University Cycling Clubs

TKing

Can someone give me say, the top 5 university cycling clubs, based on structure, racing and the general community? I need to start thinking of Uni's to go to, and this is one of my key priorities!

Thanks...

irezumi

What are your reasons for basing your university choice on what it's cycling club is like? Surely whether they offer the subject that you wish to study would be the best to apply for?

I should imagine Loughborough has a very good cycling club as it's a very sports based Uni. However to get in you have to have very high grades and/or be of a very high level in your chosen sport.

So unless you are these then why make this a stipulation? There is likely to be a very good local cycling club within reasonable distance wherever you are in the UK anyway.

rozzer32

Sorry but don't be an idiot and make a choice that will affect the rest of your life on how good the cycling club is.

Your there to get an education. So go to the Uni that will provide the best education.

Tom Butcher

I agree with the above - you are going to a university to get an education - it's a once in a lifetime opportunity so make the most of it.

That said there are plenty of universities that are much of a muchness - and you have to enjoy your time there otherwise you probably wont work well. Rather than look for a good uni cycling club have a look for a good cycling country - the Peak District is fantastic so anything around Manchester, Sheffield, Derby, Stoke you wouldn't go wrong - plelnty of choice of good universities there and plenty of good cycling clubs too - it's not mandatory for you to hang out only with students just because you are one.

TKing

'one of' being the key phrase! Of course I wouldn't make a decision entirely on the cycling club, but if I cant decide between two Uni's giving me the same offer, and same course, that is one way I could make my decision!

Thanks for the life advice though..

ride_whenever

At the end of the day it's road riding. You'll be able to do fairly decent road riding just about anywhere in the country. There almost certainly will be a local club.

If you were talking mtbing then things become a bit more interesting as you tend to really want some proper hills, but even then you usually do still have options.

HadronCyclist

Cambridge has a very good uni cycling club - we regularly won BUCS/came second to Loughborough. The intense workload makes for lots of stress to grind out on the bike. Screw the education though, pick your uni based on how much work you want to do balanced with how much sport/sex/fun you want. I'm thankful for my Cambridge degree, but given the chance to do it all again, I'd give serious consideration to places like Durham, Loughborough and Bristol. I would have had a much more balanced workload and perhaps it wouldn't have all been such a blur!

I disagree with the two previous posts, as "going to the uni that will provide the best education" is highly dependant on the effort you put in as a student. You can go to a "lesser" university and dedicate yourself to your studies and come out with fantastic aptitude in your chosen field, or you can go to "the best university" and come out feeling like your lecturers only cared about their research, and teaching you was a minor hiccup in their every day existence.

Make your university judgement wisely. Consider all the factors. Education, accommodation, term dates (Cambridge students have to spend X number of nights within 5 miles of a church spire - silly and archaic.), supervisions, grant availability, sports clubs, the town, the local area, travel to and from home/airports/major cities, rules on things like having a car (Cambridge students aren't allowed to have one), etc etc. The list is endless. Pick a place that feels right. Good luck, and feel free to get in touch if you want to ask anything more detailed.

Tom Butcher

Agree with you to an extent Hadron - but whilst you may not get a better education at a prestigious university many employers will value your degree more highly - I suppose it's a factor to take into account but not the be all and end all.

TommyEss

Tom Butcher wrote:

I agree with the above - you are going to a university to get an education - it's a once in a lifetime opportunity so make the most of it.

That said there are plenty of universities that are much of a muchness - and you have to enjoy your time there otherwise you probably wont work well. Rather than look for a good uni cycling club have a look for a good cycling country - the Peak District is fantastic so anything around Manchester, Sheffield, Derby, Stoke you wouldn't go wrong - plelnty of choice of good universities there and plenty of good cycling clubs too - it's not mandatory for you to hang out only with students just because you are one.

Avoid like the plague as far as universities go.

Tom Butcher

Why ? Depending on your options they might not be a bad choice - my missus got her degree from North Staffs Poly as it was then - she seems to have done OK out of it.

burrage9

Instead of all having a go at TKing, why not give him the information hes after and let him make his own mind up?

This is the website for the inter-university events, where you can find the results from this year so far, and from the last few years to give you an idea of which Unis have good/successful clubs.

http://www.bucs.org.uk/sport.asp?sectio ... le=Cycling

Speaking as someone who's currently at his third university, I would say that the terrain surrounding your Uni is just as important as the club itself. However hard you try, you aren't going to find any hills in Cambridgeshire!

daveydave43

Hi TKing

I'm a student at Lboro, and cycle for the club, as a roadie. This is my first year at university, studying English.
For me personally, it's great; good communication between members, club equipment for hire including rollers, turbos, lights, plenty of weekly rides for most disciplines (We don't have that many hills for downhillers in the area, so they don't get out so much). Occasionally we go the the Peak District for a challenge.

http://www.lsu-cycling.co.uk/the-club/ if you would like to have a look.

That said, I agree with the comments above; choose your university choice on the university itself Accommodation, the course, the social life etc. Although, here too, lboro scores: 1st in the Times best university experience survey for the fifth year running :P

If you decide Lboro is right for you, perhaps we'll see you in the autumn

hammerite

TommyEss wrote:

Tom Butcher wrote:

Derby, Stoke

Avoid like the plague as far as universities go.

