There are to be taster sessions of grass track racing for club members in the spring – please email barrydenny@btinternet.com to register your interest.
Nowadays Grass Track is a minor branch of cycle sport, but that wasn’t always the case, being very popular and important back in the day. Even in recent times it has been important with the likes of Victoria Pendleton, Laura Trott and the Downing brothers all having competed in meetings in this region. Lots of club members have previously taken part, notably in recent times Alan Trolove who progressed from promising juvenile to being the rider to beat in the Eastern Region, memorably lapping the entire field in an 8k race at one of our events. In the last couple of seasons it has been only the Gregory family representing the club, with David Young also having the odd ride. Meanwhile Colchester Rovers have built a significant group of juvenile and adult riders, holding their own events weekly during the summer and competing in regional meetings ~ surprising themselves with excellent performances and really enjoying the friendly rivalry.
For those that don’t know, Grass Track comprises racing fixed wheel track bikes on a flat grass oval, normally about 250 metres in length, with a range of events including short sprints (400m and 800m), points races, elimination races and usually one longer race, usually 8km for adults. There are normally categories for male and female adult and juvenile riders and it’s a great sport to take part in and exciting to watch. There are about 7 or 8 events held during the summer in this region, including the WSW promotion on June 4, which includes the National 400 metres championship. These events attract a diverse entry, comprising a handful of riders who travel all over the country, local riders from various other disciplines, a growing band of lady riders and loads of juveniles, who benefit enormously from the experience.
One of the hurdles in attracting more participation is the scarcity of suitable bikes, but we can help to solve that by making some bikes available to those that want to have a go. I am hoping to organise a few weeks of ‘come and try’ sessions in the spring, probably on the Priory School field where we have previously held regional events, probably on Saturday afternoons. The club owns a few adult bikes and we are converting a few of our old Peugeot kids racers so that we can cater for about a dozen riders per session.
Who wants to put their name down for a try?
Please email barrydenny@btinternet.com to register your interest.