Month: February 2020

What it says on the tin. If we can’t cover all of the races for this Sunday (1st March) , none of them can go ahead.

We could also use a couple more judges/ipad operators.

By close of entries Friday is the deadline.

As usual email volunteering@scrl.co.uk if you can offer first aid cover. Nothing special is required, just first aid training.

Thank You.

Youth A/B Provisional Results

Please send any queries via the contact form here.

1 Dan Levine (A)
2 Josh Golliker (A)
3 Oscar Pratt (A)
4 Bill Balding (A)
5 Alfred Bunyan (B)

Women 3/4 Provisional Results

Please send any queries via the contact form here.

1 Anne Loh
2 Kate Parrish
3 Linda Wijlaars
4 Megan Johnstone
5 Sally Hamilton Savory

Category 4 Provisional Results

Please send any queries via the contact form here.

1 Lewis Reeves
2 Daniel Kalichman
3 Luca Stringer
4 Stefan Hurst
5 Daniel Ellis
6 Josh Beattie
7 Russell Cottingham
8 Matthew Smith
9 Nick Hawksworth
10 Sean Walker
11 Ben Evans

Category 2/3/4 Provisional Results

Please send any queries via the contact form here.

1 Charlie Heffernan
2 Jake Roe
3 Mark Gower
4 Ian Robins
5 Daniel Hawkes
6 Sam Hodges
7 Patrick Brown
8 Mark Day
9 Paul Barnard
10 Stuart Bettis
11 James DeRico

YES! is the answer to the question on the lips of you all, the racing IS still on.

But will it be next week? We still have a mostly empty volunteer rota for next week and once again we MUST have first aid cover. Please add your name to the spreadsheet here if you can (it would also help if you can email volunteering@scrl.co.uk with your contact details).

Anyway. Whilst it’s going to be pretty gusty tomorrow, and possibly a bit wet for some races, there are no weather warnings in place so racing should certainly be possible. As it stands we are going ahead. Can we say that it definitely won’t change? No, because if the forecast is wrong, and the weather is even worse at the time, if it has to be called off, it has to be called off. So whilst we are going ahead at this time we wanted to make sure that the situation is fully understood.

If anything changes all entrants will be emailed as well as messages on our website, Twitter and Facebook channels.

Anyway, positive thoughts! Just a few important notes about the day:

• DON’T FORGET TO BRING YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD AND RACE LICENCE!
• If you don’t have your card yet, or forget it, we can accept online on a phone, but you may have to leave a deposit for the race number.
• Sign on opens at 8:30, one hour before the first race, and closes ten minutes before race start. Please give priority to riders racing before you.
• If any reserve spaces become available, they are then signed on, in priority order. Any remaining spaces after that are given to walk up entries.
• Sign on in is in the small hut on the concrete plinth adjacent to the main velodrome gates, next to the stands.
• Youth and juniors should gear check before signing on (gear check will be in proximity of the sign on hut).
• There will be a short turn around between races, with limited time to warm up on the track. There is plenty of room around the velodrome for rollers and turbo trainers to warm up on, but cover from the elements is limited. Please keep the sign on and gear check area clear.
• The Brighton half marathon is also on this day. This shouldn’t impact us directly, but there are road closures along the coast road (A259) if you were coming that way. Traffic may also be a bit heavier generally, so allow enough time.
• Parking on “The Ride” at the top of the velodrome is free on Sunday until 1pm. After that you will need to pay and the wardens WILL be out checking.
• Unfortunately, our usual coffee van, Coops Coffee, cannot attend the first two races. There is however a cafe in Preston Park itself, two minutes walk away. The pavilion will be open for changing and toilets.

See you Sunday!

We are in urgent need of first aid cover for this Sundays races.

First Aid cover is a REQUIREMENT for racing to proceed.

We are trying to obtain outside help for this but short notice availability is not guaranteed.

You only need a normal first aid qualification to provide cover.

Please put your name down on the spreadsheet here, or click here to email us, if you can help.

Remember: No first aid, no race.

Lots to report on so please read everything, it may affect you.

