A warm and fine day greeted the riders as they signed on for the start of the Track league at Palmer Park in Reading, which is now in its 53rd year, having started in 1955 and has been running constantly, apart from one year where the track facility was closed for maintenance.
Some of the country's best riders have graced the track with their presence and this evening ex-Derny National Champion, Bryan Taylor, showed us he still has a great deal of speed and strength … but more on the results in a moment.
We also saw a huge field of Youth and Junior riders, many from the local Palmer Park Velo club and this shows the continued trend in popularity that cycling has had in the last few years.
We’ll start with the Senior races, which included a 10 lap Hare & Hounds, a Sprint competition , a Devil, an Unknown distance and finally the 20km Endurance scratch race.
In the Senior Hare & Hounds and Devil Take The Hindmost races, the A categories were both won by Bryan Taylor, followed by strongman Steve Legg, who it was great to have back to the league after a couple of years out of the scene.
Legg showed he’d lost none of his power, by storming to victory in the A’s Unknown Distance, ahead of Nick Abraham.
For the B’s the Hare & Hound and Devil were both won by Simon Schmidt, who promptly asked to be moved up into the A’s Category!
The Sprint competition was, as always, a fiercely competitive event and with three heats of 5 in the A’s and four heats of 6 in the B’s, there were some tight battles for the win which was the only place that would make it through to the final.
The A’s final was made up of three very fast athletes, Lee Povey, John Paul and Sam Serruya. Povey is a well known sprinter and as current European Masters champion in his age group, he was the man to beat. And beaten he was, by the extremely talented and determined John Paul. Paul accelerated over the top of Povey on the final bend to win with Serruya’s charge coming too late.
John Paul leading Lee Povey to win the A Sprint
The B’s final saw an endurance effort victory from Gavin Spiers, as he went from the gun, opening up a small gap, which he held and managed to hold off the late charge of …..
The Women’s Sprint Final saw a very close battle with riders 4 abreast as they closed on the finish line and it was Emma Patterson whose strength powered her bike ahead of Emily Hogge in the final metres to win. Cassie Gledhill took third place from Jayne Paine.
Emma Patterson, (third from right), powers passed Emily Hogge (second from right) and Jayne Paine to win the Womens Sprint Final.
In the Women’s endurance races Jayne Paine took the win in the the Hare & Hounds, Cassie Gledhill won the Devil and Emma Patterson was first women over the line in the 20km Endurance race.
The AW Cycles 20 km Endurance race saw a field of over 70 starters and as we saw many times last year, the action kicked off with a from the gun with an effort from David Jack, who opened up an early half lap lead on the field. Jack hung out there for 12 laps before the field saw fit to bring him back.
More attacks saw riders try to break free of the main group, with Stephen Bradbury, Cameron Swarbrick and even Jack again, but with 7 laps to go, the cord finally snapped. Nick English made a huge effort and was joined quickly by Bryan Taylor and they powered away from the field to open up an unassailable lead.
In the end, Taylor had far too much speed for English on the run in and took the victory comfortably, with the field charging in 20 seconds later led by John Paul.
Bryan Taylor takes a comfortable victory in the 20km Endurance.
Youth Races
A field of 27 youth riders aged between Under 10’s and Under 16’s took on an array of events including a Flying 200m TT, a 6 lap Hare & Hounds, their own 500m Sprint competition and finally a 10 lap Scratch race.
Palmer Park Velo (in lime green) is the most popular club in the region.
In the A Category (U16’s) it was a clean sweep for Dan Maslin who, like last year, dominated much of the racing with a very fast sprint and also great endurance.
Dan Maslin wins all four races on the night.
In the B Category (U14’s) there was a great deal of close racing with Jason Pitt and Daniel Lansley sharing the same fastest time in the Flying 200m. Harvey Watson took the Hare and Hounds and Jamil Gaida showed the craftiest mind to win the Sprint competition.
Jason Pitt then went on to record his second win of the evening in the 10 lap scratch race.
In the C Category (Under 12 & 10’s) it was David Barnes who shone, winning the 200 m TT, the Scratch and the Sprint competitions, with Matthew Lansley taking the Hare and Hounds event to avoid a Barnes clean sweep.
The Girls (U14) races were dominated by another Barnes, this time older sister Emily - who also won three events, the 200m TT, the Hare & Hounds and the Sprint, with Katie Metalli showing she had greater endurance by winning the 10 lap Scratch.
