The forecast is good (not even very windy) and the first meet of our 18 week league is almost upon us! With that in mind, here’s a couple of gentle reminders.

Volunteers

As always, we always need volunteers for all aspects of our racing, especially marshals. Please see our volunteers page and offer your services if you can.

Youth riders new to fixed gear

For those youth riding fixed gear for the first time, remember to make sure that you are using the appropriate gear limits for your age group. There is a guide to setting and checking youth gear limits on the British Cycling website here. You must also have completed an accreditation session.

Registration

If you raced last year, we will have printed out your registration form already and all you have to do is turn up, pay your registration fee and sign it. If you did NOT race last year, you will need to register anew. Click here to go to the registration page. Please note that if you wish to race this Wednesday the online registration deadline is passed and you should print out and bring along your registration as per the instructions on the registration page.

Licences

Don’t forget your British Cycling licence! When you sign your registration form and pay your registration fee WE MUST SEE YOUR BRITISH CYCLING LICENCE and also IT MUST BE VALID UP UNTIL OR LATER THAN 14th AUGUST 2019 (the end of the season).

If you cannot produce a valid licence we will have to charge you for a day licence if you want to race.

Payment

Please remember to bring not just your race fee for the day but also your registration fee! CASH ONLY PLEASE

Remember it’s still early April!

Don’t forget it can get chilly down at the track when the sun starts to set, so don’t leave those winter coats and blankets at home just yet!

See you Wednesday!

The Committee of the Sussex Cycle Racing League are always looking for ways to improve cycling and racing at the park. Over the last few years, we’ve introduced circuit racing to further foster local, grass-roots racing and to help maintain the sustainability of the track.

Our Wednesday track league is our premier race promotion and representative of the great heritage of track racing at Preston Park, the UKs longest standing racing track. To keep the racing fresh and to improve both the quality of, and access to, racing at Preston Park the SCRL committee have agreed to update the racing format for the 2019 season.

What’s changed?

The number of Senior categories has been increased

The number of Senior categories have been increased, seeking to improve the racing across the league, but also looking to develop riders coming through the ranks and to enable more exciting racing for new comers to the sport, especially for women riders. The major change is that there are more opportunities for all riders according to their ability. We would like to readers to note that we welcome equally male and female riders to our league.

The number of youth categories has been reduced

The number of youth categories has been reduced from 5 to 2, A, B, C, D, E is replaced by Youth Major and Youth Minor.

There are more racing groups to choose from for Youth A and Youth B riders

Youth A can choose to race in any of the 3 senior groups, Youth B can choose between Youth Major or Senior B’s and C’s.

All racing will be on track bikes

All track racing will be fixed wheel bikes across all age categories. This is because the league are now mixing all youth categories. This aligns to British Cycling (BC) rules as outlined in the BC handbook.

What are the new categories?

Senior A

As it’s always been, this is for the most able senior riders in the SCRL ranks, competing to be the Sussex Champion for the year but now is also open to any Youth A riders who are capable of this level of racing.

Senior B

For those riders who want a good level of racing, but feel that the Senior A is currently a step too high. These riders may be new to racing track, stepping down from the level of commitment implied by racing in the A group or, wishing to further develop their skills or fitness prior to taking on the faster riders of the A league.  This league is electively open to Youth B and Youth A riders.

Senior C

A new league for the season, aimed at offering greater competitive opportunities for riders who may previously have been reticent at having to race against both Senior Bs and Senior As in combined races. These riders may be either new or returning to the sport and wish to build fitness against riders of an equivalent level. We intend that this will give a greater number of women a more appealing opportunity to race track. This category will on occasion be combined into a B/C race, depending on numbers on the night.

Youth Major

U14 and 2^nd Year U12 riders. This combines the age categories with a single champion crowned at the end of the year. By splitting second year U12’s, it will help to push the young riders in more competitive racing.

Youth Minor

First year U12/U10. For our youngest riders, this league offers a testing competition on fixed wheel bikes for first year under 12’s and younger riders.

All these categories are elective, though the Committee has oversight on eligibility to race in a given group and reserves the right to direct riders to the group they consider most suitable for the league. If you do not feel our guidelines meet your racing and enjoyment needs then you should contact the Committee to discuss what might be done.

When numbers are low, and when our track limit allows, Senior B and C races will be combined. The number of races per evening will be comparable to previous years, and the calendar will soon be updated with the new schedules.

Will I need a new bike?

To repeat the above, the league will require the use of fixed wheel bikes across all age categories.

Parents of those who are racing in the U8 and U10 age brackets will need to look to hire or buy a new fixed wheel (track) bike. They will no longer be allowed to race freewheel (‘road’) bikes.

