Details of The Handcycling UK Championship (listed 2/6/09)

The Handcycling UK Championship race is being held on July 18th at Fowlmead, Kent and is part of a weekend of racing.  The race is also number 3 in the British Cycling Disability Race series.  And just to confuse you, the race is also the BC National Road Circuit Championship - this is because the original race at Darley Moor, which designated as the National Road Circuit Championship, was cancelled.  So there are 3 races in 1!

And on July 19th, the British Cycling National Disability Time Trial Championships 2009 is being held.   

The races are being organised by Paul Panton, Kent County Council.

There is a total 1000 euros in prize money for each race.

Full details of the race are in the race leaflet(pdf).  It covers the cost of races, how to entry, start times, location and accommodation information.

Please note the closing date for entries:  June 19th, 2009.   It is much earlier than for all other races so please make sure you get our entry in on time.

Ful details of the weekend of racing in Kent are on the BC website

Please contact Matthew Lindley if you have any questions.

Improving training strategies in handcycling (listed 2/6/09)

A study examining the impact of a respiratory warm-up upon performance in handcyclists is due to start at Loughborough University this summer. We are looking to recruit active hand cyclists who are willing to act as participants. As a participant you will obtain a clear insight into our research setting and learn about your body’s functional capacity. You may also be among the first athletes training with a brand new strategy within the sport of handcycling.

The strength of the respiratory muscles can be increased by performing generic exercise or through a specific, targeted warm-up. Such a warm-up usually involves increasing the work of breathing using an inspiratory loading device, and this method has previously been shown to improve rowing performance in well trained women, and repeated sprint running performance in healthy young males.

A respiratory muscle warm-up offers a safe and easy-to-perform method of easing the transition from rest to exercise, and is likely to reduce breathlessness and perceived effort throughout a physical task. However, identifying an optimal respiratory warm-up procedure has received little attention and the approach as a whole has not been explored in handcyclists.

For athletes, a positive effect of respiratory warm-up may help to improve training practises and competition results. For less active individuals, any improvement in exercise tolerance is likely to enhance the levels of independence and may also provide an impetus to initiate further training programmes. In this study, we will therefore explore whether the use of respiratory muscle loading as a warm-up technique can improve exercise tolerance and reduce breathlessness in handcyclists.

We are aware of the fact that there may be interested handcyclists who do not live close to Loughborough. In such circumstances, we might be able to help cover travel and where necessary accomodation expenses.

We are happy to answer any further questions: Please contact Christof Leicht (Research Assistant) using the information provided below:

e-mail: c.a.leicht@lboro.ac.uk or Tel: 01509 226396.

Online Registrations for Lorsch and Louny are open (listed 2/6/09)

For those who race in Europe, online registration is now open for the EHC Lorsch (28th June) and Louny (July 11/12) races 

http://www.handbiken.at/Registration/EHC_Registration_2009.html
 
Please note: At Lorsch there will be only the road race - the time trial has to be cancelled

British Cycling Development Team (listed 2/6/09)

British Cycling has launched a ‘Development Team’ as part of its ParaCycling Programme. The aim of the new initiative is to gather together the best disabled cyclists and to prepare and train for the 2010 racing season. Therefore, during the current British Cycling Disability Circuit Race Series and at HandcyclingUK’s weekends at Stoke Mandeville, the British Cycling Development Coach, Jayne Barrett will be talent –spotting to identify potential Development Team members. Those who catch Jayne’s eye will be invited to a specific training day planned for the end of August at which the training team will be selected. Work will then take place on training and skill development over the winter so that the Team hits the 2010 season ready to achieve.

If you think that you have what it takes to be part of the Development Team; if you have the commitment and the drive not only to win but to strive to be the best then there may be a place for you on the Team. In the first instance get in touch with Jayne by sending a brief message telling her about your background in sport and your achievements both in and out of handcycling to jaynebarrett@britishcycling.org.uk. Then, if you haven’t already planned to do so, you should get yourself to all the Disability Circuit series in the coming months.

