Results Carnival held 4th December 2011

by Glenys Taylor | Dec 9, 2011 | Event Reports

The weather forecast said rain and the heavy sky was not offering much hope that we could complete the race programme without having to stop because of rain. Wind was not an issue and the temperature was warm. Despite the poor forecast 33 optimistic cyclists made the trip to Feilding and 8 of them from the Levin club. The programme was made up of short scratch races followed by short handicap races then finished off with a longer handicap race. In between this 5 selected riders had a mini sprint competition.

The racing provided the usual tight contests and some extra ordinary racing as seen in the under 17 boys and girls 4 lap scratch race where Mark Finlay toyed with the opposition when he went from the gun and established a 50 metre gap in what seemed to be the first 100 metres. The chasing bunch did not panic or perhaps could not do much else but apply a solid effort to close the gap. Mark eased the effort and the bunch had caught him again after the first lap, at which point Mark again changed gear and opened a 20 metre gap in next to no time then eased off and the bunch caught again after lap two. Mark repeated the earlier exercise and opened up another 20 metre gap and still had it when the bell rang for the final lap. The bunch applied pressure through George Roberts and Jordan Castle and began to catch the struggling Finlay with 200 metres to go the under 15 Levin rider Connel Leahy rose from his seat and began his sprint for the line by taking a path around the outside of the chasing bunch , by the time he hit the home straight he only had the wavering Finlay in front of him but with a grimace and the outside lane he was able to catch and pass to take the win from the sheepish race leader.

Carnival results were as follows:

Under 19 Men and Senior Men miss and out

1^st Angus Finlay

2^nd Matiu Kaihau

3^rd Luuk van Wantendonk

Under 19 women and Senior Women 4 lap scratch race

1^st Kate Dudley

2^nd Sharon Hollenstein

3^rd Kelsi Eccles

4^th Catherine Young

Under 17 Boys and Girls 4 lap scratch race

1^st Connel Leahy

2^nd Mark Finlay

3^rd Jordan Castle

4^th Cameron Gibbons

Under 15 Girls 4 lap scratch race

1^st Michaela Drummond

2^nd Renee George

3^rd Lishona McKay

4^th Britteny Baker

Under 15 Boys 4 lap scratch race

1^st Josh Kendall

2^nd Campbell Stewart

3^rd James Cuff

4^th Cody Simpson

200 Metre sprint first in series

Matiu Kaihau 18.01

Josh Chard 14.06

Gareth Warnock 14.68

Angus Finlay 13.83

Cameron Gibbons 14.08

Masters Men 4 lap scratch race

1^st Peter Jenkins

2^nd Marcel Hollenstein

3^rd Ross Castle

4^th Alex Jones

Under 15 Girls 3 lap handicap race

1^st Michaela Drummond

2^nd Emily Shearman

3^rd Renee George

4^th Lishona McKay

Under 15 Boys 3 lap handicap race

1^st Cody Simpson

2^nd Hayden Washington-Smith

3^rd Chris Denholm

4^th Jake van Leinen

Under 17 Boys 3 lap handicap race

1^st Mark Finlay

2^nd Kyle Davie

3^rd Jordan Castle

4^th Cameron Gibbons

Under 19 Women and Masters Women and Masters Men 3 lap handicap race

1^st Ross Casstle

2^nd Peter Jenkins

3^rd Kate Dudley

4^th Marcel Hollenstein

Under 15 Girls 6 lap handicap race

1^st Simone Davie

2^nd Michaela Drummond

3^rd Lishona McKay

4^th Renee George

Under 15 Boys 6 lap handicap race

1^st Jake van Leinen

2^nd Campbell Stewart

3^rd Chris Denholm

4^th Cody Simpson

Sprint series race 2- 1 versus 5

Angus Finlay 13.17

Matiu Kaihau DQ

Sprint series race 3- ride off 2,3 and 4

1^st Josh Chard 13.82

2^nd Cameron Gibbons

3^rd Gareth Warnock

Under 17 Boys 10 lap points race

1^st Mark Finlay 10 points

2^nd Connel Leahy 6 points

3^rd Jordan Castle 4 points

4^th George Roberts 2 points

Sprint series final

1^st Josh Chard

2^nd Angus Finlay

U19 Women, Women, Masters Women, Masters Men, Senior Men and U19 Men 1^st Matiu Kaihau

2^nd Kate Dudley

3^rd Sharon Hollenstein

4^th Angus Finlay

Racing is held on Tuesday nights at Johnston Park Feilding with racing to start at 6.10pm. As the track is too slippery for the bikes if wet racing will be cancelled if it is raining.

Tales from the Taupo Cycle Challenge

by Vaughan Hunt | Dec 5, 2011 | Event Reports

Nine riders from the Wednesday morning ride, which leaves from the bus shelter opposite the BP in Fitzherbert Avenue, entered the 2011 Taupo Cycle Challenge. These are some of their stories gleaned from conversation during last Wednesday’s 87km recovery ride. I have used aliases to protect their identities and some poetic license to add entertainment value to their tales.

All agreed that the 85km/hr winds recorded at Taupo airport on race day by the Metservice were gale force! I know that I struggled to ride above 17km/hr going along the lakefront to the start line and the white caps on Lake Taupo were monstrous!

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Sprint Cup Results

by Glenys Taylor | Dec 3, 2011 | Event Reports

Click here for full results and report

The Taupo ‘Classic’ race – 2011

by Vaughan Hunt | Dec 1, 2011 | Event Reports

The last time I did a race around Lake Taupo was in 1993 in a stage of the Wellington to Auckland ‘Post’ Race as a member of the Fosters Australian Team. I remember it as a relatively easy day with few hills and great weather. Cut to 2011 and I’m sure the hills were steeper and the lake larger. I do know that eighteen years later it was windier!

Staying around the other side of the lake with a mad drive to the start line at 5:30 am was not the best preparation. With no warm up my legs went solid when the race went into the gutter in the nasty cross wind 2 km out from the start line. The whole race went to the far right of the road head to head with surprised vehicles and, thinking that I’m too old to go through a windscreen, I pulled over to the left until the last rider went past. I thought I’d better jump on the back at that point to avoid embarrassment.

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The weather conditions made the Lake Taupo Challenge tough

by Vaughan Hunt | Nov 30, 2011 | Event Reports

The strong westerly wind made the Lake Taupo Challenge very tough for many riders this year. Times were certainly down on previous years and many were disappointed about their individual times.  Apparently, the wind on Tihoi & Western Bay Road was a direct head wind which reduced some riders to a 20km/hr crawl.  Glenys Taylor, who had set a personal goal to go under 6hrs simply was unable to hang on to any bunch and almost rode the 160km journey on her own.  “I was at least 45mins slower as a result of the wind”, she said. 

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