• All major Parties presented their cycling platforms to cyling clubs and groups in Canberra City centre and Liberals supported the feasibility study for a criterium facility at Diddums close.  Simon Corbell announced that Labor would support a criterium and MTB facility at Mount Stromlo.
  • 2004 ACT Government ask Steve Hodge to assist with developing a plan to rehabilitate Mt Stromlo area. Original design had 4 round abouts.  The round about at the entrance to the park is the only one that was "Accidentally" left in.  There was also going to be a bridge that would allow spectators to park at the Stadium, and still allow riders to enter and exit during a race.  Unfortunately the clearance of following official cars with bikes on the roof made the bridge design prohibitive.
  • CORC STROMLO MOUNTAIN BIKE TRAILS
  • 2004 CORC commence work on the Stromlo Mountain Bike Trails - See Short history here.
  •   Also CORC's diary of the Stromlo trail building here
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  • MONEY!!

  • 2005 May ACT Government Announce $6 Million Allocated for Stromlo Forest Park for MTB, Criterium, and Runners.

    

  • FIRST DESIGNS ARE ALWAYS INTERESTING
  • Feb 2005: First design cut was a square design with round abouts at all four corners.  It also had a round about at the entrance to the park, which was missed in the final design, which causes the entry to the park to be technical for road races. The second criterium track is also further away from the main facilities building. SH did some stirling work to alter this original cut, to the circuit we now have.
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  • This design also had an extra entry road for road races with a bridge to allow spectators to pass over and contestants to go under.  The height of the bridge was asked to be at least the height to allow following cars with bikes on the roof, which then sent the cost to a prohibitative level, and subsequently the extra road was scrapped.
  • Also note the grid lines which indicate that a significant amount of material had to be removed for the northern section of the track, and was not completely flattened due to excessive cost.
  • 2005 November Earthworks commence - Note the original plans also show a second track of 1Km.  JT also provided images (Overview, 1, 2a, 2b, 2c, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and Description of Photo's) and diagram of the QLD Nerang Criterium circuit which was used as a template for the Stromlo Criterium, although the final design was entirely done by SH..
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  • More Detailed plan showing the second criterium track and the road leading south for the 14km loop road around the base of Mt Stromlo.
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  • 2006 January Initial criterium track takes shape
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  • 2006 June Criterium base surface is layed out
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  • 2006 November Asphaltic Concrete (A/C) is poured
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  • 2006 Wed 29 November First criterium with ACTVCC followed by Canberra Cycling Club
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  • 2006 Sat 2 December John Stanhope opens the criterium circuit, and the Website also goes live for bookings. 
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  • 2006 Tues 5 December second criterium with ACTVCC held on its now official night.

     

    Final Result - It didn't take all that long.  Now did it?

    CYCLING ACHIEVMENT AWARDS

    SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR A BICYCLE ORGANISATION

    4 JUNE 2008 - OLD PARLIAMENT HOUSE CANBERRA

    

    WINNER

    ACT Veterans Cycling Club, Canberra Off-Road Cyclists, Canberra Cycling Club ACT

    It took five years and a combined effort from all of Canberra's cycling community, in particular, ACT Veterans Cycling Club, Canberra Cycling Club and Canberra Off- Road Cyclists to bring about Stromlo Forest Park, a state of the art cycling facility for both recreational and professional users.

    The facility includes 50km of cross country MTB trails, a 2.2km downhill trail and a mountain cross (4X) track. It is spread over 1,000 hectares and is just 10 minutes from the centre of Canberra. It will host the 2009 World MTB Championships. Their vision and commitment is a fabulous example of what can be achieved by working together.

    World Class Criterium Circuit, Stromlo Criterium, History Of Proposal through to completion. 

    Google Maps Link to Stromlo Criterium Circuit