2012 Year in Review - Part 2

After reviewing the first part of the year last week, what better way to send out 2012 than with part two of our Cycling Year in Review.

JUNE
Steph McKenzie is named Southland's Junior Sportsperson of the Year while Eddie Dawkins and Ross Machejefski both earn finalist spots at the ILT Southland Sports Awards.

JULY
Southland District Council's Cherie Champion, Adrian Buddle, Jamie Cunningham and Mark Day take out the 2012 Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit title, Bradley Wiggins wins the Tour de France and we honour Lyn Randall with Life Membership at our AGM.

AUGUST
Eddie Dawkins earns a top five Olympic result in the Men's Team Sprint while Natasha Hansen features prominently in her Olympic debut and the UCI Juniors Track World Championships are staged in Invercargill. New Zealand win seven silver and three bronze medals and an unprecedented five world record rides are recorded. Brilliantly supported by spectators and the wider Southland community, Cycling Southland delivers the best ever Junior World Champs and stamped the city and our velodrome on the world stage.

SEPTEMBER
Phillipa Gray and Laura Fairweather combine for a full set of Paralympic medals at the London Paralympics. The pair smash the world record in winning gold in the Individual Pursuit after taking bronze in the Time Trial and then completed their set with silver in the road Time Trial. Sophie Williamson rides strongly to just miss a medal in her final race as a junior at the World Road Championships in Holland while Andy McIntyre takes out the Murray McLeay Trophy on Cycling Southland's Memorial Weekend.

OCTOBER
A record field of 189 takes to the roads in our annual Yunca Junior Tour of Southland. The weather gods don't play ball on the Saturday in Te Tipua but the sunshine returned for some exciting climaxes on the final day. At the Velodrome the first track event of the new season shows the unquestionable talent coming through the Junior ranks and stamp Australian Jack Edwards as a freakish talent and a name to watch as a future superstar of the sport.

NOVEMBER
The final PowerNet-sponsored Tour of Southland ends in appropriate fashion with the race lead changing on the final stage of the week long race. Node 4-Subaru's Mike Northey claims a hugely popular victory on the ride to Gala Street. A record 17 Southlanders line up at the Oceania Track Championships in Adelaide. They return with 15 medals including an incredible Southland trifecta with Eddie Dawkins, Cam Karwowski and Matt Dodds finishing 1,2,3 in the Men's kilo.

DECEMBER
James Hargest retain the Secondary School track cycling title by a solitary point, two national records fall at the Southland Track Championships and Jeremy Presbury and Liam Aitcheson are named to ride at the Sydney Youth Olympic Festival in January. Sophie Williamson is named BikeNZ's Emerging Talent while she, Eddie Dawkins and Phillipa Gray all feature in the Halberg Award nominees.

Let's do it all again in 2013. Happy New Year.

Nick Jeffrey is Cycling Southland's Chief Executive

2012 Year in Review - Part 1

As usual, my final columns for the year look back on some of the highlights from the Cycling Southland year.

Each of these deserve more words than this column's word limit can provide, but collectively they add up to one helluva year for the sport in the south. I planned to do a single column, but the sheer volume of performance mean I have had to split this over two. So let's get started

JANUARY
Cycling Southland members Nicky Samuels and James Williamson complete a remarkable double in winning both the elite titles at the Road Nationals in Christchurch. Matt Archibald and Eddie Dawkins earn World Cup bronze in the Team Sprint in Beijing while Cam Karwowski earns the same coloured medal in the Team Pursuit. Canterbury's Dylan Kennett takes out the Gore to Invercargill Road classic.

FEBRUARY
Eddie Dawkins and Natasha Hansen are the star-turns at the Elite Track Nationals in Invercargill winning the trophies for most points by male and female riders while Phillipa Gray and Laura Fairweather give us a taste of things to come by winning bronze at the Para-Cycling World Championships in Los Angeles.

MARCH
Southland again dominates the Age Group Track Championships, earning 144 points to comfortably defend the National Points Shield, 63 points ahead of its closest region. Kylie Young takes out the Gore to Waikiwi classic while Sophie Williamson and Tom Vessey both earn podium finishes at the Oceania Road Championships, hosted in Queenstown. In the space of 48 hours eight Southlanders are named in World championship squads (three for the Elites and five for the Juniors) and just to top off a busy month we hand out 10 Southland road racing titles across various age groups.

APRIL
In what ranks at the top of my personal highlight list, Eddie Dawkins becomes the first man to break the 10 second mark in the Men's Sprint on one of the biggest stages imaginable - the UCI World Championships in Melbourne. Eddie and Matt Archibald finish qualifying in the top 12 in the world. Eddie also earns New Zealand's first World Championship sprint medal, winning bronze in the Team Sprint. I feel very privileged to have watched it from the infield at Hisense Arena. Another 14 titles are handed out at the Southland Time Trial Champs and Eddie Dawkins and Natasha Hansen are named in NZ's Olympic team.

MAY
Sophie Williamson goes back-to-back in winning both the road race and time trial at the Club Road Nationals while Laura Heywood, Jennifer Muhl , Phillipa Gray, Laura Fairweather and Kylie Young also all stand on the medal dais. Tom Scully becomes the first New Zealander to finish in the top three of the prestigious Paris-Roubaix U23 race and somehow I cycle from Queenstown to Invercargill (or most of the way anyway) as part of Westpac's Chopper Appeal.
Until our June to December review next week, from all of us at Cycling Southland, a merry Christmas to you and yours.

Nick Jeffrey is Cycling Southland's Chief Executive

Busy start to 2013 beckons

There's little doubt that 2012 has been a massive year for Cycling Southland, headlined by our hosting of the UCI Juniors Track World Championships in August and by a large number of stand-out performances at national and international by the south's elite and junior riders.
 

Next week, in my final column for the year I will relive the craziness of the last twelve months, but today it is a quick look forward to what the New Year holds.

The first month of the year is chock full of championship racing the Elite Road and Track Championships scheduled. First up, the Elite Road Championships in Christchurch from January 11 to 13. Last year Cycling Southland's James Williamson and Nicky Samuels doubled-up for an unprecedented double in winning both elite men's and women's road racing titles, Southland's first national road title since 1968.

Closer to home, we hit the ground running with our annual ILT New Year Cycling Series. This begins on January 18 and 19 with the traditional New Year Track Carnival starting at 7pm both nights. This event is always a great way to get the year underway and with the Track Nationals to follow just over ten days later it is a crucial build-up event.

The Elite and Under 19 Track Nationals will be held from January 31 to February 3. In recent years, some members of the High Performance squad have had limited campaigns. No so in 2013. The national selectors have been very clear that performances at these nationals will dictate selections for the international campaigns for the remainder of the year. It is the key selection event and we'll get the benefit.

With a pared back international programme in 2013 as the first year in a new Olympic cycle, riders will have precious few competition opportunities to show why they should have a spot in the squad building to Rio in 2016. Next month's Track nationals and the Oceania Championships in Invercargill in November will benefit as the best in the business will have to fire to earn spots in the black skin suit throughout the year.

Last weekend's Southland Track Champs really fired us up for the upcoming championship season. To have over 120 riders racing at our local championships is easily a record and underlines the continued growth in the sport.

A number of new names have earned selection in the Nationals training squads directly on the back of their performances last weekend and the quality of riding, along with depth of talent which is developing across all our age groups from under-15 to Masters is heartening.

