Author: Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross Association

We have a stand-alone race for women at all our 2022-23 season series events (see story below for dates).

To support this, we’re planning four FREE women’s coaching sessions to help you prepare for the season and to get to grips with the sport.

There are 4 dates.

• Saturday 20th August – Yorksport (YO10 5FG)
• Saturday 27th August – Yorksport (YO10 5FG)
• Saturday 3rd September – Leeds Urban Bike Park  (LS10 3TN)
• Saturday 10th September – Leeds Urban Bike Park (LS10 3TN)

We plan to assemble a mix of female and male coaches plus some more experienced female racers to chat to, demo riding for you and to answer questions etc  and have a coffee with. The aim is to de-mystify the sport for newcomers and provide the inside knowledge that is often hard to pick up as a newcomer. Plus link you up with some friendly faces who you’ll be racing with/against.

All sessions are 10am – 1pm. But the times can be a little more flexible depending on feedback.  They will be mainly focused on technique, what happens on a race day etc, so riders shouldn’t be put off by the timings. We aren’t there to do a 3 hour ride. There will be a visit to the cafe in that time, lots of chance to practice new skills and time to ask lots of questions. 

These are all before the season starts so you can carry the skills straight into a race. 

Register* by dropping us an email to – yccacoaching@outlook.com

*Please give name and contact phone plus email along with the session(s) you are registering for (you can ride as many as you want). If you need childcare in order to attend then please add this in to the registration email and we will look to provide a crèche type facility. We can’t cater for very young children. 

You should be aged 16 or above on 1 September. There is no upper age limit.

The 2022 Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross AGM took place on Thursday 31 March.

This was the first AGM for 2 years and a good turnout saw over 20 riders, organisers and committee members working through a packed agenda, with Andy Whitworth chairing.

The key outcomes are as follows:

After countless years of dedicated volunteer work for Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross, Fred Rothwell announced that he will stand down as secretary with immediate effect. Fred’s contribution to Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross has been immense. No one has given so much and been so influential as the sport has grown and developed in Yorkshire. The meeting attendees gave Fred a massive hand, showing their appreciation for everything he has done.

Treasurer, Pete Sutton, also gave notice that he intends to step back from his role, though he will remain on hand during a transitional period over the coming months. He too has given selflessly to the sport for many years and his influence will be missed when he finally hands over the reins.

Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross are looking for a volunteer to become Treasurer. If you are interested, please contact the Committee, via ycca@hotmail.co.uk.

The plans for Fred Rothwell’s replacement are, in themselves, a mark of how much Fred has had on his plate in recent years. After some discussion, it was decided to divide the role into four:

1/ Secretary – fulfilling the traditional administrational role at the heart of the organisation, in particular at meetings. YCC regular and established Committee member (and British Cycling Cyclo-Cross commission member) Ted Sarmiento will take on this role.

2/ Event Co-ordinator – looking after the event organisers and the race calendar, including advice on course layout and design and the provision of course building materials. Shibden CC’s Ian Spencer will take this role, his credentials as an innovative event organiser well established within the sport.

3/ Communications Co-ordinator – looking after the organisation’s website, social media and providing support to the online event process and results systems. Phil Ingham, who has helped Fred and YCC with comms on and off for over 15 years, will take up this role.

4/ Commissaire Co-ordinator – ensuring that commissaires are booked for events in the region. YCC President Richard Fenn will be taking on this role, which should dovetail with his own contributions as an active commissaire at many races.

The AGM also saw discussion of the upcoming summer series, with the first event, hosted by Shibden CC at their Hunsworth training venue on Wednesday 27 April. A provisional calendar is on our homepage.

Following the discussions at the 2020 AGM that centred on rewarding clubs for hosting events, the end of season 2021-2022 surplus was divided equally between all the clubs who ran Yorkshire Points Events during the season. The aim being to reward those clubs for running events and to help them develop coaching and events.

There were also significant donations from the same source to the Mike Scott and John Rawnsley Funds, both of which support young riders as they progress towards racing nationally and internationally.

Following the cancellation of the 2021-22 season awards evening, it was decided to aim to combine the presentation of outstanding awards from the season at the end of summer presentation, at the conclusion of the summer CX series. More details to follow.

Finally, discussion of the detail of future event schedules, category combinations and other event-specific decisions were deferred to the next Committee Meeting, which is expected to be in the very near future.