We had a quick pitstop at Ightham Mote, but everyone seemed to have way too much energy to need a break and the log jumping was definitely not on the risk assessment so we called it a day and headed for home. Great ride, well done everyone. Next week back to the Col de Coldharbour (with extension(s) of course).
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| Can't believe they didn't ride their bikes along the log! |
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| Luckily no broken ankles :-) |
By the afternoon the weather had changed and although it looked like me might get away with a dry Go Ride session we did it fact get drenched!! Great work from all the riders and coaches who pressed on undeterred by the chilly, wet conditions, good training for the Spring Classsics.
Damian took charge of the Quick Starters this week:
Saturday afternoon was soggy and chilly, a bit of a shock after all the fine, dry weather, so a massive congratulations to the five Quick Starters (Tia, Maya, Freddie, Pip and Zara) who turned up to develop their cornering skills. After a quick session in the shelter drawing on the playground with chalk to consider the "racing line" through a corner we braved the rain to work on riding through a series of gates, looking for the smoothest line, and focussing ahead not on the cones. We then put into practice the racing line we had drawn in chalk, starting wide, "hitting" the apex and exiting wide.
After that we moved on to a challenging 180 degree hairpin turn around a cone, remembering to look through the corner to where we wanted to go, adjusting speed as necessary and keeping our inside pedal up. Great improvement from all after just a few attempts meant we could finish off with some "pin end" races, with a pair of riders racing against each other around to cones, but facing penalty points for hitting the cones or failing to make the turn within the allowed width of the "road".
Great riding from everyone, despite the cold and the wet. Everyone stayed upright and showed great improvement, getting to grips with the various elements of good cornering: speed adjustment, smooth flowing lines, looking "through " the corner at the exit rather than at the corner and getting that inside pedal up to avoid grounding it. Brilliant! Sorry there's no photo, everyone was keen to get into the dry at the end (including me).
Kary worked on points of contact with the older riders:
This session was all about riding your bike with less points of contact than normal. I had invited riders to bring road bikes if they have them, we also had the club road bikes out for others to try. We started off with a quick warm up "Simon Says" style with hands on helmets, out of the saddle, one handed etc. Then we moved on to riding through a narrow channel one handed and pushing a partner round a slalom course. This session provides a good opportunity to progress towards riding none handed, made more challenging by the small space we were working in. Our next challenge was to take off a piece of clothing whilst riding, we used high viz bibs for this which led to cries of "can I have one, can I have one" which is not normally a phrase I hear when the bib bag comes out! Our final challenge was for each rider to remove their bib, stow it about their person and ride through the feed zone to pick up a jelly bean. Some big improvements in handling and control with one and no hands, well done everyone.
Next week, Saturday 11th October
Ride-Out: Col de Coldharbour 9.30am Westwood Recreation Ground. This is a 5 mile route suitable for MTB or hybrid bikes. It uses bridlepaths and a quiet lane. All riders must have a drink, packable jacket, small snack and an inner tube. We will carry tools. This is an ideal route for your first Ride-Out.
Go-Ride, Quick Start & Regular Sign on from 1.45pm Stocks Green School. Session runs 2pm - 3pm This session is suitable for MTB or hybrids.
PLEASE CONTACT ME TO SIGN ON FOR A RIDE OR SESSION.
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