Danish Camp - 10 Dec 2022

Hi Everyone

More good racing yesterday in the frost and cold at St. Albans. Peter and Finlay rode strongly again with Finlay securing a place on the podium, finishing third overall. Samuel lost his chain in the sprint race but recovered to ride well in the endurance and then won the handicap race for the second week running. As soon as the official results are published I'll circulate them.

Next week is our last session and we will be meeting at Danish Camp at 9am and then taking a gentle ride along the national cycle route 51 before returning to Danish Camp for refreshments. The more parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents etc. the better so if you haven't ridden for a while it's a chance to dust off the bike in the garage and come and join us.

Decorated bikes and/or riders are a tradition of the ride so let's make it as festive as we can - with the proviso that your bike is still safe to ride of course! Obviously, helmets are still compulsory and it looks as though the cold weather will still be with us so come prepared.

Danish Camp is in Chapel Lane, Willington, MK44 3QG and we will ride for about an hour, returning to the restaurant at around 10:15. There is a car park and we will meet there.

Look forward to seeing you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Muddy Monsters update: 3rd Dec.

Hi Everyone

Firstly can we just say a huge thank you to all of you who gave up your Saturday morning to come to a cold and, occasionally, damp Priory Park to help us stage today's races. It would have been nice to have more riders but the event seemed to go well so big pats on the back all round.

Congratulations to Finley, Peter, Ethan and Samuel for their performances today.

I've attached the results below, for the first three events along with the series rankings.

Next week racing is at St Albans so there is no session and on the 17th December it's our Xmas social ride from Danish Camp. Looking forward to seeing parents, brothers, sisters etc. on their bikes as well and don't forget the most festive bike/rider prizes. Details to follow.

Peter and Brian

Download Results: Muddy_Monsters_2022_round_3.xlsx

Muddy Monsters update: 26th Nov.

Hi Everyone

Another Saturday of Muddy Monsters races and more success for our riders.

Finlay turned in a great performance to win the Under 10's event, finishing 4th in the sprint and following it up with 2nd place in the endurance race. Peter again pushed Finlay all the way in both races to finish 5th overall. It's worth noting that Peter was just 3 points behind Finlay in the final standings and in what is the most competitive age group of the season so far. After 2 events Finlay heads the series table with Peter in 3rd.

Samuel rode strongly again to finish 2nd in the Under 14 event behind a rider who also competes in the Central League.

Next Saturday is our turn. A number of you have already let us know that you will be available to help us set up and run the event and all help is gratefully received.

We are meeting on the field at Priory in the usual place at 8am and we've arranged for the overspill car park to be opened at that time. The main tasks will be to lay out the course using stakes and tape, put signs up for the car park and directions to the start and set up the signing on area - this will consist of a table and a small gazebo (I've practised in my garden, it's very easy to put up!).

Signing on starts at 9am so we will ask a couple of people to take payments and issue race numbers to competitors.

Once racing starts we will need a couple of people to record the numbers of the riders as they pass the finish line and we will have to have marshals at a few points on the course to keep an eye on riders as well as replace any damaged tape etc.

Final act will be to take down all the course markers and signage.

If past years are anything to go by then we should be finished by midday.

The following weekend is round 4 at St Albans so there will be no session.

On the 17th tradition dictates that we meet at Danish Camp for a social ride around Route 51. Parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters etc. are all actively encouraged to join us and there will be prizes for the riders and/or bikes that are judged to be dressed in the most festive way. We meet at 9am as usual and return to Danish Camp by about 10:15 where we've arranged drinks and cookies for the riders. Parents can put their drinks on our tab!

In the meantime, see you bright and early on Saturday.

Peter and Brian

Racing & Coaching - 26th Nov.

Hi Everyone

Results haven't been published for last weekend's Muddy Monsters races yet but congratulations are due for all our riders - Samuel finished 3rd overall in the Under 14 event and Finlay and Peter had a great battle in their endurance race, finishing neck and neck on what is the most difficult course of the series.

Whilst this was happening Thomas put in another good performance in the Central League event, finishing 5th.

This weekend the Muddy Monsters races are being staged at Ashwell on Saturday afternoon so we will be holding a session at Priory Park as usual in the morning. We will meet at the totem next to the car park at 9am - not in the field - and ride along the cycle route. This will be an opportunity for those of you racing in the afternoon to have a warm up and for the rest of us to practise our group riding skills.

The following Saturday is our own race and so this is a reminder and request for as many of you as possible to help us stage a successful race. At the same time, those riders who are not competing in the other events may want to enter ours - the course will be very similar to the one we used earlier this year for our own races so you will all be familiar with it.

We will send more details early next week of what we need to do on the 3rd to be able to stage the race.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Muddy Monsters: 19th Nov

Hi Everyone

Sending this a bit earlier this week to be able to update our schedule over the next few weeks.

Next Saturday sees the first of this season's Muddy Monsters events with races taking place at Welwyn. Because at least half of our riders will be attending the event then we will not have a session on Saturday.

The following weekend, November 26th, the Muddy Monsters races are taking place at Ashwell and start in the afternoon. We can't quite be in two places at the same time but this does mean that it is possible to run a session and support those riders who are racing so we will be meeting at Priory Park at 9am as usual.

On December 3rd we are staging our own event at Priory Park. It would be great to have as many of our riders competing as possible in this event - the course is pretty much the same as the one we used for our own races last autumn/winter so everyone will know what to expect.

A number of you have already said that you are able to help on the day, we can't manage the event on our own so any help will be very much appreciated. The plan is that we will set the course up between 8am and 9am at which point registration begins and riders can start to warm up on the course. The overspill car park will be open from 8am - this is the one on the left hand side shortly after you pass under the barrier in the entrance to the park - and so we will be there. Once the event is finished we will need to take down the course, in previous years we have been completely finished before midday. We'll send more details in the next week or so.

On December 10th racing moves to St Albans and we will update you on whether we are holding a session on that day nearer the time.

The following weekend is the last before Xmas and tradition dictates that we meet at Danish Camp and ride the cycle routes as a group - parents, brothers, sisters, grandparents etc. included, before going into the cafe where drinks and cakes are available - we will foot the bill!

Finally and sadly, we have been unable to find anyone who is able to take on the running of the group after Xmas which means that the ride on the 17th will be our last one. We are really sorry to have to confirm this news and we'd like to thank all of you for your support in coming along to the sessions and your understanding. From a practical point of view, and because the races mean that we are disrupting the schedule for the next few weeks, we will not be charging for any future sessions.

Good luck to those of you who are racing on Saturday, see you in Welwyn!

Peter and Brian

Box End for the 12th November

Hi Everyone

It's Box End again this weekend for our last opportunity to take on the climbs and descents this year.

Look out for us in the far right hand side of the car park - 9am start as always.

Also, congratulations to Thomas who finished third in the latest Central League CX race at MK Bowl.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

We're at Chicksands on 5th Nov.

Hi Everyone

Just wanted to confirm that we are at Chicksands on Saturday, riding in Rowney Warren - I may have mislead some of you about the venue last Saturday, sorry!

The woods may be a bit different than the last time we were there if this rain continues so come prepared to get wet and/or muddy. As always at Chicksands, parents etc. are welcome to bring their bikes and join us. We will meet in the Rowney Warren car park as usual - Sandy Lane, SG17 5QB - at 9am, returning at 10:30am.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Sat 29th Oct: at Box End

Hi everyone

We have our first visit to Box End this autumn on Saturday - a chance to ride on some varying terrain and so practise a different set of skills. If you haven't ridden there before the park is located on Box End Road, MK43 8RQ. Enter the park and follow the road around to the car park, we will be in the far end.

Timings are as usual, starting at 9am and ending at 10:30.

Click [here] for details of the Muddy Monsters races so that you can all see the list of dates - for those of you who are planning ahead, the Hitchin race is now on February 4th. As in previous years Ashwell races start at 1:30pm.

Finally Thomas continues to perform well in the Central League races with a couple of 5th place finishes in recent events.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Priory on Saturday 22nd Oct. and Muddy Monsters Details

Hi Everyone

Emailing a bit earlier than usual this week but we are at Priory Park this Saturday, usual 9:00am start. We'll meet in the main field, I'll be in the car park form 8:50am if anybody is not sure where to go.

The Muddy Monsters series is now taking shape and there are 8 races in the series this year. Most of them are now listed on the British Cycling website and it is possible to enter some of them already. Ours is waiting sign-off from BC and should appear in the next few days.

The events start at various times - in particular Ashwell's races are in the afternoon - so make sure you know what the details are for the races you enter.

The best way to find the races is to go to the British Cycling website - https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/ and look for the link to Events. On the left hand side of the page, click on the cyclo-cross link and then type Muddy Monsters into the Keywords box. The full list will then be loaded - there is another series based around clubs in the BC Eastern region so some of these will appear. These races are also open to our riders but are a separate series so results in these races don't count towards positions etc. in ours.

The races are great fun and an excellent way to introduce young riders to races. The format is very similar to our own races that we have held over the last couple of years in that there is a short (usually one lap) race and then a longer multi lap event. The courses vary and so the number of laps is not the same at each event. Finally there is some sort of fun-only race, often a relay in which the oldest and youngest riders are matched together.

The races are held by age group and in the longer events the race ends when the winner crosses the finish line so that nobody is left to complete laps on their own. Like our races, positions in the individual races count towards the final positions on the day and, in turn, towards the overall series positions.

Whilst some of our older riders are no longer eligible to enter I would encourage everyone to give the races a go - if you're not sure speak to someone who raced last season or ask Peter and me. Depending on the number of riders who are racing we may not hold sessions on race days so that we can support those who have entered.

A number of you have already offered to help us stage our race on December 3rd - thanks to everyone who has spoken to us. As a heads-up we generally start at 8am so that we can get the course set up, there will then be some help needed with registering riders, lap counting and recording finishing positions as well as marshalling at certain points of the course. We'll provide more details nearer the date.

In the meantime, we'll see you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

We are at Chicksands on 15th Oct. 2022

Hi Everyone

It's our first visit to Chicksands this season so a chance to try out our skills in a different environment to Priory.

As usual we will ride through Rowney Warren using the cycle trails in the woods and try to ensure that we find our way out successfully! Parents, siblings etc. are welcome to bring their bikes along and join us.

We will meet in the car park in Sandy Lane - postcode is SG17 5QB - at 9am and aim to be back by 10:30.

See you there

Peter and Brian

Priory on Saturday, 8th Oct. 2022

Hi Everyone

We're riding at Priory this Saturday, meeting at 9am in the main field as usual.

Belated congratulations are due to Thomas, we have just learned that he won the Central League summer series of races and has followed that up with a 2nd place in the latest autumn/winter race last weekend.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Next Go-Ride session is on 8th Oct. 2022

Hi Everyone

Just a quick reminder that there won't be a session this weekend (1st Oct 2022) but that we will be back at Priory Park on Saturday 8th October.

The owners at Box End have agreed the dates that we asked them for so the list of all sessions between now and Xmas that we sent out last week is confirmed.

