Sent off an email with membership form a week ago and not heard anything back. Appreciate it’s not a commercial operation etc. but would have expected to have heard something by now.

Anyone involved know if it normally takes this amount of time to hear back out do I need to resend?

Ay up. I’m on the club committee. We’re in the midst of a transitional period at the moment in terms of managing our membership database, so apologies for the delay. Drop me an email at mrcarlpeachey [at] hotmail [dot] com and I’ll get it sorted for you.

Cheers!

Thanks and no worries Peacos, sent the form on to you.

Why do you want to be members of a cycling club??!

Why do you want to be members of a cycling club??!

what a bizarre question. why does that concern you in the slightest?

Agreed peachos!

@hora why jump on every thread involving mmb?

Is there a thread THAT often? Must be once a year Ive posted on one tbh. (Check the stats if your that bothered).

To the others stick your club up your organised and minuted-ass?

Hora, I’m genuinely surprised at your comments, I’m a member if mmb, but probably only ride with them 3 times a year.
Any group promoting our sport must be a good thing.

hora what’s your problem?

Have you ever been on a ride with them hora?

I have.

Making the comment

Why do you want to be members of a cycling club??!

is hardly a nasty or vindictive comment though so the knee-jerk response back asked for more. (The last comment I made on the subject on MM was probably over a year ago). I personally can’t see any joy in having a formal/organised mountain bike group. It works for the Boggy’s/MM however I ride to feel relaxed/get out there and destress, to be within nature. To some people its about fitness, meeting people and making new friends/socialising. I do enough of that off the bike.

Bregante I have. I’m not the organised-cycling kinda guy.

Hi Hora, I hear you. I looked into joining a few years back. Think it was the same group through some meet up website. Before I’d even been to a meeting got death by a thousand emails. Must have been 20-30 emails a day from the Meetup Group. Then, after a little while and again before I’d even been to a ride, got a snotty email from the organisers asking for me to either pay up or leave. Didn’t seem like a very friendly way to run a club to me so I didn’t bother with all the hassle in the end. Sorry guys.

Bregante I have. I’m not the organised-cycling kinda guy.

Fair enough. I heard you ditched them half way round without telling anyone. 😉

It’s really not very complicated though. I get regular emails notifying me of upcoming rides (many in locations that I wouldn’t normally ride). If I want to go on the ride, I accept. If not I don’t. From that point on the rides are exactly the same as every other ride with mates that I’ve ever been on. Just a group of normal guys and girls who share a mutual interest in riding bikes. It doesn’t feel “organised” or “official” in any way.

And the £20 a year (£10 for repeat subscribers) gets you on a few hundred rides a year. Some are midweek and daytime which suits those who work shifts – and decent discounts at most of the main bike shops accross manchester.

The majority of people I ride with are not mmb members but I have learned some really good routes from mmb which I now ride with my other mates. There is no pressure to go on any of the rides (only been on 2 or 3 in the last year)

Bregante when I’m older I’ll be that wizened old guy that you see out in the middle of nowhere on his road bike.

Everyone rides for differing reasons. Mine is nature first, bike then people (in that order).

Hi Hora, I hear you. I looked into joining a few years back. Think it was the same group through some meet up website. Before I’d even been to a meeting got death by a thousand emails. Must have been 20-30 emails a day from the Meetup Group. Then, after a little while and again before I’d even been to a ride, got a snotty email from the organisers asking for me to either pay up or leave. Didn’t seem like a very friendly way to run a club to me so I didn’t bother with all the hassle in the end. Sorry guys

haha, oh well, your loss! you could’ve simply turned off email notifications (just like you do with pretty much every other online system/site!!!). 20-30 emails a day is a downright exaggeration though, isn’t it.

as a guest member, which is what you would have been, you get 3 months or up to 5 rides for free, then you need to upgrade your account to full membership. that’s plenty of time for most people who actually want to get a taste of riding their bikes with the club. unfortunately the reason for this is almost entirely to do with insurance [screams of horror sounds], but club funds are also used to purchase stuff like tools, maps & guidebooks, event stuff (shelters etc), gopro which are all free to use as a fully paid up member. this is on top of an average of about a ride a day all year round all around the UK, Europe & even Africa this year. £20 (or a tenner for renewals) doesn’t sound so bad any more does it?!

