Go Ride Easter Fun Saturday 26th March 2016

Today was our last Go Ride session of the term and the first Saturday of the Easter holidays for many of our riders.  The riding one handed skills we'd worked on last week came in really handy for the egg and spoon race and the "egg pick".  Riders had to work for their treats though; we kicked off the session with an endurance block and threw in a continuous skills circuit before the Easter Bunny arrived with the treats.

The Easter Bunny arrived to re-fuel the riders after a block of continuous riding

Thomas put his bottle pick skills to go good use this week!

Skilful riding gave Hope the time to make her selection!

The Youth Ride headed over to Ightham Mote for a steady 15 mile ride; no problems today so we made good progress and returned to Stocks Green to demolish the remaining eggs!

Next Go Ride session Saturday 16th April.  

Mad March Hare Racing at Cyclopark 19th March - Congratulations to Albert, Hope, Polly, Toni & Hannah who all raced at Cyclopark and got some great results!

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Saturday 19th March - Go Ride & Youth Ride

Go Ride

With some of our riders competing at Cyclopark today in the Mad March Hare races we had the chance to spend lots of time on some core skills for our newer riders.  Mostly we rode one handed.  These longer sessions that give kids the chance to really practise handling their bike are the ones that will make them into really good bike riders.  They are loads of fun too!  

Piggy is by far the most popular item to grab from a helper.

Charlotte goes for grey ted.

Piggy every time for Cayden! Nice reach and balance.

Missed him this time!

Jacob demonstrates last minute counter balance approach

Oliver having success with grey ted

Zara, looking quietly confident.

The combo of small bike and long arms gives ben quite an advantage on this one.

Spoilt for choice, which one will it be Joel?

Youth Ride

A few riders came out of hibernation today and we welcomed Ben onto his first Youth Ride.  We started off on the playground with a quick re-cap on group riding etiquette before heading out towards Penshurst for one of our old favourite routes, taking in Hannah Hill (yes I remember when I used to have to wait for her on that one). We did however avoid Ellen's Potholes, by reversing the route and coming back up the concrete road from Penshurst.  Well done everyone who made it, lovely to see you all out and enjoying the spring sunshine on your bikes.

Great riding from Luke and Ben

Claire, Ellen, Izzy, Sophia, Calvin & Katy - looking happy and colourful.

Go Ride 12th March 2016 & Youth Ride Homework

Go Ride
Regular bread and butter Go Ride session today, or was it?  Kicked off with one of my favourite warm ups; thread the needle, the drill where the back pair have to make their way to the front through the middle of the other pairs.  This requires real skill, riders must control their pace, ride close, maneouvre through some tight gaps and generally ride smoothly.  Particularly impressed with our very young riders who are really starting to get the hang of this!

Thread the needle triumph from this week's riders

Ethan, Betsy and Franklin working on tight U turns

Jacob and Thomas concentrating hard! 

From there we worked on cornering in two smaller groups; Michele got her groups working on tight U turns, while my group practised  carving turns across the playground individually, then in small groups and finally as an individual TT.  Before we knew we were nearly out of time.  Just managed to fit a few relays in before the session ended.

Youth Ride
With diminished numbers of adult riders this week I set Youth Ride homework for everyone hoping to ride the KVG sportive. So if you saw a KVK pair riding out on Saturday afternoon, they weren't lost they were just doing their homework!  Chapeau to Polly, Ellen & Hope who I know all completed theirs.

Next Week: Go Ride normal time at Stocks Green

Saturday 5th March - Herne Hill Velodrome.

Discovering Herne Hill is definitely a seminal moment in any bike rider's life; tucked away in the leafy streets of South London the derelict meets refurbished nature of the site is evidence of it's former glory and inspiration for the future.  Yes, in case you hadn't guessed it, I absolutely love the place even thought it is always absolutely freezing when we go there!

We got the prize for the most colourful club ever!

Feed time!

Ella & Serena had a flask AND extra dry gloves

Your turn next Calvin ;-)

Katy wearing ALL the clothes she owns gets a thumbs up from Coach Damian ;-)

 Ellen and Sophia bring some sophistication to the afternoon

Roger sharing his knowledge with Viv & Freya (not sure they are sharing the hot chocolate though).

KVK riders showing their enthusiasm for racing: Ella, Michele, Katy, Louise, Izzy & Hope

Today was no different, but fortunately all the riders new and old had heeded my advice about multiple layers, flasks of tea and extra clothes.  In true HH style we were all riding within minutes of getting on the track, yes even those who had never ridden a track bike before.  Peter and Roger put on a master class of delivering a fun and progressive session to a mixed group of riders like the true pro's they are.

I love to see the trepidation on the faces of first timers as they head up towards the top fence and then the excitement and relief that washes over them as they realise what they've done.  Thanks to everyone who took part and made this such an enjoyable afternoon, I'm looking forward to seeing a new group of KVKs on the track in the not too distant future.

Wednesday March 2nd - The Velo House Tunbridge Wells

We got together with the Southborough Wheelers for some indoor bike racing at The Velohouse after school today.  The evening kicked off with some pre-race nutrition (not sure sausage and chips is what the pro's go for but I may be wrong) while Olly got the turbo set up.  It's his Bkool turbo set up that shows a rider on the velodrome while the racer is pedalling.

Pre ride fuelling: sausage, chips and fish all round. Spot our agent in the opposition's camp

We started with the youngest riders, all who seemed to have benefitted from the injection of fuel and progressed to the older riders.  TVH staff were also on hand to check out saddle heights and general bike set ups which was very handy, especially as most people seem to have had a growth spurt over the winter.

Our first rider up was Hope

Some impressive performances from all the riders but most noteable performances have to go to Cameron Preece from SDW who demonstrated phenomenal leg speed and our very own Calvin Hooper, who smashed everyone's time in his own inimitable style.

A great evening, thanks very much to Olly at TVH http://www.thevelohouse.com/ and Bruce from SDW http://www.southborough-wheelers.co.uk/for inviting us to take part.

Impressive preformance from Emily (SDW)

Onto our own big hitters: Toni readies herself for the 500m effort

Not quite transponder timing but we came out on top for the boys and tied for the girls :-) Well that's my interpretation anyway.

Saturday 27th February - Trip to Kingdom Cycling in Penshurst

We made a change to the published schedule for today's session because we got the opportunity to ride at Kingdom Cycling in Penshurst.  Anyone local who has been around a while will know PORC, well,  Kingdom is a new venture at the site.  The road circuit and clubhouse will form Kingdom and will include a restaurant, fitness rooms and a bike shop amongst other things.  Today we got to try out the one mile loop that may one day form a tarmacked road circuit.  We loved it just as it is, and with pretty much half of it down hill and half of it up hill it makes for a good workout.  

Has anyone seen Betsy?

 We kicked off with a guided ride of the trail loop, it leads down to a natural round grass area complete with tree swing and some interesting props which the kids loved.

Luke made an excellent job of distributing the biscuits, spot the Jaffa cakes.

 There was alot of hard bike riding going on so everyone was pleased to hear I'd brought the biscuits, including Gareth's chocolate gingers.

 The bowl area at the bottom of the circuit lends itself very well to racing, so we ran some some short lap races.  Despite some high speeds everyone managed to keep upright.  

I remembered the flag, next time we need the bell as well

 It seemed a shame to leave the parents out, especially as they'd all brought their bikes so we let them end the session with a race of their own.

Competitive parents lining up for their own race

 
We all agreed it was a cool place to hang out, hopefully they'll be a coffee and cakes there next time we ride.  Thanks very much to Ross & Pete at Kingdom for giving us the chance to check out this great venue.