For those of you who may need to plan ahead, the Muddy Monsters races at Ashwell both start at 1:30pm rather than the normal 9:30am. There is a Facebook page being set up for the series, as soon as I have the details I will share them with you.

Have a good week and we'll see you on the 8th.

Peter and Brian

Go-ride dates for the rest of 2022

Hi everyone,

All the dates for the Muddy Monsters races this season have now been confirmed - as I said earlier this week, we are staging an event on December 3rd so would appreciate help from as many of you as possible on the day in order that we can make it a success. I will apologise now for the constant reminders over the next few weeks!

I am on holiday on October 1st so there will be no session that weekend but with the Muddy Monsters dates now set we are able to share all of the dates and venues for the remainder of the year. It would be great to see as many of you competing in the races as possible, they begin in November and there are events on four consecutive weekends from the 19th of that month.

We'd like to support as many of our riders as we can at the races so will decide nearer the time whether to hold sessions on the days when there are races.

Dates and venues are listed below - the only proviso at the moment is that we are waiting for Box End to confirm that the dates here are OK for us to use their park.

• 24th Sep - Priory
• 1st Oct - No session
• 8th Oct - Priory
• 15th Oct - Chicksands
• 22nd Oct - Priory
• 29th Oct - Box End
• 5th Nov - Chicksands
• 12th Nov - Box End
• 19th Nov - MM Welwyn
• 26th Nov - MM Ashwell
• 3rd Dec - MM Beds
• 10th Dec - MM St. Albans
• 17th Dec - Xmas ride

The final three Muddy Monsters races are:

• 14th Jan 2023 - Welwyn
• 28th Jan 2023 - Ashwell
• 25th Feb 2023 - St. Albans

On the theme of racing, congratulations to Thomas who finished 6th in the Under 14 Race at the Central League Cyclo-Cross event in Milton Keynes at the weekend. These races are the next level up from Muddy Monsters so this is an excellent result for Thomas.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Muddy Monsters Race Dates

Hi Everyone

Just a quick not to say that the dates for 5 of this season's races have been set as follows:

• 19th November - Welwyn
• 26th November - Ashwell
• 14th January - Welwyn
• 28th January - Ashwell
• 11th February - Verulam (St Albans)

We thought it would be good for us to stage our own event at Priory Park and so have applied to the Council to use the park on December 3rd. All we need is some help from parents/family members etc. to set the course up, record finishing positions and register riders. Without help we can't hold the event so whilst our application is progressing it would be really helpful if you could let us know whether you are able to help. I appreciate that things may change between now and December but if you could give us a yes or no in the next few days we will at least know if we are likely to have enough volunteers.

In the meantime, we will be riding at the park again this Saturday - 9am to 10:30am as usual.

See you there

Peter and Brian

Priory this Sat, 17th Sept, plus an appeal...

Hi Everyone

It was good to see all of you who came along on Saturday after the summer break. We'll be meeting at Priory Park again this Saturday at 9am. This time we'll be in the main field rather than at the totem.

We're planning week to week at the moment whilst we wait to hear about this season's Muddy Monsters series. Once the dates are confirmed then we'll set up a timetable between now and Christmas.

In the meantime I have to tell you that after 12 years of being involved in coaching at Go-Ride I have decided that the time has come to do other things on a Saturday morning and so I will be "retiring" at the end of the year.

As you know, Peter's work commitments mean that he is not able to guarantee being available at 9am every Saturday and so if the club is to continue we will need to find another coach. I have spoken to the club and they are going to ask the members if anyone is interested in taking on the role.

At the same time, if any of you are interested then please let either Peter or me know. You will need to qualify as a British Cycling coach and this involves some online training as well as attending a couple of training sessions. Altogether the training period lasts for 16 weeks, including some home working, ending with a final assessment.

There is a course based at Bicester in November which finishes at the beginning of March. If anybody wishes to qualify then I will delay my ending date to provide support and assistance whilst they complete the course. There is a requirement to run 6 sessions during the training period and Peter and I can both help with this.

This has not been an easy decision to make and I hope that we can find a solution that enables the club to continue. For those of you who are considering getting involved then I can say that coaching is a rewarding experience and one I have thoroughly enjoyed for the last 12 years.

In the meantime, we look forward to seeing you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

10th September: Ride towards Sandy & back - 9am

Just a reminder that we are riding along the cycle route towards Sandy this Saturday.

We'll meet at the totem pole which is situated between the car park and the cafe at Priory Park at 9am.

See you there.

Peter and Brian

Welcome back to Go Ride!

Hi Everyone

Hope you all had a good summer and managed to spend time riding your bikes!

Can't quite believe that it's September already but that means that it's time for us to start Go Ride again. We're expecting to hear details of the Muddy Monsters schedule shortly so won't issue a full list of dates and venues until then but on Saturday 10th September we'll meet at Priory at 9am and take ourselves along the cycle route towards Sandy.

I'll send another reminder next week but in the meantime, look forward to seeing you all again in about 10 days.

Peter and Brian

Have a Good Summer!

Our final races of the series were held on Saturday 16th July, with Ethan just edging ahead of Peter, Ashton and Samuel to claim first place on the day.

The overall series positions were very tight with Ashton coming out on top just 2 points ahead of Peter and Ethan only 3 points further back. Thanks to everyone who took part over the last few months - in honour of Tom Pidcock's win on Alpe D'Huez earlier in the week we have an Ineos Grenadiers drink bottle for everyone who raced in any of the events which you can claim when we return after the summer break.

Full details of the races and positions are available [ here ].

Keep cycling over the summer and we can look forward to another season of Muddy Monsters races - in the meantime there are family rides from the clubhouse every Wednesday. Peter and I will try to join one of these at some point during the summer and will let you know so that those of you who want to come along can do so.

In the meantime thanks for all your support, have a good summer and we look forward to seeing you in early September - details of our start date will follow in due course.

Peter and Brian

At Priory Park for 16th July

Hi everyone

Sorry this is a bit late this week but just a reminder that Saturday is the final session before we break for the summer holidays and we will be staging the fourth and decisive races in our series.

We will be at Priory Park at 9am and the format of the races is the same as in previous weeks with a sprint and endurance race.

At the end of the events we will make presentations to the top three riders in the overall series as well as the winners of Saturday's races.

It's going to be warm and sunny so make sure you are prepared!

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

We're at Chicksands: 2 July 22

Hi everyone

We're back and at Chicksands this Saturday 2nd July, riders and parents, brothers, sisters etc. are welcome to come and join us.

Meet at the Rowney Warren car park at 9am - Sandy Lane, SG17 5QB - and we'll do our best to get back at 10:30am.

Just a reminder that we aren't riding the following Saturday (I'll be on my way to watch the Tour de France!) and our final session before we break for the summer will be at Priory on the 16th when we hold the fourth and final event of our race series.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Race results from 18 June 2022

Thanks to everyone who raced today - and special thanks to Neil and Keith for their help with timekeeping and scoring.

There were some very varied finishing positions today with Elise and Finlay winning the sprint and endurance races respectively but not quite making the overall podium. Our medallists were Ashton, Peter and Ethan so special congratulations to them.

I've attached the results below, which include the totals for the season as a whole. Don't forget that the best three races count so those of you who have ridden two races can still make some big gains whereas if you have already completed three then you will drop your lowest score. As it stands there are still 9 riders who can make the end of season podium places.

[Results]

Just a reminder that next week there is no session so we will ride after that at Chicksands on July 2nd. Parents etc. are welcome to come and join us on that ride.

July 9th is also a weekend without a session and so our last meeting before the summer break is on July 16th when we will stage the final races of the season.

I'll send an reminder nearer the time.

See you on the 2nd

Peter and Brian

Sat 18th June at Priory Park

A bit late with the email this week, sorry - this Saturday is the third in our four-event summer series of races.

Timing is the same as ever, meeting at Priory Park at 9am and races will start as soon as we have set up the course.

The usual format - a single lap "sprint" race followed by a longer event and everyone will race to their handicap times. If you haven't raced before in the series then we can set you a time so that you can compete. There is a prize for the overall winner so if the glory of beating your clubmates is not enough then this is an added incentive.

Your best three results from the series will count towards the final series positions.

Looks like we might just hang onto the warm, dry conditions so make sure you bring something to drink.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Sat 11th June at Priory Park

This is a quick note to remind you that we are at Priory Park on Saturday from 9am to 10:30am as usual.

See you then

Peter and Brian

Sat 4 June at Box End + Results

Hi Everyone

Congratulations to Ashton, Nacho and Peter who made the podium on Saturday in our second event of the series. Results for the races are attached and include the overall scores. Don't forget that the top 3 scores count for each rider so everybody is still in contention.

See full results at https://www.bedsroad.org/BRCC_Summer_Races_2022.xls

I have to confess to a bit of a diary error which means that we have to change one of the dates in July when we are racing. To avoid any (further) confusion, the remaining dates and venues for the next few weeks are as follows:

4/6 - Box End
11/6 - Priory
18/6 - Race at Priory
25/6 - No session
2/7 - Chicksands
9/7 - No session
16/7 - Final race at Priory and finish for the summer holidays

So, this weekend we are Box End for the last time until the autumn, usual timings apply (9 - 10:30) and we will meet at the right hand side of the car park as normal.

Enjoy the extended holiday and we'll see you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

28th May 2022 at Priory Park

Hi Everyone

It's round 2 of our Summer races this Saturday 28th May. As before we will be at Priory and there will be a "sprint" and "endurance" race with the combined scores for each determining the winner on the day. Scores from your best three of the four races in the series will then enable us to find the overall series winners. We will tweak the handicap times for those of you who rode in the first event - if you didn't compete last time don't worry, we can set a time for you before we race.

Don't forget - the handicap system means that everyone has an equal chance of winning

There will also be a "for fun only" race - we might surprise you with the format of that on the day!

9am start and finishing at 10:30am as ever.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

21st May 2022 at Rowney Warren woods, Chicksands

Hi Everyone

We're at Rowney Warren woods on Saturday 21st May and so parents etc. are welcome to bring their bikes and join us for a ride.

It looks like being warm so drinks are advisable, we will meet in the car park in Sandy Lane, SG17 5QB at 9am and aim to return by 10:30.

Don't forget that the following week is the second in our summer race series.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

14th May 2022 at Priory

Hi Everyone

It was good to see some competitive races last Saturday, well done to everyone who took part. Congratulations to Peter, Daniel and Finlay who made up the podium (in that order) and also to Ethan and Ashton who won the relay.

I've attached the results and you will see that there is an "Overall" tab as well as the results for Saturday's races. By way of explanation the rider finishing first each week receives 15 points, the second rider 14 and so on and these are added together to give the overall scores. Doing it in this way means that the winners receive the same number of points each week regardless of the number of riders competing so that nobody benefits or loses out if we have more or less riders on a given week. Hope that makes sense!

If you didn't race on Saturday don't forget that the best three races count towards the end of season results so there is still the opportunity to compete for the main prize.