• Pre-Season Track Warmup/Accreditation
• League Registration Fees
• Seniors riding in Youth Major
• Commissaire Training

Pre-Season Track Warmup/Accreditation

This year we are combining the registration/warmup sessions with the accreditation sessions.

The purpose of this is to encourage the new riders to get more used to being in a bunch of other riders.

Those already accredited and attending will not have to pay a fee but are expected to leave the track for short periods if required by the coach and to join in with the new riders when necessary.

The dates for the sessions can be found here.

League Registration Fees

This year the committee have decided that the league registration for senior riders must increase from £5 to £10. Junior and youth riders will remain at £5. This is to help cover increasing costs for hire, replacement numbers etc. as well as making the league sustain itself better, rather than being reliant on our other events to subsidise it.

Whilst this may seem like a large increase in percentage terms, ten pounds is still incredibly good value as most other leagues for both road and track racing will cost at least, and often more than double this amount.

Seniors riding in Youth Major

In line with what the regulations allow, this year we have decided to trial giving female riders, of junior age or 2nd/3rd/4th category of any age, who feel the pace is too high in the C league the option of riding with the Youth Major group as non-scoring riders.

Some of the committee have found through their own experience that riding in a group of older youth worked well for both parties as the bigger bunch was always more exciting to race in.

Juniors and seniors who opt to race in this group will NOT score any league points OR have any listed results and youth will still be placed within their own finishing positions (i.e. a youth who finishes second to a senior rider would still be first in terms of results).

The committee have decided not to opt for restricting gearing for seniors in this group for now. If you can push a bigger gear than the older youth you should probably not be riding with them anyway!

Participation in this group will be at both the commissaires and leagues discretion, and riders who are obviously going much faster than the youth on a regular basis will probably be asked to return to the senior races.

If you think that this would suit you, point out your request at sign-on and you can be signed in to the youth major group.

Track Commissaire Training

British Cycling have a track commissaire training course at Herne Hill Velodrome on Sunday February 23rd. It’s from 10am to 5pm and is absolutely free. Click here to register on the British Cycling website.

With ever more racing taking place in the South East the pressure on commissaire availability is only ever increasing. Please consider attending and giving your time to train as a commissaire. Who knows, you could be commissairing at the worlds or olympics one day!

Once again we are just two weeks from our first race and we find that very few people have taken up the volunteer positions we require to run the races.

You can sign up on our volunteer status page here, or you can email us by clicking here.

Please consider the following scenarios and whether you can help out:

• If racing, you could marshall after or before your race, still leaving an hour for warm-up:
  • Older youth could marshall for women after their race
  • Women could marshall for 4ths after their race
  • 4ths could marshall for youth race or for 2/3/4
  • 2/3/4 could marshall for women or 4ths
• Parents of youth could marshall while they race, meaning no hanging around before or after.
• Seniors, persuade a friend to come along and marshall for your race.

All marshalls/volunteers working get a free hot drink from coops coffee! Volunteer for more than one race and get a free drink for each race!

We also MUST have qualified First Aid for each race. If you can help in this respect, or if anyone you are bringing to marshall is qualified please let us know.

And now the nasty bit. A reminder:

• SCRL is a group of volunteers who already give up a large portion of their time to put these races on and ensure that they happen.
• It is not a cycling club with a roster of volunteers to call on.
• It is not making money on anything that will not benefit everyone. All profits from the racing that SCRL promotes goes back into promoting the racing, and sustaining and improving the track and the velodrome.

If we can’t fill these positions with a week to go, the event may well have to be cancelled.

If the same thing happens for the next weeks race, the entire series will have to be pulled.

Your co-operation is appreciated.

Lets make this happen!

Thanks to a swift response at BC (thanks Tarn!) the bookings are open again. Someone (ahem) made a bad edit a couple of days ago which changed the limit across all races.

Now go enter a race!

Hi everyone,

We are aware that our first event on the 23rd Feb is showing as fully booked for some reason which prevents entries from being made.

This is not the case and we have asked BC to look into it as a matter of urgency.

We will notify you all when the situation is resolved.

Thanks for your understanding.