This year the Track Nationals were the BIG Event of my year. Near the end of last year I had to make the big decision: Karapoti or Track Nationals. These two big events were on the same week, and all the training would be very different, so I couldn’t do both. Obviously I chose to go to Track Nationals.
So February 28 and I was up at the crack of dawn ready to be at the airport by 6:50. At the airport we all met up and got our team t-shirts. We stopped off in Christchurch on the way to Invercargill. Invercargill Airport was nice but very small. We met Barry and Gary who had driven down in the van a few days earlier. We had to do a couple of trips to the motel where we were staying, due to limited seating in the van. The motel was lovely, if for any reason you are in Invercargill I recommend Yarrow Motel to you.
That afternoon we had our first ride on the wooden velodrome. How can I describe it? It feels like you’re flying. To anyone who has never ridden on an indoor velodrome, I recommend you do. It is very cool. We spent the first 15/20 minutes just riding around, getting used to the steeper banking, and 250m track, much smaller than our 333m track. After that we did some sprints and I attempted some flying 200m sprints. We were getting ready to leave when Alison Shanks, world pursuit champion, turned up to do some training on the track. I watched her perfect, constant technique, it was no wonder she’s the world champ. After she came off and was sitting down, some of the others and I went over and got her autograph. She was really nice and friendly.
The next day we went back to the track for a couple of hours. This time we got to try out the starting gates, which are electronic holders that are used for time trials, to make sure that you are released exactly on time. At this level, medals and titles are won by less than tenths of a second.
On that day I also got a really good feel of the track. Literally. I had my first crash, due partially to going too slow on the wood and partially due to a technical error, I came sliding down the velodrome. Some of you will know that often when you are crashing you have very strange thoughts (or am I just weird?), well mine was “gosh I’m sliding fast!” When I reached the bottom I picked myself up and noticed a large hole in my shorts and a graze on my elbow, other than that I was fine, although a bit shaken. Most importantly my bike was fine. I took the rest of the day easy.
Tuesday, the day before it would all begin. I was mostly working on trying to get my flying 200m sprint line right (that’s a sprint were you dive off the banking after going around for a couple of laps, you are timed for the final 200m). I finally got it good enough that Lee Evans (assistant manager) was satisfied.
Wednesday. The day it started. Second on the program was the Under 17 Girls 200m sprint, my event. I was terrified. My goal was to get in the low 15 seconds range. I watched in horror as the girls before me got mostly 13s with the odd 12 or 14. Then it was my turn. My line was good, just the way we had practiced it. I came around after the sprint and looked up to the score board to see I had got a 14.545, definitely a tail ender, but I had done better than I thought, so I was pleased with that.
The next day I had my 2km pursuits. My aim was to get under the 3 minute mark. Having a 03:18 personal best in Wellington it was never going to be easy. I was obviously very nervous. Finally it was my turn. I’m not really sure what was going through my head but I think it was something like; keep breathing Hannah! Keep going! Come on! I tell you now I have never heard a prettier sound than the sound of the gun when I finished. I came around to the other straight and looked up at the score board, not knowing what to expect. 02:59. I had done it, just, I had still gotten lapped and was still at the bottom of the list, but I had achieved my personal goal, and so I was pleased with that, even if all I could say to a smiling coach was a grunt.
My next event was the 500m time trial. This was an event I didn’t really know what I’d get and I had no real goal. So when I got a 44 second time I was pretty happy.
Up till now all my races had been individual efforts, I had been right at the back of the field for all of them, but not by much and so I wasn’t sure how I’d cope in the bunch races. That evening was my 8km Points Race. Points Races are particularly hard because every so many laps there is a set sprint, so for those of us who are struggling to keep up anyway, the going gets tough.
We all went up to the fence and did one lap rolling start. The gun sounded and the race was on. An early attack saw the bunch spread into a long snaky line. I got dropped, along with a girl from Canterbury and a girl from Waikato. We worked together until the bunch came around to lap us. I jumped into the bunch and did all I could to stay there. It gets a bit scary when you’re riding at over 40km per hour, with 16 girls all trying get into a good tactical position. I kept up through all the other sprints and managed to stay with the bunch for the rest of the race. Better yet, I didn’t come last when we did finally finish. I was very pleased with my racing and was looking forward to the next night’s 5km Scratch race.
Saturday morning: the last day of racing. The evening session came; my race was third on the list. My tactic for this race was to find a good rider and stick to her wheel like glue. That rider came in the form of Cassie Cameron, from the West Coast North Island. She had been placing highly in most of the other events so when I saw her wheel I jumped onto it immediately. I stayed in the bunch for the whole race, something I was very proud of, and I was sticking to a front ender I ended up at the very front a couple of times myself. Inside the bunch there was non-stop action and movement, but to the outside viewer I’m not sure that much happened. When the bell did ring the sprint for the finish line had already begun and was in full swing. As a tail ender I couldn’t see exactly what happened at the front (I was focused on trying to pass more people and make it to the finish line before I collapsed) but Alysha Keith of Otago came 1st and Cassie Cameron got 5th.
So the 2010 National Age Grade Track Cycling Championships had come to a close. It was a beautiful night so some of us walked home in the dark. Back at the motel we had a mini party before bed to celebrate everything that we had achieved as a team and as individuals. Over the four days of competition Wellington centre had earned 6 medals. Eleanor Pepperell got bronze in the 500m Sprint, Mark Coburn got bronze in the Masters 1 Scratch race, Gary Humpherson of Masters 3 got bronze in the Scratch Race and silver in the Pursuit, and Gabriella Peach and Beth Balmer got bronze in their Under 19 Team Sprint. We also had many Wellington riders getting through to finals, or to the next round in their events. We came to Invercargill as one of the weakest and smallest centres, yet we have left our mark: Wellington is now a fully functional competitive centre.
I learnt a lot of thing at Nationals, including how to ride on rollers, and I managed to touch my toes. The race experience is something that is incredibly valuable and cannot be gained any other way than by racing at a high level. I owe so much to my parents for supporting me, helping me and making my cycling possible. I am also grateful to my sponsor Bike Barn Wellington and to Barry Johnson for giving up his time to come down and be our manager, and Craig Peach for being the handler and mechanic. To Gary Gibson I owe so much for teaching me so much and being an amazing coach. I had an amazing time at Nationals and achieved lots of personal goals. I am looking forward to next year.
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