Floodlights

Work has begun today on getting the floodlights working at the track. This should take about a week to complete and then once they are working we will be able to hold gates with them on. The club nights will still be on a tuesday and a thursday and we expect them to get quite busy as no other clubs around here can run gates on these dark nights. We look forward to seeing you down here.

The British champs

Last weekend saw the British champs take place at Broadway house Cheddar. There was a handfull of Redditch riders taking part. The club had some great results and managed to finish 22nd out of 51 clubs taking part. Hopefully next year with new riders and riders who not out injured should see Redditch move up to be one of the top clubs.

Saturday saw the cruiser riders racing with 3 Redditch riders taking part. Tim Drew was in the highly competetive 35-39 class and got through to quarter finals. In the 9 - 12 class Harley Taylor took part and the newly crowned world number 4 got through to another final and got a great 3rd place. The other rider was Michael Gough who was competing in the 40-44 class which is a very tough class. He had a great day and finished a brilliant 2nd place, giving him a hugh smile on his face for rest of the weekend.

On the sunday it was the turn of the 20" racers with Sean Bowditch and Darcie Taylor joining in the racing. Sean was racing his first national event and managed to get through to quarter finals. Michael Gough was racing for second day running and got through to semi finals before crashing out trying to get the 4th place needed to get to his second final of weekend. Darcie and Harley both got through to the finals in there classes. Harley got 4th place out of 34 riders so well done to him. In the 7-8 girls Darcie led her final out of the gate right up to last straight. She was passed on last straight and then the 2 riders crashed into each other about 10 metres from end, then all the riders behind also piled into them seeing a lot of carnage. After everyone picked themselves up Harley ended up coming in 7th, such a shame after being in front for most of race.

A great weekend was had by all and hopefully next year will see Premiers coming on stronger.

Gates and club night

Gate practice is on tonight from 6pm till dark for those who want some last minute practice for the brits. The track will be open this weekend from 12 as usual but there wont be any gates as most of us will be at the Brits. Next club session will be next tuesday.

Final points for the Midlands series

http://www.midlandsregionalbmx.co.uk/files/Report%20Midland%20Regional%20Round%209%20Rotherham.htm

Premiers Clothing

We now have Redditch Premiers clothing for sale. We have hoodies, t shirts and long sleeve t shirts.
The hoodies are available in large at the moment but can take orders for other sizes.
T shirts are available in kids (5-6 year old) kids(10-11 year old), then adults m, l and xl.
The long sleeve red/white tops are only in large but can take orders for other sizes.
We are also getting some trucker hats soon, though they are not shown on pic.

PRICES ARE- T SHIRTS £10, LONG SLEEVE T SHIRTS £15 AND HOODIES £25.

CAN CONTACT US ON HERE IF YOU WANT ANYTHING OR SEE MATT OR SEAN DOWN AT THE TRACK.

Kelvins coaching day

A good turn out at the track yesterday for the coaching day. There was 13 youngsters of all levels happy to learn from Kelvin. The feedback was everyone enjoyed it and they looking forward to racing. There was a smaller turnout in the afternoon for the older riders but they still took on board everything that they were told. Hopefully we might be able to arrange another coaching day sometime soon.

Kelvin Batey at Redditch

Sorry its a bit of a late post ( Greg been on hols and i've been in hospital) but Kelvin will be at the track tomorrow doing his training sessions. The 10-12 session is for under 13 and 1 -3 is for 13 and over. Hopefully there will be good turnout to learn from the 2009 british champ.

South Africa Worlds - B.C. Video

Just watched this excellent video. It re-caps Shanaze Reade's amazing effort to become world number one again. It was produced by British Cycling and was filmed and edited by, the excellent, Corinne Walder. (If you've got HD on your computer it looks especially good.) Check it out. Hopefully it will inspire you to be the next world champ!!

Team GB at The BMX World Championships 2010 from British Cycling on Vimeo.

WEDNESDAY GATES!

Gates are on at the track tomorrow. They start at 6:30pm and it costs £3.

