Saturday Racing

[maka]

With 3 kids under 5 years of age

Results just in for 2035 Elite Mens Team Time Trial
1st Place = Sutherland Shire Cycling Club
Tabone, Tabone, Tabone, Herlihen

2nd Place - Sutherland Shire Cycling Club
O'Neill, O'Neill, Peters, Lyons

3rd Place - Sutherland Shire Cycling Club
Cash, Giller, Mills, Ludlum

A clean sweep boys, well done. (Hope I'm still around to see it.)

[JonnyO]

riding one track all year may lack a bit of variance when riders may be looking for something different to ride/race.
Alot of people like stG/Oatley in winter because the racing is totally different and offers racing suited to more a open road rider rather than a crit/sprint rider.
A regular club TT would be good ie monthly. At the track (track 3), kurnell or the waterfall/helensburgh that have been used this year.
The possibility of having a range of events rather than just crits would also interest more riders that may not otherwise want to ride/join the club.

[EeBird]

1st post...
I am in my 2nd yr of riding and have over summer got to at best, 5th in Friday night crits. I ride usually 2-3 times a week and am learning to drink coffee. If I am being honest, I would say I am a pretty good 'cafe' rider for a bloke in his early 50's with a decaying body from running, soccer etc. Last year I tried to get to most Sat arvo racing stuff and like most posts to date, really loved the different race types (Omniums etc) as it was all brand new to me. But as a genuine C grader, never really got near the podium.

My point? If I classify myself as a pretty good 'cafe' racer, I am really no chance to get a race result on Sat arvo given my inability to really commit lots of hours to training due to job, family and other sports. The Sutho club seems pretty serious to me about it's racing - that is good. But as a 'fringe' racer, I have resisted going to the track this winter as I am doing a little (OK a lot) less than I want to in riding and know I will get badly chopped up in a race. There goes the ego thing...

So if you want a lot more people on a Sat arvo, particularly in 'C' grade, it needs to sound less imposing that what it is. All those riders on a Sat morning at coffee enjoy the group ride aspects and don't want to get chopped up in a serious race. So if we are wanting to get additional numbers at the bottom end, we need to make sure new members will not get embarrassed on their first race.

Most women I ride with are around my pace. So if I am getting paranoid about getting smashed, so are they. See the number of women in Friday night crits. Either C grade has a couple of young girls in state squads or a couple of women who devote some serious time to cycling. The rest just feel embarrassed to give it a go. Juniors are the same, a couple can hack it and keep going but it is really not conducive to bringing on younger riders. Then there are some people who persist in C Grade when they should be moved up to keep the results different each week. A couple of the younger ones seem to see the jump to racing as too big for them in C Grade.

I also always follow the forum topics and am in awe of Cashy, Rabs, Tony etc with the knowledge they have on riding and training. Would I get that involved - no, but it is interesting. But how many of the SSSC members also look at the website and forum? Not many is my guess.

My suggestions - market the Winter racing to all SSSC members via email invitations not just hoping we read the web details. Have a 'Captain' of each grade responsible for getting as many of their grade racing. Change C grade advertising to 'Novice or entry level' to make it sound as though 'cafe' riders will not get smashed. Have some flexibility in handicapping to make sure we get some wild card results in finishes.

Finally, I will try and get to Sat arvo races more often regardless of my ego. I would hate to see them fall away due to lack of support.

Sorry for the long post.

[todd-arello]

your right it shoud by email ,more people read emails its more personal.. we are in the 2010  timeing chips should be used to see where we finish, to get us back next week

[admin]

Thanks for the great comments - very constructive   

[Dan G]

EeBird is spot on.
I am solid B-grade crit but it can get a little hairy and scary with yo-yo pace and some angry men in the bunch. I have seen a big (expensive looking) pile-up and been clipped and nearly knocked off in the final lap - no fun.
You sort of have to learn as you go, and I would love to learn a little more about how the different races work before taking the plunge in a bigger one (eg Cootamundra).

[todd-arello]

lets have d grade raceing in the club to get more riders interested, not getting smashed week in week out buy c graders, entry level is set to high in the club. iam only new to the club it has taken me 9 months to get near the top of c grade.

[Shorts]

Hey
I suggested D grade for Friday nights , however it seemed to fizzle due to the need for an early start as well not enough volunteers getting down to help set up and the low numbers .
I would agree that Saturdays would be a good time to introduce new racers as the numbers are down and it seems alot less dog eat dog.
However this also needs more Club members  in the setting up and helping out  not just the same dedicated faces , Craig, Jono, Kenny, Col etc on race day.
Maybe a BBQ or a few drinks after these races would also encourage a friendly atmosphere between old and new members.
As for e-mails we already have a listed  race program on the club site