A big thank you from the two coaches for the turn-out yesterday.... it made for a good presentation moment for the two trophies at the end of the session.
Rider of the Year (Girl) 2013 - Megan Maloney
Rider of the Year (Boy) 2013 - Nathan Frost.
And after that there was a long, long queue for individual medals, ones that 17 of you had won as the top tricksters in your age group on the skills circuit, the one that involves weaving through all those cones.
We'll be doing that again several times during 2014 so you can see if it is possible to knock a few more seconds off your existing best time.
Before 2013 only three riders had gone under the 30sec time.... we now have a fourth name, that of Joshua Golliker.
.... and we have two others sitting right on the 30sec barrier.... they are James Tingle and William Gatland..... so plenty to go for.
David Burnham had the high-fliers today and I was with the nippers.... and as it was pleasantly muddy and they all had decent tread on their tyres we immediately went hiving off into the arch of saplings round the back of the school before the shoots and leaves appear.
It's a splendid alternative to limbo as the archway is quite intimidating and as soon as you get a larger Luca-sized bike with wider handlebars there is barely an inch of maneourve room on either side. We progress from having quite a few uncomfortable riders to a whole group that took the challenge in their stride. Well done.
Back on land, well on tarmac, the next challenge was the maze which involved riding through a forest of randomly placed yellow cones.... with one observant dad pointing out the total lack of braking by some.... no wonder some found it easier when we switched ends and did it uphill.
The half-lap Le Mans start race produced it's usual quota of giggles and upsets.... and towards the end I think the concept of the circuit being on the outside of the cones was starting to register with most riders.
The cold weather prompted some early finishes as a result of cold hands.... which in turn reminds me that after a similar chilly session on one of my monthly events at Cyclopark Bee (the other coach that day) produced a hand-out which looks at winter clothing for children who cycle.... so here's a copy attached of what she composed.
Final race - eight laps, handicap
1 Peter Carpenter
2 Matthew Burnham
3 William Gatland