The World Championships are to be held in Minsk, Belarus in mid-February and then our Age Group athletes take centre stage from February 26 to March 2.

And just because we would hate for you to think we weren't busy enough, the Club Road nationals - the biggest national cycling championship in number-terms, is this year being held in Queenstown in April.

Better rest up over Christmas then!

Oceania champs kick-start track season

Pieter Bulling in action for New Zealand

The track cycling season begins in earnest this week with a record 17-strong Southland contingent lining up at the Oceania Track Cycling Championships in Adelaide starting Wednesday.

Ten riders will start in New Zealand’s Elite and Under-19 squads while a further seven will ride in Cycling Southland colours over the four day championships which alternate between Australia and Invercargill annually.

As usual, we have had a pretty good view of preparations, outside our office window on Stadium Southland Velodrome and with scaled-back international campaigns scheduled for New Zealand’s track programme this season, the Oceania championships represent one of a limited number of opportunities for riders to impress.

As discussed in this column last week, with a new Olympic cycle beginning post-London, much interest will focus on the next wave of talent stepping into the Elite ranks and at how some of the experienced campaigners will back-up after the Olympics. Southland has riders in both categories.

Eddie Dawkins has quickly become one of the most experienced members of the elite squad and I have little doubt that the big fella will relish any extra leadership responsibility. He’ll have his good mate Matt Archibald alongside him who has certainly found strong training form over the last couple of weeks and will be wanting to send a clear message to the selectors that he is worthy of a world championship ride in February. Natasha Hansen will be hoping she can replicate her form from twelve months ago when she claimed three Oceania titles and a silver from her four starts.

The endurance squad features Sequoia Cooper who will have renewed focus with the strong possibility the Women’s team pursuit will move from three to four riders in Rio in 2016 along with Cameron Karwowski and Pieter Bulling who have both come off impressive European summers and strong PowerNet Tour of Southlands.

The Under-19 New Zealand squad is an early indication of those in the running for trips to Glasgow next August for the 2013 World Juniors. Jeremy Presbury will likely be one of the first names written down after his to fourth placings this year in Invercargill. He will take on the Super-Drome in Adelaide along with Josh Haggerty and first year Under-19s Mike Culling and Laura Heywood.

Meanwhile a further seven riders will wear the Southland skin-suit in Adelaide - Aimee Burns, Steph McKenzie, Bradley Tuhi, Matt Dodds, Karl Watson, first year under-19 Nick Kergozou and a returning Lee Evans who rode last year for Wellington where he is attending university. Of these, McKenzie looms as the strong contender for possible podium finish, showing some excellent training form over recent weeks.

The 2013 Oceania Track Championships in Adelaide begin Wednesday and conclude Saturday. On a local front the next key event is the Southland Track Championships to be held from Friday 7 to Sunday 9 December while the annual ILT New Year Track Carnival will be held on January 18th and 19th, leading in to the Elite and U19 National Championships starting January 31.

Big year leads to big plans

Hillside School learns to ride with Cycling Southland

With the end of the year quickly descending upon us, many organizations like Cycling Southland are in review/preview mode - reviewing the good, the bad and the ugly from the year that’s been and planning for 2013. Fortunately for cycling there has been plenty of good and, aside from some bloke Armstrong, not a lot of ugly.

Whilst the flag-ship events including our recent PowerNet Tour of Southland and the SIT-sponsored UCI Juniors Track World Championships are the big, shiny things most people remember, the work I am most proud of is at the club and entry levels of the sport.

To see the numbers coming through our beginner programmes on the track and road is really heartening. It is a real focus for us in the year ahead with an aim of continuing to make it easier for people to get on a bike with us and then to develop their skills to whatever level they desire.

The corner-stone of this is our soon-to-launch Pedaling Pathway. This is our new road rider education and development programme and for those new to the sport, (and those a little more experienced,) it will provide the skills and knowledge to achieve your cycling goals – whether that is to cycle around the block or to win a national title.

We are also aiming to significantly expand our hugely successful Learn to Ride programme in Southland primary schools. This is a wonderful partnership with Sport Southland and KiwiSport and our good mates at the Southland MTB and BMX clubs and it is at this level where our team is really making a difference.

Over the six weeks of the programme there are kids who have hardly been on a bike who are throwing away trainer wheels and have a new found confidence and a whole heap of fun along the way. We can’t wait to get to more primary schools next year.

Short story is there are some pretty exciting plans to capitalize on the high profile our sport has enjoyed over the past year, so be warned - you can expect to hear plenty more from us to join us for a ride.

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Whilst on the topic of things new, the latest UCI World Cup round in Glasgow this past weekend showed that the four-year changing of the guard which accompanies the Olympic Games cycle has already started.

The most notable examples were in New Zealand’s sole representative in Scotland, 17 year old Dylan Kennett, riding his way to fourth in the Men’s Individual Pursuit on Sunday and Great Britain’s Elinor Barker who, like Kennett, shone brightly at the Junior Worlds in Invercargill in August, partnering with World and Olympic champions Laura Trott and Dani King to win the Women’s Team Pursuit gold on Saturday.

We’ll get a first hand look at the new wave of talent at the Elite and Under-19 Track Nationals at Stadium Southland Velodrome from January 31st. That will be a fitting way to start another new year.

Nick Jeffrey is Cycling Southland's Chief Executive.

Future looks bright after awards night

Junior Boys SportsPerson Josh Carpenter & Nathan Cohen

On Friday night I was fortunate to play host at the annual Southland Secondary School Sports Awards. Southland’s 15 secondary schools recognised their classes of 2012 across a large number of sportsperson, participation, contribution and volunteer categories.

I was struck by a couple of things during the evening. Firstly, the opportunities these youngsters have to participate and perform in a huge number of sports. That’s down to the brilliant work our schools, our sporting clubs and our regional sporting organizations provide for Southlanders.

So often we in sport get caught up in the minute details and day to day struggles of our lives in sport, without stepping back and, even briefly, recognizing the great work that goes on in our province every week of the year.

Friday night provided another example of the role the humble volunteer plays in this picture. There are thousands upon thousands of volunteers who give their time so selflessly – not for money, not for glory but because they are passionate about the kids, their school and their sport.

There is no better example than our just-completed PowerNet Tour of Southland or our recent hosting of the UCI Juniors Track World Championships. Around these two events alone, there were approximately 12,000 hours volunteered. Put it in dollar terms that is a volunteer staff input of close to $250,000 and that’s just during the events themselves, let along the countless hours spent in preparation for large-scale events like these.

In many respects, it’s easier to recognize this contribution around events while the week-to-week contribution can sometimes tend to go unnoticed. However, it is literally the blood that pumps through Southland sport’s veins.

As the end of another year approaches, every sport – including Cycling Southland – owes another huge debt of gratitude to that passionate group of people that keep our organizations going through their unwavering passion and enthusiasm. It was wonderful to see a handful get worthy recognition on Friday night.

Reading out the lists of achievements on an international, national and regional level by those nominated for awards on Friday across a hugely diverse range of sports, proves again what a future Southland sport has.
Like many sports, cycling was well represented with Southland Boys High School’s Josh Carpenter continuing cycling’s fine tradition of a sixth-successive Junior Boys Sports-Person of the Year award. Kate Dunlevey, Jeremy Presbury, Michael Culling and Josh Haggerty were all nominated as senior finalists and they are showing no signs of slowing down.

