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Tue, 21 Dec 2004

Wagga Track Racing Carnival - 09:33
I rode the Wagga Track Racing Carnival over the weekend. It was well run by the Wagga Wagga CC. Over 200 riders raced about 7-8 events on Saturday and another 4-5 on Sunday. I was surprised and impressed by the sheer speed of the Wheelrace (handicap). In the first two-lap wheel race heat I was in I could not get off the mark quick enough and I was left behind to jump into another group. The art of starting with a pusher is something that I will have to learn to do well in Australian track racing which is dominated by these wheelraces.
I did ride myself into second place in the last race of Saturday night, a 15 lap scratch race in d grade. Young women, who just happened to be champions in their field, surrounded me. In the end I was beaten by Sky-Lee Armstrong, I had seen her on TV, so I was not that disappointed. Tess Downing, Amanda Spratt and Katie Bates (i think) had also ridden in the race. One thing I can say about them - they are very aggressive and in no way afraid to attack. These races were not "roll around and then sprint" affairs, they were hard from the start with constant position changes and tactics going on.
It was quite enjoyable and hard. I enjoyed that time With Steve Hosking and his family, Steve rode well and Chloe also won a few races. She was also on a pretty hard handicap. Anthony O'Connor had a bit of a hard time in a very strong C grade bunch, but I do recall him winning on of his races. Thanks to Russ for giving me a push in the handicaps and for trying to sort out my riding. I was riding ugly as I did not have form, moving all about the bike to try and use more muscle than lung and I could not breathe right because of the recent hay fever attacks.

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