Gates, from now on, will be on a Wednesday evening and Saturday morning, Redditch weather permitting of course!!

Scott Edgeworth

A little edit of Scott Edgeworth riding the track on monday night, thanks to Segment Clothing for the edit.

http://segmentclothing.com/blog.php

Not bad for someone who had'nt ridden their bike this year!!!

Harley and Darcie

Harley and Darcie proudly posing for a picture after there great results in the finals.



Harley will be racing again sunday on his cruiser so good luck to him and lets hope he can get onto the podium.

WELL DONE DARCIE AND HARLEY

A BIG WELL DONE TODAY MUST GO OUT TO DARCIE AND HARLEY.

DARCIE IS NOW THE PROUD OWNER OF A WORLD NUMBER 3 PLATE, GOING 1 BETTER THAN SHE DID LAST YEAR. THIS IS A GREAT ACHIEVEMENT CONSIDERING 2 WEEKS AGO SHE WAS STILL IN A CAST ON HER BROKEN LEG.

HARLEY DIDNT QUITE MAKE IT ONTO THE PODIUM, BUT STILL MANAGED TO MAKE IT INTO THE A FINAL AND FINISHED WITH AN EXCELLENT 4TH PLACE.

HOPEFULLY WE SHOULD HAVE SOME PICS TO POST UP SOON, BUT FROM ALL OF US AT REDDITCH PREMIERS A BIG WELL DONE AND WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU BACK AT THE TRACK.

GOOD LUCK IN SOUTH AFRICA HARLEY AND DARCIE!!

Redditch Premier riders, Harley and Darcie Taylor, are attending the Worlds this week in South Africa. We would like to wish them every success and a safe journey for them and their family.


Return safe and sound.

Gate Practice

Gate practice, at the track last night attracted 20-30 'air hungry' riders who gave the track a real bashing. The rain held off and the wind dropped too; this allowed people to leave the ground without fear of sideways movement :-S The gate has been dampened slightly, making it quieter, (and hopefully less of a disturbance to our neighbours), it performed well under the watchful eye of club starter, Bri Thombs.

There were plenty of riders from RLS4X in attendance which was great. It's good to see 4X riders making good use of the facility, their bikes, equipped with front shocks and disc brakes seem to ride so smoothly over the terrain, or maybe that's just cause' they have good skills! Anyway a good time was had by all, thanks to those that made it happen and see you at the next session...this THURSDAY 22ND JULY - 6:30 - 8:30PM.

Finally, a reminder that, the next round of the Midlands region BMX season takes place at Harworth this Sunday...Good luck to all those that are travelling the distance to attend, (especially you Premiers!)

'Factory' Bri Spotted Riding Redditch!

Brian Thombs - Rotherham Regional - July 2008

Until last year, Brian Thombs, (father of club chairman Benn) rode in the 45+ BMX racing catergory. Heart problems, and a series of life threatening operations, have meant that Brian, (who in his 50's), has been unable to continue riding....However the other night, Brian was spotted, sporting a helmet and gloves, sessioning the last straight of the new Redditch track! Brian is now the official starter for the club and took part in the inaugural opening weekend; he did a stirling job, ensuring things went smoothly and safely for all the riders involved....It's great to see him on a bike again, an inspiration to us all.

Brian Thombs - July 2010

Saturday 17th July - Track Open Today

The track is open today 12 till 6pm
:-)

Click Here for a full track times schedule.

Club Membership Charges and Track Use Costs...

We now have a temporary agreement with our Council to open whilst we thrash out a permanent agreement. To start with we are running Club nights and gates every Tuesday from 6.30pm starting this coming Tuesday 20th July. It is likely that we will add a Saturday session and/or another week night session. As well as this, the track will be open on a regular basis for general use. I will update this thread with exactly when...times, dates etc.

The costs of all of the above is...