We said that we would provide details of where we will be riding over the next couple of months - our plan as ever is to ride until the beginning of the school holidays when we take a break for a few weeks. The dates and venues are below. There are a couple of "tba's" on here - I am away for these dates and so the likelihood is that there will not be a session on these days but I will confirm this next week

14/5 - Priory
21/5 - Chicksands
28/5 - Race at Priory
4/6 - Box End
11/6 - Priory
18/6 - tba
25/6 - Race at Priory
2/7 - Chicksands
9/7 - tba
16/7 - Final race at Priory and finish for summer holidays

Hope that helps you all plan your weekends.

This Saturday, as you can see, we are at the Priory - 9am as ever.

Race 1:

	Sprint	Endurance	Overall	Position
Amelie	7	6	13	8
Ashton	5	9	14	9
Daniel	6	3	9	2
Elise	3	7	10	6
Ethan	8	2	10	5
Finlay	4	5	9	3
Nacho	9	4	13	7
Peter	2	1	3	1
Samuel	1	8	9	4

Overall:

	Race 1	Race 2	Race 3	Race 4	Total
Amelie	8				8
Ashton	7				7
Daniel	14				14
Elise	10				10
Ethan	11				11
Finlay	13				13
Nacho	9				9
Peter	15				15
Samuel	12				12

See you then.

Peter and Brian

7th May 2022 at Priory Park

Hi Everyone

Our summer series of races kicks off this Saturday at Priory Park. If you didn't race during the winter and spring then this is a chance to get your racing legs back and if you did then you can show your fellow riders just how much you've improved.

The format of the races is that we will have a short "sprint" race followed by a longer endurance one. The difference is that we will use a handicap system so that the slower riders star first and the faster ones later. If we get the handicap right then everyone will finish at the same time - I appreciate that this is unlikely but it should mean that everyone has a chance of winning.

Points are scored based on your position in each race - 1 for 1st, 2 for 2nd and so on. The totals for the two races are added together with the lowest aggregate score determining the winner. In the event of a tie positions in the endurance race will be used to select the overall winner.

Results from all the races will be used to determine the final season positions with your best three races counting.

We set the handicaps based on the time you record for a practice ride of the course - some of you did this a few weeks ago and if you didn't then you will have plenty of time on Saturday to set a time.

As ever we will start at 9am and aim to finish by 10:30 - if time permits then we will also hold a "for fun only" two rider relay using the times set in the sprint race to determine the pairings - again the aim is to make the race as close and competitive as we can. This won't count towards the final scores.

If you think this is complicated wait until you see the cornering section that Harry will design for us on the day!!

Weather looks set for some good races so we'll see you on Saturday.

Peter and Brian

P.S. Just trying to find some weeks when we can use Box End again - they are holding events now and we have to avoid these. As soon as this is done we'll issue a calendar to take us up to the summer holidays

30 April 2022 at Box End

Hi Everyone

I should start by thanking Keith for being our guide around Chicksands last Saturday, hope you all enjoyed the ride.

This weekend 30 April, we are at Box End - originally the intention was that we would start the summer race series here but to give more of you the opportunity to register a time we will put the first race back by a week and begin the series at Priory Park on May 7th. If you didn't get the chance to set a time then we will ensure you can do so as part of the warm up.

This Saturday we'll meet on the far right of the car park at Box End at 9am and return at 10:30am.

See you then

Peter and Brian

23 April 2022 at Rowney Warren, Chicksands

Hi Everyone

Hope you all had a good Easter break in the sunshine.

We're back this Saturday 23 April with a session at Chicksands, as ever we will meet in the car park at Rowney Warren - Sandy Lane, SG17 5QB - at 9am.

Parents etc. are welcome to join us on the ride, bring your bikes and we can all try to lose a bit of the chocolate we ate at the weekend!

Finish at 10:30, hopefully the warmer weather will have got rid of some of the mud from our previous visits.

See you there

Peter and Brian

2 April 2022

Hi Everyone

We'll be at Box End this Saturday 2nd April - 9am as usual. For anyone who hasn't been there before it's on Box End Road, MK43 8RQ, drive into the car park area and we will be on the far right hand side.

Because of holidays and Easter there won't be a session after this until April 23rd when we will be at Chicksands.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

26th March: Priory Park

Looks like being a good day to ride a bike so we'll see you at Priory Park at 9am on Saturday 26th March.

Amongst other things, we'll be setting the handicaps for our upcoming race series.

Could be warm(ish) so a good idea to bring a drink.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

19th March 2022

Hi Everyone

Don't forget that there is no session this weekend 19 March, we'll be back at Priory Park on the 26th March.

Not everyone has been able to race this year so over the next few months we are going to repeat the events we held in 2021. As before the races will be open to everyone and we will replicate the Muddy Monsters format so that each event will consist of two races - a shorter sprint and longer endurance race.

To ensure that everyone has an equal chance of winning, the races will be staged on a handicap basis - the slower riders will get a head start. We will assess everyone's handicap on the 26th March by staging some time trials in the session that day - if you can't make it don't worry, we'll ensure you all get assessed before the races start.

The first races will be held at Box End on April 30th and subsequent races will be on May 28th, June 25th and July 16th. In each event positions in the two races will be combined to find a winner - if points are level the best performance in the longer race will determine the overall positions. Scores from each event will then be added together to find a series winner - the best three results will be used.

British Cycling have just announced a series of closed road race for Junior riders being held throughout the UK called the Regional Youth Circuit Series. The nearest races to us are at Milton Keynes and Hemel Hempstead but there are 50 races planned altogether.

If you are interested in competing, details can be found at the following link (sorry it's so long but if you copy and paste it then it should take you directly to the page on the BC website!)

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/road/article/20220302

Finally the club is participating in a ride in support of the DEC Ukraine Appeal on Sunday. The event is a gentle 15 mile ride from St Neots and full details can be found at the following (much shorter) address:

https://www.bedsroad.org/ukraine.php

That's it for now, see you on the 26th.

Peter and Brian

12th March 2022

Hi Everyone

This Saturday 12th March is our first visit to Box End for a while so a chance to learn some slightly different skills on a more testing terrain than Priory Park.

Times are the same, we'll meet in the car park at 9am and return at 10:30am - when you arrive we will be in the far right area of the car park. Whilst you are waiting please only ride in the area that we are meeting in as there may be traffic elsewhere as other park users arrive.

For those of you riding at Box End for the first time, the address of the park is Box End Road, Box End, MK43 8RQ.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

5th March 2022

Hi Everyone

We will be back at the Priory this Saturday 5th March - 9am to 10:30am as usual.

We've also now agreed some dates to ride at Box End over the next few weeks. At the same time I have some holidays which mean we will not be able to hold a session on March 19th and at the moment we are unsure about April 9th.

To make it clear what we are doing over the next couple of months, these are the dates and venues:

March 5th - Priory Park
March 12th - Box End
March 19th - No session
March 26th - Priory Park
April 2nd - Box End
April 9th - tba
April 16th - Easter Weekend, no session
April 23rd - Chicksands
April 30th - Box End

We will still send reminders out before each session as usual to confirm the venue.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

26th February 2022

Hi Everyone

Trying to get ahead of the game this week so an earlier email than usual.

Firstly well done to all of our riders who competed in the Muddy Monsters series this year - the final event was held on Saturday 19th Feb. Samuel, Ethan, Finlay, Peter and Elise all raced at various times during the season and for some of them it was their first experience of racing. All of our riders finished in the top ten of their age group overall - no mean feat when you consider there were 150 competitors altogether this season.

Special congratulations go to Samuel who finished second overall but all of our riders recorded at least one top 5 finish at one of the events.

In recognition of their efforts, we thought we'd give them a weekend off this Saturday so will be riding at Chicksands.

For this of you who haven't done this before, we will be riding along the trails in Rowney Warren woods and the invitation to ride is open to parents, siblings etc. as well as our riders so bring your bikes along and join us. The trails are a great opportunity to practice some of the skills we have been learning but the emphasis is on fun. If you are a parent, brother, sister etc. then please wear a helmet and ensure your dusty old bike is in good working order!

It's likely to be muddy and we will probably split into two groups so that we can ensure that everyone is able to ride at a comfortable pace and that nobody will get left behind. Just to be clear - we are riding on the paths in the main part of the woods, not the mountain bike trails!

We'll meet at the Rowney Woods car park which is in Sandy Lane near Shefford, postcode is SG17 5QB, at 9am and aim to return at around 10:30. If you are unsure where this is or can't find it on Saturday then give me a call on 07840 713321.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Priory Park, 19th February

Hi Everyone

Congratulations to Ethan, Finley, Peter and Samuel who all raced - and all recorded top 5 finishes - in the penultimate event of this cyclo-cross Muddy Monsters season last Saturday.

With the final event taking place this weekend we have a few opportunities for riders to finish the season in style with an overall podium place - no pressure, but good luck to all of you!

Hopefully the storms will have passed through by Saturday morning so that those racing and the rest of us can ride upright!

We will be at Priory Park again this Saturday - 9am to 10:30am as always - once the Muddy Monsters races have finished we will look to ride at Chicksands and Box End again on some upcoming weekends. Watch this space for details.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Priory Park, 12th February & Muddy Monsters at St. Albans

Hi Everyone

A busy weekend with the penultimate event of the Muddy Monsters season taking place at St. Albans on Saturday, good luck to those of you who are racing.

For the rest of us, it's Priory Park on Saturday, 9am - 10:30am as usual.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Priory Park, 5th February

Hi Everyone

Some good racing on a new course layout but the same old strong winds at Ashwell last Saturday in the latest Muddy Monsters race.

Samuel, Ethan and Finlay all rode well and are all now placed in the top 5 overall for their age groups with just 2 races to go.

We're all at the Priory again this Saturday at 9am as usual.

Some of you have asked me for a reminder of the details for paying online - the details are as follows:

Sort Code: 40 47 73
Acc No.: 92451409

The account is in the name of Brian Hill and if you can add your rider's name in the reference that would be great.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

29th Jan 2022

Hi Everyone

We're back to normal this weekend with a session at Priory Park on Saturday 29th January from 9am.

Good luck to those of you riding in the Muddy Monsters event at Ashwell - don't forget the later start, racing starts at 1:30pm.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

No session for 22nd Jan

Hi Everyone

We should start by saying congratulations to Samuel, Ethan, Finley and Peter who braved the mud and cold at Welwyn in the Muddy Monsters races on Saturday. All four riders recorded top ten finishes and special mention should go to Peter who was riding in his first event.

As the title of this email suggests, we are not able to hold a session this coming Saturday - apologies for this, I am on holiday and Peter is working.

We will be back on the 29th - this is also the date of the next Muddy Monsters event which is at Ashwell. Entries for this are now open on the British Cycling website:

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/252990/Muddy-Monsters-Herts-and-Beds-at-Ashwell

Don't forget that the event takes place in the afternoon.

See you soon

Peter and Brian

Muddy Monsters at Priory Park - 15th Jan 2022

Sorry this is a bit late this week but we will be meeting at Priory Park again on Saturday - 9am start as usual.

Good luck to those of you who are racing at Welwyn - details of the event are on the British Cycling website if you are going along for the races.

