Dubriders

NEW BEGINNINGS/SAD GOODBYES.

Hey y'all, happy 2009! It's the first update of the year =) A lot has happened clubside since the last update, we are getting more organised with some more volunteers added to the crew to make us stronger. Expect big things for 09! To start us off here's a round up of the last 6 months or so from the pen of the person who will be contributing lots to the website from now on, and is also our new Club Welfare officer. Welcome to the team Matt...

Hmm, been a little while since the last update huh? Where to even start? Well a lot has happened since the last one, some of it good news too but unfortunately there has been tragedy within the Dubrider ranks as well. The end of October 2008 saw the untimely death of one of our younger riders, Cagney O'Brien. Cagney's enthusiasm for bike riding was contagious and he will be sorely missed. His family are currently running a petition to create a bike park where Cagney was killed, go to www.petitiononline/cagneyO/petition.html for more info, and show some support. Hopefully something positive can be made from this tragedy.

"Cagney was one of the funniest easy going kids who made everyone laugh and so many kids knew him because of his love of bikes. Kids would come round the house because they knew he'd help them mend their bikes. We had the last 9 yr's together on our own, he really was my life he is missed by so many but he would have been so proud to be on your site." - Danielle O'Brien (Cagney's Mum)

On a lighter note, we held the Kebab Fest 2 jam/party up at Kingsdown last Autumn. I'm unsure about the details since I spent the majority of the evening drinking, but we had loads of visitors, peeps were shredding their bikes and we even gave out some prizes to the best performing riders on the day. This included Glyn Lycett who managed to own the middle line with back to back 360's to collarbone fracture. Good effort though mate!

Speaking of Kingsdown, our humble trails are not quite so humble now after some major reconstructive surgery over the winter months. The massive changes to the place are the result of a much bigger digging party this year, and in particular the warped (and unemployed) imaginations of Martin and Reds who really clocked in the hours over the coldest parts of the season, nice job guys! Peeps are of course welcome, but bring a helmet and check with a local before you ride cos we don't want to scrape any more people up off the floor!

Oh yeah, and XC jey-boy training is starting to pick up over in Fowlmead, but no one really cares about that though do they?

- Matt

Cheers for that Matt. Well yeah as you say there is quite a lot going on at Fowlmead right now. There have been quite a few successful British Cycling coaching sessions run during various school holidays over the past year, most of which I'm proud to of been involved with. These have included a mix of road and MTB skills, making sure that everyone has gone away with some new skills under their belt. Off the back of these sees the beginning of the new Fowlmead bike club on this Saturday 14 March. It is aimed at young people between the ages of 6 and 14 and will aim to provide fun riding sessions, off-road if possible, and make sure that everyone goes away with a smile and added bike confidence at the end of the day. The club will cost 2 quid per session and will start at 2:30pm, so be there at least 15 mins early as membership forms have to be completed by a parent/guardian. More details on the Fowlmead website soon, but please email Mark at Fowlmead to book a place - fowlmead@googlemail.com

As well as helping to run the Fowlmead bike club we have also been delivering a Mountain Bike engagement programme there for 15-16 year olds. This is aimed at getting the young people out of a boring classroom and into something that is fun, but has a structure for learning and certified outcomes like first aid and bike maintenance qualifications. The programme is going really really well, with everyone on the course improving their bike skills but also self confidence. It's awesome fun and i hope we can continue to run these programmes for young people in the future =)

So as Matt said there has been a whole load of work put in at our trails in Kingsdown. We have many new jumps, berms, hips, and a pumptrack. The whole bottom section has been cut back and built on, the place is sick! But before you all go getting excited and going for a ride, please note the place is still under construction and therefore closed until further notice. Waaaaay too much hard work has gone into the place this winter, we want to make sure every single jump is finished and dialled in for the upcoming summer of shredding, so please don't ride there yet. We are actually gonna keep this site updated now so keep checking here and we'll let you know when all systems are go. Cheers!

Well that's about it for now. Hopefully we'll be sending out some newsletter style emails soon, so check your inboxes!

Peace...

- Martin

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