Going forward, we are going to need volunteers to help out with the turnarounds for many of the upcoming Thursday Night TT series events. I have updated the Events Calendar to indicate which races require turnaround volunteers. If you -- or a friend, family member, or teammate -- are willing to help out please let me (Andrew Botterell) know as soon as you can. Again, if nobody volunteers for a given Thursday Night TT we may be forced to cancel it.  The job of volunteers is principally to verify that all participants turn around at or after the turn around point and to verify that drafting is not occurring within the limited distance where this can be reliably determined by a stationary observer.  The turn-around volunteer does not direct and may not stop public traffic.  They may at their discretion advise racers to wait for oncoming or approaching vehicles.  While it is the duty of racers to ensure they may make the turn around safely, the volunteer does have the authority to stop racers should that be judged necessary for safety.  Racers must obey the instructions of the volunteer on pain of disqualification and the volunteer should attempt to ensure that stopped racers receive an adequate time bonus.

To find race and time trial results mouse over the "Forum" menu item and select "LCW Race Results."

A folding chair was left at last night's training race at Innovation. If the chair is yours, please contact Andrew Botterell.

We still need volunteers to officiate at a number of Tuesday night training races in late June, July, and August. Please have a look at the calendar and let me (Andrew Botterell) know if you're willing to help out. The job isn't difficult but if nobody volunteers for a particular event we'll be forced to cancel it.

Another year's running of the Springbank Road Races has come and gone. The 45th edition of the races were held on Sunday, May 5 on a gorgeous day in Springbank Park and spectators were treated to some exciting and aggressive racing throughout the event. Many thanks are due to our sponsors -- (in alphabetical order) Champion Cycles, Cycles London, First Cycleworks, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, Multisport Zone, and To Wheels -- to our many dedicated volunteers, to our announcers, Rob Good and Chris Helwig, to the OCA Commissaires, and most importantly, to the 232 cyclists who came to London to race their bikes.

LCW members rode particularly well on Sunday. Notable performances are:

• Elite 4 Men: Peter Haworth, 2nd
• M3 Men: Manny Martins, 1st, Marc Joanisse, 2nd
• Elite 3 Women: Emily Mackenzie-Picot, 2nd
• Master Women: Sandra Deegan, 1st
• M1 Men: Peter Mogg, 1st
• Elite 1,2 Men: Jeff Schiller, 2nd

Full results are availabe at: http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20130505-202558-sbresults.htm

Finally, a number of people have expressed interest in purchasing a Springbank T-shirt. Unfortunately, we are sold out. However, if you'd like to order a shirt, please send me an email and we'll see whether it makes sense to place another order -- whether it does will depend on how many people want to purchase a shirt.

The London Free Press's Mike Hensen has a nice story on the Springbank Road Races; you can access it at www.lfpress.com/2013/05/02/sundays-reserved-for-springbank-races.

The London Centennial Wheelers and the London Cycling Club is once again proud to host the 2nd annual Southwest Challenge cycling tour, set for Saturday September 7th, 2013.   Check out our brand new website by New Concept Design with lots of photos - registration will be up and running soon.  Our Last year's successful tour, with cyclists from all over southwestern Ontario, raised a whopping $39,000 for the Children's Health Foundation which helps give practical, specialized support for the sick and injured children of southwestern Ontario.   This year we have the Epic 180 km ride, the 110 km Challenge and we've added a third ride, the 60 km Challenge.  So mark your calenders, register and spread the word about this fantastic opportunity to support our community and help "change lives ..... one kilometer at a time". 

Congratulations to all those LCW members who participated in Sunday's 20th running of the Paris to Ancaster bike race (or as I like to call it, that thing I do every year and then swear I will never do again, but end up doing again anyway). Of particular note are the following performances:

• Peter Mogg, 10th overall and 6th in the Men's 30-39 category
• Mike Aston, 15th overall and 11th in the Men's 30-39 category
• Marten Mann, 42nd overall and 17th in the Men's 30-39 category
• Carlo Capaldi, 54th overall and 19th in the Men's 40-49 category

Full results are available at http://www.ontariocycling.org/web_pages/results/20130414-221335-p2aresults.htm

Weather permitting, the first race of the 2013 Training Series will be held tomorrow (Tuesday, April 2) at 6:30pm at the Innovation course. No points will be awarded for this event, although we will keep track of the top 5 finishers. The Innovation course is in generally good condition, although on Sunday there was a fair amount of dirt on the back of the course, so riders will need to pay attention. As always, we need volunteers to help officiate our Tuesday night races. If you plan on participating in the series on a semi-regular basis, please email me (Andrew Botterell) and indicate which races you'd be willing to officiate (keeping in mind that Police & Fire and Granton do not need officials). If nobody volunteers to officiate for a scheduled Tuesday night event the event will simply be cancelled, so it's up to riders to make time to help out the club and the other riders.

In addition, and in the hopes of increasing the number of women participating in LCW events, I have added a Women Only race on Tuesday, April 30 and Tuesday, May 21 at the Innovation course, with both races starting at 6:30pm. All categories of women riders (Elite, Master, and Junior) are welcome, and participants in the Women Only race are more than welcome to race again with the B's at 7:00pm if they would like. If this format goes well I would be happy to schedule more such events going forward. Feedback, etc., is, as always, welcome.

Finally, please note that due to insurance concerns only LCW members will be allowed to participate in Tuesday night races. That means that having insurance through another OCA club is no longer enough; you must join the LCW to benefit from our racing and training series.