Anybody Started Up Their Own Cycle Club??

deejaysee

Would be interested how you went about it.

Don't appear to have one in my immediate area (just outside Oxford) but there are an awful lot of riders.
Would imagine it taking up a lot of time though which i don't have

Start small though hey

pblakeney

Word of mouth and Facebook Group.
No rules, no membership. Just ride.

singleton

deejaysee wrote:

Would be interested how you went about it.

Don't appear to have one in my immediate area (just outside Oxford) but there are an awful lot of riders.
Would imagine it taking up a lot of time though which i don't have

Start small though hey

Where are you exactly? I'm just north of Oxford and know of a couple around the area.
http://midoxon.org/

deejaysee

Singleton wrote:

deejaysee wrote:

Would be interested how you went about it.

Don't appear to have one in my immediate area (just outside Oxford) but there are an awful lot of riders.
Would imagine it taking up a lot of time though which i don't have

Start small though hey

Where are you exactly? I'm just north of Oxford and know of a couple around the area.
http://midoxon.org/

Wheatley

schlepcycling

It's really easy, just think of a name (might be worth checking it's not already being used) and then start calling yourself whatever the name you've chosen. If you want to take it further then you can even order custom kit with your design and name on if you like. The only problem 'might' come if you decide to register it with any of the governing bodies (BC or CTT) but even then as long as you haven't picked a name already taken or called yourself 'Team Sky' then all they'll care about is that you pay your membership and that your kit conforms to their rules regarding sponsorship, but if you don't have any then no problem.

Flâneur

Yep, easier done with a few people on board to start with (I've kept my club to a friends introduction but open for nearly all abilities) started with around 10 of us now at 70 which is far bigger than i wanted, but hey ho.

Facebook is a good way to communicate and post rides. I would suggest going for a BC/CTC cover for liability insurance. I charge members (and myself) £5 for the joy of very little except that cover and some surplus.

Be aware if you join BC or charge members etc you will need to have a committee and/or keep some books.

Feel free to send a PM if you want a chat about the more serious parts of it it all

bigglosfan

I'm just south of you, there are loads of clubs round here. I've not joined any myself - only been cycling for 18 months and my schedule is such that I can't make weekend club rides or anything. Would like to next year though.

fenix

I'm positive theres already a club or two in your area.

Running a proper club is time consuming - if you want to put on races. time trials, develop youth - you need people prepared to go to meetings and take minutes and do accounts etc etc.

You'd really be better off joining an organised club and helping them rather than try to reinvent the wheel.

I've seen a lot of new club jerseys around the last few years and it'll be interesting to see how they progress. In the past most new clubs have disbanded after a couple of years when they realise the effort that's needed.

Flâneur

Fenix is right that it does require effort and if it is more than an organised weekend ride/weeknight rides then it gets incredibly hard (TT event equipment costs)

I suspect most of those clubs will last beyond a few years as the smaller/newer ones tend to be more of an organised group of friends rather than the tight bounds of some larger clubs). Christ I never wanted 70 people to manage, I was happy with 10/20 max.

deejaysee

Cheers for your input guys.
Food for thought

JesseD

According to British Cycling there seems to be 6 clubs within 5 miles of wheatley:

Horspath CSC
Cowley Road Condors
Oxford Brookes Cycling Club
Oxford University Cycling Club
Beeline Bicycles RT
Beeline-Gener8

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/clubf ... d_filter=0