[Closed] Tell me about your Club / Team / Group

http://www.on-one.co.uk/news/teams-and-riders/q/date/2011/11/04/meettheteam41111

Well I 'ride' for the shop I used to work for, who are affiliated with a club of 100+ members, but do virtually all my riding with people from other 'teams', all of whom I know through racing.

The exception being 24s and that, where I tend to ride with my 'team' who can be found [url= http://wdmbc.co.uk/ ]here[/url].

[url= http://www.lvis.org.uk/ ]Las Vegas Institute of Sport[/url]

I ride for my [url= http://www.behindthebikeshed.co.uk/ ]LBS[/url].

Joined initially for social riding but I have started racing. Just finished my first cx season and will be racing the Gorrick and Southern xc and a few road rides in their colours.

In my experience people join official 'clubs' as they have found a sport and pastime that they passionately love.

Then for some bizarre and inexplicable reason they then feel the need to express this by removing all spontaneity from it, straight-jacketing it by establishing utterly pointless rules and regulations, then sucking every last vestige of enjoyment or pleasure out of it

Its a peculiarly English trait

Well thats one very negative way of looking at it Binners 😕

Another way might be sharing your passion with like minded people and just having a bit of fun 😀

We've got a forum and facebook page for locals riding in the Lake District. There's quite a few members but not many regular riders. No committe meetings, rules or other rubbish, just a few mates getting together, riding bikes with the occasional beverage afterwards. Happy days!

We reformed Mendip Cycling Club in memory of a guy who died who had been it`s driving force years ago . In only 3 months have 30+ members and money in the bank

It happens a lot Binners but it's not always like that.

LVIS as posted previously has no rules, official positions or even any regular rides. It's a bunch of mates who get together for cycling, other sports, social stuff and racing. Seems to work well for us.

In my experience people join official 'clubs' as they have found a sport and pastime that they passionately love.

Then for some bizarre and inexplicable reason they then feel the need to express this by removing all spontaneity from it, straight-jacketing it by establishing utterly pointless rules and regulations, then sucking every last vestige of enjoyment or pleasure out of it

Its a peculiarly English trait

GBUK

only two rules:
you bring beer money
you only find out what GBUK stands for after the second ride 😉

interesting binners.. you obviously didnt get my email about being an honorary member of 'Team Sexy party'

there are no rules other than if you're not having fun then you're either lacking pies or lacking images of pert boobies on your mobile device.

members include:

myself
yeti
torminalis
mrsconsequence
goatboyisheretopleaseyou
my friend matt
my other friend matt

other honorary members are:

b'mitch
deadly darcy
jamie
emsz

there are no joining fees but i will judge peoples worthyness on the pictures of boobs they send me.

In my experience people join official 'clubs' as they have found a sport and pastime that they passionately love.

Then for some bizarre and inexplicable reason they then feel the need to express this by removing all spontaneity from it, straight-jacketing it by establishing utterly pointless rules and regulations, then sucking every last vestige of enjoyment or pleasure out of it

Its a peculiarly English trait

*cough* woollybacks *cough*

I opened a shop and then used it as an excuse to start a club, started with shop MTB rides, then set up a formal club with committee, started running weekends away, we now do some racing, got 40+ members, started doing a kids club at the end of last year, and a road group goes out each sunday.

It's great, met some great people, we get people new to the sport involved, and encourage people to try new things like enduros, racing, etc.

Don't see any negatives to having a proper club, we've got a pretty relaxed code of conduct, and only had one 'problem' in 3 years.

We have no committee just a secretary and a treasurer to sign cheques we meet in a pub if we need to discuss something so it`s not regimented

I'm a Belgian.

http://teamherecomethebelgians.blogspot.com/

[img] [/img]

South Gloucestershire Mountain Bike [SGMTB]

http://southglosmtb.wordpress.com/

4 members and one of those left for Australia 😉

If your around the North West'sh area of South Glos and looking to hook up we mostly ride in the Wye Valley by crossing the old Severn Bridge.

Mail us.

http://mendipcc.wordpress.com/

Can I not join Team Sexy party then Philly? 🙁

I remember seeing a bunch of particularly joyless, lycra-clad riders out riding in Wales. We were sat having a smoke at the top of a climb. Not one of them smiled. It looked like a chore.

The bloke at the back stopped - it was his first time riding with them - and said "****ing hell! I wish they'd just bloody stop for a natter from time to time"

I remember looking on that 'clubs' website, where there were pages of rules. Including one of them regarded how much your bike must cost.

