There was quite a party fever today (Sunday 18 September) with riders (well OK eager parents) storming the gates to get in... and way, way before opening time as well.... must be the urge to get value for money.
No wonders as we had been granted our 'licence' to return to the site we had been using for the past four years.... previously owned by Canon and newly acquired by Surrey County Council.
By way of a bonus I don't need to write much at all as the other two coaches had already fired over their words by the time I got home.
So words from Tom Griffiths (red) and Sean Lamberth (green).
Session summary - Tom
The middle group were developing the skills to ride in a group. They practiced leading, following and changing position. Having worked on the basics, the session culminated in some timed laps in teams of three. The aim was to get round 2 laps as fast as possible, with time penalties if gaps opened up between riders. Results as follows:
1st: Team Champion (Alex, Ollie, Tom) - 44 seconds, +1s penalty
2nd: Team Unbeatable (Frankie, Louisa, Vincent) - 48s, +5s penalty
3rd: Team Winners (Henry, Oliver, Georgie) - 54s + 2s penalty
All riders did superbly and were on a clear trajectory of improvement as the session went on!
Session summary - Sean
The older group had the run of the "Hill climb" section.
Setting a climbing rhythm was our first task.
Climbing the hill in a seated position we moved onto out of the saddle Uphill sprinting.
Then the chance to learn some downhill skills.
Putting the skills together we did some very hard riding. Many laps later our riders were done.... So I thought.
No, they wanted more, so we warmed down with some bunch riding and a few stretches off the bike... Phew
And my bit...
I think I can just say that as ever we finished with a handicap race. It was four laps and I got in a muddle, in fact a double muddle as I called it for four laps but some of the front riders who won kept going (more slowly) for a warm-down lap while those behind did a five-lap race and overtook them.... so all in all it had the makings of a squabblefest.
Hence a second two-lap race where the podium was
1 Daniel
2 Evie
3 Estie ...
The winner of the limbo was Robyn Valice.
John