Half term report - Woodcote Go Ride sessions

[huw williams]

Half term – Go Ride report, Woodcote High, Coulsdon

The Woodcote school sports partnership deserves a medal I’ll tell you. They organised three days of cycle coaching for the half-term break this week – 30 eight year olds (as opposed to 38 year olds - which would have been completely different) signed up for the sessions which offered five hours of coaching on each of the three days. This is my favourite gig of all the school sessions I do because it allows you to take kids through progressive sessions from the morning on day one to the end of day three, so they really get a chance to learn, make mistakes and improve greatly. I was happy to take holiday time off work to do it and anyway, British Cycling have suddenly found a budget of £80 a day for the coach. Recession? These are our future Chris Hoys, what recession?

Today was day one - track racing skills.
It’s amazing when the kids turn up – what do you reckon their parents are like? Worrying nervously about how they’re little ‘urns are going to get on. Hanging around on the fringes of the session offering advice because they know better where their kids are concerned? Not a bit of it – they drive up at 10am - dump the kids, sling the bike out of the boot, say “see you at 3pm then, good luck with this one” and by 10.01am they’re out of there in the 4x4. Blissfully on their way to whoknowswhat assignation, joyously child-free for a day, happy to leave their beloved offspring in the hands of a coach they’ve never even seen before. Fortunately as long as I have 30 children, 30 bikes, 30 helmets and a vast expanse of tarmac I can guarantee that we’re going to have a fun day.

I need to teach this lot everything they need to know about track racing as by the end of the day we’re going to do some Keirin racing and a Devil. They’ve never even seen a track bike (some of them have never even seen a track) so we’re on mountain bikes on a flat, 150 metre, concrete oval. First I teach them how to start from being held by a helper and getting real angry into the first turn. Then they have to learn how to ride in pairs, threes, fours and large groups while circulating at speed. Next they play ‘get out of jail’ where a rider’s number is called, they come out of the circulating pack, sprint round the track and rejoin the group at the back.

By the time everyone has mastered enough skills to be entrusted with a race I’ve got a pretty good idea of their relative abilities so can seed the groups for the heats. I’ve enlisted a helper to ride the pace bike and we run heats to whittle the 30 riders down to a final six. Its frantic action. These kids are more competitive than Australians. There are loads of crashes, scraped elbows, cut knees, tears and one tantrum but the bottom line is they love it, can’t stop, and just keep getting better as the day progresses.

After lunch I run the Devil race with 3 groups of ten then two groups of 15 while they get some idea of the tactics, before unleashing them into the highlight of the day, a 30 rider Devil race which is as hotly disputed as anything I saw in Beijing. Absolute ferocity on display as despite knowing the tactics (just do enough to be NOT the last rider over the line on every lap) every single rider wants to be the first rider over the line on EVERY lap. With 30 riders were going 28 laps which means 28 full on sprints and there are kids in danger of not even making the distance after lap two. Nobody likes to see an 8-year-old turn blue but it’s happening here as, in defiance of all known laws of lactate tolerance, they make death or glory surges for the line every few seconds and somehow just keep going.

By the end its less of a sprint and more of a limp across the line for the final pair of riders but the glory is none the less huge for the winner. Unbelievably some of them want to do another one! The last event of the day and by this time parents have arrived to pick up kids, looking on bemused by the frantic, repetitive sprinting of the Devil race just finishing.

Kids look absolutely shattered but on request for a show of intent as to who’s coming back tomorrow for a day of mountain bike racing round the schools enormous landscape of playing fields, every single hand shoots into the air.

Finally, bikes are packed into boots and children are whisked away. Around the family dinner table this evening there will be tall tales of how they out sprinted Sir Chris Hoy – that bloke who was on sports personality of the year. One day maybe, just maybe….

[-Adam-]

Good effort Huw, sounds like theres gonna be a lot of kids snapping at our heels in a few years time!

My coach Alan was running a similar thing, with Scott Bugden I think, down at our squad base at Tilgate Pines. Think they had the Crawley Muslim Society youths or something, mountain biking today. He said everytime they got a bit too lippy he just took them down a steep descent, and that was the end of it!

Keep us posted...

[Dombo]

Great effort, Huw. Are you planning future sessions? Perhaps around Easter? Am sure my 8 yr old would be keen.

[Andrew G]

[quote]Nobody likes to see an 8-year-old turn blue

[kieran]

I also see VCL are doing half term coaching Monday to Friday 10am to 3pm for MTB, Track and Turbo!

Problem for us is we need half term care to start sooner and end later - at least to mimic school hours, which for us is 8am to 3:30 (breakfast club + school). So the children are in a scheme run by a school near us and will be inside most of the time

[Michelle]

Sounds like everyone had fun! Hope today is just as good, and Wednesday too.

[Ian A4size]

nice one huw,

it really made me smile.

[Amy]

I'd've liked to have seen Huw dealing with the tantrum

[huw williams]

Thanks for the support everyone

On the subject of future sessions - I'm running an after school Go Ride club every wednesday at 3.15 - 5,00pm at Coulsdon Oassis academy starting on the 25th. Primarily for kids of the academy but there are spaces left so let me know if anyone's interested and the age of your kids - I'm sure I can get you in.

Next half term is May and we're looking to do similar sessions to the ones at Woodcote up at Monks Hill - watch this space for details on those.

In the local area VCL, Redhill and Sutton clubs are also now running Go Ride kids groups at the moment so there's a lot of activity

We still have use of Monks Hill for regular sessions on sundays for ACC members - kids and adults which I'll be running once the weather starts picking up

I can get a hugely discounted rate for group training days at Hog Hill (shared circuit with Lee Valley CC) on saturday mornings if any of the senior racers in the club fancy a circuit session or two.

[Paul H]

I live just round the corner from Oasis. Would it suit a 9 year old? Do you need a decent bike?

[huw williams]

[quote="Paul H"]I live just round the corner from Oasis. Would it suit a 9 year old? Do you need a decent bike?

[Paul H]

My boy goes to Keston Primary which is just around the corner. I could get the wife to put up a flyer if you want.

Paul

[huw williams]

[quote="Paul H"]My boy goes to Keston Primary which is just around the corner. I could get the wife to put up a flyer if you want.

Paul

[Sylv]

[quote="huw williams"] They organised three days of cycle coaching for the half-term break this week – 30 eight year olds