Singletrack Issue 151: A Clarion Call

Hannah examines the rise of a new type of cycling club: the collective. Words Hannah photography as credited Some of the earliest cycling clubs were f …

By stwhannah

Get the full story here:

Singletrack Issue 151: A Clarion Call

That’s an interesting read that. I’ve never been in a club.

R.I.P to the handful of WhatsApp groups I was in that died during Covid and never came back.

The origin story of the MNPR (10 years ago!).

https://harrythespiderblog.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/brown-drinks/

Set up by me and Jason because we were being grumpy smart-arses.

Clarion House is fantastic BTW. We do a fair bit of walking around there and always pop in for a pint of tea and competitively price Kit Kat. Usually to coincide with this https://www.parishnews.org/202310/roughlee-village-centre-1023/

Yes I did enjoy reading the paper version – specially the comment about Binner which i did find funny – Hannah spend too much time on the forum, or maybe it’s just work for her.

My cycling group is a collective rather than a club, mainly as a reaction to our main city cycling club which proves the point made above: “There’s nothing that takes the fun out of something like the forming of a committee.” very well!

Apparently someone had a new idea in 1867 and it didn’t work out, so they banned all new ideas / change. Most of the current committee are so old, they can remember the meeting in 1867…

Apparently someone had a new idea in 1867 and it didn’t work out, so they banned all new ideas / change. Most of the current committee are so old, they can remember the meeting in 1867…

Sounds like my workplace.

If there’s no club tie, I’m not interested.

I did reach the point where I was spending more time doing MNPR artwork than actually doing my job

Sorry I missed the print deadline, I was doing this…

It did sort of start a something which ended up completely changing my working life though, so mustn’t grumble 😀

While there are some mountain bike clubs – Peak District MTB springs to mind as a particularly prominent example

I’m not sure that Peak District MTB is a club or collective, it’s far more of an advocacy group than a riding one. It also, irritatingly, stipulates that to be.a full member you have to live within the boundaries of the Peak District National Park, which given that those boundaries were specifically chosen to exclude large population centres, like Glossop, Buxton etc, so I can live on the fringe of the park, ride mostly in it, but have no say in its running or policies. Which arguably makes it rather not collective.

So, collectives, great. Peak District MTB no so collective – it is that way because the Peak District National Park Authority wanted it that way, go figure. Sorry it just kind of irks me.

It also, irritatingly, stipulates that to be.a full member you have to live within the boundaries of the Peak District National Park

Does it? I’m a member and I’m not in the Peak District.

and Cycling Weekly with an article on the exact same theme…..

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/everythings-changing-the-hip-new-face-of-british-cycling