Please see https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/252989/Muddy-Monsters-Herts-and-Beds-at-Welwyn-Wheelers-2

Club membership renewals are now due for 2022, details can be found at https://www.bedsroad.org/join.php. Membership for Go-Ride costs just £10 a year and there are various benefits associated with being a member of the club.

One of them is that as a club member you can also receive discounts off British Cycling membership if you are joining for the first time - discount code NEWCMRD will give you 50% off Ride membership and NEWCMRA will save £27 on Race Silver or Gold membership.

I think that's enough website links for one day, see you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Happy New Year 2022!

Hope everyone had a good Xmas - Happy New Year to all of you.

We're finalising details around the availability of Box End (and whether the French will lift travel restrictions so that I can go skiing later this month!) but in the meantime we're riding at Priory Park this Saturday 8th January, so looking forward to seeing you there.

As ever, meet at 9am in the main field (I'll be hanging around the car park near the totem from 8:50 for those of you who haven't ridden at the Priory before) and finish at 10:30am.

Don't forget that the Muddy Monsters series resumes the following week with races in the mud at Welwyn so take the opportunity for a last coaching session before then.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Happy Christmas

Including coaches, parents, grandparents, sisters and uncles there were 26 of us riding this morning - thanks to all of you for taking part and to those of you who decorated bikes and/or yourselves, we hope you all enjoyed the ride.

The entire peloton is pictured in the photo.



We will be back early in the New Year but in the meantime we hope all of you have a Happy and Healthy Christmas and we'll see you in 2022.

Peter and Brian

18th December- Route 51

Don't forget that joining our annual family ride this weekend is your best chance to avoid the shopping chaos of the last Saturday before Christmas.

We are meeting in the car park next to Danish Camp - Chapel Lane, Willington, MK44 3QG - and heading off somewhere along the Route 51 cycleway before returning to Danish Camp where there will be cookies and drinks for all of our riders.

It would be great to see as many parents, siblings, grandparents as possible joining us. Everyone will be able to find riders who want to go at their own pace and we'll ensure that nobody gets left behind.

Feel free to take as many decorations off the walls and/or tree at home that you need to decorate your bike (safely - make sure you don't run the risk of getting tinsel in your drivetrain) and there will be prizes for the most festive bike and/or rider.

We start from the car park at 9am and the plan is to be back in the cafe by 10:15 to 10:30.

Obviously things have changed a little in the last few days so please come prepared to wear masks in the cafe.

Look forward to seeing you all on Saturday

Peter and Brian

4th December: What's on & Results ...

Hi Everyone

It was good to see so many of you riding and racing this weekend despite the weather conditions.

Somehow we managed to avoid the rain/sleet/snow on Saturday morning as we rode around Chicksands - thanks to Duncan for helping to keep everyone on course and together.

Ethan, Samuel and Finlay all rode in the Muddy Monsters event at Ashwell on Saturday afternoon in the freezing cold and strong winds. Samuel finished second in both of his races and Finlay was 4th in his. I have attached the series results so far below - Samuel and Ethan top the rankings after two events and Finlay is 4th, a great start to his first season of racing. We should probably congratulate the parents (and Elise) who survived their stint at being spectators!

MuddyMonstersTables30_11_21.xls

On Sunday, Thomas rode in the Central CX league event and after five races he is top of the overall standings.

This Saturday 4th December...
This Saturday we will be at Priory Park for the last time this year. Start time is 9am and we'll meet in the main field as usual. I'll be in the car park by 8:50am.

The following weekend we ride at Box End and then on the 18th December we will be holding our traditional Xmas ride. As in previous years we will meet at Danish Camp and ride around parts of the Route 51 cycleway. This is an opportunity for parents, grandparents, siblings etc. to ride with us, everyone can ride at their own pace so please come along and join us. As it's just a week until Christmas there will be prizes for the best decorated bikes and/or riders.

Our aim is to get back to Danish Camp at around 10:15 and we have booked part of the restaurant where there is a drink and cookie on us for all of our riders.

In the meantime, see you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

27th November: What's on ...

Hi Everyone

I'm still waiting for results from the Muddy Monsters races to be published, so apologies for not having much information at the moment but I know that Samuel, Ethan, Elise and Finley all raced - hopefully you all enjoyed the events. Sorry if I missed anyone.

This week the races are at Ashwell and start at 1:30pm. Entry is either via the British Cycling website or on the day, details are at

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/?series_id=743

If you are not racing then this weekend we will be at Rowney Warren to ride in the woods near Chicksands. Parents and other family members are welcome to come along and join us. We'll meet in the car park at 9am and return at around 10:30. Postcode for the car park is SG17 5QB, it's in Sandy Lane.

The weather forecast is for it to be cold on Saturday, so make sure you are dressed accordingly - gloves are especially useful. For those of you racing, Ashwell can be a bit exposed to the elements so please bear this in mind as you will be waiting between races.

Good luck to everyone who is competing and we look forward to seeing all our other riders at Chicksands.

Peter and Brian

Sat 20th Nov. at two venues ...

Hi Everyone

We'll be riding at two venues this Saturday.

For those of you competing in the Muddy Monsters event, racing is at Hitchin.

Sign on opens at 9:15am. You can warm up on the course from 9:30am. First race is the Under 8s at 10:00am.

Parking is not great, you can use the swimming pool car park next to the site of the races but that fills up quite quickly, there is another car park listed in the information on the British Cycling website. The organisers have asked that anyone attending has taken a lateral flow or PCR test in the preceding 2 days.

Details can be found [ here ]

Good luck to everyone competing, above all the races are great fun so make sure you enjoy them.

If you are not racing then we will be holding our usual session at Priory Park, starting at 9:00am - I'll be in the car park from 8:50am if you are not sure where we ride. Otherwise meet in the field as usual.

The weather is getting colder and wetter now so if you are in need of new cyclo-cross tyres then Paulo has some, sized 27 x 33 that he is looking to give away. Let me know or speak to Paulo if you are interested.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Sat 13th Nov. at Box End

Just a short reminder that we are at Box End on Saturday from 9am.

As usual we will be meeting on the right hand side of the car park and will be riding over a fairly wide area of the park, returning at about 10:30.

Don't forget that the Muddy Monsters races start on the 20th November - more race information is now available on the British Cycling website - go to the events section, select Cyclo Cross and and type Muddy Monsters into the keyword search fields.

Hitchin are taking entries on the day only but the Ashwell and Welwyn races can be entered in advance, details are included on the relevant event page.

We have a couple of small club cycling jerseys available for sale if you want to race in our club colours - I'll bring them with me on Saturday. Cost is £35.

Whilst I am in sales mode Duncan is selling a cyclo-cross bike

Trek KRX road/cross bike.
A great little kids cyclocross/road/gravel bike.
Suitable for long road or gravel rides as well as junior road or cyclocross racing.
Well maintained.
Compact frame and 26" wheels - would suit 9-12 year old (ish) depending on size.
2015 spec as [here..]
RRP was £600 when new although discounted by British Cycling scheme. Duncan is asking £200 for sale to our riders.
2 x 9 Sora gearing 12-27 cassette and 34/48 chainset.
Comes with two sets of tyres:- Kenda Kontender 26 x 1.0 road tyres.
Schwalbe CX Pro 26 x 1.35 cyclocross tyres Flat pedals included.

Collection from Hitchin.

If you are interested let me know and I will put you in touch with Duncan.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Sat 6th Nov. Priory Park

Hi Everyone

First of all thanks to Elise, Ethan and Keith for guiding us round Chicksands again last Saturday and somehow ensuring that we avoided the rain!

We are back at Priory this weekend - we'll meet in the field as usual, I'll be in the main car park from 8:50 if you are not sure where we are riding.

Times and venues for the Muddy monsters races have now been confirmed are contained in the poster, below. Details and entry forms can be found if you go to the British Cycling Events page, select the cyclo-cross option and then type Muddy Monsters into the keyword search. The first two races are on there at the moment and others will follow.



Please take note of the different start times and means of entry. Ashwell are taking entries in advance or on the day whereas Hitchin are only accepting entries on the day of the event.

We will run sessions as normal on the days of the races for those of you who are too old or don't want to race.

If you have any questions about the events then ask Peter or me and we should be able to help.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Sat 30th Oct: At Chicksands

Hi Everyone

Chicksands on Saturday so we are probably going to get muddy!

As ever parents etc. are welcome to ride with us. Dependent on numbers we will probably split into a couple of groups and may use the ups and downs of the trails to do some specific ascending and descending activities for the younger riders.

We'll meet at the Rowney Woods car park for a 9am start and aim to get back at 10:30ish. The car park is in Sandy Lane, SG17 5QB.

You'll need a mountain or cyclo-cross bike - something with chunky tyres - as it's likely to be wet and slippery in places.

I'm waiting for confirmation of addresses and times for the Muddy Monsters races and will forward these as soon as I get them.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Sat 23rd Oct + news of Muddy Monsters

Hi Everyone

It's back to Priory Park this Saturday, we'll be in the field as usual from 9am. It's going to be cooler than we have been used to so gloves and warmer clothing might be a good idea!

For our younger riders we have good news about the opportunities for you to start racing again - Muddy Monsters is returning and there are currently 7 races confirmed between now and the middle of February.

For those of you who don't know, Muddy Monsters is a series of cyclo-cross races which is intended to introduce riders to racing. There are age group races for Under 8/10/12/14 and the events are similar to those we organised ourselves last year in that there is a short "sprint" event followed by a longer race. A third race is also held but the format of this varies and it is for fun rather than being competitive.

Points are awarded based on the rider's position in each race (1 for 1st, 2 for 2nd etc.) and the combined total from the two races is added together to determine the overall winner. As with all races of this type once the winner crosses the finish line everyone else completes the lap they are on so that slower riders don't have to ride laps on their own.

In the past we have taken a number of riders to these events and have had plenty of success. It's a great way of starting to race and the standard is much lower than the Central League races so everyone will be competitive. We would recommend that everyone tries at least one of the races to see if they enjoy it.

We are looking at whether we can stage our own event but our contact at Beds Council is on maternity leave which is delaying things and the calendar has filled very quickly. Our older riders will not be eligible to ride and with a race approximately every two to three weeks we are going to struggle to hold sessions and support riders at the races. Adding another one to the calendar may prove to be too difficult.

We will continue to run sessions on race days as usual as not everyone can or will want to race.

The events and organising clubs are as follows:

20/11 - Hitchin
27/11 - Ashwell
11/12 - Welwyn
15/1 - Welwyn
29/1 - Ashwell
12/2 - Verulam (St Albans)
19/2 - Icknield

Some events may be held in the afternoon, once everything is confirmed we will let you know. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Saturday 16th Oct. 2021

Hi everyone

Don't forget that we will be riding at Box End this Saturday.

If you're not sure where it is or haven't ridden with us there before, Box End is on Box End Road, MK43 8RQ. It's clearly signposted and on entry you follow the road round to the car park. We will meet on the far right hand side.

Whilst we are waiting for everyone to arrive, please do not ride around the car park, it can be busy and drivers are not expecting to see cyclists.