Daily session and Club session charges

Club nights/gates weekdays - £1.50 members and £3.00 non members

Club day/gates weekends - £2.00 members and £3.50 non members

General Use weekday - £1.50 members (day ticket) and £3.00 non members (day ticket)

General use weekend - £2.00 members (day ticket) and £3.50 non members (day ticket)

Dual day ticket for Track and Skatepark-(perfect for the summer holidays) - weekday and weekend, non members and members prices to be confirmed

The facility has ample parking right by the track, the track is in its own compound and will be staffed when open. It has changing rooms with Showers, Toilets, Lockers. Some safety equipment and bikes will be available for hire if required (limited amount), Floodlight gates will run in the Autumn and winter time, (Weather permitting).

Consent forms will need to be completed and signed, under 18's will need a parent to sign the form. These forms will be available from the facility or on our blog/website in the next week.

Redditch Premiers BMX Club Membership charges

Annual Adult membership (18 and Over)- £25

Annual Junior Membership (Under 18's) - £15

Annual Family Membership - £45

Membership forms will be available from the facility, or on our website/blog in the next week. If paying by cheque please make payable to 'Redditch Premiers BMX Club'

We look forward to welcoming you to our new facility.

Cheers

Benn

WE DID IT!!!

Benn Thombs - (Club Chairman)

Well, what a weekend!! Our open day, on Saturday, proved to be a massive hit with everyone who turned up. The car park was full in an hour, meaning we had to use the overflow parking around the track! People were streaming into the compound eager to find a place to sit and watch the afternoon's riding unfold. There was a great feeling to the day. The sun was shining, (the wind was blowing) and ice creams were being consumed by the dozen. It brought back memories of previous meetings, at the old Redditch track, from over 25 years ago. There were lots of familiar faces from the past, most notably, David Duffield, the man responsible for putting BMX on the UK map. The Deputy Mayoress made a wonderful speech, highlighting the hard work Steve Rooke, Benn Thombs, Council officials and all the Premiers had put in. Nick Harworth, from British Cycling, was present and seemed happy with how the day progressed too.

The track soon became a steady stream of riders, circling around and around. It was great to see new novices and established riders making good use of the facility. Martin and Mark from the UCR/Finelines BMX team were making mincemeat of the jumps on the second straight, even in the high wind they were clearing everuthing with style, (an impressive spectacle) At one point, a young lad named Luke, fell and hurt himself pretty badly; first aid swooped in and threw all their technical knowledge at him to ease his discomfort. Paramedics were called and he was whisked away to A&E. He was a brave little boy and we were all frightened that he might done some real damage....(The good news, there though, is that Luke returned the next day unscathed and ready to go again!!)

Racing on Sunday went better than we could have hoped for. We had nearly 200 riders attend. Riders and spectators travelled great distances to be with us, (thank-you again!). Motos went without a hitch. Not too many fallers during racing and feedback was generally positive about the track. It was a sight to see the team tents and vans sitting in the club compound, it really felt like a top venue, a bona fide bmx bonanza! As I stood on the top of the steep start hill I looked over to the skatepark; it was buzzing with activty too...What a facility!

Full Race Pens

Firning down the first straight (35-39 Cruisers)

Rich Eames did a cracking job of commentating on the races and it was looking like we might all get home for a very early tea, until we had a couple of gate hitches, ie, we needed to actually plug the thing in to the mains :-S All soon sorted and the finals commenced. They were an exciting spectacle, concluding with the 17-24 riders putting on a superbly competitve show.

It couldn't have gone better. Thankyou to all involved.

BMX TALK FORUM - Rider feedback

Rhodospin Photography - Race day images

British Cycling - Event Report

Redditch Advertiser - Local newspaper report

COMING SOON, TRACK OPENING TIMES!!!

British Cycling report

There is a great report on the British Cycling website with loads of pictures from the opening race yesterday. Click on the link to see it http://new.britishcycling.org.uk/bmx/article/bmx20100712--Official-Opening--Redditch-BMX-Track-0

Redditch Advertiser

The opening of the new track has made the front cover of the local paper, the Redditch Advertiser.

http://www.redditchadvertiser.co.uk/news/8243134.Eagerly_awaited_BMX_track_to_open_in_Redditch/

OPENING WEEKEND FLYER!

