Velodrome racing

Nigel Tipene is the 2012 Velodrome director:

From Monday 16th January 6:00pm -7:00pm , I am going to be running skills and drills sessions to encourage new riders to the Velodrome. I will focus on track etiquette, confidence, and skills to help people feel better about racing at the Velodrome on the Wednesday nights. I ask people to bring helmets, shoes and pedals. The Taupo cycling club has various sized Track bikes for loan. This is concentrating on new riders. Established riders are welcome to join in and share information, but this is designed to really encourage new riders. Call Nigel 02102561860 for more information.

From Wednesday 18th January, 6.00pm, the track racing will be more focused on efforts and racing. The track session will be extended over the summer period from 1hr to 1.5hrs. Also starting this Wednesday will be a 6 week points series. The points series will be raced based on the 6 events of the omnium in the order they are run at Track events. Riders competing for points will have a shielded handicap. The ultimate objective is to give our riders confidence in Track racing so we can compete with other clubs at various races around NZ.

Benefits of Track cycling:
Track cycling provides all the skills/fitness required to make all your other cycling easier. Improved pedal stroke/rotation Improved fitness through faster recovery. Paceline experience. Better pedal cadence etc.

Nigel’s Report:
Over the past Auckland anniversary weekend, Taupo had the privilege of holding the Waikato/Bay of plenty Track champs at the Owen Delany Velodrome. The weekend attracted over 60 riders of all age groups for a 3 day weekend of racing. During the weekend we were all treated to many great races and through this some stars shined. Most of whom will be partaking in the NZ age group champs in Invercargill. This is the build up to the 2012 UCI World Juniors Track Championships which will also be in Invercargill. The Taupo club stood out in most of the races taking a medal in all the events it entered. A big thanks needs to be given to the Commissionaires for helping run the event and Donna Hume, for her help in recording the riders times. Without them, this event would not have been as great a success as it was. The weather over this weekend made the racing tough, and all riders had to battle the wind as well as pushing their endurance levels to achieve their wins.