Dear All.
Heartfelt thanks for volunteering for this year’s Grass-Track Championships. This year we welcome young riders not only from across the region and further afield to our new venue – National titles are up for grabs. The great thing about the grass track format is that it is suitable for first timers too. One of the things we always try to do is make sure we give big encouragement to riders who are giving it their all – wherever they are in the race. If you’re relaxed and have a good time helping that atmosphere will pass on to the riders.
LOCATION: Ackers Adventure, Golden Hillock Rd, Small Heath, Birmingham B11 2PY
Car Park: We have the use of a dedicated car park next to Ackers Base camp. This will be signed ‘Beacon RCC Car Park.’
What three words ///voice.rider.motor
HQ: We do have the use of Ackers Base Camp. They have toilets. We’ll have the use of the kitchen too. We can make tea/coffee for ourselves and our visitors – we can look for appropriate breaks in the programme. We’ll be guided by the conditions. If it is nice we can run everything on the field.
Jobs: Marshals, bike check, sign on desk, timers, finish line judges, calculating omnium positions, assisting with presentations. Please let me know either what jobs you think you’d like to do – or if you don’t mind.
First Aid: Adrian Ravenscroft
Please sign on to the volunteer sign on when you arrive so that we have an emergency contact for you. Take time to familiarise yourself with the risk assessment which I’ll put on the sign on desk. It is also useful to have a look at the info that is being sent out to riders’ parents – see ww.beaconrcc.org.uk/academy
If parents (or you) have any welfare concerns, please ask them to raise them with me and the club welfare secretary Kate Dighton
welfare@beaconrcc.org.uk
Here's the programme of the day. Any help is welcome even if is only for an hour.
Cancellation: We have a reserve day on the Sunday if we need to cancel. Please keep your eye on the beacon academy Facebook page where I’ll post any cancellation. As we have access to an indoor HQ, I’ll only cancel if the weather would pose a risk to riders. The course has been draining well. Please let me know if you can/can’t make Sunday 21st in the event of a cancellation.
08:30. I will get there and open up. We’ll distribute ‘Beacon RCC Marshal’ bibs. The first thing to do is to set up stakes and tape to mark the inside and outside of the racetrack. Tape means we can control people crossing the track. We’ll set up the gazebo the podium and the signing on table. Then there’s the lap board and bell to put by the finish line.
10:00. Riders in the U7 age category should start arriving. We need to give bikes a quick ‘M’ check. We will need to check tyres are suitable for grass. I have specified a tread that is deep enough for a 5p coin to go into up to the dotted line. We have bikes available to be borrowed so if you are checking bikes, please encourage parents to borrow one of our bikes rather than trying to fix up a bike that needs attention. On the sign on desk, we need to make sure that riders are signed on to the right race. So, if you’re on sign on ask: what school year is the child in? Name? Boy or girl? Name of school? (a BSCA requirement) We will need to find out if they are eligible for the West Mids regional prizes – or if they’ve travelled from further afield. I’ll put some sort of map on sign on. Some will have signed on in advance. They will appear on the signing sheet. Others will sign on on the line. We can take cashless payments via Eventbrite or cash. Entry to the race is £3. Most will also have to but a BSCA day licence – unless their school or club is affiliated in which case, they will be able to show a BSCA card. Beacon Academy is affiliated. A day licence costs £2. When riders sign on their parents will need to sign too. We will have two sets of numbers with different colours for each age category
When riders have signed on, we will open the course for practice. There will also be a warmup area in the centre. Please keep an eye on the warmup area and encourage riders to all ride the same way round. Please also check that people are only crossing the track by the designated point.
11:00 racing begins. I’ll announce the races, but it would be good if you have a handle on what’s happening. The programme will be something like:
Race 1: U7 boys time trial 2 laps
Race 2: U7 girls time trial 2 laps
Race 3: U7 boys pursuit 2 laps
Race 4: U7 girls pursuit 2 laps
Race 5: U7 boys scratch race 2 laps
Race 6: U7 girls scratch race 2 laps
Race 7: U9 boys time trial 4 laps
Race 8: U9 girls time trial 4 laps
Race 9: U9 boys pursuit 4 laps
Race 10: U9 girls pursuit 4 laps
Race 11: U9 boys scratch race 4 laps
Race 12: U9 girls scratch race 4 laps
If you are timing a time trial, note down the rider’s number and time. Give that result to the person who is collating the omnium.
If you are timing a pursuit, it is the same job, note down the rider’s number and time. Give that result to the person who is collating the omnium. The only difference is that there will be up to for riders on the track at once. Make sure they understand that they start and finish in the same place.
In pursuits – help with recording times is needed and crunching the results. Possibly also with holding riders at the start so they can have both feet on the pedals.
In the scratch race help will be needed judging. This involves keeping a close eye on the lead rider and recording who has finished in the same lap as the lead rider and in what order. It is less likely in the early part of the day that riders will be lapped – but later in the day this is likely to happen.
12:00 Riders in the U9 age category should start arriving. Remember to use different coloured numbers for the U9 riders than the ones used for the U7.
After the racing has finished, we will work out ‘omnium’ positions. Podium presentations will be done for regional and national places in the U7 & U9 categories. We’ll see how things go. It may be that we can do the U7 presentations whilst the U9 time trials are under way.
The afternoon will follow a similar format to the morning. If the entries this year follow a similar pattern to last year (and online entry suggests they will) most of you will only be needed for the morning’s races. – so, all done & dusted by 13:00.
All being well we’ll take a short break after the podium presentations before opening sign on for the older riders at around 1:30
13:30 Riders in the U11 age category should start arriving. Remember to use different coloured numbers for the U13 riders – if applicable.
2:00 racing starts
At the end of the racing for older riders there will again be national and regional podium presentations.
It would be great to encourage as many participants’ parents as possible who are able/willing to help take down the course – collect in tape and stakes and pile them up neatly so that they can be taken to the store.
Thanks once again for volunteering – you’re a star!
Appreciated. All the best, Ade