by Vaughan Hunt | Sep 7, 2015 | Archive(Notices)
Wednesday, 24th – Friday, 25th September 2015
Avantidrome, Cambridge
The Elite Omnium National Championships and Workshop will run from Wednesday 24th to Friday 25th September 2015. The aim of the pilot programme is to revamp the Elite Omnium event and provide some more resource into developing the specific skill-set required for the six-discipline Omnium, looking ahead to Olympic Competition.
The three days will include a full day (24th) workshop which is open to athletes and coaches, providing education on the event which will include both theory and practical sessions delivered by our High Performance experts. The workshop will be followed by the two day National Championship competition (24th & 25th – two sessions each day).
Attached is a copy of the provisional programme, entry criteria and entry forms.
If you could please circulate information to your clubs, elite riders and coaches to generate interest in the event.
Completed entry forms must be returned by 14th September 2015.
For more information or queries please contact:
Gina Benge
Event Coordinator
Cycling New Zealand
E: gina.benge@cyclingnewzealand.nz
NB: Distribution of Oceania Track Championships entry information has been delayed and will be circulated this week.
by Vaughan Hunt | Sep 7, 2015 | Archive(Notices)
General tickets on sale tomorrow!
A reminder that tickets to December’s UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Cambridge go on general sale tomorrow – Friday, 21 August at noon, through Ticketek here.
Get in fast to secure your seats! Pre-sale demand has been high, especially for the Saturday night session and tickets are limited.
For more information on ticket options and pricing, including the all-sessions pass saving 10%, click here.
The UCI Track Cycling World Cup, Cambridge takes place at the Avantidrome, 4-6 December 2015.
by Vaughan Hunt | Sep 3, 2015 | Archive(Notices)
This Saturdays club race is the Essex Cup at Ashhurst and will be a handicap race. The race starts at Ashhurst, goes out to Pohangina and then into a 5-6 km gravel section before a right hand turn (on Churchill Dr) to Highland Home. Thence back to Ashhurst firstly on Pohangina Valley East rd, then left into Pohangina Rd. Registration is at 1 pm at Ashhurst Library, with limit (first group) off at 1:30 pm.
If you are able to help with marshalling (and we need a couple of people), please contact Katherine Stannard on (06)3555009 or 0275088700.
Please support the club by racing or helping!
by Vaughan Hunt | Sep 3, 2015 | Board Chair's Blog
Spring has sprung! With daylight hours quickly increasing now and the ‘fun ride’ season coming up, it’s time to oil your chain and get some more miles in to improve your fitness. It might not be time though, to ditch the arm and leg warmers, nor the raincoat, as we can expect the nasty weather to drag on a bit longer that we’d like.
Many of our younger members are already fighting fit though, and are busily preparing for the NZ Secondary Schools Championships which are run on an annual basis in the Horowhenua and Manawatu. Held at the end of Sept (in the first weekend of the School holidays), this is one of the biggest annual events in the local sporting calendar, and indeed the biggest annual cycling event in NZ. There are also plenty of parents and older riders who will be involved in the organisation of the event; volunteers who without we would not be able to provide top notch home ground competition for our children.
The success of our young cyclists over the last few years is testament to the work that the parents and volunteers put into the sport, particularly those involved in Manawatu Schools Cycling. We have regional, national, oceania, and world champions to show as a result! One area in which local cycling does not do so well however, is in retaining these youngsters as they transition from school to work or tertiary education. Indeed, Bike Manawatu has very very few senior/open riders, male or female and this is an issue we need to address if we are to be a strong cycling club. One way to address this is to ensure that we have enough racing opportunities for Senior riders. This means that we need to persist with organising club road racing events on a weekly basis for local riders, and provide other opportunities for the non-locals to visit and race.
In this context, I am to announce that Bike Manawatu is organising a new event on January the 17th which will attract elite riders from all over NZ and the oceania region. Called the ‘Gravel and Tar Classic’ it will have a prize pool of at least $15K, around half of which will be awarded to team-based results. The latter is to encourage the professional, semi-professional, and amateur teams which will be competing in the NZ Cycle Classic (now based in Masterton) to come to Palmerston North just prior. If you want to compete in this, you don’t have to be part of a team, but you can’t be involved in the team-based prizes if you’re not. You’ll need to be an U19, Open, or Masters rider to compete, and you’ll need a racing licence. We are toying with the idea of a cash prize or trophy for the fastest local rider and/or team. Stay tuned for more info.
At the same time, we don’t want to forget that the vast majority of BM riders are not racers, so we are also organising the ‘Gravel and Tar Gran Fondo’ at the same time. The course will involve riding on some gravel roads, but well within the capability of a normal road bike (and its rider), albeit with some good 25-28 mm tyres. We aim to have some very very good spot prizes (and more) for this fun event, so put the date in your diary and start practicing on a bit of gravel!
Lastly, it was saddening to hear of the recent passing of Averil Sheehan. Averil was a very friendly and active BM member who was always looking for another cycling challenge. She will be sorely missed in the Manawatu peloton.
Yours in cycling,
Steve Stannard.