Presbury, Culling and Haggerty will be joined by Laura Heywood in BikeNZ’s U19 squad for the Oceania Track Champs in Adelaide at the end of this month, while Eddie Dawkins, Matt Archibald, Pieter Bulling, Cam Karwowski, Natasha Hansen and Sequoia Cooper have all made the Elite squad.

Add Culling and Haggerty’s selections in the BikeNZ Road Development squad along with Central Otago’s Liam Aitcheson and Georgia Vessey and there is plenty to look forward to. If Friday night’s awards were a look into the sporting future, ours could not be more promising.

Nick Jeffrey is Cycling Southland's Chief Executive.

Another tour, another long list of thanks

The tour heads to Crown Range. Photo by James Jubb

Cycling Southland’s 2012 PowerNet Tour of Southland is in the books and what a race.

By now you will have read of Mike Northey’s incredible come-from-behind victory over the final 30 kilometres of our seven day race. One of the real joys of working in the sporting sector is getting an up close look at incredible moments like this and being able to witness the drama, the elation and the bitter disappointment that played out between Winton and Invercargill on Saturday afternoon.

So often in road races, the result is more or less locked down and the final stage can be something of an anti-climatic doddle to the line. Not so on Saturday where riders told me afterwards the 79 kilometre final stage was the hardest they have ever ridden. The pace went on right from the start and to quote Jerry Stock, who provided commentary during Cue TV’s wonderful coverage of the event, riders were “kicking stones up struggle street” right from the get-go.

It was a dramatic end to another brilliant event and one which was another huge success. International cycling hasn’t has the best of months with the scars from the Lance Armstrong saga still very fresh. While that represents the worst of cycling, what we witnessed over the past week is the best. We are incredibly thankful for the spectacle we were treated to and the way in which the 2012 Tour field conducted itself on and off the bike.

Thanks goes out to our incredible volunteers, our 2012 media contingent and to our fantastic funders and sponsors who make it all possible. No list is complete without Bruce, Pam and the Ross family. Most won’t realize what an undertaking this event is and how consuming in time and energy it becomes. We owe you all another huge debt of gratitude.

2012 was also notable as PowerNet’s last as major sponsor of the event. Prospects for the future are positive and, as with any change, it provides opportunity, but our first job is to recognize PowerNet’s phenomenal contribution to this iconic Southland event.

I am not over-stating the case to say the event would not be where it is today without PowerNet. Their input has been so much more than a writing of a cheque. Their financial contribution has been significant, but the way in which their team, headed by the incredible Lyn Daly, has embraced the event and made it their own is where our real fortune has been.

The PowerNet name will forever be associated with the Tour of Southland and whatever the future holds for the event and wherever it takes us, it is on the back of their twelve years of outstanding support.

Now the focus returns to the track. Next up are the Oceania Track Championships in Adelaide later this month and, closer to home, the Southland Track Champs are in December, building up to the Track Nationals in late January.

Before then, hopefully, you will forgive us if we take a couple of days off.

Tour time - stories abound as usual

Stage 1 of the 2011 PowerNet Tour of Southland

This time next week we will be underway with the last major fixture on Cycling Southland’s 2012 calendar, the 2012 PowerNet Tour of Southland.

And what a finale it promises to be.

No other event shines a spotlight on our region like the PowerNet Tour and, as usual, there are so many storylines.

Firstly, our wonderful tour sponsor PowerNet ends twelve incredible years of support as naming rights sponsor this year. Its name will forever be linked with the race and it gives the PowerNet sextet of riders a little extra motivation to send the company out on the highest note possible. The defending champion Josh Atkins may not be returning, but PowerNet has replaced the youngest ever Tour champion with a man who lifted the trophy just two years earlier. Heath Blackgrove is one of the sport’s nicest guys who has been quietly going about his work in the US and looms as one to watch when racing starts on Sunday.

Another man not lacking for motivation will be four-time winner Hayden Roulston. His early withdrawal due to injury last year will no doubt fuel his engine for another tilt at his “drive-for-five” this year.

Then there’s the return of the only man with more Southland wins than Roulston. At the grand age of 50 (note I didn’t say grand old age), eight-time champ Brian Fowler is back to take on the race he dominated in the late-80s and early 90s. Having not raced competitively for close to four years, no one is expecting number nine next week, but one wouldn’t be surprised if Chook shows up some of the peloton, who he will have more than three decades of experience on.

It is only fair to also look at the younger end of the age spectrum. Earlier this year we watched Dylan Kennett, Hayden McCormick, Tayla Harrison and Hamish Schreurs ride for New Zealand at the Junior World Track Championships. Now the foursome will line up to make their open racing debuts at the 2012 PowerNet Tour.

And just to emphasise the young talent coming through the ranks, no less than four riders from Cycling Southland’s recent Yunca Junior Tour, will back up to ride the senior equivalent with Kennett and Harrison being joined by U19 Men’s Yunca Tour champion Ayden Toovey and fellow Australian Jordan Payne.

Another of the younger brigade is last year’s runner-up Patrick Bevin who finished less than a minute down on Atkins in the overall classification last year. He returns as one of the favourites as part of the US-based Bissell Pro Cycling team who make a welcome return to this year’s race under the tutelage of another former Tour champion Glen Mitchell.

Then there’s the international flavor with teams from the US, Australia and UK all entered along with riders from Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden and Brazil and the local flavor with no less than 12 Southlanders lining up at the start line.

I reckon that’s enough to keep us busy for the week. 

Nick Jeffrey is Cycling Southland's Chief Executive

The cure for Post Event Trauma Disorder

2011 Yunca Tour peloton

At Cycling Southland we’ve mastered the art of managing Post Event Trauma Disorder (PETD).

For the uninitiated, PETD is an affliction that manifests as a flat patch after a major event which has taken a huge amount of focus and preparation. Its most common symptom is people falling asleep at their desks. In our case, the cure after hosting the UCI Juniors Track World Championships four weeks ago was to get straight back to work on the next event on the calendar.

This weekend we host the annual Yunca Junior Tour of Southland. I’d love to tell you what number Yunca Tour it’s been, but our wonderful sponsor has been involved for so long, it’s pretty hard to keep up. NZ cycling legend Gordon McCauley recently remarked that when he was preparing training programmes for his younger charges which included the Yunca Tour, he realised it was sponsored by the same company when he rode it as a junior back in 1986. To quote our mate Gordy, “that’s pretty awesome sponsor longevity.”

The 2012 version kicks of on Friday at Teretonga Raceway with an Individual Time Trial followed by an afternoon kermese. Saturday’s two stages are raced at Te Tipua while Sunday morning features the tradition inner-city criterium, followed by the final stage around Mabel Bush and Springhills.

A record field of 187 will line up over eight different age categories with another strong contingent travelling from across the Tasman to compete. The event also doubles as the final round in the Junior National Points Series so some great racing in assured.

The event was originally developed to provide an opportunity for local juniors to ride in a multi-stage cycling race. Even though it has now grown in to an event of national and international standing, that original ethos still holds true, so look for a strong showing from the locals who will no doubt be looking to defend their home patch against the Australian and northern invasion.

There is also solid interest from a number of the junior programmes who attended Junior Worlds to return with road riders for the Yunca Tour, so the potential to grow the event further is exciting.

Keep an eye out for more news this week and live coverage during the weekend at www.cyclingsouth.org.nz/yuncatour.

