Human endeavour powers on

MOTOR sports enthusiasts may be having a difficult time in their battle to find a home in the southeast, but not so for humanpowered vehicle sports.
The City of Casey last week accepted a tender for $576,540 to build a criterium cycle track at Casey Fields, Cranbourne.
This will cater for bicycle and humanpowered vehicle (HPV) racing in a big way, even on national and possibly international levels.
Three Casey councillors, the mayor Neil Lucas and former mayors Wayne Smith and Rob Wilson, have returned from visits to major HPV events with glowing reports and this has led to enormous council support for the sport in this region.
Major HPV 24hour marathons are held at Murray Bridge in South Australia, Maryborough and Wonthaggi in Victoria.
Following for the sport has escalated above all expectations, certainly mine.
I recall first seeing a few sophisticated ‘pedal cars’ at the Berwick Secondary College.
A few years later I went to a training run around the Cardinia civic centre and began to think that HPV vehicles were serious business.
The Casey investment leaves little doubt about that.
Berwick Secondary College has enjoyed enormous success in the sport and now we see Beaconsfield Primary School emerging as a strong contender in its age level.
Cr Smith said the beauty of the event was its strong family involvement.
He said the big picture for the southeast was that the City of Casey would be the only purposebuilt track on the HPV circuit.
The sport has now moved from schools to an open adult section, something bound to happen as students leave school still keen to be involved in the sport.
Work is expected to begin immediately on the track for a completion date soon after Christmas.
This is an investment both in HPV racing and the local economy because the track will draw millions of people to the Cranbourne area as the sport continues to develop.
Berwick Secondary College is a pioneer in this sport and, through its leadership, the City of Casey has responded in a most positive way.
Cardinia Shire also contributed by allowing the civic centre to become a HPV track on weekends, a simple but highly positive gesture that helped the sport along.
I am aware that parents with resources contributed enormously during the early days and have continued to do so, but former Berwick Secondary College deputy principal Terry Trevena went far above and beyond the call of duty to mentor his students in the sport.
My view is that the first big race on the new track could deservedly be called the ‘Terry Trevena Classic’, because Terry’s work has been inestimable in value.The HPV family goes off to Maryborough for a big event from Thursday 24 November to Sunday 27 November with the 24hour marathon to be run from noon Saturday until noon Sunday.
This event is expected to generate $3 million for Maryborough, a sign of what is to come for Cranbourne.
Understandably, the council has agreed to add lots of extras to the new facility.