Youth Ride Saturday 15/11/14

This morning our Youth Riders split into two groups and tackled two different routes.  Our regular riders headed out towards Hever before return via Coppings Road.  They weren't put off by the flooded road and Damian even offered some advice to another cyclist who was unsure about his chances of getting through unscathed.

Nico's first ride and his first puncture!

Myself and Bee took a small group including two new Youth Riders on a short loop through Underriver, returning via Nizels Lane and Lower Street.  Well done to Hope, Tom and Nico.  Tom and Nico were joining us on the road for the first time, Hope of course is one of our regulars and our new two group set up means she can join us on the road now too.

Claire, Hope and Tom helping with the puncture :-)

Route 1: Henry VIII and The Flood (29km , 250m climbing)
Route 2: Tour Guide Special Under the River and Lower Street (13km, 100m climbing)

Next week both groups will be tackling slightly longer routes with more climbing.

Power Pack at Cyclopark

The team were out in force at Cyclopark yesterday for John Leitch's Power Pack session.  Bee was coaching, the kids were riding and the KVK parents were drinking coffee in the sunshine.  We celebrated Calvin's birthdy by joining him for a jam doughnut :-).  These are ideal session for anyone getting used to riding a road bike.  Next session is 7th December 1pm - 3pm.  Do let me know if you want to try it, we can usually guarantee a friendly face or two.

Go Ride Racing - Saturday November 8th

Well done to all twenty six riders who took part in our Go Ride Racing event at the weekend. We kicked off with an individual TT, 1 lap of the course and followed it up with a mass start race of 5, 3 and 1 lap for the U16/14's, U12/10's and U8's.  Course conditions were tricky in places particularly as the ground got stickier and stickier.

Hope sporting one of our new Go Ride number bibs

Following a short break we moved onto a new race for us; The Marymoor Crawl.  We ran this on the playground, it starts of with a track stand style start of indeterminate length.  When the whistle goes riders have a short sprint to the finish line.  Riders had the chance to practise this new event before we ran five heats based on age/experience.  Thanks to Damian for introducing this new race which everyone agreed was great fun.

We finished off with a team relay on the course, there were plenty of enthusiastic cheering from team managers Malcolm and Katy but nothing compared to Michele :-)  KVK pom poms are definitely a must for our next event.

Team relay riders waiting for their lap

Medals were awarded for the top three riders in each category for the combined results from the TT and the mass start race.  The five heat winners from the Marymoor Crawl all received prizes and the team relay winners got first choice from the sweetie bag.

Thanks to all the riders, volunteers and parents who contributed our Go Ride Racing event we hope to see you all again soon.

Marymoor Crawl winners with their prizes

Team 1 won the relay and got first choice of the chocolate.

Gold Medalists: Katie, Hope, Finlay, Kieran, Monty, Polly, Toni, Bailey, Tom, Calvin.

Silver Medalists: Luke O'G, Nico, Tilly, Lauren, Luke W, Ellen, Sophia

Bronze Medalist: Hannah, Zara, Izzy, Georgia, Harry P

Marymoor Crawl Winners: Toni, Calvin, Kieran, Hope & Katie

Team Relay Winners: Finlay, Sammy, William, Harry P, Bailey, Harry L, Ellen & Polly

Next Week: Saturday 15th November Go Ride 1.45pm sign on at Stocks Green.

Youth Rides: Saturday morning, contact me to sign on.

Evans Biggin Hill Ride It!

Congratulations to Toni and Polly who took part in the Evan's Ride It! Biggin Hill event on Sunday 2nd November.  The girls rode really well in very challenging conditions; wind and rain on top of challenging climbs and descents.  The cheese and onion pasties at the end were particularly good :-)

Still smiling after 32 miles and 2000ft of climbing

Half Term: Riding Out, Go Ride and BMX

Ride Out

Taking a breather before the Col de Plaxtol

We decided to try starting our ride at Ightham Mote so we could check out some new trails.  We still had to get there though, so Damian, Heather and I set off with Ellen, Polly, Toni and Luke for a quick ride up to the Mote.  It took us 21 minutes to get to the rendez vous point, which gave Ellen plenty of time to text her parents to make sure they were on their way with Hope!

It also gave us time to play on the log and identify the car park as an ideal race circuit (there must be some times when the car park is closed??).

Hope, Malcolm and Claire arrived and we set off along the bridlepath towards the Fairlawne Estate.  We crossed the road and wound our way through the estate, popping out on School Lane and starting the climb on the road up through Plaxtol.  The route continued to climb through an orchard and a bumpy field before popping out on the junction by Col de Mote.  We have climbed this hill before but never descended it.  It was a fun and fast trip down hill, so much so that Polly, Ellen and Toni volunteered to ride back up to come back down!  Hope and Luke switched places for the return journey to Hildenborough, Luke taking a lift in the support vehicle, his knee was giving him trouble.  A smooth ride back to Hildenborough with all the riders still buzzing from the super fast descent.

Our last Go Ride session of Term 1 had a record turnout of 22 riders.  Katy and Claire worked with the Quick Starters while Damian and I joined our regular riders working on pace.

Claire writes:

Quick Starters Who Completed their Course on Saturday

It was a sunny and bright afternoon for the last of our Quick Start sessions and our riders were smiling and raring to go! This week we were focusing on using our gears. We started riding in the easiest gear then switched to the hardest gear to compare. Next we investigated our gears further with some low gear races. All riders started in their easiest gear and raced the length of the playground. The winning rider kept this gear but all the others changed up one and off we went again. At the end, we thought about which gears we preferred to start in and when each gear might be most appropriate. We finished the afternoon with a game of limbo then presented certificates to the riders in recognition of their hard work. Well done to everyone - you all improved hugely and kept smiling throughout!

Half Term BMX at Cyclopark

It was great to see the new KVK kit on display at the BMX track at Cyclopark during the half term holiday.  Toni, Luke, Ellen, Hope and Polly all took part in the beginner session and were graded as Intermediate.  This means they can attend open sessions at the park and may even need another bike!!  Polly, Ellen and Hope went back for more the next day and met some of the "real" BMXers who introduced them to a new version of sardines.  We also bumped into Elliot and Jessica.  As usual the coach was extremely impressed by our awesome bike riders

On the start gate

Day 2 Intermediate session