After a wet and windy weekend tonight’s conditions were taken directly from the box marked “Stellar” with a warm clear sky and a slight breeze from the preferred direction. With the year starting to take some shape and people returning to routines the 32 cyclists present, represented the best turnout for the season. The spectator numbers were also boosted making for what appeared to be a crowd on the embankment set for another nights entertaining competitive racing. Four cyclists plus supporters made the trip from Wanganui again this week, among their number was 74 year old Victor Possee complete with carbon fibre bike and rear disc wheel.
Victor was given almost a 1 lap handicap over his significantly younger opponents in the 10 lap handicap race and won it with over 100 metres to spare. This was an outstanding effort as he rode the distance on his own without the help of any bunch riding. With two laps to go he did show signs of weariness with wobbling on the turns and the last lap was not upto his earlier pace but he had earnt the luxury to peg back the effort. Victor is a pursuit specialist and so this race was perfect for him and his preparation for the upcoming Masters games. Victor may not enjoy such a handicap in the future.
Thanks to the fine conditions we had enough daylight to complete a full programme of short handicap races, Keirin’s, short scratch races and long handicap races, all raced in age and or ability groupings. The programme was based on the opportunity to expose the riders to events that will be raced at club and centre championships. The Keirin races were raced in recognition of club member, Simon van Velthooven taking gold at the recent World Cup event held in Beijing.
There will be an extra nights racing on Thursday the 3rd of February to accommodate the club’s individual pursuit championships. As the pursuit is a time comparison event it is essential for fairness that they are completed on the same night and in the same conditions.
These are the results:
The rider of the night has been awarded to two riders as they could not be
separated as they both started their respective handicap rides on scratch and
rode through the field and go on to win by healthy margins. Campbell Stewart in
the under 15 10 lap and Matiu Kaihau in the A & B Grade 20 lap event.
U15 boys and U17 girls 3 lap handicap
1st Liam Barber
2nd Campbell Stewart
3rd Michella Drummond
B Grade 3 lap handicap
1st Barry Gilliland
2nd James Hutton
3rd Shaun Matena
A Grade 3 lap handicap
1st Matiu Kaihau
2nd George Roberts
3rd Hayley Giddens
U15 & U17 4 lap Keirin
1st Campbell Stewart
2nd Ruby Perry
3rd Michella Drummond
U15 & U17 4 lap Keirin
1st Brittany Ingram
2nd Liam Barber
3rd Alec Ross
U17 boys 4 lap Keirin
1st Jonty Hapeta
2nd James Hutton
3rd George Roberts
Masters 4 lap Keirin
1st Victor Possee
2nd Mark Signal
3rd Jo Ellery
Masters 4 lap Keirin
1st Shaun Matena
2nd Ross Castle
3rd Pete Wenborn
A & B Grade 5 lap Keirin
1st Wiremu Kaihau
2nd Megan Blatchford
3rd Hayley Giddens
A & B Grade 5 lap Keirin
1st Matiu Kaihau
2nd Sean Whitehouse
3rd Jaycob Humphreys
A & B Grade 5 lap Keirin
1st Cameron Gibbons
2nd Brent Zimmerman
3rd Damian Lardner
U15 500m Scratch race
1st Campbell Stewart
2nd Ruby Perry
3rd Michella Drummond
U15 500m Scratch race
1st Liam Barber
2nd Brittany Ingram
3rd Alec Ross
U17 boys 500m Scratch race
1st James Hutton
2nd Cameron Gibbons
3rd Mike McMinn
C Grade 2 lap scratch race
1st Tamara Ross
2nd Victor Possee
3rd Mark Signal
B Grade 2 lap scratch race
1st Brent Zimmerman
2nd Megan Blatchford
3rd Shaun Matena
A Grade 2 lap scratch race
1st Matiu Kaihau
2nd Wiremu Kaihau
3rd Sean Whitehouse
U15 & U17 10 lap handicap
1st Campbell Stewart
2nd Ruby Perry
3rd Michella Drummond
C Grade 10 lap handicap
1st Victor Possee
2nd Ross Castle
3rd Shaun Matena
A & B Grade 20 lap handicap
1st Matiu Kaihau
2nd Jaycob Humphreys
3rd Luuk van Wagtendonk