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Another of the huge benefits from the recent Junior Worlds was the way our local schools embraced the event. Hundreds of Southland students got to strut their stuff in our Roller Racing Ride-Offs leading in to the event and yesterday at Stadium Southland Velodrome 17 teams from as far afield as Queenstown took part in the first ever Secondary School Team Sprint Competition.

Run in the same format as the highly successful Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit, yesterday provided the chance for a large number of Southland students to sample their first taste of track cycling. Full results will be published tomorrow, but there’s no doubt that there were some future stars in the making unearthed in what was another great event.

Nick Jeffrey is Cycling Southland's Chief Executive

Junior Worlds dream becomes reality

When the 2012 UCI Juniors Track World Championships were awarded to Invercargill, Cycling Southland had a dream of what we wanted to achieve from the event. That dream (and then some) turned into reality last month as the world came to ride.

154 of the best under-19 men and women track cyclists from 24 countries descended on Stadium Southland Velodrome and, together, they put on a spectacular show.

19 world titles and an unprecedented five world record rides over five incredible days of racing. With the London Olympics fresh in everyone’s minds, our aim was to bring a world-class event to the cycling and sporting public of New Zealand.

Now, some weeks since the event, it is hugely satisfying to reflect on an experience that showcased the sport, our region and our facility around the globe in delivering what UCI has informed us were the best Junior Worlds ever.

It started on the opening evening, where world records fell on four separate occasions and New Zealand fought hard but had to be content with three appearances on the second step of the podium.

That proved to be a theme for the Championships with Australia leaving Invercargill atop the medal table with nine rainbow jerseys and the New Zealanders matching their haul from a year ago in Moscow, taking home 10 medals, including seven silvers. The only thing missing from the champs was God Defend New Zealand, as that elusive world title remained out of the grasp of the class of 2012.

After a start like that, our only concern was how the rest of the championship would live up to that standard. We need not have worried. The rest of the competition was filled with incredible story lines.

Russia’s Daria Shmeleva completely dominated the women’s sprint event to sweep all four golds and add a second world record in the Women’s Time Trial. Write her name down for Rio. Australia’s Tayla Jennings is another who seems destined for great things. She swept the Women’s Omnium with six wins from six events for the second consecutive year, all after she had already claimed gold in the Team Pursuit and Points races.
Colombia’s Fernando Gaviria fell twice on the opening night of the Men’s Omnium but patched himself together to claim gold and set the standard for post-race celebrations, riding the length of the front straight on the back wheel of his road bike with his Colombian flag as a cape.

He also featured in one of the most poignant moments of the championships when Fernando and Hayden McCormick helped Dylan Kennett on to the podium after the New Zealander had bravely fought to a bronze medal after an early fall in the Madison.

But for our organisation, whilst the action on the track was world class, it was the atmosphere inside Stadium Southland Velodrome that really sent shivers down our spines. I have never heard noise like the roar they gave Kennett during his silver-medal ride in the Men’s Kilo and the crowd didn’t let up for five sell-out days.

Huge thanks goes to our army of volunteers, all 130 of you who gave up five days to help put New Zealand on the track cycling map. Thanks too to main sponsor SIT, funding partners Invercargill Licensing Trust, ILT Foundation, Invercargill City Council, Southland District Council, Community Trust of Southland, Venture Southland, NZ Major Events, Sport New Zealand and, of course, our partners at BikeNZ and UCI.

The only question now is what’s next?

Relive all the action at www.juniorworlds2012.com where you’ll find video highlights from every final.

Curtain-raiser preview to Worlds

Tom Beadle rides in the Junior Worlds Curtain Raiser

On Saturday night we were treated to a sneak preview of what to expect when the UCI Juniors World Track Championships start at Stadium Southland Velodrome in a little over a week.

The New Zealand and South Africa Worlds’ squads both fronted up to contest our Curtain-Raiser Race Night on Saturday and they duly put on a great show.
Hosting these world championships has been a four year process, dating back to the decision in 2008 to bid for hosting rights. To now be in the final straight is hugely exciting and Saturday’s event gave us all the chance to test drive our set-up and systems for the worlds as well as providing the opportunity for the New Zealanders to get some race simulation in to their build up.

I watched their morning training session which they treated as a mock qualifying session. The Men’s and Women’s Team Sprints and Team Pursuits both prepared as they would for next Wednesday’s opening session, before riding the Curtain-Raiser like a final.

The signs are very good. There are some tough selection decisions that will have to be made over the next few days and the competition but supportive environment that has been developed within the squad is a credit to the management team and gives the squad the best chance possible to recreate and exceed the success of last year’s record World Championship return.

Our velodrome is a truly spectacular facility, but to see it decked out, ready for the finishing touches this week for the world championships is something else again.

We could not be happier with the level of support we have received from all sections of the community. In typical Southland fashion our phone has been running hot with offers of assistance and enquiries from all sorts of organizations and individuals just keen to help and contribute in some way.
The enquiry we are receiving from international media is also hugely pleasing. Each year we like to think we profile Southland like no other event with the profile the PowerNet Tour of Southland receives. Next week the world will be watching, with an international broadcast package, designed to firmly put Invercargill and Southland in front of the cycling world.

So what happens this week? We’ll be in more Southland secondary schools all week long and at the Eastern Suburbs and Brewers Elbow bars on Wednesday and Thursday night respectively, with our Roller Racing. The bulk of the international team arrive this week, team trainings will be in full swing out of the track, final set-up of the velodrome will be completed, opening ceremonies and medal presentation rehearsals will be held and, with a bit of luck, we’ll move the last of our remaining tickets.

I suspect it will be both the longest and shortest week of our lives. But by this time this week, we will be ready to watch the world’s best juniors take to our velodrome. The pipe dream of four years ago is about to become reality.

Final countdown and Olympic distractions

South Africa arrive for Junior Worlds

16 sleeps until the start of the 2012 UCI Juniors Track World Championships.

Entry numbers continue to rise with some countries coming out of the woodwork late to line up at the start line in a little over a fortnight. Last count was north of 160 riders and 24 countries. The Netherlands, Japan and Mexico (who will field one of the largest squads with 15 riders) are the latest to confirm attendance over the past week.

The first of our squads arrived this past week with South Africa touching down for their four week long stay. They haven't wasted any time in getting down to business, spending quality time on the track and the road including mixing with the locals in our Saturday Club Road race at Mabel Bush on Saturday. They may not harbour hopes of world titles, but we'll be doing everything we can to make sure it is a trip none of them will forget anytime soon.

This week has also seen the continuation of our Secondary Schools’ Roller Racing. Central Southland College and Verdon College both showed impressive form this week and it was great to share the fun with our outstanding sponsor at SIT's Re-Orientation as well.

If the Olympics have inspired you and you are in Years 9 to 13, come along to the Velodrome at 4pm on Tuesday and have a crack for a chance to take part in our Ultimate Ride-Off on the final day of Junior Worlds. And for the slightly older wannabe, we start our Pub Challenges this week visiting the Eastern Suburbs Tavern on Wednesday and Big Willy's on Thursday. Our mates at the ILT have put up $500 in prizes for each night.

In between the inevitable last minute preparations, there has been this quite large sporting event going on in London in the background. Thankfully, sleep isn’t important because it’s been very hard to pull yourself away from the giggle box at some ungodly hour of the morning.