That's always coloured my view of 'clubs'

Clubs are peculiar concepts. For some people, "joiners", they're an bvious extension of their hobby; for others, "separatists", they're a dante-esque waste of a life.

My view: rules are there to help people with very little imagination. I worked quite hard when secretary of [url= http://www.manchesterwheelers.co.uk/ ]a small 😉 Manchester club[/url] to simplify the rules and not get bogged down in tedious shit.

Irony is, I only ever ride alone these days.

i have a very close affiliation to The Sweary Northerners, when i am well enough to ride.

ton - how's it going? Am in the process of a-fib diagnosis right now.

bugger mate, when did that happen?

www.lbrcc.co.uk Formed the club just last year with riding mates. We are affiliated to BC and RCTT.
Club riding is just an extension of my riding in general and there's always someone to ride with unlike buddy groups.
I have racing partners which is a bonus, no more billy no mates.

Though I do off road with an informal group and I'm also a fellow Belgian.

http://www.newforce.org.uk/

i ride with this lot

www.midaircrisis.co.uk

and

www.gosforthroadclub.com

having said that I also ride on my own and with other friends and on extra rides which aren't much to do with the clubs.

I normally race in the club colours depending on if it is road or mtb. I often see people at road races wearing the same club top as me and have no idea who they are! It's a big club and I tend to only ride with them once a month.

http://www.steppingstanes.co.uk/
http://fanylionracing.ning.com/

There are local bike clubs I could join but have had similar experiences to binners re the politics and have-been-there-done-that and am at an age where I just want to enjoy my biking.

Having said that it does`nt matter what the "sport" is there is politics/crap to be found in anything to do with committees!!!!

Trekster, you still ride with Stuart?

+ 1 for the above, really not into clubs and committees, been there done that not for me no thanks !

@ton

Had 5 days of ectopic beats last Dec. Got ref to cardio. Wore 24hr monitor. Caught a skipped beat. Showed 5 secs of a-fib at the same time.

Going through process of finding out if any structural changes to heart - results of echo in a week. Been told to exercise by cardio, which is good.

Need to find out if it's caused by anything and what the progression is like.

How's yours?

people do realise that just because some clubs are a breeding ground for petty officialdom that not all are, right?

I'm in the NW Alps riding group, 5 members so far but we are a bit "unique"‘so not everyone fits in, a few have fallen by the wayside

Hit the North is actually a club. There are 2 members.

ourmaninthenorth

still in perminant af mate.
going back in on the 5th of march for some more ablation.
the small of burning heart tissue is fantastic.............cant wait 🙁

@ton

sorry to hear that. hope ablation works out this time. good luck.

yeah, good luck to you too mate.
hope you dont get it stuck in perminant, and hope you can keep on exercising.

www.epicmtb.com

LVIS as posted previously has no rules, official positions or even any regular rides.

then why is membership by invite only?
surely if there are no rules, I can just declare myself a member?

I'm a member* of the Bromley Ravens.

*inactive

This is the new local club that I sponsor and occasionaly pop to the pub with when I get time:

http://www.halfwayupmtb.co.uk/

*cough* woollybacks *cough*

Bad experience Wors?

My team, Team Glentress Mincer, is me. And I'm pretty bloody[i] awesome[/i], so that's a result.

There's no U in team, but there is a me.

I don't see why people think that Lycra clad racers dont have any fun! Their definition of fun is just different to other people.

I am one of said Lycra clad racers, but I never go for a MTB ride that I don't enjoy. The competition is fun for me, and the training allows me to go on those stupidly long middle of summer rides that I wouldn't be able to manage without the fitness.

[url= http://epicprocycling.com/ ]This is my super serious lycra club team[/url]

The best thing about mountain biking is the diversity of groups able to enjoy it - even Binners is accepted!

http://www.thecheesyriders.co.uk/

A fine bunch of humans who ride all sorts of bikes. Bristol based, MTB, road, retro, cruisers, polo, fixed mtb, fat bikes, tourers, campers, bouncy, rigid, ss, d/h, hill climbers, trials and everything in between. We have been known to tour, hold Monday night MTB rides, Thursday night road rides, monthly bike jumbles, race teams and solos at Bikefest, SSUK and Europe, a weird selection of 24 hour races, etc. We also have been known to eat cake and drink ale................

