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***CCA PRIMAVERA, April 10th 2016***

edited January 2016 in Road Racing
Hello all,

Just a quick note for you to stick this date in your diaries if you want to come along and stand on corners with flags, drive cars really slowly, bake cake, eat cake, watch people looking a bit sweaty etc etc.

As ever we'd be hugely grateful for your help on the road race this year. The exciting news is that it's relocating to the circuit that finishes in Kingston, some of you came to watch the end of the Ike Saul Road Race (Cambridge CC) here last year, we'll be using the same circuit. It basically runs out of Orwell (HQ being the village hall), up on to the main road, right down to the turn on to Harlton Rd up through the Eversdens, through Kingston and then a left onto Bourne Road, left again onto the B1046 that heads back past Bourne and onto the A1198 (Old North Road) where you go left and bomb it all the way down to the roundabout past Arrington. Another left turn and we're back on the Cambridge road heading through Wimpole and past Orwell again.

It looks like there will not be any racing on the Cople circuit this year at all and the Kingston circuit is the closest one to Ashwell so it made sense to put it there.

Those who are interested in racing it (one of those lovely blue jerseys potentially could win this one... CCA is yet to have a home winner!) will see it going live on the BC website soon and it will be online entry only. It's a regional B so open to 3rd/4th cats and Juniors.

So stick the date in your diary and be prepared to be hassled by all the racers in due course! It really is a great day out and fantastic to be involved in, giving the club a chance to show off it's famously welcoming and friendly reputation!

Ta

Will
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Comments

  • Ditto - prefer to ride out and marshall if possible.
  • The Pell's have a race free weekend, happy to help and on our way ;-)
    the van and trailer
  • Racing experts help sought: Hypothetically speaking(!), if were delusional enough to enter this, what would I require in terms of licenses, points etc? How long is the race? Those of you who've ridden with me would know I'd be wasting my time in something short (like crits); I'm better built for longer distances.

    I'd also value advice if there would be somewhere else that would be better suited to give a race a go.

    I'm feeling the need for some kind of training goal and the idea of loads of running in preparations for triathlons is starting to weigh heavily on me. Riding my bike is more fun and it'd seem a shame to own a flashy carbon bike and not use it in anger!
  • Oh, and if I'm not up to it, I'm also more than happy to help with a flag / bib. I have prior experience from le Tour, none-the-less!
  • Andy. you just need a bc race license. you dont need any points. The race is for 3rd and 4th cats and will be around 60 miles long.
    These sort of regional B races are the lowest standard of road races on open roads so there is no better place to start if you want to have a go at road racing as opposed to crits. That said, the average speed will likely be around 25 mph so it is quite a step up from sportives etc.
    The best thing is just to dive in and give it a go and the more you do the more you get used to it. You need to ride a few to get the experience of where to be in the bunch etc but dont be dissapointed if you dont get round your first one.

    Give it a go, its very exilharating! and speak/ride with Will, Luke, Mitchy etc for some top tips.
  • Cheers Tim for the helpful advice. If I'm ever going to give it a go then it sounds like the ideal opportunity, so I'll see where my fitness and motivation get to over the next three months. Finishing in the bunch sounds like a good challenge!
  • Go Andy!
  • Odds-on puncture
  • It's a good thing to aim for in your first road race... You never know, you could surprise yourself! It's a good circuit with some windy roads, a fast downhill section and lots of rolling drags. You'll be hooked before you know it...
  • Ladies and gentlemen.

    To make sure that this race can go ahead, I'm going to need at least 17 marshals for this circuit. So if you fancy a free cuppa and a bit of cake and want to stand on the corners (you might see a crash if you're lucky) or blow a whistle and wave a flag (you should try it, it's amazing how much authority a whistle can give you) on a central reservation then sign up here!

    I might try and figure out how to set up a doodle thingy so people can do that to keep tabs on it...

    Ah, the wonders of modern technology.
  • So here it is, what you've all been waiting for to show your commitment to the cause:

    Doodle poll
  • edited March 2016
    Around a month to go and there are only 5 people interested in helping out for this event... Could do with a little more help please! If I don't get the amount of marshals needed then I'll have to cancel the race and that would be a terrible shame. Also, we'd get the boot from the ERRL which would mean that none of our racers would get priority entry into the races in our region...
  • Hi Will,
    I've added my name to the doodle, for marshalling and I'll bring a couple of cakes. I'll try not to go over the top with the flag and the whistle...but it does sound fun!
  • Since my last post we've had all sorts of fun with a spot of "will they, won't they" in the case of accredited marshals, so it looks like we'll still be needing more volunteers from CCA to make this event happen. Currently I have 11 people signed up on the doodle poll to help at the race but this leaves me still about 12 people short. As some of you may know, there's quite a lot of things that need covering in a road race (let's not forget the cake), so the more the merrier!

