Track is back!

[Roland]

Hello GVVA supporters,

I'm happy to announce the beginning of our 2011 Track Racing Season on the Commonwealth Games Legacy Velodrome!

Our Weekly Race Nights this year will be Monday and Friday nights, beginning at 6:30pm. (Thursday has been moved to Friday. We may have an Open Track on Thursdays.)

Monday will remain timed events and sprints, and will usually alternate with 200m and Matched Sprints one night, and Pursuits and Kilo's the other.

Friday nights will be our Bunch Races, and will be a rotating schedule similar to before, featuring 2-3 races for each category (A, B & C), typically Miss'n'Out, Scratch and Points races, but also a likely Keirin night, and other race formats. A full schedule is forthcoming.

There will ALSO be new, regularly scheduled periods of open track for training purposes, some structured as well! More details on this to come.

This week however, on Monday, June 13th and Friday, June 17th we'll ease into riding and racing the track, with more fun-oriented events while we all get our track legs and heads back.

Events will begin at 6:30pm, and the track will be open for riding and warm-ups after 5pm (until 6:30pm). Bring a few extra layers, it can cool down once the sun dips. Also, you may wish to bring a folding chair.

COSTS & REQUIREMENTS

We will need to collect membership fees, and ensure all have CyclingBC licenses (Citizen or UCI.) You can sign-up on location. The forms are posted online here: http://www.gvva.bc.ca/#files - please print off and fill out both the 2011 Membership Form, and the Waiver. (Again: 2011 Membership Form will be posted shortly, and will be different from the current 2008 forms.)

All must become annual members of the GVVA organization ($10, $5 for Juniors, free for Cadets).

You can pay drop-in fees, but we encourage our Riding & Training option for $100 ($50 for Juniors, free for Cadets), which gets you into all our regular weekly racing and training programs (exeception: Friday Under the Lights races, Provincial Championships, and a few other 'special' events.)

Also, all must have an annual CyclingBC license - this will be $46 if you get it from us (but also allows you to enter other local cycling races, like the Victoria Cycling League weekly races, and the Sidney Velo time trial series.) If you already have a Citizen or UCI license for the road, you are good to go. (You may need the $10 'add-on' if you have only Mountain Biking.)

If you wish to store your bike in our secure Club House, you may for $20, which gets you a hook and a little space underneath. Hook # selection will be first-come, first-served.

Finally, all NEW riders to the velodrome must first take two courses - our Learn to Ride and Learn to Race sessions, which will be offered regularly (and announced to the list, and listed on our website.) If you've ridden our track before, you should be good to go. If you've ridden elsewhere, but not here, we may give you a quick track etiquette quiz. If you've not ridden the track at all before, you will likely be required to take our sessions. (NB: regular and experienced road riders whom our clinic instructors are familiar with and deemed familiar with track racing MAY be allowed to join our programs with a brief introduction on a case-by-case situation, although we encourage all to take both our LTR sessions regardless of experience.)

BIKE RENTALS

Yes, we do have a fleet of rental bikes! They are currently $5 to rent per session (and can be pro-rated for the season if you'll be renting regularly). We have a number of sizes to accomodate nearly all riders, although gear selection is limited. It's first-come-first serve in most cases, so show up early for the best option for you.

This is a lot of information to absorb, please re-read this a few times if necessary, and feel free to contact me for specifics.

See you Monday night!!

PS - volunteers are always welcome. We could use help signing people up, flipping the lap counter, scoring, etc.. Bring friends and family members!

Dave Shishkoff
GVVA Director of Racing
http://gvva.bc.ca
http://twitter.com/VicVelodrome
http://www.facebook.com/pages/GVVA/9063854209

[4827north]

Thanks for the info Roland!

[Roland]

Hi all - Wed night, from 6-8pm we will be holding a Lv1 Learn to Race clinic, for all who are interested, but haven't ridden before. We have rental bikes, so bring shoes, pedals and helmet. Please arrive early to sign up, prep, etc... We'll have a lot more 'open' time slots, available for training, will post details soon. If interested in the LTR on Wednesday, please post here, or send us an email to RSVP, thanks!

Who wants to watch those silly Canucks get schooled anyway?

[Roland]

Anybody heading out to the track tonight to get their race on?

[4827north]

Anybody heading out to the track tonight to get their race on?

I can't. Wanted to but need to take the LTR first. Earliest I can do that is June 29.

Brad

[emilederosnay]

Hi, for those of you interested in match sprinting (who isn't?!), here's a post on my site by national sprinter Jamie Shankland: http://emilederosnay.com/2011/05/20/lea ... -sprint-2/
There, he talks about sprinting strategy and technique.

Emile