[NCNCA] Call for Early Bird Crit Mentors

Thu Nov 30 13:13:41 PST 2006

EXPERIENCED RACERS:  If you have the patience and skills to teach new riders how to become racers at the upcoming Early Bird Crits, please contact me at spmehaffey at yahoo.com or call me at home, 925-866-1613.

All new riders benefit when we have experienced racers mentoring them.  We need more mentors, both those that currently race and those that have raced in the past.    By helping riders become racers you are helping our sport grow and prosper.  Please be aware that the primary goal of the Early Birds is to teach riders how to RACE SAFELY; teaching them how to win or place is of secondary importance.

On Sundays from January 7 - February 4, 2007 we will cover the following topics: basic pack skills, cornering, pacelines, working with other riders, and race conduct.  Because each week builds upon the last, the schedule may “slip” a week or more if we get rained out due to a heavy downpour, so please be flexible regarding the day’s agenda.  As part of the emphasis on teaching and safety, the first four weeks of the Early Birds will be training crits with no finish-line results.  Racers will have to estimate where they finished relative to everyone else.  The last week will be a "graduation test" with full race results.

Mentors should report to the registration area 15 minutes before one of the mentoring sessions to go over the day's lesson plan.  Mentoring the Cat 4 Women and ALL junior girls will last from 9:30 to 10:30am.  Mentoring the Cat 5 men and ALL junior boys will last from 11:10 to 12:10.  Yes, like last year we will have two mentoring sessions which means some mentors can sleep in!  The split schedule is meant to reduce the amount of time the riders have to wait between mentoring and racing.  
After each hour of instruction mentors are welcome to ride with the beginner racers, dispensing safety advice when necessary.  Mentors will roam around the middle and back of the peloton, making sure everyone is racing safely.  A few of mentors will also separate from the pack and help organize those that have fallen off the back.  Here is a daily schedule of the races:

   8:30- 9:15am Category 4 and 5's w/5 or more races 

   9:15 = Mentor meeting to review lesson plan
   9:30-10:30am Early Bird Mentoring for Women and ALL junior girls
  10:40-11:20am Women 4 including Junior girls 14-18; there will be two groups - one for those with less than 10 races and those with more than 10 races.

  10:55 = Mentor meeting (for those that did not attend the 9:15 session) 
 11:10-12:10pm Early Bird Mentoring for Men & ALL junior boys  
 12:20- 1:00pm Category 5 new riders including Junior boys 14-18 (all must have less than 5 races experience)
   1:10- 1:50pm Masters 35+ Category 5 new riders (less than 5 races experience) 

   2:00- 3:00pm Cat 1/2/3's (Men and Women)
*Notes: Cat 5’s may enter only one race during the day.
             All juniors are welcome to participate in the mentoring sessions; because they are expected to race with the adults, the age limitation for partipating in the race is 14 and up.

Remember that ALL MENTORS must be licensed members of USA Cycling and sign a release form BEFORE they can do any mentoring, regardless of whether they race or not.  Having a current racing license, coaching license, or a one-day license will satisfy this requirement.  Being licensed and filling out a release form will confirm that you are officially part of the event and covered under the event insurance.  Once you show your license and complete the release form you will be given an orange safety vest to wear while mentoring.  Please do not give your vest to someone else as they will NOT be covered by insurance without a completed release form.

As a thank-you for helping out, all mentors may race for free (confirmed by looking up your dated release form).  Additionally some snacks will be available for mentors.
Some helpful mentoring hints: Stop the group briefly in a parking lot area if you need to explain something in detail and need everyone’s attention (please don't block the driveways).  Ask the riders to practice at reduced speed so the group stays together and riders do not get dropped.  Feel free to add your own opinions and experiences to the mentoring session.  

While mentoring during the race occasionally move up and check on the front & middle of the pack and give any appropriate feedback, just make sure you don’t affect the outcome of the race.  Encourage riders to ask questions and a few of you should be available near the finish line afterwards for the post-race Q&A session, which has been a big hit with the new riders.  

I’d like to make a pitch for experienced women racers to volunteer as mentors.  Several female mentors have helped out the last couple of years with very positive results, something I’d like to see continue.  If anyone has any questions about mentoring or wants to discuss teaching methods, please feel free to call me.  

Shawn Mehaffey
Former Mst. 1/2/3 Racer
USAC Level II Coach
spmehaffey at yahoo.com
925-866-1613

Week #1 - Basic Pack Skills
Week #2 - Cornering
Week #3 - Moving around in the Pack and Pacelines
Week #4 - Working with Other Riders
Week #5 - Putting it all together

At this time the official Early Bird Crit ad is not up yet.  Velo Promo should post it in the next week or two.

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