The last couple of nights have been particularly taxing, trying to balance the end of the rowing and swimming with the start of triathlon, track and field and, of course, the track cycling. It’s been a mixed bag for the Kiwis on the London Velodrome, headlined by the bronze medal for the Men’s Team Pursuit and the fifth place finish for Eddie Dawkins and the Men’s Team Sprint. Both Eddie and Natasha Hansen (who was back in business overnight in the Women’s Sprint) have looked right at home amongst the elite competition and that’s a great sign for the next Olympic cycle.

It’s hard not to watch in awe at what the Brits have achieved. After winning seven golds and eleven cycling medals at Beijing four years ago, they have the chance to medal in nine of the ten disciplines at home this year. But, I know of at least two Southlanders who will already be focusing on re-dressing that balance a little in Rio in four years time.

Taking time to reflect

Lindsay Jordan, Lyn Randall and Steve Canny at the AGM

I am sometimes prone to hyperbole. Being in a sporting organization that delivers a huge number of top class events and showcases some of the south’s finest athletes in every age group, you can excuse the odd moment of exaggeration.

Even for me, using the word celebration in the same sentence as Annual General Meeting is probably going a little too far, but Cycling Southland’s AGM on Thursday night did, to my way of thinking, represent a number of things our organisation can be very proud of.

It represented a lot of hard work. Too often we don’t take the time to reflect on a job well done. With increased profile and more riders than ever involved in our events and our club road and track racing and programmes, it’s been a satisfying twelve months. The launch of our Learn to Ride KiwiSport programme and the start of our Roller Racing Ride-offs in schools mean we are teaching students how to ride and how to have a blast doing it.

The AGM also represented the incredible levels of support we receive. To deliver increased activities, increased year-on-year revenues and deliver an operational surplus in the current sports funding environment is no mean feat. I wish that was the stuff that made newspaper headlines.

Thanks to the huge amount of work that has gone in to our organization over many years means that we are in the financial position to put up to $100,000 of our Club’s own funds in to the Junior World Track Cycling Champs next month. The first chunk of that was expensed in our 2011-12 financial accounts. I guess you can write two headlines to that story. One about a club that works hard and puts its own money where its mouth is, (along with the outstanding local and national funding support,) to bring a World Championship to Southland. Or you can write a headline about another loss for a sporting organization. No surprise to guess which one I would write.

But enough of the glass half empty stuff. All of those who have contributed to Cycling Southland over a great many years can share in the success story of this little club of ours when the world comes to ride in a little over three weeks. It is on the back of all of their hard work that a crazy idea four years ago to have a crack at hosting a World event has become reality.

And it is with this sentiment in mind where I touch on the best part of last week’s AGM; the awarding of a Life Membership to Lyn Randall. Lyn is a man who gave a tremendous amount to the sport on a local and national level and was instrumental in the changes which lead to Cycling Southland and BikeNZ in their current forms. He will be with us at Junior Worlds, celebrating the role he played in getting us there and I know, like mine, his glass will be half full.

Trifecta of cycling events

By the time you get to read this, the first leg of cycling’s trifecta of world events will have concluded. Bradley Wiggins (right) will have rolled up the Champs-Elysees, glass of champers in hand, surrounded by his Team Sky team mates, holding a finger in the air to signify his and Great Britain’s first Tour de France win.
There is a crazy short turn-around to the trifecta’s second leg – the London Olympics.
This Saturday night (NZ time) Greg Henderson, with 3000 kilometres under his belt from the last three weeks pushing pedals around the French country-side joins former PowerNet Tour of Southland runner up Jack Bayer to try and somehow disrupt Great Britain’s plans of leading Mark Cavendish to Men’s Road Race gold. Linda Villumsen will ride the Women’s road race the following day and she will provide our best chances of a medal on the road when she starts the Time Trial in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Be ready for more sleep deprivation cycling fans! The track cycling programme begins 3am next Friday morning (August 3rd) with Eddie Dawkins and his Team Sprint mates the first Kiwis to christen the Olympic Velodrome. Unfortunately, the time difference puts the vast majority of track finals between 4 and 5:30am, meaning the alarm is going to get a fair work-out over the six days of competition.
And then comes the final leg, our hosting of the 2012 UCI Juniors Track Cycling World Championships. We are at the business end of planning now with yesterday (Sunday) marking one month to the opening day of competition.
Team confirmations are coming thick and fast now with the entry process officially opening this week. The United States are the latest to confirm its squad and it will be one of the largest with 14 athletes selected over the weekend to wear the Stars and Stripes at Stadium Southland Velodrome.

Ticket sales have spiked over the last week as word gets out that only limited numbers remain. Only a handful of tickets to Sunday’s final session are left and all other sessions are north off 80% gone. We are delighted and humbled by your support and interest and we’ll make sure we put on a good show for you.
Corporate hosting options have now been launched as well and very soon they may be the only chance to get inside the velodrome to watch. Check out www.juniorworlds2012.com/tickets for all the info.
This week we start our Roller Racing series which will be staged at Southland secondary schools over coming weeks with the top students lining up for an Ultimate Ride-off between sessions at the Junior World Championships. We’ll also be at a number of ILT establishments and at our main sponsor SIT. Again all the info is online at the junior worlds website.
We’ve been lucky to organize a couple of handy curtain-raisers (Tour de France and the Olympics). Bring on the main event! To say it is an exciting time, just doesn’t do it justice.

Pushing through the pain

Southland District Council in the Corporate Pursuit

As you read this poor excuse for a sports column, spare a thought for a number of cyclists who will be waking up feeling a little stiff and sore this morning.

I’m not talking about the Tour de France peloton which has left more skin then usual on French roads this week. I’m referring to our hardy bunch of corporate pursuiters who lined up in Cycling Southland’s Harrex Group-sponsored event yesterday.

As described previously, yesterday’s Grading Time Trial seeds the 34 teams in order across two divisions for this Sunday’s main event. You’ll find full results from yesterday elsewhere in this fine publication. Needless to say we should be in for some great racing and a lot of fun on Finals Day from 10am on Sunday.

*****

Away from the track, the second race in Cycling Southland’s Winter Racing Series was held on Saturday with the Donovan Points Race staged around a 10 kilometre circuit from Retreat Road on the outskirts of Invercargill.

A Grade proved clear-cut in the end as the master gave his pupils something of a lesson. Matt Randall made a successful return to the club racing scene claiming four sprint wins out of five for a final tally of 23 points to see off his protégés Matt Zenovich (14 points) and Brad Tuhi (11 points) for the win.

B Grade was shaping up for a gripping finish between Vaughan Edie and Dave Beadle before a last lap puncture forced Beadle’s withdrawal and Edie celebrated by winning the final sprint to claim an impressive victory on 18 points from Wayne Miller and Gabby Vermunt.

Wally Kopae showed his track legs in C Grade to kick for three sprint wins and two seconds for a final tally of 21 points, well clear of second-placed Garry Perkins with Neil Sutherland’s final sprint victory elevating him in to third spot.

*****

In closing, I have a few words regarding the Invercargill Licensing Trust and ILT Foundation. We would have an excuse to pen words of thanks most weeks of the year; such is the level of support we receive throughout the year, but there was something pretty special about what I witnessed this past week.

