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League News

Another reminder that our season start is just under two weeks away on April 20th.

Registrations are looking a bit thin right now and if they all pile up on the last Monday I likely won’t have time to process them and you’ll miss out so please don’t put it off and get on to it today!

Just to be clear THERE IS NO IN PERSON REGISTRATION.

Full instructions and the registration link can be found here https://scrl.co.uk/register/

Please remember to provide all the evidence asked for. I get lots of applications sitting there doing nothing because people neglect to email in the licence information as requested.

Accreditation

Please note that we have pulled forward the closing date for the first accreditation session to 6pm on Monday 11th for logistical reasons.

Free Practice Sessions

A reminder that at the upcoming accreditation sessions there is the chance for accredited riders to get some pre-season fixed riding in their legs as well as giving the accreditation riders a better experience.

This is open to all seniors and youth A and B riders only.

There is no charge for accredited riders at these sessions.

The accreditation dates are:

  • Wednesday April 13th
  • Friday April 22nd
  • Friday April 29th

Volunteers

If there are any spare bodies we really need the same marshal requirements for the accreditation sessions as we do for racing, so if a few bodies could turn up to help it would be much appreciated.

Of course. The spreadsheet link is below. We’d like to see some names on there in advance please.

https://scrl.co.uk/current-volunteer-status/

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Circuits News Racing Track League Volunteers

League News

Winter Series #5 – Riders and Volunteers

Winter series #5 is now open for entries. As always we can’t run anything without volunteers to marshal, so please put your name down or get a friend to volunteer.

Track Accreditation

Our track accreditation sessions are now open for entry. Please just enter your first one for now. Then you can enter any additional sessions as and when you know you can get to them.

Read about our accreditation process and why we have it here.

League Registration

For those riders already accredited registration is now open. Please take note of the instructions in regards to sending in your licence details.

SCRL now have their own set of racing rollers!

You might have been at the AGM a couple of years back when we borrowed the BECC rollers to spice up proceedings a bit.

Well a BECC member found their spare set in his garage and offered them up for sale. After (not all that) lengthy negotiations they were obtained for a very reasonable price indeed!

So now we have them, lets make some use of them. Any ideas for how we can use them to raise funds in addition to just having some fun with them would be welcome.

So far thoughts are:

  • Perhaps have a winter league where we can have a “social” evening once a month through the off season, probably at the Knoyle Road hall.
  • Maybe if we can have short notice use of the pavillion a “rained off day” event.
  • Hire out for use by other clubs, organisations and events.
  • Provide for use at local summer fairs etc. as an advertising/awareness raising tool.
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News Racing Uncategorized Volunteers

League News

With Christmas behind us it’s time to start looking to next season.

Race Dates

All the calendars have been updated now with our provisional dates for the winter and summer circuits, and track league.

There are Regional A Circuit level points (points band 4) races for both women and general entry in the winter series this year.

See the appropriate calendars for details.

Volunteers for races

We also need to start filling the volunteer spreadsheets. There is usually a coffee or two in it for you if you cover all day.

Remember: No volunteers = No racing

The volunteer page with links to the spreadsheet is here.

Vacant Positions

There are still some positions to fill to make sure we can race next year. If you are interested, you can email committee@scrl.co.uk or use the contact us form.

Note that only the promoter is an elected committee position. The others can be filled by any person at any time.

Promoter(s)
Organiser(s)
Sign On
Judges
Rider Whip
Marshals
Catering

Promoter(s) (Committee Position)

The promoter oversees the running of each SCRL event, from registering with British Cycling, managing entries, organising volunteers, booking with our various suppliers through to managing the arena and the event on the day itself, and the follow up of posting paperwork to British Cycling.

There is a great bunch of committee members and willing volunteers who take a lot of that work away and can be relied upon to know what to do. You mostly have to oversee the operation and ensure all the roles are filled, look after the volunteers, liaise with the commissaires etc.

Current promoter will cover the Winter Series but a replacement must be found in time for track league and summer circuits.

You must be a BC member, and will have to undergo a short tutorial on the use of the BC Event organiser dashboard. This takes a couple of hours and can usually be done online via skype/teams/zoom etc.

Organiser(s)

This is essentially the promoter “on the day”. It allows a promoter to pass on the running of the event on the day to another person. This person must also be a BC member and have done the event organiser dashboard training as above.

If a regular pool of on the day organisers could be found, the current promoter would probably be happy to carry on in the back-office role …..

Sign On

The person responsible for sign on will print the BC start/sign-on sheets, arrange for the numbers to be collected/returned by riders, and manage on the day entry, day licences and other add-ons if appropriate

They will pass the sign on sheets to the commissaires/organisers and return them to the treasurer who will pay the levies and expenses.

Judges

A judge is there to track and record the finishing positions/points scored of each race we hold.

They will commonly be watching and tracking lapped riders (mostly an issue in a circuit race) and recording finishing positions for each race.

They will also learn to use an i-pad to record and verify finishes if necessary.

Judging can take a bit of practice but we can’t rely on the same people all the time. Some of them would like to race also! On-the-job training will be given at our circuit races and/or track league.

Rider Whip

Mainly for track races, a rider whip is solely responsible for ensuring that riders of the next race are prepared and brought to the edge of the track in time, ready to line up for each race. This keeps the racing flowing and allows us to make maximum use of our track time. It also frees up the other volunteers to concentrate on their primary role i.e. commentating, judging etc.

Marshals

We always need these! Their function is primarily to “guard” the arena and its entry points to inform the public that access is not possible. This is to keep both the public and the riders safe. Allez opi-omi!

Do not worry about having to “man-handle” transgressors or wrestle anyone to the ground. This is not a marshals job and physical confrontation is not encouraged. In the event of a “difficult” member of the public who jumps the fence or otherwise tries to cross the arena, a marshal will simply try to alert the riders and officials to their presence and the appropriate safety precautions can be taken i.e. race is neutralised or similar.

Catering (Track League Only)

We all like to make use of a cuppa and a star bar. Someone needs to be responsible for filling the urns with hot water, and bringing them along as well as setting up and packing away.

You don’t necessarily need to “run” the stall. We mostly left it as an honesty system last year and it seemed to work well enough.

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Bored on a Wednesday?

Well why not fill this particular empty Wednesday evening by filling out the track league survey. If you are a league member you should have an email from RiderHQ in your inbox. Getting feedback is an important part of running the league in the way that everyone wants, so have your say!

League Race Numbers

We are still short a few league race numbers. If you are one of those who still has them (or one of the few who apparently still has just one of the pair) then please get them back to us in one of the following ways.

  • If you are a visitor to the track on a Saturday morning when PPYCC are present, you can leave them on the desk in the sign on hut opposite the main gate.
  • email promoter@scrl.co.uk and we can let you know a postal address to send them to.

Provisional AGM

Looks like we’ll probably have an in-person AGM, likely in joint with PPYCC as we often do. Provisional date at the moment is Saturday October 16th from 5:30pm, after PPYCC, but we will advise in due course of the confirmed arrangements.

#crossiscoming

In case you hadn’t noticed, the provisional dates for the London and South East Cyclocross League have been published. Take a look here.

The traditional season opener hosted by VCJ at Stanmer Park is on the calendar and they could use some help. Read the post on the PPYCC website here and follow the link to put your name down. Just like racing at Preston Park, the event can’t run without volunteers.

Thanks!