Velodrome Re-opening

Good news!

The shiny new track has been completed ahead of schedule and is now due to re-open on 16th July!!!

Best of luck all

Just a quick one to wish you all the best of luck at the weekend and hope its dry. We have just had the first rain in 3 weeks! On saturday we will be thinking of you while at the Swainbost Agricultural fayre. Happy Days!

Ouch!

Two Yasumitsu riders have probably woken up a bit sore this morning after they crashed in a training session at Newcastle last night. Chris Higgs and Paul Johnson came down quite heavily after a young rider turned right in front of them unexpectedly.
Fortunately, they both seem to have got away with cuts and bruises and no broken bones. More good news.......both bikes sustained little damage. A bit of handlebar tape and they will be right as rain!
Hopefully, this little mishap won't slow them down too much for this weekend's Masters Championships.

National Masters Championships - Preview

Next weekend sees the staging of the British Masters Track Championships at Quibell Park, Scunthorpe. There are over 200 entries for the event and as usual, Yasumitsu Schlapp will be sending a strong team, comprising 10 men and 5 women, including 2 of our reigning World Masters Champions.
Traditionally, the team has picked up a good number of medals in the sprint events. With sprinters of the calibre of Anthony Gill, Gwyn Carless, Simon Churton, Steve Cwiklinski and Dave Robson on the start list, I am confident that a few more medals will be coming our way from these events!
Particular mention should go to our two riders in the 70+ group, John King and Derek Smith. Incredibly, there are 16 entries for this age category......do these people not know when to retire!
In the women's events, it is a bit trickier to pick the fancied runners, since often the age groups are combined. For example, this year I will be giving away up to 12 years to some of the competitors in the sprint and a mere 6 years to some of the riders in the 500 metre TT. It's chicken and egg - because there are fewer entries, age groups get combined and because of this, fewer people enter because they don't want to get thrashed by much younger riders.
We will definitely pick up a few medals in the women's events - just don't ask me who will be the medal winners and what events they will come from!
Good luck to all the Yasumitsu riders and hoping for a bit of decent weather over the three days.

Sprinters Eat ......

..... Pies !!!

Well now the longest day is upon us and the evenings start drawing in, its time to start fattening up. Oops, I mean....getting into shape for the Autumn racing. Mr Wilman shows us the best technique... a light slice of warm up pie before taking on the main training effort :)

Newcastle Track Training - 19 June

It was a good training session down at Newcastle track on Tuesday evening. It was a touch windy, but apart from a couple of light showers, not bad weatherwise. A couple of Yasumitsu riders were on track getting ready for the forthcoming British Masters and Christine Higgs is looking to be coming into good form for the endurance events.

It was good to have 3 current World Masters sprint champions in action, showing that the youngsters don't have it all their own way! One of these champions being our old friend:-

Steve (legend in his own lifetime) Cronshaw pointing the way forward to a group of his devoted followers.....most of whom don't seem to be taking the slightest bit of notice!

Cardiff GP - 16/17 June - Updated!

Still trying to get some results from last weekend's Cardiff GP. Amazed that nothing has appeared on the BC website about the event yet, but allegedly Anthony Gill finished 6th on both Saturday and Sunday. I don't know how Gwyn and Ski performed but all will become clear in the fullness of time.
Matthew Crampton and Jason Kenny won the sprint competitions on Saturday and Sunday respectively and Anthony was only beaten by GB Internationals or quality foreign riders. Another impressive performance from our man.
Looking at the 200m TT qualifying is highly impressive:-
1st Ross Edgar 11.11
2nd Jason Kenny 11.13
3rd Matt Crampton 11.15
4th Anthony Gill 11.16 .......now that is awesome!

Anthony prepares to "give it large" ably assisted by top pusher-off Ski. (Photo courtesy of Andrew Hewitt)

See "comments" for some words of wisdom from Dan the Man on his visit to Cardiff. And here is a photo of a potentially great derny pacer of the future. Might need to put on a few pounds though....

Photo courtesy of Andrew Hewitt

The Art of Blogging

The great thing about these blogs is that everyone can have a say! If you click on "comments" under each topic, you can have your own say on the subject and have a look what other people have been saying. Worth checking to see if people are talking about you!
Better still, drop Andrea an email (wiesmier@hotmail.co.uk) and she will empower you to become a "team blogger". If people don't chip in then all you will get is the drivel that emanates from the minds of two or three disturbed individuals.......you have been warned!

Cardiff GP

Wishing Anthony, Ski and Gwyn the best of luck at this weekend's Cardiff GP. Not much opposition (apart from a few Johnny Foreigners) , so I think they should clean up.
I see Dan is also down on the start list. I think he will be going faster than ever this weekend....he's on a derny! Hope they give him a good one.