Not only have both organizations made sizable direct funding contributions to assist with the UCI Junior Track Worlds next month, but the ILT Foundation last week confirmed additional scholarships for a total of five local cyclists. Junior Worlds representatives Tom Beadle, Jeremy Presbury and Kate Dunlevey along with NZ Development road squad members Josh Haggerty and Michael Culling all received significant contributions.

Each one of these families went out of their way to pass on to me their sincere and humble gratitude for the Foundation’s level of support. It is only fair that I pass on their message in the most public fashion possible.

To the board and staff at both ILT and ILT Foundation goes a heart-felt thank you. I was lucky enough to hear these responses directly. Never doubt the difference that you are making.

Corporate rookies back for second helping

Last year a number of new businesses and individual lined up in Cycling Southland’s Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit. Amongst the starters was first-time team St Thomas Aquinas School, including debutants Tabitha Brock and Summer Wilton.

Today, ahead of the first race day in the 2012 edition next weekend, our returning Corporate Pursuit rookies share their thoughts on their introduction to riding the velodrome.

The event appealed to us as it was something quite different and new to attempt. Demonstrating to our kids at school that taking on new challenges no matter how daunting was a key factor in being involved. Challenge was certainly the operative word as we discovered right from the outset of our first introduction to the boards of the velodrome. 

“Riding up against the wall of the track, I would close my eyes around some of the bend and just pedal hard hoping I would get around the 43 degrees upright” says Wilton. “Having to adjust to riding on a bike in which you are locked into and using muscles that don’t often get used was also a nerve wracking experience” adds team mate Tabitha Brock. Once we got over those fears the adrenaline rush kicked in and progress was made each week as we trained for the big day. 

Our first introduction to the crowds including some of our school families on time trial day was fantastic. “We felt like professionals” says Wilton. Our FIL school tops, the music, teams warming up around us all made for an atmosphere that was pumping. “Even at this point we felt a huge sense of achievement from where we had begun only five weeks earlier” says Brock. 

Come finals race day our trust in each other to ride within mere inches of the wheel and competitiveness to give each ride 100% had well and truly kicked in. The day was full of the adrenaline rocketing sky high mixed with a fair share of nerve-wracking experiences. “None more so than the opportunity to take on the women’s three lap track race. Wheels were touching, faces were changing all sorts of colours and the tension was high, and I loved every minute of it” says Wilton. 

“Those experiences, combined with the team racing element, is why we are back again this year. We learnt a lot about the sport, the ability to challenge ourselves all while having a heap of fun.”

The 34 strong field will line up in the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit Grading Time Trial on Sunday at the Stadium Southland Velodrome with the first team away at 12:30pm. Entry is by gold coin donation. The times recorded on Sunday will seed the teams for the Corporate Pursuit Finals on Sunday 15th.

While our Olympic and Junior Worlds riders will grab many of the headlines over the next few months, for Cycling Southland there is no better event to convert the likes of Tabitha and Summer to the wonderful sport of track cycling than the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit.

Business at speed - Corporate Pursuit returns

Southland District Council on track

In today's business world, companies have to be quick to react, flexible and have the ability to act decisively and with speed. Now, I'm not talking about how they operate 9 to 5! I'm referring to the 2012 version of Cycling Southland's Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit.

This year another capacity field of 34 six-person teams will line up over two race days next month to find the south’s best cycling corporate.

There is a great mix of experience and first-timers in the field from every sector imaginable with teams from H&J Smith, Whyte’s Gravel Supplies, Southland Times, McIntyre Dick and Partners, PowerNet, Preston Russell Law, WHK, ASA Stonewood Homes, Southland District Council, Harcourts, Environment Southland, NZ Police, Invercargill Licensing Trust, AWS Legal, BNZ, Ricoh, BMAC Sheetmetal, The Radio Network, Westpac, Southroads, HW Richardson Group, Opus International Consultants, EIS Group, Finance Now, Amalgamated Builders, Fulton Hogan Southland, Fonterra, Calder Stewart Roofing, YMCA, Waihopai Health Sevices, SBS Bank, St Thomas Aquinas School and of course our magnificent sponsor Harrex Group. Try picking a winner from that lot!

So, how does it work? Each team has been training hard refining their combinations over the last month with our personal team coaches at the Stadium Southland Velodrome. The first challenge is the Grading Time Trial on Sunday 8 July when each team will take on the clock in a one-off four-lap ride. This ranks the team in order from first to thirty-fourth for the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit Finals one week later on Sunday 15 July.

On finals day the field is split in to two divisions and it turns in to an elimination format. Teams ride two at a time with the winner of each four-lapper progressing through the rounds and the losers dropping in to our plate competitions. Ultimately, two teams are left to battle for the big divisional prizes.

Last year the NZ Police got the “business” done taking out Division One over Calder Stewart Roofing, while former champion YMCA defeated Fonterra to take home the Division Two trophy.

Both race days are two of the most colourful in the Velodrome all year. The teams come decked out in customised racing tops and supporters and work-mates do the same, filling the stand with banners, costumes and plenty of noise. It is always great to see how much faster the teams all ride on the competition days, firing themselves up with the support from the bleachers being a major factor.

It's great fun and it is expertly organized by Julian Ineson and Sier Vermunt who again have plans for next month well in hand. Thanks again for all your work guys.

Before I go, congratulations go to Cycling Southland's Erin Criglington who last week was awarded a Services Award at the National Bike Road and Track Volunteer Awards. It’s always great to see someone like Erin who gives so much on and off the bike as a rider, official, volunteer, coach and mentor get a little something back in return.

Sports awards showcase top talent

Junior Sports Person Steph McKenzie 

On Friday night I was lucky enough to host the ILT Southland Sports Awards. It's the second year I've had the privilege to be officially involved with a night that recognizes the outstanding performances by Southland's premier sporting talent.

One of the best initiatives added over recent years has been to collate a list of each sport’s best performance of the year and showcase them all on the Awards Programme and Menu for each guest to study throughout the night.

Too often, many of these performances get lost in the hustle and bustle, in some cases they unfortunately don’t see the light of day or, if they do, are all too quickly forgotten as “yesterday’s news.”

They say success breeds success, which of course is true. But success can also produce complacency, a malaise even – we end up taking it for granted. The ILT Southland Sports Awards puts as many of those stories as possible front and centre again and unashamedly celebrates them for what they are – pure unadulterated success.

The awards period covers 1 April to 31 March each year and the wonderful thing is that the performances we’ve seen already since next year’s awards period opened does point to another difficult judging year in 2013.

So with that in mind and being the helpful type, here are a few early pointers for next year’s judging panel from your mates at Cycling Southland;

In April Eddie Dawkins became the first New Zealander ever to break the 10 second barrier over 200 metres and was part of the Men’s Team Sprint trio which won this country’s first ever world championship sprint medal. And, just so you know, Tom Scully became the first New Zealander to podium in one of the most prestigious Under-23 races in the world, the famous Paris-Roubaix cycling classic last month.

Remember we are only two months in to the new “awards year” and with a strong Southland contingent lining up at the Junior Worlds in Invercargill and the Olympics and Paralympics in London we’ll reserve a few extra places to join Eddie and Tom as next year’s nominees. Nothing like getting in early eh!

Next cab off the rank for us is the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit with 34 teams from southern businesses starting their rigourous training campaigns leading in to next month’s track event. Look out for some of the fun and hilarity of this outstanding event to feature in this column over coming weeks.

