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.

Time for a moment's reflection

The curtain fell on the 2011-12 domestic track cycling season last weekend at the conclusion of the Age Group Track Championships and it also marked the end of a frenetic period for Cycling Southland.

It has been non-stop since October with seemingly one national or international event after another. From a hugely successful Yunca Junior Tour, through a heart-stopping PowerNet Tour of Southland, record-setting times at the WHK Oceania Track Champs, our full week of racing in the ILT New Year Cycling Series and then the recent Elite and Age Group Track Nationals, it has been one heck of a ride.

At the end of it we have a pile of events which have been a great watch and have produced world-class performances from New Zealand’s increasing number of elite and junior road and track cyclists.

But due to the year-round nature of our sport, there is little time to draw breath and the few short paragraphs above are about all the reflection we have time for. The attention now switches to the road where yet another two major events are looming quickly on the horizon.

This week, our friends at the Wakatipu-Central Otago Cycling club host the Oceania Road Championships. After casting a quick eye across the entry list, I can confidently say this is going to be another fantastic event. The Australians are arriving in big numbers and the start lists boasts an Elite World Track Champion, Commonwealth Games gold medalist and multiple Junior World champions.

Racing starts on Friday with Time Trials for all age categories. Then on Saturday the Under-19 and Elite Women road race titles will be decided while the Under-19, Under-23 and Elite Men medals are handed out on Sunday. The course is based from the Distinction Hotel at Nugget Point and will be run over a circuit just a tick over 25 kilometres. With the ups and downs of Littles Road, long straights through Speargrass Flat, the nasty McIntyre’s Hill and the sweeping bends of Malaghans Road to finish, it is the definition of a championship course.

Then, hard on its heels, the 2012 version of the Vital Signs Tour de Lakes will be held across Central Otago over Easter Weekend. Thanks to the tireless work of Allan Dunn and his able lieutenants this event is always a highlight and it provides our “weekend warriors” with an opportunity to ride a multi-stage, three-day race. Team Dunny is the epitome of Cycling Southland’s fortune of having passionate volunteers who continue to contribute a phenomenal amount to the organisation and its riders.

There’s also the small matter of continuing preparations for the UCI Juniors Track World Championships in August and Invercargill’s hosting of BikeNZ for a pre-World Championship camp which will largely decide who gets to book a plane trip to London in July.

So you can see why we can only allow ourselves a brief look back at the last five or six months, because there’s a lot more where that came from!

How to summarise the Age Group Champs?

Tom Sexton & Grant Toomey

I really struggled to know how to approach this week’s column.

Should I focus on another brilliant team performance by the Cycling Southland squad at the 2012 Age Group Track Nationals? Perhaps I could try and crank up a bit of inter-sport debate on whether Southland’s track cycling domination has ever been replicated by another Southland sports team? I’ve been there and done that over the last two years though.

Maybe I could write about the five successive Points Shield victories and compare that to other great eras in Southland sport?

Perhaps I could single out some of the individual stars - Erin Criglington, Jacqui Dearlove and Bruce Jones’ record breaking deeds or the return or Michael Culling after a good chunk of the last year away from the sport?

I could look at the Under 19s and how Tom Beadle, Liam Aitcheson, Sophie Williamson, Kate Dunlevey and others advanced their chances of gaining Junior Worlds selection. I could easily wax lyrical on the work of their team mates including Tom Vessey, Josh Haggerty, Jenn Muhl and Georgia Timpany in assisting their medal-winning causes.

I could easily discuss the incredible and humbling input we receive from our officials and volunteers. We raced for more than 25 hours over 4 days and our army of volunteers helped deliver the smoothest event you could ever hope to host, all without asking for a thing in return.

I could consider going in to sales mode (wouldn’t be the first time in this column) to drum up ticket sales for Junior Worlds – event passes are on sale now, by the way – comparing the drama we watched unfold over this week to what we can expect from internationals in August.

I was tempted to discuss the incredible talent coming through the ranks and how promising that is for the future. But instead I’m going to let you in on one small story which I think encapsulates all that was great about the week.

