While the sun was out in a clear sky the moderate to strong southeast wind made conditions challenging for the riders and cold in the shaded areas for spectators. The stellar landing tonight of Simon van Velthooven the multiple medal winner at January’s track cycling World cup in Beijing added the star power to what was a small turnout of 17 riders. Simon offered the opportunity to those present to purchase some of his extensive New Zealand team kit, judging by the popularity of the offer we will be having a number of riders getting a little extra attention from motorists and spectators as they pedal their bikes on and off the track.
The racing began with 3 to 5 lap warm up races for each grade then onto short 1 lap scratch races followed by 200 metre 3up sprints and concluded with long handicap races. Simon was a delight to watch in the two races he took part in. The power he is able to pass through his bike was clear to all and then his ability to be able to judge his and the other riders pace displayed his professionalism. Simon moved around the track and allowed the gap to grow only to hit the jet engine and fly home to pinch the win by half a wheel on each occasion.
In the B and C grade 12 lap handicap race young under 15 rider Brittany Ingram started on the biggest handicap of almost a lap on the scratchmen. On the gun Brittany hit the pedals as hard as her slight frame would tolerate. As she went past the start finish line for the first time her facial contortions and grimacing showed us all the effort she was prepared to put in to breach the gap between herself and the three men on scratch. Within 200 metres she had joined the scratchmen and proceeded to take advantage of riding in their slipstream for the rest of the race. As the race progressed the three scrachmen whittled down to Brent Zimmerman, he played guardian angel as he lead her on his own for the last half of the race. As the laps counted down the main chasing bunch looked as if they were making little headway into Brittany’s lead. Lap three and the chasing bunch began to make visible in roads on Brittany’s lead, lap 2 began and Brittany was still with Brent as he encouraged her to hang on and the lead was still over the length of the straight. When the bell rang the lead was only 25m and closing fast. The race was won by Campbell Stewart but Brittany held on for 5th and showed us all the fight she had in her and alerted all to her potential.
Last weekend the West Coast North Island (WCNI) track cycling championships were held in Wanganui. Bike Manawatu was well represented across the grades with fine performances by all present. At the conclusion of the meeting the WCNI team to represent the centre at the track nationals to be held in Invercargill late February and early March was selected. The WCNI centre is drawn from as far south as Levin and as far north as New Plymouth. The quality of the team can be judged by the quality of the riders that missed out and there were some good riders that will not be making the trip to Invercargill. We can be proud that Bike Manawatu has provided half of the team for the age group section of the nationals and has provided world class athletes in Simon van Velthooven and Megan Blatchford-Peck to the elite section of the nationals.
The Bike Manawatu riders selected for the WCNI team are as follows.
Simon van Velthooven, Megan Blatchford-Peck, Matiu Kaihau, Jaycob Humphreys, Josh Chard, Kate Stewart, Ruby Perry and Campbell Stewart
These are the results:
C Grade 5 lap race
1st Kate Stewart
2nd Ruby Perry
3rd Campbell Stewart
B Grade 3 lap scratch race
1st James Hutton
2nd Neville Weir
3rd Andrew Bengston
A Grade 3 lap scratch race
1st Simon van Velthooven
2nd Jaycob Humphreys
3rd Cameron Gibbons
1 lap scratch races
Race 1
1st Micheala Drummond
2nd Liam Barber
3rd Andrew Bengston
Race 2
1st James Hutton
2nd Brad Nelson
3rd Kate Stewart
Race 3
1st Neville Weir
2nd Campbell Stewart
3rd Mike McMinn
Race 4
1st Marcel Hollenstein
2nd Brent Zimmerman
3rd Peter Wenborn
Race 5
1st Simon van Velthooven
2nd Jaycob Humphreys
3rd Cameron Gibbons
200m 3 up sprints
Race 1
1st Josh Kendall 14.47sec
Race 2
1st George Roberts 14.87sec
Race 3
1st Michaela Drummond 17.45sec
Race 4
1st Marcel Hollenstein 14.71sec
Race 5
1st Brad Nelson 14.29sec
B & C Grade 12 lap handicap
1st Campbell Stewart
2nd Kate Stewart
3rd Andrew Bengston
A Grade 15 lap handicap
1st Jaycob Humphreys
2nd Mike McMinn
3rd Marcel Hollenstein