What a shame that the summer evenings are drawing to a close. With numbers rising each week it will be sad to end these fun Thursday evenings.
A strong wind arrived just in time for the ride but enthusiasm was not lacking. Plenty of juniors this evening and parents acting as guides help introduce the next generation of riders. The young ones all seemed to be having fun which augers well.
There was the usual confusion on which tracks to take, the supply of arrows being commandeered for Sunday's Waihopai Valley ride. Most however found their way and apart from a deviation by Todd allowing Matt to get ahead for a lap, the outcome was not really affected.
The podium had Justin at the top with Todd and Matt on the next steps. A good solid track enjoyed by all, so thanks again to Peter for setting out the course.
6th Mar - Summer Night Race - Condors - REPORT
Peter came up with the idea of a teams race as an alternative to the usual individual race/ride. Josh and Leighton, two of the younger fraternity were made team captains and chose their riders. The total number of laps ridden by team members would decide the winners.
Jason was soon in difficulty with a broken chain on lap one so that was a potential 4 laps lost. It was going to be hard to recover from this but Justin and Sven played their part and completed four laps each. Josh himself put in a great effort to finish three laps along with Sharn.
On Leighton's team Aaron Kris and Andrew B. all managed four laps with good backup from Eugan, Andrew G. Peter and Warren completing 3 laps each. Leighton himself managed to find a short cut so his laps were adjusted to compensate.
All in all a fun night.
Lap times
20 Feb - Summer Night Race - Taylor Pass - REPORT
Not the advertised 30 degrees, in fact spectators and marshalls used most of their wardrobes to ward off the cool breeze. Then as racing drew to a close the fog rolled back in. Despite all this we had a real family affair going with five Blakes, four Blacks and a couple of McKendries either contesting or guiding. All the kids got around at least one lap then it was play time and boy did they have fun. It was a surprise to have 22 riders considering the busy weekend of mountain biking ahead.
We had a guest appearance from Han de Lange who was just passing through and managed to find time to join us for the ride. There were also a couple of other new faces and we hope that they had enough fun to want to come back.
Justin and Sarnim got away to a good start and were never threatened for the top two podium slots. Jason got tangled up with another rider and lost his way so decided to have a fun night fitting in a few casual laps.
Good luck to Kevin and his crew of helpers on Sunday, hope all the hard work and preparation reap some reward and that all the riders have a ball.