i get that some people don’t want to ride with a club for whatever reasons – that’s fine. we simply will never be able to satisfy everyone. its quite funny though, coz Hora’s reasons for riding are pretty much the same as mine: nature (hills & mountains), bike, people (ok i’ll add in adrenaline & fun too). maybe he just didn’t want to ride with the club in the first place & was just pi$$ed at wasting his own time which is why he ditched midway through a ride without letting anyone else know. the group then spent a good deal of time looking/searching for him, worried that he might be injured or lying unconscious in a ditch somewhere. maybe he’s just socially inept or something?

No offence but my posts are hardly inflammatory. Your replies seem to have a chip’/taking offence by comparison (you took umbridge at an opposite view?).

maybe he just didn’t want to ride with the club in the first place & was just pi$$ed at wasting his own time which is why he ditched midway through a ride without letting anyone else know. the group then spent a good deal of time looking/searching for him, worried that he might be injured or lying unconscious in a ditch somewhere. maybe he’s just socially inept or something?

I’ve got a fantastic memory you know: Me and the first three other riders came down the only techy bit of Roman Lakes (through trees down close walls/loose earth between house gardens) on the planned loop. We waited, no one showed from the rest of the group so I said I’d push back up and have a look- it later transpired the second part of the group thought it was too techy and decided to ride around on a road. I rode back down the same stretch and the first lot had linked up and gone on.

I then received some weird and rude messages telling me never to deviate, never to leave a main group but it was the tone. As though the groups leaders were made of teachers.

Funnily I had TOLD- I’d explained and had been seen pushing back up to check where the rest were. Thats me, seeing if there was a mechanical etc that I can help on.

Now maybe I shouldn’t have gone back the way we came, maybe the others should have said ‘hey he went back to find you lot’ but it was the manner of how I was told how I should behave.

I didn’t want to post this but its in response to yours above.

no, i asked you what the relevance of your comment was to the OP’s question. i’m not arsed that you don’t want to be part of the club, that’s your decision which you’re welcome to. you post something stupid & pointless (some might actually say inflammatory, using your own words) yet my response is taking umbrage. whatever.

Thats me, seeing if there was a mechanical etc that I can help on.

well done. gold star. smiley face.

bored.

I think the problem is that any organised club brings the worst out in some people who feel the rush of being in charge of something. I am not getting at MMB because I know nothing about them but every club I have ever been in has had some of these folks. Some really nice people as well with whom I am still friendly long after leaving the club concerned.The only ‘club’ I am still in is just a bunch of blokes who have a beer together and go riding together and we have enough rows anyway without having a constitution etc.
My wife tells me that it is just the same in her genteel ladies art club!
Obviously we need clubs or nothing would get done, no races or other events but all in proportion chaps.

maybe he’s just socially inept or something?

I don’t know how you could conceivably reach that conclusion about Hora

I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.

Groucho Marx hora

😉

Blonde on the far right looks alright.

Me and the first three other riders came down the only techy bit of Roman Lakes

Swoon!

Fwiw I hesitated to join over 20quid but I, like many others in the club get far more out it it than I put in.

Hora, you’re sounding like an even bigger goon than normal. Give it up.

(One in the middle is Wolverines sister)

Thats me, seeing if there was a mechanical etc that I can help on.

Judging by your posts on here I wouldn’t let you anywhere near my bike, especially not the forks. 😛

Ride with MMB occasionally and I’m mystified by the comment that such clubs attract Captain Mainwaring type authority freaks, cos that sort of thing just wouldn’t fly. Honestly, ten quid a year, some basic structure and loads of ride options…what’s the problem? I suppose threads like this allow otherwise dull conformists to get behind the keyboard to rail against organized clubs and proclaim their maverick soul, so its a public service of sorts.

ime i’ve been round with 2 mtbing clubs and there were ‘teachers’ (either real or otherwise) in both groups. All very clique as well I wanted to barf.

