This season is already shaping up to be a really good one and we have some important PPYCC events for your diaries. These are all now on the club calendar page, which contains a Google Calendar link you can subscribe to.
SCRL Track League starts, Wed April 20th
This runs for 16 weeks until mid August and is a brilliant introduction to youth racing for our newer members and a great chance to catch up with old friends for our more experienced riders. You will need to get track accredited during our regular Saturday sessions and will then be able to race. See the SCRL website for instructions on how to sign up. This is the first step for PPYCC riders to get a taste of racing at a local level and last year we had lots of younger PPYCC riders trying track racing at SCRL for the first time. We have increased our loans pool of small track bikes are really keen to get the numbers up even more this year!
National Youth Omnium at Preston Park, Sun 29th May
The Preston Park round of the National Youth Omnium series is the biggest annual race event and the only national-level race held at Preston Park velodrome and is an important fundraiser for PPYCC. The best youth riders from across the South will descend on Preston Park for a day of exciting racing. Any PPYCC rider who is track accredited and has gained experience racing at SCRL should consider entering this event for an exciting and memorable experience. For all NYO Series dates across the South, please see the NYO page on the British Cycling website.
PPYCC at Lee Valley, Sat 11th June
The club’s first trip up to Stratford Olympic Park since before the pandemic, we look forward to taking a new generation of PPYCC riders up to experience the thrills of indoor track riding. This is currently full but do add yourself to the waitlist if interested, in case anyone drops out. Details here.
PPYCC Hill Climb, Sun 11th Sept
A traditional season-closing event for British cycling clubs, PPYCC’s 2022 hill climb is the first of what we hope will become an annual event. On a local climb near Brighton, this will be a closed road event open to youth riders from across the region. This will suit all of our members from U8 all the way up to U16s for a fun Sunday morning and we’d love to see the whole club turning out for this. Regardless of your final position in the overall standings, the highest placed PPYCC rider in each age group will become our first PPYCC Hill Climb Champions.
PPYCC/Brighton Mitre Track Records Day, Sat 24th Sept
We have always kept informal records of riders times from our distance challenge sessions but we don’t really have formal club record holders over set distances. This is all set to change as PPYCC teams up with Brighton Mitre for a Track Records Day at Preston Park. The Mitre have junior and senior records, some of which have not been challenged since 1935, so maybe you could aim to smash a century-old record too!
PPYCC Club Championships, Sat 1st Oct
PPYCC club championships will be contested at our normal Saturday morning sessions on 1st October. The races will be run in British Cycling age categories starting with Youth E (U8) and working up to Youth A (U16). Who will be our 2022 club champions?!
PPYCC Cyclo Cross Race, Sat 6th Nov
This is also one of the clubs biggest race events of the year and our main annual fundraiser given the size of the field, which attracts hundreds of competitors across all age groups. This is part of the London and South East Cyclo Cross League and includes races for adults and youths, with a great family atmosphere. For any younger riders who own a gravel bike, cross bike or mountain bike, this event is well worth a try if you haven’t tried a CX race before.
These events would simply not be possible without our amazing event organizers who do all the event planning and administration, supported by a small army of PPYCC volunteers that help on the day. Thankyou to each and every one of you for making this all happen!