Garath Bates

Stay Strong team rider showing how the 3rd straight should be ridden on a recent session at the track.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fdqcj2h6fbc

REDDITCH BMX TRACK OPEN DAY AND REGIONAL DETAILS

Redditch BMX Track Open day Saturday 10th July 2010 2pm-6pm

This event has been organised to showcase the new track and facilities to the local Community. Final details haven’t been confirmed yet but expect the day to have a family feel. Local Radio Kingfisher FM will hopefully be attending. We will have a PA set up and maybe a couple of local bands playing.

We will have some exhibition races to show the local community what BMX racing is all about so we should have the gate running. This is a free event (meaning entrance and use of track is free).
Anyone wanting to ride the track will have to wear a helmet and long sleeve top and bottoms. Some safety equipment may be available for hire but this will be limited.

Accommodation
B&B’s and Hotels (Redditch does'nt really do campsites)
If people are wanting to travel and ride the track on the Saturday and stop overnight for the Regional the following day there won’t be any camping facilities track side for this event but here is a list of local B&B’s and Hotels. Google link to list of Hotels Most of these are within 5 minutes drive of the track.

The Closest Hotel to the track is the Campanile This is 3 minutes drive, from the track and from the Town Centre, and offers a discount if you are a member of a Sports federation like British Cycling.

Google link to B&B’s


Local Shops, Petrol Etc
-1 minute drive or 5 minute walk from the track is a Morrison’s Supermarket with Petrol station
-Overlooking the track is the Golden Goose Pub and Restaurant. This is open all day and serves food from lunchtime right through to the evening. It has a pub garden that backs on to the track with a small children’s play area. They have coverage of the World Cup. With the World Cup Final being on the same day as the Regional I thought I had better mention that :-). They do take reservations so If anyone is planning on eating there after racing it is worth booking earlier in the day.

-The town centre is 5 minutes drive from the track. There is an indoor shopping centre which opens from 10am till 4pm on Sundays. It has most of the top high Street stores, plus it has a multi screen Cinema on the top floor. Just in case some of the family fancy something different to watching the racing.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Midland Summer Series Round 6 – Redditch- Sunday 11th July 2010.

Car parking
There will be ample parking both in the car park by the track and on the field by the track. There will be no charge for parking. The management of the Golden Goose Pub next to the track have asked us if all BMXers can leave their car park for their patrons. So if you can respect this we would really appreciate that. As I said we have plenty of parking on race day that is 50 yards from the track this will be well signposted too.

Directions
For sat nav the post code to the track is B98 0DD

There will be road signs to follow probably from Junction 2 and 3 of the M42 to the track.

Link to map - Redditch BMX Track

Entrance Fee
As we are allowing free parking. There will be a £1 entrance fee for anyone over 12. For your pound you will get an event programme which will have a lucky number on it for the raffle which has already got some awesome prizes (see this page for updates on prizes over the next couple of weeks). As well as this there is the use of proper toilet facilities track side in our Clubhouse.

Music and Commentary
We have already hired a PA system for the weekend, so will have someone looking after the music on the Sunday. We have also booked the one and only Northern Monkey Rich Eames. He will come down on the Sunday to commentate on racing. For those of you that don’t know; Rich is one of the commentators at National Events, and has been for many years. We are chuffed to confirm his attendance and at a very reasonable rate too.

Pre-Registration
We will be doing pre-registration on Saturday 10th July – I will update this page with full details of times and pre-registration options in the next week.

