Time trialling isn’t for everybody it’s one of the more honest/toughest events in cycling, you can only blame yourself for your result.
I guess the name of this event has a lot to do with time? Some riders learnt an important lesson about being prepared. Even when start times were posted it was funny to watch riders reaction when they weren’t ready and it was time to go!
Needless to say there were a few who missed their start time, the clock doesn’t stop if you’re not there, it keeps going!
Those riders who were late may have wanted to post fast times but handicapped themselves before they started (next time be more organised guy’s and girls!). These disruptions have an effect for the following riders by disrupting their preparation let’s get it right for next time team.
There were some impressive performances, a full list of times and results are posted on our website. Most grades there were very close only 3sec separating the first 6 or 7 finishers. Impressive was new rider to Southland Jeff Roomey who posted a fast time in Div II that would have placed high in Div I.
Average speeds of our junior riders looked really good as well, all I can say is look out senior riders! They did only ride 10km!
Fun and Games Teams Race!
There were a few puzzled about how it was going to work, at the end of the day I would say the majority really enjoyed it. Teams were divided up evenly and issued with a coloured sticker to identify fellow team members. With some trepidation/excitement everyone lined up for a mass start! What a great opportunity for riders to push themselves against stronger riders.
A team meeting for members 5min before the start was offered to sort out a race plan. From the start there were a lot of attacks- false attacks to wean out any weakness. Everyone pretty much stayed together for the first 5km, some dropped off the back. Hat’s off to those stronger guys (Garry Smith, Jeff Rooney) who stayed back to help fellow team members.
Half way into it a small breakaway (Mat Zeno, Tom Sexton, Hayden Strong and Josh van den Arend) got clear and worked well together to open a sizeable lead. A tiring Josh van den Arend dropped back to the main bunch. Coming home with a tail wind a decent sized bunch chased hard to catch the three still away without success. Honours went to Tom Sexton followed by Mat Zeno and Hayden Strong, coming home a large bunch sprinted it out for team points. Results are Green 1st (195 points) Red 2nd (232 points) Orange 3rd (252 points) and Yellow 4th (320 points).
To sum it up I’d have to say it was a good days racing for 99% of the riders who came out. Weather conditions were almost perfect, just a bit chilly. It’s only going to get warmer and the racing is only going get better as well.
Let’s see a few more along it’s a Woodstock Handicap race next week see you there.
Be safe out there!
Waine Harding
Race Manager
Images courtesy of Robyn Edie - The Southland Times