It's getting close for the racing season to kick off, so it's time to reserve your race number for the season. You can head over to the forum and post up what number you'd like and we'll have it reserved for you. Click it here: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/topic/2012/03/reserve-your-race-number....

Due to rain and more coming tonights Youth Cycling League is cancelled. See everyone on Thursday.

First session will be Monday March 12th

With the time change planned for this weekend, we are ready to get the kids on track for the 2012 season. We've changed the name and that's about it for our new Youth Cycling League. As per last year, U12 riders aged 8-12 will ride from 5:30pm till 6:30pm and U16 riders aged 12-16 will ride from 6:30pm till 7:30pm. We need to remind all of our parents that each child will need a signed waiver to ride, you can print one here: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/system/files/atra_waiver.pdf or you can sign one on the day. As per last year East Point residents children will ride for free, be we are asking for an optional donation of $50 for non-East Point residents. You can make the donation online here: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/node/839 or bring cash/check to one of the session and hand it off to one of our coaches. All the info is here: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/youthcyclingleague.html

Coming up next month on the 27th of March is the Georgia Rides to the Capitol event. The ride is to raise support for improved conditions for bicycling in Georgia and is supported by the Metro Atlanta Mayors Association (MAMA). More info on the ride can be found on the website : http://www.georgiaridestothecapitol.org/

Once again, we'll be leading a group departing from the velodrome and heading up the the capitol to merge with the other groups at the Hurt Park merge point, before converging en-mass to the final destination at the state capitol building. Ride distance from the velodrome to the capitol is approximately 8 miles long and we'll be riding at a leasurely 12-14mph. Departure time from the velodrome is 10:45am Sharp, so be there a few minutes beforehand to catch up with us.

We'll be running two weekend beginners classes this spring before our regular season activities get under way. We'll be running a Womens only class on the 10th and 11th of March and an open class on the 24th and 25th of March. Both classes will run from 2pm till 5pm each day. As always our most excellent coach Brian will be heading those classes up, and we are hoping to have a special guest or two for our Women's only class as well. More details over at the Beginner page: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/beginnerprogram.html

2012 Spring Weekend Class Schedule

• Women Only - March 10th and 11th, 2pm to 5pm both days
• Open Class - March 24th and 25th, 2pm to 5pm both days

Thanks to some lobbying and new volunteering, for 2012 we will be introducing a new Saturday racing program called "Super Saturdays"! These races will be run once a month on the first Saturday and will be a rotation through of our Wednesday racing schedule. We're definitely excited for the new race day, and are looking forward to the season getting going. Here is all the information: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/supersaturdays.html

Latest news for our 2012 Regional Championship event, is that it will be changing it's name to "State Championships" and will now be the official USA Cycling Championship event for Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. The best rider from each state in the final omnium standings from the event will win their states championships. Georgia and Alabama winners will also receive a State Champion jersey. Championships will be offered in the Elite Men, Elite Women, Masters 40+ and Masters 50+ categories. The event will be held on Saturday August 11th, info is here: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/statechampionships.html

In addition to the conversion of our regional championship event to an official state championship, our former Junior Track Classic will now be converting in the Junior State Championships. Championships will be awarded to the winners of the omnium for each categories. Categories will include 10-12, 13-14, 15-18 Girls, 15-16 Boys and 17-18 Boys. This event will be held on Saturday June 9th, info is here: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/juniorchamps.html

We are planning two ore workdays for this spring before we get into our full regular season activities. These days will get the place looking great for the new season, so we'd love to see all hands on deck to take care of our maintenance. The dates will be:

February 25th - 9am to 3pm

March 31st - 9am to 3pm

We have a task list over in the forum, feel free to make any suggestions if you have some: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/topic/2012/02/workday-tasks-225.html

These days and the previous workday we hosted after the end of last season will count towards your 2 workday discounted season passes for the 2012 season. With two completed workdays, you'll be eligible for a $50 discount on your season pass.

Due to the rain tonights winter training session is cancelled. We'll see you next week!

Collegiate Season Pass
As part of our commitment to the growth of Collegiate racing at the Dick Lane Velodrome, we will be offering Collegiate Season Passes for the coming season. There will be discounts available for teams who sign up as a group, with the maximum discount available bringing the pass cost down to $150 per rider. The pass would be a discounted version of our One Pass and include all season events at the velodrome.

In order to get the discount, each team must submit a team roster with payment no later than March 31st. Submission details can be found by emailing velodrome manager, Jeff Hopkins jeff@dicklanevelodrome.com Riders who get the discount will be required to represent their collegiate team in all races entered at the velodrome.

