Title: ActivCycles Road Race
Location: Sign on at Belsay Cricket Club
Description: Race 2 of 2, postponed from Sep 7 due to flooding. Entry-on-line but only riders who rode race 1 will be eligible for prizes.
Date: 2008-10-26
The following article has been submitted to the Hexham Courant for publishing in advance of the first of a series of Guided Rides, aimed at attracting new members at all levels of experience and fitness and from all disciplines:
Lottery Win for Tyne Valley Cycling Club!
Following a successful bid for National Lottery Awards for All funding Tyne Valley Cycling Club has been awarded a grant of £10,000 for its Community Cycling project. The aim of the project is to attract, encourage and enable people throughout the area to participate in, and to enjoy the benefits of, cycling in the beautiful Tyne valley.
One of the main aims of the club is to increase its membership at all levels and in all disciplines, aiming especially at less experienced riders not aspiring to full club level fitness who simply want to enjoy the countryside at a more leisurely pace. Competitive riders will, of course, still be actively encouraged and all members can achieve the level of fitness and technical ability that suits them. New members will be able to form new groups within the club with similar aims, have representation on the club committee and organise suitable activities for themselves with support from the club and its resources.
Starting on Saturday May 24 at 10am, TVCC invites any riders to turn up at the Tyne Riverside Country Park car park at Prudhoe for the first of a series of guided rides, led by experienced club members, in a traffic-free environment along the riverside to Wylam and Newburn Bridge. Riders could choose to continue east from Newburn or return along the other side of the river, or earlier for the less adventurous. These rides will be repeated, depending on demand, on the following 2 Saturdays and beyond if requested but through time we expect that riders will prefer to advance to road or off-road rides with like-minded riders forming sub-groups. Go on, have a go! Most bikes are suitable for these paths, so long as it’s not too wet and muddy. Helmets are recommended and at least one spare inner tube is essential. Initial rides will be strictly non-competitive.
Thanks to the Lottery grant, club members, new and old, will have access later this year to such resources as a 12 bike trailer, cheap mini-bus hire, coaching facilities, coach training, loan bikes for newcomers to try, advice from experienced members and many other facilities not available to the general public.
If you’d like to know more about the club then check us out at www.tynevalleycycling.co.uk where you can also find all the contact details you need for further information. Alternatively you can ring Peter Scott on 01661 844762 (evening), or 07887 643515 (day) or Mike Hodgson on 01207 255219 (evening) or 07843 312584 (day). Tyne Valley Cycling Club looks forward to meeting you all!
Calling all members! The ever-popular 18 mile individual time trial takes place next Saturday May 10 so all potential marshalls get yourself along and support this event! Please contact Mike Hodgson or anybody else on the Contacts page. See you there!
This year for the first time there was a supporting event to the main event; the Velvet Junior Bike Race. Despite the cold windy condidtions and the constant threat of rain and the relatively low level of advance publicity, 56 kids from 6 to 16 turned out for the 1km race across the dam wall. Did they enjoy it? The pic says it all!
There were no winners or losers and every entrant got a goodie bag with a soft toy included, a race jersey and a medal, all donated by SCA Hygiene at Prudhoe on behalf of the company’s Velvet tissue brand. The total raised was an impressive £1,000, which will go to the Freeman hospital’s Paediatric Intensive Care Unit Penguin fund to help buy more life-saving equipment for kids. SCA will present the cheque at Martha’s house on Tusday April 15, and Martha’s mum has already expressed her delight at the results of this great effort.
Little Martha Anderson from Edmundbyers, the race headquarters, benefitted from the superb treatment she received in this unit over the last 2 years - without which she would not be with us today. Martha, with her Mum Gillian and sister Matilda, visited the SCA factory shortly before the race and everyone who met them was charmed and moved by Martha’s brave and ever-cheerful countenance. Her face when the giant Panda was brought into the room was an absolute picture! Unfortunately the photographer missed that but here’s a shot of Martha with the panda - with Martha are the race organiser Mike Hodgson, SCA Prudhoe mill manager Tony Richards and club secretary Peter Scott with his bike.
