Tuesday 30 June 2009

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 2nd July

This Thursday's sessions are on at the usual times; the Sprogs run from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs run from 19:00 to 20:30. This week, the Yoofs will be aiming to ride the complete red route, so please take along something to drink and turn up at 18:45 to allow plenty time for registration and bike checking before the ride. The Sprogs coaching will take place on the 4X style race course that was set up for the Go-Ride at the Castle event and Rik will kick things off by covering race starts.

As per the information last week, we plan for the Sprogs to run on every Thursday during the summer holidays whilst the Yoofs will have a two week break before returning to weekly sessions for the rest of the season. Details of the summer coaching timetable will be posted on the blog later this week - these are already up on the club notice board in the Drumlanrig Stableyard together along with with our Go-Ride Clubmark certificates.

Finally, thanks to everyone who turned up for the trail building this evening - I'm sure you'll agree that we carved out an impressive length of brand new singletrack for one evenings work. For those who can spare the time. Rik is running another session next Tuesday starting at 18:30.

Monday 29 June 2009

Trail building session 30th June 18:30 -20:00

Rik is running a trail building session tomorrow night and we are looking for volunteers from the club to come along and join in. If you can help out, please turn up at Rik's Bike at the Castle at 18:30. The session will last until about 8pm and your help would be greatly appreciated. Sorry for the short notice - we do like to keep you on your toes though!

Don't forget to bring a spade, rake, gardening gloves, wear suitable clothing and bring something to drink.

Tuesday 23 June 2009

Drumlanrig Dirt Crit Race Event Summary



The race event that we held last Saturday was great success - well done to everyone that took part. Here are a few pictures to record the action.



A summary of lap counts is given below for each of the riders




Under 16's event
30 Jordan (7 laps)

Under 14's event
20 Morgan (8 laps)
21 Ruaraidh (6)
22 Hamish (7)

Under 12's event
10 Rian (6 laps)
11 Cameron S (6)
12 Cameron P (4)
13 Guy P (6)
14 Adam (7)
15 Eoghain (5)
16 Callum (5)
17 Kyle (5)
19 Lizzie (4)
18 Mona (4)

Under 10's event
2 Campbell (1 lap)
3 Fergus (2)
4 Fraser (4)
5 Kyle (5)
6 Greg (1)
7 Kyle S (6)
8 Ariana (2)
9 Connor (7)
40 Polly (1)
41 Corey (3)
42 Rebecca (1 lap)

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 25th June

This Thursday's sessions are on at the usual times; the Sprogs run from 17:15 to 18:30 and the Yoofs run from 19:00 to 20:30. This week for the Yoofs, we are planning to run a session on the descender race course that was set up for the Go-Ride at the Castle event but thundered off. It is getting close to our last chance to use this before it goes back to nature and it should be really good fun.

Over the summer, our current plans are for the Sprogs to run on every Thursday whilst the Yoofs will have a two week break before returning to weekly sessions for the rest of the season. Watch out for more details of the summer program next week. By the way, as promised earlier, the aim for the Yoofs next week will be to ride the whole of the red route.

Tuesday 16 June 2009

Drumlanrig Dirt Crit (updated information)

Updated information on Drumlanrig Dirt Crit (posted Thursday 18th June 17:00)

I am afraid that Drumlanrig Rik's Bike Shed cycling club have been forced to alter the format of Dirt Crit Race that we are having at the Castle this Saturday. This is because we have been unable to appoint a race commissar in order to register the race with British Cycling. We apologise to all concerned for the late notice and will return any payments that have been made. Don't be disappointed though, because the good news is that with the help of Scottish Cycling, we are still going to hold a race event at Drumlanrig this Saturday and you are very much invited to attend. This will be a coach led racing event. The difference between this and the Dirt Crit is that the race will be run as a coaching session with entrants remaining under the supervision of the Drumlanrig / Scottish Cycling coaching team throughout the event. Don't worry though, we'll keep you all entertained with additional fun activities!

Sign on for the event will be at 10am and we plan to start the activities with a warm up and pre-ride at 10:30am so please aim to arrive for 09:45. For non-members / season ticket holders, there will be a nominal £2 parking charge payable at the Castle kiosk. Please get in touch by reply if you have any further questions. I am on 0775 284 1935 and Rik's Bike Shed can be called on 01848 330 080.

