Is it still worth having a Club Road Race this year?

[Toks]

I ask cause hardly anyone is Road Racing. Poor old Bridget turned up at Hillingdon on her lonesome last night and the week before I'm not sure anyone raced from our Club. A shame Hillingdon used to be a regular feature for ACC newbies

[Dan_K]

Providing i'm not on holiday, i'll race!

I've just been concentrating more on endurance stuff because of riding to Paris in June.

I think the club race gives the chance for people who want to race but maybe don't have the courage to enter a proper BC race.

[Rob Q]

I will probably give it a go this year

[Bridget]

[quote="Rob Q"]I will probably give it a go this year

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

sam and I are definietly up for this!

[Phil H]

I'm up for it. Unlike a real race, it will at least mean being lapped by people I know.

[Andrew G]

I think it's a good feature of the Club Toks, it gives people a chance to try racing out if a more relaxed environment with folk they know. I might even be able to make it this year . Best bet is to try and sort a date asap to flag it on the radar.

[Marek]

I am up for it.

Cheers

Marek

[Keith]

Me too.

Toks, I think it's definitely worthwhile. Loads of riders get to have a "proper" race - you know how many compete for the Charwood sign every single week. Isn't that worth it alone? And if even if just one additional member is inspired to try real racing, that would be a bonus.

By the way, you still owe me for the prime from the last club race.

[kieran]

i'd be up for it, as long as i am available. although not too many racing the training group gets a big turn out as does the faster groups.

[huw williams]

In the past some novices have been a little too nervous to take the plunge at a full on club-champs road race, although those that have, had a great experience

An option is to run a half-day session like the early season Surrey league 4th cat beginner events, where for an hour before the main club champs we do a couple of short 'training races' for novices, basic racing tactics, positioning and etiquette is explained, and a couple of more experienced riders sit in to help out. They then finish with an actual short, competitive race.

After that we hold the usual two race format for experienced riders. I'd be happy to run the novices session and would only need a couple of helpers.

Just a thought, any other ideas???

[Toks]

[quote="huw williams"]In the past some novices have been a little too nervous to take the plunge at a full on club-champs road race, although those that have, had a great experience

An option is to run a half-day session like the early season Surrey league 4th cat beginner events, where for an hour before the main club champs we do a couple of short 'training races' for novices, basic racing tactics, positioning and etiquette is explained, and a couple of more experienced riders sit in to help out. They then finish with an actual short, competitive race.

After that we hold the usual two race format for experienced riders. I'd be happy to run the novices session and would only need a couple of helpers.

Just a thought, any other ideas???

[kieran]

maybe also it should not clash with other club activities and howabout either cancelling the club run or modifying it as Marco suggested?

[Sylv]

It's true that there will always be the usual suspects in the fast races whenever (provided no clash) and wherever it takes places, so don't worry about them and as been said best to think about the beginners mainly,

Hillingdon is a great venue for this kind of event that but its main drawback is that it's far away for most people. Riding to the race, racing then riding back is a daunting prospect for most (including me) especially if you factor in the weather. If you drive you're in fear of having your car broken into, like it's still happening despite the new Goals club and car park. Plus it's been used for a few years now. Is there really no other place we could use? What does it take to use Palace, if it can accomodate 150+ riders on a Tuesday night surely it wouldn't be too much of a problem for a small race like ours, provided we'd get authorisation? And it wouldn't be as scary as on a Tuesday night, plus some have already ridden there, and others could get a taster that might push them to try the Tuesday races. Maybe easier if run on a weekday evening as there would be fewer people in the park? And it could be run in conjonction with an ACC picnic type evening where people could bring their family to cheer them on.

I'd be happy to give a hand in whichever way.

[Snoop Doug]

Nicely kicked off Toks Well done. This would be a great opportunity to focus the club round something other than CSS/Charlwood/CSS for a day. A great opportunity to showcase the very best of the very good stuff we do as a club. I wonder if there might be a fun way to involve kids of ACC families if we could hire a safe closed circuit for a day. And the picnic idea is brill. If someone could ease this through committee then great count me in to help. Otherwise we could do it a la renegade but it would be so much better if everyone is pulling together to make this happen. And I wonder what possibilities might emerge for new members when they see a tidy ACC train making its way past them, loads of stuff buzzing through my mind about how good this could be