Troy Hutchins

And finally, we meet Troy. At 16 years young, he’s the ‘grasshopper’ of our team who led Flora Hill SC’s victorious Old Bearded Mate team across the line first at last year’s RACV Energy Breakthrough. There’s a 9 year gap between the oldest team member (Nige) and Troy.

Name: Troy ‘Chomper’ Hutchins
Age: 16, the grass hopper of the team
Where do you live: Spring Gully. Home of Callan Ridge. (mothers lock your young daughters up!)

What is your job and where do you work?
Apprentice welder, East End Engineering, East Bendigo.

How does your job connect to BYR?
Well, Daryl might need a horse float or a dog trailer one day.

What’s the best about being in BYR? Having a laugh and the friendship.

What’s part of BYR do you find most challenging?
Getting everywhere without my P’s

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Old Bearded Mate wins pursuit race!

Bendigo Youth Racing's.....uhhh....hmmm- "Old Bearded Mate", has won the 1st Annual Cartridge World Bendigo HPV Pursuit Race. The event was a support race for the Bendigo International Madison, a world renowned event that features elite cyclists from around the globe.
With rego, scruteneering and rider briefings out of the way, the event finally started, but not before BY-06's..... uhhh......Old bearded mate's RH wheel was replaced due to several broken spokes- a remenant of the previous weekend.
10 qualifying rounds were held from 1130am, featuring 4 HPVs per round. The 4 fastest runs from each class would then make it to the final later in the day.
The field was quite large and of a high quality. BSSC had an off day, with none of their runs fast enough to make the finals. Instead these positions were taken by the Weeroona faired vehicles in the field- The above mentioned were very much in their comfort zone: the sleek shape which lacked the frontal area of the other Bendigo trikes excelled on the smooth, broad cornered velodrome. So much so that each class final was dominated by them!
BY-06 and BY-03 qualified easily for the community class. The Old bearded mate had 2 runs with Cal Ridge and Mark Anson at the wheel, whilst BY-03 had 1 run courtesy of Daryl King. Cal and Daryl qualified for the final.

The community final was a no-brainer for most. Cal the miracle child wasn't known for being slow, and neither was the vehicle he was piloting. The other no brainer was that Daryl loves a good pie, and thus wasn't in contention for the win. Sorry mate.

The final went like clockwork, with Cal easily accounting for the Ziptar vehicle and the Silver Bullet. Daryl finished 4th in BY-03.

Thanx to Cartridge World there were cash prizes on offer. Cal recieved $100 for his win and was quite estatic....until everyone realised he was still owing money from the Wonthaggi campaign. Cal was promptly rushed by the team.

Bendigo Youth Racing played other roles on the day. Several team members volunteered as race marshals, whilst others lended their legs to BSSC's vehicles for their runs in the community and secondary sections.
Bendigo Youth Racing would like to thank the organisers and Cartridge World for organising the event. It was run in a very professional, sorted manner and reflected the sport of Human Powered Vehicles in a very positive light. It was a fine day had by all!

The competitors line up for presentations

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