We stayed the night at a local motel, and as we didn't need to be at the track until midday, spent the morning exploring Dubbo - including a visit to the Old Dubbo Goal which Toby had enjoyed visiting on his Year 4 excursion. He showed me around the place like he owned it, and it was nice to see how easily he could recall the stories that went along with the various displays and areas.
We then went to the velodrome. Toby warmed up, rolled out (they have to do a technical check of the bikes plus check helmets before they are cleared to race), and then waited for his time trial. The time trial is a one lap "fang it" ride - and he finished about 10th out of 15 in his group. It was great that Mim turned up to see him do his time trial - lovely to see her and catch up amongst all the proceedings.
Mim and a nervous Toby
Starting blocks for the lonely time trial
After a long wait he competed in the scratch races and only narrowly missed out on the semifinals. At this point I should mention that of all 15 cyclists, he is the youngest in the age group and the final result in this race (after the repocharges) would have seen him in 8th place.
Toby leading the 4th of 6 laps
On the trainer in between races
Stretches with some of the other Wagga contingent
Toby's friend Millie - they both drank a full cup of beetroot juice both mornings! Hilarious!!
We then watched the seniors race, and just like the Golden Wheel in Wagga, it was amazing. This time though, we had multiple Australian track champions, and the sprint between the current #1 and #2 was just brilliant. At one point they completely stopped for around 30 secs (if you've ever watched track cycling on tv you will know what I mean), before belting around the track at over 70km/hr for a photo finish!!
We jumped into our beds at around 9:30pm and were back at the velodrome at 8am for day two. This time it was the derbys, which are pretty dangerous, and Toby once again only narrowly missed out on the semifinals - this time by about half a wheel. Despite being his own worst critic, he was pretty pleased with how he did overall, and once he was told that he is one of the top 10 track cyclists for U13 boys in NSW he became a little more pleased.
Toby in the Repocharge - beaten by half a wheel by the guy in blue
(he does have the better bike though)
(he does have the better bike though)
On the trainer again
Toby just before he attacked from the back - a seriously exciting race.
We then sat through the finals and the presentations and headed home. I was surprised how emotionally draining it was, as the competition was really fierce and we were all willing the Wagga contingent to do well. Wagga walked away with a swag of medals - Toby would have liked one, but unfortunately he's in the younger year for the U13s which makes it very hard. Next year though the older U13s turn into U15s and are no longer in his group - so watch out!!
WOW! Congratulations to Toby! and thanks for that wonderful wrap up Andrew... I wish we could have seen it all in person, but you've painted a great picture for us.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Toby, next year will be amazing and I hope we can be there.
ReplyDeleteWell done Toby! It was great to be able to see you race on Saturday.
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