SCRL has put money forward to refresh the SCRL, PPYCC and VCJ bikes, giving new, smaller, handle bars and stems.

If parents feel that they cannot accommodate another bike which is specialist, then please speak to your club who may be able to help [check you are a paid up member first].

Why the changes?

1. It stretches both our top youth and our top senior riders.
2. It gives more riders the chance to ride in their own ability groups by offering more Senior B races, and Senior C races.
3. Racing should be more competitive and more exciting for all levels.
4. It will allow greater progression from C, to B, to A seniors.
5. It reduces the length of the programme.
6. It allows youths a better level of competition helping our riders to progress on the regional and national scene.
7. It looks to encourage more women to race.

A New Championship Night

This year we are also introducing a new format to our annual Championships, being the much loved (or feared) Elimination (“Devil”) Race. There is also going to be a Pursuits Championship night, run on a single evening to avoid the elongated qualification rounds.

For both the Sprint and Pursuit Championship evenings, riders will need to opt in to racing the Championship event to become the League Champion, or chose to ride a “non-championship” event in its place. Points for each of the Championships events will also be changing, with 18 points available to the winner. Points will drop in two’s down to 9^th place receiving 2 points (i.e. 18, 16, 14, etc.).

The non-championship events will offer normal league points, with up to 12 points across the two races available (i.e. winning gets 6 points per race). This way if you are not a sprinter, you’ll have a reason to come down for the night, to maximise your points!

What do I need to do?

In most cases, absolutely nothing. If you did not race last year don’t forget to register and if you have not raced fixed wheel (track) at Preston Park before under SCRL, please be aware of the accreditation requirements.

As noted above, U8/U10 age bracket riders will need to have, or arrange to use, a fixed wheel track bike.

The season is almost upon us and we are very excited to get what we feel will be a revitalised, exciting and inclusive league underway.

Got questions? Either use our new “SCRL Racers” facebook group, which can be found by clicking https://www.facebook.com/groups/racersforum/ or if you would prefer the query not to be public you can contact the committee by clicking https://scrl.co.uk/contact-us/

Online entry for the first of our circuit series tomorrow (Sunday 24th Feb 2019) has now closed.

The 2/3 race is fully allocated. There are fourteen (14) spaces available in the Category 4 race. There are just three (3) spaces remaining in the combined Womens/Youth race. Note that these three spaces are across all categories for that race (Women/U14/U16 M and F) as all youth and women will be racing at the same time.

Entry on the day is available for the remaining spaces. Sign on opens at 8AM and you should try to sign on at least half an hour before your race starts.

If in future we have enough pre-entries far enough in advance, we can consider racing youth on their own first and pushing other races back by half an hour.

Make sure you pre-enter early for the rest of the season to avoid disappointment!

Entries for our circuit racing series starting Sunday February 24th are now LIVE on the British cycling website.

Go to https://tinyurl.com/scrl-circuits-2019 to see all the events listed and enter online.

Entries close the day before the race.

The Sussex Cycle Racing League are delighted to receive a grant from the Pride Social Impact Fund. The award for £500 will help us to construct official accommodation at the track to better support organised cycling activities. The £500 will go towards the construction/purchase of a hut to allow, we hope, a better experience signing on, for judging and for announcing with a permanent wired pa system.

The Pride Social Impact Fund told us

This year saw a record number of applications with bids from more than 55 groups from across the city requesting more than £75,000 to put pride into their communities and make them a better place to be. The panel was made up of representatives from media organisations across the city including The Argus, Latest TV, Brighton and Hove Independent, Sussex Life, Brighton and Hove News, Capital Brighton and Gscene. With the fund oversubscribed, making decisions on individual bids was not an easy process.

The wait is over, you can dig out your diaries and pencil in all the racing fun/suffering (delete as applicable) you want down at Preston Park Velodrome!

With the muddy cyclocross season (almost) behind us it’s time to start thinking about getting those slick tyres rolling again. Freewheel or fixed, fresh faced newbie or grizzled veteran, we’ve got something for everyone.

Track League

The flagship event, the Wednesday night track league is set to return every week from April 17th, for 18 weeks. There are some exciting new formats to announce soon so stay tuned!

Accreditation and registration events will be announced soon.

Circuit Racing

We’ve got a 6 week winter series and a 6 week summer series lined up for you, covering Cats 2, 3 and 4 including juniors, as well as women only races covering the 3rd and 4th categories, including juniors. Youth A/B racing is also scheduled to run concurrently with the women only races.

