Category: Sport

Cyclone Race Series 2011 ~ Changi Series 2 ITT and Road Race

The Changi Series 2 consisted of an Individual Time Trial (ITT) early on a hot Sunday morning followed by a mass start Road Race a couple of hours later.  Held on the infamous Changi Straight, a piece of road that runs the length of Changi Airport runway, it is about 5-6km of straight, boring tarmac.  I turned up just in time to photograph the only two Cannasia-Cannondale riders competing in the ITT as the rest of the team had decided to save their legs for the Road Race.  The OCBC cycling team were the dominant force taking the top two places in the Mens Open. Siw Haller of ANZA cycling easily took out the womens race.

The Open Mens road race was fast and furious with riders trying to get away, only to be chased down time and time again.  It wasn’t until the 3rd lap a break finally got away and managed to stay there for a couple of laps before being reeled in with one lap to go.  After constant attacks during this last lap it came down to a bunch sprint and Ed Ayres (ANZA Mavericks) emerged from the final hairpin turn in front and managed to hold off the charging peleton to win.

The Womens race was dominated by one rider, Christina Liew Gin (Joyriders).  She rode most of the race by herself off the front with the remainder of the women chasing. After a gallant effort by the women to bring Christina back to the peleton she got away again and stayed away to take the win.

Pain and suffering seemed to be a theme amongst the riders.

Some riders looked smooth and in control just like Tim Wilkins of Cannasia-Cannondale.

Peter Toth, quite possibly the tallest ITT rider I’ve ever seen.

Megan Kinder looking right at home on her TT machine.

Open Mens Road race.

Cannasia-Cannondale controlling the peleton.

The break went out to about 50 seconds before the peleton brought them back.

The Womens race was dominated by Christina Liew Gin. The remainder of the women were left to duke it out for the minor placings.

 

Singapore Road Cycling Nationals 2011

The Singapore Road Cycling Championships were held over the weekend of 25-26 June 2011. Due to illness during the lead up to the race I couldn’t compete. I was a little disappointed but it did mean I could shoot instead.  Once again Team Cannasia-Cannondale had entered a well prepared team of various strengths and were looking for the win in the Elite Men’s cat.  Gabi was on her own in the Elite Women’s cat and she had her work cut out for her as her main competition consisted of three of the best women cyclists in Singapore.

The Individual Time Trial was held on the Saturday and the Road Race on Sunday.  Rob Hensby was the only Cannasia-Cannondale member to race the ITT but he put in a huge effort to come home 4th whilst trying to save his legs for the road race the next day.

Cannasia-Cannondale had a tough job ahead of them in the road race with two or three other teams looking for the win.  As usual, the OCBC boys attacked from the gun and kept this up the entire race.  Cannasia did a sterling job covering most of these attacks and continually showed a strong presence at the front of the peloton controlling the race.  With about two laps remaining Tim Wilkins and a young OCBC rider took advantage of a lull in the pace and attacked.  With a surge of speed the two riders quickly gapped the peloton and raced away to the finish.  Tim used his road racing experience to out smart the OCBC rider to take the win.

Gabi rode intelligently and saved her legs for the final sprint finish.  With Dinah Chan and Serene Lee pulling away from the peloton in the last 500m it was up to Gabi to sprint for 3rd place.  She crossed the line with ease a couple of bike lengths ahead of her competitors.  Overall a successful day for Cannasia-Cannondale with a 1st and 3rd placings.

You can read the race reports here.  http://cannasia.com/news/victory-singapore-national-cycling-championships-2011 and http://cannasia.com/news/singapore-national-cycling-championship-open-women-race-report

Rob giving it his all in the ITT.

Tim making the young OCBC rider earn his National Champions Jersey.

Tim Wilkins takes the win.

Here are some of the other champions: Matthew Kinch (Sport), Anders Jarfors (Masters), and Dinah Chan (Open Women)

Pete ‘Petal’ Bennett finished his race a bit worse for wear.  He landed on his head in a flower garden during a pile up on the last corner.  But he still finished! Well done Pete.

 

12 hr Mountain Bike Marathon

Tampines Mountain Bike Park hosted the Dirt Traction 12 hour Night MTB Marathon.  The race started at 5pm and ended 12hrs later at 5am.  Having at least 2hrs of daylight provided all riders with a last minute look at the course before it got dark and although the course was not technical it was good to refresh the memory.  However, with ground water seeping to the surface from a day of rain the back end of the course turned into a mud fest and challenged even the most technically proficient riders.

