Cycling News

North Island Schools Road Cycling Championships

Ten RI riders attended this major event in Karapiro/Cambridge during the first weekend of the school holidays. The event had three races over two days:

9 km Team Time Trial
27 km Road Race
4.8 - 8 km Criterium Race

Results with Medals:
Cole Feringa - 3rd in Criterium
RI Boys Team - 2nd in TTT (Cole Feringa, Max Allan, Angus Dickinson, Kairan Strydom). First ever RI medal in the TTT.

Overall School Results 
Any rider/team finishing in the top 10 earns points for their school.
This year, RI riders excelled and doubled their previous best. The result placed RI 6th in the North Island, only to be beaten by larger Auckland secondary school teams like Auckland Grammar, Westlake Boys, St Kents, EGGS and Baradene.
Every RI rider earned points for their school (i.e. top 10 finish). This amazing team consisted of Nova Taylor, Olivia Evans, Ava Donnelly, Cole Feringa, Max Allan, Angus Dickinson, Kairan Strydom, James Turnbull, Caleb Swan and Thomas Still.

North Island Schools Track Cycling Championships

This is the third time RI has been represented at this competition. The riders fought hard against top competition from around the North Island, in particular Cambridge. Each rider had 8 races over 1.5 days.

Results with Medals:
2000 m Team Pursuit - 2nd (team of 3 or 4). First ever RI medal in this event. Cole Feringa, Kairan Strydom and James Turnbull
500 m Team Sprint - 3rd (team of 2) 0.8secs from second. Cole Feringa and Kairan Strydom

All RI riders were exemplary in their behaviour and effort. Congratulations!

Mountain Bike Camp

During the middle weekend of the holidays, the RI mountain biking team went to Rotorua to hone our skills. We learnt pumping, cornering and things that you can't learn in a textbook, only by practising.

On the first day we were coached by former #1 NZ downhill rider Louis Hamilton on pumping and cornering. With these skills we can ride twice as fast down the trails which was welcomed heartily by those who like speed. 

The next day we put our skills to the test, going right to the top of the mountain and coming all the way back down on nice flowy trails. The skills we learnt and mastered will be put to full use in our upcoming MTB races. 

By the end of the weekend, we had learnt a lot, bonded as a team and slept extremely well when we got home.