02 May 2010

New Mats debut at the 2010 NZ National Club Road Championships

Ramblers Cycling Club hosted the 2010 RaboPlus National Club Road Championships with riders ranging from 13 years to 70-plus including handbike and paracyclists.

 The Club Road Nationals are a club based championship that consists of an individual time trial and road race from Under-15 through to Masters Grades.

The time trials kicked off on Thursday from Pukehamoamoa School on the Napier-Taihape Road with out-and-back courses. Riders left individually at two-minute intervals with endurance, smooth cycling cadence and willpower proving to be the ultimate test. With such large fields competing for the racing titles, riders were grouped into categories and raced over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

The event aims to promote cycling throughout the country and to provide opportunities for event managers, Commissaires and volunteers in each region to be involved in a National Championship event.

"The atmosphere was superb. It was a great opportunity to catch up with fellow cyclists and see some past and future champions of New Zealand road cycling" enthuses Bike Hawke's Bay cycling development officer Vicki Butterworth.

There were plenty of spectators and supporters adding to the flavour and enjoying the explosive starts and strong finishes.

Times-7 Sport took the opportunity to showcase their new WheelTime mats at the RaboPlus Nationals

"It was the perfect environment to really put the mats through their paces in a concentrated working environment" comments Gavin Chaplow, Product Manager from Times-7 Sport "And believe me, these cyclists didn't disappoint us! There was a horse event down the road, so the mats were assaulted by numerous horse-floats and trucks. The mats sit flat on the road, so the speed and weight didn't affect them at all".

"I was really impressed with the mats - they exceeded my expectations". agrees Ivar Hopman, timing specialist for Ramblers Cycling Club. "The new cable system and magnetic strips are brilliant and has streamlined the set-up process. The positive feedback from the riders was endorsed by their crossing the mats at high speed. M2 men's winner Lee Johnstone literally bolted over the lower profile finish mat with both arms raised triumphantly - brilliant!"

The success of hosting an event of this size and complexity is in the attention to detail and the work that goes on in the background.

Ramblers Cycling Club operates the WheelTime Electronic Timing system to time their club rides and events including the iconic Tour of the Bay. Times-7 Sport lent Ramblers the additional WheelTags required and Product Manager Gavin Chaplow was on hand to support the Ramblers timing team.

"This type of national event is a perfect example of how a nationwide timing system can directly benefit cyclists. We're delighted to support the cycling culture and BikeNZ in this environment as part of their new ranking system" comments Michael Lynch, General Manager from Times-7 Sport.

The last word must surely go to event organizer Ivan Aplin who was thrilled to announce that Ramblers had got "a big tick as one of the best-organised nationals."

We reckon that's a successful event all round!

Theresa Cabot, Sales and Marketing Manager

theresa.cabot@times-7.com

+64 6 878 5310

About Times-7 Sport
Times-7 Sport provides sports timing solutions using the most advanced sports information technologies available in the world. Times-7 Sport is the Australian distributor of IPICO Sports and Times-7 sports timing products, including Sportscore, a state of- the-art event management software solution. Our systems make event timing easy, providing accurate and reliable results every time.