Friday 30 November 2007

London League ??

You may have gathered that the bulk of my cyclo cross races form part of the London League. However, of the 18 races, including the team championships only 2 of them are actually being held in London (2 rounds at Herne Hill Velodrome and 1 at Hillingdon Cycle Circuit). Fair enough, it wouldn't be very practical to hold a cyclo cross race in Hyde Park, and gaining permission to race in the Royal Parks is not an easy task. But what's the deal with organising events in deepest Kent and Sussex ?? The last 2 rounds we've done were along the Sussex coast - almost 50 miles away - and we'll be back on the coast again next week when we race at Stanmer Park, Brighton. Even the round held at Lydden Hill, nr Dover was actually nearer to France than London !!

Don't get me wrong - some of the venues are quite nice and I still appreciate the effort that organisers put into staging an event. What irks me though is the fact that this is called the "London League" and yet we race nowhere near London. It's not doing what it says on the tin. In fact the South East Regional Championships are being held in.......Fakenham, North Norfolk. My schoolgirl geography tells me that's Eastern England - about a 3 hour drive away. Why the hell are they being held up there ?? Naturally many London based cyclists have voted with their feet (or even their wheels) and won't be making the trip up there.

Ok just ranting 'cos I'm having a bad day, feeling tired and not relishing the whole of yet another Sunday being taken up going to do a race I can only hallucinate about winning !

Still, I'm really happy to have the chance to race in the league, and this year in particular there's been a good group of women getting out regularly - so whatever it's called the London League must be doing something right. At the end of the day who cares what we call it !

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