SUTTON CYCLING CLUB
Cycling With Youth in Mind
- Sponsored by:
- De Ver Cycles
(Click on the De Ver logo to shop online)
|
SUTTON CYCLING CLUB Cycling With Youth in Mind
|
|
|
|
Active at the Arena GRR 16th July 2011Active at the Arena is a London Borough of Sutton event aimed at showing people how easy and enjoyable it is to lead an active lifestyle. In previous years there the Club has organised bicycle skills courses for children, but this year we decided to offer Go-Ride Racing (GRR) - entry level racing for novice riders Under 16. What we hadn't counted on was the British summer - the weather got worse throughout the day, culminating in the rain coming down like stair-rods. This meant that only a handful or riders from outside the Club turned up to have a go, so the racing was telescoped into the Time Trial and two age-group Mountainbike races instead of the planned three. Two courses had been set up on the grassy banks around the running track. The wet surface made the climbing difficult on both, but especially on the cambered switchback of the longer course set for the older age group. The riders needed to bring all their skills into use just to get traction on the back wheel. Go-Ride Racing being for novices, regular Club racers either rode above their age-group (rode "up") to make for fairer competition, or were ranked separately from the novices. The U8/U10 results were then split from those of the U12s, in line with the original planned age groups. The top three in each race received a GRR medal, and the overall winner in each age group a GRR certificate.
Full results (showing individual TT times and numbers of laps raced) can be found here, both adjusted and unadjusted. Thanks to Nick Woolven for deciphering the soggy bits of paper that the judges presented him with! And thanks too to all the parents and officials who volunteered to help on the day. The Club is extremely grateful to Greenham Trading Limited of Crawley, who generously donated a supply of strong orange tape to mark the course. The red and white tape we have used in the past would have disintegrated in the wind and rain, but the new tape withstood the appalling conditions and can even be re-used! It was a shame that the weather was against us, but in spite of that we made a good showing for the Club. Our efforts were certainly appreciated by the organiser of Active at the Arena, and demonstrated that our riders are a hardy bunch who keep active and enjoy their cycling whatever the weather! Click here to read other articles |
