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Ride the Olympic Velodrome - 24th May
Thanks to Andrew R we have just been given a confirmed CCA booking at the London Olympic Velodrome, now called Lea Valley VeloPark
We have a 3 hour booking 9 am - 12 noon, Saturday 24th May 2014.
We've decided to open this session upto everyone, beginner or experienced, adults and youth/junior. You must however be a fully paid up CCA member.
See below for age limits etc.
Depending on how many people want to go, the cost should be around £20/head, though we cant confirm the cost at this stage. Worst case it may be £30/head if the uptake is poor and we have to pay for our own coaches, but I think that's unlikely. If you need to hire a bike / shoes etc that will be extra, details to be confirmed. The only other cost will be getting there, and food/drink on the day.
We'll probably need at least 2 accredited coaches, maybe more. Hopefully we can arrange it so that coaches get to ride as well as coach. Mark W, Mark F, Mark R, Jackie F and Tim - are you able to coach? If so sign up below.
This should be a great experience, a chance to ride the Olympic velodrome only a month or so after it opens to the public. If you would like to ride please sign up below, first come first served, but please note we will have to pay the full hire charge in advance, so if you sign up you are committing to pay your share (approx £20). If you expect to have family members with you who are spectating please sign them up as well, as we need to tell the velodrome numbers in advance.
sign up here
age restrictions. if we use our own club coaches then the minimum age is 9, if we have to use the lea valley coaches then they will only accept 12 and above.
also please note that the hire bikes available start at 12 years old and up.
we hope to have club coaches so can accept 9-12 year olds, but please note they should already have track/grass track experience and will need to bring their own bikes.
beginners - complete beginners to track riding are welcome, although it would be best for any beginners to have some experience of fixed gear riding. we should be able to run some taster sessions on our grasstrack on track bikes in early may.
Should be a great day out, hope to see you there. thanks again Andrew.
We have a 3 hour booking 9 am - 12 noon, Saturday 24th May 2014.
We've decided to open this session upto everyone, beginner or experienced, adults and youth/junior. You must however be a fully paid up CCA member.
See below for age limits etc.
Depending on how many people want to go, the cost should be around £20/head, though we cant confirm the cost at this stage. Worst case it may be £30/head if the uptake is poor and we have to pay for our own coaches, but I think that's unlikely. If you need to hire a bike / shoes etc that will be extra, details to be confirmed. The only other cost will be getting there, and food/drink on the day.
We'll probably need at least 2 accredited coaches, maybe more. Hopefully we can arrange it so that coaches get to ride as well as coach. Mark W, Mark F, Mark R, Jackie F and Tim - are you able to coach? If so sign up below.
This should be a great experience, a chance to ride the Olympic velodrome only a month or so after it opens to the public. If you would like to ride please sign up below, first come first served, but please note we will have to pay the full hire charge in advance, so if you sign up you are committing to pay your share (approx £20). If you expect to have family members with you who are spectating please sign them up as well, as we need to tell the velodrome numbers in advance.
sign up here
age restrictions. if we use our own club coaches then the minimum age is 9, if we have to use the lea valley coaches then they will only accept 12 and above.
also please note that the hire bikes available start at 12 years old and up.
we hope to have club coaches so can accept 9-12 year olds, but please note they should already have track/grass track experience and will need to bring their own bikes.
beginners - complete beginners to track riding are welcome, although it would be best for any beginners to have some experience of fixed gear riding. we should be able to run some taster sessions on our grasstrack on track bikes in early may.
Should be a great day out, hope to see you there. thanks again Andrew.
Comments
I have put my name down
Im happy to coach and i guess if we have enough coaches we can swap about a bit so we can get a ride also. If its not possible to ride then i will just coach.
as Stef says, i will try and organise a novice grass session beforehand for any complete beginners.
I put Katie in beginner and experienced box, she has ridden track indoor and out, just not regularly recently.
Thanks
Alistair
I have put myself down as a beginner adult as I really didn't feel very experienced on the boards in Manchester and I would need to get the feel of this malarkey before starting to get carried away.
