The strong westerly wind was probably responsible for a field of 33 riders, down from the record 50 of last week. As the night went on the wind eased and the meeting was held in reasonable conditions. We were treated to tight competitive racing, tighter photo finishes and to top it off we had the finesse and flow of team pursuits. One spectator noted that we are privileged to be entertained by such quality sporting theatre and entry is free.
Results from the Feilding track – 14th Nov 2011
Trophee de Grimpeur Results
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Whilst there wasn’t much wind there was a few light scattered showers that passed over during the running of the event. The course started at Hiwinui School and headed north along Watershed Rd, turning left on to the Colyton Rd. Once the riders were at Colyton they turned left again and made their way back to Hiwinui along Reids Line. First to leave the start was the under 19, under 23, senior, master 1 and 2 men. They were to complete 4 laps. Five minutes after them the under 17 men who were to complete 3 laps headed away along with the under 15 boys who were completing 2 laps. They were followed a further 5 minutes back by the rest of the masters men who had 3 laps to complete.
A grey sky threatening rain and a light to moderate Norwest wind greeted the riders to Johnston Park on Tuesday night for the first competitive track night of the season. While Mother Nature had her glum face on the outstanding turnout of 45 riders plus supporters decked out in vibrant lycra representing every colour in the spectrum helped to fire up the energy levels as potential and speculation was about to give way to reality.
The programme was adjusted as the threat of rain could not be ignored and the longer handicap races moved ahead of the scheduled one lap scratch races. The race of the night was provided by the ladies in the 6 lap handicap event. The skills of the handicapper were tested as he had riders ranging from World and National champions to absolute first timers in a bike race of any kind. Scratch riders Megan Blatchford and Kate Stewart gave limit riders Renee Wadsworth and Toni Loveridge 300 metres in the 2400 metre race. The scratch riders started aggressively as they tried to reel in the other 5 riders as quickly as possible. The other riders calmly got into their work and Renee was able to maintain her margin into lap 4 of the 6 lap race. The scratch riders joined the middle grouping with two laps to go and joined the train to gather in Renee, which they did with a little over a lap to go. Sharon Hollenstein and Tegan Rolfe kicked on with scratch rider Megan to finish 1,2,3 and a gallant Renee holding on for fourth, Kate’s early work caught up with her as she took up the fifth position.