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07/06/2008: "North Island Secondary Schools Road Race"

A number of club riders participated in the North Island Secondary Schoolls Championships in Ngaruawahia. The weather was near perfect, although cold breezes weren't too enjoyable. A crisp winter day!

Although official results are not in I will mention a few comments:

Crashes were a plenty!!! In one race about 50 riders were affected in a crash. The eventual winners were given an easy handicap when most contestants were taken out.

The Junior U15 girls race had so many crashes we lost count... some people lost a lot of time by lying on the side of the road complaining, not hurt but just given such a fright to fall... as Bev would say, "Get tough!"


U16 Boys


Louis Wright - Matamata College - Was 6th in this hotly contested event.

Scott Jackson - Morrinsville College - put in a brave effort, although dropped managed to finish and was still some way ahead of tail enders.

Gavin Wolfe - Morrinsville College tried his best but was still facing woes after being sick for a short period, was vomiting on the course and retired early.

U15 Girls

Georgina Read - Otomotai College (Tauranga) was about 12th in this grade. A fantastic effort from Georgina as this was the first proper race that she has managed to stay in the bunch and finish with them! A number of crashes in this race were dodged and for this we think Georgina deserves a medal! She came out of this event thinking a lot more positive about her riding, and has set some respectable goals for the nationals later this year - watch this space!

U15 Boys

Charlie Murrell - Morrinsville College put in a great ride to be in the top 13 or thereabouts. This was in the second bunch, he put in a consistent performance throughout the race. The winner of this event rode away on the first lap of six and deservedly won the event.

U20 Boys

Jacob Lim - Morrinsville College put in a great effort today in this very tough contest (hosting a number of junior NZ representative athletes). With all the hype of these riders about him Jacob went on to perform really well. He was dropped early on the piece but kept going for the 3 lap 45km race. This was Jacob's first race in Secondary Schools competitions. Next time he knows what to expect, and hopes to put in some quality training in before fronting up to the line! Jacob is more used to long distance triathlon events, but enjoyed his first experience at bunch racing.