I might do some of the Welwyn novice track sessions which usually start in April on Saturday mornings. You can hire bikes and get some good coaching and practice truly horrific exercises which leave your lungs in pieces.
as a result we will have to close the beginner list for the moment, and place anyone else who wants to sign up on a reserve list, as we are close to the limit for riders on the track at any one time.
if you want to attend as a beginner still sign up on the poll above but be aware you will be on a reserve list.
we can still take more experienced adults or young riders (experienced) but are getting close on this group too so dont hang around.
Skelders = pitman !
See seperate post and sign up if you are interested.
Adam
Ok, so i have been through the list and made 2 groups of 16. As im the only club coach available (and to be honest i would like to ride) we will go with their coaches, 1 coach for each group of 16 which is the maximum allowed.
We had more beginners than experienced on the list, so to try to maximise the amount that can attend i have where possible put anyone borderline in the experienced group, so anyone who has been on the boards before is in the experienced group and maybe 1 or 2 who have a lot of track experience just not indoor such as Adam L.
We can shuffle the groups around on the day as im sure there will be some faster riders in the beginner group who after a couple of laps will be flying.
If anyone drops out, let me know and we will work our way down the reserve list at the bottom in that order.
I have pencilled in Saturday 10th May am as a beginners session at the grass track. We can do most of what you need to know there and i strongly recommend that anyone who hasnt ridden fixed or been on a track attends. We can cover a lot of the basic stuff like starting off and stopping and this will give you more time on the track in London. I might be able to do the following saturday as well, we'll see.
Beginners...
Susan Watts
Finn Watts
Lucia Watts
Alfie Duckett
Nat Rosa
Peter Easton
Archie Foulkes
Martin Hillier
James MacKenzie
Tim Allen
Holly Proctor
Sophie Proctor
Lee Holmes
Jane Wilson
Will Smith
Phil Keen
Experienced....
Stef Dixon
Geoff Godschalk
Andrew Robertson
Holly Robertson
Adam Lightfoot
Tim Duckett
Daniel Doncaster
Iain Foulkes
Alistair Sclare
Katie Sclare
Theo Doncaster
James Davies
John Chapman
Cameron Woolsey
Dan Pedder
Henry Skelding
Reserves...
Adam Roe
Harley Pell
Rosanna Moynihan
Mark Young
Is there any chance of doing the grass track sessions a bit earlier on? (Womens Tour of GB, Cheshunt to Welwyn stage is on Sat 10th May. And 17/18th is the Etape du Dales)
So lets see what the weather does (hopefully spring has started!) and then we can use all the Saturdays before the 24th as training days.
Will keep you posted.
I understand where you are coming from Shelton.
Can I make a suggestion Tim. First up I think the coaches can accept 20 per group.....maybe velodrome is less.
Secondly....for the sake of youngsters getting a ride on the velodrome I'm sure some of us could put some of our ride time aside for them to get a spin.
Why not include everyone and we can be an inclusive club and share our time so everyone gets to ride the London velo.
Just a thought.
When we started the list we didnt know what the response would be and so made it a first come first served basis. Working on 2 groups of 16 we did say that the poll was closed on 27th Jan as we had reached our limit. You put Harleys name down after that. If we bump Harley up the list we have to remove someone who put their name down beforehand and they will not be happy.
Now, this sort of problem may happen more often and could happen in other things like the ride London and so in the future we will probably give preference to those that attend club sessions/events or volunteer for the club. It would not be fair though i think to rejig this list now.
There is however a further problem for Harley, Alfie and Archie. If we use Lee Valley coaches as planned the minimum age is 12. I would be willing to give up my place to coach but i now understand that club coaches have to do a coaching accreditation to coach there, so i dont think that the three of them will be able to ride. With the sheer amount of club work imminent to do with grass track, TT's etc i wont be able to do the accreditation before May.
Sorry that this isnt perfect and not everyone is happy. We are learning our way with a new venue and trying our best.
I will take my chance with a couple of others not being able to make it
Also, you saw me on the grass track last year. I do believe that track racing is not my forte...
