Event Reports

Details: Written by Darren Humphreys; Created: 11 November 2013

It was Tour de Manawatu day and most cyclists in the region belted out 116km, 80km or 45km in the morning with mixed success. A number of regular competitors stayed home to recover but a hardy bunch made the trip to Johnston Park to compete in perfect conditions. A hot dry track, light to no wind and a warm day made up the conditions that saw an unprecedented 6 track records broken over the flying quarter mile distance.

The programme began with the Flying Quarter mile time trials followed by 3 lap handicap graded races then 4 lap scratch races and the programme wound up with graded long handicap races. The fastest Flying Quarter mile of the day went to the winner of the 80km event at the Tour de Manawatu Jordan Castle in a time of 25.84 seconds beating the previous mens under 19 record by 0.36 seconds. This made it a special day for Jordan as he also won each of the other 3 races he contested to make it a 5 out of 5 day. The Senior Mens records was broken by Jaycob Humphreys by 0.68 seconds. The Womens under 19 record was broken by Kate Stewart by 0.64 seconds as she prepares to represent New Zealand at the upcoming Oceania Track cycling Championships in Invercargill.

Details: Written by Darren Humphreys; Created: 11 November 2013

1 Lap standing start

Under 15 Girls Michaela Drummond 34.89 6/03/12

Under 15 Boys Campbell Stewart 32.79 8/12/11

Under 17 Girls Michaela Drummond 32.51 30/10/12

Under 17 Boys Wiremu Kaihau 30.80 16/01/07

Under 19 Women Rubt Perry 34.95 03/01/13

Under 19 Men Westley Gough 30.02 13/02/07

Senior Women Hayley Giddens 34.26 8/12/11

Senior Men Simon van Velthooven 29.95 16/01/07

Masters 1 Women Nicola Wallace 38.08 16/03/04

Masters 1 Men Ian Dudman 31.76 16/03/04

Details: Written by Glenys Taylor; Created: 07 November 2013

I had a query by email at 4pm to ask whether or not the time trials are still held if it is raining. And my reply was “Yes”. Well it wasn’t raining where I was. So I packed my bike and the rest of the gear required for the time trials in the car and headed off. As I got closer to Palmy I realised that it had been raining a bit but it had obviously stopped when I got to Kairanga Horizons yard and put the signs and cones out and readied myself for my time trial and registration.

Then water started to drip on me and I realised that the shelter that I was under was only a shade cloth and not waterproof. The fine drizzle remained just like that, not a downpour and not cold and not a howling gale. So out of the few riders that did turn up, there were a number of people who were able to better their previous best time including Jaimee Leader, Lynne James, Carne Groube and Andy Martin.

Thanks to the helpers Mike, Kirsty, Jo, Michael and Graeme on the turn who stood in the rain under umbrellas for the whole 32 minutes that it took from the time the first rider left to the last rider returned.

We are now half way through the series and the points are starting to accumulate nicely. Click here for results.

Details: Written by Steve Stannard; Created: 07 November 2013

You don’t get much better days in the Manawatu than last Sunday, not for riding a bike at least.

The Tour de Manawatu is a fun ride, but it’s really the biggest local race of the year. Well organized, a great course, good traffic management, and usually a strong bunch of riders.

In contrast to other years, the start and first section down Napier Rd to Ashhurst was fairly civilized, with few random high speed attacks. A small group lead by Neil Martin did make a break about halfway along, but couldn’t get much more than 100 m and were hauled back as we went through Ashhurst.

With the first climb imminent though, the bunch was getting itchy and the paced was pushed up the hill out of Ashhurst such that a split formed. A solo effort then by Campbell Stewart saw him leading up the Watersheds, but also a “rabbit” for the other junior riders. In catching him the front bunch split again and a few dozen then remained as we pressed onto Colyton at speeds exceeding 60 km/hr at times. The attacks then started thick and fast nearly all the way to Cheltenham, but few breaks managed to last more than a minute or two.

Details: Written by Darren Humphreys; Created: 01 November 2013

The weatherman was fortunately a little off with the weather forecast with morning rain and afternoon showers replaced with morning showers and a clear sunny afternoon. The riders had a dry track with a clear sky and a tough wind at turn three. An impressive 38 riders made the trip to Johnston Park, ensuring that the fields were large and the racing meaningful.

The programme was made up of graded short points races, with under 15 riders racing short scratch races instead. The next event was 4 lap team pursuits for the over 15's these were followed by graded one lap scratch races, the programme concluded with long handicap races for all grades.