By John Leitch
Posted: Tuesday, January 12, 2016 - 09:54
 
It's December and that time of the year again when the coaches get in a huddle and discuss the short-list of names for the two awards.... first the names of the various girls who could be our female rider-of-the-year and then the group of boys who are in contention to be the one to hold up the second trophy.
 
We'd like to have asked Mark Cavendish to open the two envelopes to reveal the winners, but when push came to shove we had to settle for doing that task ourselves (but a nice idea for next time perhaps).... so here we go.
 
Jo Matthews - 2015 Rider of the Year - Girl
 
The coaches said:
 
Jo (age 15) is one of the older riders and has spent several years on her bike with her parents, Catherine and Ed. We first met her at Leigh when she tried her hand on the two-mile loop that takes in Gadbrook Road and having dipped her toe in the water by mingling with several riders who have already tried their hand at racing, she set her sights on doing the same next summer.
 
Currently she's preparing wonderfully well. After trying her hand on a track bike at Herne Hill in the autumn, she's ventured over to the Olympic velodrome at Lee Valley while at home she's on the turbo trainer twice a week doing interval training, steadily moving up the ladder and producing (currently) some impressive watts figures from 30-second intervals.
 
So things are set (all being well) for Redhill Raiders to have it's first girl taking part in Under-16 races once the warm weather arrives next year.
 
Daniel Warhurst - 2015 Rider of the Year - Boy
 
The coaches said:
 

Daniel (age 9) always takes part in everything we have on the agenda when Raiders are out on the playground at Furzefield School. 

 

He is cheerful and enthusiastic and gives it his best.

 

He's very capable, showing skill and talent.... he has the right attitude and is a  great guy to coach.

 

Keen to tackle more, he's been showing his hand at Cyclopark, rolling up for the Power Pack sessions we run once a month. 

 

On top of that he's been out on the quiet public roads round Leigh, ventures that have seen both his mum and dad out there cycling as well.