2008 Reading Velodrome Track League

 

Photos posted April 22, 2008

Report by David Jack

 

Photos from the April 21st round of the Reading Track League by Guy Swarbrick. You can view more in the album by clicking the Gallery button at the top of the page.

Opening night magic at Palmer Park

A large and vocal grandstand filled Palmer Park with much noise on the opening night of this years track league and, to carry on from the success of last years league, there were  54 riders with ages ranging from 10 through to 50.

 

With this years BBC/Sky coverage of the World Track Championships, held at Manchester in March, creating interest from people who had never seen the sport, we are looking at probably the most exciting year of racing competition, culminating internationally with Beijing Olympics, but also nationally and locally within track leagues and national domestic competitions.

 

Onwards to the report of the first night of competition. Youth events started the night with a Flying 200m time trial and it was two local Palmer Park velo riders, Cameron Swarbrick (Under 14’s) and Jamil Gaida (Under 10-12’s) who set the fastest times. This was followed quickly by a Youth 6 lap Hare & Hounds where Daniel Maslin (Under 14’s) and Harvey Watson (Under 10-12’s) triumphed.

 

The Seniors got their track league season underway with their own Hare & Hounds with the A’s catching the B’s with 3 laps to go and in the romp to the line it was Rob King who led out early and held off the fast finishing bunch.
 
The Youths got back on track for the 500m Sprint competition and in the fastest finals it was Cameron Swarbrick (Under 14’s) and Jamil Gaida (Under 10-12’s) who confirmed their undoubted speed from the 200m qualification event to win their respective finals.

 

The Seniors began their season long 500m Sprint competition with Heats and Finals of A’s , B’s and Womens. In the A’s it was a three up final with Sam Serruya easily the fastest winning by a bike length from Jack and Dawkins. The B’s was a much closer affair with the wiley older Rob Richardson keeping two of the regions best under 16’s at bay right up to the line, and in a photo type finish, a tea towel would have covered all three, as they hit the line. It was Stephen Bradbury who took the win from Richardson with John Paul third…just!

 

The Womens Sprint was also an older versus younger affair, with Janet Birkmyre coming head to head with Harriet Owen. Owen is part of the British Cycling's Talent Team, and having spent much of the off season racing in Revolutions events and BC training camps, had much more speed than ex-World Masters Sprint champ Birkmyre, winning by a comfortable margin. This will be a great battle to watch this year.

 

The Youths were back on the track for their final event of the night, with a 10 lap Scratch race and going by the results we have two very strong contenders for titles later in the year as Masters Daniel Maslin (Under 14’s) and Jamil Gaida (Under 10-12’s) were victorious again.
 
The next two events, Devil and Unknown Distance, were won by a recently resurgent Lewis Atkins. Atkins has been plagued by injury over the last 3 years and it is great to have him back on fighting form.
 
Atkins was to show in the nights final event, the AW Cycles 20km Scratch Race, which was a battle royal and will be hard to beat for entertainment this year. Constant attacking from the likes of Chris Legg, Rob King, Tom Kirk, Dave Jack and Atkins meant that the pace was frenetic for several laps, the bunch would chase, catch the leaders, would then close up and be steady ..until the next furious attack… probably from Legg with Martin Dawkins glued to his wheel. It went on like this for 20 laps but in the end it came down to a one lap showdown with 10 riders all together at the bell.

 

Last years overall league champion, Ian Greenstreet, who had followed or chased many of the earlier moves, opened up the afterburners on the penultimate bend , creating some daylinght - a gap of 30 metres, hit the home straight with Legg and Atkins closing fast. Very fast, in fact, and it was Chris Legg who powered over the line to win the final event of the night, from Atkins and Greenstreet. A superb race - Bravo!!

 

Track League Details
Venue: Palmer Park Sports Stadium, Wokingham Road, READING, Berks, RG6 1LF

Start Date: 21.04.2008
End Date: 08.09.2008
Entries on the day: Yes

 

Race Organiser:
Mr Gordon Sherratt, 9 Mercia Road, Cox Green, MAIDENHEAD, Berkshire, SL6 3DR, 01628 415648
Click to Email
 
Track league meetings with no licence ranking points for EL/1/2/3/4/J/W/U16/U14/U12. Annual membership fees:- Sen £12, Jun £8, Youth £6. Guest membership per attendance: Sen/Jun £2, Youth £1 (max 3 times). Race entry fees:- Sen £8, Jun £5, Youth £3. Start times:- Youth 7pm, others 7.20pm except Sun 25th May start 1pm.