A large group of 31 riders came out to enjoy a beautiful summers evening with a clear blue sky and a light westerly breeze that eased as the night progressed. Three riders made the trip over from Wanganui. The theme of the nights racing was the Omnium which is a multi discipline event much like a Triathlon or Decathlon but this Omnium was only over three disciplines. The disciplines raced were a short scratch race followed by a one lap standing time trial and finished with a short handicap race. The races were raced in respective age grades and points were awarded one for first, two for second and so on, this makes the Omnium winner the rider that has accumulated the least points. The nights racing concluded with the traditional long handicap race to entertain the audience and ensure all riders had a meaningful and realistic opportunity to challenge for the victory.

The race of the night was the under 17 boys and girls 5 lap handicap race. The handicapper ensured that disposing of Christmas cards next year would not be an onerous task as he found himself crossed off a number of Christmas lists. The toughest draw went to George Roberts on scratch while giving the inform Jordan Castle and Josh Kendall 90 metres over the relatively short 5 lap race. The inseparable pair of Kate Stewart and Ruby Perry were a further 100 metres round the track and a further sprinkling of five other riders added to the challenge. The exuberance of youth was laid bare as helter and skelter took over from calm and controlled when the blow torch was applied. After the first lap gaps were closing everywhere except the gap between George and the pair of Josh and Jordan. After two laps, bunches began to form but George was still on his own, battling his doubts, but he stayed on task even though he could not see obvious gains. Lap three completed and it became one big bunch and George 80 metres away. The challenge of a handicap race to the riders not on scratch is to make the most of the handicap, this can be done by racing to potential but often riders will reach a rider in front of them and then relax and recover but in doing this the rider drops to the ability of the slower rider and gives the scratch rider the opportunity to catch the slower moving rider.

The large bunch was moving well together but limited to the speed of the slowest rider. Jordan could see George closing the gap and tried to hurry the bunch up by reminding them that George was now on the charge and closing in fast. As George reached the bunch with a lap and a half to go Jordan made another move with Campbell Stewart, Josh and Lewis Bunker which caused the bunch to stretch out and to apply even more pressure on George. The sprint was on with 250 metres to go and Campbell latched onto the leading wheel of Jordan and they both managed to survive George's final assault to leave the gallant George with third.

Another special feature of the nights racing, that may have been missed by the younger riders was the presence of a true past great of New Zealand cycling in Mr Anthony Cuff. In his glittering career he accumulated a stack of national titles on the road and the track. He was at the peak of his powers in 1980 when he won the Tour of Southland, broke the World record in the Flying Kilo at Mexico City with a time of 59.62 and he also broke the New Zealand standing start Kilo record which he held for 16 years.

Results for Tuesday 17^th January 2012

U15 Girls 3 lap scratch race (first discipline of Omnium)

1^st Michaela Drummond

2^nd= Libby Arbuckle

2^nd= Emily Shearman

4^th Corrie Keedle

U15 Boys 3 lap scratch race

1^st Cody Simpson

2^nd James Cuff

3^rd Carne Groube

4^th Chris Denholm

U17 Boys 4 lap scratch race

1^st George Roberts

2^nd Jordan Castle

3^rd Josh Kendall

4^th Lewis Bunker

U17 Girls 4 lap scratch race

1^st Kate Stewart

2^nd Ruby Perry

Womens 4 lap scratch race

1^st Megan Blatchford

2^nd Hayley Giddens

3^rd Kelsi Eccles

4^th Sharon Hollenstein

Mens 5 lap scratch race

1^st Jaycob Hu,mphreys

2^nd Luuk van Wantendonk

3^rd Marcl Hollenstein

4^th Brent Zimmerman

1 lap standing time trial (second discipline of Omnium)

Jaycob Humphreys 32.02

Jordan Castle 32.07

Brent Zimmerman 32.11

Josh Kendall 32.64

George Roberts 32.79

Lewis Bunker 33.07

Shaun Matena 33.66

Campbell Stewart 33.69

Megan Blatchford 33.98

James Cuff 34.00

Ruby Perry 34.54

Michaela Drummond 34.74

Marcel Hollenstein 34.80

Bryce Hirschberg 34.81

Kate Stewart 34.97

Hayley Giddens 35.15

Liam Barber 35.71

Cody Simpson 36.16

Carne Groube 36.60

Teagan Roffe 36.60

Tamara Ross 36.68

Kelsi Eccles 36.97

James Denholm 37.08

Libby Arbuckle 37.60

Corrie Keedle 37.64

Emily Shearman 37.67

Chris Denholm 38.37

Sharon Hollenstein 38.91

Fergus Bryan 39.76

Lyal Goggin 40.86

Luuk van Wantendonk 41.79

U15 Girls 3 lap handicap (final discipline of Omnium)

1^st Emily Shearman

2^nd Corrie Keedle

3^rd Libby Arbuckle

U15 Boys 3 lap handicap

1^st Cody Simpson

2^nd Carne Groube

3^rd Fergus Groube

4^th Chris Denholm

U17 Girls 5 lap handicap race

1^st Kate Stewart

2^nd Ruby Perry

U17 Boys 5 lap handicap race

1^st Jordan Castle

2^nd Campbell Stewart

3^rd George Roberts

4^th Josh Klendall

Womens 5 lap handicap race

1^st Tamara Ross

2^nd Megan Blatchford

3^rd Hayley Giddens

4^th Kelsi Eccles

Mens 6 lap handicap race

1^st Jaycob Humphreys

2^nd Luuk van Wantendonk

3^rd Marcl Hollenstein

4^th Shaun Matena

Final Omnium results

U15 Girls

1^st = Libby Arbuckle 7 points

1^st= Emily Shearman 7 points

3^rd Corrie Keedle 9 points

U15 Boys

1^st Cody Simpson 4 points

2^nd Carne Groube 6 points

3^rd James Cuff 8 points

4^th Chris Denholm 12 points

U17 Girls

1^st Kate Stewart 4 points

2^nd Ruby Perry 5 points

U17 Boys

1^st Jordan Castle 4 points

2^nd George Roberts 7 points

3^rd Josh Kendall 9 points

4^th= Lewis Bunker 13 points

4^th= Campbell Stewart 13 points

Womens

1^st Megan Blatchford 4 points

2^nd Hayley Giddens 7 points

3^rd Tamara Ross 10 points

4^th Kelsi Eccles 12 points

Mens

1^st Jaycob Humphreys 3 points

2^nd=Luuk van Wantendonk 10 points

2^nd= Marcel Hollenstein 10 points

4^th=Shaun Matena 12 points

4^th= Brent Zimmerman 12 points

U15 Boys and Girls 7 lap handicap race

1^st Libby Arbuckle

2^nd Cody Simpson

3^rd Carne Groube

4^th Fergus Bryan

U17 boys and Girls 7 lap handicap race

1^st Jordan Castle

2^nd George Roberts

3^rd Campbell Stewart

4^th Liam Barber

Men and Womens 12 lap handicap race

1^st Jaycob Humphreys

2^nd Marcel Hollenstein

3^rd Luuk van Wantendonk

4^th Hayley Giddens