A roundup of all National and Group News

VTTA National Championship 50.

The VTTA Championship 50, which was due to be run on 12 May had to be cancelled due to road works on the A66. The particular section of the road in question is a dual carriageway separated by trees. The organiser was fully aware of cones on this section as he had ridden the course the day before the event. On liaising with the Highways Agency, he received permission for the riders to ride on the other side of the cones. Up until the night before the event the cones were in ideal positions and riders would have had unobstructed lanes to themselves for 4 miles.

Without the knowledge of the organisers, overnight the northbound side of the carriageway was closed completely and the southbound side, normally one-way,  was being used in both directions. The result was that riders would have to ride amongst motor vehicles on very narrow lanes with no room to overtake and facing oncoming traffic. In order to ensure the safety of all the riders, the NLTTA had no alternative but to cancel the event.

A new date has been arranged for Monday, 26 August starting at 2:00pm. The later start time will enable some of those coming long distances to travel on the morning of the event.

The Point Series Rules for 2013

· Any ride on a “K” course, in an open event, during 2013, to count. Your position based on placing according to your time on standard will be taken.

· You must be a fully paid up member of the Midland VTTA at the time of the event for your placing to count. Rides done before you have paid your annual sub won’t count, and there will be no adding rides retrospectively—so better renew now, to be sure all your rides are eligible in 2013.

· At least 5 riders need to finish and record times on Standard for the event to count. In other words, there will need to be at least 4 riders other than yourself, who are Midland VTTA members, for the event to count in the series.

· Points are awarded with 200 for 1st and so on down. However the number of points awarded in an event is weighted by the number of qualifying competitors. This is done using something called “the Eyles Formula”. This is ((Number of people you beat or equal +1) ÷ Number of finishers)) x 200. This seems to work very well! The table on the right has used this formula as does the Midland ranking.

· If riders are equal on points, it will be the rides done in VTTA events that will then be used to separate them. The rider with the most points from those will be deemed the higher placed.

Prizes will be awarded as follows:

· 1st, 2nd and 3rd in each category with values of £60, £45 and £30

· A team award, judged on the accumulated scores of your 4 best riders will be given, worth £30 per rider

· Best improved in the season will win £40. It will be based on the increase in points accumulated in your 6 events compared with your previous year’s total. For 2013, the table featured in the Standard Times will be used, and those featured here will be eligible. NB If you think you rode 6 events in 2012 and for some reason don’t feature, please contact Alan Colburn and we will investigate. If you did not receive a copy of the Standard Times, please contact Alan.

Prizes will be vouchers for use at Echelon Cycles, in Pershore. We would like to thank Tim Wood and his team for their continuing support of the Series. It is much appreciated