Sorry... I got carried away with the report!
RAW Track Week 7 This week saw a slightly diminished contingent from the Coast, with 9 of us down there picking up start points. The program Crafty had set started off with the usual Scratch Race, followed by an Italian Pursuit, Point-a-Lap, then the combines. The Wheelrace this week was for the big guns, Div 1, so we would get to see Gadget and Cupcake suffer.
Four of us travelled down in the Pushy Galore Shuttle, and none of you were safe from sledging, the boys were in fine form! I didn't participate in the derision of my club mates, never, would I lower myself to such a level...
The warm-up commenced and talk was about my 86" gear, and the fact I may as well go home if I was going to ride such a small gear, so I was changed to 92". Div 2 Dan looked great in an Australian jersey and camera still strapped onto the bars, talk of being so far in front of the field he would need to have it facing backwards was not there after last weeks effort.
Scratch Races.... Simon, Peiden, and myself were the Div 4 starters from the Coast. Simon and Peiden used the 'warm-up' race for its intended purpose, while I had a go, wanting to try out the 92". Simon rolled around on the front for 1/2 of the race, then sat up. I dug in, keeping the pace high from the start, which wasn't appreciated by many. I found the 92" too big for my liking taking 2nd place. No points for the scratch races though, so it really doesn't matter if you roll in 1st or last, except for pride if you are having a go. I guess you could always say you sat up coming into the line... The other boys all treated the warm-up the same, rolling around, getting the legs going. At least they all tell us they are 'warming-up'. Div 2 Dan was so keen to get out there, he rolled out in the wrong grade! To much applause and laughter, we watched Dan place nowhere in Div 3. Sheepishly, he rolled in hoping no one had noticed. Yeah Right… This is track, it’s a sledge-a-thon!
Div 1 Wheelrace.... Cupcake started off 45m and Gadget from 160m. The quality of the field can be seen in Mick starting from 45m, when at our club nights, he is the scratch marker, or not far off! Huggsie and Div 2 Dan, went out to do their 'handling' duties. The whistle blew, and Div 2 Dan tried to take out the 'scratchies' with his dodgy knee unable to cope with the stress of pushing Mick away. Gadget had one rider in front of him, then two, as one came flying past. The back markers were on Cupcake, and the chase was on. Mick was chasing hard, the scratchies with him. Gadget, now with only two at the front, having dropped one of the riders, was looking strong. The limit rider with Gadget, swung up, and Gadget put the pace on. Coming around past the line with two laps remaining, Gadget swung up, looking for a friend to do a turn, the scratchies looked tired up until this point. Glen looked down from the top of the banking, no one there to take a turn, precious seconds ticked by. The scratchies now smelt blood in the water, and turned the pace back on having sorted themselves out. Glen dropped back down and buried himself, willing the end of the 1.5km race to arrive soon. With a lap to go, Glen was only just in front, still holding them off though. This was going to be close. Coming to the last bend, Glen was close, then they came at him, finally making the catch across the line. Mick finished 4th, Glen 6th.. If not for the swing-up, this was Gadget’s race…. So close Glen! :'(
Italian Pursuit…With the wheel race out of the way, it was time for the points rounds, starting with the Italian pursuit. This race pits two teams against each other on opposite sides of the track, just like any other pursuit, the difference, the rider on the front does one lap, then peels off. The best scenario for the CCCC was for ‘Team 1’ to have a win, it had 3 of our riders in there, with the entire winning team picking up 3 points each. Out of 9 riders, we had 6 pick up the winning points, so overall, a good result for CCCC.
Special Note... Peiden and I were in 'Team 2', up against 'Team 1'... Peiden was sitting on the front, ready to start, and a call came from Crafty over the PA.. "Peiden, you have to do two laps!" Peiden did a great job, as we were a man down.
Point-A-LapSimple concept, simple race! Be the first one across the line, and you get a point, the rider with the most points wins! Simon kicked things off for us, walking out to start his race in track pants, obviously confident the pace was not going to be high enough to warm him up! Simon was left hanging out wide in the wind, unlucky not to pickup any points. Pieden and I rolled out for heat two, and I went straight to the front, holding a high pace. I managed to take the first point, then swung up, to recover a little. The following 3 laps went to a single rider, while I sat in. The pace dropped just a little, so I went to the front again, picking up the next 3 points and a handy lead. Time for another mistake, and I backed it off to roll home for the easy win. Why is it so hard to get going again once you have turned the gas off? I got rolled on the line, with only the two of us scoring points, and the other rider winning on a count back due to his higher placing on the final lap…. Lesson learnt, I hope!
Mick Smith came close in Div 2, picking up only 1 point, yet the racing was so close, he was unlucky to only place 4th. Div 1, and I honestly didn’t give much hope to our guys, the quality in the Div 1 field is awesome. Mick had different ideas, and attacked after a few laps, holding them off for three laps to pick up 3pts and 2nd place… A stellar effort from the Cupcake!
Combines and Timeblaster…. The final events of the night saw a 4th place to me, and the timeblaster stay in the bank for next time. The boys in the timeblaster went out so fast, some riders failed to even get on from the start.
Another great night of racing from Crafty, and fun to be had by all…. A big thank you to Div 2 Dan for the Pushy Galore Shuttle Bus… It was great fun waking ‘Old Man Gadget’ on the way home along the F3!
