Newcastle open & more disapointed organisers...

[Simon Llewellyn]

Guys it hasn't been a good weekend of opens. I rode the Newcastle open tonight and the organisers put up $2000 in prize money and only had about 18 riders in the open carnival excluding juniors. They announced that next year it won't be a nsw cycling open event but instead just an open club event open to all riders, with probably the same prize money. This means they don't have to find an available weekend in the opens carnival and they can run it when they like. Probably December when the track season is more alive and well...

As for me...


I was seeded no.2!


I managed to get on the podium though only in a scratch race...


I absolutely love the Velodrome!!!!


I rode my first open on training wheels for a very long time.


I saw a rider snap a cog! Which is absolutely incredible and I"m still not sure how it is possible unless it was home made!!??


I had an absolute ball racing...


& after all that I was so ill from my week of sleep deprivation and Jet lag that I didn't even manage to ride every race in the carnival. & basically my riding wasn't any better than this photo....

[mikesbytes]

Great riding Simon.

How many smack-a-roos did they pay for 3rd in the Scratch race?

[Simon Llewellyn]

$25, I basically got my entry fee back. It's rare that I ever pay to race when there's prize money on offer. & last night if I had of been feeling better I would have definitely made a lot more...

[Adrian E]

How many slices of pizza did you eat before the race?

[mikesbytes]

How many slices of pizza did you eat before the race?

Do you think that Simon's going to give away his secret pre-race preparation tatics?

[Huw]

Simon, are you saying that most track riders have lost interest by this time of year? Are events better attended in the early part of the season?

I'm amazed by the snapped cog!

[fixedgear]

I think that snapped cog might be one of those lightweight aluminium jobbies, I'd be amazed if it was a steel one.

[weiyun]

KCNC comes to mind.

[Simon Llewellyn]

Simon, are you saying that most track riders have lost interest by this time of year? Are events better attended in the early part of the season?

A lot of the top riders ride for the frf-nswis or drapac porche or one of the development squads so they are beginning their road base miles for the road season. It is difficult when an event is not for a full month after the last open & is only a country open. Even I announced my season was finished a month a go, I'm in the rebuilding phase for the new season already.

But in truth either the sport is struggling or trackies are a lazy bread? We'll see what numbers are like for FNWTR? I know though that a lot of guys have either had kids or are injured at present because when I tried to think about who didn't go and why none of them were available they all had good reasons...

But at the same time I've also got to be a bit critical of clubs like ours who are trying to get the numbers for our open and not sending riders to other peoples opens, for after all that how it should work...

[T-Bone]

KCNC comes to mind.

They don't make track stuff!! You should know better than that!!

[weiyun]

They don't make track stuff!! You should know better than that!!

Ok, you've got me...