The time for misty-eyed reflection on another year has arrived. 2010 was my first in the cycling world and was filled with memorable moments. Here is an incomplete list of personal highlights:
February – Two weeks before I started my new role at Cycling Southland, watching my first live track cycling event I watched Eddie Dawkins and friends lower the national Team Sprint record at the Elite Track Nationals. I still get that tingly feeling remembering it today - an incredible experience to watch in the flesh. Big Ed, Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell have since lowered that mark a number of times, the latest on Thursday night in winning bronze at the World Cup in Colombia to cap an incredible year. Expect more in 2011.
March – Erin Criglington, flanked by Sophie McMurdo and Michael Culling, lifts the National Points Shield following the Age Group/Masters Track Nationals as Southland blows away the competition to again confirm its place as the premier track cycling province.
June – Tom Scully crashes out of the Tour of Ireland, ending his Commonwealth Games hopes. The injury makes no highlight reel, but the way this level-headed young man has bounced back does. It’s a credit to his support team, his family and the man himself how he immediately focused on getting back to his best. No woe-is-me, just total focus and dedication.
June - The Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit saw 200+ riders take on the ILT Velodrome and living to tell the tale. The final was spectacular, YMCA Education pipping the Police Five-0s to close a hugely enjoyable event.
August – Pieter Bulling represents his country and Cycling Southland with distinction at the World Junior Track Champs. His stellar year only got better, culminating in his selection for the BikeNZ Elite squad for this month’s Melbourne World Cup - an incredible year for a fantastic talent.
November – The PowerNet Tour of Southland went right to the wire, being decided in the final sprint to the Stage Nine finish line on Gala Street. Hayden Roulston claimed another PowerNet Tour by the narrowest margin in history, but it was an incredible stage finish earlier in the week which sticks in my memory. Watching 100-plus riders, ten-wide with a tail-wind, descending on the finish line in Tuatapere at 70 km/h will stick with me for a long, long time.
December – Eddie Dawkins called it the greatest race on the ILT Velodrome. In the end technology could not separate the big guy and his good mate Simon van Velthooven on the line in the Elite Men’s Sprint at the ILT Festival of Speed this month. The dead heat will be one of those moments that goes down in Cycling Southland folklore. We saw two supreme athletes putting on something special for a jam-packed crowd. No script-writer could have done a better job.
In closing a special thank you to all of those involved in our sport throughout the year. Your unwavering work and support is hugely appreciated. Merry Christmas.
Cycling Southland CEO's Blog from inside the Stadium Southland Velodrome
Monday, December 20, 2010
Monday, December 13, 2010
Festival of Speed Satisfies
What a week. Cycling Southland's ILT Festival of Speed ended on Thursday night, capping three incredible night's racing. Our aim was to showcase elite track cycling as a sporting and entertainment spectacular in our world class facility. The hundreds of Southlanders who took their seats at the ILT Velodrome last week are in a far better position to comment than I, but we're pretty satisfied with the end result.
A huge amount of work went into the event and to get the support we received from the Southland public was fantastic. As always, we are indebted to both the Invercargill Licensing Trust and the ILT Foundation for their on-going and unwavering support and for the assistance of BikeNZ and its High Performance Programme.
The feedback from the riders was outstanding. They loved every minute of it and loved the atmosphere, which they see regularly in the US and Europe and can now enjoy here at home. The more they enjoy the event, the better the racing is and the better the spectacle is for the crowd. At this time of year most riders are focused on registering times, or on making teams, so to give them three nights where they can have some fun, put on a show and enjoy the racing is important.
We're also really heartened by the feedback from our international riders who have raved about the ILT Velodrome and to hear BikeNZ Track Coach Tim Carswell say Tuesday night's Madison was in his eyes the greatest field ever assembled is pretty staggering.
It's vital we put New Zealand on the world track cycling map with a view to our hosting of the Junior World Track Championships in 2012. I think we've raised the bar a fair bit, but we won't leave it there. The challenge for us is to take more steps up through 2011, starting with our New Year Carnival on January 15th and 16th.
We capped last week with our end of year prize-giving evening on Friday. After watching the country’s best compete with international riders during the week, it made perfect sense to also recognise our top Club performances during the year in the same week.
We also introduced three new awards for Contribution to Junior, Senior and Masters Cycling. So often the focus is on those who cross the line first. These three awards are designed to recognise the huge numbers who contribute so much to our organisation through the year.
And we have made a point to award these in the name of some gentlemen who themselves have given lifetimes of service to Cycling Southland. We are delighted to advise the inaugural winners of the Laurie Tall Cup for Overall Contribution to Junior cycling was Dave Beadle. Waine Harding claimed the Tony Ineson Cup for his contribution to senior cycling and Erin Criglington was the first name etched on the Peter Grandiek Cup for her services to masters cycling.
My personal thanks to each for their outstanding and invaluable work.
A huge amount of work went into the event and to get the support we received from the Southland public was fantastic. As always, we are indebted to both the Invercargill Licensing Trust and the ILT Foundation for their on-going and unwavering support and for the assistance of BikeNZ and its High Performance Programme.
The feedback from the riders was outstanding. They loved every minute of it and loved the atmosphere, which they see regularly in the US and Europe and can now enjoy here at home. The more they enjoy the event, the better the racing is and the better the spectacle is for the crowd. At this time of year most riders are focused on registering times, or on making teams, so to give them three nights where they can have some fun, put on a show and enjoy the racing is important.
