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HILLINGDON SPRINTFEST

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  • Agree Chris, really really enjoyed it! Thanks for organising and the lift mate.

    Learnt a lot, would recommend it to all and found myself 'doing a Jens' towards the end (telling my legs to shut up!)

    Nice one lads!!
  • edited February 2011
    A quote from the organiser of the Sprintfest:

    'You guys contributed a lot through enthusiasm, and being so evenly matched was an added bonus. Great ambassadeurs for CCA.

    Pleased to hear you were aching!!'

    A great heads up for CCA, so lets kick some ass out there!

    We have so many talented riders, so let's get the CCA on the map proper!

    People rated us... and we did not enjoy seeing Redhill upfront!

    We are better than we think...

    GET RACING!!!

    JUST DO IT!!
  • SprintFest Hillingdon training session
    Written by LCS/PR Tuesday, 22 February 2011 10:56 PDF Print E-mail
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    A SprintFest training session at Hillingdon on Sunday, February 20 triggered interest from 30 riders who wanted to improve their sprinting skills prior to the coming racing season. The first part of the afternoon saw riders allocated on ability into one of six groups each of five riders. Short half-lap mock races put the focus on the individual’s sprint finish.

    Using the results in the same fashion as a badminton league operates, the first rider was promoted into the group in front while the fifth rider was moved into the group behind.

    As a result, groups of equally-matched riders were quickly established so riders knew before they started the next race that they had every chance of winning. As a result, they kicked of with a positive mental approach, telling themselves ‘I can do this’.

    The second section of the afternoon was devoted to what British Cycling’s coaching manual describes as ‘advanced balance and coordination’ skills – in this case it was throwing the bike at the finish line.

    Two of High Wycombe CC’s hotshots mastered the skill so well that they were used as live demonstrations of ‘how to do it’.

    Time allowed all riders 20-25 loops, throwing their bike at the line as they crossed it twice on every loop.

    The third and final part of the afternoon saw riders allocated to pairs, one rider as the lead-out and the other as the sprinter. Under this format, the races were for the ‘sprinter’ only to challenge for the win.

    Initially half-lap mock races were contested between just two pairs and after the first run, the riders in each pair reversed roles.

    Groups were steadily increased to expose individuals to more demanding circumstances.

    A group of six women riders from London Dynamo had their costs for the session paid for by their club which was willing to invest in improving its racing members’ skills.

    “When you think of the typical cycling club, sitting with anything from £1000 to £7000 in its funds, perhaps using this to subsidise the annual dinner for 100 members to the tune of £20 a ticket, London Dynamo’s modest outlay of just £78 seems far better value for money to my way of thinking anyway,” said event organiser John Leitch.

    “I can’t see why clubs invest so little in helping their active racing members improve their skills – it’s not as if standards are improving.”

    The stronger of the Dynamo women were delighted to find themselves mixing it with men in the ‘badminton league’ groupings. “That was very encouraging,” said one.

    Chris Smith brought a group of five guys from CC Ashwell and during the first part of the session they had some amazingly tight tussles amongst themselves when riding head-to-head and also later in the afternoon when collaborating as pairs.

    For bragging rights, it was an on-going call between the various hotshots from High Wycombe CC and the contingent from the equally strong Redhill CC….. when two pairs from each club were going head to head it was a high-speed finale every time.
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