Brendan Hood's Recent Race Reports

Brendan Hood's recent race reports from the Maryborough and Bendigo Chrismas Carnivals and the State Championships.

Maryborough And Bendigo Christmas Carnivals
All the events were HOT!!! Although Bendigo was nowhere near as hot as last years 44 degrees they were all hot and even after doing one lap you could feel the sweat. Maryborough was a 2-day carnival which consisted of many races. I knew my best chances were in the eliminations and handicaps. Each day had one handicap and I made the final for the first day’s handicap. It was a very fast race but unfortunately I didn’t place. Other than that the first day had no really exciting events. On day 2 I was looking forward to the elimination. It was my last race for Maryborough so I knew I had to perform. I got up to the line. The starter told us we had two free laps then someone is eliminated each lap after that. I decided my tactic would be to stay high and pick someone off each lap. We rolled off and I just sat on the back then went up high somebody went out then the next lap everyone was riding so close together and the person behind me blew their tire and caused another rider to crash. I'm going down was the only thought that went through my head. The whistle was blown and the raced was paused until the riders got up. They both walked away but both were injured with lots of cuts and bruises. Shortly after the race was resumed, I stuck to my tactic of sitting up high which worked there were 3 riders left and the sprint was on. I made it through in second and me and the other rider sprinted to the line but I just didn’t have enough of a sprint. I was happy with second.

I got changed and we were off to Bendigo. Bendigo was a FAST flat track but was also very long so if you went too early you would die out. Also it was only one day instead of two which made things easier. I had three events. They were a scratch a handicap and another scratch. My first scratch I came second. It was an average race just slow pace then sprint. But the handicap was fast and I mean fast. There were two heats and top 7 went to final. I was finished in 3rd. the final was coming up and I was getting into my warm up then there was a crash. Which slowed everything down, it took over an hour to move him and get him in the ambulance. They were worried that he had broken his neck. I never heard what actually happened. Eventually our final started. Nobody wanted to work and the whole race bunched up and then the attacks came. One got free and went on to win and the sprinters just take off so I didn’t have much hope there. The last race I was not feeling good. I had done three days of races and was so tired. Somehow I managed to sprint around everyone and take out the win. I was shocked. I couldn’t believe it.

State Championships
First off we had the 500m time trial I knew this was going to be my best even on the first day. I ended up with a PB which I was very happy with. I beat my old time by 2 seconds. The second day was always going to be my best day. First off we had the 2km individual pursuit I managed another PB but only by 2 second I was hoping for a quicker time but I’m happy with a PB. The point’s race was going to be a massive challenge of 60 laps with a sprint every 10 laps. It equaled up to 16km. There were 22 starters in the race and only 11 finished in the bunch but some of them were lapped. I ended up coming 11th. I didn’t take any laps out or get lapped. The average speed was over 44km/h. It was a very tough race and I was happy to finish knowing that half the field didn’t.

Results 2008:
1st Kew Boulevard Criterium
2nd Echuca-Moama Team Sprint
2nd Echuca-Moama Elimination
1st Bendigo Christmas Carnival Scratch
2nd Bendigo Christmas Carnival Scratch
2nd Maryborough Christmas Carnival Elimination
2nd Kew Boulevard Criterium
3rd Kew Boulevard Criterium
3rd Northern Combine and Brunswick IRTT
1st Brooks Duathlon Dash Race 5
3rd Brunswick Club Road Championships
1st Sunbury Trophy Road Race
3rd Victorian Club Road Teams Time Trial
2nd Victorian Club Track Teams Pursuit
3rd 500m TT Club Track Championships
13.12 in the beep test (July 2008)

Rider Profile:
Resides: Melbourne
Occupation: Year 9 Student
Club: Brunswick Cycle Club
Coach: Brad Robins
Sponsor: Total Rush, Brake and Clutch Warehouse
Favorite Discipline: Road (Hill Climbing and Time Trials)
Started Competitive Cycling: September 2007
Age Category: Under 17 Male
Other Sporting Interests: Recreational Mountain Biking, Basketball, Tennis, Football, Golf, Swimming, Running and Hockey