Shropshire Yoof Cycling

mclarent

Bit of a long shot this, but anyway...

My young cousin (aged 12) has been inspired by my cycling (hooray!) and professes an interest in doing the same (hooray!)

Unfortunately(?) he lives in rural Shropshire, near Bishops Castle, and I live in East London, so I can't really support him much. Does anyone know of any clubs or organisations in the area that would be suitable for a 12 year old with a relatively heavy MTB and an interest in cycling?

Cheers

Tom

mattshrops

try mid shropshire wheelers in shrewsbury. not sure about the mtb but there is an off road circuit for training and plenty of youth racing etc. dont quote me but i believe it is possible to borrow a bike for the thurs or tues circuit sessions. its a good friendly club with a good mix of abilities and interests. try the website for info/contact.

wicked

/\ /\ /\ /\ What he said.

JamesB

Try Blazing Bikes bike shop at Marshbrook , near south end of Long Mtnd; I think they have evening MTB club runs and will I`m sure be able to give other info:

I would though say FORTUNATELY he lives in Shropshire whilst you UNFORTUNATELY live in London

Clank

Can he get any support from home?

mclarent

Cheers guys, that's great pointers.

JamesB - I agree! And fortunately I have an excuse to spend a week riding in Shropshire/Wales every year

Clank - hopefully, but home situation's not great (single parent family etc)

Clank

mclarent wrote:

Clank - hopefully, but home situation's not great (single parent family etc)

Darn, I was fearing that. Well, good luck to the fella anyways. If he can get 'in' to it, then maybe he can get his mates doing likewise and that'll help him along.

Nice to see the young 'uns taking an interest 8)

JamesB

@mclarent:

are you by any chance having part of that week to ride teh Shropshire Highland Challenge, 19th June; great event covering many Shropshire lanes and hills from Ludlow

mclarent

Sounds great! But I'll be back home by then... Had a great couple of rides this week though - Bishops Castle to Shrewsbury and back Monday, then Vrnwyn to Bishops Castle yesterday. Nice.

Eddy S

mclarent wrote:

Bit of a long shot this, but anyway...

My young cousin (aged 12) has been inspired by my cycling (hooray!) and professes an interest in doing the same (hooray!)

Unfortunately(?) he lives in rural Shropshire, near Bishops Castle, and I live in East London, so I can't really support him much. Does anyone know of any clubs or organisations in the area that would be suitable for a 12 year old with a relatively heavy MTB and an interest in cycling?

Cheers

Tom

Tom,

Just back to the original question - there are two good ways of getting good info or recommendations for this:

Go to the Go-Ride page on the BC site and look up the Go-Ride and Clubmark clubs in the region. You’ll have to do a bit of research work after that to find which one(s) will best fit for what your cousin wants to get out it verses what each of the appropriate clubs offer.

The 2nd route is similar - Contact the Go-Ride Regional Development staff (details from the Go-Ride Contacts link) and ask for a recommendation. They will have a geat insight in to all of the good clubs in the region and it should help you take out some of the randomness.

Hope that helps.

Eddy

Ron Stuart

Mid Shropshire Wheelers have a fantastic youth contingent; I know they rip my legs off when the road goes up on the Sunday club runs. They have some top teenagers on the youth circuit.
Check this out... http://www.davemellorcycles.com/news.asp they are all from the Mid Shropshires and what an environment to learn from.
Here's the Midz website... http://www.midshropshirewheelers.com/ the evening tens start and finish not that far from Bishop's Castle at Westbury.
The youths have there own kit to compete in and are well sponsored too.

simon_e

Thanks Ron.

MSW is Go-Ride accredited and has some very talented young riders. The club is also very fortunate to have a 1km cycletrack at Sundorne, we run coached sessions there every Saturday. Road/circuit racing is the club's forte, though we cover other disciplines with experienced cyclo-cross racers and TTers in the ranks, and have just started BMX coaching.

If your cousin wants to come to the Shrewsbury Bikefest on Saturday 11th June the club will have a stand and members milling around (the younger ones will likely be riding around on the circuit). The club has road/CX bikes available to use for the Saturday sessions. Drop me a PM if you want to know more.

He may also like to talk to the chaps at Pearce Cycles in Ludlow and Plush Hill Cycles in Church Stretton. Pearce run DH events while Plush Hill are working to promote the Long Mynd area for recreational riding. If he is looking to lighten his bike Islabikes near Ludlow make the best kid's bikes you can get.