To finish today, here’s a final reminder that our fundraising auction for our local Junior Worlds riders closes at lunchtime today. The signed cycling tops by our Olympic, Paralympic and Junior Worlds riders are up for grabs until 1pm today. Just search for cyclingsouth on TradeMe or visit cyclingsouth.org.nz.

For the memorabilia collector or southern business this would look great on your wall and will no doubt go up in value after the events the signatories are riding in August and again after next year’s Sports Awards. Isn’t that right judges?

Digging deep for Junior Worlds reps

Our Junior Worlds reps on-stage at Thursday's send-off

On Thursday night Cycling Southland held a Send-off Function for our Olympic, Paralympic and Junior Worlds cyclists. From this week our crop of talented bike riders start the next phases of their respective campaigns with pre-competition training camps as they scatter around the globe.

Last week’s send-off featured three Olympic squad members in Eddie Dawkins, Natasha Hansen and Matt Archibald, three Paralympians in Phillipa Gray and tandem pilots Laura Thompson and Kylie Young and three Junior World track representatives in Kate Dunlevey, Tom Beadle and Jeremy Presbury. Take a moment and think about what an incredible achievement it is for a province like Southland to be contributing that many to the select bunch of athletes who will represent their country at the various pinnacles of the sport this year.

It shows the dedication from the athletes themselves, but speaks volumes to the support groups – coaches, community, funders and most especially, families – that each rider relies on heavily to make it and stay at the top.

Each of the riders has their own unique story to tell. Dawkins is a true Southland success story. Having been riding a bike competitively since the age of 12, he has done it the old fashioned way, through a lot of hard work, coming up through the grades and taking every opportunity to give back to the community which has watched him grow into an athlete of world standing before their very eyes. Hansen and Archibald have both relocated to Southland and have shown incredible commitment in holding down fulltime jobs whilst improving out of sight in short spaces of time. Most talk about 2016 in Rio as the long-term focus for all three, but I know all have their eyes firmly set on London in just a few short week’s time.

Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson have quickly formed a world class combination and along with Kylie Young, who will partner former World champion Jayne Parsons, all three are realistic Paralympic medal chances in the 3000m Pursuit. A Kiwi and Southland double is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Our three Junior Worlds reps will, over the next three months, become very familiar names. All three have followed different paths to get to this point in their young cycling careers but all now have the same goal – winning world championship medals in front of a home crowd in August.

It’s ironic, given the World Champs are to be staged in their home towns, that the Junior athletes and their families face some hefty travel bills to allow the riders to train in Australia, the United States or Europe over the next couple of months.

To this end we have a fundraising auction which is currently underway. We have three signed BikeNZ Cycling Tops signed by the riders mentioned above and all of the winning bids will go to the Junior Worlds families.

Simply visit cyclingsouth.org.nz for details or search for cyclingsouth on TradeMe and bid up. By August I’m sure they will be even better investments.

Charity ride a great experience



The bunch after riding Queenstown to Invercargill

I’m no cyclist. I love the sport and at Cycling Southland we are looking to do every thing we can to grow the sport and provide Southlanders with opportunities to perform and enjoy riding a bike, at whatever level they wish. Since getting involved in the sport a little over two years ago, I’ve realised just how addictive it can be, but we are simply at the stage of life where work and family commitments mean I have had few opportunities to enjoy time pushing the pedals around myself.

That changed on Friday as I rolled out of bed at some ungodly hour to join a great bunch on a charity ride from Queenstown to Invercargill, raising funds for the Westpac Rescue Chopper.

If I’d really taken the time to think it through, there is no sane rationale for someone like me to take on a ride like that. My previous longest jaunt was around 35km. It’s quite a jump to 180-plus around the Devil’s Staircase, up the Jollies, over Josephville Hill in on to the city.

It became pretty obvious very early that I was to spend a good amount of quality one-on-one thinking time with myself out the back of the bunch. James McRobie’s regular Classic Hits radio reports helped, because he had to stop to dial in to the studio, but I would then watch as he and Nathan Burdon would disappear off in to the distance every time we would approach anything resembling a mound in the road.

I was quite ready to jump in the car at Kingston, but the bunch had very kindly waited at Kingston, probably to check I was alive. Even though I was five kilometers per hour slower than the rest of the field, (actually, probably closer to 10,) I kept turning the pedals and somehow made it over the Jollies and in to Lumsden for the lunch stop.

I did everyone a favour by hopping in the sag wagon before jumping out at Limehills School to complete the last 50 kilometres in to town. Rolling in to Westpac on Kelvin Street is something I won’t forget. There was a great turn-out of well-wishers and supporters, news of around $10,000 raised and a cold beer which I murdered on the spot.

The money raised was the reason we all rode, but I had one other. If someone like me can tick off 150km in a day, believe me when I say anyone can! That says more about the sport of cycling than anything I’ve written in this column over the last two years. Thanks to all who rode, especially Andrew Moreton and Phil Taylor at Westpac, (I will forgive you for talking me in to the ride in time Phil).

I hope you can join us Thursday from 5.30pm at the Ascot Park Hotel as we send off our Olympic and Junior Worlds cyclists. Limited tickets are selling very well and must be pre-purchased so get yours from Cycling Southland’s office today.

Awards function recognises talent

Muppet of the Year Ray Robinson

Cycling Southland’s first annual awards evening was held last week at Ascot Park Hotel. Like many sporting organizations, one of the major challenges our organization faces is trying to appropriately recognize the incredible achievements and contributions on and off the bike during the course of the year.

Guest speaker Simon Jones provided an insight in to his strength and conditioning role with High Performance Sport New Zealand, including the incredible tale of returning Tom Scully to full health following his career threatening smash in Ireland two years ago. Southland is blessed with incredible facilities and plenty of raw sporting talent and with specialist expertise from Jonesy, nutritionist Aimee Burns and Academy Southland’s Jason McKenzie, Southland sport is converting that raw talent in to world class performance.

At Cycling Southland, once you start handing out awards it is difficult to know when to stop. The sheer volume of worthy recipients made the task of selecting winners very difficult.

Our first ever People’s Choice awards, based on nominations from the crowd on the night were very popular. Tom Sexton took out the “Performance of the Year” for his ride in the Under 15 Boys Points Race at the Age Group Track Nationals. Young Tom had ridden a tremendous race before crashing a handful of laps from the end. He brushed off the attention of medical and race officials and bravely fought his way to the finish to earn his first national medal.

And Ray Robinson headed off a long list of candidates to win the “Muppet of the Year” award. He rode the Gore to Waikiwi classic in a borrowed set of race shoes, after arriving at the start line to find he had left his own set at home. The borrowed set was about four sizes too big and he rode the race with pieces of old rag stuffed in the back of the shoes, pulling most of the muscles in his lower body in the process. Take good care of Elmo for the year, Ray

Speaking of high performers, we are hosting a farewell function for our Olympic and Junior Worlds representatives next week. Over coming weeks, London-bound Eddie Dawkins, Natasha Hansen and Matt Archibald head away for the final phase of their buildup to July’s Olympics. Later next month our local Junior Worlds contingent of Tom Beadle, Jeremy Presbury and Kate Dunlevey scatter to all corners of the globe - Australia, the United States and Europe - to put the finishing touches on their pre-Championship preparations.

Join us to send this talented bunch off in style at Ascot Park Hotel on Thursday May 31^st from 5.30pm. Tickets are $25 with profits going to the local Junior Worlds riders to assist with the self-funding of their trip. We’ll hear from all six riders along with BikeNZ coach Stu MacDonald on their hopes for the next three months and we’ll throw in a drink and nibbles as well.