The Black and White Minstrels

Over the years, Yasumitsu Schlapp has produced more champions of various sorts than you can throw a stick at! Just as important as the many champions are the many and varied people who have graced the club with their presence over the years. To say that there had been a few "characters" would be something of an under-statement!

Just thought I'd include this picture of Evelyn Kenyon, World Masters Champion 2006, returning from her lap of honour and being congratulated by Mr John King - sums it all up really...

European Masters 2007 - CANCELLED

I have just received this email from Brian Cossavella:-

Hi Jo-Anne- Disappointing news about the Europeans but hope to see you next year - see below Brian
IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT – EUROPEAN MASTERS TRACK
After extensive discussions with the European Cycling Union (UEC) they have instructed me that I can not stage the European Masters Track Championships this year and must wait until 2008 to stage the event.
As organiser I feel that the event could have been organised in the time allowed but must understand the concerns of the UEC.
I am very sorry for the disappointment to riders and spectators but with the extra lead in time and the support of Manchester City Council and the UEC we look forward to welcoming everyone to a fantastic first European Track Masters in 2008.
Details will be published on the official web site http://www.cyclingmasters.com/ in September/ October 2007 with a proposed date. The date will be confirmed when the UCI calendar is published later in the year.
The web site will be updated during the year with other information from Masters around the world.
Best wishes and look forward to seeing you in 2008

Brian Cossavella

We will just have to hope that funding becomes available for the event next year as us older riders are running out of places to race!

Welcome to the 21st Century

Having offered to help out with the blog, I thought I had better suss out the Newcastle meet and let you know how we got on.... I waded through the new technology, only to find I was beaten to it! Well that makes it easy, doesn't it?

Well done Anthony! In spite of some of the opposition thinking it was a grass track meet!

Seriously good shots of the action at

http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/tra/EventReports2007/20070610_Newcastle_Summer.asp

Anyway, please feel free to send me anything you would like posting - news, invites, for sale, etc. If you are going to send a piccy or two, please use my home email daj123@tiscali.co.uk

European Masters Championships

Is it on or is it off - that is the question! The website hasn't been updated for weeks /months. I have emailed the organizer, Brian Cossavella, but have not received any reply.

Mysteriously, the website has been updated today:-

http://www.cyclingmasters.com/

So, it looks like there should be some news over the next couple of days. Hopefully, it will be good news and the championship will be "on". Us oldies need somewhere to race!

Outdoor Track Training

I know most of us, particularly those getting ready for the British Masters in 2/3 weeks, have been doing a bit of training on the outdoor tracks. Just a reminder for those who haven't yet ventured outdoors, there are good training sessions at some of the "local" tracks.
I was at Scunthorpe a couple of weeks ago for their Wednesday night training session. The sessions start at 6-30pm and Steve Parsons is the main man. The sessions seem to be run on a "do what you like" basis and there is a pretty good derny which seems to pop out at regular intervals. Nice smooth surface but it was hellish windy on the night I was there!
The Tuesday night sessions at Newcastle under Lyme track are split into sprint and endurance groups. The legendary Steve Cronshaw looks after the sprinters, so you can rest assured that it will be a quality session. On track for about 6-30pm and super value at just £4.
Hopefully see some of you "outdoors" over the next couple or three weeks.

Remember Manchester Velodrome?

It seems like a lifetime ago now, but we used to ride round the fine wooden boards of the Mancunian Velodrome. Well after three long weeks, work has finally started on the resurfacing job and about half of the old boards seem to have been lifted and removed.

http://www.manchestervelodrome.com/News/webcam.htm

Hopefully, now that work has started, things will progress at a rapid rate and the good old place will re-open at the beginning of August as scheduled.

Superstar!

Brilliant performance from Anthony G! A brilliant 11.15 in qualifying and then strong riding through the rounds. Top-drawer stuff from a quality rider.

Next round ot the Sprinters League thing is 16/17 June at Cardiff, which looks a scary old place with a dobbing great concrete wall next to the track!

Photo by David Jack

Will Anthony or any other team members be making the trip to sunny South Wales?

Runner Boy

Runner Boy is at it again, just about riding through the velodrome fence at Newcastle in his quest to beat young Chritan Light. He did beat him even though them young-uns took it in turns to rough him up a bit. How dare they!!!!
I notice YasumitsuDanSanMan was up in the results too and word has got to me that Gwyn, Simon et al were all riding superbly and having fun.
See BC web-site for some snaps.
If you would like to be a contributor to this blog, please send me your email on weismer[at]hotmail[dot]co[dot]uk

Yp kids. All cool and dandy up here on the Isle. Sun sea and sand. and not much else!!!!!

We are here

Despite the car breaking down only 1 mile for Manchester, we have finally made it here and are now desperately searching out the sun-creme, as it's hot. Honestly!!
Hoping that someone will write some info on this here blog soon.
Thanks for all the lovely send offs. Having said that I am sure we will see you all from time to time.
A&E