Published: 14 July 2010
With inclement weather forecast the slightly depleted field of twenty keen youth riders signed on to tackle an endurance heavy program.
The two miniscule Under 8s, Euan Macleod and Connor Hindman, were sent on their way at the head of the first 6 lap points race showing they'd already learnt the art of through-and-off working together as the rest of the field set off in pursuit. As the field caught Euan and Connor there was a temporary lull as they headed into the first points lap on the sound of the whistle. Initiating the first move for points was the rapidly improving Luis Hindman. Sensing an opportunity to catch a wheel Euan made a frantic effort and sat nestled barley visible amongst the older riders as the pace increased towards the line. Under 12 Cameron Thompson sat on the wheel of Toni Griffiths rounding her in the home straight for maximum points in the first sprint. Toni may well have taken the maximum had she raised herself from the saddle in the sprint! (Something for Toni to work on I feel) The race then spread out around the track with groups forming almost according to age category. Under 14 Toni Griffiths took the win from Rachel Ansell in the girls. Cameron Thompson, again looking super strong for one so young, headed up the Under 12s from Danny Griffiths in second and Emma Pitt in third. Anna Linehan and Max Reed were one, two in the Under 10s and Euan Macleod took maximum points from Connor Hindman in the Under 8s.
The combined Under 14 and Under 16s race started at a very steady rate until Jason Brown punched off the front in an attempt to bag some early points. Jason's move was a little too early and the rest of the field stirred into action passing him on their way to the line. First year Under 16 Jason Pitt confirmed his authority with a seemingly effortless collection of maximum points while Josh Ansell and Jack Smith worked extremely hard to get their names on the board. Both Jack and Josh have genuine potential and show encouraging signs of improvement. With a little more experience and time on the bike both have potential to step up a level and animate races themselves. As the race progressed Jason Pitt and Under 14 Max Steadman broke clear and worked well together at the head of the race while the heavily bandaged Jamil Gaida made a couple of supreme efforts to get across, which he managed only to be dropped as the pace increased yet again. Pitt, Smith and Ansell took the honors in the Under 16s and Steadman, Daniel Lansley and Gaida in the Under 14s.
So who does know the distance of the unknown distance race?
Half the field it would seem. They obviously knew they were in for the long haul as they got off at a rather pedestrian rate. Under 10 Anna Linehan eased to the front looking extremely smooth while the others seemed content to wait. The group stayed together until a nod and a wink from Jason Pitt to Max Steadman saw them break away for the second race in succession with an attentive Josh Ansell this time latching on. These three moved away to take the places but not before Jason Brown and Cameron Thompson had both made notable efforts to get across from the bunch. How many laps was it in the end?
Following some overt posturing from Stephen Bradbury in the senior 10 lap Scratch race, the youths were up next for their sprints.
The first heat pitted the two Under 14 girls Toni Griffiths and Rachel Ansell against Under 12 Joseph Linehan. Joe took a fairly comfortable win from Toni with Rachel in third.
The second heat saw Under 14s Jamil Gaida, Harvey Watson of Velocity Bikes, Max Steadman, Daniel Lansley and his younger sibling Matthew line up. On paper this looked set to be a close affair. It wasn't to disappoint with the early running being set by Daniel Lansley with the others lining out across the track in the run for the line. Daniel taking the win from Max with Harvey an extremely close third.
Heat three was a race between the aforementioned Under 8s Euan Macleod and Connor Hindman and Under 10s Anna Linehan and Max Reed. A watchful start led into a race within a race. As Max's superior leg speed took him away from Anna in the home straight Euan and Connor fought tooth and nail behind in their own personal battle with Connor finally outrunning Euan to the line.
The fourth heat between Emma Pitt, Max Rigby, Luis Hindman and Cameron Thompson started in much the same cautious fashion as the other sprints. With 200 hundred to go Cameron attacked gapping both Max and Danny who battled one another all the way to the line with Max flailing his bike to second while Danny generated his speed in a more elegant manner for third.
Heat five was a match between the Under 16s Jason Pitt, Jason Brown, Jack Smith and Josh Ansell. It was Jason Pitt's supreme mid-season form that took him to a comfortable win from Josh Ansell with Jack Smith in third.
The final heat, number six, was contested between Toni Griffiths, Daniel Lansley, Max Steadman and Joseph Linehan. Daniel made the early move controlling the race from the front with Max in second and Toni in third.
The final youth race of the evening is normally a single 10 lap Scratch race for all age categories. This was split into two races with the Under 8s, Under 10s and Under 12s off before the Under 14s and Under 16s concluded the youth races for the evening.
As the raced progressed it became obvious that tactics were being carefully considered. Firstly, Euan Macleod saved his maximum efforts for the precise moment when a larger and stronger group of riders was set to pass. By doing this he used their speed to take him away from his main rival Connor Hindman. Connor fought a valiant battle twice coming back to Euan only to see him use the same tactic to get away again this time finally saying away for the Under 8 win.
Of most interest were the group containing Under 12 strongman Cameron Thompson and an extremely attentive and mentally sharp Emma Pitt. As the bunch entered the penultimate lap Cameron continued to wait, as instructed, within the bunch seemingly assuming he'd out-kick the others in the run to the line. As the group headed towards the bell Emma kicked away from the group gaining a significant gap which she continued to hold into the back straight. As the bunch rounded the top corner Cameron made his attack but hadn't factored the wind that hit him hard a he tried to chase Emma down. He made an initial impression before the effort became too much and Emma rounded the final corner to take a win delighting those who'd witnessed her cunning. It was a brilliant piece of thinking and a wonderful show of track craft from one so young. Very impressive!
The final 10 lap Scratch race saw a rare defeat for Jason Pitt with an extremely good effort from Under 14 Daniel Lansley pipping him on the line. With hindsight Jason may claim that he was saving himself for much greater efforts later in the evening, but from where I was seated it looked very much as if Jason was beaten fairly and squarely. As Jason has experienced in the senior 20k a little self-belief goes a very long way!
As a conclusion, I'd like to reiterate the praise offered to both Max Steadman and Jason Pitt in Guy's report for their fantastic performances in the senior 20k. Well done!