Friday 09.05.08
HERNE BAY REGIONAL RACE - THIS SUNDAY
South region BMX series Round 3 – Herne Bay 11th May
East Kent BMX is proud to be hosting our first race, which will be round 3 of the South regional series on May 11th. It will be on our brand new track built by Phil “Hudu” Chanley, which has had nothing but good praise by everyone who has ridden it so far. Seven straights of pure jump and berm radness. Come along and get rad!
Event Info
Registration: 09.30am-11.00am (NO LATE REGISTRATIONS ACCEPTED)
Racing starts: 12.30pm approx
Race Fees: Novice £5 - Expert £10
All expert riders will need a minimum BC Bronze Licence to compete. We would also encourage all riders to get a British Cycling membership.
The track is on Ford Road, Broomfield, Herne Bay, Kent CT6 7AD. It’s only 2mins from A299 (main dual carriage way) and will be sign posted. See the Kent Tracks page for a map of the track's location.
Please Note: We will be marshalling the car park and will direct you were to park, We will also be using the field above the track if the weather is dry. There is loads of room there for parking, but unless its an emergency anyone who parks up there will be there for the duration of the event due to access being very close to the track. Your co-operation will be greatly appreciated.
For more info please email us on eastkentbmx@hotmail.com.
Hope to see you all at one of the raddest tracks in the UK.
posted by Steve
Monday 07.04.08
HERSDEN SUMMER SERIES ROUND 1
Results | Photos 1 | Photos 2 (Photos by Simon Lavender)
Fifty two riders of all ages descended on Hersden for another year of four -man racing on the outskirts of Canterbury. Many more would have come had it not been for terrible weather conditions further up the line, had those conditions been the same at the track , the meeting would surely not have gone ahead.
What was encouraging was plenty of new faces to the track, especially in Old Skool, where out of the thirteen riders , four were making their track debuts.
The Old Skool racing itself, though had a familiar look on the results sheet with defending champion Simon Barnes , going through the meeting unbeaten to carry on where he left off last year. Matt Humphrey had a busy day and his hard work paid off with a great ride for second in the A final, while Dagenham's own Tony "Ratty" Waye came home in third, and the A final result was filled by one of the newcomers Darryl Mason in fourth.
A huge turnout for the 17 years plus group, which from now on will be known as the Hersden Masters, where you wont have to be 17 or over to take part. This method was proven by Dan Pullen who went three out three in the motos , outdoing Russ Parsons, although the Whitstable rider would have the last laugh in the A final by winning with Bexhill's Pete Lavender second and Pullen in third. Cruiser class only raised three riders and James Humphrey came out beat in the final from Lee Allen second and Alan Humphrey third. The youngsters classes managed a healthy entry , although the under 5's group only raised one rider , but well done to Lucas Horton who thrown in at the deep end with older riders in the 6 and 7 year class.
BADBMX took the A final here with Nicholas Oaten , who is still only five himself but has plenty of race experience, taking first prize from Daniel Faraone Horton and new rider Joe Lockhart. Joshua Webb won plenty of races when visiting Hersden in 2007 and will take plenty of stopping this year in the 8 and 9's group as he went unbeaten for the meeting. Matthew Newington though looks a quality addition to the track with an eyecatching display at the meeting to , not only take second in tha A final, but also the valued rider of the day award.
In 2005 , Michael Brooks won the 6 and 7 year old series, and in 2007 he won the 8 and 9 year series, in 2008 he is riding the 10 and 11 year class and he has almost made the perfect start in his bid for the clean sweep, dropping only one point and winning the A final ahead of Emmanuel Webb and George Bradford.
Daniel Sterling, always present and often winning, took the honours in the 12 to 13 years race with Kyle Brooks taking second and Bexhill's Duncan Mewett in third.
Adam Beale was the only rider entered for the 14 to 16 years group , with a couple of his rivals taking the chance to do the Masters, but he rode and takes maximum points for his age group. Last, but not least, the Hersden girls group produced some top action and it was local rider Natalie Edwards taking four wins out of four as she goes all out to improve on her third place in the 2007 series.
A top days racing , and although the snow was falling heavily by the time the finals came along, everyone who came seemed to enjoy themselves. Round two takes place on Sunday 18th May. Hope to see you all there.
Written By Tony Knott
posted by Steve
Saturday 05.04.08
SOUTH REGION ROUND 1 - DAGENHAM
East Kent BMX Club co-founder Russ Parsons from Herne was riding in the always entertaining Masters Class for riders over age 30 and dominated the motos and the A Final to give him top points from the day. Roy Binks had a third and a couple of fourths in his motos but fell back to 8th in the A Final. In the Cruiser Class young James Humphrey was riding against much older opposition in a combined group but still placed second in one of his motos and finshed 5th in the A Final.
Overall a good start for the Club in this eight round Summer Series that sees the riders heading to Andover on 13th April and then East Kent hosts Round 3 on 11th May.
Written By Alan Humphrey
posted by Steve
Saturday 29.03.08
EAST KENT BMX RIDERS @ NATIONAL ROUNDS 1 & 2
The cold weather of the Bank Holiday weekend did not deter a hardy few riders representing the East Kent BMX Club at Rounds 1 and 2 of the National BMX Series held at Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. The track at Burnham is acknowledged as being one of the toughest in the country and the strong winds didn't make things at all easy for the riders. In the 6 and Under group young 'pocket rocket' Luc Baxter riding for Big Daddy Plates/GROOVE Racing did well to finish Round 1 with a 2nd in the B Final whilst the following day he dropped back a bit to 4th in the B. Luc's older brother Owen had a busy weekend riding in two classes with a 11/12 years Expert B Final placing of 7th on day one but he missed out on a final placing on the second day. His efforts in the 12 and Under Cruiser class were rewarded with a very creditable 3rd in Round 2.
