Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix: Saturday Update

They're on track! Our 'Oldies' were feeling the heat like everyone else as the mecury pushed 30' today, but they were still loving it!

This sort of heat is a bit unusual for Wonthaggi, which has had it's share of rain, hail and icy cold nights since the first event here back in 97.

With an average age of 36 years young, Bendigo Oldies Racing are currently sitting happily in the top ten with no breakdowns or rollovers. A little bit of 2 wheelin' never goes astray though!

Here's an initial batch of pics, more to come when we're done and dusty!

Paul King, more than a little nervous, before his first stint.



Mike 'Turn-tapper' Turnbull, when is this man not happy?



Stuart Ridge, she'll be right mate... but we didn't say he go for 2 wheels!

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Elsewhere...

The first corner was a tight squeeze on the first lap...

... and the race was on between Ex-Pats and TruBlu.

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Bendigo Oldies Racing for Wonthaggi 2009

The 2009 Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix is once again creeping up very quickly with less than 2 months to go until the first 24hr for 2009. We decided as a team at the end of last year that BYR wont be taking to the track to defend our title in 2009.

However you will see a BOR (Bendigo Oldies Racing) vehicle out on the track in a refurbished BY-08. BOR is a team comprised of our Parents, Pit Crew, Former Teachers and people who have all gone out of their way to support us over the past years. In what will be a first for BYR our dedicated pit crew Chris Crowe and Marcus Sloane and Mike Turnbull will swap spanners for lycra as the rest of the team make their wonthaggi debut.

The normal riding team will perform a complete role reversal and see what the race is like on the other side of the pit wall. The BOR team may not have Youth on there side but if one thing is for sure, they will be out there giving 110% effort at all times.

The following are the members of Bendigo Oldies Racing and how they are linked to BYR:
Chris Crowe = Pit Crew.
Marcus Sloane = Pit Crew.
Mike Turnbull = Pit Crew and Flora Hill SC HPV teacher.
Paul King = Parent of Daryl & Gavin.
Stuart Ridge = Parent of Callan.
Ash Hill = Flora Hill HPV teacher.
Josh Pell = Helper at races.
Joel Derrick = Helper at race

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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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