Cycling: Youthful riders keen to compete

Woodford House and Karamu High have their eyes set on the road. They expect to be serious challengers in the BikeNZ-organised Hawke's Bay School Cycling championships on July 6-7.

At least 10 school teams will compete in this road race championship hosted by the Ramblers Cycling Club.

On July 6, Years 7-13 students from Hawke's Bay and Central Hawke's Bay will compete in individual road races starting at Pukehamoamoa School. Depending on their category they will race over distances from 17km to 58km.

The following day school teams will tackle the stamina-sapping 16km Ohiti road course for the honour of being the first school to have their name engraved on the new team time trial cups.

Napier Boys High, Karamu High and Lindisfarne are the prime challengers for the Boys' Sport Hawke's Bay trophy whilst Woodford House and Taradale Intermediate will do battle for the Girls' trophy.

Karamu, in their first year, have a strong squad headed by Sam Thorpe-Loversuch, a year 10 student. He is an A-grade rider for Ramblers and recently came 2nd in both the road race and time trial at the New Zealand championships in the U-15 class. Sam also got a fourth place in the Tour of Canberra (U-15) in 2012.

Murray Jamieson, a teacher at Karamu and coach of the team, said it was their first experience under the auspices of BikeNZ. "We decided to compete against schools regionally and nationally to encourage our students to join the Ramblers Cycling Club."

Another rider to look out for is 17-year-old year 13 student Nicola Law of Woodford House.

Explaining her entry into the cycling world, Nicola said: "My first choice sport is hockey. I took up cycling merely to develop my skills. Now I am pretty much focused on cycling and the upcoming championships. Woodford House will be very competitive."

Vicki Butterworth of BikeNZ said the reintroduction of the HB School Cycling Championships was a dream come true.

"It's an awesome event for young riders. It's a fun introduction to the club and sport. What a great pathway for developing up and coming road and track cyclists."