There are loads of opportunities for regional racing this spring and summer for all ages from Youth E (U8) up to Youth A (U16). Here are some of the highlights, these are by no means the only races so use the British Cycling Events Website to make sure you don’t miss anything else. It’s worth spending a bit of time learning how to use the BC Events website as you can filter events by age category and race type (eg track, circuit) and you can also save your searches when logged in which then appear under ‘Saved Filters’ which saves you a lot of time in future if you just want find “All Youth D races within 50K of Brighton”, for example.
Circuit races
Crystal Palace circuit series. A Tuesday evening series on a closed circuit at Crystal Palace running for 10 weeks. Youth races happen before senior races, and the youth races are FREE OF CHARGE. Entries on the night. Starts Tues 18 April. Keep watching BC Events page for the remainder of the series to get publicised, or the Dulwich Paragon organisers page.
Spring in the Park series at Cyclopark. A series of 7 races on Friday evenings or Saturday mornings at Gravesend Cyclopark, always a good PPYCC turnout at this one. Starts Fri 21 April, all events are available for booking on BC Events. The series also has its own website.
Herne Hill crit league. A technical circuit is formed using the banked velodrome and the tarmac track inside the track centre. Starts Fri 05 May, series details on on the Herne Hill website and bookings are made via RiderHQ. The series culminates in a Team Crit Event on Fri 23 Jun.
Winchester Park & Ride crit series. A series of 3 Sunday morning races at an empty Park & Ride site on the outskirts of Winchester, on 07 May (hosted by VC Venta), 18 June (hosted by Sotonia CC) and 02 July (hosted by VC Venta again). The 18 Jun event is also the South Regional Youth Circuit Championships so this should attract a great quality field (note that PPYCC is in the BC South East region, not the South region, so while you can still enter this, you won’t be able to be crowned a South regional champion!).
South East Circuit Series. A regional series that kicked off with the 2 Days of Cyclopark (25-26 Mar) and continues with Crystal Palace Crits on Tues 18 Apr, Spring in the Park #2 on Sat 06 May, another race TBC in June and the excellent Guildford Town Centre Crits on 05 Jul (keep an eye on the BC Events site for this as it is not yet listed).
Other one-off, all-ages events include Eastern Counties Festival at Redbridge on Sat 03 June.
Talent development centre sessions are for Youth A and Youth B riders and a cluster of London clubs are running a series of Regional Development Centres at Kempton Park Racecourse (Sundays April 16th, May 7th, May 21st, June 11th, July 9th 2023; 1030-1230) which all clubs are invited to. The circuit sessions will be structured and progressive focusing on racing techniques and will cover the technical and tactical skills required to race successfully at a regional and national level.
Track races
Sussex Cycle Racing League, Preston Park. Our home league at Preston Park, every Wednesday from April 19 through to August. See the SCRL website for details. There are good numbers from all age groups at SCRL and we encourage as many PPYCC members as possible to race as it’s an excellent introduction to bike racing.
Convene ESG Track League, Herne Hill. Every Wednesday evening for 26 weeks from April to September. Details on the HHV website which has links to entries on RiderHQ.
One-off, all-ages open track meetings. Look out for these on the BC Events site, some notable events include Coronation Open at Herne Hill on Sat 06 May and the Herne Hill Youth Team Track Champs on Sun 04 Jun.
National Youth Omnium Series. This is for experienced track riders only, but if you’ve done a full season of SCRL then you should be ready for this. It’s a national series but there are rounds across the South East including Portsmouth on 22 Apr, Herne Hill on 23 Apr, Brighton on 21 May and Bournemouth on 11 June. The national series is Youth C and above but many rounds also offer Youth D and E races as well.
Cyclo Cross and MTB races
MAAP London Summercross 2023 – a short CX series of 4 Friday evenings at Herne Hill from 07 Jul to 04 Aug. They are promoted via the BC Events site but entries and full info are on the Beastway MTB website.
Southern MTB XC Series includes rounds in Fareham, Reading and Basingstoke. Entries via the series listing on BC Events site.
Beastway MTB Series runs every Wednesday for 8 weeks through May and June at Redbridge Cycling Centre on the outskirts of London. They also have their own website. Both MTB riders and Cyclo-crossers are welcome.
Kids Triathlon
Kids Tri series are very well organised and well attended events around Sussex, and many PPYCC riders have competed and done very well at these. Events include Worthing duathlon (run, cycle, run) on 07 May, Billingshurst Triathlon on 16 July, Steyning triathlon on 19 August, Bognor triathlon on 10 Sept and Billingshurst Aquathlon (swim/run) on 08 Oct. The price is steep at £20-25 entry but if a parent volunteers to marshal, your child’s next event is free. See the KidsTri website.