My life as a Racing Kangaroo, so far.

After having a great weekend in Inverell where I got to meet all the other candidates, I couldn’t wait to hear if I was accepted into the mob. I was very happy when I got the Email to say yes I was in.

In April I headed down to Bathurst. Living in Qld. I didn’t know how cold it would get in the mornings. It was good fun staying with all the other riders. My first race was the Hill Climb. It was cold, but I enjoyed the climb. It was harder than I thought it was going to be. My results were OK, I would have liked to have been further up the list. The next race was the Crit. The pace was fast and there was some strong riders in the groups. Even though it was later in the day, it was still really cold and by the end of the race I was finding it hard to breath. It was great to see my team mate in Sam Jenner win this race.

The next morning we headed out for the Blaney to Bathurst ride. Once again it was a very cold morning. Lucky we had some great Mum’s there to help get us ready & make sure I was a bit warmer. I must remember to bring warmer cycling gear for races down south. We were set off in waves and all us U15 boys were set off together. It was a tough, wet & cold 70 km ride. There were loads of hills, which I love. I rode most of the way with Sam. As we came into the Bathurst circuit, we got to the last hill coming into the infield of the track & Sam had too  much power for me to stay with him any longer. I rode across the line about 20 seconds after him. I feel I put in a good performance & showed where some of my strengths are. It took me just over 2 hours to do the 70km’s.

Beginning of May saw Sam & I once again at the same races. We had entered the Battle on the Border. The first race was the ITT. I don’t really like ITT’s, but I had a shocking ride. Not really sure what happened. The next race was a RR. I picked myself up after such a terrible start to the weekend and finished in about 7th place, just behind a lot of the strong 2nd years. The next day saw another RR. I stayed with the main group again and this time had a bit more left in my legs for a 6th place finish. The last day saw a crit on a fast technical circuit. I finished 6th once again. Sam & I were able to spend some time together over the weekend and it was great to see him come away with 3 wins and the overall winner!

Over the next couple of weeks I competed in some small local junior tours. The end of May saw my own clubs Metropolitan Graded Championships. The Saturday was the crit race. The U15’s set a fast pace once again. I finished with the main bunch in 5th place. The next day saw the RR out at Mt Alford. It is a 23km circuit with some good hills in it. The U15’s were broken into an A & B grade. I was set off with the A graders & we had 40 kms to race. I was the only first year U15 in the group. All but 1 rider stuck together for the entire race. Jackson broke away early in the first lap and won the race. The other riders were not really keen on doing much of the work so I was left at the front for much of the last 10kms of the race. I was outsprinted but still managed to finish 4th. I know I need to work on my sprint finishes.

I have enjoyed being part of the Racing Kangaroos, make new friends, learning some things from Sam. I am looking forward to more races flying the flag for the Racing Kangaroos. Thanks for my new bike, I really like my Cervello!

See you in Tamworth.

Mitch