Sussex Cycle Racing LeagueWeek 16 of track this Wednesday as well as the last in the Summer Series on Friday.
As ever we need volunteers to help run the events.
To volunteer at track on Wednesday click here.
To marshal at the circuits on Friday click here.
To come and help with the judging and other roles at Fridays event click here.
Track entry closes at normal time of 3pm Wednesday and circuits closes at 7pm Wednesday.
Enter either event on RiderHQ by clicking here.
As you have probably noticed, there is a bit of an issue in the South East region with levels of volunteers available to fulfil all the roles needed to put on a race. This affects not just SCRL events but all events in the South East as a whole.
We lost last weeks racing as there are few commissaires available in the south east right now. Events #3, #5 and #6 also currently have no comm assigned as no-one is available. We also got three new event organisers on board that have been covering SCRL events this year but even that is not very many when you consider how many events we put on.
When these roles are met by only a few individuals, they end up doing the work time and time again, which means that in a very short space of time they reach their limit and we are back where we started.
So this post will cover a few of the roles that we think any racer should consider, in order to help racing in the South East survive. None of these require you to “give up racing”, on a permanent basis. If we had almost every racer able to fill these roles, everyone would have to sacrifice racing just one or maybe two events a year, and we could have a full calendar. We know it seems difficult fitting it in around other commitments, but this is exactly the same thing that current volunteers have to do.
Many of these roles come with membership benefits, such as free membership to Bronze level, or a discount of such on a higher level membership.
The officials appointed by British Cycling to officiate fair and safe racing. New requirements mean that almost all events require TWO commissaires to be in attendance so the need for qualified officials is higher than ever.
Our interest would be in more circuit or track commissaires (there are also others such as road, cx, mtb etc.) and trainees could potentially be able to complete at least a certain amount of those at Preston Park (if there are events to attend).
Read about this role and see training course availability here.
Exactly what it says on the tin! Event organisers liase with the South East events co-ordinator before the beginning of each season to sort out the calendar for the coming year. They are also responsible for listing the event on the BC website and arranging all the requirements for the event itself.
Event organisers can also delegate this role for an event to other organisers through the BC online system so that they do not have to attend every event they list.
Anyone who chooses to be an organiser for SCRL events can do so in the knowledge that all the equipment needed is available and that there are experienced organisers in the league to help get you started and “hand hold” if needs be.
To get the organiser dashboard enabled on your BC account you must undergo a short training course, which can often be delivered online.
Read more about being an event organiser here.
Coaches are able to deliver both general and specialised cycle training and coaching depending on the level of qualification.
The biggest contribution to SCRL would be more people able to lead track accreditation courses so that we could offer these more often. More frequent accreditation courses means more riders and a more successful and vibrant track league!
You can read more about becoming a British Cycling qualified coach here.
SCRL would be willing to consider subsidising or paying for an SCRL regular to undertake coaching courses. If you are interested please email committee@scrl.co.uk.
We have secured Friday June 16th as an available accreditation date.
With the long sunlight that day we are going to try and run it as a “one and done” session (i.e. all accreditation done in one session).
To get more information and sign up see our accreditation calendar page here.
Next week sees the first of our Ladies Night racing nights, featuring individual Women’s races all through the evening.
Not only that, but the first women only race, the scratch, will be a Regional C+ race meaning that all riders are eligible for licence points! You need ten riders to get maximum points so it’s time to cajole your fellow racers into entering!
All senior female league riders of any senior category, and any youth already riding up in senior categories can ride in the women only races.
The remaining categories will be merged on the night to make room in the schedule, most likely by merging A and B groups, but it may depend on numbers in each category on the night.
All points scored in the Women only races will count towards your registered league category totals (so if you are registered as a Senior C racer, your points will be added to your Senior C total).
A/B or B/C races are treated as one race, points are awarded for top six finishers in the race only regardless of category.
No special entry required, just enter on RiderHQ in your usual category as normal.
Week #3 – May 3rd!
Due to changes in British Cycling track regulations, Senior and Junior riders can now earn licence points every week at track league!
The previous rule allowed an award of points once a year for final track league standings.
The rule now states:
T5.3.1. The following shall qualify for Licence Points:
…
T5.3.1.2. for all weekday ranking Track and Track
Leagues Events, one race per group of riders
specified to entrants in advance;…
T5.3.5. Where there are fewer than ten rider entries for
a Track Event, the Licence Points awarded shall
be limited to three points for first place, two
points for second place and one point for third
place. Such points shall be multiplied by two for
British National Series and by three for British
National Championships.
This means that we can offer senior and junior riders the chance to earn Regional C+ points in the following manner:
Youth riders: it is unclear whether youth riders allowed to ride in the senior categories will be eligible for licence points. We are currently enquiring with British Cycling about this. For now you should presume you cannot earn licence points. You will still be allowed to race for league points.
We will have one regional C+ race per week, as per the regulations, and this will be the first Senior A race of the evening. Other category riders may join under the following conditions:
At the event, Senior A riders should just line up for the race as usual. There will then be a call for any senior B or C riders who wish to ride to fill any spaces.
Nothing special will need to happen for you to enter, your normal track league entry covers this and you just race as normal, except now with added points!
Well, in truth, turns out it was supposed to be today. Bit of a hiccup on that front. Still, it’s not like we’d have been racing today anyway, so the way I look at it, we beat the weather for once!
So track league starts next week, April 19th.
The calendar has been updated. We are just finalising what we want the first couple of weeks to look like schedule wise, but those will be available soon.
Please note that for the first two weeks (three if you count this week) we will be starting the first race at 6:30 as opposed to 6:45 to try and get more racing in on the days with short daylight. These are noted on the calendar as such.
