The very popular Wednesday Night Individual Time-Trial series concluded this week with the final round and prize-giving at Kairanga Hall. For BikeManawatu members who are not familiar with this series, it runs twice over the summer months in two nine week blocks, once from October to December and again from January to March. The course starts on Kairanga-Bunnythorpe Rd (at the Rongotea Rd corner and heads out for 6 km (onto Lockwood Rd) and back for a total of 12 km. Points are awarded by comparing individual riders’ times between weeks – 2 points for posting a personal best, 1 point otherwise.
The most recent series was our most successful to date with over 130 unique riders taking part. The highest number of riders on a single night was 64 and on average we had approximately 45 riders.
Riders range in ages from 9 years to 60 plus years, and with the points awarded on a personal best basis, every rider has a chance to top the standings. Equal winners for this series with a total of 15 points (out of a maximum of 16) were Alex Denholm and Jack McKenzie. Congratulations to Alex and Jack for consistently good riding throughout the series. The series fastest time was posted by our New Zealand Track Representative, Matiu Kaihau. Mat blasted round the course in a mind-boggling 15 mins 58 seconds. If you do the math, that’s an average speed of 45 km/hr! A special mention goes to Jocelyn Goodwin who recorded the women’s fastest time of 18 mins 43 seconds, and in doing so, claimed the women’s course record from the previous holder, Leonora Pearson (18 mins 55 seconds).
And the series wouldn’t have been a success without the efforts of a dedicated group of volunteers who manned the stop-watches, turn-around and results sheets. An efficient new start and results system was introduced following a flash of inspiration from Matthijs van Wagdentonk (and some serious head-scratching with Excel from Mark Waterland).
So we are set to start again in the New Year for the very first BikeManawatu Wednesday Night Time-Trial Series, the first night is tentatively scheduled for January 26. Individual time-trialling is a great way to improve your speed and strength on the bike so come out and give it a go. We’re aiming for 100 riders per night by the end of the series, so tell your mates and we’ll see at Kairanga Shool for registration on January 26.