Hi everyone
I don't know how some of you spend Mother's Day but the gang who rolled up to Cyclopark had a splendid time.... kids on bikes and mums revelling in the sunshine.
And what a carry-on there was in the background... I've never seen the place so busy, it was simply heaving with hundreds of youngsters who were gathered for a national BMX championship... it was good to see so much enthusiasm.
We had a couple of new faces, a Charlotteville Rascal called Ben and a Redhill Raider called Nat... plus new coach Conrad who went down a treat..... I picked up an idea or two by eves-dropping on his offerings, but don't let on.
Ian Haller was in charge of the older group for the first hour and when I returned from taking photos on Planet Conrad the riders were really slick, rolling round in lines of four and when they came to a chicane everyone moved over to the right and then back to the left without incident.
Very polished.
Ian's son Lewis is undertaking a volunteer award so I handed over my whistle to him when I had the big cheeses for the second hour.... and off they all rolled into the sunshine and out of sight.
The drill was to ride one-footed and with only one hand also... so opposite hand and foot to encourage core strength across the torso.
On the whistle it was time to change both hand and foot.
About one in three riders got the concept... it's one I lifted from watching the Regional School of Racing and I'm sure they did much better than we did..... it has to be noted that the parents who joined in were about as successful/unsuccessful.
I think the one who enjoyed it most was Lewis.
I'm attaching a pic of two of the riders.... I hope that helps.
Of the other exercises, the one that triggered the most excitement was where riders were divided into two teams and each team had its own ski slope with a slalem run of cones on the downhill, then a tight corner and an uphill sprint to the finish.... total distance about 60m.
The head-to-head aspect triggered some good bike control on the downhill, excellent braking and cornering, and some wonderfully tight sprint finishes on the short uphill. Well done everyone.
Next session: a two-month gap until Sunday 25 May at 10am start
I tried to get Sunday 27 April but was told Cyclopark had already been booked, presumably the removal of Saturday afternoons has resulted in us all scrabbling for less space.
Spencer Harradine says I should forget about booking up for just the first three months of next year, but instead I ought to get a monthly Power Pack slot taken throughout 2015... and I'm thinking that's good advice..... so more later.
John