| Duckling sandwiches anyone??? Just joking, Katy impressed everyone with her handling skills (bike and animal) |
| Bedgbury was the perfect spot for our King/Queen of the Mountains challenge. |
Tuesday, 22 July 2014
18th - 21st July
Monday, 14 July 2014
Friday 11th July - Spring in the Park - Hope finally gets her hands on the silverware!
A huge cheer for all the riders who have made up our Kent Velo Kids Racing Team for the last ten weeks. Hannah, Ellen, Hope, Toni, Polly, Calvin & Luke. Proper write up and more photos to follow but in the mean time did you know that Hope won a trophy? First overall girl in the U10's and first girl on the final night's race (so a prize as well as a torphy)
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| Last night and Hope finally gets her hands on the silver! |
Saturday, 5 July 2014
27th - 29th June, Racing, Velodrome & Mountain Bikes
As usual the weekend was action packed; starting on Friday with Spring in the Park Round 8. The team was slightly dimished with Toni in plaster with her broken arm. An injury not sustained whilst bike riding I hasten to add, but on the athletics track! Not wanting to miss out on the Friday night fun Toni, Luke and Damian came along anyway to cheer the others on. I managed to make it back to pavilion in time to sample Michele's baking; chocolate brownies this week, yum yum.
Saturday dawned and there was great excitement in my house at least as six of the KVK were invited to the South East Club Cluster session at the London Velodrome as a reward for their commitment to cycling this year. This has been organised by Terry Blake from Woolwich CC. Claire Inglis stepped in at the last moment to take Toni's place, although I'm not sure she had realised exactly what she was letting herself in for! The sessions we've done at Herne Hill proved invaluable as all our riders took the boards with a mix of excitement and confidence. It wasn't long before they were looking more relaxed and starting to move up the banking. The last activity of the session was an italian pursuit race with another team of seven riders. What our team lacked in fire power they made up for in technique, perfectly ordering our riders to make the best of everyone's strengths. They rode together brilliantly as a team and easily crossed the finishing line before the opposing team. Terry was full of praise for them and their riding and as usual I felt very proud of the KVK. Thanks to all the riders and their families who came along and made this such a fun and exciting day, we will be back!!!
The allure of the Col de Mote on Sunday morning got three teenagers out of bed! Toni came along to wave us off on the 10 mile route up to Ightham Mote and back. Polly and Hannah set a good pace, Damian and I just about managed to keep up. The Col de Mote seemed less savage this time round, there were less pedestrians and the ground was drier. A couple of sharp kicks towards the end caught the girls out but other than that they sailed up to the top. All that was left to do was roll back to Hildenborough. Arrived back at the park spot on 11am. A great way to start the day.
Next few weeks:
Saturday 5th July - Go Ride at Stocks Green School, sign on 1.45pm finish 3pm
Sunday - Evans Ride It from Sheffield Park.
Saturday 12th July - Go Ride Tour - Racing at Stocks Green School sign on at EARLIER TIME OF 12.45pm finish 3pm
Saturday dawned and there was great excitement in my house at least as six of the KVK were invited to the South East Club Cluster session at the London Velodrome as a reward for their commitment to cycling this year. This has been organised by Terry Blake from Woolwich CC. Claire Inglis stepped in at the last moment to take Toni's place, although I'm not sure she had realised exactly what she was letting herself in for! The sessions we've done at Herne Hill proved invaluable as all our riders took the boards with a mix of excitement and confidence. It wasn't long before they were looking more relaxed and starting to move up the banking. The last activity of the session was an italian pursuit race with another team of seven riders. What our team lacked in fire power they made up for in technique, perfectly ordering our riders to make the best of everyone's strengths. They rode together brilliantly as a team and easily crossed the finishing line before the opposing team. Terry was full of praise for them and their riding and as usual I felt very proud of the KVK. Thanks to all the riders and their families who came along and made this such a fun and exciting day, we will be back!!!
