After a cold and showery Friday morning the night turned out pretty good for cycling – the track was cold and dead but there was no wind in the cool conditions. The first up event was the 1 lap time trial and only Caleb Murphy, Erica Deery and Kate Geary managed to post new PB’s. In the senior group Ollie McLean was right on his best at 32.39sec, Steve Allen 33.61, Tom Fitzgerald 35.07 and Caleb at 41.20sec. In the junior group, Erica Deery was at 43.11sec, Kate Geary 50.65, Renee Hardacre in her first ride at 55.32, Emiley Hadicke 57.76 and another new comer on a little bike was Jake Johnston at 77.79sec but showing plenty of pedal speed.
The senior 6 lap scratch race started quietly but Ollie soon upped the tempo. Tom Fitzgerald made a flying move at the bell and opened up a gap but Steve Allen shut that down. In the dash to the line it was Ollie winning from Steve and Tom. In the junior 3 lap scratch race, Erica and Kate made a break at the start and never eased up. Erica took the win from Kate but it was close battle for 3rd with Emiley just ahead of Renee.
The 1 lap handicaps were next up and the junior race saw Kate (30) rocket away at the start and overtake the limit riders. However, she tired into the home straight and spent effort looking around. This allowed Erica (scr) to dash home around the outside to grab the win. Kate held on for 2nd and Emiley(55) was 3rd. In the re-handicap, Renee(60) was getting the hang of racing and found the chase to Emiley (65) and Jake (150) was to her liking and cruised over the line for a great win. Kate (35) finished strongly to take another 2nd whilst Jake span the legs right to the line to finish 3rd.
In the senior 1 lap handicap, Caleb Murphy (90) made full use of his handicap to lead all the way for a win ahead of the fast finishing Ollie McLean (sc) and Steve Allen (10) 3rd. However, in the re-handicap, the fitness of Ollie was on show as he scorched past the field to take the win ahead of Steve (15) and Tom (35) whilst Caleb (70) found the 20m cut in handicap was just too great.
The junior riders had some novelty events on the grass with a straight line sprint which was a win to Erica, from Kate and a triple for 3rd between Jake, Renee and Emiley in a time of 11.55sec. They followed this with a slow race over the same distance and Erica kept her balance best with the slowest time of 1min 22sec. Jake ran 2nd and Emiley 3rd. The referee then had them to a balance trial in an ever decreasing square and the winner was Jake from Renee and Emiley. In the senior balance event Ollie showed his skill for standing still on the bike outlasting Steve and Tom.
The juniors then had 2 sprint heats. In the first Erica had the better of Kate whilst in the second heat Renee edged out Emiley in the run to the line. The seniors finished the night with another 6 lap scratch race. With Tom leading at the bell, Steve Allen took up a position on his hip which left Ollie trailing. Past the 200m line Ollie moved to the inside of the track but Steve kept him stuck behind Tom. This meant Ollie had to ease up, slip out of the dead spot and try and come around. In the end after a desperate effort he ran out of distance and had to settle for second behind Steve with Tom in 3rd place.
Next Friday night the club will have its last night before the Xmas break so will finish the night with a few sausages on the BBQ. However, the club is still keen to see more riders like Jake Johnston turn up and try their hand at the track racing. Come along on Wednesday night at 6.00pm for some coaching and make a start.
Lindsay
results
updated 8am 2nd June
