DUE to track renovations at its home venue, the Adelaide based South Coast Cycling Club held its annual Australia Day track carnival at Mount Gambier Cycling Club’s velodrome on Friday.
It has been quite a few years since a meeting has been held at the velodrome so the Mount Gambier club decided to take advantage of this and run a back-to-back event with South Coast.
Mount Gambier members Matthew Opperman, Amy Wight, Tess Wight, Justin Beecher and Niel Van Niekerk all competed.
The weekend provided the Mount Gambier riders with a chance to compete on home soil, who usually have to travel to Hamilton, Bendigo, Melbourne or Adelaide to race.
Van Niekerk showed his class in Friday’s 33-event program, with a first in his C Grade Heart Starter and two second places.
Tess Wight finished with a first in her Junior B Grade scratch race and a second, while Beecher managed a first in his B Grade Heart Starter race and a third.
Opperman claimed a second place in his Senior B Grade Handicap, while Amy Wight managed a third in her B Grade Heart Starter Race.
It was also great to see the faces of club legends Allan Dowdell, Doug Issell and Ray Bilney light up to see bikes back racing on the velodrome, with their smiles speaking volumes.
At the start of the South Coast’s presentations Tess Wight was presented with a Scholarship from the Wal Smith Cycling Foundation, a great honour for a young cyclist in this region to receive in recognition for her achievements over the past year.
On the Saturday the Mount Gambier club ran a shorter 23-event program due to the temperature which was expected to hit 37 degrees by the middle of the day.
The Mount Gambier riders again performed well, all gaining at least one first place and seeming to prefer the different program, with the juniors running in their age groups rather than in their grades as was the case on Friday.
Von Niekerk dominated his classes, with two first places in his scratch races, while Beecher improved with a first in his handicap event and three second places.
Amy Wight claimed a first in her handicap race along with two second places and a third, while Tess Wight closely followed with a first in the Junior Women’s Wheelrace, plus a second and two thirds.
Opperman also improved on his Friday performance, with a first place in the C/D Grade Wheelrace, plus a second and third.
