Eagle Road Club

San Fairy Ann Crits

Great sprint by Matthew Farrow to take 2nd place by half a wheel - you can see that he was a wheel behind when he put his head down in the last 20 meters, chapeau! Official results have him down as winning, but the boy who won was off the front and there were major problems with the lap counting so can't report our first Eagle win of the year. Nell took second again to Maya, but managed to go up on her for the first two laps this time and maintain contact enough that she's asked to use the turbo to "train" for the next one.

Dave, Damien and Ben were all in the 3/4 race with Damien showing his stuff at 8th, followed by Dave (although the official results seem to be messed up) and Ben. The first race of the season is always a bit of a shock to the system, so well done guys for the February start.

Eagle Road Club at Hog Hill this Sunday

Following the success of the Hog Hill training evenings last year, we thought we would have a training morning at the circuit on Sunday 28 February from 9am until around midday. The main focus will be practicing through and off riding in groups of similar ability. We can also do some sprint training as part of the morning(hopefully Pinarelloman will be able to pass on some tips). We will finish off the morning with one or two short handicap races to put the training into action.

You can invite friends along too who may be interested in joining the club.

Some ideas for the morning:

• group warm up twin pace line. We will then send groups of 4 off the front to ride as a break for say 3 laps (lower circuit).
• riding as a break (groups of 4 to 6). Ride hard for say 5 laps as a group (so take long turns if you're stronger). The last lap willl be a sprint for the line (so can get cagey). The laps will be on the lower circuit, but the fast group will sprint for the line by going up the hill.
• group riding on the full circuit - attempt to keep thing togther in groups on the full circuit.
• cornering practice (top circuit)
• full circuit 4 lap TT - simulate the effort required for a solo break
• a series of 5 - 10 lap scratch races for different level groups (lower circuit + full circuit for fast group.

Not too sure whether the weather will be kind to us - but the nice thing about Hog Hill is that you can shelter in the cafe if it is too wet, and you can always take a hot shower afterwards.

Upcoming Events

I thought I should spell out some of the evvnts the Eagle Road Club has lined up over the coming weeks.

Clubroom

On Weds 17th Feb we have a clubroom night organised.  It starts at 8:00 pm and we have found a hall in Valley Hill, Loughton. It is important for new members to have a clubroom, so they can meet us, find out what we are like and maybe organise some rides and races.  So please make an effort to come along. If you have ordered a handbook this will be a good place to pick it up. Here is a map of the address.

Training Weekend

On the weekend of the 20th Feb we are trying to organise a training weekend at the clubhouse.  Think of it as a cheap holiday, that will do you some good.  Mr Foy is organising things so expect to be encouraged to take part. We will depart on the Sat at 9:00 am for an approx 60 mile group ride. It will be a good steady pace.

Bring some food and a change of clothes, you can shower at the clubhouse, and stay overnight if you wish by getting in touch with Tony or Dave Clarke.

On the Sunday we will do a similar 60 mile ride, again a 9:00 am start.  This will top up your endurance base ready for the new season.  Lets hope for some good weather.

Hog Hill Ride

The following weekend on the Sunday 28th we are going to descend on Hog Hill again for a clubrun with a little difference. Phil Hersey will be master of ceremonies and I expect we will have a very good turnout.

If you are thinking of joining the Eagle RC, or just thinking about becoming involved in competitive cycling then this would be an excellent event to come and try. Hog hill is quite a challenging circuit, but with no traffic and the circuit being relatively short at 2km, the event will be great for newcomers to experience the thrill of group rides.

You can email me using secretary@eaglerc.org to find out more.

Annual Dinner and Dance

The Eagle Road Club held its annual awards dinner on Saturday 30th January. Club members celebrated their achievements in road races and time trials during 2009 including Chris Baldwin winning the Club Championship for the second year, and winning the National 100 mile time trial championship in the 50+ age group.  Here is Chris receiving his award from our President Alan McArdle and his good lady Elaine.

 
Other notable highlights were Phil Hersey winning the Blackpool Nocturne Race in front of a packed Golden Mile crowd, which went some way to ensure Phil won the Eagle Road Club’s first Road Race Championship.  Our road race championships are awarded to the rider gaining the most BC points over the year.

 Liz Chittenden with several strong performances throughout the year won the Ladies Road Race Championship, another new trophy for our members to compete in.

  In the junior ranks Matt Farrow and Nell Baldwin (both under 8) had fantastic seasons winning races and scoring podium positions at the National Championships against older children.

 After the evening’s formalities the dancing began with some rather nifty footwork.  Here’s looking forward to the 2010 season.