Dominic Hill wins at Good Friday Track meet

Good Friday Track Meet 06/04/2012 - Report

I guess we should have seen it coming. In the two Spring Omniums leading up to the Good Friday Track meet at Herne Hill velodrome, the Bec riders were on good form. Omnium 1 was won by Dominic Hill, after he won both scratch races and the final 20km scratch races all with aggressive attacks off the front in the final laps. Omnium 2 saw James Hughes placed 3rd in the 20km and winning the 20 lap preme, and just missing out on the 10 lap preme.

But somehow the club wasn't prepared for the day that Good Friday turned out to be.....

Over the past few years the weather hasn't been kind to us. A series of washed out events drove organiser Graham Bristow to Manchester velodrome last year. Thankfully this year he had the confidence and funding to bring the event back to where it should be; Herne Hill. We were rewarded with near perfect weather. Cool (for the riders) and sunny (for the supporters). The wind picked up slightly in the afternoon but by then the crowds were too excited to care.

The points race saw a huge field on the track, and right from the start it was fast. Somehow Dominic managed to find a few gaps in the riders and picked up some early points. Coming into the last sprint he was in third place, although just got pushed out of the placings at the end. The Super Elimination race was different however. James got caught out right at the beginning and managed to get eliminated in the first lap! With so many riders on the track, if you start at the back there’s just no where to go. The event was an unknown distance, and with over 20 laps ridden Dominic (spotting the bell ringer making his move), made it own move to the front. He sprinted off the front and coming back round heard the bell ring. He held on bravely as the chasing back tried to come back, and took the win by a long way. £60 and the glory was his.

But it was the final event of the day, the Golden Wheel 20km Scratch race that everyone had been looking forward to. With such big field and so many international riders it was clearly going to be fast. With the first 10 laps ridden at speed, a break of 4 riders got away. Slowly their numbers increased, and our own Dominic managed to race across the gap. Working together they managed to catch the field and take the lap. For a brief while the pace slowed although the riders that were up a lap got to the front and the race was back on. With a couple of laps to go, Dom saw his chance to take the £1,000 prize money and commited to sprinting off the front of the pack. The crowd were going crazy as even the compare got behind the local hero. Sadly, being chased by two German pro riders (amongst others), his chances were slim and he was caught with half a lap to go, eventually coming in just outside the prize money. James came in further down the pack, having ridden flat out in the middle of the race trying to catch the breakaway riders and suffering for having done so.

On the day the crowds were big, the sun shone and the beer tent was very busy. For the Bec members that made it along it was a fantastic day and a great start to the season.