The park offers us different terrain than Priory, there are some trails and an area where we can work on ascending and descending skills. If you want to stay and watch you are welcome to of course, although we will cover a bigger area than at Priory and will disappear from sight for periods. Unfortunately, it is not practical to ride with us and we have to get permission from the park owner (and pay) to use the facility so parents can't bring a bike and use the park on their own. The area where we ride is around a 5 minute walk from the car park so you can ride to and from there.

Timings are the same as usual, we'll meet at 9am and aim to finish at 10:30am - we will ride back to the car park so the pick up point is in the same place as the meeting area.

If you can't find us on Saturday or have any questions, email or give me a call/text on 07840 713321.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

News: Monday 11 October

Hi Everyone

I've received an email from Derby velodrome to say that they are now able to offer training sessions again and are therefore running track sessions for riders aged 9 and above.

Some of you will have ridden at the velodrome before and can vouch for it being great fun. The sessions are being held during half term, I have attached details.

This is the first time they have been able to organise anything since the start of the pandemic so the sessions are likely to book out very quickly.

You have to contact the velodrome on the email or phone number in [these details] to book.

Brian

Saturday 9th Oct. 2021

Hi Everyone

Don't forget we're riding at Priory Park on Saturday.

Meet in the field at 9am as usual, I'll be in the car park from 8:50 if you aren't sure where to go.

We finish at 10:30.

See you Saturday
Peter and Brian

Saturday 2nd Oct. 2021

Hi Everyone

Don't forget that we will be riding at Rowney Warren near Chicksands this Saturday. We will meet in the car park which is in Sandy Lane, SG17 5QB at 9am and return at 10:30.

As ever with this ride, parents etc. are welcome to come along and join us - all you need is a mountain/CX/gravel bike and a helmet and to be prepared to help us find our way back to the car park if Peter or I lose track of where we are!

We've now sorted the venues for the rest of the year and, whilst we'll still remind you each week, we thought we'd share the dates and places with you.

Oct 2nd - Chicksands
Oct 9th - Priory
Oct 16th - Box End
Oct 23rd - Priory
Oct 30th - Chicksands
Nov 6th - Priory
Nov 13th - Box End
Nov 20th - Priory
Nov 27th - Chicksands
Dec 4th - Priory
Dec 11th - Box End
Dec 18th - Priory


See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Saturday 25th Sept. 2021

Hi Everyone

Another thanks to start with - this time to Duncan for helping us to keep all our riders within view on the cycle route last Saturday!

This weekend we should have the park to ourselves again so will be meeting at the Priory as usual. We'll see you in the normal field at 9am, I'll be in the car park from 8:50am if anyone is unsure where to go.

Finish back in the car park by 10:30.

A special mention to Thomas who rode in the under 16's event at the latest Central League CX race in Milton Keynes

By way of prior notice, we are planning another ride at Chicksands on Saturday October 2nd, parents etc. welcome to come along again. Details to follow next week.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Saturday 18th Sept. 2021

Thanks to Katya's Dad for letting me know that there is apparently some sort of Tough Mudder event taking place at the park tomorrow (and no thanks to Beds Council for not telling us).

We'll still meet at the Priory but will gather in the car park for the hotel which is on the right hand side just after you enter the park and before the overheight barrier. I will be there from 8:45, the area immediately to the right is usually quiet at that time of the morning.

The plan will be to ride along Route 51 towards Danish Camp, a good chance to do some group riding.

If you were planning on staying to watch the session then bring your bike and you can ride with us (but in your own group!).

If you can't find us tomorrow or are unsure where we are going to be then give me a call tonight or tomorrow on 07840 713321 9am start, finish at 10:30.

We've confirmed dates for holding sessions at Box End, we'll remind you nearer the time but just so that you can put them in your diaries now, they are:

October 16th
November 13th
December 11th

We will fit in some Chicksands visits as well, we'll let you know when we are planning to go there.

To date there is a limited number of Central League races scheduled and all but one are on Sundays so don't affect our sessions directly. The next Saturday races are being held at Campbell Park in Milton Keynes on September 25th.

If enough riders want to race at Campbell Park we can ensure that one of us is there to help with registration etc., let us know.

Brian

Saturday 4th September: Chicksands

Hi Everyone

Just a reminder that we will be riding at Chicksands this Saturday.

Format is pretty much the same as before, meet at 9am at Rowney Warren car park in Sandy Lane, SG17 5QB and we'll return there by 10:30am.

It's cyclo-cross or mountain bikes and parents, brothers, sisters etc. are welcome to join us.

The following week will be the start of our usual sessions, details to follow in the next few days or so.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

News: 21 Aug 2021

Hi Everyone

It was good to see so many of you last weekend at Chicksands and hopefully our new riders enjoyed themselves. Thanks to Keith for leading the younger group and to all the other parents (and Samuel's brother!) who rode with us.

We are going to have a repeat performance on Saturday September 4th as a warm up for the start of sessions which will begin on September 11th. The arrangements will be the same as last weekend, meet at the car park at Rowney Warren at 9am, returning at 10:30am. Parents are welcome again.

From September 11th we will use a combination of Priory Marina, Box End and Chicksands for our sessions. We are arranging details with Box End as we can't use the park if they are running an event so once we have those dates confirmed we will let you know the plan up until the end of the year.

At the moment there is no information regarding any Muddy Monsters cyclo-cross races but as soon as we hear then we will let you know.

The Central Cyclo-cross league is starting again however and they have announced dates and venues for the first races. Details are on the British Cycling website - https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/?series_id=678. There are races for Under 8's up to Under 16's. The full calendar is still being finalised but the first events are on Sundays. Entry is via the link above.

If there are local Central League races taking place on a Saturday and enough riders are entering we may decide to postpone our session and instead meet for the races. We'll always try to ensure that we cater for as many of you as possible so will try and gauge the numbers who are going to enter the races. These may be the only opportunities some of you have to race this season so we would encourage you to take part, the more of you who enter, the more enjoyable you will find them as you are able to compete against your own club members.

The first race is being held at the Silverstone race track on the 4x4 off-road circuit. This is part of a series of events which are taking place as part of a British Cycling organised "Cycle Silverstone" day on Sunday September 5th. There are opportunities to ride the circuit itself as part of a 10k, 20k, or 50k ride (car traffic free obviously!). There is also a festival village and various events taking place during the day.

You need to register for the rides and there are a range of costs - the event email address is below.

In addition British Cycling are staging some Go-Ride coaching session and races on the Stowe circuit which is a smaller track in the middle of the main circuit. The plan is to have riders and coaches from other clubs there and we have been asked to let our regional BC Coaching Officer know in advance of the numbers of riders attending.

The Go-Ride sessions were only approved last week so details are still being finalised but it starts at 10am and there is no charge for taking part. If you want to participate in these sessions then let me know and I will pass the details onto British Cycling.

If you want more information about the whole Silverstone event then that is available at https://www.silverstone.co.uk/events/cycle-silverstone. There are no details of the Go-Ride events on this website but if you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to get the information from BC.

A lot of information here so if you have any questions please just drop us an email reply to this address.

We'll send a reminder about Chicksands and details of the other sessions in the next week or so.

Peter and Brian

14th August ride at Rowney Woods, Chicksands

Hi Everyone

As per our previous email, we are going to meet up for a ride on Saturday 14th August.

The plan is to meet at the car park at Rowney Woods near Chicksands so that we can do some off-road riding along the paths there. We'll meet at 9:00am and return to the car park at around 10:30am.

For those of you who haven't ridden at Chicksands with us before, the car park is on Sandy Lane, SG17 5QB. The woods on the opposite side of the road have paths for cyclists to use, you'll need a mountain or cyclo-cross bike.

Because this is more of a social ride then parents etc. are welcome to bring their bikes along and join us. We'll ride as a group and nobody will get left behind, it's been a long time since we rode here but hopefully we can remember where the various climbs and descents are!!

As most of you know, I travel from Northampton and Peter works until the early hours of Saturday morning so we'd appreciate it if you can let us know if you are going to be joining us and prevent us from travelling all that way to ride around on our own!!

See you on the 14th!

Peter and Brian

Delphi's coast-to-coast 150 mile ride!

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all keeping well and getting out on your bikes.

The Olympics are underway of course and there has been some exciting racing, especially on the BMX track this morning - it's great to see British cyclists leading the way again - 2 gold and a silver medal so far and still the track cycling to come.

One of our riders who is going to be spending a lot of time on a bike is Delphi who is taking on the challenge to cycle 150 miles coast to coast, up hill and down dale from Seascale to Whitby over the next three days to raise money in aid of World Bicycle Relief UK. As well as wishing her good luck, if you can spare some pennies to help her smash her target, here is the link

https://gofund.me/8c7edc8d

We're looking at getting together for a ride on August 14th, details next week.

In the meantime, have a good weekend and good luck to Delphi!

Peter and Brian

No Session on Sat. 17th July

Hi Everyone

We're sorry but we are not going to be able to hold a session this weekend 17th July.

I am on holiday for a week from tomorrow and, as you may know, Peter works until the early hours of Saturday morning and joins us straight from work. This has proved to be difficult over the last few weeks and so we have decided that rather than risk us having riders and no coaches this weekend we will have to cancel the session.

We will organise some dates to ride during the school holidays and will be in touch next week with details.

In the meantime we'd like to thank you all for your continued support over the last few months. If you are able to get away then have a good holiday and we'll see you all again in a few weeks.

Peter and Brian

Race results and Saturday 10th July

Hi Everyone

Hope you all enjoyed the finale to our longest ever series of races on Saturday 3rd July. We began in October last year and almost 9 months later we ended with Delphi as our overall winner followed by Elise and Thomas on the podium.

The next four riders were separated by just one point and seven of you took part in every race - thanks to everyone for competing. Thanks also to Harry for his fiendish slalom sections and help with the timings.

The full results for the series are:-

Rider	Sprint	Endurance	Position
Alex
Amelie	6	10	8
Delphi	10	8	10
Elise	1	2	2
Ethan	12	14	14
George	3	6	4
Harry	14	12	12
Harvey
Jack	11	7	9
James	5	3	3
Katya	8	11	11
Logan	2	1	1
Rebel	8	4	5
Samuel	4	9	7
Sean	13	13	13
Thomas	7	5	6
Fastest Rider	Rebel
Sprint prize	Elise

If you didn't race on Saturday we still have a Tour de France commemorative prize for you which you can collect this weekend. For those of you who questioned the AG2R and Trek Segafredo versions I would just point out that one of the Trek riders won the first mountain top finish and AG2R have just come 2nd and 3rd on the Ventoux stage!! It's too late to swap now :)

We're at the Priory again this weekend 10th July - there are just two sessions before the summer break but with the ending of most Covid restrictions we may be able to organise some group rides during the holiday - as soon as we hear from British Cycling we will let you know.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Final Race at Priory this Saturday, 3rd July...

Hi Everyone

It's the final race event of the series on Saturday and we are going to have a slight change to the format.