See you on the track - winning!!

Handcycle race at Horwich Carnival races (listed 2/6/09)

The 2nd race of the summer is on June 21st, at the Horwich Carnival.  Horwich is on the outskirts of Bolton.
 
It is a town centre race, it starts at 2.40pm and is a 30 minute plus 1 lap race.  The race will be non-factored so there will be winners for each HC class.

It is not part of BC National Disability race series but we are lucky to have been offered 3 town centre races this year and the Horwich one will be our 1st in the UK.  There will be lots going on and good crowds so Handcycling will receive a lot of publicity.

For full details of the day's events, please go to their website 
 
The entry form is available here.  The closing date in June 11th. 

I've been shown the course by the organiser and it is about 1 mile in length with 1 long down hill straight, 2 right angle left hand turns and 1 uphill climb.  The road surface looks good so I would expect it to be a fast race. 

I've told the organiser to expect about 10 handcyclists will enter.  I hope that there will be many handcyclists entering and if there is a good turnout, we can expect this to become an annual race for us.  I appreciate that it will be too far for some people to drive but to those within 2hrs of Bolton,  PLEASE, enter the race and have a good day.

Please contact me if you a have any questions. Matthew Lindley, HCAUK race organiser Tel 01260 279829

Australian Race Series (listed 24/5/09)

An Australian handcyclist, Darron Shields, is attempting to organise a race series, which will incorporate a training / development camp during the early part of the 2010 season. It is proposed that the races will be located on the East Coast (Queensland) of Australia and the organising committee is attempting to find out how many European handcyclists would be interested in participating in the various events.

Please contact Darron Shields darronshields@hotmail.com if you are interested in attending the handcycling development camp in Queensland, Australia in April 2010. 
 
The message from Darron Shileds about the races and development camp is summarised:
 
I'm planning for an Elite Development Camp to be held at the Sunshine Coast University in April 2009. It will be coordinated through Cycling Australia (James Victor) and myself.    I'm still interested to hear if there is any possibility of the UK team and other European
Handcyclists attending this camp?  
 
I think this a great opportunity to move the sport of handcycling forward world wide. 
 
Proposed dates are: 

April 2010 -

• Round 3 - 3/4 - Brisbane - ITT & Crit 
• Development Camp - 5-9 - Sunshine Coast  
• Round 4 - 10/11 - Sunshine Coast - ITT & RR

Development Camp

• Invites to all, but particularly aimed at new, inexperienced and elite development riders
• Camp lecture and workshop modules to include coaching, body preparation and maintenance, bike maintenance, lab testing and mind training
• To be hosted by Darron Shields at Sunshine Coast University, with technical input from James Victor Head coach Cycling Australia.

Kind Regards
Darron Shields
Qld Handcycling Coach

New UCI rules

Oensingen ITT (Switzerland) (listed 3/4/09)

Registration now open

Rosenau Road Race, France (listed 15/3/09)

Registration now open

Requirement for British Cycling Race License

An IMPORTANT change has been made to the EHF rulebook as these races now come under the governance of the UCI. The EHF rulebook is available to download.

All entrants in an EHF event must NOW have a UCI race license - for British racers, that is one from British Cycling.

You will need take Silver or Gold BC membership AND the race license. I have spoken to British Cycling and they have agreed to offer the race license to handcyclists at a 50% discount - that is £16. There is no discount for the membership. This also precludes that you are a member of HCA UK.

The membership form can be downloaded from the BC website at this link

Please state the club as 'The Handcycling Association of UK'. I'm registered as the club secretary with BC and your membership cards will be sent to me and I will forward it to you.

Please send your completed membership form with a covering letter stating that you are a handcyclist to ensure you get the 50% discount. And send the form to Membership Services Team, c/o Phil Godfrey, British Cycling , National Cycling Centre , Stuart Street, Manchester, M11 4DQ If you do not race in Europe but are interested in taking out BC membership, follow the link and read about the benefits of BC membership.

Please contact me if you have any questions - Matthew Lindley

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