Registration on day of Regional
We plan to start registration as early as possible, and this will close at 11.30am sharp, So Can we ask that people register as early as possible so we can get things moving. Anyone that is running late are advised to ring ahead to someone from their club to register you, as no one we be able to register after 11.30am

Race Fees
As per all Midland Regional’s this year
Novice - £5
Expert - £7

Schedule for all racers
Registration times- 9.30am-11.30am
Open Practice - 9.30am-10.30am
Under 13’s gates – 10.30am-11.15am
Over 13’s gates – 11.15am-12.00noon
Racing to start – 12.30pm

Trophies
There will be trophies for top 3 in all age groups 12 years and under including Novices.
Places 4-8 in all novice age groups will receive medals

Raffle
When paying your £1 entry fee will get a lucky number. The Prizes so far are as follows:
-Some goodies from The Source - http://www.sourcebmx.com/
-Some goodies from No limits – http://www.nolimitssports.co.uk/
-Some goodies from Urban Air - http://www.urbanair.co.uk/
-Mountain Fuel Energy Pack - http://www.mountainfuel.co.uk/
-Some Cyclecraft race shirts – kindly donated by the owner of Cyclecraft in Florida
-Several J&R Bicycles Number plates – kindly donated by J&R Bicycles, Florida
-1 month pass to Redditch Skatepark - http://www.redditchskatepark.co.uk/
-1 month pass to Redditch BMX track
-2 x Redditch Premiers trucker caps

And much more to be confirmed

Murray Family Visits the Redditch Track

Last night, (and lucky for us, the longest day), the track was briefly opened, and the start gate made operational for one night. This was to demonstrate to local Redditch Councillors that their decision, to allow the track to be built, was a wise and fantastic one. The evening was well attended by people from near and far, young and old (all riders, wisely sporting helmets). Everyone was ripping up the track, enjoying the fantastic weather conditions. Among the visitors were special guests, Stay Strong Rider Gareth Bates, Martin Murray, (brother of Stephen Murray) and Mason and Seth Murray, Stephens sons, currently on holiday in the U.K. It was so good to see riders of their calibre using the track to its full potential. It bodes well for the future, (Regional, National and eventually European.) events that we eventually wish to cater for.

Martin Murray and Mason Murray
(Photo Credit: Alan Milway)

For more pictures and further feedback follow the link below, Dirt Magazine did a sweet article, giving a sound review of the track, highlighting the fact that the facility will be as useful to 4X riders as BMXers, if the number of 4Xers there last night was anything to go by, they are right!
http://dirt.mpora.com/news/redditch-bmx-track-news.html

Finally, there is a wonderful article by Jeff Murray(Stephen's Dad) on BMXTalk today, regarding his son's current condition and the fact that, three years ago today, he had his terrible accident that left him paralysed from the neck down...You might like to take a quick look at the article; there's a small mention of the fact that Stephen intends to visit the U.K. this year, Quote:
Flights have now been booked for Stephen , Kristi and John to fly over with Virgin Atlantic to London on Wednesday August 18th. he intends to attend the Bob Fields Grands in August. Awesome news for everyone involved in U.K. BMX!

Stephen Murray...Coming to the U.K. in August 2010

R.P.

The next round of the Midlands regional series has been moved from Rotherham to Bulwell and takes place this coming sunday ( 20th June ).
Hopefully a few members will be making the trip up there to improve on the results gained at the last round.
The points and series standings after the first 4 rounds can be found here.
http://midlandsregionalbmx.co.uk/files/2010_Round_4_Chesterfield.htm

New Track Riding Footage!

Junior Profile Racing Europe Supremo, Harley Taylor, was witnessed test riding the Redditch track this evening. Harley was bravely attempting some of the jumps along the third straight, making all us older riders feel ashamed at our lack of ability:-) his dad, Chris, looked proud too!
(News of public track access coming soon...)

Premiers at Chezzy!

Redditch Premiers attended round 4 of the Midlands Regional series at Chesterfield. It was a beautiful day and the track was rolling smooth, especially down the, ultra fast, first straight. We had a whale of a time and all finished well, (and miraculously) without injury.

Sean (B-Final No More) Bowditch

Benn (Chairman) Thombs (no.32)

Benjamin Martinez (Honorary Redditch member for the day!)

Redditch Premiers 'Roll Call'. From left to right: Ben Martinez, Sean Bowditch, Tim Drew, Gregory Dunn, Josh Wilkins, Benn Thombs & Matt Mayneord.

Thanks to Matt Mayneord for the photos.