We look forward to seeing you there.


Here are details of the Drumlanrig Dirt Crit Youth MTB race on the 20th June 2009. Click on the images for a full screen view - watch this blog post for updates to the race and race day travel and parking instructions. We are looking for volunteers to help with the marshalling on the day - please get in touch with Rik if you would be able to help out.




Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 18th June

Just a reminder about this weeks coaching sessions at Drumlanrig. The U12 Sprogs group will meet between 17:15 and 18:30 and the Yoofs U12 group will meet at the Castle between 19:00 and 20:30. With the Drumlanrig Dirt Crit just days away, we will devote our time to a pre-ride of the race route to give everyone their best chance of doing well in the race. More information can be found about the race at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/drumlanrig-dirt-crit.html and you are still welcome to hand in entry forms at the start or end of Thursday's sessions. Sign on for the race is at 10:00 on Saturday. We will be looking for volunteers to help with course marshalling on the day; if you would be prepared to help out in this way, please either let me know by reply, or tell Michelle when you sign on.

Many of you have asked about when our club cycling shirts will be available and we discussed this at our committee meeting last night. The good news here is that we are hoping to have the shirt design and order forms available on Saturday at the Cirt Crit Race. The club plans to sell the shirts at a discounted rate to encourage everyone to buy one.

Tuesday 9 June 2009

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 11th June

With just a week and a half to go until the Drumlanrig Dirt, our focus in the coaching sessions will be turning towards race preparation. As ever, the U12 Sprogs group will meet between 17:15 and 18:30 and the Yoofs U12 group will meet at the Castle between 19:00 and 20:30. More information can be found about the race at http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/drumlanrig-dirt-crit.html and you are welcome to hand in entry forms at the start or end of Thursday's sessions.

As some of you might be aware, the Scottish Circuit Race Championships are taking place on Saturday the 28th June at Erskine Harbour. Further to this, Johnstone Jets, the local youth cycling club are running a circuit race for age groups U14, U12, U10 and U8. For further information, see the Johnstone Jets web-site at http://www.johnstone-jets.org.uk/erskine_circuit_race.htm. This is a good chance for anyone who is interested in road racing to give it a go in closed road environment.

Tuesday 2 June 2009

Drumlanrig Root Rats Coaching Thursday 4th June

To: Drumlanrig Go-Ride Riders and Parents

Continuing with our summer term timetable of events, club sessions are on this Thursday for both the Sprogs (U12) and the Yoofs (U16) groups. The Sprogs starts at 1715 and finishes at 1830 and the Yoofs group will start at 19:00, finishing at 20:30. Please make every effort to arrive 15 minutes before these times to allow for offloading, registration etc. Richard Lord will be here again from Scottish Cycling and the Yoofs group will be going out on a ride. Our aim this week is to tackle the second half of the red route.

Next Tuesday is the second Tuesday of the month and this means that it is Trailbuilding Tuesday. Trailbuilding starts off from Rik's Bike Shed and runs from 1830 to 2000. Everyone in the club is asked to come along and take part in these sessions in order to help pay pack the generosity of the Drumlanrig Estate for letting us meet on their land and use their trails free of charge. All you need to do is come along suitably dressed with a spade and/or a rake. Come along - it's fun.

Don't forget about our Dirt Crit U16's race on the 20th June. I've just spoken with Michelle and entries have started to come in. All Sprogs and Yoofs are encouraged to come along and have a go in the race. More info can be found on http://rootrats.blogspot.com/2009/05/drumlanrig-dirt-crit.html. As well as the racing on the 20th June, the Root Rats club will become the seventh club in Scotland to be presented with its British Cycling Go-Ride Accreditation. This represents the culmination of almost two years of work by the club, kicked off by Rik when he went on a British Cycling Level 2 Coaching course, and ensures that the activities we run are of the highest standard.

Finally, if you have a look on the club blog www.rootrats.blogspot.com , you will be able to see a collage of the pictures that we took at the coaching sessions last week. There are also a few photos of club riders from the Dumfries and Castle Douglas town centre crit races that took place on the 23rd and 24th May.