The hot weather continued over the weekend as we saw an impressive turnout for the juniors. A total of 14 junior girls and boys found their way over to the Traffic Education Centre for a slightly modified session to accommodate the earlier start time of the annual Club Criterium Championships at 3.30pm.

The two new club bikes had little opportunity to gather dust in the shipping container as we observed the juniors negotiate with other on who should ride what bike. Once this was done, they all set out around the track for their obligatory warm up laps. It was great to see so many club riders turn up to the track a little earlier to lend a hand to the juniors – adjusting seat posts, pumping up tyres and imparting tremendous amounts of wisdom as they coached some of the junior riders around the track. Truth be told, we are sure that some of the club riders may have struggled to hold the wheel of the juniors as they screamed around the track for the individual time trial. Whilst the timekeeper and scribe struggled to keep up with the flurry of riders crossing the line we can say with confidence that there were a number of new PBs recorded! Full results of the weekend’s ITT can be found below.

The ITT was followed by a new game for the juniors that tested not only speed but a combination of other skills including stopping, sprinting, tight turns and emergency braking – essentially bringing together the skills practiced from a number of previous sessions. The 14 juniors were split into two teams of similar riding ability and asked to play a relay game that required riders from each team to line up behind a cone and then sprint 100m down the track (side by side), turning around another cone and then sprinting back down the original starting position to tag the next rider. This game was a lot more fun for both the juniors and onlookers than anticipated as the handicapping was pretty much spot on and the final two riders crossed the line within metres of each other.

The final session of the day was a handicapped race and given that we had so many riders this weekend, we were able to run two separate races….one for the U7s and U9s and another for U11, U13 and U15s. The pressure on the handicapper reached new levels after tight finish of the previous game. The pre-race briefing was…well brief, with the little riders familiar with the race format and simply ready to get on with business. The 7 U7 and U9s were set at separate times base on their previous lap times for a single lap race around the track. It was new comer Toby Gahan who took line honours this time round, proving too strong for the rest of the field. Bella and Tahlia looked to be in for a sprint for 2nd place but a quick glance over the shoulder for Tahlia resulted in a change of direction for her into the grassy culvert, giving Bella the advantage to take second place. Tahlia showed her true fighting spirit, finding her way back on to the track to take fourth place just behind Marcus Robb.

The 7 U11, U13 and U15s assembled themselves on the start/finish line and somehow managed to negotiate the handicapper down from a 3 lap race to a 2 lap race. The handicapper was ready with adjusted times for a 2 lap race on standby for such a ploy by the juniors. The race got underway with little fuss and it was clear after the first lap that it was going to be an exciting finish. Exciting would be the greatest of understatements as brothers Richard and Bernie May found themselves in a sprint for the finish with Bernie taking the win by half a wheel. Thomas Singleton continues his impressive form and was unchallenged for third place.

Well done to all and many thanks to the club members and parents who came along to lend a hand on the day – it certainly makes the running of these sessions so more enjoyable for all.

Don’t forget that this Sunday, we have specific events for the juniors for the New England Festival Criterium with a one lap time trial – also known as the ‘Hot Lap’ and a junior handicapped race later in the program. Entry is free but we do ask that your junior has taken out a cycling membership (race level) and that you register your junior by Wednesday 13th March (today) if they want to race. Jump over to our events page to register: https://www.armidalecyclingclub.org/nefc/

For more information about cycling membership, click here: http://membership.cycling.org.au/Packages/Racing

If you have any questions about junior cycling, membership or the criterium on Sunday 17th March, contact Chris on 0434 001 787.