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.

FAB FEB Go Ride Racing - Saturday 13th February

Twenty six riders signed on for our Go Ride Racing event.  As well as our regular riders we welcomed youngsters from local primary schools Sussex Road, Crockham Hill and Stocks Green as well as a few Southborough Wheelers and one young rider from Brighton!

Signed on and ready to race!

Lining up for the Minis Mass Start

Junior Mass Start race

Deron chasing Nico

Hope in hot pursuit of Joel

Marymoor Crawl practise

Junior Girls podium: Charlotte, Gabby & Lily

Super Minis gold medal winners:  Betsy, Cayden & Ethan

Mini Girls Podium: Ellen, Tilly

Mini Boys Podium Theo, Franklin, Charlie, Jacob & Barney

Junior Boys Podium: Jasper & Albert, Harrrison

Senior Girls Podium: Hope & Sammy

Senior Boys Podium Nico, Deron, Joel and Maurice

 Great turnout from Michele's Sussex Road riders (minus Kai and Joshua)

Ground conditions were poor so we had a slight change of format; race control moved from the usual shelter onto the playground, giving us a new slightly firmer start and finish line.  To add interest the course included some tight bends on the playgrounds and a dismount/remount section between the main building and the pre-school.

We started with a one lap time trial and moved onto some mass start races.  The weather was atrocious; extremely cold with persistent drizzle/sleet.  Our hardy riders battled on though, finishing with some Marymoor Crawl heats to complete the points for the omnium.

Great work from all our young riders, who despite the conditions all seemed to end the morning with a smile.  The Young Volunteers did a sterling job, setting up the course, running the events, encouraging the young riders, producing results and clearing up. Well done and thanks to Toni, Luke, Calvin, Jacob, Polly and Ellen.

Saturday 5th February - Go Ride

Despite the miserable, blustery conditions 11 hardy riders turned out for our regular Go-Ride session.  The focus was on cornering and riding out of the saddle, exploring how moving around on the bike helps with balance. 

The Young Volunteers took charge of the sign-on/warm-up activities and we also had a go at seeing how far over we could lean our bikes whilst riding out of the saddle - a couple of demos saw huge improvements throughout the group.  We then split into two groups to work on smooth, carving turns and tighter ones (the “Post Office queue” making a welcome return) and the smaller wheels used the little lump and limbo to practice moving around on the bike, whilst the bigger wheels took on a similar exercise on the bigger lump as well as getting on and off the raised stage area using planks and pallets.  The soggy ground made for a good workout!!  After a welcome biscuit and chocolatey birthday treats from Franklin (yummy, thank you) we put together a circuit using the carving turns, the Post Office queue, a slalom, the limbo and a pallet ramp for lots of riding and practice.  We finished with a few slow races.  Great to see everyone getting out of the saddle and big improvements on balance and speed control.

Saturday 30th January - Off Site Riding at Bedgebury Forest

Thirty riders met up at Bedgebury to explore the paths and trails.

Saturday 23rd January Puncture Repaire & Rollers Workshop

We met at St John's Church Centre in Hildenborough for an indoor session today.  It was great to see a good crowd and we got stuck straight into a quick demo followed by practise removing wheels, tyres and replacing inner tubes.  We didn't dwell on the patching side of things this time, we'll save that for another day.

Alisha getting to grips with her tyre

Given we had indoor facilities, the biscuit tin was swapped for a fine selection of treats including flapjack, lemon drizzle cake, cookie cake and ginger cake.  All washed down with tea, coffee and hot chocolate.  We even had a comfy lounge area to eat and drink in.  I set up the bike essentials memory box in the lounge area and played the memory game with some of the younger riders, while Luke manned the tyre change challenge for the adults and teenagers.

Sue arrived from the KVG and was keen to see the rollers in action, so that was the signal for the static trainers to come out.  Before long everyone was working hard on rollers or turbos, practising skills and generally getting out of breath.

Twelve o'clock came round all too soon and we were locking the door and saying goodbye to our temporary clubhouse :-) (I can dream............)

Well done to everyone who took part, I look forward to you mending lots of punctures unassisted in the future!

Charlotte helping her Dad

Nico shows Juan how to get the tyre back on

Great team work from Zara & Louise

A loud bang is what you get with a pinch flat!

Caitlin delighted with her work

And now for something different.......

Katy embarking on the tyre change challenge

Tony & Polly eating oranges (thanks Michele!)

Naomi and Aleasha trying out the turbos

Ooops, no excuse for slow tyre changes now!

Next Week: Ride Out - Bedgbury.  Meet at the bike wash 9.45am. We will split into groups and should be able to accomodate all riders, please let me know if you would like to join us.  You need to bring an inner tube, pocket snack and drink, packable jacket.  Please note parking is £10 per car (you can park outside for free if you do your homework).