The allure of the Col de Mote on Sunday morning got three teenagers out of bed! Toni came along to wave us off on the 10 mile route up to Ightham Mote and back. Polly and Hannah set a good pace, Damian and I just about managed to keep up. The Col de Mote seemed less savage this time round, there were less pedestrians and the ground was drier. A couple of sharp kicks towards the end caught the girls out but other than that they sailed up to the top. All that was left to do was roll back to Hildenborough. Arrived back at the park spot on 11am. A great way to start the day.
Next few weeks:
Saturday 5th July - Go Ride at Stocks Green School, sign on 1.45pm finish 3pm
Sunday - Evans Ride It from Sheffield Park.
Saturday 12th July - Go Ride Tour - Racing at Stocks Green School sign on at EARLIER TIME OF 12.45pm finish 3pm
Wednesday, 18 June 2014
Bike Week 14th - 22nd June KVK Challenge
TARGET = 500 MILES
TOTAL RIDDEN 529
Taking Part: Toni, Luke, Ellen, Hope, Hannah, Polly, Calvin, Sohia, Tom , Joanna
On Saturday we rode Col de Coldharbour 8 riders @ 5 miles each = 40 miles
On Tuesday we rode to school and back
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| Look who I found at the bottom of Deakin Leas |
On Wednesday we rode to school and then rode to Penshurst and back and some of us rode home, Sophia rode to the station to get the train home.
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| A good way to spend a sunny evening and another 51 miles to add to the total |
Thursday was another busy day; Toni joined Polly and I on the ride down to school, we left a few minutes later and found ourselves behind the buses so diverted via the cycle path before ducking back onto the High Street. We avoided the station frenzy by turning up Priory Street. Unfortunately there was no time for Polly and I to ride up Deakin Leas with Toni today (phheww). For the return journey we were joined by Ellen as well; the route is becoming more familiar and the girls are tackling the junctions and roundabout with increasing confidence. Back at Ellen's, Hope came out to join us for a photo. She has been riding everyday too.
Thankfully for me, the girls decided not to ride to school on Friday as they were all planning on racing in the evening. It was another good turnout for Spring in the Park Round 7, despite some tired legs everyone put in a good ride. We were delighted to see Calvin at the front of the bunch with one lap to go, but his early break saw him exhausted for the final sprint and beaten for the first time by Marc his friend and rival from SDW. Hannah came along to support as her bike was still with the team mechanic after a minor scrape in the week.
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| Hope interrupted her post ride fuel break to join us for a photo |
Thankfully for me, the girls decided not to ride to school on Friday as they were all planning on racing in the evening. It was another good turnout for Spring in the Park Round 7, despite some tired legs everyone put in a good ride. We were delighted to see Calvin at the front of the bunch with one lap to go, but his early break saw him exhausted for the final sprint and beaten for the first time by Marc his friend and rival from SDW. Hannah came along to support as her bike was still with the team mechanic after a minor scrape in the week.
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| Hope U10s 1st Girl, Ellen 8th Girl, Toni 4th Girl, Polly 4th Girl, Hannah (support crew) Calvin 16th |
Saturday Go-Ride at Stocks Green
After an already great week of bike riding I woke up on Sunday morning to find the sun shining and everything in place for a great challenge ride. Damian had planned a beautiful and challenging 29 mile route with a couple of tweaks to provide a slightly shorter option of 22 miles and a 10 mile route that stopped at the feed station. Once again Malcolm looked after us at the feed station and everyone had been busy baking. Michele's marshmallow crispy cakes and Claire's lavender biscuits proved to be welcome and tasty treats for all the riders.
A final push for home saw us back in Hildenborough in good time and gave us the opportunity for coffee and a final assault on the cake. Well done to Hannah and Luke who both rode the long route for the first time, Hope, who made it non-stop to the top of Mote Road and Izzy who joined us for her first ten miles on one of the club road bikes. Sophia and Ellen coped effortlessly with the 22 mile route. Calvin and Marc pushed the pace a little with Damian and Christopher and Polly and Toni looked more comfortable with their climbing (Carter's Hill for the long routers). This final ride of the week pushed the collective mileage to 529, that's 29 more than we had ever hoped of achieving. Huge congratulations to our riders and a big round of applause to all those adults who have ridden behind the kids this week, sometimes carrying bags and frequently being dropped.