Tom Sexton rode his Under 15 Points race heat really well. He got stuck in early and got enough points to look as though he would comfortably qualify. Then he was brought down in a crash eight laps from the finish.

Racing rules allow for a rider to re-enter the race after an incident like this but they have to do so before the last five laps of a race. Sexton, bounced up, ignored the pain and rode the last five laps on basically one leg, after one racing shoe broke and wouldn’t clip back in. He avoided getting lapped by the field (which would have seen him lose his points) and duly made the final.

It epitomized the courage and determination which were hallmarks of the Southland effort. You can’t coach that but Southland’s riders have it and it’s a major reason the squad made it five in a row this week. To every one of our Elite and Age Group squad members go my thanks and congratulations. You performed magnificently and should be very proud. We are.

Something old, something new - 2012 Age Group Champs Preview

Waikato BoP's Hayden McCormick in the Open Madison

Another week, another major cycling event in Southland. This time it is the turn of those track cyclists at either end of the age spectrum to descend on Invercargill for the RaboDirect Age Group National Championships.

214 riders from 11 cycling centres will pedal their hearts out in 105 sprint and endurance events for both teams and individuals over four days, eight sessions and more than 25 hours of racing. 56 sets of medals will be handed out across 11 different age categories; Under 15 Boys and Girls, Under 17 Boys and Girls, Under 19 Boys and Girls, Masters Men (35-44, 45-54, 55+) and Masters Women (35-44, 45+.) Throw in more than 50 event volunteers and 75 team officials and you can get an idea of what a major sporting event the Age Group Champs is.

Competition should be intense, particularly in the Under 19 category with the spectre of the UCI Juniors World Track Championships in Invercargill later in the year looming large. These championships represent the final piece in the selection puzzle for the New Zealand squad. After last year’s record setting performance at the Worlds in Moscow and on the evidence of what we have seen from the class of 2012 at November’s Oceania Championships and the Under 19 Omnium earlier this month, the home country is gearing up for a strong challenge for some of the shiny stuff when the medals are handed out in August.

Southland’s Sophie Williamson and Dylan Kennett of Canterbury both return as two-time defending champions, titles they won last year in their first year as U19 riders last year. Likewise, Southland’s Michael Culling won three golds last year in this first appearance as an Under 17 and he is looking to time his return to the track after an injury-riddled 2011 with a strong showing this week alongside a near capacity and hugely talented bunch of boys. West Coast North Island’s Kate Stewart announced herself as the fastest Under 17 girl in the country 12 months ago at just 15 years of age and also returns as a two-time national champ.

The Under 15 Boys should is also likely to provide some great racing. West Coast North Island’s Campbell Stewart returns to Invercargill with looking to add to the two golds he picked up in 2011, but will face stiff opposition from Southland’s Josh Carpenter and Hamish Beadle among others.

Old riders don’t retire. They turn up every year and smash themselves (and others) at the Age Group Champs. Southland’s Erin Criglington and Jacq Dearlove have been unbeaten in the Masters Women events over the past two years and their times have been world class, up with the fastest recorded for their age groups in the world.

So if you want to get an idea of what this track cycling lark is all about before the world comes to ride in August, come join us from Wednesday to Saturday this week with sessions starting daily at 10am and 6pm at Stadium Southland Velodrome.

Excitement builds for year ahead

London's Olympic Velodrome

If we weren’t excited about Invercargill hosting the 2012 UCI Juniors Track World Championships in August, we are now.

This weekend has seen the first event held at the London Olympic Velodrome and much like our pride and joy in Southland, it has proved to be lightening fast right from the opening gun. World records have fallen and the action and atmosphere has been incredible and that’s what has got us fizzing at the prospect of the year ahead.

April’s World Elite Championships and July’s Olympics will whet our appetites and then the cycling world’s eyes will turn to the Stadium Southland Velodrome. Watching the TV coverage from London via the internet over the past few days has shown the huge lift the Great Britain team has received from a partisan home crowd. Riders like the legendary Sir Chris Hoy, Ben Swift and the GB Team Sprint and Team Pursuit combinations have all been lifted to wins by the packed London supporters. That’s the opportunity we have in August.

