The reason for creating a new crit course at Linton is obvious to those involved in the Army and organising the Novice tour. On the same day that the Novice tour wanted to hold the crit it is planned to have the Army family day which will see hundreds of army families descending on the base to be involved in various activities. With this influx of people and vehicles it was necessary to have a plan B to ensure the smooth running of the crit.
So a new course was decided upon and it was an important part of that planning that a trial run was held to ensure that all areas of running the crit were covered before the date, including how long it takes to approximately complete a lap for each age group.
Thanks to NZ Army personell including Steve Challies and Dominic for helping out with finding the course. Thanks also to Matt van Wagtendonk and Kirsty Kaihau for laying out the cones and other duties and to Julie, Jo, Fraser and John for marshalling on the course.
So the first race that was set off was the under 13 and under 15 grade. This was a combined race but it is hoped that with enough entries that this will be split for the Novice tour. The plan was to race for 15 mins plus 1 lap with sprints every 5 mins. As it turned out the first lap was completed in 3mins and the second lap was when the whistle was blown indicating a sprint lap. This lead to the second sprint lap not being indicated until another lap had passed so the final lap meant that this race took 22 mins, something that the organisers of the Novice tour will take into consideration when setting the sprint laps and time length of each race.
The next race to be set off was the Under 17 and B grade and with some careful persuasion from a few riders a few riders were able to change which race they rode in. Some keen riders who hadn’t had enough then went on to compete in the under 19 A grade race. for the under 17 race the first lap was completed in 2mins 30 secs. The time allocation was set as 20 mins plus 1 lap and sprints at 7 and 14 mins and final lap. It was unfortunate for Joel Yates who had made a decisive move and broke from the bunch leading in to the first sprint that he punctured before getting to the start/finish line.
The final race of the day saw some old familiar faces come out for a race and at one point it looked like they were enjoying a Sunday afternoon ride until they were caught by the leading bunch and some were able to hope on and stick with them right to the end.
Click here for results.