Hi All,
For the last 14 weeks a handful of us CCCC's trackies have been making the pilgrimage to Dunc Gray Velodrome each Friday night to battle it out amongst some of NSW's and Australia's finest track cyclists. In case your wondering this series is put on by a dedicated group of volunteers who do it for the love of the sport including none other than Paul Craft. This year was my first year competing and I regret what I missed in previous years! At this point I'd like to thank the organizers especially Paul.
CCCC were represented throughout the series (a fair drive to and from if I may say) by Nick Yallouris, Mick Curran, Chris Murphy, Michael Smith, Richard Pettigrew, Cass Kell, Jeff Morris, Damon Marshall, Simon Huggins, Brad Boyd, Ciaran Quinn, Wayne Mellis (Chicken) oh and me, on any given night.
CCCC riders and standouts for the series has to go to Nick Yallouris (12th in Div 1) and Damon Marshall (4th in Div 4). Nick for his pure strength, skill and ability going up against national and international riders including current world masters champions in Div 1. Awesome to watch as he accelerated to the front near the end in most races. I loved hearing people ask "who's the young bloke in orange?" as they picked up their dropped jaws... The other standout was Damon Marshall. You have to remember each week that he's an U15 on U15 rollout gearing going up against adults on unrestricted gearing who don't give any breaks for the one or two "juniors". Not only did he hold his own admirably, he won quite a few races! For Damon to 4th (yes 4th) out of a total of 68 riders from all around throughout the series was brilliant. This included a win on the final night in the "Point-a-lap" race moving him from 6th position to 4th on the night. These guys are definately riders to watch for the future!!
Again, last Friday was the concluding final to a fantastic Racing All Winter (RAW) at Dunc Gray Velodrome 2011. Bring on 2012.
If you have ever considered giving it a go, even for one night, it is well worth it. it's a fair trip each week but it is humbling to know riders come from Newcastle, Wollongong and Bathurst...every week!! Thanks again Paul and the DGV crew.
Cheers,
Stu