Been a member. Done a couple of rides. Nice people. Don’t see the problem. Each to their own etc.

(The one in the middle wearing the hat does it for me…)

I suppose threads like this allow otherwise dull conformists to get behind the keyboard to rail against organized clubs and proclaim their maverick soul, so its a public service of sorts.

Comments like this lead to someone biting again. As with Peachos comment where I wouldn’t have elaborated/said owt but had to respond.

Peace and as mentioned each to their own.

you post something stupid & pointless

What Hora did this I find that hard to believe

Thats me, seeing if there was a mechanical etc that I can help on

You sure this was not pre ride on the car park rather thaa actually out on a ride 😉
+ 1 to GRUM

You have not looked great on this thread tbh

I refuse to join any club that would have hora as a member 😀

You have not looked great on this thread tbh

Sorry? To be put things in perspective before you over-dramatise a minor disagreement of opinions about cycling clubs on a forum- I wasn’t the one who took joy in someone passing away like numerous people did on STW.

you post something stupid & pointless

TBH he kinda lost it after I’d recalled in detail the version of events that he brought up himself.

I refuse to join any club that would have hora as a member

😆

Call me a Dick until your hearts content, I wasn’t slagging MM’s off- I was referring to mountain bike clubs as a generalisation. Hey ho its a forum and a forum disagreement, there are more things in the world to fret over than that. Peace.

Apologies to anyone on here who might be waiting for MMB membership. Applications usually get an (almost) immediate autoreply followed by an email within ~7days letting them know how to get on to the club website.

Unfortunately mind-numblingly appalling service from BT/OpenReach left me without landline/internet for a fortnight so I am now working through a backlog of membership stuff.

@Rebel 12 – re this
[/quote] Before I’d even been to a meeting got death by a thousand emails. Must have been 20-30 emails a day from the Meetup Group. Then, after a little while and again before I’d even been to a ride, got a snotty email from the organisers asking for me to either pay up or leave.[quote]

I’ve been managing memberships for best part of 5 years for MMB. There are 2 standard emails that go out to people who have signed up for a free 3 month guest membership.
– The first one is a welcome one
– The second one lets people know when their guest membership expires
Both contain references to explicit requirements of our insurance that we HAVE to meet wrt guest members.
They also answer other questions which past guest members have fed back to us that it would be useful to know about in advance.

There is not and never has been a “Pay up or leave” email. I have never sent one and no-one else on the committee has the ability to do that.

We are aware that meetup.com send a lot of emails, that is why we put info on the club website to inform people how to adjust their settings to minimise these (It’s no different to Facebook). From your above post – (you say 20-30 emails per day) – for your 3 month guest membership – would have amounted to 1800 – 2700 emails. I suspect you are exaggerating, as I’m not aware of anyone else in the club who has received this volume of emails from meetup.com.

The Guest membership is for three months (surely that is enough time to try a club out?) It’s the same length of time for everyone – always has been.

At the end of that time, because we believe it’s rude to just kick someone off a website, we send a “Goodbye” email. This is what it says:

Hi {insert members name}
Your 3 month guest membership period has now expired. We hope you enjoyed your time with us. If at any time you would like to join officially, please feel free to apply for Full Membership.
All the best,
Manchester Mountain Bikers

I’m struggling to see how that could be construed as a “snotty email” 😥 Although, for what it’s worth, I am also sorry that you had such a disappointing experience of the club.

Some of the preceding posts are creating a negative impression of MMB. Some of the post are from people who have no experience of the club and some are simply not true.

If people wanna ride with a club, that’s cool. If people don’t wanna ride with a club that’s cool. No need for anyone on here to have a pop at people on account of their personal preferences over this, and no need for anyone to have a pop at MMB either

Love to y’all

Fluff 🙂

(and OP you should have a reply in yer inbox by now)

To be put things in perspective before you over-dramatise a minor disagreement of opinions about cycling clubs on a forum- I wasn’t the one who took joy in someone passing away like numerous people did on STW.

of course we need to consider the reaction to the death of thatcher in this thread to get some persepctive…thanks for bringing that highly relevant fact to everyones attention. 😕

I can never decide if you are a comic genuis but sometimes I worry that you actually believe the stuff you type.