We're also really heartened by the feedback from our international riders who have raved about the ILT Velodrome and to hear BikeNZ Track Coach Tim Carswell say Tuesday night's Madison was in his eyes the greatest field ever assembled is pretty staggering.
It's vital we put New Zealand on the world track cycling map with a view to our hosting of the Junior World Track Championships in 2012. I think we've raised the bar a fair bit, but we won't leave it there. The challenge for us is to take more steps up through 2011, starting with our New Year Carnival on January 15th and 16th.
We capped last week with our end of year prize-giving evening on Friday. After watching the country’s best compete with international riders during the week, it made perfect sense to also recognise our top Club performances during the year in the same week.
We also introduced three new awards for Contribution to Junior, Senior and Masters Cycling. So often the focus is on those who cross the line first. These three awards are designed to recognise the huge numbers who contribute so much to our organisation through the year.
And we have made a point to award these in the name of some gentlemen who themselves have given lifetimes of service to Cycling Southland. We are delighted to advise the inaugural winners of the Laurie Tall Cup for Overall Contribution to Junior cycling was Dave Beadle. Waine Harding claimed the Tony Ineson Cup for his contribution to senior cycling and Erin Criglington was the first name etched on the Peter Grandiek Cup for her services to masters cycling.
My personal thanks to each for their outstanding and invaluable work.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Forecast for Extreme Speed
The forecast for Southland this week is extreme speed. The ILT Festival of Speed begins tomorrow night headlined by New Zealand’s leading endurance and sprint men and women, along with international riders from Australia, the Pacific and Europe.
The New Zealand team fresh from winning a full set of medals at the Melbourne World Cup rolled into town last night. It is an arduous pre-Christmas schedule for the squad with Oceanias and two World Cups in the space of five weeks but with each outing the BikeNZ squad continues to impress.
Shane Archbold’s incredible effort in winning the Omnium in Melbourne (cycling’s equivalent of the decathlon) stamps his name as one to watch this week - his mullet also makes him hard to miss. The phenomenal silver medal-winning ride from Aaron Gate and Myron Simpson in the Madison on Thursday night means they will start as short-priced favourite in tomorrow night’s RaboDirect Madison Champs while the Team Sprint combination of Eddie Dawkins, Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell will go head-to-head in our sprint competition – a mouth-watering prospect for those of us taking a seat at the ILT Velodrome.
We are delighted to also feature international talent from all over the globe. The Swiss combination of Gregory Hugentobler and Cyrille Thiery arrive fresh from Melbourne while Jerry Bousquet & Mike Michel-Villaz add to the Euro flavour, riding under the French flag from New Caledonia. And then comes the Aussie contingent. Despite clashing with the Australian Madison Champs on Friday the green and gold will be well represented with Tasmanian flyer Clay Murfet and former Trexlertown Riders of the Year Doug Repacholi and Laura McCaughey. They will be joined by impressive Institute of Sport sprinters Tim McMillan, Jamie Green and Zac Deller in the men’s field and Cassandra Kell and Madison Law in the women’s. The raw power of these young Aussie sprinters was one of the talking points from our riders returning from the Oceania Champs. To see them first hand will be yet another treat.
So all is in readiness. The entertainment including Stunt BMX rider Paul Langlands and friends, our live bands The Heartleys and Lipstick, celebrity racers and our large swag of prizes is all ready. All you need to do is turn up. Tickets for the ILT Festival of Speed and for our Thursday morning Gold Medal Breakfast with Ali Shanks are on sale at Stadium Southland.
The New Zealand team fresh from winning a full set of medals at the Melbourne World Cup rolled into town last night. It is an arduous pre-Christmas schedule for the squad with Oceanias and two World Cups in the space of five weeks but with each outing the BikeNZ squad continues to impress.
Shane Archbold’s incredible effort in winning the Omnium in Melbourne (cycling’s equivalent of the decathlon) stamps his name as one to watch this week - his mullet also makes him hard to miss. The phenomenal silver medal-winning ride from Aaron Gate and Myron Simpson in the Madison on Thursday night means they will start as short-priced favourite in tomorrow night’s RaboDirect Madison Champs while the Team Sprint combination of Eddie Dawkins, Sam Webster and Ethan Mitchell will go head-to-head in our sprint competition – a mouth-watering prospect for those of us taking a seat at the ILT Velodrome.
We are delighted to also feature international talent from all over the globe. The Swiss combination of Gregory Hugentobler and Cyrille Thiery arrive fresh from Melbourne while Jerry Bousquet & Mike Michel-Villaz add to the Euro flavour, riding under the French flag from New Caledonia. And then comes the Aussie contingent. Despite clashing with the Australian Madison Champs on Friday the green and gold will be well represented with Tasmanian flyer Clay Murfet and former Trexlertown Riders of the Year Doug Repacholi and Laura McCaughey. They will be joined by impressive Institute of Sport sprinters Tim McMillan, Jamie Green and Zac Deller in the men’s field and Cassandra Kell and Madison Law in the women’s. The raw power of these young Aussie sprinters was one of the talking points from our riders returning from the Oceania Champs. To see them first hand will be yet another treat.
So all is in readiness. The entertainment including Stunt BMX rider Paul Langlands and friends, our live bands The Heartleys and Lipstick, celebrity racers and our large swag of prizes is all ready. All you need to do is turn up. Tickets for the ILT Festival of Speed and for our Thursday morning Gold Medal Breakfast with Ali Shanks are on sale at Stadium Southland.
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