Junior Nationals Report from Loxton SA
Some of our talented juniors recently travelled to SA for the Junior Nationals. The club provided some financial support as part of our junior sponsorship policy, and the riders have kindly provided some reports on their experiences. Well done Neve and Aidan Parslow and Lachlan Chamblerlain!
From Neve Parslow:
My last ever Junior Road Nationals was amazing. 
There were three events, the ITT, road race, and the criterium, all located in Loxton,SA. The week started out with the 16km, incredibly windy, ITT. The wind left zero room to hide. I finished in 5th place, and the 3rd Queenslander.
Friday was the road race, a long, flat course. I managed to get in a breakaway quite early on, but after we gapped the bunch by 30 seconds, we were neutralised for the
u17 boys race passing us, and therefore caught. Towards the end of the race I was in another breakaway of 9, however, I was boxed in during the sprint and finished 8th
out of 29. Although the road race was not suited to me, I gave it my all.
The last event was the criterium. The course was 1.4km long, with a steep, hill-top finish, reaching 6°, and dragging on for about 500m. The back of the course was technical, with two down-hill, right-hand corners, where the bunch quickly split up. We started the race with a neutral lap. This was one of the times of the race where good positioning was crucial to staying in that top group, so I did not let myself shy away to the back. I was able to follow the fastest riders through, making a four person break, including three Queenslanders. Each time we went up the hill, I made sure to conserve my energy and spend as little time on the front as I could, as I knew every pedal made a difference.
On the last lap, I rolled off the front as I passed the finish line for the second last time. I cut into third place, to secure a good position for the final sprint. As we went around the last corner, I made sure to watch the other three riders. Two of them started to stand up, but I held on. With about 150m to go, I saw a chance. I jumped out on the left hand side of the group and sprinted past. I managed to gap two, with one rider just hanging off the back of me. I sprinted as hard as I could, and made it over the line first, by about half a wheel.
The hill-top finish was just about made for me, and it was such an excellent way to conclude my time as a junior cyclist. I am so grateful for my coach, Alex Quirk, my family, friends, and my cycling club, Hamilton Wheelers. I am incredibly lucky to be part of such an amazing group of people who continuously support and encourage me to chase my dreams.
I am super excited for what is to come next year as an u19!
Neve Parslow
From Aidan Parslow:
This year I was selected to ride for the Queensland state road team at nationals. We flew down to Adelaide on the 17 th of September, and drove to Berri, about 3 hours away, where we were
staying.
The team went out for a recon ride on the first day to get used to the courses. There was a generous tailwind on the way out, but the headwind on the way back ripped us all apart.
Our time trial was held on Thursday morning in Loxton, the town over from Berri. The wind had changed from the day before, to a nasty crosswind for the entire course out and back. Time
trialing is not my strongest point, but it was a good experience.
Our next event was the road race, held on Friday. We didn't have a neutral zone at the start, so we started with a full out sprint. This caused quite a few crashes and as a result we had to pause our race at the one kilometre mark to wait for people to catch back to the group and continue the race. Further in, I got into a bad crash with about six other riders who all came out better off than me. I lost a lot of skin, but I was cleared of possible concussion and was told that I would be allowed to race the criterium on Sunday.
The crit was held in the center of Loxton, and it had a hilltop finish of about six percent. The race started fast but unfortunately after Friday’s crash I couldn’t hold on. I rode in a small group with one other Queensland rider and three more from other states. I was still happy that I raced.
Although my first time at Nationals did not go as planned, it was a brilliant experience to race in Loxton and represent Queensland and Hamilton Wheelers. Thank you to my parents and Hamilton Wheelers for the coaching and support to allow me to race at all these events.
From Lachlan Chamberlain:
I was proud to represent QLD and HWCC at my first road nationals. It was some of the hardest conditions and racing I’ve experienced.
The ITT was the first event and the head wind for the return leg was horrendous, however I had a pretty solid hit out claiming 19th out of 41.
The road race was too fast for me so I got dropped early but worked with a Bundaberg rider to finish the race off in 35th out of 51 starters.
The crit pace was hot from the gun and the pace was crazy up the hill and it wasn’t long until the race was blown apart. I was slowly chasing people down until I caught up to a Qld teammate, however it wasn’t long til we got red flagged due to the lead group closing in behind (along with 30 others out of 45 starters).
Thank you to Hamilton for their continued support, Lachlan.