Racing on grass returns to track

Cyclists, get ready - grass track cycling is about to get under way at Whangarei's Kensington Park.
Marsden Wheelers Cycling Club race organiser Barry Ruddell said the club wanted to try something  different this  season to keep its members on their bikes and enjoying the sport.

 "Because we don't have a velodrome in Whangarei we decided to approach Ian Babe at Whangarei Athletics Club to see if we could use the athletics track at Kensington," he said.
Babe responded enthusiastically to the request, which brought back a few memories from his youth when he used to race his bike on the grass track.
"It [Whangarei Athletics Club] was Whangarei Athletics Cycling Club back then, and cycling was interspersed with club events at night. So you would run 400m and then jump on your bike and race 800m - you were stuffed before you started," he said.
Babe idolised older members of the club,  heroes like Richard Dixon and the Hannah twins - "strong cyclists with thighs of steel".
"We used to wait at the 200m mark because we knew what was going to happen - you could always expect a crash at the tight bends ... it was really thrilling."
Grass track racing came and went through the decades until the 80s, Ruddell said, and Marsden Wheelers were excited about bringing the sport back to Whangarei.
With  competitors such as promising youngster  Matthew Zenovich - who was recently named in the Under-17 National Development squad -  the event should result in some  quick times.
A bunch of between six to 10 cyclists will start each race, clipped in to their pedals.
There are several events, including the all-out 400m dash, the 800m, and for the quickest competitors, an out-in race, where riders race over five laps and the last person over the line in each lap drops out of the race.
"Overall, it is meant to be a fun, social type of event ...
it could be a fizzer, but we will try it out and see what happens," Ruddell
said.
Organisers are hoping for around 30 competitors to take part in Friday's event.

 
 Registration is at 6pm, with racing getting underway at 6.30pm.