Road Racing calendar update
With the days finally getting longer and the winter base miles in the legs, the Road Committee is excited to officially welcome you all to the 2026 road racing season. With a new look committee, myself Nathaniel Moseley-Jones, James Marshall, Pete Sargent and Kieran Lee, we will bring a different lens to Road Racing’s current issues whilst building from the previous great work from volunteers within the club. This year we will be getting our feet under the table but keep your eye out for one or two changes to shake things up down the line.
A Quick Introduction
For those I haven't met yet, I'm Nathaniel, and I'll be leading the Road Committee this year. While I'm new to the role and relatively new to the club, I've grown up with a passion for road cycling and I'm excited to provide great racing opportunities for everyone.
In early 2023, I made the leap into GVC, showing up to a Cyclocross training session unsure what I would experience. I was encouraged to give racing a go, completing my first several races with mixed success but I was hooked. Despite the initial nerves of being a newcomer who barely knew anyone on the start line, I kept turning up, making mistakes, and learning race by race. Those first-race nerves turned into a solid foundation that eventually led to representing Guernsey at the Island Games in Orkney last year. Ten-year-old Nathaniel would never have believed it!
This experience puts me in a strong position to help new members navigate their first few races, build confidence, and discover the amazingly supportive community GVC offers. We need to attract new members to supplement the Academy's pipeline of young racers, and I believe my recent experience can help shape better pathways into racing.
My goal this year is simple: I want to make sure our races are competitive, fun, and—most importantly—hard-fought all the way through the field. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a new member looking to enter your first race, I'm here to ensure the club gives you the best platform to compete.
What We’re Aiming For
This year, the committee is focused on three things:
- Better Racing: We want every race to count and be competitive with racers promoted to compete across all Road disciplines.
- Increase participation: We want to see more juniors, women and new members on the start line. The more riders we have taking the start line the more exciting the racing will be all through the field. Sign up and give it a go!
- Simplification: Our goal this year is to simplify the races and championships with an improvement through the visualisation of the championships standings and reduction in overall events to just those that are necessary.
What’s changing?
Championships: We’ve listened to feedback and simplified the Championship for 2026. We have reduced the number of races to to increase the stakes at each race and increase participation. Each discipline has a championship that tallies up points across the season. Most notably this replaces the BAR for Time Trials, as well as rewarding riders for the fastest time across the various distances. This simpler format will make it easier to stay up to date with competitions and mean that every race counts throughout the season. We will also have greater transparency of the standings, updated after each race and displayed on the website this should keep things exciting right up until the last Hill Climb in September. Our championships reward the riders who show up and perform consistently.
Road Race lengths: This year we will be varying our race lengths. Starting the season we will focus on shorter sharper races to navigate early season legs and the mixed weather we are likely to have. We will have longer races throughout the season, culminating in our 100km Road Race. We will also have shorter race lengths available in order to help new or returning members ease into racing.
Ladies Series: The ladies series will be making a return this year and will run alongside the standard road calendar. More to follow.
Marshalling Duties: Everyone’s favourite topic! Every year we struggle to fill marshalling duties and despite multiple different mechanisms to allocate the duties last year was especially bad. We are putting out a plea to all members this year to do your fair share of duties. If you are focussing on TT’s marshal some road race’s. Hill Climbs aren’t in your race plan signup to marshal and watch some great racing. We will also be expecting marshalls to assist with race day duties such as putting out signage and assisting the organiser. Finally, we will be enforcing a strict cut off for marshall allocation with races being cancelled if the marshalling duties are not filled by the Friday before the race - without marshalls we cannot race!
Dates for the Diary
There’s a full calendar ahead, but here are a few early season events you’ll want to pop in your diary:
- The Season Opener - 8th March: We’re starting the season at with a Road Race at the Reservoir Circuit. This is a classic "winter legs" tester—punchy and a great way to kick off the season whilst avoiding the spring tides.
- Paul Van Katwyk Easter Festival - 3rd to 6th April: A massive weekend of racing. It’s the heart of our spring season and always brings out the best in the club with great numbers on the start line and some great wheel to wheel racing. Once again Wheels & Co will be sponsoring this event…full details to follow.
Over the next few days we will be releasing the full road calendar so you will see SportMember filling up discipline by discipline.
Come and Join Us
If you’ve been thinking about racing but haven't taken the plunge, this is your year. We’re a welcoming group, and there is no better way to improve your fitness and build a community than by pinning on a number. With shorter versions available for each race we hope this inspires prospective racers to turn up, get to know us and give it a go.
In preparation for this we will also be running monthly group rides where we recce the courses we will be racing each month, at a social pace, followed by a cafe stop. The first of these will kick off on 28th Feb and will run on the last Saturday of the month throughout the season. More information will be on SportMember.
We’re also looking for people to help out behind the scenes. If you aren't racing but want to be part of the action, we always need marshals, volunteers and supporters throughout the season and we appreciate your commitment.
See you on the start line.
Nathaniel Moseley-Jones, Road Committee Lead
