Dubbo wheels its way to cycling nirvana
FORMER Dubbo Cycle Club President Matt Gilbert and Geoff Mann take an in-depth look at the current champions and some more incredible performances.
It’s been a busy but immensely productive time for local cyclists in recent weeks as our female and male riders have clipped their cleats into the pedals for ultimate rewards.
State Track Titles for U15 U17, U19, Elite and Masters have been held over the last two weeks as well as the Australian Championships in U15, U19 and Elite. In addition, the Oceania Titles for U19 and Elite riders were contested, starting on Saturday and running until the end of this week.
On top of this domestic activity, Haylee Fuller is racing in Belgium with a professional women’s team in cycling’s heartland.
Hard work creates exceptional athletes and brings rewards.
NSW State Track Titles at Dunc Gray Velodrome 25th 27th February -
Dylan Eather Gold in Time Trial; Bronze in the Scratch Race; bronze in the 1km TT
Kurt Eather three Gold – Pointscore, Scratch Race and Omnium; Silver in the Pursuit; Bronze in the Time Trial. He also powered from the scratch mark to win the Sydney Cup on Wheels, the most sought after Wheelrace in NSW;
Tyler Puzicha – three Gold in JW19 Time Trial, Sprint and Keirin; Gold in the Oceania Time Trial.
Ben Anderson took Gold in the Keirin & Time Trial with Silver medals in the 1km Time Trial and Pursuit with two Bronze in the Scratch Race and Pointscore. Others who performed well: Isabelle Russell Under 17 Women and Emily Hines, Under 15 Women. While only fractionally outside the medal positions all weekend in numerous events, both had long race schedules mixing with the best in the state and chalking up valuable racing on the boards.
Erica Lunney had a blitz on the boards with Gold medals in the Scratch Race, Time Trial & Pointscore and Silver in the Sprint. Not bad for an athlete returning to racing after 20 years. Erica prepared well and did the club and her cycling-loving family very proud.
Heather Makeham took a medal of each colour – Gold in Pursuit; Silver in the Scratch Race and a Bronze in the Time Trial. Heather
has never missed a chance to improve and has risen to the occasion.
Greame Peadon joined the team after receiving some encouragement and won a Silver in the pursuit & Bronze in the Scratch Race and Time Trial events. Graeme is very glad he travelled and now has added more medals to an already packed Peadon’ pool room.
Emily Williams took the trifecta with three gold – Scratch Race as well as both Elite and Masters Pursuits. She has not missed a training session and is in top form building on a very successful road season.
Emily, Heather and Erica joined forces in the Team Sprint to take another Gold for the Dubbo Green Machine – the G Force!
Darrell Wheeler again proved age is just a number winning all five of his events in the Golden division. The ‘old man’ showed his impeccable preparation left nothing in doubt and he now casts his eyes on more National titles.
The Dubbo Green Machine has amassed an astounding 22 Gold, five Silver and eight Bronze medals at State Level already this year.
National Titles, Brisbane 24-30 March
“The Youngster”, Emily Hines
claimed a very well earned sixth in the U15 Scratch Race in the midst of some furious racing. She also competed well in the Pointscore Pursuit, Sprint, Keirin & Time Trial, thoroughly enjoying her experience and getting very close to the podium. Em has come home with a fist full of top-ten finishes.
Isabelle Russell took a magnificent Gold in the Teams Pursuit and pulled on her first green and gold jersey. This brought great joy to club mates. She added a Bronze in the Madison capping off a very successful time at the Nationals.
Danny Barber had a very tough time with the big hitters who are or were previous world champions but managed Silver in the Team Sprint. In the Keirin he was nipping at the wheels of the riders who are set to represent Australia at upcoming Commonwealth and Olympic Games.
On the other side of the planet, Haylee Fuller is gaining first-hand experience in the tough European professional circuit. Hayls is keeping a blog going from her base in Belgium. It makes interesting reading on the Dubbo City Toyota website. We get an inside look at her adventures in the Women’s World Professional Circuit with the IBCT Team.
Haylee finished just two minutes behind the current world road champion, Elisa Balsamo at the Dwars door Vlaanderen which is part of the spring race classics. Non-stop climbs, crashes and not to mention the cold is providing invaluable experience for our strong young champion.
Haylee is in the thick of it with the best in the world in a country whose national sport is cycling. She is “getting on with her apprenticeship”.
Oceania Titles 2nd-5th of April At the Oceania Titles in Brisbane’s Anna Mears Velodrome shortly after the Australian titles’ medals are only part of the story. The collision of Australia and New Zealand had revealed explosive news about the preparation of an upcoming international competition.
Tyler Puzhicha’s Silver in the Sprint saw her a whisker from being an Oceania Champion. The magnificent race was a good old fashioned sprinting clash with her rival from the Tracknats, Stevenson from QLD.
Kurt and Dylan Eather came up against a ferocious New Zealand team set a target to win as many of the endurance events for the Elite division as possible and to inform other teams members about their goal!
The racing was relentless with speeds at 55km/hr mark repeated race after race. Kurt finished with the front-runners but Dylan found the pace a bit too draining. That is to be expected as he is quite a few years their junior, but has time on his side.
Danny Barber took a fantastic run at the best in the world – Matt Glaetzer, Matthew Richardson & John Trovis in the run up the Keirin but as the newcomer and many years their Junior, he lacks a bit of top end speed that only time and precise training will bring.
Danny is a bit short on raw horsepower against rivals who resemble powerlifters. Despite this, the trajectory for him is far above what is expected at this point and many great things are anticipated for the cyclist commentators have tagged “The Boy From Dubbo”.
The interest Danny has commanded is reminiscent of the great Bob Spears who was the original “Boy from Dubbo”. Could this be a window into what is ahead for the hugely talented Barber? Watch this space.