Emily Barnes leads the field round in the 10 Lap Scratch race
Report by David Jack of www.Ceramicspeed.co.uk
Youth Results
200m Time Trial
U16
1 Dan MASLIN Hillingdon Slipstreamers 13.24
2 Frazier CARR Palmer Park Velo RT 13.71
3 William MACKE Palmer Park Velo RT 13.84
4 Dominic BUTLER Palmer Park Velo RT 15.39
U14
1 Jason PITT Palmer Park Velo RT 15.09
2 Daniel LANSLEY Palmer Park Velo RT 15.09
3 Jamil GAIDA Palmer Park Velo RT 15.13
4 Duncan LAWRENCE Palmer Park Velo RT 15.16
5 Harvey WATSON Velocity 15.86
6 John ELLIS Palmer Park Velo RT 16.11
7 Max STEDMAN Reading CC 16.37
U14 Girls
1 Emily BARNES Palmer Park Velo RT 14.99
2 Katie METALLI Palmer Park Velo RT 16.02
3 Martha MCALLISTER Palmer Park Velo RT 18.79
U12
1 David BARNES Palmer Park Velo RT 16.21
2 Reg PAY Palmer Park Velo RT 16.38
3 Matthew LANSLEY Palmer Park Velo RT 16.69
4 Joseph LINEHAN Palmer Park Velo RT 16.86
5 George NEEDHAM Palmer Park Velo RT 16.92
6 Abigail DENTUS Palmer Park Velo RT 17.23
7 Sveva MARAIS Palmer Park Velo RT 18.02
U10
1 Callum MACLEOD Palmer Park Velo RT 17.81
2 Carl JOLLY Hillingdon Slipstreamers 18.04
3 Emma PITT Palmer Park Velo RT 18.70
4 Euan MACLEOD Palmer Park Velo RT 24.28
Match Sprint 500m
U16
1 Dan MASLIN Hillingdon Slipstreamers
2 William MACKE Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Frazier CARR Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Dominic BUTLER Palmer Park Velo RT
U14 Boys
1 Jamil GAIDA Palmer Park Velo RT
2 Jason PITT Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Duncan LAWRENCE Palmer Park Velo RT
4 John Palmer ELLIS Park Velo RT
U14 Girls
1 Emily BARNES Palmer Park Velo RT
2 Katie METALLI Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Martha MCALLISTER Palmer Park Velo RT
U12
1 David BARNES Palmer Park Velo RT
2 Reg PAY Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Abigail DENTUS Palmer Park Velo RT
Hare & Hounds 6 lap
U16
1 Dan MASLIN Hillingdon Slipstreamers
2 William MACKE Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Frazier CARR Palmer Park Velo RT
4 Dominic BUTLER Palmer Park Velo RT
U14
1 Harvey WATSON Velocity
2 Jason PITT Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Jamil GAIDA Palmer Park Velo RT
4 Duncan LAWRENCE Palmer Park Velo RT
5 Max STEDMAN Reading CC
6 Daniel LANSLEY Palmer Park Velo RT
7 John ELLIS Palmer Park Velo RT
U14 Girls
1 Emily BARNES Palmer Park Velo RT
2 Katie METALLI Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Martha MCALLISTER Palmer Park Velo RT
U12
1 Matthew LANSLEY Palmer Park Velo RT
2 David BARNES Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Reg PAY Palmer Park Velo RT
4 Joseph LINEHAN Palmer Park Velo RT
5 Abigail DENTUS Palmer Park Velo RT
6 George NEEDHAM Palmer Park Velo RT
7 Sveva MARAIS Palmer Park Velo RT
U10
1 Carl JOLLY Hillingdon Slipstreamers
2 Callum MACLEOD Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Emma PITT Palmer Park Velo RT
4 Euan MACLEOD Palmer Park Velo RT
Scratch Race 10 Lap
U16
1 Dan MASLIN Hillingdon Slipstreamers
2 Frazier CARR Palmer Park Velo RT
3 William MACKE Palmer Park Velo RT
4 Dominic BUTLER Palmer Park Velo RT
U14
1 Jason PITT Palmer Park Velo RT
2 Jamil GAIDA Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Harvey WATSON Velocity
4 Max STEDMAN Reading CC
5 Duncan LAWRENCE Palmer Park Velo RT
6 Daniel LANSLEY Palmer Park Velo RT
7 John ELLIS Palmer Park Velo RT
U14 Girls
1 Katie METALLI Palmer Park Velo RT
2 Emily BARNES Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Martha MCALLISTER Palmer Park Velo RT
U12
1 David BARNES Palmer Park Velo RT
2 Joseph LINEHAN Palmer Park Velo RT
3 George NEEDHAM Palmer Park Velo RT
4 Reg PAY Palmer Park Velo RT
5 Abigail DENTUS Palmer Park Velo RT
6 Sveva MARAIS Palmer Park Velo RT
7 Matthew LANSLEY Palmer Park Velo RT
U10's
1 Carl JOLLY Hillingdon Slipstreamers
2 Emma PITT Palmer Park Velo RT
3 Callum MACLEOD Palmer Park Velo RT
4 Euan MACLEOD Palmer Park Velo RT