The Southlanders in action over the last few days have again distinguished themselves. Natasha Hansen has taken further steps towards the prize of Olympic qualification with new personal bests in the Women’s Sprint and Team Sprint with Otago’s Katie Schofield. Hansen qualified seventh in the Sprint, just 0.3 seconds behind the top qualifier and was desperately unlucky not to make the final eight, with a photo required to separate her and Australia’s Kaarle McCulloch.

That outstanding individual performance came on the back of an eighth place in the Team Sprint on Friday night. The southern pair took 0.3 seconds off their previous best and broke the 34 second barrier for the first time. Most importantly they were significantly ahead of key opponents Venezuela and Colombia who are also battling for Olympic qualification.

Eddie Dawkins continued his hot form from Nationals anchoring the Men’s Team Sprint combination to another new low time of 44.002 on the opening day of competition for fifth overall – just 0.15 seconds off the ride for the medals. Both Hansen and Dawkins were in action overnight in the Women’s Keirin and Men’s Sprint respectively.

Closer to home the final Southland team for the National Age Group Track Championships has been named ahead of the final track event of the domestic season. Whilst the Elite Championships feature the big names, the Age Groups this year take on greater importance with Junior Worlds now just six months away. The top Under 19 talent has one last opportunity to impress the selectors when action starts next Wednesday (29^th) as well as the best Under-17, Under-15 and Masters talents from around the country.

With over 250 riders from around the country it is the perfect dry-run for Junior Worlds – for us as an event organiser and you as a spectator. And as an unashamed bribe we will also be dishing out tickets to the World champs each night of Age Group competition.

So get along and get roaring for the locals. London has shown us the way.

Take Pride in Southlanders' Efforts

Eddie Dawkins (l) and Natasha Hansen

As a Southlander you can be mighty proud of what has been achieved by Cycling Southland riders over the last week.

Southland has one hand on the National Points Shield, the symbol of NZ track cycling supremacy, after its charges dominated all-comers to secure a 19-point lead at the conclusion of last week’s Elite National Championships. Southland leads the pack with 41 points, well ahead of Auckland on 22.

A dominant position like this is earned by a great team performance, which was certainly the case for Southland, but there were some stand-outs. We can confirm Eddie Dawkins is back. The big fella took out the prize for male rider with most points at this year’s champs and his victory over Sam Webster in the Men’s Sprint Final was a highlight. Natasha Hansen was her untouchable self, breaking a couple of National records and securing another four national golds. She has almost single-handedly taken the Women’s Sprint program from nowhere to within sight of a spot at the Olympics in the space of six months. With Southland-based BikeNZ coach Stu MacDonald now in charge of the Women Sprinters, performances will lift and times will drop. At just 23 Hansen, like Dawkins, has a decade of international elite competition ahead of them. Who knows what they could achieve? Both are in London, trying out the Olympic velodrome this week at the latest round of the UCI World Cups. More of their winning smiles would be great to see.

There were, of course, other great stories. Cycling Southland’s Coaching Facilitator Matt Archibald continues to improve at a rapid rate and is applying plenty of pressure to get in on the Men’s sprint combination. Cam Karwowski put a lid on a hugely-impressive year with gold in the Men’s Kilo Time Trial and Tom Scully was as sharp as ever in the Points and Madison races.

But it was a pair of youngsters, Dylan Kennett and Hayden McCormick who turned on one of the most impressive performances seen on the Velodrome in recent times with an incredible victory over a star-studded Elite field in the Men’s Madison. It was a special win and a pointer to how strong the New Zealand team will be at the UCI Juniors Track World Championships in Invercargill in August.

And if all of that wasn’t enough – our two Southlanders in the Para-cycling squad got to stand on the podium at the World Para Championships in Los Angeles on Friday. Phillipa Gray and Laura Thompson claimed a bronze medal in the Individual Pursuit and then backed up on Saturday to finish fifth in the 1000-metre Time Trial. It was a big step in their aim to qualify for the Paralympics in London in August.

There’s nothing quite like seeing locals achieving on the national and international scene like this. Without wanting to sound flippant, with the regularity of success our cyclists achieve it would be easy to gloss over these performances. Don’t. Enjoy their success, because we sure are.