DHBC Juniors Training, News and Statistics 29 Aug 2012

[James Rogers]

Hi All,

We had 13 juniors on a nice mild night, and welcomed the seasonal return of the dive-bombing magpie. The bird failed to make any dents, but probably put some pace into the initial 10-lap warm up.

Dexter made an early appearance to check his regular bike setup so he can transfer it to his new bike. He also helped solve the mystery of how to turn on the toilet lights. Look forward to seeing you back on your new bike, Dexter. Alison came with a flash new pair of clipless pedals and some very pro shoes... and rode like she had been using them for years.

After the avian-assisted warm-up, Lizanne headed to the warm-up track with Melina, Adrien, William, and Claude and drilled bike handling skills and using the drops. The others lined up on the fence for a back-to-front elimination "win and out" – which is the first to win the sprint lap can have a little relaxation time. After being completely unfairly (and intentionally!) handicapped by a lap, Taku was the first on the banana lounge, with Broughton, Rohan, Francis and Alison following behind. Tess, Toby and Mia came off next, and Darani well-and-truly earned an imaginary mocktail after a tenacious and sustained effort.

Next we tried something close to a Derby. While a couple of weeks ago we tried the match-sprints, this time we went for a similar (but different) idea, but really put an emphasis on tactics. Alison, Taku, Francis and Rohan (Broughton forgot to don his helmet in time!) engaged in a battle of wits, with Alison setting the pace and clearly testing the mettle of Francis and Rohan who struggled to keep their wheels behind hers. While the group managed to set a new slow-speed record for the track, the sprint bell saw Alison take full advantage of her position and make a fast, tactical win; followed by Francis, Taku, and Rohan. It clearly was a thinking person's game!

After that performance, I think everyone tuned into the concept a bit more, and Toby, Mia, Tess and Darani had their turn. Again, I think we saw some of the slowest speeds on the track, with some very good slow-speed bike handling going on. Clearly everyone was thinking. Toby really impressed with some serious concentration. Ultimately, Tess was first over the line with Toby, Mia and Darani all coming in very, very close behind.

On their second attempt, both groups held together a lot more. While positions were reversed from the first attempt, there was a little jostling for advantage – some riders paid attention to where they wanted to be when the sprint started. In the first group, Rohan came over the line ahead of the others, but – and I would have asked for the photo if I could have got one – there was almost nothing between Taku, Broughton, Alison and Francis. A really good race! The second group also had a really good second go. Tess put on a blistering turn of speed to cross the line first, followed by Mia, Darani, and Toby.

In between all of this, Lizanne led out Melina, Adrien, William and Claude for a go at "win and out", and a paceline. Certainly some good bike skills developing amongst all of them.

Lastly, Lizanne kindly Lizanne-paced the entire group of riders, taking Taku and Broughton to 42kph before they lost her wheel. It was good to see everyone having a go, and that everyone in the group is getting faster and faster...

Speaking of faster, Fabian did a double dose of training last week and stayed on later to train with the older juniors and seniors – and liked it so much he turned up for training with the seniors this week.

Thanks to Lizanne for her invaluable help, and many thanks to all the parents who helped out as well. I enjoyed impersonating Colin for the night.

James