For tickets contact Cycling Southland on 2173215 or visit cyclingsouth.org.nz.

I hope you can join us for what will be the start of one of the most exciting periods for sport in Southland.

Nice quiet time of year?

2011 Corporate Pursuit winners

This is supposedly our cycling off-season, although you wouldn'’t know it. I guess the moment we were awarded the Junior World Track Cycling Champs for this year, we gave up the right to any off-season. Here’s a snap-shot of recent news;

- Entries for the 2012 edition of the Harrex Group Corporate Pursuit close on Wednesday. This is one of my favourite events of the year. Yes it hasn’t been the easiest twelve months in the business world so what better way to have some fun with your workmates than entering your team of six into the largest corporate track cycling event in the world. You’ll get fully-coached sessions and two race days out of us and it even qualifies as one of those new-age team building exercises. All the details are at cyclingsouth.org.nz 

- Individual session passes for the Junior World Champs are now on sale through Stadium Southland. We sold over 3500 seats with our early-bird event passes and we'’ve kept the prices at rock-bottom by design – to make sure as many Southlanders have the chance to get a look at our very own World Championships here on our back-door. There are two sessions each day from Wednesday 22 to Saturday 25 August with a single session on Sunday the 26th, the final day of competition. Session tickets start from as low as $10 for adults and $7.50 for children so grab yours and make sure you get one of the best seats in the house in August. They are going fast.

- Speaking of the Junior Worlds the Kiwi squad is showing early form at this weekend’s Club Road Nationals in Hawkes Bay. Alexandra'’s Sophie Williamson won both women’s time trial and road race while Canterbury’s Dylan Kennett and Hamish Schreurs took out the men’s events. All three will be on the start line as part of a New Zealand squad with high hopes of a strong home-town showing.

- We are all very proud of Eddie Dawkins and Natasha Hansen’s naming in the Olympic squad for London. Matt Archibald is also still very much in the mix as part of the wider Men’s sprint squad and if his rapid development over the last 12 months is anything to go by, he could still get himself an Olympic berth with continued gains over the next few months. All three have potentially got years ahead of them on the international scene, and while Rio in 2016 may be a more realistic target in terms of medal prospects, knowing all three of them well, they won’t be lining up at the London Velodrome with anything other than a 2012 medal on their minds.

- Somehow I have (been) volunteered to ride from Queenstown to Invercargill in a few weeks as part of Westpac’s annual Chopper Appeal. Fortunately it’s a great cause. Unfortunately it’s not that far away. But if you say 180 kilometres quickly enough, it doesn’t sound that far.

So, like I say, nice quiet time of year then?

Southlanders star at Worlds

Bronze medalists, New Zealand

I have the privilege of penning this column from the centre of the track at Hisense Arena on the final day of the 2012 Track World Championships. A southern deputation has spent the past week in Melbourne promoting the Junior World Championships in Invercargill in August and getting a behind-the-scenes look at the delivery of a world championship event.

To say it has been a spectacular few days for New Zealand is an under-statement and there should be little surprise that Southlanders have been in the thick of it.

Eddie Dawkins got us started on Wednesday, teaming with Ethan Mitchell and Sam Webster to win New Zealand’s first ever team sprint world championship medal and the big fella backed it up two days later, breaking the glass ceiling and becoming the first Kiwi to go under 10 seconds in the Men’s Sprint qualifying.

Eddie’s return to form has been emphatic and it has been greatly helped by his good mate, Cycling Southland’s own Coaching Facilitator, Matt Archibald. The man they call Mule showed just what a talent he is in his World Championship debut setting what was at the time the fastest ever time over 200 metres – 10.034 to place 12^th out of 53 starters. Dawkins 9.963 placed him seventh. An outstanding achievement by them both and it gets even better when you consider that five of the top ten at Melbourne will not be riding in the sprint at the Olympics due to each country only being allowed a single entry.

Natasha Hansen has also looked right at home, even though the cards haven’t fallen as she would have hoped this week. Her Team Sprint starter Katie Schofield slipped out of the gates in qualifying to end their Olympic chances but Tarsh hit back strongly, qualifying in 13^th place in the Women’s Sprint, just 0.1 seconds off fourth. Her fate is now in the hands of the selectors and NZOC on whether she earns a deserved trip to London mid-year.

The feedback we have received on our hosting of the Junior World Championships has been hugely positive. We have taken the opportunity to get face-to-face with key personnel from the top 40 track cycling countries in the world, share the message of the Junior Championships, of Southland and of New Zealand. There is great awareness of our event, which we have been very active in promoting directly to the teams and strong indications from a large number of countries of attendance.

This week has again shown New Zealand’s continued emergence as a track cycling powerhouse and that helps immensely when promoting our championships.

I must give special thanks to UCI and the Australian World Championship Event team for their assistance over the week. We have been looking over their shoulders for a week, observing a superb event.

Our aim is to look to match their very high standards in August and with luck our Southland riders will take a leaf out of Eddie, Matt and Tarsh’s books out on the track.

Stories behind World Champs selections

Jeremy Presbury (l) and Tom Beadle

Cycling Southland enjoyed one of its proudest weeks over the past seven days. In a 24 hour stretch eight of our Club members were named in New Zealand squads to represent their country at world championships and each and every one of them has got there on the back of a huge amount of hard work, sacrifice and dedication individually and by their support teams and families.

To have five Cycling Southlanders in the black skin suit taking on the world’s best in front of a home crowd at Junior Worlds in August is the beyond our wildest dreams. But it’s the manner in which these young men and women have earned selection which gives me the most enjoyment.

Liam Aitcheson was lying in a hospital bed last year after a serious head injury after coming off his bike. He turned up and rode the Southland track champs in December with little experience on the boards but his rides in the points and individual pursuit made many put a line under his name as “one to watch.” He backed that up with a superb victory in the Points race at the Nationals and basically gave the selectors no option but to pick him.

Tom Beadle’s talent on a bike can’t be questioned but after 12 months of overcoming curve-balls thrown at him by his body, he produced a superb National Championship campaign to lock down selection. Sophie Williamson has also triumphed over injury and health issues this past year. She again showed her mercurial talent in winning the Points gold at Nationals on a limited build-up and is a great chance to improve on her bronze medal from last year’s worlds.

Cycling has a habit of taking late-starters and turning them in to national reps in a short space of time. Kate Dunlevey is another example. She broke the qualification mark in the 500m Time Trial at Nationals and her rapid progression makes her a key part of the women’s sprint programme. Then there’s Jeremy Presbury, another who forced his way into the squad on the back of form at the Nationals. He has literally exploded into national consideration over the last six months and we know there is plenty more where that came from.

The following day, Eddie Dawkins, Natasha Hansen and Matt Archibald were named to ride at the World Elite Championships in Melbourne next week.

By his own admission Eddie hasn’t been at his best over the last year. We can confirm, right on cue, the big fella is back! Natasha Hansen’s rapid progression has been well documented and she again lowered her PB over 200 metres in Perth on Saturday night, proving she is timing her preparation to perfection. If there is a more dedicated man than Matt Archibald, I’m yet to meet him. He has earned a World Champs spot with pure hard work, focus and determination.

I get a funny feeling we may have a few more proud weeks before this year is done.