There are a couple of new things to be aware of this year
The first Wednesday of every month will feature ladies only races. This will also be open to eligible female youth riders. To make room in the schedule either C and B or B and A riders will ride together for the night. We will try to alternate this, but ultimately numbers on the night will dictate what happens.
We remind you that all registered senior members must do one complete evening of volunteering.
You can reach the volunteering sign up pages from here.
When you volunteer, remember to sign in on the officials sign in form, available at the sign on hut. If you do not sign, you will not get credited!
The promoter may take the decision to cancel if not enough volunteers have signed up for the week.
The committee took the decision on event cancellations to work the same for volunteering as it does for refunds. That is, if you sign up to volunteer but it is cancelled before racing starts, you must still fulfil your volunteer requirement at another time. If racing has started but is later cancelled, you are considered to have fulfilled your commitment (lucky you).
Registration has been open for a couple of weeks, and of course you must register before you can race. You must also register by 6pm on the Monday before you intend to race so we can approve your membership, otherwise you will not be able to enter.
Click here to go to the registration page.
Race entry is now open for week #1. Those that have registered and paid can enter by clicking here.
Finally.
Track League starts again April 19th. You will need to register first and you can only do that online here.
You no longer need to send us your BC membership/licence details (if you have any). These will be checked in person when you sign-in at your first event.
The schedule will be uploaded soon, but first two weeks will be quite short due to daylight, so we are planning to start the racing at 6:30 rather than 6:45.
We also need a full set of volunteers. This year sees us start the requirement of each (senior) league member doing one weeks volunteering. This can be in any of the roles listed on the volunteer sheet. We have the first four weeks available, and more will be added as the season progresses here on our volunteering page.
A quick note to remind all accredited senior and youth A/B riders that there is some free track time at Preston Park tomorrow (March 5th) to help make up a decent sized bunch for the accreditation session. No payment or booking necessary, just turn up. Session will run from 12. You can borrow a bike but accrediting riders have priority on those. A few people will be needed to take turns being marshals and on the gate.
See you then!
The entries are starting to build up, but where are all the women racers? If it looks like there will be no entries at all we may cancel that race and replace it with something else to make use of the track time.
Volunteers are good for race #1 but races #2 and #3 are still missing volunteers, so please sign up here to make sure the day goes ahead.
If you don’t already, you might be interested in racing our track league through the summer every Wednesday evening. If you have UKVA accreditation, it would be great to see you at our weekly league this year. If you are not UKVA accredited, read on …
We have arranged two track accreditation sessions to run on Sundays March 5th and 12th, right after the races finish. These will cover both parts 1 and 2 of the accreditation at once so that there is no need to arrange a second session (note that this is NOT UKVA accreditation, read more about that here).
Accreditation is for senior riders. Youth members of PPYCC and VCJ will be accredited at their regular Saturday morning sessions. If you are (or are a parent of) a youth rider not a member of these clubs, please contact us for suitable options.
Entry is available here.
We will also require volunteers to marshal the track, just the same as racing. Please sign up here or get a friend to. No experience is necessary.
These sessions will also be open to already accredited racers (seniors and youth A/B only) to get some track time and to help out. There is no charge for these riders, just turn up.
At time of writing we have had no takers for the committee/non-committee roles announced vacant which will either immediately or soon require filling on the committee.
There was a very poor turn out for the AGM, and the committee had two very real and urgent concerns that threaten the future of racing at the track to discuss but with lack of attendees nothing could be resolved.
It was a struggle throughout 2022 to get enough volunteers and for the first time ever we had to cancel one night because of this. On top of this we are losing several key members of the committee and the SCRL family this year, some permanently.
Unfortunately none of the few that attended the AGM felt able to take on any of these roles so 2023 isn’t looking promising.
With that in mind, the committee have decided that none of the racing calendar will be submitted to British Cycling until we at least have commitment to the main roles required for each event in advance.
For now, we have made available signup sheets for our intended Winter Series (see below). All roles need to be filled by lunchtime Friday 20th January or the winter series will not go ahead at all.
There are further issues to discuss regarding the financial feasibility of track league as compared to being subsidised by the circuits but we will see how the winter series goes first. If we can’t run a winter series to subsidise track league the costs for that will go up, probably by at least 50%.
There is another reminder further down the page here about the roles which need filling.
There is a volunteer signup page available for each race (links below) where primary volunteers (non-marshals) can put their name down.
The marshal positions will also require filling prior to the event but these will be on a separate signup sheet closer to the time.
| Event | Signup Link |
|---|---|
| #1 Feb 19th | https://volunteersignup.org/JQRBK |
| #2 Feb 26th | https://volunteersignup.org/D4DJA |
| #3 Mar 5th | https://volunteersignup.org/P3H3B |
| #4 Mar 12th | https://volunteersignup.org/3RPE8 |
| #5 Mar 19th | https://volunteersignup.org/3WP9Q |
| #6 Mar 26th | https://volunteersignup.org/DBJRW |
Remember you won’t be left on your own from the off, you will always be shown what to do, and there is nothing you can do that would cause any serious problems or get you into any kind of trouble if you “do it wrong”.
For fuller descriptions see the volunteer page.
Committee positions are elected representatives. Please contact the committee if you wish to fulfil one of these positions.
To volunteer for these positions, please contact us.
These are non-committee positions but work best when there is a pool of experienced volunteers who can help train new volunteers.
*Organisers have to have attended organiser online training with British Cycling and have had the organiser dashboard enabled on their account. If you are interested in this training please contact the promoter.