The Following ACC Racers Have Switched teams For 2007:

[Stu Merckx Man]

also with the sponsership bit, it would soil the kit a bit i feel...i quite like the idea of riding for a club than for a company...seems more 'good ol days' type stuff, more friendly ...who wants a dirty great fast food chain sign on them!

[kieran]

[quote]Toks used to ride with CC Islington. He made us feel special, like we were the only cycling club in the world. But then suddenly we weren't good enough for him: "Why can't you be more like Addiscombe, with their sexy yellow kit and their online web forum?", he'd say, and before we knew it he was gone. Now you know how we felt. But don't worry, he won't be with those Essex Road floozies for long. I've seen him talking to that Gabellini. As soon as he's a first cat he'll be off to Rapha Condor... Face it Toks, you just can't commit. One day, a cycling club is going to do to you what you did to them, and then you'll be sorry.

[Matthew Ives]

[quote] And provide the advice and support that is crucial in motivating everbody to do their best, and be the person to turn to for those little niggling questions we all have from time to time

Id love the job, but being away and not knowing a lot anyway that kinda rules me out... However may i make some suggestions as to who could take up the role?

Matt Ives?

Steve aka The Shadow?

[Stu Merckx Man]

there could always be a captain for each catogary- 4 cat 3 cat etc..and perhaps a junior captain-->adam you could do that!!! i know when i first started at acc i found it easier talking to the likes of adam about cycling than the rest of you old men ....

thats what we had when i used to do cross country which seamed to work well. the captain would always race with us, and encourage us along the race, which was always a mega boost!

also he/she was there to give practical advice along the way.


stu

[Rob]

you should keep acc how it is, but add a racing team consisting of 5 people who pass trials to get in, every year whoever passes tests gets it...

give them all black kit, black oversocks....black helmets....and call them the addiscombe stealth bombers

[Stu Merckx Man]

would we be able to know who got in, or would it be....classified....?

[-Adam-]

Thats close enough matt! I do think that theres something about being encouraged by someone... I always wanted to start racing, but it took me 3 years from buying a road bike to get to hillingdon (no, i didnt ride there!)

Encouragement to start racing is one thing, but encouraging people to continue to race is another... and also, someone to answer questions...

For a club so large, why dont we have a coach? (or if we do, who is he/she!?)

Captains for each category is a good idea, though given how many of the club race consistently, the captains would have no one to lead! But of you want me to be your captain stu, ill see what i can do!

But i definately think there needs to be a captain that races is a must... or at least somone who has raced so knows the advice to give. I mean stu asks me questions, and i answer them as best i can, but ive only raced 7 times, so my knowledge is limited. But i always tell him to ask marek too!

Sean, everydays a school day!

I like the idea rob, but can the kit be all white instead, i know its incredibly impractical, but rapha condor race in almost all black, they got there 1st! So... Addiscombe ANGELS!?

[-Adam-]

Oh yeah, and Matt,

How the hell can you spend a month off the bike!?

If im off for more than 2 weeks i get withdrawal symptoms!

I am a bike ADDICT

Get your ass back in that saddle, Addiscombes got some racing to do!

And id love a lead-out man

Cheers...

Adam

[kieran]

well, while Paul T might not race much now he is Racing Sec and has raced in the past also last year he organised a training day for would be racers in ACC which I attended and found very helpful. I don't know if Paul has much presense on the forum to answer questions though but the thing about the internet is you can get answers from lots of places. From reading the posts here it seems that people aren't really looking for a coach but more of a motivator type person, someone to 'sell' racing to them and get them fired up for it. Thing is I don't think you can appoint people to this role, either they are naturally enthusiastic and infectious in their enthusiasm or not, if we have someone like that then they will turn up anyway. Whilst people like Toks and Ajay can get you down to the race start in the end the desire to race and compete most come from within, although granted this latent desire might need a jump start to get it going, and of course if you never try it you will never know. I think though the collective experiences of people in the club now and the amount of talk concerning racing should help get people turning up, if they see fellow ACCers they ride with every Saturday doing it then this might persuade them to at least try it once.

Anyway I'm sure Toks and Ajay won't change next year and will still be encouraging and supportive as always.

[Paul H]

I think having a coach of some sorts would be handy. It would be good to be able to ask someone for assistance with training programs and to discuss your progress. This can make you feel more "accountable" and provide extra motivation to train in the winter. Perhaps this is what Matt needs to get back on his bike.

[Stu Merckx Man]

adams got a point, with gabrial on our side we can't loose !

[Toks]

[quote] I think the idea of a road captain is excellent. PVT does the role required of him admirably at the moment, collating results and points, organising events, commisaring and attending various AGMs but yeah i think it could be time for an additional role alongside that. Maybe the AGM would consider it?

[Paul on the Pearson]

I agree, I think the balance of the club is right, never having ridden with any others I can make comparisons, although in events like sportives you certainly notice a certain lack of bike handling skills and general etiquette. I think the club manages to be a lot of different things to a lot of different people, but still maintains a collective wholeness, no mean feat with upwards of 90 riders out.
When I first joined there was the 15, 17 and the free for all every man or women for themselves traning group, now the gap from 17 to training has been bridged with a 19 group and as a result a lot more people this year than any other have pushed themselves a bit and are thinking of giving racing a go its time to raise its profile within the club. I know theirs loads of info and advice on the net but its not the same as getting it from the horses mouth as it were. My main motivation for raising the the profile, especially far racing newbies, wanabies like myself is simply that doing it as a group is less daunting than doing it alone.
PS How do you change you forum name? The silver giant's gathering dust and hasnt seen the light of day for quite a while now.

[Stu Merckx Man]

at the top of the screen where it has 'addiscombe.org', to the right of the thing that syas PHPBB theres 7 other links, the one on the bottom row to the left says profile...click it, and the list of all your profile settings comes up, at the top should be your user name, change it, and then go to the bottom and press submit..

stu

[richv]

[quote]Finally I do feel there's a slight irrational fear of attracting purely racer types such that any suggestion of putting on more promotions (beginners race would be a great idea!) or improving organisation racing wise is probably frowned upon by the club hierachy. This year I just picked up on Rob Fallon's brilliant idea of a club RR. Rob too was highly motivated and wanted to get more people racing for ACC even though it wasn't his first claim club.