Sunday Summarises Our Club

Sunday more or less summarised in a nutshell what Cycling Southland is all about.

It started with a 4am alarm (something for which I am paying for as I write this) to watch Eddie Dawkins line up in the final of the Keirin and Shane Archbold finish strongly to claim silver in the Omnium at the World Track Championships. Big Ed made it through to the last six from a field of 33 – a wonderful achievement and great experience, lining up alongside the likes of Sir Chris Hoy and eventual winner Shane Perkins on the biggest stage of this year.

A lot has been made of the youthful New Zealand sprint programme’s rapid development. When you consider Hoy turned 36 this week, at just 21 years of age, Eddie has a lot of time ahead of him and who knows how many more finals appearances and chances for World Championship and Olympic glory. The same can be said for Tom Scully who rode with Auckland’s Aaron Gate in the Madison overnight. Two young men who have again proved this week that the world is at their feet.

A few hours (and as many coffees) later, I departed for Wyndham, scene of the Southland Road Championships. Provincial titles shouldn’t be easy things to win and let me tell you, those who took medals at this year’s championships deserved them. There was some rain about but it wasn’t until we sent our morning fields on their way that the southerly picked up and the rain got heavier. It turned the day into a war of attrition and in the end the Senior and Under 19 Men’s fields, who had to brave the elements for three hours over their 110 kilometre journey, saw just seven of the 20 starters make it to the finishing tape.

Days like that always confirm to me how committed Cycling Southland’s club riders are. And it meant Wyndham Takeaways did rip-roaring trade in coffee and hot chips (and that was just from me).

That 12 hour period showed all that was wonderful about the sport of cycling in Southland. Elite athletes who have honed their trade at the ILT Velodrome, footing it with the world’s best in the Netherlands, our local club riders punishing themselves on the challenging course with the elements against them supported by a loyal crew of volunteers and officials making it all possible by assisting with the delivery of another safe, well-run cycling event. That’s the nutshell I referred to earlier and it’s great to be a part of it.

This Wednesday the Southland Secondary School Track Championships are being held at the ILT Velodrome with riders from Southland, Central Otago and some northern visitors lining up to ride for their school. James Hargest was able to hold off Southland Boys and Girls Highs last year. Fellow team mates from Southland’s recent dominant performance at the National Age Group Track Nationals become rivals. Should be good sport.

I better go – another early alarm awaits.

Local Focus Switches to Road

On the local front the track cycling season has come to a close and Cycling Southland members’ attention has quickly switched to the road. After months of build-up to the Track Nationals held in Invercargill earlier this month, some will crave time off the bike at this time of year. However the national calendar offers little respite with the RaboDirect Club Road nationals scheduled for Wanganui in early May.

It means that the McLeay Jewellers Southland Road Championships will be held this weekend. Saturday sees a time trial across various distances for 13 separate junior, senior and masters categories at Waianawa while the action moves to Wyndham and Seaward Downs on Sunday for the road races.

It is certainly not an easy turn-around but one talented young lady didn’t let that stop her over the weekend. Alexandra’s Sophie Williamson claimed bronze at the UCI Oceania Road Championships held in Australia on Saturday. She was outstanding at the Track Nationals, claiming three gold medals including the Omnium title where she won five of the six events. To turn around and earn a podium finish against Australasia’s best over the 70 kilometre distance on the road, shows just how bright her future is.

After all this success, it is difficult to remember that 2011 marks Williamson’s first year in the Under 19 grade. She faces a busy year with potential to represent New Zealand at both the Junior Track and Road World championships this year. Although a lot can happen in 18 months, it seems hard not to see her as the cornerstone of the New Zealand squad when the Junior World Track Champs come to Invercargill in August of next year.

This week also saw the New Zealand elite team depart Invercargill’s ILT Velodrome bound for the World Track Champs which start later this week at Apeldoorn in the Netherlands. Some tough selection calls had to be made (Wes Gough, Ruhlee Buchanan and Gemma Dudley all missing final team selection) which shows the growing depth Tim Carswell and his team are developing. Cycling Southland will again be well represented with Eddie Dawkins and Tom Scully both lining up in the black skinsuit. The action starts in the early hours of Thursday morning NZ time, with the Mens’ Team Sprint and Team Pursuit medals decided on the opening night. The sprint lads have been setting some lightening quick times in training, while the Team Pursuit combination has welcomed back Jesse Sergent and Sam Bewley from their RadioShack Pro Tour commitments, so hopes are high of a strong showing to kick off the BikeNZ campaign on Thursday.

And to finish, a quick word on our next marquee event of 2011, the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit. Entries will open soon for one of our most popular and enjoyable events of the year. This year the event is slightly later to accommodate the Steel and Sharks games at the ILT Velodrome and will be held on July 24^th and 31^st. Watch this space.

Southland Domination Complete

Southland’s domination of the RaboDirect National Track Championships was completed on Saturday night. At the end of eight days of Elite and Age Group racing Southland finished atop the National Points Shield leader board. Congratulations to Daylight who was second. For the record Southland finished on 173 points with Auckland the next best on 82. Baseball has the mercy rule, which sees a match called off early when one side gets so far ahead of the other. Should Track Cycling investigate something similar?

I jest of course (sort of). The reality is Southland, on pure numbers alone, should win the Shield. With a world class facility at our back door, there would be problems if we didn’t. The impressive thing for me was the manner in which the win was achieved.

The danger with listing individuals is that worthy names are missed out. Justifiably names like Natasha Hansen, Tom Scully, Matt Archibald, Steph McKenzie, Michael Culling, Sophie Williamson, Jacqui Dearlove, Erin Criglington and Bruce Jones have all grabbed headlines in this fine publication over the last week. Williamson does deserve particular mention. She showed just what a class act she is, winning five of the six Omnium events as a first year Under 19. There’s some future ahead of that young lady.

But, as is so often the case, some great tales lurk under the headlines. The spirit in the camp was epitomised by the story of young Laura Heywood. After featuring in the Southland Times last week, she suffered a nasty crash on the opening night of the Age Group Champs (don’t feel bad about putting the hex on her Nathan). Many of us were surprised (and more than delighted) to see her line up the very next day in the Under 17 Team Pursuit. I watched her come out of the starting gate with what I thought was a determined grimace on her face. Turns out she was being pushed to the brink by the pain coursing through her body from her collar-bone which turned out to be broken. There was no way she wasn’t going to help her team mates and she, along with mates Jen Muhl and Brooke Brazier pushed Auckland all the way and got within half a second of the gold medal - an incredible performance of courage and determination. I don’t know too many 15 year olds who would have done the same.

Nathan Burdon was right on the money in his column on Saturday regarding the volunteers and officials’ contribution to the event. Volunteer hours will push towards 5000 for these Champs. We just couldn’t do it without them and are in their debt, as always.

Like the Southland squad on the track, it’s a good feeling to be a small part of a great team effort to deliver one of the best National Championships. There are no medals or trophies for our volunteers and, aside from Saturday’s column, too little recognition.

We’re going to do our best to change that.