As before there will be a one lap and three lap race but the first one will be an individual time trial against the clock. We will compare the time taken by each rider against the lap time that they set earlier this year when we restarted the series. The places will be decided by calculating the percentage difference with the most improved rider winning the race. If you entered the series later then we will use the time that you set when you joined, if you haven't raced before then we will set a time for you.

The longer race will be the normal handicap but we are going to take everyone's time from the second lap of the most recent race to determine the start times. Again, if you missed that race or haven't raced before, don't worry - we have calculated times for those who have ridden previously and will use the one lap race time to set a handicap for anyone riding for the first time.

Because this is the final round there will be prizes for the race winners and also series medals for the podium finishers in the overall standings. There is still a number of riders in contention to place in the top three overall so plenty to race for.

Everyone who has entered a race since the series began in October will receive a memento branded with one of the teams currently taking part in the Tour de France (don't miss today's stage - highlights on ITV4 at 7pm, never mind the football!)

Races take place at the Priory as usual, meet at 9am. Peter, Harry and I will have some arithmetic to do after the final race to determine the final places so we may finish a little after 10:30.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

We're at Box End this Saturday, 26th June...

Hi Everyone

Don't forget that we are riding at Box End on Saturday, usual 9am start. As before we will be at the far right of the car park.

We are also going to make a small change to our plans for the next few weeks in that we will be holding the last of the race events on July 3rd rather than July 10th. We will still be riding at the Priory on both days but a personal commitment means that we have to bring the race forward by one week.

We'll remind everyone again next week.

In the meantime, see you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Race Results as at 14 June and the remainder of summer

Hi Everyone

I'll start with a confession - as you will see from the attached results Ethan came third overall (tied on points with Katya) on Saturday. Apologies to Ethan, we will present your third place medal next Saturday.

This made no difference to the relay as the pairings were based on your fastest lap times and not positions.

Rider	Sprint	Endurance	Position
Alex
Amelie	6	10	8
Delphi	10	8	10
Elise	1	2	2
Ethan	12	14	14
George	3	6	4
Harry	14	12	12
Harvey
Jack	11	7	9
James	5	3	3
Katya	8	11	11
Logan	2	1	1
Rebel	8	4	5
Samuel	4	9	7
Sean	13	13	13
Thomas	7	5	6
Fastest Rider	Rebel
Sprint prize	Elise

There is one race to go and as the best four count towards the overall finishing positions I have attached the latest standings. Elise, Delphi and Thomas are vying for first place but the next rider is just 6 points behind Thomas and they are one of four riders separated by 1 point so all of them have a chance to get onto the final podium.

There are now just 5 Saturdays left before the start of the school summer holidays, so just a reminder that we will be riding as follows:

• June 19th - Priory
• June 26th - Box End
• July 3rd - Priory
• July 10th - Priory, Final Races
• July 17th - Priory

Because we have missed so many weeks over the last 15 months or so we will look to arrange a couple of rides in August. So that we can ensure as many people as possible are able to attend it would be helpful if you could let us know if and when you are going to be away over the summer. Either reply to this email or let us know at one of the following sessions.

In the meantime, we'll meet on the field as usual at 9am on Saturday.

See you there

Peter and Brian

Saturday 12th June

Hi Everyone

Saturday is the fifth of our six races, still plenty of chances to make a bid for overall glory as well as competing for the prizes on offer this weekend.

Format is the same as before, one short single lap race followed by a longer three lap version. We will tweak the handicaps from last time to reflect any changes in performance.

If you haven't entered any of the races before don't be put off - we can set a handicap for you so that you start on an equal footing with everyone else. The idea is that all the riders start at different times based on their speed so everyone has an equal opportunity to win.

We may add in some skills tests on the course to make it more interesting, no clues at this stage!

As ever we meet at 9am in the field where we will be racing. Don't forget to bring drinks.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Saturday 5th June

Hi Everyone

Don't forget that we are riding at Box End this Saturday. Times are the same, we'll meet at 9am and finish at 10:30am.

For those of you who have not ridden there with us before, the park's address is Box End Road, Bedford, MK43 8RQ. The entrance is easy to spot, follow the road through to the car park and we will meet in the far right hand corner.

Please don't ride around the car park whilst we are waiting for everyone to arrive as there may be other cars and users of the park there. There is plenty of space for us to meet and still keep socially distant from each other before we ride across to the area we will be using.

For those parents/guardians who want to stay and watch, you are welcome as always but please be aware that the area is well spread out and there will be times when we will be out of sight. Unfortunately you cannot bring your own bikes and follow us as we only have an agreement for our members (along with Peter and me) to ride.

At the end of the session we will return to the car park.

It's likely to be warm so make sure you bring something to drink.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Saturday 22nd May

It's Round 4 of our race series on Saturday 22nd May and there are yet more prizes on offer!!

Format is as before, 2 races to count towards the end of season totals plus a relay "for fun only". Expect some tests of your bike handling skills this time.

Medals for the podium positions plus prizes for the overall winner and carefully selected best/fastest performers of the day.

The series positions are very tight at the moment, the four highest scorers are separated by just 4 points and with only half the races completed there are still plenty of opportunities for anyone to win the series, regardless of their current position.

We meet at 9am in the field as usual, there will be time to try the course and if anyone hasn't raced yet and wants to set a handicap time there will be the opportunity to do that.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Saturday 15th May

Hi

Hope those of you who rode with us last Saturday have dried out!

I may have said to some of you on Saturday that this weekend is the next of our races, it isn't of course. The next one is on the 22nd May, sorry for any confusion.

So this weekend, 15th May, will be a normal coaching session at the Priory, see you in the main field there at 9am.

Peter and Brian

Saturday 8th May

Hi Everyone

Hope you enjoyed the racing last weekend, special congratulations to Delphi and Elise who were our race winners and to Jack for recording the fastest time. There were some close finishes all through the field so hopefully we got the handicaps reasonably close - we will refine them again to reflect the times from these races.

All the results are attached along with the overall positions. Don't forget that your best 4 finishes count so there are still plenty of opportunities to improve your placing.

This weekend 8th May we're back to a conventional coaching session so we'll meet in the field at Priory Park at 9am as usual.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Rider	Sprint	Endurance	Position
Alex
Amelie	6	10	8
Delphi	10	8	10
Elise	1	2	2
Ethan	12	14	14
George	3	6	4
Harry	14	12	12
Harvey
Jack	11	7	9
James	5	3	3
Katya	8	11	11
Logan	2	1	1
Rebel	8	4	5
Samuel	4	9	7
Sean	13	13	13
Thomas	7	5	6

Fastest Rider: Rebel
Sprint prize Elise M

Saturday 1st May

Round three of our races this Saturday, if you weren't at the session last week and didn't get a handicap time, don't worry we can set a lap up for you so that you can still compete.

There will be two races - a one lap sprint and a longer race. Riders will set off at one minute intervals and the first one to finish wins!

We may include some special tests of your skills on the course, there may be spot prizes - the uncertainty just adds to the excitement!

Medals for the podium riders and prizes for the winners.

As a recap, I've attached the results from the first two events - your best four results will count for the end of season positions.

As ever, start at 9am - meeting in the main field at Prior Park. We'll finish at 10:30 once the prize giving is done.

See you on Saturday

Peter and Brian

Rider	Sprint	Endurance	Position
Alex
Amelie	6	10	8
Delphi	10	8	10
Elise	1	2	2
Ethan	12	14	14
George	3	6	4
Harry	14	12	12
Harvey
Jack	11	7	9
James	5	3	3
Katya	8	11	11
Logan	2	1	1
Rebel	8	4	5
Samuel	4	9	7
Sean	13	13	13
Thomas	7	5	6

Fastest Rider: Rebel
Sprint prize: Elise

Saturday 24th April and handicapping

Hi Everyone

We mentioned previously that we are going to recommence our own races now that we are able to ride again. The original plan was to hold six events with each rider counting their top 4 to the overall season end result (don't worry, we still have the results from last year).

To date we have held 2 so we will stage 4 more between now and the end of the school term at which point we will all go on our staycation/holiday in the garden etc.

Because it has been so long since we started the events, we will reset everyone's handicap and will do this at the session this Saturday. Don't worry if you are not able to attend, we can arrange for you to be reset as a one-off if we need to.

The events will consist of a short sprint type race and a longer endurance race and we will change the format each time to include some of the skills that we learn.

Results from both races will determine your overall position each week and we will add them together to find the overall winner. Each event will include prizes for the winners of each race and the overall and in the interests of ensuring nobody cleans up the prizes we reserve the right to issue spot prizes which we will change depending on how successful the previous criteria proved to be!

After the final event we will announce the season winners of the sprint, endurance and combined series.

The first race will be held on May 1st, followed by May 22nd, June 12th and July 10th.

In the meantime we are still trying to reach agreement with Box End to use their facilities from time to time, we're waiting for them to reply to our request.

It looks as though Saturday will be warm so make sure you bring drinks with you.

As has now become the norm, we'll meet on the field at 9am and finish at 10:30am.

See you then

Peter and Brian

17th April 2021 at Priory

Hi Everyone

It was great to see some familiar faces last weekend, judging by the way you were riding in the relays it's clear that you have used the last few weeks to good effect!

Before the winter lockdown you may remember that we started to hold what was supposed to be a series of cyclo-cross races using our homemade handicap system. We bought all the prizes in advance so we figured that we should use them and so we're going to restart them as a Spring and Summer series. We'll reset the handicaps and hold a session to do this on April 24th, more details next week so this is just advanced notice.

We're also discussing going back to Box End to hold occasional sessions there. We've been in touch with the owners and have asked if we can go and risk assess the area. Last time we were there it had become overgrown in places but if it is back to its previous condition then we hope to be able to agree some dates with the owners.

In the meantime we will be at the Priory on Saturday, meeting on the field (not the car park) at 9am. Just a reminder that if at all possible we'd like you to pay for the sessions online so that we don't have to handle cash - it's safer for all of us in the present climate.

Some of you asked for the details of the account to pay into - its a First Direct account set up in the name of Brian Hill, the sort code is 40-47-73 and the account number is 92451409. If you could use your rider's name as a reference it will make life easier for us.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Go-Ride Update: 30 March 2021

Hi All

Just a quick note to confirm that we are going to be restarting our coaching sessions on Saturday April 10th.

We are able to accommodate 20 riders in each session so there is no need for us to allocate riders to given dates, everyone can join us for every session.

We are brushing up our Covid regulations and so will issue more details after the Easter break but we will be riding at the Priory from 9am to 10:30am just like in the good old days.

In the meantime, take advantage of the Spring weather (for the next day or so), have a good Easter and we'll see you all soon.

Peter and Brian

News Flash - 17 March 2021

Hi

Hope you are all well?

With the all important date of March 29th getting closer we wanted to update you on our plans for what we hope is going to be the return of Go-Ride.

In advance of the possible lifting of some restrictions which is due to be announced at the end of March, British Cycling has published revised guidelines about the staging of organised group cycling.

These guidelines allow the resumption of activities such as our sessions subject to a maximum number of 15 participants.

