Cycling

‘Despite a shortened 2022 cycling season, it has been Camberwell’s best!’

Despite a shortened 2022 cycling season, it has been Camberwell’s best! Our growing team of 20 saw the first of the Victorian Inter-Schools Cycling Series for summer with the time trial at Caribbean Gardens to set the rankings for the remainder of the season. It was a brutal five laps of the course for the Seniors and an equally painful three laps for the Juniors. In the Junior ranks, we had Timothy Yeow secure a first position in B-Grade for the races to follow, as well as Edward Goh and Thomas Klebanowski setting themselves up well in their first ever time trials.

The Senior Division finished with the same momentum as the juniors. We were able to get three riders in the top ten, with Arya Aminazad, Kyle Scheer, and Logan Taplin securing positions in A-Grade for future races. Some other notable performances came from Ned Chesler with a powerful ride putting him in B-Grade. As well as Nicholas Koppelman and Keelan Hale in their first time trials getting in the secondhighest division!

The second race of the season was another sunny one at Caribbean Gardens. Some big performances from our Juniors, Frank Roodenburg (in his second ever bunch race) and Timothy Yeow securing second place in their respective C and B divisions. The Seniors were able to follow these performances with a second place in the men’s C-Grade from Alec Mcdougall, with the closest sprint of the season which was only decided by half a wheel’s length. Closely followed by Lachie McInnes in third with Darcy Norman, Michael Cheung, Luke Ryan and Aj Ananthapavan finishing strong in the main peloton, collecting more points for the overall school competition. In Senior B-Grade, Nicholas Koppelman finished in the elite front group of riders, narrowly missing the podium with an impressive fourth place, with Keelan Hale and Ned Chesler finishing strongly in the peloton. Impressive performances from the A-Grade riders saw Arya Aminazad, Logan Taplin, and Kyle Scheer claim three of the top six positions, a very rare occurrence in school cycling.

It was our commitment through the week at Hawthorn’s famous teardrop criteriums which paid dividends throughout the season. Some notable performances were the Junior A-Grade win of Keelan Hale and multiple podiums from Timothy Yeow, Augustine Tan, Thomas Klebanowski and Jason Li.

Despite the shortened season and a rained-out final race, it’s safe to say that all the cyclists did Camberwell Grammar proud, and the future of Camberwell’s Cycling squad is on even more of an upward trajectory. Every student on the team was able to score points for the overall school competition. With the team’s combined efforts we came second in the school’s competition, an outstanding result!

Thank you to Adam, Nathan, Joel, and Zac for the hours of training. A very special thank you to Mr Jones for all his efforts with the team. His weekly driving trips, mechanical skills, and fantastic commentary kept everyone in high spirits throughout the season. Until the next season, keep up the riding and keep the rubber on the road!