General Wellbeing
Safety includes riders taking the initiative to ensure you are fit and healthy to attend a training session; as well as providing the club volunteers with the necessary information to enable us to tend to your needs safely and responsibly.
Riding the Day After Sickness:
If you are ill the day – or indeed a few days – before a Saturday session, you should not be attending the Saturday session unless you are 100% recovered! There have been occasions where a rider has taken the Friday off school, felt slightly better on the Saturday morning, but then worsened during a session. This is very dangerous, especially if a rider takes ill – for example a dizzy spell, a sneeze or coughing fit, or even a temporary loss of balance – whilst on the circuit!
We do our very best to keep all riders safe, but we have no control over this kind of scenario and would be very grateful for parents to please exercise good judgement when bringing your children to a session after a recent illness. It would also help our Club Welfare Officers and Coaches if we are notified of recent illness – that way, we can assess and manage any potential risk. If in doubt, please do talk to us – we are here to help!
Keeping Rider Health Records Current:
If any changes to a child’s health has occurred, please let us know ASAP. The importance of this information cannot be stressed enough: we keep the Health Database up to date on a weekly basis, and our CWOs use this as a reference if a rider is involved in an accident or needs basic First Aid.
It is absolutely imperative this record is up to date, especially if (for example) your child is taking medication and the dosage increases, there has been a recent diagnosis of an illness (albeit temporary), a new allergy has developed, or perhaps an injury has been sustained. Please talk to us on a Saturday, or email the Membership Secretary if there is anything we need to be aware of.
All data is kept confidential and stored in line with the requirements of the data protection act.
The Night Before:
This is standard advice for the night before a race, but if you know you will be attending Slipstreamers for training the next morning, do remember to:
Eat a decent meal – stick with foods you usually eat (it’s probably not a good idea to try sushi or something exotic for the first ime the night before your race or when you know will be training hard!). Try to have some protein, a little healthy fats and a lot of carbohydrates!
Get a good night’s sleep – staying up until the wee hours of the morning won’t do you any good! Have an early night!
Check your bike is in working order and get your kit ready – clothes, helmet, glasses, gloves, etc. You don’t want to scramble around looking for bits and pieces in the morning.
And if you really want to be organised and have that extra 10 minutes lie-in, get your energy snacks and drinks ready at the same time!
Finally, if you are racing at a BC event, pack your BC racing license – you need this for gear checking and signing on!
Emergency Numbers:
It is absolutely imperative that if a parent drops off a child at the club and then leaves the park, you are contactable at ALL times. Please kindly ensure we have TWO (2) emergency contact numbers (you can check these are correct on the sign on sheets) and that your phone/s are switched on and have signal during the session. If you leave the circuit, please make a point of checking your phone for signal regularly. Aside from the obvious stress not reaching you can cause a rider (particularly the younger ones), this is a requirement that is very clearly stipulated in the Parents Code of Conduct.
Remember: if you aren’t feeling well, have had a change to your health circumstances, or just need someone to talk to while you are at the club, do get in touch with a Child Welfare Officer or the Membership Secretary. We are here to help!