http://www.britishcycling.org.uk this week has an outstanding range of action, features and interviews including interviews with Jamie Staff, Rob Hayles and Tony Gibb. There’s also an online catalogue of GB 2003 Team bikes now for sale – Trek OCLV Road bikes and Fuel and 9.8 carbon Trek MTB bikes. The Racing Calendar magazine should also be with Gold members and other subscribers in the next few days – please email membership services membership@britishcycling.org.uk if your copy fails to appear. Please note that the Racing Calendar will have a free copy of Mountain Biking UK magazine with it. GO THERE >>>

BRITISH CYCLING WELCOMES OLYMPIC BID

British Cycling wholeheartedly welcomes and supports the bid for the Olympic Games to come to London in 2012.

“We have been fully engaged in the preliminary processes,” said British Cycling President Brian Cookson (pictured left), who is also a member of the Executive Committee of the British Olympic Association, “and we are delighted with the proposals. We offer our full support to the Bid and will be working as closely as we can with our friends in the British Olympic Association and the Bid organisation to ensure that we are successful in securing the Games for London”.

Proposals in the bid show the construction of a new covered velodrome to be one of the main features of the proposed Olympic Park in East London. The velodrome, together with the BMX track which will be necessary as BMX becomes an Olympic sport from 2008, will form part of a superb new Velopark, containing a range of permanent sporting and leisure cycling facilities as part of the legacy of the Games. It is planned that the Lee Valley Regional Park will ensure the ongoing maintenance and management of the facilities and that British Cycling will make the Velopark the base for its activities in the South East of England.

One of the showpiece events of the Games will be the Olympic Road Race, which will take place on a circuit based on Hyde Park in Central London. “Final details of the circuit are yet to be confirmed,” said Cookson, “but it is clear that this will be a fantastic spectacle for the crowds and a real winner in terms of television coverage”.

Mountain biking is set to take place a few miles outside London at the picturesque Swinley Forest. Already managed for leisure use, the venue will provide a superb and testing course, and another location ideal for the spectator.

“We see a London Olympic Games as the best possible thing for British sport and for cycling in particular,” said BC Chief Executive Peter King. “We have invested a massive amount of resources in achieving Olympic success in competition, and the next step is to see the extra impact that holding the Games in Britain can bring. We have worked hard to support the preparations and now we need everyone who cares about sport to get behind the Bid”. GO THERE >>>

WANT TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GO-RIDE?

British Cycling will be hosting a number of meetings locally for anyone who would like to know more about the Go-Ride programme. The invitation is open to divisional officials, club representatives, sports development officers, coaches, parents and volunteers and will focus on explaining what the Go-Ride programme includes, the importance of club development and what training and support is available at a local level. If you would like more details, please contact your Regional Coaching & Club Development Officer. The next meeting will be held at: Exeter - 28th February 2004 GO THERE >>>

BRITISH CYCLING AND EASTWAY GROUPS AGREE WAY FORWARD

At a meeting held in London on Friday 9 January 2004, British Cycling’s President, Brian Cookson, Chief Executive Peter King, and Facilities Officer Dave Cockram, met with 11 representatives of all the main user groups from the Eastway cycling facility in the Lee Valley Park. These included local BC officials, as well as representatives from local youth-based clubs, LVRC, TLI, London Cyclo-Cross Association, MTB representatives, plus BMX and Speedway which are not currently practised at Eastway.

Concerns had been expressed about the impact of the Olympic and Velopark plans and the disruption or reduction that would be caused to the existing road and off-road cycling facilities.

Under the chairmanship of Roy Gardiner of the Hainault Roads Club, the meeting heard from Peter King and Dave Cockram about the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority’s exciting plans for a multi-use Velopark, and how this fitted into the possible use of some of the site in connection with the London Olympic Bid.

Peter King confirmed that BC were working hard with the LVRPA to ensure that the funding would be in place both for the capital investment in site redesign and facilities construction and for the continuing running of them. He emphasized that a commitment to minimum disturbance during the construction of new facilities had been obtained from LVRPA due to the level of interest and commitment expressed by the cycling community. He confirmed that the LVRPA were fully behind cycling at Eastway.

