We’ve had highs, we’ve had lows, there’s been wind, a bit of chill, some rain and some mud, and we’ve even had some sunshine – but mostly, we’ve had record numbers of you taking part in the 2014 Club Champs, many for the very first time in all or some of the events. And boy, what a fantastic sight it has been for the coaches and volunteers to see so much excitement, enthusiasm and excellent sporting etiquette from all of you – you have all done brilliantly, and we are all so proud of you.
But whilst the events are done and dusted, there is still a lot of work going on behind the scenes to crunch the numbers and work out who the Club Champs are in each age category, and to get the trophies and awards ready for presentation on the 20th December – if you’ve not got this date in your diary do put it in as it promises to be an excellent session with food, music, fun and of course, the celebration ceremony! Oh, and did we mention Santa tends to visit on this day – Mrs Claus and the Elves give him the day off from his hectic schedule in the North Pole to attend the Slipstreamers Xmas party – so surely you don’t want to miss this?! For now, do scroll down to read a very special note from Track Coach Steve May regarding last weekend’s Track Champs at Calshot, the full and final set of individual Club Champs results, and of course to enjoy the wonderful photographs provided courtesy of fabulous volunteer photographers Phil Coleman and Andy Buckroyd. Firstly, though, please do enjoy the following reflection of this year’s Club Champs…
A 2014 Club Champs Retrospective: A Note from Head Coach, Dave George:
“It’s no secret – I love Club Champs! Every year the quality of the riders seems to improve, and everyone who competes ticks the box of “having a great time on bikes”. There are two events that are standard each year – the Skills and the Track events work on a specific format, that allow us to compare results against previous years. This year, as in previous years, the riders that do well in the skills are riders that have learned their “craft” on the apron, which re-affirms our belief that you cannot fast-track the skills element.
And whilst we’re talking of “fast-track”, this year’s Calshot event was one of the most exciting to date – some fantastic racing from all participants.This year we also tweaked the Circuit event and the Time Trial event. For the Circuit race we tried to give all age categories a realistic amount of racing time. We are keen to make sure that these are at least the racing time of the British Cycling organised races – and even a little longer where possible. In previous years, the Time Trial was limited to just one lap, but here again we opened up the distances based on age groups so that everyone had the chance to perform at a realistic TT distance. This opened up the competition as the shorter time trial favours the sprinters, but longer distances require a more endurance based approach.
The MTB competition is always my favourite – It’s a great spectator sport. The courses vary year on year thanks to the genius of Alex and Mark, but the racing continually gets better. It has so many highlights for me – from the excellent performance by both Lorna and Jemma, to the comedy value of Niall in his spotlessly clean white leggings.As I write this, I still don’t know who the overall winners are. I’ve looked at the results again and again, picking out some significant and sometimes unexpected results in events that illustrate just how well you all continue to perform, both within and outside the club. Well done to you all!
It’s also worth mentioning the fantastic work that goes on behind the scenes to make these events happen – without the most excellent volunteers we would never be able to run these events as smoothly as we do. We hope you all enjoyed this year’s events – and look forward to seeing you all race in 2015!”
Slipstreamers: don’t forget to thank ALL your coaches and volunteers who make not only the Club Champs happen, but all other events. There is much planning, organising and preparation that goes into getting everything ready, not to mention the post-event bits and pieces, and without the individuals who give up their spare time to make these run as they do, they would not take place. So please, every now and then, stop and thank your coaches and volunteers who work tirelessly on your behalf to ensure your Slipstreamers experience is simply the best. They deserve it!
Club Champs – Final (Individual Event) Results:
- Skills, 27th September – click here to view
- Time Trials, 27th September + 11th October – click here to view
- Circuit Races, 18th October – click here to view
- Mountain Bike Races, 8th November – click here to view
- Track Races, 22nd November – click here to view