DHBC Juniors Training, News and Statistics 3 October 2012

[James Rogers]

It was a beautiful, warm evening on Wednesday. Perfect for riding. The magpie seemed to calm down a bit, but not after a few angry runs. Melina was the first to brave the track for a few warm up laps, and got more than her fair share of beak-snapping. But when the yelling stops, you can hear the hungry squawks coming from the nest...

We had 8 riders – clearly wishing the holidays were over and very keen to get back to school (kidding!) – including new recruits are Luke and Sarah, and their dad Andrew, too.

Lizanne, (hot pink, retina, it burns, it burns) gave Luke and Sarah a great intro on the warm up track, and took them out for a few runs around the "big" track.

Tom Bolton was the star of the evening, helping out with each drill and giving advice on the track. Thanks Tom!

First up, we had Tom, Rohan and Toby in a 3 lap derby. Tom showed how to use the track to tactical advantage, skirting around the top and dropping into the sprint on the 3rd lap. Both Rohan and Toby putting in a fine effort and fighting for the line. Tom then also took out Ruby, Adrien, Melina and Matthew for their turn at the derby. Adrien led the group over the finish.

Next up, we did an Elimination. This is where the last rider over on the sprint lap drops off until there are only two riders left. It is quite a tough discipline, and everybody did very well. Last two riders were Rohan and Tom.

After that we ran a 6 lap scratch race, just because you can never have enough sprinting. Luke and Sarah also joined in this one. Some pretty good riding through this one, but I should remind everyone to make sure you hold your line. There was a little bit of weaving up and down – especially with some big efforts being put in – but when you are close to others, it helps to be predictable!

Lastly, Tom was the motor, and we motorpaced. Even though there was some fatigue setting in, everyone had a good crack at staying on each other's wheel. Starting at 25kph, we inched up to about 30kph, where about half the group dropped off. Toby was off at a respectable 32kph. Rohan and Matthew really threw themselves into it and tenaciously hung on... and on... finally coming off at 37kph.

Well done all. And thanks for putting the bikes away so cleanly and tidily!

Now for some housekeeping:

Toby left his helmet and cap at the track. It's an orange and black Specialized helmet, and the cap is a Rapha (or Rapha-like?) cream with a black stripe. If anyone picked it up or saw it, could you let Toby's mum, Wendy Sullivan know at davewendy2@optusnet.com.au.

Lizanne has been hunting for bikes, and found some smaller track bikes (24" wheels - same size as the in-demand, and currently very shared bikes) for sale from a private seller. If you would like the full low-down on these, send me an email and I'll forward you everything that, well, Lizanne knows about them. EDIT: I've put the details up in the For Sale forum.

Thanks all, and thanks for all the parental help the other night.

Cheers
James