After being forced to miss a round of Seight Sprint Wars a few weeks ago due to Miss Rona, it was fantastic to be back on the boards at the Adelaide Superdrome on Monday night. With many SASI & PPA athletes doing a pre-race flying 200m qualifying, there was only a few other riders needing to do a qualifying ride once racing commenced (including a PB effort from tandem pair, PACC’s Madelene McNeil and Caitlin Ward). So it was quickly straight into the Match Sprint rounds.
After South Australia's last COVID lockdown forced the postponement of the AusCycling Cyclo-Cross State Championships (pencil in Sunday 10 October for those!) people were eager for some sun and a race with 125 riders entering today's final round of the Crossfire Cup, supported by Focus Bike Australia and Zero Friction Cycling. Although there hadn't been much rain, the long grass was very wet for practice and standing water on areas of the moss created a few sparse patches of slick mud - just enough to catch some riders out (here's looking at you, B-Grade Men first corner!).
We were back in town for second round of the 2021 Focus Crossfire Cup, in Park 24/Tampawardli/Ellis Park aka "Not the Circus"in the Adelaide CBD. Not the Circus has been the scene of biblical (Mud! Hail! Flood! Fire! eg epic 'Cross) weather over the last 10 years but once more this winter were we treated to quite a sunny morning with a light sprinkle of rain that only really fell during the women's race, as customary.
It was an interesting field that took to the boards of the Adelaide Superdrome on Tuesday night as Round 2 of the Seight Sprint Wars got underway on a chilly Adelaide evening. With most of the SASI Endurance squad and a few Podium Potential Academy riders thrown into the mix with the SASI Sprinters and other local Track Sprinters, it was one of the largest fields seen at a Sprint Wars event. This was always going to throw up some unconventional and close racing!
Port Adelaide Cycling Club opened the 2021 AusCycling National Cyclo-Cross series with two rounds at the Adelaide Super-Drome with dry, warm and dusty conditions continuing into our 'winter' season. The addition of new 'Stairway to heaven' stairs in Foresters' Forest stormwater bund, combined with loose and sandy conditions yeilded 'tricker and harder than it looked' racing.
The first round of the 2021 'winter' season returned to Port Adelaide to race adjacent the Port Canal. In previous years at 'Goonbag park' we've been treated to a slick and slippery course, but with an absence of rain we were treated to a Sunday dusty sand bowl - and three-corner jacks that hadn't softened up yet. The off camber sections were tricky nevertheless as tyres cracked through the hard crust to uncover soft sand and even more three-corner jacks!
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After a year or so hiatus, what better date to recommence the Star Wars themed Seight Sport Sprint Wars than on May the 4th (Be With You). With an interesting mix of experienced and first timer Elites and Juniors incorporating a smattering of ‘not-the-usual-suspects’ endurance riders, it was sure to be a fascinating night of Match Sprinting.
What a fantastic way to spend Easter Saturday! Cross Hot Cross was a fantastic family friendly event with over 70 riders from 5 - 62 years old competing in unusually hot conditions.
The biggest question in the car park this morning was by how much Chris Harper (Norwood) would break the course record. Conditions were near perfect, overcast, a little humid with a light southerly and only a slight chance of getting pooped on by a Corella, so little surprise that the course record and a number of PBs fell.
Sunday mornings. Reserved for sleeping in, late breakfasts and lazy mornings spent in PJs. Or, if you're not right in the head, you get up at dawn to punish yourself in the race of truth!