Well, if you’re already hooked on the 2013 Tour de France action, a lack of sleep could be starting to make itself felt. Nick summed it up beautifully with his weekly column that never made it to print yesterday (shame?) but we can still enjoy his summary of night one and all its action here. Meanwhile, our sprint aces have been at it again in Cottbus with Eddie back on the podium and some fantastic results overall. Check out the great yarn all about it
Friday Night Junior Track Racing
Junior Track Racing for U17 riders, will kick off on Friday July 19th from 6-8pm, Divisions 1 -3 (or more if numbers dictate). The last 15 minutes of racing will be a Madison, for those riders who have completed the Madison Training Programme.
Madison Training finishes this Friday 5th July (6-8pm), and then there will be a junior roll around from 6pm-7pm on Friday 12th (I am happy to run racing if there are enough riders and everyone is keen….there will be about 30 Junior riders up at Secondary School Champs, so we will probably be down on numbers)
Tuesday Night Senior Track Racing
Starting tonight – Tuesday 2nd July from 7-8pm!
Racing will only be for 1 hour until after the Corporate Pursuit in mid-August, and with last bit dedicated to a Madison (only for those who have done the Madison training).
Saturday Road Racing / Pedalling Pathway Road Skills
Excitingly, our Winter Road Racing programme gets underway this weekend!
Also, from the weekend of 20th / 21st July, we will be starting a Junior Road Skills Programme prior to Saturday Road Racing. The plan will be to meet at 12pm at the racing venue (with the race due to start at 1.30pm), and spend some time going over a skill / set of skills in different groups of ability.
We are also looking for some Senior Riders interested in helping out with the junior road skills programme. It is a lot of fun and very rewarding, and coaching information sheets are supplied. Get into it! Contact Dale if you are keen dale@cyclingsouth.org.nz
Road Race Grading Board
As was decided at the Senior Meeting several weeks ago, a Road Race Grading Board has been drafted to help with grading for Saturday Road Racing for the season ahead. You can find the grading board here.
The Grading Board is a trial to help try and make the racing more even and fair. We will look forward to feedback about its success (or otherwise) as the season goes on. We think it is definitely worth a trial!
I am sure there are a number of names accidently missed off the list, or people who are not happy with where they are placed, or new racers who are due to start, but don’t worry - it is easy to add people in / change them around, and the document is not set in stone - it is ever changing according to performances at racing and feedback. The idea is to try and even the grades up a little bit, with the top group of those present at the race on a week by week basis, becoming ‘Division 1’, the next group ‘Division 2’, and so on, down to Division 5 which is over a much shorter distance and will include social riders and U13 riders just starting out (so many names which are not on the list!).
In terms of entries – just enter where you think you might fit, and the grade you will actually race in, really depends on who turns up on race day.
Juniors are included within Divisions 1 – 5, and will be racing on Junior gearing.
Meanwhile, don’t forget to register for this weekend’s first outing for the Donovan Graded Points Race. Register online here by midday this Friday and remember everyone’s gradings will be dependent on entry numbers etc so just register where you think you usually race. Entries will be opened up to generic entry for future racing.
Sunday Track Training Sessions
Ian Densie, one of our local coaches, has space available for a few extra riders to join his Sunday afternoon track training session. The sessions have been running successfully for the past six years with riders progressing onto national and international success. The session is open to all riders capable of riding on the track, but is ideally suited to those riders who want to improve their skill level and improve their fitness, while also having a bit of fun. The sessions run every Sunday afternoon from 3 to 5pm and would suit masters riders, road riders or corporate pursuit riders wanting to develop their skills. Bookings are essential as numbers are limited. The cost for the two hour session is $20 rider. For more information or to book in please email Ian direct - idensie@hotmail.com
WHK Corporate Pursuit
A reminder to everyone that team kit order deadline is this Friday 5 July please. Liaise with me at office@cyclingsouth.org.nz to get these sorted if you haven’t already.
Corporate Pursuit membership forms are available to be downloaded from here.
The Lone Star Lone Star Roller Racing heats are now being held at the Lone Star on the corner of Leet and Dee St starting at 7:00pm each Thursday – so get your teams down there and get racing on the rollers! Finals will be held on Wednesday 24 July and feature the fastest 8 teams.
Junior Camp
This year’s Junior Division Road Camp is being held in Tuatapere from 23-25 August and is an popular event on our Junior event calendar. Camp details can be
viewed here and you can also download the camp consent form from the site and forward to camp planning superwoman Andrea Hope, as per the contact details on the form. It’s definitely one to try not to miss!
Well that’s it for another week, as the last of the scaffolding seating is being exited from the building for another couple of months. Then it will hopefully be a short stint back in for the international netball test in mid-September.
Take care out there until next time.