After several weeks of poor weather the track season finally got under-way on Friday night with 8 riders fronting up for racing. The weather was mild with just a light wind so all in attendance were able to enjoy the night. The riders were split into an A and B group. The first race of the night saw Oscar Davis take out the 4 lap scratch race in convincing style ahead of Erica Deery and Grace Peterson. In the 3 lap B grade race it looked like Tom Geary was not a contender but he came with a burst in the last 200m to take a narrow win from Emiley Hadicke and Stephen Spencer.
The riders then fronted up to post a time for a 1 lap time trial. Oscar was quickest at 39.56 sec whilst Erica (42.37 sec) just pipped Grace at 42.93 sec whilst Renee Hardacre raced around in 45.65sec. In the B group, Emiley Hardicke clocked 47.25sec, Kate Geary was at 49.00 sec just ahead of Tom t 49.56 sec. Stephen Spencer raced in at 52.06 sec.
The riders were then given two one lap handicap. In the A group, Renee Hardacre (35m) just held on to win from Oscar (Scr) and Grace (20m). In the second race after some minor changes to handicaps the handicapper had all 4 riders crossing the line together however, Grace (15) just edged to the front from Erica (20) and Oscar (scr) in 3rd.
In the B grade group, Tom Geary moved to the front before the 200m mark to win from Kate and Emiley. In the second race, Tom Geary (5M) made it a double winning from Kate (10) and Stephen (45m) in third place.
The riders were then given some sprint races although Oscar had retired early. In the first heat Grace had the better tactics as she won out over Erica. In the second heat, Tom Geary showed he was on fire as he won from Emiley and Renee. In the last heat it was Kate winning just ahead of Stephen.
The racing finished with some novelty events on he grass. In the slow race Grace showed the best balance to take the win. In the race within the decreasing square, Stephen Spencer on his small bike showed the others how to handle things.
Training is on Wednesday night from 6.30pm. Last week there were 13 riders taking part including 1 new rider. For any young cyclists come on in and see what it is all about. The Club is in negotiations to have Tour de France rider Simon Clarke come along to training on Wed Dec 11. Early in his racing career Simon used to come along to the big Leongatha track carnival so he should have some great tips for our keen juniors.
Lindsay
updated 7am 18th Sept.