More details are due to be announced and it may mean that we have to restrict numbers or run two entirely separate sessions in different areas of the park. We will see what the final guidelines say but as always, our first priority is the safety of all of our riders so we will ensure that, with your help, we comply with any restrictions that are in place.

In any event we first have to get permission from Bedford Council to use the park and they have told us that they will not be in a position to confirm this before the 29th March.

Given that Easter falls over the weekend of the 3rd/4th April, the likelihood is that we will be holding our first session on Saturday April 10th.

This is not guaranteed at this stage but we wanted to give you as much of an update as we can, we will be in contact again during the week of the 29th March when, we hope, restrictions will have been lifted and we have received permission from the Council.

Hope to see you all soon.

Peter and Brian

Session on Saturday 12th September 2020

Just a reminder that we will be holding our first session of the autumn on Saturday. We're meeting in the overspill car park at Priory Park at 9:00am, returning there by 10:30am.

We are still following social distancing guidelines, although we are not restricted on the number of riders we can accommodate. If parents want to stay and watch then you are welcome but we would ask that you do so from a distance and if you want to speak to your child at any point we will ask them to go to you rather than the other way round.

It seems as though there may be some Muddy Monsters races after all this season, Ashwell and St Albans are trying to stage events. Both of these clubs have an advantage over us in that they have an area that they are able to exclude members of the public from. Because we use a public area this is not possible for us and neither Peter nor I are comfortable with trying to stage an event under these circumstances.

We will continue with our plans for our own handicap series but will try and incorporate any Muddy Monsters events into this. The St Albans event is pencilled in for February but Ashwell haven't confirmed yet, as soon as we have any details we'll let you know

In the meantime, we'll see you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Back on the 12th September 2020

Even though the Tour de France has just begun, the summer is almost over and hopefully you've all had a good start to one of the strangest school terms you are ever likely to experience.

We thought we'd give you a few days to get used to your new lifestyles and therefore Go-Ride will be starting again on Saturday September 12th. British Cycling has amended its rules during the last few weeks so that we are now able to have up to 30 riders with us so there is no longer any need for us to select people for each session.

Some things will remain from the "Covid Sessions" we ran previously so we will be meeting in the overspill car park at Priory Park again. For those of you who are unsure, this is located on the left hand side of the road shortly after you pass under the barrier at the entrance to the park.

We will also be maintaining social distancing guidelines and rules on no sharing of equipment such as bottles will be in place. We will remind everyone of these at each session.

Start time is 9am as always and we will finish and return to the overspill car park at 10:30.

Normally this time of year marks the beginning of the cyclocross season but, not surprisingly, this year is different. Some of you will already know that the Central League will not take place and there are no plans for a Muddy Monsters series.

Go-Ride is ultimately about racing however and so we are going to try and compensate for this by holding our own series of races during the autumn and winter months. We have a bit of work to do to finalise the details but the plan is to hold monthly handicap cyclocross races for our members. The intention of a handicap race is to ensure that everyone has an equal chance of winning regardless of their age or ability so our first task is to set handicaps for each of you.

We'll do this by timing you all on a set ride and then assessing who is normally the quickest etc. When we stage the first races each of you will start at different times with the time gaps intended to ensure that you are all evenly matched. We'll change the handicaps after each race so that if you get faster then your time advantage will be reduced.

Like Muddy Monsters we'll hold a time trial and longer race and combine the results from both each time. There won't be a handicap race as we have no idea how you can have a handicap in an event which is already a handicap, if you see what I mean!

We'll have monthly prizes for the winners etc. and an overall series winner which, like Muddy Monsters, will be based on each riders' best performances from a proportion of the races, e.g. we may hold six races and take the best four times.

By the time we email you next week we hope to have a more coherent plan and something that will go some way to making up for the cancellation of our normal cyclocross events.

See you on the 12th September 2020

Peter and Brian

Details for Saturday 25th July

It was good to be back together again on Saturday even if we weren't able to accommodate as many of you as we would have liked.

Obviously the circumstances were not what we have been used to but we'd like to say thanks to all of you for helping make things easier for us by following the processes we had to put in place.

Having said that we wanted to learn from these two sessions so that when we return after the summer holidays then everything runs smoothly. With that in mind, if anyone has any suggestions as to things we may have missed or can improve on then please let us know. As we have said, our priority is everyone's safety but having everyone enjoy the sessions comes a close second.

Arrangements are the same for next Saturday, we'll meet in the overflow car park at 9am and return there for 10:30.

We are still limited to ten riders of course which means that we have to ask some of you to sit out this session. The riders that we are expecting are as follows:

Samuel
Delphi
Amelie
Georgia
Benjamin
James
Jack
Rebel
Thomas
Sean

If you cannot ride please let us know as early as possible so that we can offer your place to someone else. On Saturday we had the maximum 10 riders and we'd like to be able to achieve that again if we can.

Have a good week and we'll see you Saturday

Peter and Brian

First Lockdown Session 18th July

Just a final reminder that we are back on Saturday, meeting in the overspill car park at the Priory at 9am.

Numbers are limited as you know so for the avoidance of any uncertainty we will be riding with the following two groups:

Group1 - Logan, Ethan, Elise, Georgia
Group 2 - Katya, Amelie, Delphi, Alexander, James

Please make sure you bring whatever you need with you as we cannot share drinks bottles, gloves, helmets etc.

If you are unable to come along then please let us know before Saturday so that we can offer your place to somebody else.

Anyone not riding this weekend but who has contacted us to say they are returning will be included in the session on the 25th, essentially that is the riders who I listed in Group 3 in the last email plus Samuel who is away this week.

We will then select another four riders from this Saturday to join them. If you are not available on the 25th but have not let us know then please do so.

We've sorted the weather, conditions will be good so;

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Almost Ready for 18th July!

Thanks to those of you who are going to be joining us over the next couple of weeks, it was good to hear from you all.

If you haven't contacted us but still want to ride then please let us know by replying to this email.

So far we have 14 riders which means that we cannot accommodate everyone on both weekends but we will ensure that everyone gets to ride at least once.

For the avoidance of doubt, our first session will be on July 18th from 9:00am to 10:30am and the second session will be on July 25th between the same times. We are riding at Priory Park.

We think the best way of enabling everyone to get the most of the sessions is to have three groups, each of which contains riders of roughly equal ability. With a maximum of 5 in each group we don't want to intimidate someone by putting them alongside a rider who is much more experienced nor frustrate a bigger, faster rider.

Based on the people who have responded the three groups will be:

Group 1: Samuel, Logan, Ethan, Elise
Group 2: Katya, Amelie, Alexander, Delphi, Georgia
Group 3: Benjamin, Jack, Rebel, Thomas, Sean

I have been working from home for nearly four months and am getting cabin fever so apologies if I have missed someone off the list, let me know if your rider has been left out!!

For the first weekend, we will run sessions for Groups 1 and 2. For the following weekend we will assess how things have gone and run a session for Group 3 and one of the other groups.

If you are unable to attend either of the sessions please tell us so that we can include someone else and ensure that the maximum number of riders can attend. For the first weekend we are one rider short but 3 into 14 doesn't go and we think that this is the best way of enabling everyone to get the most enjoyment out of the morning.

Rider safety is our priority so we are making some changes to the way in which we are operating:

The key thing is that we will be maintaining a 2 metre distance between every individual at all times.

We will meet in the overspill car park for a 9am start. If you aren't sure then the entrance is on the left-hand side just after the overhead height barrier as you enter the park.

Everybody will be required to use a hand sanitiser on arrival. Peter and I will bring these with us.

To avoid any issues with passing cash backward and forward there will be no charge for these sessions.

There will be no sharing of equipment, everyone must bring their own bikes, helmets and so on. Peter and I will use our own separate coaching equipment and no rider should touch any of this. We do have hand wipes if necessary.

In the event of anyone needing any first aid, Peter and I have our own separate kits and will wear gloves and face masks if appropriate.

Parents are welcome to watch as usual. Some of you have kindly offered to help but we will decline on this occasion whilst we get used to the new way of operating. If you do watch then you must do so from a distance, i.e. not amongst the groups, and you must maintain a 2 metre distance from anybody else watching.

At the end of the session we will again require all riders to use the hand santisers.

We will be operating within the guidelines set out by British Cycling at all times, if any of you have any questions then please ask.

If you need to contact us on Saturday for any reason then my phone number is 07939 199268.

We'll issue another email next week in case there is any additional information we need to pass on to you but in the meantime, thanks for your continuing support and we look forward to seeing you all over the next couple of weeks.

Peter and Brian

Planned Restart is July 18th

Hi everyone

We hope that you and your families have managed to stay well over the last few months.

As you know, some of the lockdown restrictions imposed by the Government were eased recently, in particular the guidelines around how many people from different households are able to meet together. As a result of this change, British Cycling have been able to approve the restarting of some club activities, one of which is Go-Ride.

There is a document on the British Cycling website called "British Cycling: The Way Forward" that gives details on the activities that can recommence and the guidelines surrounding them.

As you would expect, there are still restrictions in place and in particular we are limited to the number of riders that we can accommodate. Government guidance limits groups of people from different households to 6 and we have to comply with this. The result is that Peter and I are able to coach a maximum of 5 riders each in two separate groups.

On arrival and when leaving the session riders will need to wash their hands - we'll provide anti bacterial handwash - and we will insist that the 2 metre social distancing rule that we are all now familiar with is maintained at all times.

These rules obviously provide us with some logistical challenges and we are working on these at the moment. Not least is that we are restricted a little as to what we are able to coach - no group riding for example.

Having said that we want to be able to get as many of you back together again so that we can enjoy some cycling. Our plan is to restart on Saturday July 18th and run sessions for a few weeks in order to ensure that everyone is comfortable with what we are doing. We will then pause for part of the school holidays, make any changes we need to and come back again in September.

One of the things we will have to introduce is some sort of booking system. With a limit of 10 riders, not everyone will be able to ride every week and the last thing we want to do is turn people away or run sessions with fewer than 10 people if we have told some riders that they are not able to attend.

To help us to set this up we are asking that you let us know whether you are happy for your youngsters to ride with us and intend to come back and join the sessions. This is not a commitment to riding on July 18th but by letting us know you will allow us to determine how many riders we will need to cater for, what sort of sessions we can run, how much equipment we may need and so on.

If you can let us know by replying to this email by July 10th then it would be much appreciated. We will then let you have specific details for the session the following week.

Our absolute priority is the safety of all of our riders and like so many things for all of us over the last few months this is new to us so your help in letting us know who is planning to ride will be a great help.

In the meantime if you have any questions about this new way of running Go-Ride please email us by return and we will do our best to answer.

We look forward to hearing from and seeing you all soon.

Peter and Brian

July 2020 Return?

Hope everyone is well and you've been able to get out on your bikes over the last few weeks whilst the weather has been so good.

No doubt you will have seen that the restrictions on some sports have been lifted in the last few days, mainly to allow some professional events to recommence. This relaxation does not apply to cycling yet and British Cycling has announced that there will be no competitive events until August 1st at the earliest.

