HHV Women’s Newsletter – August
Women’s Track Finalés | Women’s Cyclocross + special guests | Become a commissaire | Rapha Women’s 100 | Get Winter Strong | Save the dates
Hey HHVW community,
What a fantastic summer of riding we’ve had, and it’s not over yet. Get yourself down here for the final bits of Track racing and to get yourself ready for an Autumn/Winter of Cyclocross! There are also lovely opportunities to ride 100km with other women, become a race commissaire and build up your confidence with strength and conditioning…
Enjoy and do get in touch with any feedback or questions.
Megan
(She/they)
Women’s Cycling Development at Herne Hill Velodrome
Contact: mbarclay@hhvt.org
Instagram: @hhvwomen
Ps Want to connect with other riders? Join our WhatsApp community
Women & Girls off-road
Women’s Cyclocross – including special guests!
Cyclocross* season is approaching and we’ve got 3 free sessions to get you ready to race, thanks to Brixton CC. We’ve also organised some special women to join us to chat about why Cyclocross is so good and how you can feel even more confident on the startline…
Wednesdays 7–8:30
2nd September: Gravel Club (off-road endurance and sprints)
9th Sept: Cornering masterclass – with Xan Crees (2025 Cyclocross National Champ) assistance and panel
16th Sept: Ascending/descening and mounting/dismounting
23rd Sept: Race Technique with Emma Hornsby, racer and the Women's Representative for London and SE CX League
20th Sept: HHV London and SE CX League course preview
There are also Adult Skills and Race training Cyclocross sessions with Charlie on Tuesdays and Thursdays that are well worth a visit – hernehillvelodrome.com/offroad
*Cyclocross (often called CX) is an off-road bicycle racing sport held mostly in autumn and winter. Races feature short, closed circuits (1 to 3 km) filled with mud, grass, steep hills, sand, and artificial barriers. One of its key characteristics is that riders sometimes dismount and run while carrying their bikes over obstacles before remounting. It's a bit silly but very addictive.
Girls off-road session
Returning Wednesday 9th September (5:30-6:30pm)
For girls aged 8–14yrs
Read more and book: https://hernehillvelodrome.eventrac.co.uk/e/girls-sessions-12122
Round 5 photo by Honor Elliot
Women’s Track
Convene Track League – Women and Girls night
The final women and girls night at Track League is Wednesday 2nd September, a chance for our women and girls to have their own space in our weekly league.
🏁 Sign up to race or come and cheer – racing from 7pm https://racecentre.hernehillvelodrome.com/
Condor Women’s League – the finalé and race workshops
📆 Round 6 (the finalé) is Saturday 12th September – enter or volunteer
🧠 The final race workshops are this and next Sunday – during the Women’s Session
And the next Women’s tasteris Sunday 6th September.
Become a race commissaire!*
Now is your chance with online courses starting on the 8th September.
Find out more or register your interest here or get in touch with Pete if you have any questions: pnoble@hhvt.org
Sheona (HHVW superstar and Track commissaire), said this about being a commissaire:
“I'd really like to encourage more women to do the commissaire training. It's nice to have women commissaires for women's racing. It's a lovely way to give back to the community, the training is two zoom sessions plus doing 4-6 supervised trainee sessions and getting feedback forms from the Chief Comms, and it's a great thing to do if you have the track racing knowledge but want to have a sustainable way to be around but maybe not always out there on the bike in the bunch. It's voluntary but British Cycling pay your basic membership if you do it!”
*The person in the blue shirt that helps ensure British Cycling racing is run safely and fairly – we couldn’t do our racing without them.
Rapha Women’s 100 – 5th/6th September
The Rapha Women’s 100 encourages as many women as possible to ride 100km in one go, this is your invitation to take part! You can join one of their rides, find a local club’s one or just do your own – they’re even running training sessions to help get you ready.
Read more and book with Rapha here: https://www.rapha.cc/gb/en/story/womens-100
Join us at HHV to celebrate W100
Some of our community are planning their own W100 challenge on Sunday 6th – riding 100km on the track. Details are tbc but they will likely be on track 11:30-3pm if you want to plan a visit to come and cheer or join yourself. You can find some details on the Women’s Track page: hernehillvelodrome.eventrac.co.uk/e/womens-session-supported-by-condor-11359
Get Winter Strong with James
As the nights draw and thoughts move to 2027 goals why not make this the year you integrate some Strength and Conditioning into your off season! James’ programme, Get WINTER.STRONG is back for a second year with two programmes on offer beginning this September.
Get WINTER.STRONG Flagship is perfect for already active individuals looking to start a S&C routine but also those returning to strength work following a prolonged break or returning from injury. The nature of small group training (each class is capped at six) allows for individual adaptations up and down to align to your current level of fitness and longer term goals.
Get WINTER.STRONG+ Advanced is designed for proficient gym goers, graduates of the Flagship programme or those who have completed a Get WINTER.STRONG Technique Masterclass. Refine and recap key movement patterns and accelerate your Autumn S&C journey
Each12-week programme is specifically designed to support your Autumn foundational fitness and fortify you against injury. With a continued focus on technique within a friendly group environment you’ll be sure to have some fun along the way!
For class times, more info and booking go to https://www.keeneticfit.co.uk/winterstrong or check the session calendar.
Other sessions and events
Other sessions and events
The track racing might be quieting down but Cyclocross and Winter Warmers are hot on its heals, keep an eye on our events calendar as we announce dates…
Events:
Round 4 of London and SE Cyclocross League – 4th October
Rapha Muddy Hell – 7th November
Sessions
Women’s Track Sundays – skills + intermediate riders. Including Women’s League race workshops
Women’s Track Taster – the first Sunday of the month
Women’s Off-Road session – we’re taking a break now until the new year but we’ll be back on 7th Jan!
Women’s Strength – Monday’s 6–7pm in the clubroom (drop-in)