Saturday 22 December 2018

Saturday 22nd December London League Cyclocross at Somerhill School Hosted By Southborough & District Wheelers

The team was somewhat depleted today; Gareth didn't make it with Betsy & Albert and Hope had to reluctantly admit that she wasn't fit to race after a week off school so we were down to what was left of our regular team, Ivo and Oliver plus some enthusiastic newbies in the form of Zach and Daniel.  I also spotted Isaac and Iris who came to spectate.  Polly was racing too for KVRT and the KVG/KVB were pleased to be fielding nine racers, their best ever!  To check out cyclocross and the Kinesis London League follow the link HERE


Oliver mixing it up with the race leaders



A good start for Ivo in U10s

Daniel tackling his first cyclocross race


Zach uses his legendary skills to pass the opposition
Some familiar faces on the podium ;-)
Oliver, always a keen spectator!


All adult female categories race together: Polly, Liz, Cathy, Cherry and Lisa & Lucy

Top team from KVG/KVB!



Saturday 8 December 2018

Saturday 8th & 9th December: Go Ride & London League Cyclocross Racing

Saturday 8th December - Go Ride Planks & Pallets at Stocks Green School

This is always a popular session with the kids, if a little nerve racking for the parents and volunteers!  With twenty two riders on site we are reaching capacity at this time of year, but we didn't let that put us off.

I'd assembled a good selection of pallets, planks, logs and of course the legendary see-saws in the playground.  To get the riders warmed up, I headed to the back of the site where we set up a quick warm up circuit including some tight turns, mounting/dismounting zones and a limbo bar to negotiate after the lump.  Meanwhile Calvin and his team set up two sets of obstacles to challenge the riders.

The two main aims of this session are 1. Build Rider Confidence 2.Have Fun. With this in mind we let the riders self select which circuit they wanted to tackle.  Then we set to work.  Calvin guided riders  in his group through a careful assessment of the skills required to complete each section before having a go. Working on tarmac and in a relatively small space means that skill and control are paramount as oppose to speed and nerve, although a certain amount of bravery is always required when riding over tricky stuff.

Meanwhile our younger riders were also tackling various obstacles, working up to a pallet drop off and a see-saw.  Vicky and Matt stepped in to encourage riders over the see-saw while providing a reassuring catching service for any riders who needed it!








All in all a very successful session.  Nothing builds confidence like achieving something you thought you couldn't and riding your bike over planks and pallets is always fun.  Added to that there were no major injuries, just a couple of bruises and a decent graze, all of which were quickly sorted with ice packs and chocolate biscuits.


Thanks to all the volunteers, parents and riders who made this session work, Calvin really enjoyed it!

PS - we didn't take photos of all the obstacles ;-)

Sunday 9th December - London League Cyclocross at Frylands Wood

Thanks  to Jez for sending me photos from the race, I'm sorry I couldn't be there :-(

Team KVK 'cross attended a very wet and muddy Frylands today. Great performances from Albert, Betsy, Oliver and Ivo.

The racing was followed with much bike cleaning and cheesy chips! 

Ivo,Oliver, Albert & Betsy - Post Race
Front line on the grid for Ivo

Betsy getting a good gap

Ivo working hard through the woods

And the U12's are off!

Oliver chasing hard

Albert digging deep

Olvier taking Betsy's podium for her, 1st U10 Girl

Well deserved podium for Ivo in U10's