Hi all,

As active adults we know about the pleasure of being physically active. Obviously our focus is on cycling but my comments today could be applied to any physical sport. 

By now we all know about the trend for young girls to abandon sport once they hit puberty. The reasons are manyfold and beyond the scope of my expertise, all I know is that it happens, and it sucks. 

We have a Provincial cycling coach. Russ Down is his name and it's his job to train a team of young athletes to represent our Province in inter-provincial competition. And he has a problem. 

Simply put, there are not enough young road cyclists to generate the kind of talent that he needs to build and maintain a successful team. They are just not out there (see para 2 above). 

But they are out there, they just don't know it yet! And that's where we come in. 

At our Ride Leaders meeting last Friday we talked about this. Six years ago, there were very few female cyclists in the city, and only one or two that were capable of instructing. Now we have at least a dozen smart experienced women riders who not only compete at various events but are also Spoke n' Hot Ride Leaders. There are at least 300 women who now ride road bikes in Regina and know how to paceline!
We can make change happen and we are going to do the same for youth cycling.

This season we will open Spoke n' Hot, and Spokesmen, to younger riders, 13-18 yrs, who want to learn how to ride safely as part of a Group. They will be assigned an Instructor who will ride with them making sure that they conduct themselves safely and in accordance with all our normal standards. 
We've done this in the past and hat we find is that the young women take their responsibility to the Group very seriously and become very good riders..

The idea is that we can help develop these riders and encourage them to stay in the sport. If they are good enough we can pass them off to Russ for further development. If they are happy riding with us then that's just fine as well. They're active, safe and happy. As a dad to two daughters and now a grandad to an active little girl I think I can be happy with that. I hope you are too.

I don't know how many will come out, one or two maybe, but we have to start somewhere. So spread the word, lets get girls on bikes! 
If you know of someone, give their parents my email, info@spoke n' Hot.com. 

See you next week at the Registration Celebration ( you have Registered right?) If not just click here

​Mark

Hi all,

We feel a bit like bears coming out of hibernation!

I thought you might like to hear what's going on with Spoke for 2018 so, in no particular order...

You might have noticed that we've redone our website. Paul and I went to a Race Directors conference last month and one of the presenters was passionate about keeping our website fresh and interesting. So Paul rolled up his sleeves and got to work. We hope you like the results.

Back in January three of us attended a First AID CPR course subsidized by the RMC. It's an ongoing goal of ours to have all Ride Leaders qualified in Basic First Aid CPR. The more people we have, the less likely we will need it!

In April we will be conducting another Level one coaching course for the Ride Leaders. This, along with our Instructors manual, ensure that all riders receive a consistent, uniform experience no matter what Group they are riding in. It's an interesting weekend where we learn how to teach riders to cycle safely and have some fun!

Paul has been building up our social media platform. We are now active on Instagram, Twitter@spokenhot and Facebook. We're always coming across stories that we think may interest you and plan on sharing more of them. 

There's still more to come as we get closer to our season opening. It promises to be a good season with some improvements in our roads, finally!  Don't forget to Register for the season, and bring a friend to our Registration Celebration on Mon April 9th at Dutch Cycle!

Hi all,

One of Theresa's great passions, apart from me, is introducing new athletes to cycling and triathlon. It's become one of the defining features in our lives and we are richer because of the friendships we've made. About (we're not entirely sure) six years ago she decided to create a women only triathlon out at Echo. With her co-conspirator, Erin " there's no such thing as a bad idea" Kiefer and the Regina Multisport Club they created a fun race aimed at being very beginner friendly, yet still have a competitive aspect to it.  It's ton of fun, lots of camaraderie, challenging yet safe. A great way to dip your toe into the sport.

All the details are below, including how to Register. Do it today if you can, there's extra bling involved.

Sponsored by Spoke n’ Hot Women’s Cycling, this race takes place at Echo Lake Provincial Park on June 17th. Geared towards all levels of athletes, this race includes a 750m open water swim at the main beach, a 20k bike ride around the lake and a 5k run on the beautiful park trails. The race also offers a modified Try-a-Tri distance which is a 375m swim, 20k bike, 3k run.  A special feature of this race is our Swim Angels. If you are nervous about the swim, these experienced ‘angels’ will swim alongside you and guide you through the course. 

All registrants receive a free 8-week training plan. There may also be an opportunity for an entry-level swim clinic at the Lawson pool in May.​
All finishers will be awarded an exclusive 2018 Hillberg & Berk finisher bracelet! This custom piece is a one-of-a-kind collaboration between Spoke n’ Hot and Hillberg & Berk and compliments the 2017 Women’s Triathlon finisher bracelet. If you were lucky enough to participate last year, you will be able to stack these two pieces for more sparkle!​

Price is $110 until April 15.  All registrations completed by midnight on March 1 will be entered to win a matching Hillberg & Berk necklace!

http://www.reginamultisport.com/women-s-only