Well we are now into May and although the weather has started to improve we are still having some rainy days. Thursday nights with VCR are going well and some weeks we have had quite high numbers. Wednesday night TTs have now got underway and again numbers are good. Unfortunately we had to cancel 2 events due to road works on both courses but we have our fingers crossed for next week. We have the interclub TT with Sudbury taking place on Thursday 23rd May and we have a good number attending.
Colchester Rovers Monthly Newsletter issue 3 – May 2024
Reliability Ride – Sunday 21st April
Sunday 21st April saw the reliability ride take place. We had over a hundred participants take part and we raised nearly a £1000.00 for the St Helena Hospice. (This in memory of Dr Chris Hall). We have to say a very big Thank You to Paul and Sandra Meadows for organizing such an amazing event.
Youth News
Thursday 18th April saw the start of our youth Circuit /Road sessions at Northern Gateway. These have gone tremendously well and we must say thank you to Simon Wilson for organizing. We must also thank our coaches without whom these events would not take place. The good news is that Simon has organized another six sessions after the half term holiday. The dates of which are below:
There will be 6 sessions using the 1000m circuit aimed at U12 and U14 riders (age 10-14):
06/06/2024
13/06/2024
20/06/2024
27/06/2024
04/07/2024
11/07/2024
Grass Track
Grass Track got under way on Monday 13th May and was very well attended. Malcolm and I went along to watch, the sun shone and all the riders seemed to be having a very enjoyable time. A big thank you goes to Chris Douglas, Colin White, Peter Hall, David Triggs and all the mums and dads who helped. The next event being on Monday 3rd June so if you have not got your child signed up to attend then you need to do so.
Plumesgate CC Grass Track – Sunday 7th July
Spalding CC Grass Track – Saturday 7th September
Mountain Bike
Series of 3 ’Muddy Monster’ races at Colchester Northern Gateway aimed at U8, U10 and U12 riders (age up to 12):
- Saturday 6thJuly
- Saturday 13th July
- Saturday 20th July
Travers Round 1 – Sunday 14th April
Travers Round 2 – Sunday 28th April
Travers Round 3 – Sunday 19th May
Travers Round 4 – Sunday 9th June
Travers Round 5 – Sunday 23rd June
Travers Round 6 – Sunday 7th July
Future events
Club Night Northern Gateway Thursday 20th June. 8pm – 9pm why not come and join us for a chat and catchup with a cup of coffee/tea.
We have the CRCC open Grass Track event on Sunday 30th June and this will include the ECCA Championship
July 20/21 The Dunwich Dynamo
I know that some of you have already entered the Dunwich Dynamo which will take place on 20/21st July. For those of you thinking about it or would like further information please see the link below.
https://www.dunwichdynamo.co.uk/
General News
Our Club Ride Leader ‘Ray Robins’ has recently stepped down from his position with the club. This has left a post open that would ideally be filled by a willing club rider. In the interim period the current ride leaders will continue to offer the best support to club rides on a Saturday/Sunday.
The club provides support for riders to train as Ride Leader to support our social riding. The purpose of the Ride Leader training is to assist in following the best ride practice and help to provide insurance cover for ride leaders undertaking these activities.
With that in mind:
We currently have only nine active Ride Leaders, with two predominantly concentrating on Sunday Rides. So if you think you would be willing to train and then support the club and your fellow riders then please get in touch.
The European Triathlon Champs are being held in Portugal on the 14th – 23rd June and Colchester Rover member Mick Bond, will be competing in his relevant age group at this event and has been training hard over the last few months in preparation.
A short write up from Mick
“I have previously represented GB Triathlon Age Group Team at five European Championships between 2016 – 2019, before Covid restrictions stopped all events. During 2021 I had heart surgery & a total hip replacement. This followed on from a previous “unsuccessful “hip resurfacing in 2012 that ended my running career!
I returned to racing Triathlon in 2022 & won my age group (65-69) qualification race for the 2023 European Standard Distance.
In September 2023 I travelled to Holland to support a friend who was representing GB in the European Long Course race at Challenge Almere, so decided to enter the accompanying open Middle Distance (half Iron Man) event.
I finished fourth in my age group, behind three athletes from the Netherlands, so was encouraged to try qualifying for the 2024 European Championships over the same distance.
Qualification is based on your performance in a similar event & percentage of finishing time compared to the winner.
The European Championships are being held in Coimbra, Portugal on 22 June 2024 & all costs, travel, accommodation, etc are self-financed.
I am currently training eight sessions per week, two swimming, three cycling & three running. I will add an open water swim as soon as the water temperature improves!
I will be 69yrs old in September, so I am nearing the top end of my age group & my aim this year is to maintain my performances prior to moving up an age group.”
Mick Bond
We wish Mick well and look forward to hearing about it when he gets back.
We also have Colchester Rovers Members Elspeth Knott and Jodi Thomas who are competing in the World Triathlon champs. We also wish Elspeth and Jodi well.
On the 23rd June we have the following Colchester Rovers Members taking part in the Dragon Ride.
Ray Robins, Adrian Paul, Kelly Phillips, Maria Johnson, Carl Day, Helen Arnold, Colin Foster, Debbie Sampson-Scott, Perry Taylor, Robert Clark, Paul Thompson, Rob Horton, Paul Hesketh, Nigel Warwick, Tracey Munford and Jon Dixon.
We wish you all the very best.
If anyone has anything that they would like included in future newsletters then please let me know.
Northern Gateway Vehicle Height Restriction
I would like to take this opportunity to remind all our members that there is a vehicle height restriction at Northern Gateway. This comes into place after 8pm so please be careful when leaving.
Margaret Hargreaves
Chairman