Hot on the heels of the session at Lee Valley over Christmas 16 riders took part in a club session organised by Tom Kennison.
With Medway Velo having gained a reputation of being a club capable of taking club riders through the accreditation process at Lee Valley it was good to see a wide range of experience amongst the participants. A well organised session ensured plenty of time on the track and all of the riders were able to develop their skills and fitness, and whilst the track season is nearing its end, the road and sportive riders were looking for a good solid work out, which they received.
Having warmed up by changing in pairs we started a number of drills to sharpen our fitness; riding in two groups half a lap apart, a rider had to sprint to move from one group to the other on the blow of the coaches whistle. As the drill went on we all got faster and the gap between each of our sprints became shorter, however all of the riders looked smooth and even those with less experience looked like they had been riding for many years.
Experienced track league rider Matt Nunn looking sharp (photo courtesy of Amanda Cash)
In a repeat of the Christmas session we took part in a flying lap exercise, with some riders opting to up their gearing to give them every opportunity to ‘win’ whilst others on lower geared or hire bikes had to take best advantage of being in the velo group before splitting to try and make a go of it on their own. Those of us who hadn’t done this drill many times before took the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge of how to use the bankings and height to best effect, although some realised splitting from the velo group made things a lot tougher for them. Tom Kennison took the honours for the fastest lap, just ahead of Alex Cook.
The group finished off with gaining a lap in pairs, riders, some of whom had ridden together previously and others who had not, sprinted away from the bunch and changed with the intention of keeping the pace high and to keep working until they reached the back of the bunch again, before repeating the exercise once they had spent short while resting in the group.
Everyone agreed they had certainly been given a good work out with the various GPS devices showing we had ridden approximately 25 miles in the session. Thanks to Tom Kennison for organising the morning.
Amanda Cash took some photos which we have reproduced with permission on this page, her other photos from the day can be seen in the gallery.
Flying lap times:
Tom Kennison: 15.09 seconds
Alex Cook: 15.88
Steve Smith: 16.03
Rob Kennison: 16.06
Richard Kennison: 16.34
Jim Bentley: 16.78
Sean Farley: 17.69
Chris: 17.71
David Mayes: 17.72
Mike Gore: 17.85
Keith Johnson: 17.98
Matt Nunn: 18.10
Phil Booth: 18.44
Andrew Collyer: 18.93
Debbie Percival: 19.20
Charlotte Bentley: 19.25