They have however set a provisional date of July 4th for the recommencement of club and group activity - this includes coaching and club rides. British Cycling will review this date every two weeks and provide updates.

We have no more information at this stage and it is highly likely that we will be subject to guidelines as to protective measures we have to put in place. British Cycling expects to publish these details in June and we will share them with you as soon as they are available.

In the meantime riding in family or same-household groups is still permitted and social distancing rules must be followed where appropriate. I am sure that those of you who have been riding will have noticed that the roads are a little busier now so take care.

We hope to have some more news for you in the next few weeks.

Peter and Brian

Latest Update: 10 May 2020

Hi Everyone

Hope you are all OK and have been managing to get some riding done, albeit following the guidelines issued by the Government and British Cycling.

Whilst you are still at home don't forget that there is a range of activities on the British Cycling website that you can participate in. The latest is a competition to design a jersey made by the supplier to the British team. The winners will have their jersey made for them.

Details of this and other activities can be found at www.letsridelocal.co.uk

We are all hoping of course that we can be back riding again in the not too distant future, maybe even racing again before the year is out!

With that in mind Thomas Godfrey is getting an upgrade to his cyclocross bike in advance of next season. Rather than sell his current bike it is going into temporary retirement until younger sister Emily is old enough to ride it. If anyone is interested then the bike is available to loan for a year or so for someone to ride and race. It's a Crosslight Pro 6, the frame is 48cm with a Sram Rival groupset and Apex hydraulic brakes.

If you are interested in using the bike and would like some more details then let me know and I will put you in contact with Duncan (Thomas's Dad).

In the meantime, stay safe, keep riding and we'll be in touch with any news when we get it.

Peter and Brian

Happy Easter 2020

Hi

Hope everyone is keeping safe and well and that you are all getting used to our new lifestyle.

I am sure it will come as no surprise to anyone to learn that British Cycling have extended the suspension of all their activities until June 30th. This means that the earliest possible resumption of Go-Ride for us is July 4th.

That doesn't mean that all cycling has to stop however. You are still permitted to ride as part of the government's guidelines on daily exercise provided that you ride on your own or with members of your household.

Please remember the social distancing rules and keep 2 metres away from anyone that you may meet along the way and wait for people to pass when necessary. British Cycling recommends that you only ride on routes you are familiar with, that are close to home and are well within your ability level.

There are still ways in which you can stay involved without necessarily leaving home. For those of you with younger brothers or sisters British Cycling has launched a series of daily activities called Ready Steady Ride.

Details can be found on the Go-Ride pages on the British Cycling website in the related articles section at the link below:

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/go-ride?c=EN

At 11am each day one of a series of videos is shared, maybe an opportunity for some of you to teach your younger siblings and see how easy this coaching thing really is!

For those of you with rollers or turbo trainers then there are training sessions online - some of these like Zwift charge a fee but you can access videos from people like Global Cycling Network free of charge.

Maybe you can practice track stands if you have a back garden.

Whatever you are able to do, we hope you are able to take advantage of the good weather over the next few days.

Peter and Brian

Coronavirus Update: 17 March 2020

You may have seen that British Cycling has cancelled all of its sanctioned activities until April 30th as a result of the Government's announcement yesterday.

I'm afraid that includes us so we won't be able to hold any further sessions until the beginning of May at the earliest. We'll be in touch again as soon as there is any update.

In the meantime, stay safe and make the most of the opportunities to get out on your bikes that the spring weather will bring.

Hope to see you all before too long.

Peter and Brian

Final CX Race and Jersey Update

Trying to get ahead of myself as I'm away next weekend.

As next Saturday 14th March is the final Muddy Monsters race of the season we will not be holding a session. I know a few of you are planning on racing so good luck to everyone who competes.

I sent details of the venue etc. last week, the event is listed on the British Cycling website. If you go to the events section and choose the cyclo-cross option then you will find it - there is only a handful of events left so it's easy to locate.

We'll be back on March 21st.

In other news, the club has offered to make jerseys available to us again. If you are interested in buying a jersey then either drop me an email or let me know on the 21st. We have three small sizes available immediately - the cost is £25 each and I'll bring them along to the next session.

For those of you who aren't familiar with the designs then there are images on the Beds Road Cycling Club website - just go to the clothing section. They aren't currently available on the manufacturer's site.

Sizes are not straightforward because the manufacturer seems to have a range all of its own so if you're not sure then we probably have enough riders wearing sufficient different sizes for you to check when we see you next.

Last time around the kids sizes cost £25 and adults were £37-£40.

Peter and Brian

Priory Marina on Saturday 7th March

It looks as though we may be set for a weekend without a storm for once so we'll be at the Priory at 9am and not wrapped up against the wind and the rain.

Saturday 14th March sees the final Muddy Monsters event of the year, this is a combined event for all three regions that have held these races over the winter. Thomas rode in the final Cambridgeshire event last weekend and won both races so we have a bit of insider knowledge for those of you planning to race!

The races take place at the Embankment Athletics Track, Bishops Road, Peterborough, PE1 5BW. There is paid parking at the event (£1 for 3 hours) and there are toilets and tea/coffee. The course is quite technical so should be a good challenge and it's an opportunity to race against riders that we haven't seen before.

Registration opens at 9am, earlier than for our series, and the first race gets underway at 10am. Format is the usual sprint/endurance/handicap. Entry is £4.

Depending on numbers of people who are planning to race we may not hold a session on the 14th (I am away so we'll need to consider that as well). We'll take a "roll call" at the weekend and let you know early next week.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Easter Holiday Velodrome

It may only be the start of Lent but the velodrome at Derby has just released details of its Easter programme.

It's slightly different this time in that they have a full day's riding on April 9th and 14th which consists of skills training outside in the morning and then riding on the track in the afternoon. Times are from 10am - 3pm and the cost is £30. The session is for riders aged 9 - 16 and you need to take a packed lunch and drink.

If you have previously completed 2 hours track time at the velodrome (you will need some sort of proof) then you can gain a Youth Track Accreditation which will enable you to race. This session is on April 7th from 1pm - 5pm. You need to be able to ride at a "high tempo" for an hour and can expect to be riding for the whole session, i.e. not much rest time. This is for riders aged 12-16 and costs £60.

You have to book in advance on 01332 641747 or email cyclederby@derby.gov.uk. Full details can be found at cyclederby.co.uk

I know some of you have been a few times now - if you haven't then give it a go, riding in a velodrome is great fun. You just need appropriate cycling clothing - bikes are provided.

The sessions will be popular so you'll need to book early.

In the meantime we will be meeting at the Priory at 9am as usual this weekend.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

No Rest for Half Term

Hope some of you made it to the velodrome this week.

For the rest of us, there's just Saturday 22nd Feb to look forward to - meeting at the Priory at 9am

See you there

Peter and Brian

Muddy Monsters Roll Call

Congratulations to all those of you who competed on Saturday in the final round of this winter's Muddy Monsters series.

We ended up with 7 podium places for the overall series with Thomas, Amelie and Shaun winning their categories. Delphi, Emily, Katya and Ryan also ended up in the top 3 in their age groups.

Special mentions should go to Alexander who finished one point behind the second-placed rider but in 4th overall, and to Samuel who, along with Amelie, competed in every race.

There is one more event this season, to be held on the 14th March in Peterborough - details to follow nearer the time, it's a combined event with the other Muddy Monsters regions.

[ Click ] for Muddy Monster Results (.xls file)

Last Saturday we managed to finish before Storm Ciara arrived, hopefully we'll be as lucky with Desmond this weekend 15th Feb. We'll be at the Priory, be at the totem in the car park for 9am and we'll be back at 10:30

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Muddy Monsters Finale - 8th February

This Saturday 8th Feb. is the final Muddy Monsters race of the regular season and so far there is only one place confirmed on the overall rankings - congratulations to Thomas who can't be overtaken in the Under 14 boys category.

Elsewhere, Amelie, Delphi, Katya and Alexander are still in with a chance of winning their category whilst George and Samuel can cement their top 10 places and Emily has a good chance of finishing on the podium.

For those of you who haven't ridden many races this season then this your last opportunity to compete this winter. As is usual on a Muddy Monsters weekend, there won't be a coaching session.

Races this weekend are at Marlborough Club, Via Old Oak Off Cottonmill Lane, St Albans, AL1 2EF Registration is open at 9:30 for a 10:00am start.

This is not quite the last race of the season because there is going to be a season finale for all three regions that participate in Muddy Monsters. The format is the same and the races will be held on March 14th in Peterborough. It's a great chance to race against riders you haven't competed against before - we'll let you have more details nearer the event.

We've also received details of some road races being held on the closed road circuit at Milton Keynes bowl. There are races for Under 8s/10s/12s/14s and 16s and they are staged on four consecutive Saturday afternoons from March 7th to 28th. Details can be found on the events page of the British Cycling website, the junior events are the HUP Spring Series and there are adult races taking place in the mornings on most of the days.

The link is:

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/?series_id=408

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

No Session This Weekend 1st Feb

Sorry but there won't be a session this weekend - a combination of holiday and work means that we are not able to be there on Saturday 1st February.

The following weekend is the final Muddy Monsters race of the season and is at St. Albans, we'll send details next week.

Sam and Brian

Told You It Would Be Muddy

Well done to all of you who braved the conditions at Welwyn on Saturday 18th January, a real test of your bike handling ability. Results have not been published yet but Thomas, Emily, Katya, Delphi, Amelie, Alexander, Sean and Samuel all rode.

The final race of the series is on February 8th, more details in due course.

We'll be at the Priory Marina on Saturday 25th January, meeting at the totem at 9am as usual.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Muddy Monsters and Velodrome

It was great to see so many of you on Saturday 11th Jan, after the Xmas and New Year break.

We got some practice at riding in a bit of a mud this weekend, hopefully it will help to prepare you for what is likely to be the real thing on Saturday 18th Jan, when the Muddy Monster series is back at Welwyn.

As before, the event is being held at the Gosling Sports Centre, Stanborough Road, Welwyn, AL8 6XE. The race area is to the left of the car parking area. Remember there are 3 hours of free parking at the sports centre - events at Welwyn tend to take longer than at other venues. The course is open from 9am for practice, registration is at 9:30 and races begin at 10am.

We've just received details from the velodrome at Derby about a track session being held during half term. This time the Derby half term is the same as Bedford which means that we can't arrange our own session so you will have to contact the velodrome directly. You'll need to be quick as the sessions are very popular.

They are holding a session for 9-16 year-olds on Wednesday 19th February between 12 and 2pm. The cost is £25 and bookings can be made on 01332 641747 or cyclederby@derby.gov.uk

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian

Happy New Year 2020

Hope you all had a great Xmas, look forward to seeing all the new bikes on Saturday!!

To kick off 2020 we'll be riding at the Priory this Saturday 11th January, meeting at the totem for a 9am start.

Don't forget that there are still two more Muddy Monsters races to go, on January 18th and February 8th, so there won't be any sessions on those dates, over the next few weeks we'll be concentrating on improving the skills you'll need for these races.

See you Saturday

Peter and Brian