Glossop Youth Mountain Bike Club
All riders under 18, but most have parents along too, ride all the main stuff in the Peak District, but normally Hayfield side or over Hobsons Moor. Do a weekend away once or twice a year and do a few day trips too. Anyone with a kid between 12-18 who fancies joining us, email me and I'll put you in touch with the leader/organiser/chief.

[url= http://www.mbswindon.co.uk/ ]MB Swindon[/url] was born out of a need to raise funds for a local trail being built by a handful of volunteers. We have a comittee but as we were applying for grants we needed to be all above board. It's grown into something none of us ever imagined it would and the trail is starting to look good as a result. We have club events, either rides or trail building most weekends and a lively social side

I ride with this bunch of reprobates...

[url= http://www.bogtrotters.org/ ]www.bogtrotters.org/[/url]

Clubs should be fun regardless of their aims. I was in Twickenham CC when I lived down there and despite some seriously quick guys the rides were always good fun with plenty of chat etc.

I've been asked if I'd like to join a certain MTB club by someone I ride with, but I have to do a beginners ride to assess if I'm up to their standards, I mean FFS it's a MTB club not an elite XC team!! As you can imagine I won't be partaking.

brakes
[i ]
LVIS as posted previously has no rules, official
positions or even any regular rides.[/i ]

then why is membership by invite only?
surely if there are no rules, I can just declare
myself a member?

You could really. The invite only bit is because we're mainly a bunch of mates rather than an open club and we want to keep it like that. Plenty of clubs start out well but lose their way.

In practice we've had a fair few people join out of the blue who've simply emailed and asked. I realise that it may look elitist from outside but since it's definitely not, in a sense that doesn't really matter. The main thing really is that it's very relaxed and people in it enjoy what we do.

Belong to a Facebook group (

good way to meet like minded individuals and find out about new trails etc more so if you are new to the area.

I've been asked if I'd like to join a certain MTB club by someone I ride with, but I have to do a beginners ride to assess if I'm up to their standards, I mean FFS it's a MTB club not an elite XC team!! As you can imagine I won't be partaking.

Nearest MTB club to me is [url= http://www.thewoollybacks.co.uk/ ]http://www.thewoollybacks.co.uk/[/url], and they require the same. So, I have the same attitude as you (and consequently ride alone).

I'm with www.veloclubbristol.co.uk

Joined through a mate who said I should join the club runs. Got hooked properly last year. Great bunch of people and not your typical roadies. Massive drinking sessions after the last Time trial of the year. No one takes themselves too seriously.

[url= http://www.meetup.com/Mountainbikeglasgow/ ]Mountain Bike Glasgow - Meet Up[/url]

This is the group I am in. Great laugh, all abilities. We positively welcome beginners and those out for a gentle pootle, but have plenty that hurtle down the most technical stuff.

Been riding with pretty much the same group of mates since the mid 80's.

Late 80's we formed a club NottsMBC.. did loads of races/trials etc under the club banner.

Mid 90's got VERY bored with all the organization and decided to just scrap the club/official racing but continue the regular informal rides.

Still riding to this day and I'd say the scraping of the formal club and all it's associated drudgery is the thing that's kept us all going so long. We turn up at a set time.. nothing is planned.. sometimes it's a long ride.. others it's too the local pub.. where the ride will take us is always a mystery.

One of our lot recently went out with another group.. when they asked him where his helmet was he rode off heheh.

I didn't exactly start a club, but I got some Vegan Cyclists kit printed for a few people on VeganFitness forum.
We've now got a [url=

page and a club shop on Impsport, so anyone can order the kit.
It's not really a club, like Vegan Runners or VC&AC, it's just a mixture of roadies and MTBers from all over the world. I'm the only one regularly MTB racing in the UK.

Nearest MTB club to me is http://www.thewoollybacks.co.uk/, and they require the same. So, I have the same attitude as you (and consequently ride alone).

I' m in the woollybacks and used to have that attitude to being "tested" but as riding mates dropped away and I got fed up of riding alone I joined up and did a "newbie" ride.

It's no big deal and understandable really that they don't want great days out spoiled waiting for people who are not up to it. Uber fitness is not the requirement (i'm a long way from that)but it's helpful for both parties to know that the new rider will enjoy the experience. Not all new additions have done a lot of riding so best not to find out if they're up to it 1/2 way round a ride having spent ages driving there.

