Simon's story of the NSW Team Pursuit Championships

On Saturday 14th of February three teams from Vikings/MACT wound their way down to the Dunc Gray velodrome (via the Grocers Bike shop and Cafe in Goulburn, which has become a traditional pilgrimage) to compete in the NSW Masters All Ages Club Team Pursuit Championships — an inelegant title for an otherwise beautiful event.

Part of the beauty was that one of the MACT teams emerged victorious, more of which later. But the main appeal stems from the fact that all teams have spent the past few years going down to this race, gradually improving both their style and their equipment such that they have transformed themselves from something like this...



Knobbly kneed collection of old fellas

to this...(pick the one who didn't want to be seen in an aero helmet!)



Lean mean (and kitted out) pursuiting machine

Make no mistake, this is not a race of pure grunt. It takes a lot of practice to master fine details such as working together to keep a smooth pace, swap turns smoothly without wasting energy, hold a wheel very closely etc etc. And despite all the practice we still managed to look a little shaky at times (although my tendency to look down at the speedo did contribute to that, I confess).

But when it all comes together, the sensation is pure exhilaration. Feeling the pace and the g-forces going through the corners as part of a well-oiled machine is pretty amazing.



On the night all three Vikings/MACT teams performed well. The first team of Simon Claringbold (Club Prez), Bill Laing, Steve Jones and Gary Aisbitt were setting a fast pace, right up until they caught the other team, whose lead rider swung up the track in the path of our riders not once, but twice, costing them a lot of time. Still they managed a pretty good time 3.42 for the 3000 metres.

The next team up, comprising Al Bontjer, Gerry Elias, Jim Veal and Anthony O'Connor (aka Sluggo) also rode well to post a time of 3:51 (1o seconds better than last year) after being caught by one of the faster teams (though Jim Veal seemed pretty determined to catch and pass them back again!)



Al leads them out while Jim's on third wheel, with his 'let me at 'em look.

The final team (who was ranked 8th on the night) consisted of Neil Skipper, Michael Aisbitt, Mark Harris and myself (Simon Niemeyer). The first three are all either, World (Mick) or former National Champs so we had a pretty classy team, but we had to do a pretty good time to make the finals. We'd figured we needed to put in a 3 minute 28 seconds 3000m to be in the running -- which works out at a riding pace of around 54-5 kph. Despite a few hiccups and an uneven pace due to jitters (I remember looking down at the speedo at the end of my first turn when our pace was over 58kph thinking we might be going a tad too fast). But we managed to hold it together for a time of 3:28.7, which was good enough to qualify us in second place and make the final for the Gold Medal ride off.

In the Gold Medal event we were pitched against the much fancied Bicisport team, which has traditionally cleaned up this whole event in the recent past. Bicisport is a top tier, cashed up team with a lot of classy riders, one of which is about to attempt a second go at the world hour record in our age group. Now, almost no-one thought we were going to beat this team (including, I must admit, myself) and this is what makes the victory even more special.

We started our run very well, though we may have gone out a tad too fast. We pulled ahead of Bicisport by half a second or so and held that for the first 1000m. In the second 1000m they worked their way back up until they passed us to gain a .3 second gap. This is where Neil Skipper, tenacious as ever, stepped up and put in a blinder over two laps to edge us back up toward the front. We were all starting to suffer by this point...I mean, check out this photo!...



... but we could smell victory and weren't about to give up.

When Neil pulled up Mick sensed that we needed to do something special to pluck victory away from the heretofore undisputed champs. So, with-teeth-so-gritted-I'm-amazed-he-didn't-get-lockjaw Mick wound the pace up even more as part of a sacrificial effort to drag the team up to the opposition. And this he did! Now spent, Mick swung up the track and yelled out "off" so that the three of us remaining knew that it was now up to us to keep it going for the last two laps.

The other team was starting to panic by this stage, maybe not being used to being put under pressure. They lost contact with the fourth rider and then, for a time, their third. (The time for the pursuit is taken from the rear wheel of the third rider, so you need them to stay in contact.)

The opposition gets the whiff of defeat.

I then tried to lift the pace even more, sensing that we weren't quite yet over the top of the other team enough to get the win. I gave it all I had, but when I swung up after a lap I realised the Mark had fallen back off my wheel ever so slightly and and had been pushing a fair bit of wind, giving it everything he had to stay in contact. (We've since realised from the photo's that Mark's 'wings out' position must have cost him some serious watts, making all this even more impressive.)


Check out the wings on this fella! You'd think forgoing the aero helmet was handicap enough!

Mark then went on to bring us home. When we crossed the line we heard two loud 'bang's in quick succession (indicating when the teams finished). So we knew it was close. It took two laps rolling around the circuit for us to realise that we'd won!! I swear it's the first time I'd ever punch the air and raised my arms in victory, but this one was particularly sweet. All of us were elated and we rolled around the track a few more times to soak it all in as we congratulated each other. The commissaires, usually quick to sweep riders off the track after their event, dropped officiousness in favour of a sense of occasion and gave us our moment of glory, congratulating us as we rode down the shute back into the centre of the track.



Ah, sweet victory.

More photos from Action Snaps and Ernie Smith here
Full results from the team pursuits and carnival.

The Vikings masters group was extremely competitive, had fun and were an approachable part of the community. The Vikings squad can be commended for riding well as a team in both the pursuits and the scratch and handicap races in the carnival.