Friday night was very pleasant for the end of year racing at BBQ. The warm track and mild night saw a number of riders post new personal best times for the 1 lap time trial whilst everyone else were also near their best times. In the senior group Tom Fitzgerald and Jack Allen hit new PBs whilst all the juniors hit new PB’s. The seniors saw Ollie McLean quickest at 32.39sec, just ahead of Steve Allen 33.08 sec. Then it was Thomas at 34.28 sec just ahead of Mark Bensley 35.57sec, Jack Allen 35.65 sec, and Andrew Geary at 37.33 sec without getting time to do a warm up. In the junior field, Kate Geary and Renee Hardacre both made the transition to cleated shoes and clip in pedals and both took 3 sec of their previous times. Kate rode 47.05sec, Renee 51.68, Jake Johnston 70.18 sec and cousin Paris Reynolds on a BMX bike rode 54.15 sec.
The seniors had a scratch race and Tom Fitzgerald quickly upped the tempo and split the bunch. Out front it was Tom, Ollie and Steve and they stayed just out of reach of the chasing trio. At the sprint it was Ollie taking the win ahead of Steve and Tom.
The juniors fronted for a 1 lap handicap. Jake Johnston (90) worked hard to retain his lead and took out the race. Behind it was close for the minor places with Renee (20) taking 2nd just ahead of Kate (Scr). In the re-handicap, the handicapper made some drastic changes pulling Jake back to 65 and Renee to 25m. Paris was lifted out to 45m but it was Kate Geary (Scr) who flew through an opening at the bottom of the track to hit the front just before the line and claim the win. Renee was again second just pipping Paris on the line.
With a short program and Andrew Geary making some gear changes the riders had a few sprint heats before adjourning for the night to the BBQ. In heat 1, Kate Geary won narrowly from Renee whilst in Heat 2 Paris was too quick for Jake. However, if Paris gets on to a full race machine in the new year she will be setting the pace for the juniors.
In the seniors, heat 1 between Tom, Steve and Ollie saw Tom fly from the bank coming into bell lap. However the others quickly closed the gap and waited until the last 200m to pounce. Ollie claimed the win from Steve and Tom. In the last heat between Jack, Mark and Andrew, raced over 2 laps, Jack surprised by making a move with 1.5 laps to go. Andrew chased hard and had bridged the gap by the bell but with limited fitness had used up his fuel tickets. Jack kept powering around and Mark Bensley was struggling to get within striking distance. However, the long range move saw Jack tire over the last 100m and Mark was able to make his move and win by a narrow margin in a photo finish.
The club will have an Xmas break and will resume racing on Fri Jan 12. Any riders wishing to make a start in the New Year should come to training on Wednesday nights starting again on Jan 17, 2018.
Lindsay
results
updated 9am 25th Sept.
