Melbourne World Cup Day 2 Pts Race Qualifier

The women were first to go today and the air was a bit electric with the women ready to fight for the 24 positions. 36 total were in qualifying again. Becky and Theresa were in the qualifier of "sprinters" and Shelly lucked out with mostly pursuiters- which can be dangerous however.

The 1st heat started out fast and Becky positioned for the first sprint and won 3 pts. Taking the 2nd sprint as a recovery, Quinny sat back and after the 2nd sprint the field kept pace when out of the blue 3 riders flew in the air in turn 2 (3 for those who count the 4 corners). My heart sank when I saw Quinny flip over. Bob the Ozzie grabbed the wheels and we ran full tilt. Bob changed out the smashed 808 and I got Quinny in with 15 to go and she immediately got in the field and settled in. Armisted who also went down was spewing blood from some cut but also got back in and Theresa Clif-Ryan was on the apron and got a throw in as well but she did not go down luckily. The final sprint ended with a break of 4 getting pts and Armisted trying to be 1st across the line for a position finish but it wasn't good enough, nor was her health- she was a bloody mess- really a bloody mess. Quinny made it through in 5th or 6th place and is one big bruise. her disc was also cracked in two and her pedals bent. So now we have to find a 2nd pair of wheels and pedals. Malaysia/John Beasley, Ozzie Gary West, and Bob the Ozzie mechanic have been fantastic and offered help which is really beyond belief- I can't tell you how appreciative we are.

Oh and I forgot to mention yesterday 4 minutes before Becky's heat her race front wheel got a hole and we were saved by Malaysia with a back up wheel for the pit while Bob the Ozzie helped get a new tire glued on.

Finals in 5 hours. Quinny and Olds were the 2 who made it through BTW for the US.