I went to Derby Uni. Whilst I wouldn't say I excelled academically I did have a great time, and loved living in Derby - I stayed there for 6 years after graduating. For me going to university was a lot more than getting a qualification, it was about moving away, doing my own thing, and generally being a little less sheltered - I'd lived my whole life in a small village so the latter was quite important.

Sporting wise, the uni was no great shakes. I'm not aware of there being a cycling club when I was there, I was part of the university running club, but we were also not the best organised bunch. If you're committed to your sport you'll find a way of doing it regardless, and as Tom has suggested local clubs - Derby Mercury in this case - are a great thing to be involved with.

I've often wondered whether my running and cycling clubs could tap into the local university population a little more.

TKing

daveydave43, do you do any racing? If so, is there much going on around Loughborough, or would you have to travel quite far in order to find races? Obviously I would be interested doing the BUCS stuff, but I would also like to get a BC racing license and get some points...

cheers..

cleeve hill reject

Don't worry about the level of the club at the University, pick it based on the course and the city/town - you'd be amazed at how easy it is to get a decent university club up and running - in my 1st year at Exeter the bike club was about 20 DH and XC riders who maybe rode once a week - I've been running various its and pieces of it for 3 years now and we have a well funded road racing squad which I think will make a bit of an impact on the South West this year, certainly in the lower categories. Have a look at our website, www.exeterunibikeclub.webs.com - if you're passionate enough it's not too difficult to organise something yourself, there are bound to be others in a similar position to you if you look hard enough.

daveydave43

This will be my first season of racing. I also part in the BUCS hillclimb last October for lboro; for BUCS events we usually take a couple of vans, and the Athletic Union pays for everything.

There are a few round here, Mallory Park holds a crit series on weekday evenings, I think Tuesday and Thursday(?). From what I've heard its not the most exciting of courses, but good for starting and learning about how to race. Plus, it's a nice ride back from the circuit to the University, if you have decent lights.

The races I have on my list include the Darley Moor series, the NCRA summer series, and criteriums here in Lboro (BUCS) and Spalding. The plan for most of these is to get guys from the club to club together and either bundle ourselves in a car. Other than that, I'll be getting the train to some.

Chances are, if you have a race in mind, another club member would be interested.
Hope this helps

incog24

Top Universities in the UK for road cycling, probably Durham, Cambridge, Birmingham. All of those have very active scenes.

I'm at Durham and over the last few years its really taken off. We've got an active squad of 15 or so road/tt racers, a load of casual road riders, DHers and XC riders. We've got access to the University labs for VO^2 max and other testing, and coaching provisions for riders. Next year (details still tbc) our top 6 riders will get funding to get their own coaches (we have a preferred coach but you can choose your own), and less experienced riders will get coached by BC qualified riders within the club. We also have access to two coach led strength and conditioning sessions per week which are excellent, and free physiotherapy. The BC coaching awards can be taken by more experienced riders in the club, and we foot the bill with a mix of our own money and external funding. We aim to qualify 2-3 people a year. Next year we're also looking at becoming go-ride accredited so that we can send our coaches into local school as part of the university outreach schemes.

Local riding and racing is excellent. For the roadies we've got Hetton closed circuit 7 miles away which is great for skills session, and has crits every week during the summer. There's also a plethora of road racing within an hour of the city, stacks of local TTs, and two CX leagues which often have events within riding distance. We also ran the BUCS CX this year which was great, and we'll be holding it again next year. We've been offered the BUCS road race but turned it down due to time commitments. For the mountain bikers there's Hamsterly forest 15 miles away with XC, DH and 4X riding. We also do ~3 trips a term to other bigger centres in Scotland etc.

Bit of a long post so I'll leave it there, but I'm happy to chat to anyone about a typical week/racing calendar/pre-seasons in the UK and abroad. Oh, and if you're racing at a national junior level there's a very good chance we can get you a scholarship of £2000 per year (ish) plus other benefits. However we do need to know about the sport when you're applying!

If anyone wants more information or just wants to chat about the club, drop me a pm or email me through the club website (my email is on the front page).

Sheptastic

I'd better add my 2 cents as well, everyone else is doing their sales job and I'd hate it if University of Worcester CC got forgotten about!

We are a considerably smaller club than L'boro, Durham or Brum but this is only due the clubs age. We've only really been going for 3 years but in that time we can already boast a BUCS win and a number of strong rides - look out for us in the results of the BUCS MTB champs.

We have a keen contingent roadies, doing timetrials road races and training together several times per week. on the MTB side, a talented bunch including the current women's national downhill champ.

In terms of racing: Newport Velodrome @1hr30, Stourport race track 25mins, Halesowen track 45 mins as well as very competative open road racing.

We are continuing to develop the club a regional centre for cycling and to make it nationally known (and feared ! :twisted: )

While the big universities mentioned have their merits, UW and its CC are close knit communites and are continually striving to improve.

Whichever one you choose have a brilliant time!

Agent57

Sheptastic wrote:

University of Worcester CC [...] We've only really been going for 3 years

There was an unofficial Worcester College of Higher Education cycling club back in 1988; but I was the only member. Did do some nice rides out in the Malverns, IIRC.

Sheptastic

Then I'd better rephrase, as a university club with more than 1 member its been going for 3 years!