Team Cannasia-Cannondale had a number of riders entered right across all the race categories.  We even had a few of the Roadies sneak out for some off-road action.  The team had its hopes pinned on the two men’s duo teams and two of the solo riders.  Unfortunately a botch up at the start of the race with track marking sent the lead riders, including 3 or 4 Cannasia riders, the wrong way and in turn put them way behind their competitors.  This ensured a long night ahead.  As 5am rolled around Cannasia had recovered and managed to get on the podium again.  Our solo rider Shahrin Bin Amir rode brilliantly to come home first in the Open Mens Solo, the two Mens Duo Teams came in 2nd and 3rd and the biggest surprise was the Mixed Quad finishing 1st.

In the main image above, the “Red Mist” had descended on Tim Wilkins after the initial race start botch up.  No. 75 Shahrin Bin Amir settled into his rhythm early on.

Gabi’s facial expression is priceless! Lower right.

 

Ketam 4hr MTB Enduro Race

Located around the edge of a quarry on the island of Pulau Ubin, a five minute bumboat ride from Changi point ferry terminal is the Ketam Mountain bike park.  The park played host to the Ketam 4hr Enduro MTB race and the Cannasia MTB team had 3 individual riders and 2 Mens Duo Teams entered.

Cannasia had a very successful day with Shahrom Bin Abdullah proving to be the strongest of the individual riders over the 4hrs and Nathan and Fraser came 2nd in the Mens Duo competition.  It was a real mixed bag of competitors and here are a few images from the day.

Cannasia MTB racing weapons.

Tanglin Halt Criterium

The Tanglin Halt Criterium was the first cycling event in the 2011 Dirtraction Cyclone Race Series held here in Singapore.  Finally a circuit that resembled the type of club criteriums I’m used to racing back in New Zealand.  Clear skies and a dry track ensured a great turn out for the event and some great racing as a result.  I only had time to shoot the Masters Men and the Open Women’s races due to my own race schedule.  The new ANZA Racing team “The Mavericks” controlled the race from the start, however a last minute attack on the back straight of the last lap saw the Mavericks pipped at the post by Life Extensions and Pico Bike Labz riders. The Open Women’s race was quickly reduced down to 5 riders consisting of 3 Pico Labz girls, one ANZA rider and our only Cannasia-Cannondale female rider, Gabi. The Pico Labz girls did their best to attack Gabi over 39 minutes of racing but she held on to place second on the podium with Megan Kinder taking third in her first criterium event for ANZA.  Here a few images from the racing.

OCBC Pro Criterium – Singapore

OCBC Cycle Singapore 2011 took place over the weekend and the highlight for me was the Professional Criterium held under lights around the F1 pit building on Saturday night.  The race was sure to be a real nail biter with a star studded field and huge prize money up for grabs.  With riders like Jack Bobridge, Cameron Meyer and Pure Black Racing from New Zealand, I was anticipating a fast pace right the the gun, and I wasn’t disappointed.

90minutes of hard racing with constant attacks finally came down to a sprint finish after the break was caught in the last few hundred meters.  Italian neo-pro Omar Bertazzo of the Androni Giocattoli team pipped the two Australian’s Dean Windsor (Rapha Condor-Sharp) and Cameron Meyer (Garmin-Cervelo) for the win.  It was his first professional win of his career.

We had four members of Team Cannasia-Cannondale racing, however after a galent effort they were retired from the race along with many other riders half their age just prior to being lapped.

Cyclone Race Series Team Time Trial

Due to my aversion to Time Trials I volunteered to take photos for the Team Cannasia-Cannondale website at this event. We had 4 teams entered and placings to defend in both the Open Mens and Mixed Duo categories.  With some pretty hot competition it was shaping up to be an interesting morning.  Credit should be given to all the riders and the effort put in by all participants was great to watch.  Cannasia-Cannondale came away with two first places and a second place, but unfortunately a flat tire robbed the Open Mens Duo of a podium place. Congratulations to Tim Clarsen (Cannasia-Cannondale) for taking out the Race Series Points Jersey.

Singapore National Individual Time Trial Championship

Waking to torrential rain in the early hours put some what of a dampener on the enthusiasm to go and shoot this event.  However Gabi was racing and so was Team Cannasia, the cycle racing team we are members of.  By the time we arrived at the venue the skies had cleared and we were looking forward to the racing.  Approximately 170 competitors of various levels turned out to race in this inaugural event.  Gabi competed in the Open Women, Joshua Png rode in the Juniors and the remainder of the team was spread out over the Open Men and Masters categories.  Variable wind conditions over the length of the course took it’s toll on the times, but I can say they gave it their all.  You can read a brief race report here.  Below is a selection of images taken of my team mates and other competitors in action out on the course.