Cycling Club for Junior

[inline_online]

Hi,

My 9 yr old son has decided that he wants to be the next Cadel Evans and win Le Tour. He has started saving for his first road bike and he'll be getting one for Christmas this year (a Fuji Ace 650).
He is so keen and it is all he talks about. He's even got cycling posters on his walls (Cavendish and Evans). He loves riding and can ride his small MTB for about 3 laps of the river (close to 30km).
He wants to join a cycling club so that they can teach him how to become a racer and he's been hassling me about it for weeks. I've found nothing on Google.
Is anyone aware of clubs near Perth city that cater to junior riders? Doesn't really matter what sort of riding or location - road, velodrome etc. He won't care.
Thanks for any assistance you can provide.

Cheers,
Dan

[Tornado]

Peel districts have a juniors comp. I think there may be a club in Midland too. Peel districts have just released the dates for their Summer Criterium series on their website which kicks off just before christmas.

[Parker]

Midland Cycling Club, they train Tuesday nights at Kings Park (I know this because me and my mates train on Tuesday night, albeit weather permitting and we draft the kids going up the hill).

They've got really great Junior development happening

[inline_online]

Thanks for the replies. Much appreciated.
I looked at the Midland Club and the velodrome looks great. My boy would love that.
Not sure about the hills in Kings park though. He's only got little legs!! I might give him a trial run in Kings Park this weekend to see how he goes.
Thanks again.
Dan

[MyNameIsNoone]

Have a look at this one:

http://www.visionary.org.au/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Might fit the bill

[jonhanson]

Northern Districts Cycling Club seems to be a club primarily aimed at juniors. They have some great training both at the track on Thursdays and In Wangara in winter and Kings Park summer on Wednesdays. Fantastic group. http://www.northerndistrictscycleclub.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[nickobec]

It does depend where you live, you don't want to travel too far for training.

The one club I do see the most juniors from at events is Midland. So if you are centrally located, that would be my first call.

[inline_online]

Thanks for all the replies.
I've spoken to Mick at Visionary and I reckon that could be a good solution.
Keen also to head to the velodrome with my boy to see what that is all about. They have a junior program on Monday nights with bike hire also. Sounds good.
Cheers,
Dan

[jonhanson]

Monday nights at the velodrome is great. My son started off with the juniors then moved up to the faster group. The trick is you should start cycling at the track the same time he does. It's great fun. I had a go last week and loved it. There's a good masters program too.

[JB]

my totally unbiased opinion :

http://www.midlandcycleclub.com.au/

Free coaching for juniors on Wed Nights from 5 PM.

[inline_online]

Hi all,

Well, we went to the velodrome on Wednesday night. Wow, what an amazing place. I've seen them on TV but never in person. it was so cool.
I had no idea that you couldn't use road bikes there. No brakes allowed.
They gave my son a small bike and he rode around for an hour or so with the help of a couple of the coaches. He enjoyed it and says he'll go back a few more times to determine if it is something that he wants to commit too.
I got excited by the inline skating section in the middle as that is what I like most. I'd love to try the bikes out though. It must feel amazing smashing through those banked corners.

We're off to the Visionary Cycling Club on Sunday and he is looking forward to that. We're going to order his road bike this weekend (Glen Parker Cycles on Stirling Hwy). He is super excited.

Cheers,
Dan

[JB]

Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for the feed back.

[inline_online]

Okay, my son has completed the Visionary Road Skills sessions and is now able to go along for the Sunday morning social rides.
He also had his first race (a time trial) on Saturday night with the club. His time over the 1.8km circuit was 3:55. There was one other kid in his division (who had a racing bike) and my boy beat him by 1 second. Pretty close and lots of chances over the summer to get the time down.
There are also four criterium races that he can enter over December but he's decided not to do that because he doesn't get his road bike till Christmas day and he doesn't want to race in the crits on his little mountain bike. Any thoughts out there on a 9 yr old entering a crit race on a MTB? Would it be a big deal if all the others had racing bikes? Too dangerous perhaps? I've no idea.
Thanks to Mic for organising this club. It is great.