    Without at least 12 more people the race will have to be pulled, which would forfeit us our ERRL membership and be yet another cancelled road race which would be a terrible shame!
  • Adam & I are happy to help

    Steve L
  • edited April 2016
    Soooooooo the list runs as thus so far. I'm eternally grateful to all those that have already volunteered and look forward to hearing from anybody else who wants to help out.

    Driver for comm 1: Daniel D
    Driver for comm 2: Ian Doe
    Lead car 1: Stef D
    Lead car 2: Andrew R
    Service car: Shelton P
    First aid: Lillie S

    Chief judge: Mark W
    Assistant Judges: Stevie W/Mark L

    Licences: Will S/Carmelo L
    Refreshments: Jaymi Murphy and members of the MacKenzie family

    Moto marshals: Dick P and 2 of his team.

    Signs: Phil K/JMac/Martin L

    Accredited Marshals:
    1: Ian Bell
    2: John Norman

    Marshals:

    1: Jeremy P
    2: Malcolm P
    3: Phil K
    4: Jenny A
    5: Steve L and Adam L
    6: Andy R
    7: JMac
    8: Richard L
    9: Susan and Lucia W
    10: Peter T
    11: Olly and Finn
    12: Ed N
    13: Neil and Nathan H
    14: Shaun
    15: Jackie F
    16: Stuart F
    17: David N
    18: Sallie and Archie B
    19: Toma M

    Any extra help is gratefully received!
  • I'll happily wave a flag!
  • Hi,

    I'm still recovering from my latest illness until May so I've put my name down to Marshall. Next year I'd love to race this.

    Gareth
  • Will, I had put myself on the doddle list but I'm not on you last post list, so you have one more helper than you realize :)
  • edited March 2016
    Great, thanks guys! The list has been updated.

    Does anybody have a GoPro they'd like to lend for the morning too? I know that Cambridge CC hung one over the finish line for their race a couple of years back which gave a great shot of the end of the race. Very helpful when sorting the placings too...

    Also, if I've stuck you down to do something that you don't really want to do on the list, then drop me a message and I'll sort it out!
  • edited March 2016
    Hello all,

    It's getting close to the closing date for entries now, so things are getting finalised. It would be a huge help to me and a weight off of my shoulders if I could get some people to stick their names down to help marshal! Without your help the race can't go on... It's one of the biggest and best things that the club organise and is essential for us to do to stay as part of the ERRL.

    Please, if you're free and willing, let me know! It's only taking 3 hours or so out of a Sunday morning so essentially the same as riding the club run and a great chance to help out the club on what always turns out to be a great day. You can even ride over as you won't need to bring anything in particular with you. Plus you'll get to show off/experience some of that welcoming spirit that CCA do so well!

    Thanks to those who have already sent their apologies, most of the racers who aren't riding this race are all working or are away for the weekend which is a shame.

    I'd love to get this signed off and ready to go as I'm also busy with my work over the next few weeks and as any of you out there who have organised races in the past will know, it can be very time consuming.

    So sign up, spread the news amongst the club and we'll have a great morning's racing in a few weeks time.

    Ta

    Will
  • Added my name!
  • Starting to fill up bit by bit. Thanks to all the volunteers so far! Still looking for a few more to fill up the marshalling posts...
  • Signed up to help marshal. :)
  • Me and Nathan are able to take up a marshalling slot

    Neil
  • The race is full, entry is closed and in amongst the 60 riders and 10 reserves we have:

    Adam Swan
    Tom Trimble
    Travis Pell
    Dave Wells
    Tom King

    riding in CCA blue.

    If you'd like to ride it but missed the deadline, you can always try your luck signing in on the line, it's early season so the races are more likely to have a bit of space in with people bowing out on the day (although saying that we only managed to get 3 or 4 reserves in the race last year, but it was in the middle of summer).

    If you fancy heading over and giving everybody an encouraging shout on it'll be appreciated I'm sure!

    In fact, you might as well wave a red flag around whilst you're at it.

    ***I STILL NEED 5 MORE MARSHALS TO PUT THIS RACE ON, WITHOUT THEM THE EVENT WILL NOT BE ALLOWED TO HAPPEN!!!***
  • Hi Will

    I can help out.

    Shaun
  • Hi Will
    put us down for 2 marshals
    Jackie
  • Mark Lightfoot is also going to be an assistant judge if it's not too late for the programme!
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