Incidentally, there was also a major Premier Calendar race in case we forgot!
Follow the link to British Cycling’s excellent report on this excellent race, held in cold and windy conditions but exciting neverthless:
Follow the link to see the full result:
Our Premier Calendar road race, the Tour of the Reservoir, takes place on Sunday March 30 and more details are emerging which will be of interest to riders, helpers and spectators alike. The current start sheet (March 18) is on the Events page.
The main sponsor again is Northumbrian Water, without whose support the race would not be possible, but TVCC is also very grateful to the other sponsors whose help is invaluable - more details of these when they are finalised.
TVCC is organising a short time trial for youngsters from 5 to 7 (with parental supervision) and up to age 15. All are welcome. Riders should report at the village hall at 9.30am then assemble outside the nearby Youth Hostel at 9.45am ready to leave at 10am. Once the main race has left the village the youngsters will ride down to the dam wall ready to start their race at 10.45am. Each rider will get a small prize.
Sponsors of this new kids’ event are SCA Hygiene Products, owners of the Velvet tissue brand and manufacturing at Prudhoe, who are also sponsoring the main event. Their support so far has been fantastic and, as well as supporting the events of the day, their efforts will add a significant boost to the fund raising activities for little Martha - so far as we know the youngest recipient of a heart transplant. Martha’s grandparents hope to raise £50,000 as Martha will need specialist medical support for years to come.
The TV cameras will be there as usual and youngsters and parents should look out for their budding stars on the sports reports! The presentation will also be televised and the WI will be putting on a buffet for kids and parents after the event. Several donations have been pledged from kind individuals and so far include a race jersey signed by Chris Newton, previous ToR winner and multiple track event world champion/gold medal winner and hi-tec race glasses courtesy of Phil Griffiths, Pinarello team manager. SCA will also be making several presentations - more details later.
The kids’ event will be managed by John Bateman, the area Go-Ride organiser and specialist in youth events: Go-Ride is an initiative by British Cycling, formerly the BCF, to encourage and develop youngsters and to help them enjoy the sport in a safe environment with expert supervision and guidance.
Road closures: At the insistence of Durham County Police all roads on the race circuit within their jurisdiction must be closed to non-race traffic. This applies from the Carrick’s picnic site at the west end of the reservoir to the nearby junction with the B6278, then the B6278 between there and the Muggleswick road end to the east of Redwell Hall Farm.
March 18: Northumbria Police now insist that a road closure must be enforced on the section of the race circuit within their jurisdiction. Consequently the entire circuit will now be on closed roads and the short section along the A68 will be controlled by traffic lights.
Please note: The closure applies between 10am and 2pm! Any traffic other than officially authorised race traffic, eg commissaires’ cars motorcycle outriders and support vans, will be trapped within the route and unable to travel round the circuit.
The race is likely to split fairly early on and although the front group may have passed by it’s not unlikely another group, or stragglers, could be close behind and moving very fast; spectators are requested to exercise extreme care when walking to various parts of the circuit.
Ordnance Survey map Explorer 307 shows fine detail of the race route and surrounding area, and on-line the route can be found on maps.google.com
The race headquarters at the Community Centre will be open to riders and race staff from 8.30am. The race will leave Edmundbyers Village Hall at 10.15am, by which time any non-race cars still in the village will be trapped there, and proceed neutralised until reaching the dam wall at around 10.30 when the race proper will start.
It should be another great event with the additional interest of the kids’ race, bringing the event and its atmosphere even closer to locals and spectators.
Marshalls: ALL TVCC members are called upon to help out, either on Saturday to assist in preparation or on Sunday, before during and after the race, or preferably both. Parents are also invited to help out with the kids’ race to make it even safer and more enjoyable for riders and spectators.