Posted: Tuesday, December 10, 2013 - 11:50

 

Hi everyone
 
Well we're into December and Christmas is just round the corner but we had a glorious sunny afternoon at Cyclopark on Saturday.
 
A big thank-you to the coaches and whoever else does the sales pitch for Power Pack at Charlotteville Rascals club and also at Kent Velo Kids as we must have had more of those two brands riding round at Cyclopark than ever before.
 
And right at the very end a dad Stephen Blackmore walked up with his son Joseph, having heard about us too late, asking if they could come to the January 5 session..... yes please do.
 
Ian Haller took on the first task of sifting riders into two groups and he then took on the older squad on the loops down at the London end.
 
I got the younger riders split into two teams and one-by one they went down lines of cones, weaving through them getting slightly faster all the time thanks to the pull of the hill. There was a turning point at the bottom then a straight run back up to the finish line.
 
Later on we reversed things and several riders said they preferred weaving on the uphill.
 
There was a bit on mayhem when I thought we could finish that exercise with both teams all in action at the same time..... off they piled down to the bottom turn but when a front rider had a tumble there was more chaos than falling leaves on the railway lines. Sorry about that.
 
A couple of parents said their child never changes gear while on the move, so we again did the exercise where the rider selects a middle sprocket and then goes up or down by one-two-three gears according to the number on the board held up after the whistle sounds.
 
All was well until a parent asked 'can you explain what you mean by 'up' and 'down'?
 
Mmmm.... I think that should be a parental duty as I find it hard to explain.
 
Any suggestions?
 
The final handicap race of four laps included the Kent-end loop and tricky corner since we had already been doing a cornering exercise on it earlier.
 
The front group was in fact just a single rider and she rode splendidly, never slowing at all.
 
At mid-race there was only one rider, Anna, who looked to have the mind set of 'I can catch her if I really try' and so the last lap was wonderfully tense.... well done both of you.
 
Dates for the diary 2014                                  Note: Cyclopark is not taking bookings on Saturdays any more.
 
Sunday 5 January - 1pm to 3pm
 
Sunday 2 February - 1pm to 3pm
 
Sunday 2 March - 10am to 12noon.