Welwyn Go-Ride Session
The Welwyn Go-Ride Session takes place on Saturdays between 9.00 to 11.15 (for dates see the Calendar on this website). During the track season (April to September) the sessions will use track bikes (available for hire). Otherwise bring your own road, cyclocross or mountain bike.
Riders should wear suitable clothes for cycling, including gloves or mitts. A hard shell helmet must be worn. Please ensure that you have adequate clothing during the winter months; several thin layers are usually most effective for keeping comfortable throughout the session. Please bring a drink - younger riders may also wish to bring a snack.
The focus is on bike handling skills and techniques, as well as fitness. Club members of all ages welcome; unattached non-club members are also welcome. For further details please contact Peter Waghorn on 01707 327011.
A small fee is charged for the session:
£3.00 per person for youth members of Welwyn Wheelers
£4.00 per person for junior & senior members of Welwyn Wheelers
£4.00 per person for youth riders who are not members of Welwyn Wheelers
£6.00 per person for junior & senior riders who are not members of Welwyn Wheelers
Bike Hire £3.00
Note: all NOVICE track riders will be directed to this session during the track season for track induction. Riders will not be able to ride in the Monday evening training sessions until the coaches are satisfied that they can ride safely and without endangering other riders.
Note2: due to safety concerns there is a 60 rider limit for this session.
having already been offered 2 sessions i'm sure we will be offered more, and at some point in the future we should be able to offer a session for 9-12 year olds with a cca accredited coach.
appreciate it is frustrating, but we did say up front it was first come, first served and under 12 riding was dependent on us getting club coaches.
Riding on asphelt isn't the same as riding on a pine wood floor,It's like palming a skier off to mk snow dome! Sending the kids off to Welwyn wheelers is that what CC Ashwell want's? I'm not going to post anymore comments on this open forum as I will blow a fuse.
My next push was for our own track. When I say the opposition was even stronger I don't exaggerate. I think most will agree that it was a good move.
I don't have any kids in the club and I had the time to devote to developing these options. I was able to be there every week and every event to see that they happened without fail. As it grew I needed help and members came forward to take on the load. There is no way I could run all the events and cater for so many riders at the level CCA now boasts.
We are totally dependent on our VOLUNTEER coaches and pro-active parents to help run club CCA youth.
Whatever they can manage is ALL we can offer at any one time.
Bob and I set up CCAshwell as an inclusive club...NOT a devisive one.
Cool down Shelton...get your CRB and coaching qualification and join the other coaches to make your vision happen.
We need to work together to make this club work not lay blame and expect things to happen at the drop of a hat.
Life isn't fair. It never was. But I have to say that CCA is just about as fair as any club can possibly be. You should all be proud of what you have contributed to make it so. Keep up the good work.
I can't be there to drive events like I used to so you all need to share the load to make things possible.
Indoor velodrome is a luxury for CCA as we have to travel to get there. Our young riders NEED the experience but can't expect to ride regularly. We are however, unique in the club environment.
Only 2 other clubs in the UK own their own grass track facility.
Welwyn wheelers don't own theirs. We are just as able to hire the facility as them.
We have our own bikes and a stock of road tyres to suit the different bike wheels. If parents want to ride Welwyn track they should get together and organise the sessions.
The track at Welwyn is very different to an indoor track or a grasstrack. Our riders need to be proficient on ALL surfaces. All have merit and all give the rider different skill sets.
Get to it and make it happen.
I think this has been a fair and clear process - get your name down sooner if you want a place, and don't have a pop at the people who are giving up their time week in week out voluntarily (grass track, TTs, muddy monsters, organising velodrome trips etc etc etc).
Iain
However, before doing so I would like to say;
Tim, I just cannot agree with you, Shelton does not have a fair point, understandable through frustration maybe, but it is certainly not fair. Nor are the comment to James, our coaches or the intimation that there is something substandard about riding at Welwyn in any war fair or reasonable
The club does a great and inclusive job and all those who organise it have my thanks and my support in how it is done. The organisation of this trip is another good example, you did it right, please don't apologise for doing so.