*** Tredegar Park Update ***

Hello everyone. Here’s some information about our fixture this weekend.

First of all, we’re looking forward to welcoming everyone back for the first fixture of the season. Our race will be taking place at Tredegar Park in Newport. The Park is situated about 400m off J28 of the M4 and is accessed via a roundabout off the A48 (immediately opposite the Office for National Statistics).

Entry

If you haven’t yet, please enter now. There are masses of advantages to early entry, not least of which are cheaper entrance fees, gridding (though that may not apply on the first fixture – check with commissaires on the day) and inclusion in the team competition (end of season, the top teams in senior, women’s and vets fields will be determined). From an organisational point of view, it really helps speed things up on the day and helps keep the schedule ticking over for everyone’s benefit.

You can enter here: https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/events/details/211618/Welsh-Cyclo-Cross-League-Round-1—Cardiff-JIF-Muddy-Sprockets

Car Parking

There is quite a lot of car parking, though this is shared with the general public. As you enter the park there is an ‘external’ area of parking perfect for large campervans, though overnight camping is not permitted there. We’d estimate it can hold about 10 camper vans. Please bear in mind that there is a height restriction to enter the remainder of the carpark, so if you carry your bikes on top of your car, you’ll need to take them off before entering the park. A standard Transporter type van will easily fit into the park.

Please be aware that it’s a good idea not to leave valuables on display in the car, though we will have our own presence in the car park.

Toilets

The toilets are adjacent to the carpark and will be opened by the council at 9am. There are no showers.

Event centre

The event centre is an 8 min walk from the car parking, similar to venues such as Singleton Park, Newtown etc. (2 min ride). It is pancake flat and has great paths. The good news is that you *very probably* won’t be needing any jet washing stuff. The course is dry, though there will be some loose grass knocking about. So far, we’ve spent several hundred man hours raking, so it should be pretty reasonable.

The race course is situated on the Northern side of the M4, adjacent to Forge Lane and we will be occupying most of the space (course accessed via a pedestrian underpass in the park).

Refreshments

We hope to have some refreshments for you on Sunday, but always come equipped for a day out, with plenty of water etc. It would also be a good idea to bring some insect repellent. The centre of the course comes close to some marshy areas and the little blighters have been known to be active when its warm (just the usual mix of midges and flies).

Sign on

Sign on will be adjacent to the pits area for added security and should be visible as you approach. Our lovely sign on team will sort you out on arrival.

Schedule

We will be doing everything in our power to help the event run on schedule. This will include a team of marshals who will help gather riders together for each race start. Information about the schedule will be available at sign on, though these are the approximate timings:

9.15 Course practise for (up to U12).

9.40 U6 (6 mins)

9.55 U8 (9 mins)

10.10 U10 (12 mins)

10.25 U12 (15 mins)

10.50 Course practise

11.00 Podiums U6/U8/U10/U12

11.15 Youths

12.00 Course practise

12.15 Podiums Juniors

12.30 Ladies (40 mins)

13.20 Juniors/Senior men/Veterans. (50 mins)

14.20 Races end

14.30 Podiums Ladies/Senior men/Veterans

The chances of these being absolutely smack on, are fairly low – race times are an inexact science and you don’t know how they will run until they do – but it does give a good sense of what we’re aiming for. There will be JIF members on the course from 7am, but unfortunately we can’t allow access to the course until people have signed on and course practise times will be opened by the commissaires.

The course

The course features a combination of rough/hard terrain, fast singletrack, grassy banks and a small amount of tarmac. We’ve tried to create a full CX experience within the limits of the venue (the good news is that it’s a very good venue). A full lap will be quite long and take around 7.5-8 minutes for a top flight senior at full tilt, though if the super quick want to prove us wrong, that’ll be great.

Marshals

All JIF events are fully collaborative with lots of people contributing. This means that you shouldn’t be far from someone who knows the score, or who knows someone who knows the score or failing that, has a phone. If you need info, please don’t be afraid to ask and we’ll try to help.

Other Park users

So far, we haven’t had anything but good feedback about the forthcoming event. However it is a public park, so please be aware that there may be other park users and we’re rather hoping that they’re so impressed they come back next year to race. There will be marshals at crossing points, trying to ensure that nobody’s day is too adversely affected by the race.

Feedback

We appreciate there may be lots of questions about the race and afterward, lots of feedback. It’s quite tricky keeping pace with it all, so if answers are slow coming back, apologies in advance. In the meantime, we look forward to welcoming you on Sunday.