Dave Cockram said that the proposed Velopark development would be the largest and most comprehensive cycling venue in the world and a great advertisement for cyclesport. He confirmed that the Velopark is being planned so that all users (road, MTB, BMX, speedway, track) could be there at the same time, and that all of the facilities are being planned currently to Olympic standard. As part of its development strategy, BC will use Eastway as its South East England base and would have its offices and staff for the region based there.

The representatives agreed to support the concept of the Velopark and the Olympic Bid, providing that:

.the existing road circuit was replaced by a similar or better facility, capable of adaptations to suit different users.

.the area of land available for off-road use remained the same with a variety of circuits of up to 3 miles in length possible.

.the new facilities were integrated in ways that did not cause conflict between users and were available before the existing facilities were removed from use.

.the integrity and safety of the cycling facilities were not compromised by any other uses, or changes to surrounding land uses.

The Eastway Group agreed to support wholeheartedly British Cycling in its efforts to secure this facility The group also agreed to meet again, and to set up working parties to draw up more detail on the specifications for the individual facilities, using both British Cycling’s Facilities Guide and local Eastway expertise.

BC President Brian Cookson said, “The meeting was both timely and useful for all concerned. I am very confident that, by working together with all the interest groups, we can ensure that the Velopark concept is successfully implemented to provide a new future for Eastway and a superb facility for London and the South East that will be the first of it’s kind in the world!”

Chair of the meeting Roy Gardiner said, “BC top officials coming to an Eastway Group meeting shows they mean business. Combining the national body’s standing and expertise with local knowledge will enable us together to achieve the finest possible cycling venue. Anywhere”. GO THERE >>>

Bradley Wiggins, Steven Deneef, Rob Hayles, Chris Newton, Paul Manning, Bryan Steel, Tony Gibb, Jerome Neuville, Roland Garber, Malcolm Elliott, Huw Pritchard, the Downing brothers, Jon Norfolk, Jamie Staff and the Greek team who have been in Manchester training.

Sunday morning (11am Sunday 25 Jan) sees the legendary Bikes and Bits cycle jumble at the Manchester Volodrome taking places. This is the country's premier cycle jumble, with loads of new and used kit for sale, including a mouth-watering GB Team stall selling of lots of goodies, including 2003 GB Team bikes. The jumble is more than just a chance to buy and sell, it's also a great social occasion which, coming on the back of the previous night's Revolution track meeting, makes it one heck of a weekend in Manchester for cyclists and a great excuse to travel and stay over for those from further afield. GO THERE >>>

MANCHESTER WORLD CUP TICKETS

Tickets for the Track World Cup, Manchester Velodrome 9-11 April, are now available by calling 0871 230 2621 or at www.worldtrackcycling.com GO THERE >>>

BMX Open Events

2 events on the BMX calendar this weekend. Both open events, so no points chasing for a change. There's been a recent change of personnel at Exeter Eagles, so please show your support for Bradley and his crew and help them re-establish Exeter as great venue again. Expect the usual relaxed racing at Mid Lancs on Sunday. Tony Parry and crew will ensure you'll have a smooth days racing, but can't promise you any sunshine.

Last week's event attracted over 120 riders at Newnham park. Next weekend will see round 4 return to Ashcombe, so let's hope the trend continues

NPS XC AND TREK 642

Mike Davis at bikeMagic.com – media partner of the 2004 NPS series, has issued the following press release: 2004 could be the year that XC race weekends become, well, weekends again. Ever since cross-country and downhill became effectively two different sports, lots of people have found that there hasn't really been enough going on to warrant a whole weekend. British Cycling and series sponsor Trek have teamed up with veteran (as in experience, not old…) race promoter Martyn Salt to create the Premier Mountain Bike Series, and it's looking pretty promising.

Possibly the most significant move is the shifting of the NPS racing itself to the Saturday of each round. Sunday racing has suffered from people not showing up until Sunday morning (as there's not much going on Saturday) and clearing off again when they're done, leaving the last race of the day (often the Elites) charging round otherwise empty hillsides and rendering the whole thing slightly devoid of atmosphere. Running the XC races on Saturday and another race on Sunday should encourage people to make a weekend of it.

