Friday 6th March saw the club run the seasons track titles. Conditions were cool and with little wind. The cool conditions meant that time trial times were a little slower than on the previous warm Friday night. Also the time trials were over 500m compared with our normal weekly ride over 400m. In the Junior Under 17 group, Ben Patterson was a non starter as he had taken a spill from his mountain bike and was out of action. In the time trial Morgan Clark was first up clocking 44.06 sec. He was followed by last years winner, Tom Dudley with time of 41.64 sec. After missing several weeks being a ball boy at the Australian Tennis Open, Tom has been struggling to hit top form. This proved his down fall on Friday night as the improving Elliott Gin clocked 41.53 sec to claim the time trial points.
In the Junior Under 15 division we have a fair spread of ages so it is difficult for the younger riders. Will Lumby clocked 52.92, then it was Thomas McFarlane with a smooth pedaling style at 49.23 sec. He saw this time just bettered by Mitchell Gin at 49.15sec whilst the big improver over the season was Mat Dudley, riding 47.45 sec to tale the time trial points.
The next event of the Club Titles was the sprint round. This was run over 3 heats with points allocated for each Heat. In the Junior 17 section, Morgan Clark lead out in the first heat only to see Tom Dudley power home past himself and Elliott Gin. The second heat saw Elliot take the win whilst Tom took the third heat and hence the points for the sprint round. In the Junior 15 division, Thomas McFarlane went early only to see Matt Dudley and Mitch Gin slip past just before the line. The next two heats saw Matt again take the wins and the points for the sprint round.
Just after their sprint the meeting was interrupted by the earthquake and a loss of power. This plunged the track into darkness with the 4 boys still rolling around the track. Fortunately they all managed to negotiate the transition to light and dark without incident. After a just break to get then power and lights up, it was back into action for the last event, the scratch race.
In the Junior 17 event, both Tom and Elliott were level on points for the overall title so whoever had the best finish would claim the title. In the end it was a win by centimeters to Elliott and hence the club Title. Tom had to settle for the silver whilst Morgan took the bronze. In the Junior 15 race Matt had the points to claim overall victory but all the other placings were still available so end results in the scratch race were critical. The dash to the line saw the finish order of Matt, Mitch, Thomas and Will and that also happened to be the final result for the titles.
The previous weekend Neil White had claimed a second in the Australian Masters title citerium at Geelong. Clubmate Thierry Roland, competing in the Triathlon claimed a gold medal so well done riders.
Race report by Lindsay Love
The end of the current track season arrived on Friday night. Weather conditions were warm and humid with plenty of moisture in the air. Following the Wednesday night training where Tom Dudley was busy showing the younger riders how to fall, he was still a bit sore and sporting some bandages as he tried to compete. With several riders missing it was racing with a different format.
First event was a 10 lap scratch race. This was done to ensure that all the riders had warmed up sufficiently prior to the high intensity efforts. In the dash to the line it was Elliott Gin taking first place followed by Tom Dudley and Matt Dudley.
The next event was a 1 lap time trial. Tom had to sit this one out as he was struggling to grip the bars adequately for a standing start. Elliott clocked 33.32sec, followed by Matt Dudley 38.4 and Thomas McFarlane on 38.83 sec.
For some different racing the riders then had some motor paced events. The Junior A graders had a 15 lap race. Tom Dudley looked like he was going to snatch the win but Elliott finished well to claim another win. In the Junior B 12 lap event, Matt Dudley took the lead as the motor bike ceased duties at 1.5 laps to go. This gave Thomas McFarlane a perfect lead out and he duly capitalized by taking the win.
The last event for the season was another distance event – a 12 lap teams points race. It was team Dudley against the team Gin/McFarlane combination. After the first 2 sprints it was all tied up and dependent on the last sprint to decide the event. In the final sprint Elliott went out hard just after the bell for the last lap. Tom Dudley quickly closed in for the lap sit and then sprinted home to claim a narrow win on the line. This gave team Dudley the win overall.
Sunday saw club riders make an end of season picnic ride to Inverloch, via Outtrim, Wonthaggi and Cape Patterson. The riders had to battle strong and gusty winds for most of the ride. Save for an excursion by Ken Barnes into the ti-tree all managed to survive the ride without a hitch. The riders doing the Murray to Moyne relay in April even managed to saddle up after lunch for the return ride to Leongatha giving them a comfortable 120km for the day.
Race report by Lindsay Love