Racing, well attended club rides and the launch of our Rising Stars youth section of the club all took place over the weekend in mainly dry, warm and sunny conditions.
Four members of the race squad, Jonathan Ward, Ian Maconnachie, Simon Bull and Stuart Quick, entered the ORRL Abingdon Crit on Sunday. Held on a closed course, the event was for 3/4 Cat riders, with a duration of 1 hour plus 3 laps.
Stuart and Ian unfortunately lost contact with the main group in the early stages due to picking up the wrong wheels and getting gapped. The Abingdon course can be notorious for wind and a slight gap can seem a million miles if the wind isn’t in your favour. Jonathan and Simon worked well in a bunch but a 9 man breakaway managed to get a half a lap lead. Unfortunately Simon punctured 25 mins in so it left the responsibility to Jonathan. He tried to solo breakaway with 5 laps to go but it wasn’t to stick. The breakaway stayed away and this time no BSCC riders made it into the points. However, these early season races are all about gaining experience and race knowledge.
Meanwhile, Roger Foster raced the Bossard Wheelers Open 10 mile TT (F15/10) near Milton Keynes, recording a time of 23.48 on the reasonably fast course.
The much improved weather ensured our 5 weekend rides continue to attract large numbers of riders, including an increasing number of first timers. Our rides now cover a range of gentle, intermediate and fast rides for all abilities, so with summer nearly with us there couldn’t be a better time to ride with the club.
On Saturday the club launched its Rising Stars youth section, which will become part of British Cycling’s Go Ride scheme. Fourteen children turned up for this inaugural event at Banbury Rugby Club, enjoying a series of tasks which included basic training, cycling skills and some timed competition.
Everyone who attended – that’s the children themselves, their parents and all the helpers agreed the whole event was a great success, further confirmed by the fact that we gained 7 new junior members on the day. Special thanks must go to club members Brian Reid, Lee Heron, Katherine Daniels, Roger Gollicker and Mark Boyles for their help and organisation.