How to start a mountain bike club? Starting a mountain bike club like starting any club is achievable, highly gratifying and lots of fun.

Our experience is in developing a city based mountain bike club (The Trax) so I will draw on that. Our vision (sounds a bit sanctimonious but bear with me here) is to take mountain biking to all the cities in London and beyond in order to bring the sport we love to all regardless of their socio, economic, gender, age, ability and ethnic background. Inclusion is the name of the game here. Hopefully what we are achieving in The Trax in Tottenham we can take as a blueprint forward.

The top ten or so things I’d recommend

1) Who is the mountain bike club catering for and why would it benefit them?

For us it was quite a few groups. I live in crouch end so North London became the natural catchment area. Within this we identified three very diverse groups:

• Those established adult riders who travel out already to trail centres on their weekends. The Weekend Warriors as they are known. These folk own decent off road rigs and are used to and are prepared to travel to find the holy grail of trails. The club would offer them the chance to discover new routes and do this as a group recreationally.
• Local riders not yet into mountain biking. We are bases in Tottenham so we want to offer local adult riders activities. These users would be mainly road riders with basic hybrid, road or hardtail mtb bikes and new to off road cycling. Their preference would be for local activities and rides. The club would offer them beginner off road rides that would require minimal travel.
• Local kids into BMX and not exposed to mountain biking. These user will have a mix of bmx and MTB bikes and Many would have no bikes. These would require trained coaches to coach and would not be able to travel so locality for coaching is key. A more detailed how to Set up a youth club will form a separate post as it has dependencies on infrastructure, funding and so on but for us to achieve our vision (see paragraph one) this group are key and everything else in this post is very relevant A note to say there are clubs with a stronger racing focus or clubs that are more into bmx or road riding or do all disciplines. What matters is knowing who you are for and making sure you target what you can realistically achieve whilst you grow. Rome wasn't built in a day and so take it one target ride group at a time. Don bite off too much too soon we did and we went back and then we wised up and went forward.

2) Get your friends, family and riding buddies involved.

Even if it is just to bash idea around and for moral support to tell you it's A great idea and keep plugging away then you I'll appreciate and need this at times. Start with those you know and who know you already and know your skills and limitations and give constructive advice.

3) Promote the club though raising awareness.

Talk to everybody you meet who rides a knobbly tired bike. You cannot substitute face to face contact. Join other rides on the area like road clubs and inform them about your off road cycling idea. I went on some LCC and Skyride rides and raised awareness and got new members. Also get a poster and flyer done saying where you will meet and ride and get it distributed to local community centres and schools. It does not need to be fancy. If you can talk and visit.

Write a press release and distribute it to local papers. Good advice is to advertise the first meeting and ride together, a sort of launch day. Even if only one or two other folk turns up then you have a base. Agree in the meeting what the club is about (see number one above) and where you want to ride who to affiliate with and insurance etc. There is no rush on all this and you need to let things develop organically. Until you have ridden a few times, grown a bit and got to know each other you can and should hold off on being a formal club and make the decisions a few weeks or months in. A website and or Facebook is a good idea as is a newsletter. Promoting A regular rather than infrequent ride schedule works best. Post on biking forums.

4) Get some structure and appreciate everybody

• Hold a meeting:
  • Vote in favour of forming a club
  • Vote a chair and secretary
  • Discuss and agree affiliation ( British cycling and CtC offer this with public liability insurance protection around £70 to £90 a year ( whip round required)
  • Set another meeting to agree a distributed constitution and membership policy (see example attached)
  • Policies: You need as minimum insurance, constitution, risk assessment, incident and member and guest forms as well as parental consent forms. First aid kit is a good idea. British Cycling has a dummy set of all these on it's website.
  • Agree who will lead the next few rides (NB CTC do ride leader courses if you keen otherwise they give really good advice on their website)
  • Appreciate any volunteers and don’t ask anyone to do too much. Volunteer exhaustion comes quickly as everyone commits excited and passionate in making it all happen. There is no rush. If you are coaching kids look at British Cycling Level 1 and Level II courses.
  • You also need to agree what the membership fees are and what money you will need initially. The Trax is free and we rely on funding, sponsorship from local bike shops on kind. Other clubs charge an annual membership. There is no right or wrong way You are there.. go ride and have fun. This will be one of your best rides ever I promise you.
  • Down the line you will need a treasurer, membership and publicity and a welfare officer (if you are a youth club). No need at start

5) Involve local community stakeholder groups and the council.

Particularly important for a local youth club but as important if you ride other peoples woods and forests. We are park based in Tottenham (Lordship Rec). Most parks have a local Friends group work with these groups. Meet and walk the area. Understand how all user groups use the facility and respect the environment and other users. Talk lots and work to agreement. The council, forestry commission or private landowner will own the land you ride on. Speak with them. They are likely to have a sports person with targets you can help them meet. Local youth centres, sports clubs and schools will be source of volunteers, members and support. Be part of one community. Don’t be out on a limb there is only one community.

6) Agree where and when you will ride and what services to offer.

From rides to coaching to free bike advice. Don't forget the social side. Bill from British Cycling reminds me often that most people join a club to make friends, get fit and have fun. Never forget this. We are all here to make friends at the end of the day.

7) Talk to bike shops for discounts and to let you hand out posters and fliers

8) Get a club hut or somewhere to meet

This is really useful with a youth club as you have somewhere to meet, use toilets and store equipment and have meetings. Otherwise it is less so. Contact your local council or local friends group or landowner of the trails and parks you will ride

9) Get Funding

If you are free then contact the council for funding routes. We work with Grassroots, play sport London, the heritage lottery fund. Your council may also fund you too if you're helping them hit targets. Either way the local walk, jog and cycle officer can put you in touch of funding opportunitie. On day one you need nought and probably three months down the line the same but ehn you will see that things cost form first aid courses to ride qualifications to printing posters, volunteer expenses to making tea and coffee in club hut. You will need a small fund whatever your size.

10) Ride often and regular

Hold regular but not too frequent meetings and socials but make sure you get out and RIDE. We combine the meeting and social. Meet for an hour once a month then drink. Works well. It’s easy to get lost in the planning but more important to go riding, form friendships and have fun. Regular rides like every saturday meeting at the club hut type of thing work best if you can as we all get confused if it is on odd days here and ther..

Some final words from Dave a mentor and someone who has guided the club from day one, who reminds me, that starting a club that’s one thing, keeping it running one year down the line is another and not quite so easy" Very true and one year on we are still there (largely sue to Dave's wise advice) and yes there has been lots of ups and downs but we are here and we ain't going nowhere except on more rides.

If you want to get involved with the The Trax club or ask any questions please contact Daniel.mintz@ibikeride.com

Attachments:

The_Trax_Constitution.doc

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