News this month …

SLGP Youth Racing round up
Frog Bikes fleet for sale!
Partial Solar Eclipse 12 August
Upcoming racing for youth riders
- Convene Track League - monument medals update

SOUTH LONDON GRAND PRIX YOUTH RACING

What an amazing couple of days racing we had here for the South London Grand Prix! It was brilliant to see so many of our younger riders getting involved and racing before a full crowd of spectators and elite riders!

Some thanks from us:- to Commissaire Chalky for giving up his afternoon break to work right through to commissaire the youth racing, to Phil Wright for giving up his break and commentating through the youth racing as well as the adult racing, to Mark Unsworth for his Race Centre wizardry and help getting results available so quickly, to Alex Volstad for handing out the podium prizes on Friday and Jonah Harris for pacing the U10/U12 Keirins, to Jamie Wicher and Ryan Oldfield for handing out the podium prizes on Saturday and Jack Thomas for pacing the U14/U16 Keirins.

Full podium results:-

U10B: 1 Lukas Beanland, 2 Alfie Tolfts

U12B: 1 James Jack, 2 Eric Cassidy, 3 Daniel Hoelder

U12G: 1 - Emily Williams

U14B: 1 Jacob Matthews, 2 Tora Kim-Saito, 3 Joshua Butler-King

U14G: 1 Eva Unsworth, 2 Maddie Buffa, 3 Greta Wilkinson

U16B: 1 Colin Benezet-Minns, 2 Joseph Natoli

U16G: 1 Emma Buffa, 2 Kitty Belton Owen, 3 Yamina Clay

FROG BIKES FLEET SALE!

We are changing bike suppliers for our Kids cycling sessions from long-time partners Frog Bikes UK to Ridgeback Kids Bikes. As a result of bringing in our shiny new fleet, we will be selling off ALL BIKES in our Inner Track Frog Bike fleet as well as some Strider Bikes.

We currently expect to hold two drop-in sales on Saturdays 8 and 15 August, both from 1pm-3pm. All bikes will be sold at 60% off RRP and you can only purchase in person on a first-come-first-served basis, you will not be able to reserve a bike in advance. If these sales are as busy as ones we have hosted in the past, we expect most, if not all, bikes to be sold by the end of the second drop-in sale on 15 August.

Please understand that these bikes are ‘Sold as seen’. Every single one of our balance and pedal bikes have had an extremely tough life, helping tens of thousands of young riders experience the joys of cycling! Most of them require replacement parts, perhaps multiple parts. You should inspect the bike and, if you choose to purchase, you accept it in the condition you take it away in. HHV will not be responsible for the bikes once they have been sold.

Regardless of the condition that you judge a bike to be in, we recommend that post purchase you take it to a trained mechanic to have it checked over to ensure it is safe to use.

The sale of these pieces of HHV history will help to fund our Kids Cycling activities hopefully allowing tens of thousands more children to come and cycle with us!

Bikes for sale are as follows:
8 x Strider Balance Bike
9 x Frog 40
9 x Frog 44
3 x Frog 47/48
12 x Frog 52/53
7 x Frog 55
5 x Frog 62
3 x Frog 69
2 x Frog 72/73

PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE AND PERSEID METEOR SHOWER

12/13 August

As if you needed another excuse to come and watch the sun set at track league! Next Wednesday, between 6 and 8pm we will be treated to a 91.4% solar eclipse - the greatest eclipse will be at 7:13pm in London so perfect timing to watch when the youth have finished their racing!

Observers in the UK will see the Moon cross the Sun from right to left. That will create a frown-shaped crescent – with the horns pointing downward – at the moment of maximum eclipse.

The last time the UK experienced a comparably deep partial eclipse was on 20 March 2015 when at least some of our younger riders would not have been born!

What you'll see – and how to see it safely

Partial eclipses unfold slowly and the solar eclipse on 12 August 2026 is no exception.

First contact – when the Moon first appears to bite into the Sun – occurs just before 6pm BST.

From there, the Moon tracks steadily across the solar disc from right to left. As the eclipse deepens, the Sun’s familiar circular form becomes increasingly distorted.

By maximum eclipse, an inverted arc will hang above the horizon – the opposite of the ‘smiley face’ crescent many will expect.

To view the Sun safely, you should use ISO 12312-2 certified eclipse glasses throughout the spectacle. Alternatively, look up how to make a pinhole projector to use to view indirectly - the perfect school holidays activity!

Sunglasses are unsafe and if you’re using cameras, telescopes or binoculars, all must have proper solar filters fitted to the front of the optics.

So please come on down to watch the racing and watch the solar eclipse only if you have certified eclipse glasses or are using a pinhole projector to view. If you don’t have either, please don’t look at it directly but focus on the racing with drinks and food from the cafe!

Eclipse done – now for the meteor shower

If you’re up for a later night at home (we will not be staying open!), another astrological event which would usually be newsworthy in its own right, the Perseid meteor shower peaks on the night of 12–13 August, when the Earth passes through debris left by comet Swift–Tuttle in its orbit.

Under perfect conditions, the Perseids produce up to 100 meteors per hour. In the UK, more typical rates are around 20–40 meteors per hour from a dark site – but that still makes for a lively display. The best time to watch is after midnight and meteor rates increase steadily through the early hours.

After the eclipse, the Moon is by definition just a few hours after its new phase. That means there will be dark, moonless skies – ideal conditions for meteor watching so fingers crossed for no clouds!

Information taken from BBC Sky at Night magazine.

UPCOMING RACES

YOUTH 2 monument medals

Our new Youth racing categories have proved popular this season as has the introduction of Omnium evenings and Monument Medals. Monument medals are awarded to our Youth 2 riders for consistency in their racing, regardless of their finishing position. Bronze medals are awarded for participating in 6 Track League evenings, Silver medals for 12 events and Gold medals for 18 events across the racing season.

Awarded on Omnium evenings, recipients awarded on 1st July were:

Alfie Tolfts (10 entries), Lukas Beanland (10 entries), Teddy Canty (9 entries), Delilah Duits (9 entries), Micha Sundkvist Stringer (9 entries), Luke Hill (9 entries), Robin Biswas (8 entries), Daniel Hoelder (7 entries), Toren Edwards (7 entries), Rafi Arun-Castro (7 entries), Zac Blackwell (7 entries), Florence Pearce (6 entries), Francis Sundkvist Stringer (6 entries), William Brooks (6 entries)

At the next Omnium evening, which is due to be on 19 August, we will be awarding the first of our silver medals as well as some more Bronze medal recipients. Well done all!

Enter here!

HHV U18s NEWSLETTER (AUGUST)