Winter Series Provisional Dates

Every week from 9am starting 24th February

• 24th February
• 3rd March
• 10th March
• 17th March
• 24th March
• 31st March

Summer Series Provisional Dates

Every other week starting 6pm from 17th May

• 17th May
• 31st May
• 14th June
• 28th June
• 12th July
• 26th July

Veteran and Women Track Series

The Friday night event returns with a three week series starting on 26th April and then every other Friday.

• 26th April
• 10th May
• 24th May

Our ‘cross race at East Brighton Park this past Sunday went off without a hitch, and the course was well received. Here’s to many more at what will hopefully be a regular fixture both for us and London X League. We’ll definitely have to get some beers on hand next time!

You can read the London X League report of the race here.

It was also, of course, our inaugural SCRL Track Rider Cowbell Challenge! The winners were, in no particular order, Paddy Brown in the seniors, Alex Beyfus in V40, Adam Churchill in the juniors and Luke Goodwill in the U14’s. Pictured are Alex and Paddy with their winnings!

Cross is here, cross is here, and to celebrate our first cross race this Sunday at East Brighton Park, we’ve put a little bonus together.

If you registered for the track league this summer and raced at least one week, you could win a cowbell!  All you have to do is fill out your details below and if you’re highest placed in your age/gender category, you win!

• Shake it at your friends whilst heckling!
• Annoy people on the bus!
• Impersonate a cow!

To be in with a chance of winning just register your interest on this survey and make sure you get to the race!

AGM This Saturday!

Just another quick reminder that it’s the AGM this Saturday, kicking off at 17:30, right after the PPYCC AGM if you’re going to be at that one too.  This year we have really pushed the boat out and bought a few mini kegs of Harveys and a few bottles of wine to get things moving, so leave the car at home and bring some spare cash!  More details are in our previous post here.

Oh and don’t forget to bring back race numbers!

Cross Race Next Sunday! (Nov 25th)

As you may be aware SCRL are running a London and South East Cyclo Cross league race at East Brighton park.  These are a great source of income but we can’t run it without volunteers.  We aren’t a cycle club and don’t have a ready made pool of volunteers to call on, and so we need all hands to the pump.  Anyone who wants to help out, please use the online spreadsheet here.  Note that you have to click the “Edit in browser” or “Edit Workbook” button to add your details.  Just add your name in any sections you can help out with.  Of particular importance is covering the car parking duties, as parking is limited and we need to keep the road clear.

If you have trouble accessing the spreadsheet, we will have a printed version you can fill in at the AGM OR you can use our contact page remembering to tell us your name, a contact number or email and the times and positions you can fill.

Many members of the committee have already put considerable time and effort into making this (and other races) happen, and firmly committing to helping out makes our organisation much easier and less stressful, so any additional help on the day would be very welcome.

See you at the AGM!

We’re sure you haven’t forgotten but we are now just two short weeks away from our 2018 AGM!

The Time: 17th November 5:30 to 7:30PM (Right after the PPYCC AGM)

The Place: St Johns Church Hall, Knoyle Road, Brighton (Click here for a map).

Race Numbers!

First and foremost, we still have a few race numbers from last year not returned. Please bring them to the AGM with you, or contact us for postal details if you can’t make it. They cost money to replace which we shouldn’t have to spend!

News

We have a couple of new committee positions to fill as well as reports on whats been happening this year, information and news with regards to what we would like to do next year, and of course the all important awards…

Awards

As well as the league and championship titles, don’t forget there will be other trophies up for grabs including:

• Twilight trophy
• Vets trophy
• Sprint trophy
• Most combative senior
• Roy Humphrey trophy
• Back to front trophy
• Most improved rider

Womens Racing Awards

We also have our first year of awards for the Friday womens track and road series events. There are awards for the first, second and third place riders and prizes for the top six, kindly donated by local businesses (To be eligible, riders needed to attend a minimum of 4 weeks and attend the SCRL AGM).

Womens Racing Awards and Prizes Sponsored By

Morvelo	Stans Bike Shack	Upgrade Bikes	Cafe Porteur

Eating! Drinking! (boozing?)

As always please feel free to donate some culinary goodies for sale on the night, such as cakes and nibbles, to help bump up league funds (remember it costs to have the AGM too!). We are also going to be selling Harveys Best, along with wine for those not of a beery nature.

Also!

You may or may not know that SCRL are promoting a London League Cyclocross race this year at East Brighton Park on 25th November.  These are a GREAT source of funds and could be a real boost to our plans for next year.  These events need even more volunteers than the Wednesday nights so PLEASE sign up to the volunteer spreadsheet at this link. (Note that some workplaces will prevent access to online spreadsheets, if this is the case and you cannot access any other way, please email antmail@ntlworld.com directly with the position and times you can help with.)

See you there!