THE Mount Gambier Cycling Club was well represented by five riders at the recent South Australian Junior Track Championships at the Superdrome in Adelaide.
They participated in a variety of track events including an individual pursuit, teams pursuit, teams sprint, individual sprint, individual time trial, a points race and a scratch race.
Jami Buckley, Kai Arbery and Patrick Langsmith attended the championships for the first time, competing in the Under 17 male division with Niel van Niekerk.
They combined to finish third in the 3000m team’s pursuit race, where a group of four riders work together to try and catch another group over 12 laps of the velodrome.
Van Niekerk, Langsmith and Arbery also combined in the team sprint to take out second place.
In good team spirit, Buckey joined with another two riders from different clubs so all could participate.
Individually, Van Niekerk came home with an additional five medals, third in the 2000m Individual Pursuit, third in the 500m Time Trial, second in the 50-lap (12.5km) Points race, second in the 7.5km (30 lap) Scratch race second in the Individual sprint.
Arbery finished just outside the podium in the 500m Time Trial.
In the points race, a sprint occurred every 10 laps, with points gained for the placings and the rider with the most points at the end of the race was declared the winner.
In the scratch race, all riders started together and the winner was the rider who crossed the finish line first.
In the individual sprint, qualifying times were taken from a single 200m flying lap, then the top riders had a sprinting duel on the track to determine the placings.
In Junior racing, a key component to factor in is the roll-out of the gearing, meaning each revolution of the pedal could only send the bike a maximum distance of 7m for Under 17 males.
Van Niekerk was pedaling at an average of 145rpm for the 200m sprint.
Molly Opperman also competed at the Championship in the Under 13 Girls division.
Under 13 riders are allowed a roll-out of 5.5m with their gearing.
Both boys and girls raced together in the Points race and Scratch race, showing their strength and skills to match each other.
Opperman finished first in the 3km (12 lap) Scratch race, 500m Time Trial (1st), 1500m Individual Pursuit and second in the 15 lap (3.75km) Points Race.
She also rode a qualifier for the 200m Sprint, averaging 142rpm for her flying run and rode in one of the teams for the Under 17 teams sprint.
South Australia’s state team will be selected in the new year, with riders looking forward to finding out if they have made the team.
In the meantime, some riders will continue their track riding in Victoria with their post-Christmas carnivals.
Locally the Mount Gambier Cycling Club look forward to combining with the South Coast Cycling Club for a two day Track Carnival to be held on January 15 and 16 at the Blue Lake Velodrome.
