Guest Blog: Riding With Another Club for the Weekend

Fellow Wightlink-LCM Systems Race Team rider Jack Elton-Walters had a great weekend riding off the island visiting family in Bristol a few weekends back, when he joined the Bristol Road Club on their Saturday club run. Chatting to him about it when he got back it seemed like such a great idea; having the initiative to find a club to ride with when you go somewhere new has so many benefits. He kindly offered to write a blog post about his experience; I hope you enjoy it, and it inspires you to do the same.  

"Running a business on the Isle of Wight often means I’m called away for days on end, and sometimes over weekends. This time I tied it in with a visit to my sister in Bristol, but didn’t want to miss a whole weekend’s training. 

Using British Cycling’s Club Finder I found Bristol Road Club and emailed their secretary Brian. He got back to me very swiftly and said it’d be great for me to join the club’s Saturday ride. 

This turned out to be a great idea: the club was very welcoming, and their local knowledge proved invaluable. Upon arrival to the meeting point – BW Cycling I was introduced to Brian and some of the regulars, and from the off I could tell they were a good bunch. By the time we were ready to set off there were about 25 of us, and I was told this was about half the usual turnout due to people being away at races or simply avoiding the cold! 

We headed out for a long loop that took in the challenging and rewarding Cheddar Gorge climb, and used roads that were far safer than the local trunk routes. This is where their local knowledge really came into its own: having only been to Bristol once before and with a terrible natural sense of direction, I never could have got in such a quality ride on my own as I would have been continuously stopping to check for iPhone’s map.

The welcome I got and the ride we went on made my guest ride with Bristol Road Club particularly good, but I would recommend getting in touch with locals clubs and teams when away from home to ensure quality training on unfamiliar routes."