We all have our own motivations to race. It can be easy to forget those reasons when fear takes over. Going to Track Nationals was exciting and scary. I was racing against Anna Meares! If you just look at the results you'll see I got various last places and a couple second last. But - they were all PBs in my eyes. heheh.. As a roadie turned track sprinter, it was always going to be a tough gig and I'm happy with the outcomes, tangible or not. I've gained a lot of experience, confidence and hopefully friendships. Watching everyone else race made me really proud to be wearing my team shirt. Cameron Meyer was a super team captain and showed that he is not just a superstar on a bike but a great leader as well.
Some memorable performances:
Men's Team Pursuit:
WA went in to the gold medal ride off after qualifying a very close second. They changed their order slightly, went in with a great plan and rode it to perfection, almost. The race was neck and neck with the lead swapping every couple of laps. WA were in the lead when the Vics lost third wheel but surprisingly, at the next time check the Vics were ahead. What we couldn't see was a clip of the wheels and a slight easing of pace. WA gained the lead with 1km to go and just smashed it home. It was an awesome ride! During a race, the riders can try and communicate with each other, ease, 3 riders, go etc, but in reality under aero helmets all of the words sound the same so you can imagine what would happen when one rider yells ease but the other hears go. It's amazing that they do stay together.
Women's Team Pursuit
Winner, Belinda Goss cemented her position as the points race expert but I couldn't tell you what she did in the race. I was lucky enough to be watching the race with Bec Halliday's mum, Bec was going into the race for experience and to have a play. Unfortunately very early in the race Bec had a mechanical, her chain had broke (the second time on the trip). Luckily, our super team mechanic, Bobby Barnes fixed it in no time and Bec was able to resume racing. Unfortunately, DB was pushing her out and back into the race during a sprint lap which left Bec chasing. A super effort got her back on and before we knew it she was in an attack. This lasted long enough for Bec to place in two sprints and suddenly she was in 4th place. A bit of excitement towards the end of the race resulted in a crash taking out WA's Davina Summers and third place getter Tess Downing. Bec was unable to gain any more points but did a fantastic job to finish 6th.
Men's Points Race
Frieburg was on fire in this race. Sitting patiently he waited until about half way to take a lap. After a quick recovery he took another lap! We didn't see DB asking him to take another lap but if he did it would have been up there with ride of the series! Burger had to finish in front of the American to hold on to 3rd place and it was a fight to the finish, but he held on.
U19 Women's Keirin
Mel Hoskins was WA's only finalist in this race and rode very smartly. She got straight onto the wheel of the seemingly unbeatable sprinter, Annette Edmonson. Again, another patient rider, Mel went with all of the accelerations but had me worried she wasn't go to try and take the win. Coming out of the last bend she went for it and stormed past Nettie. Hopefully someone has a photo because the look on Mel's face was priceless.
No comments:
Post a Comment