As we have now completed the Spring term Go-Ride sessions, I thought I would give you a brief round up of the whole series to date and what we have learned.
Early on, James and I split the riders into groups matching those with similar strengths so that all participants could get the most out of the sessions, with some juggling between groups as the weeks went by.
Overall the format has been one of checks, warm up, ride round covering some skills, skill specific exercises and usually a race bringing the skills together
Checks
Here we look at making sure that everyone’s bike is safe to ride. Each week, we run through what is known as the M check (as a bike frame is shaped like a letter ‘M’ ) to ensure all parts of the bike are covered; we start at one end of the ‘M’, e.g. the front wheel, moving up to the handlebars, down to the pedals, back up to the saddle and down to the rear wheel. This ensures we don’t miss anything, checking that everyone’s brakes work, handlebars are the right way round, pedals won’t fall off and that the handlebars have bar end plugs in (believe it or not all of these have happened)!
Please don’t underestimate the importance of bar ends being plugged. We have had a couple of crashes over the weeks where riders have landed on their handlebars – if the bar ends were open, the impact could be similar to coring an apple. Ouch. We often get a different rider to demonstrate this as a self check so everyone is aware of what they need to do.
We also cover helmet checks and clothing checks, making sure the helmet is secure, in particular that the straps at the side are close to the ear and that you cannot get more than two fingers through the chin strap – too tight is restrictive whilst too loose means…….well, it may not stay on and a helmet that wont stay on when you fall off is kinda pointless. In clothing we look to ensure that clothing is safe (for example, laces and trousers tucked in so they don’t catch in the chain); even if it doesn’t knock you off at the time, you are going to pretty unpopular at home trying to explaining the tear in your new trousers.
Warm up
Tend to have been more on the bike on the colder days where we get the legs going and get riders working up and down through the gears, and James and I can also check out how comfortable the riders are handling the bikes.
Ride round
We are very lucky at Hinchingbrooke Park to have such a great facility on our doorstep. James and I initially take our groups separately so the pace is evenly matched within the groups. There are a number of routes round where within a short shallow gradient climb from our base we can turn right for some great shallow gradient single-track down from the car park towards Nuns bridge with a few roots thrown in for good measure, or left to a steeper twistier route alongside the A14 – good for either descending or ascending. We also have some great wide straight sections in between where we can practice sprint starts.
Skill specific exercises
Over the weeks we have covered the following: balance (including track stands), picking up and putting down the bike, mounting and dismounting (moving and stationary), ascending, descending, gear selection, lifting the front wheel, group riding, cornering and braking, in addition to thinking about communication and race tactics . We have used different areas of the park including the Mound, the central area and the South East corner. We have also used various props such as limbo, bottle pass, garden log roll (bumpy in the dry and exceptionally slippery in the wet), James’ world famous seesaw for balance and the “bumpy bumpy” (patent pending). We hope to get some more of these over the summer that certain people can get over without consistently spectacularly crashing. I think this has shown us that certain members are cut out for a life in film stunts (I’ll let you guess who I’m referring to!)
Racing – session
We tend to finish off the session with a race, usually from the following:
– Team pursuits (4 to a team), starting on opposite sides of an oval and trying to catch the other team over 4 laps
– Italian pursuit. This has been the most popular by far as it allows for mixed abilities within a team. Again each team lines up on opposite sides of an oval and chases the other team down. Each rider completes one lap at the front of the group and then leaves the circuit, allowing the rider behind to complete one lap at the front before coming off. Thus, it is important to put the strongest riders at the back as the first rider will ride one lap, the second two laps, and so on. The team captains choose the order together with their team.
– Devil takes the hindmost. All start together, then on each lap the rider at the back is eliminated. We had one funny incident where a certain dynamo of a 6 year old managed to eliminate someone considerably older by clever pacing…..
– Individual pursuits. We don’t have many of these in the cold as by definition most will be standing around but we hope to have more individual “time trials” as the weather gets warmer
Racing – external
Over the winter, a number of the riders competed in Eastern league cyclocross races. Holly, Lotty, Ryan, Sam, Sophie and Tom all competed over the winter and thoroughly enjoyed it and had some great results in their first season racing that they can be proud of.
The Mud Sweat and Gears MTB racing series has now kicked off with the first race of the season on 1 April. This proved to be a great start to the season with a fantastic win by Lotty in the under 12’s race, and Sophie coming in 5th. Together with Harriet, the girls had great fun on a Go-Ride training session, where they were showed how the start would take place, how to overtake and be overtaken safely. Harriet decided to watch the race in the end, but I’m sure she will have a go next time. Both Sophie and Lotty took off together and had a good start with Lotty leading the girls whilst Sophie’s determination shown in the cyclocross over the winter remains very much in evidence. She rode very well clearly using the tips she had learned, gritting her teeth and giving it all she had. Whilst Lotty pulled out a good lead to win the girls race, Sophie dug in and gave a very good effort to come in 5th. It was great to see some young riders in St Ives kit so I hope to see more of this over the summer.
I guess a mention ought to go to James also had a crack at his first MSG in the Warrior class with the grown-ups. He achieved a respectable finishing position so well done James – maybe we could get some more representation from parents keen to have a go? The next race is on 29 April at Hylands House. Details on http://www.mudsweatgears.co.uk/
We now have a limited amount of club kit in each size at Grafham Cycling so we could get even more Go Riders who are also club members racing in full club colours – definitely a landmark for St Ives CC and hopefully the start of something bigger. For those Go Riders who have completed at least 6 sessions, you will receive complimentary junior membership for the year (worth £4). All you have to do is fill in the membership form, get it signed by a parent and post it off to Jon Best who is standing by!
Rider of the week
We have had many of the riders demonstrating great command of some of the skills we have been covering over the weeks, some great teamwork and great attitude. Those winning Rider of the week this term were Beth , Bo and Libby (wk 1), Molly and Bea (wk 2), Zach and Poppy (wk 3), Sam and Alex (wk 4), Charlotte and Florence (wk 5) finishing up with Dan and Florence (wk 6). I think both James and I can safely say we have thoroughly enjoyed coaching such a great group over the term as everyone has tried really hard and made some great progress.
Upcoming sessions
I am conscious that I have been a bit pants on releasing next term’s dates so apologies for that. We will continue to use first and third Saturday of the month subject to the odd exception. So the next few dates are as follows, all at 10-11.30 am, £2.50 per session and please remember to bring a drink!
April 21 (No session on April 7th as it was Easter hols)
May 5, 19
June 16 (Nothing on June 2 as half term and Diamond Jubilee)
July 7, 21
Being the last session before breaking for summer, July 21 will comprise Go-Ride racing open to all, so I hope that we will get some new members from that.
And finally…
Thanks to Hinchingbrooke Park for letting us play there and the parents who have regularly helped us out over the period: Terry Davies, Simon Pauley, Jim Saberton and Andy Wylde.
I hope that we will see some more qualified coaches over the coming year so we can start to broaden our offering – if you have an interest in coaching, then please get in touch. We will welcome you with open arms!