Dan Pullen fought hard in a very large group of 13/14 year olds to finish 2nd in the B Final in Round 1 and improved his position to finish 7th in the A Final on day 2. Pete Lavender also upped his game on the second day after a B Final 7th in Round 1 and he stormed through to 2nd place in the A Final of the 15/16 year olds. Pete's travelling colleague Sam Richardson rode well in his first National event but missed out on a Final placing on both days. Representing the older riders was Lee Allen in 40+ Cruiser in which he missed out on a Final placing in Round 1 and came 3rd in the B Final the following day. Scott Waterhouse rides for East Kent and is sponsored by Dialled Bikes in the very hard 19+ group. On day one his luck was not with him and he could only manage 8th in the A Final but he made up for it in Round 2 by storming home in 1st place to give the Club and his sponsors a well-deserved win.
Written By Alan Humphrey
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posted by Steve
Sunday 16.03.08
SOUTH REGION SUMMER SERIES DATES
The South Region Summer Series race dates have now been finalised, so I've now added them to the race dates page. The first round is at Barking and Dagenham BMX club on 30th March - only 2 weeks away now! This is the closest club to ourselves at the moment, and is ideal for anyone wanting to try out a regional race without having to travel too far.
The first race that will be taking place at Herne Bay is regional round 3 on 11th May so make sure you put that in your diary. We should get time to hold a couple of practice sessions before that event so keep an eye on the site for news on this.
Here's a quick rundown of the series dates (more info on the race dates page):
| Round 1 - 30th March Barking & Dagenham BMX Club |
Round 6 - 6th July Milton Keynes |
| Round 2 - 13th April Andover BMX Club |
Round 7 - 20th July Barking & Dagenham BMX Club |
| Round 3 - 11th May East Kent BMX Club |
Round 8 - 3rd August Bournemouth |
| Round 4 - 1st June Brixton BMX Club |
Southern Championships - 28th September East Kent BMX Club |
| Round 5 - 22nd June Hayes Hawks BMX Club |
posted by Steve
Wednesday 12.03.08
EAST KENT BMX LOTTERY FUNDING
I don't know if you've seen it in the local paper or not, but we've managed to secure grant funding from the Awards For All/Lottery Fund. This means we can buy much needed equipment required to run races and maintain the track. We must say a huge thanks to committee member Alan Humphrey who spent many hours filling in funding forms and chasing the progress of our application. I'll let him explain further via this article he sent to the Herne Bay Gazette:
"East Kent BMX Club are delighted to announce that they have secured a grant from Awards for All to purchase equipment that will enable them to run BMX races and to maintain the track at Broomfield, near Herne Bay. The funding means that the Club can buy an air-ram mechanism and light units to be used in conjunction with the eight-man start gate which will be installed in early March.
The track at Broomfield has been built by Deacons Landscape for the Herne & Broomfield Parish Council and is a regeneration of a former landfill site and includes the Woodlands Country Park area as well. East Kent BMX Club hope to hold an official opening meeting in the Spring by which time the area should be fully grassed and fenced with a large car parking area to the side of it.
East Kent BMX Club are grateful to everyone involved in the building of the track which has received very favourable reports from all who have ridden it. The Awards for All funding will also let the Club buy a generator and compressor for power supply and a whacker-plate to aid track maintenance.
Whilst the Woodland Park area is still under construction, BMXers are asked to only visit the area at weekends when members of the BMX Club will usually be in attendance and will be happy to explain the sport which is being showcased at the Beijing Olympics this year."
posted by Steve
Friday 07.03.08
HERSDEN SUMMER RACE SERIES 2008
It's good to the hear that the Hersden Summer Race Series is taking place once again this year at the fantastic little track just outside Canterbury. I've added the dates and information to the race dates page and you can find directions to the track on the Kent tracks page. The Hersden races are a great way for beginners to get into racing as well as being awesome for older riders too.
It costs just £3 for junior riders to race, and the first round is on Sunday 6th April. We'll be there supporting the races when we can, so make sure you are too!
If you have any questions about Hersden just drop us an email and we'll try and answer them; if not we'll pass them on to someone who can.
posted by Steve
Saturday 16.02.08
HERNE BAY LATEST
Just a quick update on how things are going at the track.
Firstly, we've been donated a whacker plate by Deacons Landscapes as a thanks for all the work that Russ, Olly and Roy put into surfacing the track. This has enabled us to start repairing any weathering that has occurred over the winter so that everything's perfect come spring. Massive thanks to Deacon's for this, we'd be lost without it!
Secondly, as you can see from the photo the start gate/platform is complete and ready for delivery. Jim Lacey looks to have done an amazing job with it, and we can't wait to see it in the flesh! Our air ram mechanism which will drive the gate is also close to completion, so everything should be ready to use soon. Unfortunately the start hill is nowhere near ready for fitting, so we'll have to see what the plans are for this.
The car parking facility is also well underway and it shouldn't be long before this is also ready to use. Everything is coming together nicely and should all be in place well before the opening day, which is currently planned for Sunday 4th May. As soon as things are ready for us to hold official practice sessions at the track we'll post times etc. here.
More news to follow later this week.
