The Beacon Message Board

At the AGM, the committee asked for suggestions for ideas for spending some of the club's financial surplus. I'm not sure whether there are any requirements in mind for this (such as it needing to be capital investment or potentially benefitting all club members), so this might not be what the committee had in mind, but I thought I'd float the idea.

How about hiring out either the circuit at Stourport or Tudor Grange for a few hours one evening or Saturday to hold a session for people who either already race or are keen on starting this year? It seems from the thread on racing in 2013 that there are a few people who are keen to give it a go for the first time. Speaking for myself and having spoken to a few other people about it, the main concern that people have seems to be something along the lines of "am I too slow"/"will I cause a crash", etc. It's obviously not possible to replicate the conditions of a race (unless loads of people turned up), but perhaps it might be a nice idea to get together some experienced club members with people who want to give racing a try, to share tips and to ride the circuit together. It could maybe also be an opportunity for those who already race to coordinate race and travel plans, and generally socialise.

I got the idea from this thread on BikeRadar: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtop ... t=12902607. Some of the schemes discussed there sound quite formal, but I thought it was worth suggesting to see what people think.

I would def be interested in this and would be happy to pay like the Newport track sessions.
Tudor Grange have floodlights now although there may not be many if any free slots.

Two sessions were done in Nov 2009 see "Training" section and "Road Skills Sessions"

EDIT:

Seems there are sessions (Monday, Friday, Sunday evening?) available at Tudor Grange if this is up to date:
http://www.solihull.gov.uk/Attachments/ ... y_2013.pdf

General info
http://www.solihull.gov.uk/parks/tudorgrangepark.htm

Booking form
https://www.solihull.gov.uk/AF3/an/defa ... Lp2sPxQX4U

Laurence, I guess that there must be a Committee meeting due on Monday. Why don't you knock something together in the form of a proposal. Doug will know the Stourport contact details. I guess that there may be sufficient interest for an event of this kind. A good idea!

A really excellent idea Laurence. I could imagine such a session leading to all sorts of possibilities such as a regular circuit race taster session and perhaps a club only race series.

It's my hunch that a proportion of club members are secretly yearning to race but harbour the concerns that you mention .

I'll put this forward at the committee meeting. Steve has already mentioned the thread via email as well.
There was a discussion about paying for a beacon member to be trained as a British Cycling coach up to level 2. The idea being we could hold specific coaching/training sessions at Stourport/Tudor Grange with the coach leading the session.
Would weekends or evenings be better? Stourport are having lights installed as well. I definatly think this is a great idea and a great way of encouraging more Beacons to race.

D

Thanks for offering to bring this up at the committee meeting, Doug, and to everyone else for their thoughts. I'm glad that it seems to be a popular idea - hopefully we can get something organised.

In terms of days, the circuit at Tudor Grange seems to be available on Monday and Friday evenings and Saturday and Sunday afternoons (schedule). I think I would go for Saturday, but it depends on what is convenient for others. The Stourport circuit seems a bit busier in terms of existing bookings (schedule), but there are spaces.

I don't see any prices listed for Tudor Grange but I know that members of the public can turn up and use it for free, so perhaps they don't charge for bookings either? Exclusive use of the Stourport circuit is £22 per hour, so neither option looks expensive.

I'm sure the committee will be supportive of this idea providing we can be sure of a sufficient number of members supporting it to make it worthwhile. If possible I'd suggest finding an available date then getting commitments from people to turn up before booking & paying. I'd have thought the club will be happy to cover the cost but sometimes when things are offered for free people express an interest but then don't bother turning up whereas if they'd paid themselves they're more likely to make the effort.

How does a Saturday afternoon in early April sound? I guess that one thing we need to take in mind is whether we have a coach come along, and what their availability might be, but that might also depend on whether we just plan on having one session or several.

laurence_cooley wrote:I guess that one thing we need to take in mind is whether we have a coach come along

How about Dave Brailsford he should do a good job!

If Dave is busy could we fly Tyler over so that we can "experience the results of a true champion"?

http://www.tylerhamilton.com/programs.html

It was agreed last night at the meeting that the club would pay for some training sessions at Stourport (this being the logical place to have it as most people race on here). Also Ruth would be prepared to come down and give us some coaching as long as we had a few members out. What days do you think would be best for holding these sessions? What dates would be good?

D