After many years of complaining about the lack of a good local cycling club, a few like-minded individuals got together and started going on regular rides. Knowing how much we all enjoyed cycling, the chat on group rides kept coming back to one topic: How nice it would be to give the entire local community the opportunity to experience the freedom and happiness that cycling can bring. The seed was planted…
So what were the key considerations we wanted to achieve from the club?
- First and foremost, we wanted to make the club friendly and welcoming. No elitist nonsense and no dropping anyone from the social rides!
- Next was to make it official. We are affiliated with Scottish and British Cycling and are proud of it!
- We wanted sustainability. With our philosophy of encouraging youth development and involvement in the club, we began succession planning before the club was even up and running.
- We wanted to be able to nurture talent and enthusiasm for our favourite of all sports. To facilitate this we are not focussing on one discipline. We are open to roadies, mountain bikers, BMX’ers, Crossers (AKA Nutters!), track, TT… Even balance bikes! We’re also not concentrating solely on the social side of cycling. We are investing in our members by working towards our accreditation as cycling coaches and ride leaders, eventually allowing us to train aspiring athletes for competition or our mountain bike leaders to head off on epic adventures with those who so desire.
- We want our members to be safe. To facilitate this we are ensuring that we have welfare officers, first aiders, risk assessments and PVG checks in place where necessary. Our club management team are always on hand to address any concerns that you may have either during a ride or otherwise.
- We want to improve cycling facilities in the local community. This is a tricky one and it will take time, but rest assured that the intentions are there and will be acted upon in due course.
- Finally, we want to have FUN! After all, that’s what riding bikes is all about, right??
With our goals determined it was time to make it happen… Not as easy as it sounded I can assure you! But here we are. We’re affiliated, we’re official and we’re determined to make this club a success! We will continue to evolve and adapt to the challenges that will likely present themselves, but there’s nothing more we would like than for YOU to be there with us every step of the way! Check out our membership pages and come along for a taster ride. You won’t look back!