August 19, 2005 – The Ontario Cycling Association and the Forest City Velodrome Association are pleased to announce a new program to introduce London area youth to the benefits of cycling in their community.

The program which is worth up to $7,000, will focus on camps and clinics over the next several months. The introduction of a Compu-trainer which will be able to go to schools, drop-in centres in London, the testing will help identify talented young athletes who may never have become involved with cycling. In addition there will be more youth sized bikes for our rental fleet and an advertising campaign to attract children and Young adults to the Velodrome in South London.

We have continued to go to the community to bring youngsters to the track, since we opened in April, our many volunteers have spent countless hours talking to the local cycling community for young riders. So far we have 13 kids how come out regularly to ride, this number will increase substantially with the help of the OCA and it’s member clubs.

Our goal is to have 3 or 4 youth age groups competing on a regular basis in our London Track League competitions.

Our first day camp is Wednesday August 31st. 10am – 5pm with lunch provided. The riders will be split according to age 7 -11 & 12 – 17 years. The riders will learn basic track skills, from getting onto the track to proper track riding techniques. Cost for the day long workshop is $25.00, With funding from the OCA, we are waiving the fee and there wil be professional instructors and coaches teaching the kids. The camp is open to the first 20 riders who contact me by email rob.good@ypg.com or by phone 1-519-883-7849.

We look forward to seeing everyone get behind this initiative which will help bring new faces into the cycling scene in Ontario.

Don’t forget to checkout our website www.ForestCityVelodorme.ca for the latest riding and race schedules.

Racing continues this Saturday night August 20th, 7pm. Get to your seats early so you don’t miss a minute of the action.