Single riders may purchase a season pass for $250; each additional person on a teams roster will drop the price by $25 for each rider, until the price reaches $150(5 people) which will be the
lowest available rate.
$250ea – 1st rider price
$225ea – 2 riders price
$200ea – 3 riders price
$175ea – 4 riders price
$150ea – 5+ riders price

If you have team members who have not completed our beginners class yet, but are planning on doing so, they may purchase the pass in advance of the class at the discounted rate and be able to use the pass once they’ve completed the class. Collegiate discount may not be used in conjunction with any other discount. Any collegiate riders buying a pass after March 31st will pay the same amount as the riders on the submitted roster.

The Georgia Bicycle Racing Association(www.gacycling.com) will be hosting a USA Cycling Category C Official Class on February 11, 2012 beginning at 9:00 AM. The license fee is $35 and the length of the class, test and review is about seven hours. This will be a good opportunity for anyone thinking of becoming an official, and even those who are not to be able to learn more about the rules of racing, and about the job that our great officials do. The class is not track specific, it will include information about all disciplines of cycling. The location is:

Our Way Cafe
2831 East College Ave
Decatur, Ga 30030

If you are interested in signing up, please contact John Patterson, kb4slv@bellsouth.net

We do have a few minor changes to our Tuesday racing programs, nothing quite as monumental as our wednesday racing, but a few changes none-the less. Here are the key changes:

Name Change

Masters and Womens massed start nights will be rolled under one name for 2012, MWBC Massed Start Racing. MWBC stands for Masters, Women, Beginners, Collegiate, as those will be the categories for those race nights. Masters will once again be open for all 35+ riders who are not A's or D's. Womens racing will be open for all Women who are not D riders. Beginners(D Category), will be made up of new recruits who have completed our beginners class. The Collegiate Category will be open to any rider who is currently attending university/college and is representing their school(and have upgrading beyond the D category). Be sure to let us know the school that you are representing when you sign-up on race day.

Collegiate Racing

We will be hosting a collegiate category of racing for all collegiate riders during the two MWBC race nights each month. please spread the word amongst your collegiate cycling friends to make sure that we can get a great turnout for these race nights.

Sprint and Pursuit Nights

Unfortunately for the first time in a long time, we won't have the expertise of one Steve Hill to help us all with our sprinting techniques and tactics. The nights will still run however, with Tim and Mike at the helm to keep things running smoothly. Pursuit nights will remain mostly unchanged and will again be headed up by Tim Gallagher with help from Jeff and Mike.

You can see all of the details over here:
http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/weeklyracing.html

With the new year well under way, we just want to remind everyone of a few items to keep in mind as we move towards the new season.

Waivers

Everyone needs to have a new signed waiver on file with us for 2012. We do only require one waiver per year. If you are attending our winter training sessions, you can sign one on site, otherwise you should print one here: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/system/files/atra_waiver.pdf sign it and slide it under the door of the bike room. Velodrome staff will collect and file your waiver for the year.

Bikes

With the weather as cold as it is, now is a great time to give your bike a good check over so you can make any changes or replacements well before the season gets underway. Be sure to check that all of your bolts are tight, especially chainring bolts, and checking of your tires is especially important. They should be checked for wear and any cuts, and tubular tires should be checked for adhesion, and re-glued if the glue is any more than a couple years old. Outback Bikes is a great option for a bike shop to give things the once over.

Fees

If you were a season pass holder during the 2011 season, your season pass is good until the new season starts in April. If you weren't a season pass holder, you can purchase a $40 winter training pass that will get you till the start of the season, or pay $5 per day to ride at the velodrome. Your fee's do keep the gates open, so be mindful of this fact and help us grow by paying your fees. 2012 Season Passes will be available for purchase in March.

We've got some exciting changes in store for our Wednesday racing program. Specifically, we're extending our rotation of race nights from 3 to 4, and adding two new super exciting race nights. Gladiator night will feature 4 short races per category including Keirin's for all! Marathon night will incorporate 2 long races per category, featuring the new "Split Scratch" race(read it here: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/typesofevents.html) and points races. We are dissapointed to be losing our record night, but felt the new additions should keep things exciting, and better meet the needs of a broader number of racers. You can read the full schedules at the Weekly Racing Page: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/weeklyracing.html

Just a reminder that Winter Training starts tomorrow(wednesday) night at 7pm. Sessions are open for all riders, and open for whatever training you'd like to partake in. Training will only happen if the temperature is above 40deg at 6pm on the velodrome thermometer: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/pages/weather.html . Everyone will need to sign a new waiver for 2012: http://www.dicklanevelodrome.com/system/files/atra_waiver.pdf and will be required to sign in, and the daily training fee will be $5 unless you have a season pass.