Chaotic is the best single word to describe the 2016 Hawkes Bay School Cycling Championships held over the weekend of Saturday 02nd and Sunday 03rd July. The school was represented by Jono Williams, Nicholas Kelly, Lewis Sheeran, Will Tidswell, Mitchell Couchman and Sam McArdle with coaching from Jason Kelly.
With only two
partial team practices prior to this year’s event, the Saturday afternoon Team
Time Trial (TTT) event was always going to be a challenge. As the team was
mixed age, they rode in the under 20 age group which allowed six riders to
start but only five riders to race past the 200m mark with the team time taken
on the fourth rider to cross the finish line. In this event, all team members
work together as they race against the clock to record the fastest time.
Conditions were fine, mild and sunny with a light wind for the 18km course
which runs out and back along Ohiti Road. From the start line, the team was led
off by Sam McArdle but unfortunately some riders touched wheels inside the opening
200m which resulted in a crash which stopped the team. Will Tidswell was unable
to continue to race but the team was allowed a restart. With the mixed
abilities of the team, the race pace was set to enable all riders to stay
together as the team tackled the course. The riders managed to stay together
until the finish line and record a solid time of 31m 00s (34.8km/h) which was only
marginally slower than last year despite their early crash and restart.
Unfortunately this time was only good enough for fourth place in the under 20 age
group with their time being 34s too slow for the bronze medal.
The road race
championships were held on Sunday afternoon in sunny and mild conditions with
little wind. A well organised start saw the under 17s & under 20s start
together to complete 50km over four laps of the Crystall Road - Mutiny Road
block which is basically flat with Nicholas Kelly (under 20) and Lewis Sheeran
(under 17) representing the school in this event. They were followed shortly
afterwards by the combined under 15 and under 16 race for three laps (37.5km) with
Will Tidswell (under 15), recovered from his previous day’s crash, and Jono
Williams (under 16) representing the school. This race split from the start
line with the front bunch ending up sprinting for the medals. Jono timed his
run well to secure first place and the gold medal in the under 16s while Will secured
silver close on the heels of the winner in the under 15s.
The under 17s
& under 20s stayed largely together until the last lap when the medal
contenders split off the front. An under 17 non-Hawkes Bay rider was first
across the line but was ineligible for the title and gold medal. Unfortunately
crossing the centre line by a number of riders in the home straight caused
confusion with the organisers who originally awarded Nicholas Kelly the under
20 gold medal only to then decide post prize giving he was in fact due the
silver. Lewis Sheeran was in the medal hunt in the under 17 grade on the road
but was subsequently disqualified along with a number of other riders for
crossing the centre line.
Over the
weekend the team ended up with one gold medal and two silver medals which was a
little disappointing given the potential showed by the team.