So what's the Sunday race, we hear you ask? It's the Trek 6,4,2 Enduro, an innovative format offering a choice of distances. Want to do six hours? Start at 10am. Only feel like four? Start at noon. Quick two hours more your style? Wait until 2pm. And then everyone finishes at 4pm, which should be pretty cool.

Also new for the series is the Short Track XC, involving eight riders at a time racing on a very short (about 500m has been mooted) XC course. The top four go through to the next round until a winner is decided, in a "BMXC" sort of a way. And heats will be drawn from all of the entered riders so you might find yourself next to Barrie Clarke on the line… It'll certainly be fast and, if they get the courses right, should be spectator-friendly too.

As if that lot isn't enough, British Cycling's Go-Ride campaign, designed to get more kids on bikes, will be piggybacking on the series with a range of coaching and skills events throughout each weekend. Each event will be promoted in local schools.

A lot of effort is going in to getting the courses and venues right, which looks like it'll mean a return to some classic XC venues of days gone by - Newnham Park, Eastridge, all that kind of stuff. And we're told that entry fees should be quite reasonable too… Venues and dates aren't finalised yet, though - we'll bring you all the details when we have them.

Congratulations to the following MTB Commissaire course attendees who have all passed with flying colours: Jim Smith, Eamonn Lawlor, Phil Pollard, Brendan Kilbride, Phil Reed, Anthony McCloskey, Geoffrey Seymour, Theresa Jordan, John Mills, Mike Jackson and Paul Holmes.

If enough interest in a final course for 2004 at Exeter on Sunday the 15th or 22nd of February is shown, then it will go ahead. Email mailto:mtb@britishcycling.org.uk and state your interest.

The Marathon World Series dates have been announced. Good luck with getting from France to Canada overnight, now that really would be a marathon.

EVENT UPDATES AND ADDITIONS

BC MAJOR EVENTS ROAD CALENDAR

Guildford Town Centre Circuit Races (Incorporating round of BC National Elite Men's Circuit Race Series)

The Bishop & Partners Grand Prix, Longridge, Lancashire (BC National Masters Road Race Series 40+ & 50+)

ROAD CALENDAR

Distance of 3,4,W,J event should be 40km not 70 km as listed, Closing date extended the until 2 February 2004.

20th March Central Division Team Sport & Publicity Circuit Races, Hillingdon Postponed till later in year. Already an Event at Hillingdon being run by Westerly RC that day.

28th March - East Mids Division Metaltek Grand Prix Road Race, Hose Village Hall

18th April East Mids Division Sid Standard Memorial Road Race ( BC National Junior Road Race Series Event). Organiser's Address is now - 6 Rocket Close, Watnall, Nottingham NG16 1GE

BC MAJOR EVENTS TRACK CALENDAR

CYCLO-CROSS CALENDAR
North East Cyclo-Cross League final round - Sunday 25th January, Hetton Lyons, near Sunderland. The main race now has category B status, with £400 of prizes courtesy of Science In Sport and Cestria Cycles. Details as per the Racing Calendar. Contact Keith Murray, 01325 362390. GO THERE >>>

SOUTH CIRCUIT LEAGUE

Following on from the success of the South Circuit League in 2003, South Division have extended the counting events in 2004 from four to seven and have split the 3rd and 4th Categories into separate events. There have also been changes to the information as published in the current BC Events Magazine. The first event is on

Sunday 14th March 2004 at Thruxton Motor Circuit, Andover, not Castle Combe as advertised. The next six events take place on are as follows

The emphasis is on the overall League, but there is a small prize fund available on the day. Due to the increase of the counting events there is a reduced entry fee for the series, the revised Entry Fees are now Youth: £18·00 per Series, £3·00 per event, £5 EOL. All others: £42·00 per Series, £7·00 per event, £10·00 EOL. Cheques payable to South Division

Please email all news and press releases to the newsletter editor Phil Ingham pressoffice@britishcycling.org.uk.

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