RLS 4X - Racing This Weekend @ Leamington.

4X Racing this Sunday, with practice (and camping on Saturday if you so wish). Organised by those loveley people over at Royal Leamington 4X. Looks like the weather's going to be good too :-)

Race Entry Fees:
Non Membrs: £15
RLS 4X Members: £10
BMX: £7
'Nippers and Parents Race': FREE.

For more information follow this link:
RACE DETAILS

Redditch Track Vid...

Redditch Premier, Scott Beaumont, recently posted a video on youtube. The video, taken with a helmet cam, shows how smooth the 'Redditch Raceway' is! It's looks irresistable. Track will be open in a few weeks as it needs to settle down and we need to complete some essential paperwork before anyone can officially ride it. For now, check the vid for a taste of joys to come!!
R.P.

British Cycling Photographer visits the track...

Richard Robotham, (official British Cycling BMX Photographer) recently visited the Redditch track. He's taken soome FANTASTIC photos of how the facility is shaping up. Click the Photo Album link to see all the pics. Other news: there will be a group of us travelling to Derby tomorrow for the next round of the Summer Regional Series. Also, there will be a comittee meeting this Tuesday to further disscuss membership arrangements and other important, pre-opening, matters.
R.P.

Redditch Track Photo Album

Club details are emerging...read on.

Club Chairman, Benn Thombs posted this on BMXTalk:

Hi Everyone,
Just some info about Redditch as there has been a few enquiries. Track opening - The track is pretty much done now. Went up today and the Floodlights are now all up and ready to go. The track is done bar a bit more watering and rolling/wackering. Biketrack.org are just finishing off the finish line area, pens, back of the start hill, and putting top soil down on the sides of jumps and backs of berm etc to generally just tidy the track up. They should be finished by the end of the week.

We havent got an official opening date yet. It is likely that we will need to sign the lease agreement with the Council and tie up a few more loose ends like insurance etc before we are able to open. So all I would say is we will be posting up on here and on our blog when we have an opening date so dont make the journey over until you get word from us coz i dont want it to be a wasted journey for anyone. We are working hard on this and we are dying to get it open for us all to enjoy so just bare with us.

Membership- Our membership form is done and ready to go live. This should be available to download off our blog in the next couple of days. Tim Print @ http://www.shooma.co.uk is reconstructing our site as we speak so all updates and membership will be on the blog. There is a link to the blog from www.redditchpremiers.co.uk (You can also register yourself at that web address for any updates.) All membership costs and details will be on the form and as soon as its live you can start sending them in.

Membership tariffs are as follows:

Standard Junior Membership(under 18's) - £15 per year - and £2 per session

Standard Adult Membership(18 and over) - £25 per year - and £2 per session

Gold junior Membership (under 18's) - £100 - unlimited free use

Gold Adult Membership(18 and over) - £150 per year - Unlimited free use

Non Members will pay £4 for every session

This is a facility with a difference. the facility is in its own compound. it includes a Clubhouse with Club room, kitchen, shower and toilet facilities, first aid room. The track is also floodlit. Dont forget that 150 yards from the track is a huge bmx orientated competition skatepark ( we had the French WE THE PEOPLE TEAM down there the other day). The track and skatepark facilities will be run side by side and we will offer day tickets so people can come for the day and ride both facilities at a very very reasonible reduced rate (tba)

We think that this is a facility like no other in the UK and is setting the bench mark for how all serious BMX track facilites should look, and run.We have to pay for all the running costs like water, electric, gas, insurance, track maintenance, and the biggest cost of all staffing. If we want the facility open all the time we have to staff it all the time, and as im sure you can imagine this isnt going to be cheap. We will look forward to welcoming you all to our new facility very very soon.

CheersBenn ThombsChairman
Redditch Premiers BMX Club

Lush New Track Pics...

Start Gate Detail - (Check out the grip on that!)

Floodlights going in...(No excuses not to ride in the Winter!)

Final Surface going down!

The end is in sight!

No need for words...cast your eyes over the latest track pics...
R.P.