Matt Anson

We usually have a few Ansons at our races – Big Anson, Little Anson and Norma too. Here we meet Matt...
Name: Matt Anson (aka ‘Little Anson’)
Age: 18

Where do you live:
Kennington birth place of Kenny kevs brother “Calvin”

What is your job and where do you work?
Apprentice Fabricator at Australian High Performance Catamarans, Bendigo

How do you use your skills from building catamarans in BYR?
We’re able to get free mylar and cheap resin.

What’s the best about being in BYR?
Everyone has said it but it’s a good one: the mateship and good times we have at the dream Factory.

What’s part of BYR do you find most challenging?
Being fully commited to training and building the vehicle for a couple of months

Best HPV Moment or memory?
For me the best moment was winning my first 24 hour race, the 2007 Wonthaggi HPGP. We won by 39 laps.




What’s the best crash you’ve ever seen / been involved in ?
Well I haven’t been in too many big crashes myself but the best that I have witnessed was when Trisled’s ‘Chic-a-chow’ hit the pit lane pole at about 45 km/h.  
(They destroyed the cross member and there were pieces flying off the canopy. Chic-a-Chow is pictured below prior to that crash)

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How do you pick a team?

In Human Powered Vehicle racing, you only have 8 riding positions.
So how do you choose the riders from 10 fit, experienced and committed guys?

Our 2008 Australian International Pedal Prix Team. Pic from Pics08 Gallery

It's just not cricket...
It's not like footy or cricket where you can miss a week or a test and be back in the team for the next game.
We only race once or twice a year at best and we spend up to 10 months building our vehicles from scratch too. There's too much riding on it to sit one out. (pun intended)

We're not in the pro-peloton
It's not like a pro cycling squad either, who can pick their teams for the Classics, Tours or One-Day races based on riders strengths and race styles.
We are all HPV racers.

History Repeating?
In the past for Bendigo Youth Racing, we've rarely had an issue of too many riders.
In fact, Wonthaggi in '07 is the only time that we can recall where one rider elected to sit out.
In most cases our teams have come together in the final few weeks when the top 8 has become kinda obvious.
At other races, we have taken members to ride who were underdone fitness-wise because we simply didn't have a fully fit eight.

With 6 weeks to go, we've got 10 - 11 guys pushing for selection:
(in alphabetical order)
- Adam 'Gavin' King
- Cal Ridge
- Daryl 'Daz' King
- Dave Maud
- Deven Pearce
- Nige Preston
- Jarrod 'Chooka' Henderson)
- Troy Hutchins
- Charles (Mark Anson)
- Matt Anson

Here's some selection models we're looking at:

• What do you think is the best method?
• What experience have you had with your teams?

1. Team Poll
   Each team member nominates their top 8 riders - either rated 1-8 or simply 8 names on a slip. The votes are tallied and the results announced. Daz suggests that people need to be "honest and ‘think of the victory" when selecting their preferred rider line-up. They should choose "the 8 quickest riders who will bring the vehicle home safely."
   
   
2. Selectors Panel
   Similar to Cricket Australia I suppose, where a group of senior team members, ex-riders and neutral team friends choose the 8. "It's tough to do this way because you are choosing between friends and we're all deeply committed mates who have put in loads of work. It could be very personally scaring."
   
   
3. Ride-Off
   Either in a vehicle, on a road bike or on a wind-trainer, each rider is subjected to individual tests. Best 8 times get the places.
   "I don't really want to have one hour time trials in the race vehicle, because it will just end up on it's lid." BYR President Jarrod Henderson explained.
   
4. Self-Select
   We could simply wait until the final few weeks of our lead-up and those who are illness and injury free would either 'self-select' or 'self-omit'.

So, there's a few models we could use to pick our team.

• What do you think is the best method?
• What experience have you had with your teams?

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