Saturday 11th March - Go Ride & Youth Ride

BC Luke came to visit us today.  He used to be our regional Go Ride coach but he is now our Regional Development Manager.  He came along to see what we were up to, I think it's fair to say he was pleased with what he saw.

We had a good turnout with twenty riders signing on for Go Ride.  We ran 'thread the needle' as a warm drill, which was ambitious given the number and mixed ability of the riders.  It worked well with only one small blip, with two riders down but no serious injuries or damage, so everyone was back up and riding in no time at all.  

We moved onto the main focus of the session which was cornering.  We split into two groups to practise some mini cornering circuits individually and in pairs.  After a quick break we ran an Australian Pursuit on the grass circuit which saw some fierce head to head competition towards the end and some excellent dynamic planning in the form of course shortening from Calvin.

Luke joined Polly, Ellen, Dan, Hope, Eloise, Malcolm
 Christophe and Myself on a sunny ride.

We ended up with some team shuttle relays on the playground before tidying up and getting ready to ride off site with the older riders.  We all rolled out together, but had to stop quite quickly for our first puncture.  We watched as Christophe set about replacing his inner tube, Hope and Eloise helpfully timed him.  We sent Luke, Malcolm, Dan, Ellen and Polly ahead.

The route took us out along the Causeway and up past Bore Place to Bailey's Hill.  This was Eloise's first ride on the road with us, but I'd been reliably informed she was bike fit so it seemed like a good idea to give her a challenge.

Before long we started to longish climb to the top of Bailey's and both girls managed well.  We stopped briefly to catch our breath before pushing on towards the summit.

'helping' Christophe with his puncture

It was a relief to reach the top, especially with the promise of a mostly downhill return journey.  We lost Christophe on the way home with another small mechanical, but he was managing well when we returned to find him.  All in all a good ride and an especially good first Youth Ride for Eloise.

Eloise and Hope at the top of Bailey's Hill 

Thursday 9th March - London Youth Track League

Warming up for the last London Youth Track League event of 2016/2017

What happens to Kent Velo Kids when they grow up?  U14's who want to race can join our Kent Velo RT, the kit uses the same colours as the KVK but has a racier look and fit.  Polly, Toni and Ellen are all racing for Kent Velo RT in 2017.  Hannah has now joined LivAWOL as a Junior, but still rides with us from time to time.

Once they are fourteen our members can start the British Cycling Young Volunteer programme and go on to help out at club sessions and pursue coaching qualifications if they wish.  Calvin is currently our most active Young Volunteer, regularly working with riders at Go Ride and helping out with off road ride outs.  We can occasionally tempt him out on the road and he was recently spotted at the Velodrome!

Our older riders are one of the club's greatest assets; they inspire the young riders and keep the adults on their toes.

Saturday 4th March Go Ride & Youth Ride

Go Ride - I had a slight feeling of deja vu as I loaded the van on Friday night with all the equipment for the session I'd planned for a few weeks earlier; one that I had to cancel due to extremely low temperatures, but hey, it's a good core workout moving those planks ;-) and I knew Calvin would be pleased to see all his favourite props.

Super low riding from Jacob

Ewan needs to get a bit lower!

Calvin has this under control..........

Super out of the saddle riding from Ewan

Obstacles are not problem for Joel

The focus of the session was riding over varied terrain and trying to get riders to get out of their saddles to gain better balance and handling over obstacles.  We started with some gliding practise, leading onto superman poses.  Several of the riders really embraced the idea of getting off their saddles and getting their backs low and flat, it's not easy so every little improvement is a big achievement.  Next we split into two groups, with the older riders working on Post Office Queue with Calvin and the younger riders using the lumps and bumps and the end of the field with a limbo thrown in to encourage them to move around a bit.  When we'd got the hang of that we swapped over and I took the older riders up to the end of the site to practise rolling off the stage, and getting the feel of the effect of moving their body weight when tackling drop offs.

Everyone lending a hand on the obstacles

Concentration...........

Izzy Looking perfectly balanced

During the biscuit break an impromptu limbo competition materialised, with a perfectly orderly queue forming around the playground, it was quite a sight!  It gave Calvin and Luke a chance to set up some wooden obstacles on the main playground.  Once that was done we set the riders off on a giant circuit taking in natural lumps and bumps of the site, the Post Office Queue and of course the planks, ramps and see-saws.  It was all hands on deck as our youngest riders approached the obstacles with a total lack of fear.

All in all a good session; lots of progress made on confidence and handling and plenty of good riding on show throughout the session.  Thanks to all our riders, coaches and volunteers for contributing to a fun morning.

Youth Ride - Luke, Dan and Nico all joined me for a 30k ride,  a shortened version of one of our favourite routes; Castle Chaos.  It was a smooth ride, with no complications, so well done boys excellent riding.

Next Week Saturday 11th March: Go Ride at Stocks Green School. Sign on from 9.15am
Youth Ride 11.30am Please contact me to sign on - road bikes only