As usual we were at Stocks Green on Saturday afternoon but I invited riders to bring along their road bikes for a skills session. I brought along the club road bikes to give some of our newer riders the chance to try them out. It was also a good opportunity to pick up on few things I've noticed this week while riding in traffic with the youngsters. So, lots of rear observation games and stopping and starting at imaginary traffic lights.
Challenge Ride Sunday 22nd June
After an already great week of bike riding I woke up on Sunday morning to find the sun shining and everything in place for a great challenge ride. Damian had planned a beautiful and challenging 29 mile route with a couple of tweaks to provide a slightly shorter option of 22 miles and a 10 mile route that stopped at the feed station. Once again Malcolm looked after us at the feed station and everyone had been busy baking. Michele's marshmallow crispy cakes and Claire's lavender biscuits proved to be welcome and tasty treats for all the riders.
Bike Week Total Mileage - in no particular order
Calvin 52.5 miles
Ellen 70 miles
Toni 84.2 miles
Hannah 72 miles
Polly 85.4 miles
Luke 58.5 miles
Hope 35 miles
Joanna 15 miles
Tom 15 miles
Sophia 32 miles
Izzy 10 miles
Saturday, 14 June 2014
Friday 13th June - Round 6 Spring in The Park at Cyclopark
I didn't make it up to Cyclopark yesterday as I had a racing date of my own at Dunsfold airfield in Surrey. So, I was pleased to get a text from Claire telling me that all the KVK's had ridden well and finished safely. I enjoyed hearing their racing tales this morning, they really are building up a great bank of knowledge and experience of different race scenarios. Thanks to Claire for pictures everyone looks like they are having fun.
Results from the evening:
U10's Hope 1st Girl , 11th overall
U12's Polly 4th Girl, Ellen 5th Girl (15th & 19th overall respectively)
U14's Calvin 12th, Hannah 7th Girl (22nd overall)
As ever, excellent riding from everyone. Roll on round 7!
Thursday, 12 June 2014
Go Ride 6th June - Planks and Pallets & Tyres
Next week:
Friday 13th June - Spring in the Park @ Cyclopark
Saturday 14th June - Ride Out Col de Coldharbour - 9.30am MTB's/hybrids please contact me to sign on. 9.30am Westwood recreation ground.
Go Ride at Stocks Green School - sign on 1.45pm finish at 3pm - MTB's/hybrids
Saturday 6th June - Youth Ride (School Run)
The Youth Ride was an ambitious project; the plan was to try and pass all the secondary schools that our young riders attend in preparation for our Bike Week challenge. Malcolm (Ellen's Dad) was joining us for the first time and it was raining!
After an unexpected rapid dismount from Malcolm we headed up Gate Farm Road, a narrow lane which climbs Bidborough Ridge but without the cars. Unfortunately Malcolm's rear mech has obviously taken a knock and gave out under the strain of the climb. This did however give Malcolm and Damian the chance to play bike mechanics whilst I continued up the climb with the kids.
Skill and determination did get Malcolm back on his bike but we decided to abandon our ambitious plan and instead ventured along the 'cycle path' (overgrown footpath?) down Quarry Hill and back to Hildenborough.
Our first major mechanical had called for dynamic planning. Well done to all the riders who coped well with some new and challenging riding situations.
After an unexpected rapid dismount from Malcolm we headed up Gate Farm Road, a narrow lane which climbs Bidborough Ridge but without the cars. Unfortunately Malcolm's rear mech has obviously taken a knock and gave out under the strain of the climb. This did however give Malcolm and Damian the chance to play bike mechanics whilst I continued up the climb with the kids.
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| Welcome rest at the top of Bidborough Ridge |
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| D & M turn the bike into a fixie |
Our first major mechanical had called for dynamic planning. Well done to all the riders who coped well with some new and challenging riding situations.
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