Southampton Cycling Clubs

TKing

I was just wondering what are the best cycling clubs in Southampton that have an active racing scene? I will be going to Uni here next year and was wondering whether there are many local races/crits around as well?

Many thanks.

mojjo

Hi Tking

There are loads to pick from round this way, although some i'm not sure if they're still going.

Sotonia - local cycling club that take part in tt's crits etc etc
crab wood cc - not to sure how big they are
Fareham wheelers - bit further away but with over 200 members and every type of racing-cycling covered, similar to Sotonia

If you're into offroad riding aswell then new force is a local MTB club based in the new forest which haven active forum.

Hope that helps.

I'm a member of fareham wheelers and when younger raced with Sotonia but i'msure there are any other smaller clubs in existence.

Ed.

gandhi

Sotonia is the big club -- they do road racing and TTs. If you're at the Uni, they have a very active club with some pretty solid riders.

tjkey17

Hi there matey.

I am in my first year at soton uni at the moment, and there are a lot of clubs and races around the area. Most of the guys at the uni ride for the university team, southampton university road club. Its not a massive club but there are group rides every wednesday, and a real good mix of people, with some very fast ones as well!!

Racing wise, there are only 6 or 7 of us at the moment who race crits etc but a lot more who ride TTs, the same as most clubs really. You could search for the club on facebook and take a look at our page.

Racing wise, there is a winter series at ludgershall, about 30 miles away from uni, which is about a mile long lap crit race, then there is usually regular racing at an outdoor velodrome in Portsmouth and there are a few proper road races in the summer. There are also a lot of local TTs organised by local clubs such as sotonia.

If you think the uni club isn'f for you, I know a couple of quick guys from uni who ride for VC St Raphael, and there is also Sotonia CC and Southampton Road Club (I think) in Southampton, and Hargroves Cycles has a sponsored team if your quick!!! But if you want a club with people more your age I'd definitely suggest the university club.

Cheers

incog24

Yep TJ has basically got the advice nailed there. There's a good bunch of us who ride with the uni club. We don't all race in the Southampton colours, but there are about five or six 2nd cat+ riders and a good few 3rd and 4th cats who are active members. Because of that the Wednesday club run ticks along nicely, and handily tends to be relatively sensible (depending on who's out...) and there generally are at least two 7am early bird rides each week. Other than that there are good chaingangs and club runs in the local area that lots of members go too so the club's a good place to get to know the area. We go to Calshot quite a bit, and I think there are 5 3hr sessions happening in the first term next year. The club subsidises it so its quite cheap and good craic. There's also spinning on a Thursday and possibly a club core/flexibility session being added on a Tuesday next year. So basically quite a lot on. I'd recommend that you join up at the start of the year and ride with us a bit, then make a decision about who you want to race for in the area. Oh and there'll be the BUCS hill climb at the end of October, shortly followed by the BUCS track and CX championships, so if you're interested in any of those we'll have a team going.

Just a thought, join the facebook group http://www.facebook.com/groups/surcClub/. You'll get prompter replies to questions and its a good place to get a feel for the club.

Cheers,

Alex

tjkey17

Yeah, Alex got it spot on there!

The Calshot sessions are really good fun, and something not many clubs can offer, especially or the price! Also, the BUCS events are really good, we had the BUCS 10 on saturday and narrowly missed out on 3rd place team by 4 seconds.

If anything, you will always have someone to go out for a ride with, and there are usually 3 or 4 rides organised on the facebook page a week and indoor training to go along with that. I found this really useful in my first year to get to know the area better and learn some really nice rides around the back roads.

Tj

crammond

For more info on the Southampton University Road Club i suggest you also check out their website --- > http://www.southamptonuniversityroadclub.org/

TKing

Thanks for all the info it's been a great help! Can't wait to join the uni club next year!

andreashicks

Crammond have my PM's come through? It hasn't been working since sunday!