Saturday 10th January 2015

It was great to see so many riders on our first weekend sessions of 2015.  The weather was kind to us and we managed to get out in the morning with the Youth Riders and run a successful Go-Ride session in the afternoon.

The afternoon Go-Ride session went ahead with a good turn out of riders.  Keiran arrived on a unicycle (showing very impressive skills) but had to swap to a regular bike for the session which started off with some low gear races allowing the riders to consider the importance of selecting the best gear for starting off as well as practicing "spinning" (pedalling at low resistance/high cadence).  The group then split into two with Kary and Katy taking the smaller wheels and myself and Jacob taking the bigger wheels.

We worked on moving the bike without riding it and mounting and dismounting.  Saddle push proved easy at first when riders could use there "best" hand and go at their own speed, but with the "wrong" hand and slowed down things were more tricky, but a bit of practice saw great improvement; we then moved on to a bike shop push (more difficult) and scooting (easy).  Things got more taxing when riders were required to crouch down with heads below the handle bars whilst gliding - remember to keep looking where you are going! Finally we moved on to mounting whilst scooting and a running dismount; some great skills on display all round. Finally we finished with a game of ladders (requiring pairs to mount, ride round some cones and dismount in a race against each other) and a medley race with each team having to complete the course with riders doing saddle push, bike shop push and scooting; a close finish at the end.

Damian

Next Weekend Saturday 17th January 2015:

YOUTH RIDE: contact me to sign on

NO GO-RIDE, we will be practising puncture repair at Hildenborough Village Hall 2.30pm - 4.30pm. Please bring a clean bike and any tools that you have.