The weather forecast said it should be raining but we were given a warm night, threatening sky and a zephyr of a breeze at the track tonight. The competitor carrying the stellar label tonight was to be “The Rain” as it was involved in one of the tightest finishes of the night.
The programme began with club scratch race championships then riders were given a choice between a flying lap or a 1 lap time trial and then finished with a longer handicap race. The club championship races were raced in their respective grades with points awarded to the first five place getters.
Tonight saw the return of Jordan Castle who only three weeks ago crashed in spectacular fashion and left the track in the back of an ambulance. While Jordan still has a few visible mementoes his competitive spirit is in tact as he fought out a length of the straight ding dong battle with Mike “photo finish” McMinn, which was awarded to Mike by the narrowest of margins. Fortunately for us all Jordan was able to return to his seat without further incident. Mike was also involved in the tightest finish of the night when he raced James Hutton in a no quarter asked no quarter given 1 lap time trial. The timekeepers had the margin at .34 of a second but it looked a lot closer, if that was possible.
Track manager and handicapper Ian Gray has a keen eye for weather conditions and decided that the looming darkening sky and changing air temperature was going to make it impossible to complete the last two handicap races so decided to make it an all in 12 lap handicap race. With riders dotted around the track with their respective handicaps extending to as far as a lap plus 80 metres for the limit markers. The starting instructions delivered by commissaire Tim Whitehouse included the instruction that if the gun fires twice the race is over as that would have meant that “The Rain” had won the race.
The scratch bunch of Sean Whitehouse, Jaycob Humphreys and Luuk van Wagtendonk set off at a blistering pace as they worked together to try and reach the front markers before “The Rain” did. As the lap board counted down the laps “The Rain” made a move as the sky became darker and the air became noticeably cooler but the scratch bunch continued to make inroads to the gap between themselves and the front markers. At the halfway point Jaycob and Luuk reached and passed the front markers to lead the race, but “The Rain” was not going to lie down but instead threw a pre-emptive strike at the riders. This move by “The Rain” caused commissaire Tim Whitehouse to request the bell to be rung to inform the riders that they have begun the final lap so reducing the 12 lap race to 8. The moves by “The Rain” had caused some riders and spectators to pack up and evacuate to the car as they could see what will happen when “The Rain” embarks on its sprint to the line. At the bell Jaycob was at the front of the race and kicked hard to stave off the challenge from Luuk, which he did but “The Rain” was not ready to sit up, instead it turned up the volume of the pre-emptive strike to further vindicate the commissaire’s decision to cut the race short. All riders were able to cross the line and rush to their vehicles before the full force of “The Rain” hit the finish line.
We all hope that our region will be selected as the home of the Cycling Centre of Excellence as the resulting indoor velodrome will mean that track cyclists will have fewer races against “The Rain” or any of its climatic associates.
These are the results:
Under 15 girls 2000m Scratch race Club Championship
1st Michaela Drummond
2nd Brittany Ingram
Under 17 boys 2000m Scratch race Club Championship
1st Mike McMinn
2nd Jordan Castle
3rd James Hutton
Under 19 men 12 lap Scratch race Club Championship
1st Jaycob Humphreys
2nd Sean Whitehouse
3rd Luuk van Wagtendonk
Masters 12 lap Scratch race Club Championship
1st Neville Weir
2nd Ross Castle
3rd Brent Zimmerman
1 Lap Flying Start
Sean Whitehouse 26.89
Jaycob Humphreys 27.28
Ross Castle 28.57
Luuk van Wagtendonk 28.88
Neville Weir 28.92
Peter Wenborn 29.32
Brad Nelson 31.03
1 Lap Time Trial
Mike McMinn 33.55
James Hutton 33.88
Campbell Stewart 34.84
Michaela Drummond 35.76
Andrew Bengston 36.89
Brittany Ingram 37.83
All in 12 Lap Handicap race
1st Jaycob Humphreys
2nd Luuk van Wagtendonk
3rd Campbell Stewart