We had a good turnout from the KVK for the first of the Bedgebury Boars Races this year; twelve young riders and three adults.
It was great to see several of our newer members racing, some of them for the first time.
Despite the fact that it is really very relaxed, this is a good introduction to the formality of racing, with a start pen, Commissaire briefing and of course a lap board, bell and finish flag. Newcomers to bike racing are often surprised that riders don't know how many laps the race will be until some time during the race; each age category is allowed to race for a certain length of time, so the Commissaire times the inital laps and then calculates when to put the lap board out. With one lap to go the bell is rung for every rider who crosses the line. When the race leader crosses the finish line, the chequered flag is displayed, every rider finishes the next time they cross the line, regardless of how many laps they have completed.
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| Alice and Iris in the U8s start pen |
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| U10's start pen: Oliver, Bronnie, Finlay, William, Isaac, Thomas & Ivo |
We had our biggest turnout in the U10's with seven riders starting. Unfortunately Ivo took one of the corners a little bit too quickly and ended up on the floor and wasn't able to finish. Fortunately he didn't sustain any serious injuries. Oliver was the first KVK rider to cross the finish line, followed by Bronnie, Finlay, William, Isaac and Thomas. Next up was the U12's race. This runs for 20 minutes, the field included some pretty serious riders too, several of whom regularly race at regional level. First back for the KVK was Harry followed by Reuben and Mathias.
The final race of the morning was for the Juniors and Adults Jez, Gary and me all lined up at the start. It was good fun and much drier than the last time I raced it. Our first rider across the line was Jez, followed closely by me and Gary. Time for a lie down now :-)
Well done to all the riders on some great racing, thanks to all the parents who brought their youngsters along and of course the volunteers from Bedgebury Boars for another enjoyable morning racing in the forest.
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