We had a club back in the Chilterns. Started by a bunch of mates, did a few t-shirts/riding tops/loads of trips away. Every year we gave away "the pink pump" for services to mincing. Must have been 30+ at one stage.

Then everyone fell out. Or maybe it was just me falling out with everyone 😉 It just stopped being fun, all got a bit splinter group and I didn't miss it when I moved.

Here, ride with the local shop or a couple of mates. Struggle to see how I would enjoy myself more with a club.

So I'm with Binners. But only in a manly 'I hear where you're coming from' sort of way 😉

We have a village group in East Sussex. We started affilliated to a club, but they were all middle aged parish councillor types, so we left, and now just pitch up twice a week at set times. Its all organised by email and facebook.

We have a great age mix from 15-60, we ride throughout the year with a 2 hr night ride leading to the pub!!

We dont take ourselves too seriously, but do have some pretty good riders, including 1 racer. We have good relations with local landowners, and have access to loads of unofficial singletrack.

http://www.allthegearnoidea.net/

🙂

ton - Member
Trekster, you still ride with Stuart?

POSTED 19 HOURS AGO # REPORT-POST

The first rule of my club is don't talk about my club...
The second rule....

[url= http://www.newforce.org.uk ]New Forest Mountain Bike Club (Newforce)[/url]

We've got about 130 members with a huge variety of experience, fitness, interests and age. This is great, as by swapping between groups you get to do all sorts of different things and ride different places.

As well as fortnightly club rides in various locations around the South, we have 3 or 4 trips away each year to places like the Peaks, Brecon Beacons, Exmoor, Quantocks, day rides a bit closer to home, trips to Afan etc.

We've got 3 or 4 groups doing night rides of varying speed & distance on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

We arrange family rides and weekends.

We've got 4 teams entering Mountain Mayhem again this year.

We've got a number of very friendly pubs who give us free chips in return for regular business.

We go bivi-ing (see seperate thread!)

Some of us ride road bikes too.

We've arranged evenings of track cycling for the club.

We get members discounts at local shops.

We've got a quarterly magazine.

We also lobby for local access for cyclists in a particularly difficult area (which is why the club was formed originally, sometime back in the late Eighties I think).

Every ride has a designated pub, either during or after (sometimes before!).

There's always someone to ride with.

http://www.natsmtb.com/forum/

We're a MTB club based in Nottingham with around 80 members. Club rides are every Sunday and usually take place in the Peak District or Notts and sometimes Leics with occasional weekend trips to Wales / Scotland / Lakes etc. Helmets are compulsory on club rides (I think that's a condition of the CTC insurance). Everyone's welcome!

I enjoy riding with the club through which I've learnt a lot of new routes/trails and met loads of other riders.

EDIT: Sod it. I sound miserable. I'm not (well, not that much...).

[url= http://www.migglymoos.com/ ]MigglyMoos[/url]

The only mtb club worth mentioning in the S.Wales area 😆

As Kingtut and Clubber have said LVIS is a club in the loosest sense and there's little requirement to join or compete for the club. In fact one of the best things about it is I don't actually have to see those two more than a couple of times a year 😉

edit: that and the fashionable purple and gold kit.

[url= http://sussexmuddyarse.wordpress.com/ ]Sussexmuddy@rse[/url]

Very informal, the monthly club ride is a social/banter event. Then we have local area night rides and longer/harder rides that people post on our forum.

I think the lack of formality stops it becoming a chore.

EDIT: Sod it. I sound miserable. I'm not (well, not that much...).

Come and give it a go then! 🙂

Come and give it a go then!

Young family. Busy job. time, time, time.

Whereas I climb on the road bike from my house and I'm back 2-3 hours later.

I probably ought to sell my MTB - hasn't been ridden since July 2010....

Ride with these guys: http://www.londonphoenix.co.uk/

Quick, but a good bunch. Not raced "for" them yet, and not ridden with them in a month or so 😆

With races I tend to ride for the LBS I also used to work for:
http://www.tswcycles.co.uk/

Imperial College Cycling club, a cycling club for people in Imperial college, does what it says on the tin really. We do rides (road, mtb, some track stuff) once or twice a week a couple of us race when we fancy, and we get money from our union to enjoy ourselves on weekends away (Snowdonia tomorrow as a matter of fact) or at BUCS. We're not particularly serious and it's just a cracking excuse for a good laugh and some cycling occasionally.

Iain