Wow, this got out of hand really quickly.

@hora Since you ask, I don’t have any riding buddies and wanted to ride with others, socialise with people with the same interest etc. Also after doing a skills course was told it would be good to ride with others to keep my eye in skills wise, pick up tips from others and so on. Pretty standard reasons for joining any club I would have thought. FWIW I will carry on with solo rides too, each have their place.

I realise now I should have thought to check for a contact link on Meetup and thought twice about posting this on here, apologies to Peachos and Fluff66 for the trouble caused.

Everyones different, personally I like as small a group as possible – less than 5 to ride in at anyone time. Peak Pootles are great fun for socialising though. Forums are a great place for arguing points/disagreeing and they don’t constitute the ‘real world’ in many senses. Like riding it should be a place to let off steam.

@buck if you’ve just joined do not sign up for a ride if fluff has posted it unless you like bog snorkeling & carrying your bike up and often down hills.

FWIW hora, although I’ve been actively involved with running MMB for ~5 years, you and I and Peachos like the same sorts of rides by the sound of it – not necessarily the sort of rides people think of when they think of “club rides”, but based on what members say, I don’t think MMB is a “typical bike club”

There are a whole host of different sorts of rides in MMBs calendar. IIRC you went on an evening local mid-skill level sort of ride – which I suspect ain’t really your cup of tea??

I’ve posted plenty of rides in the past which are limited numbers and are “heading off up big mountains” and Peachos does the same. I also ride on my tod a lot locally, because I enjoy it, because the views from where I live are gorgeous (and also because I have the luxury of being able to ride some weekdays) – the fun stuff near me would get also get trashed if “ridden by crowds”.

With regards to MMB, each to their own, but MMB does do a lot of good stuff, so it’s a shame to hear people have had a poor experience with it (or are presenting less than positive perspectives on it on here)

One great thing about it is that it gives people new to the area, or who have lost their riding buddies (through carelessness, poor social skills) an opening, or have only just “found” mountain biking an opportunity.
There’s lots of other stuff it does aswell…On average we’ve give £500 a year for each of last few years to mountain rescue and air ambulance organisations. We’re founder members of PMBA. We support IMBA and we support the CTC.

We’ve got connections with local shops to get discounts. We run mechanicing skills sessions for those people who are interested (surprisingly large number). We’ve got contacts with the police and have helped recover a few members bikes over last few years.
We actively big up local and national bike events from the STW weekender/HTN to MM/SITS/Dyfi. We organise uplift days, weekends away at bunkhouses/cottages/campsites and we organise trips abroad – Many of these are cheaper than they would be for an individual on their own.
We are also very active at car sharing, on every ride, so it makes heading over to Wales, up to the Lakes, or out into the Scottish Highlands a lot more financially comfortable than “going solo”.

There’s a huge wealth of very broad knowledge in the club and the extent to which people will go to help others out never fails to surprise me – Need a boiler fitting, need a telly, need advice on buying a van, need to borrow a bike/car, need to arrange a wife swap? There’s usually always someone who responds.

There are also lights, wheel jigs, maps, survival gear, mountain bike guides, helmet cams, GPS, etc all available for members to borrow for free.

We strongly believe in the value of First Aid (in the community not just MTB) so we run a matched funding scheme. For anyone who wants to take a First Aid scheme – the club will cover half the cost.

There is also lots of SH gear getting sold on the forum. Usually at mates rates, and plenty of times, given away for free. I have saved a fortune buying stuff through the club (with the added advantage it’s from people I know and trust). One guy built up a jump bike virtually for free a while back just by saying that was what he wanted to do and then people bunging him parts.
Couple of weeks ago, I needed a bike rack for a w/e whilst van was in for service. One post on forum and I’d got 5 people offering to lend me bike racks.

I guess whatever a club does, it will never please all the people all the time. That said, much as I ride with them very little these days, IMHO MMB is a great club and I have memories of rides with them that will last me a lifetime 🙂

I like as small a group as possible

Would that be ‘alone’?