Maybe you’re thinking of joining the club, or you’ve jumped right in and have already done so, but aren’t sure where to start…read on…
Club runs
Club runs are a social ride and an ideal place to find out more about the club, get some miles in and meet members of the club.
Note: We welcome new members to our club runs, to give you an opportunity to find out what we’re like and whether you want to be a member. If you wish to come along, please turn up at start, and make yourself known to the members – the ride leaders will identify themselves, or just ask anyone. Non-members will be expected to join the club after a maximum of 2 club runs.
Saturday Morning
These are an ideal starting point, the ride is split into a minimum of 2 groups dependent on pace. All groups head to the same cafe stop around half way, where we’ll eat, drink and talk about bikes.
The expected pace of each group will be called out prior to the ride, these are normally 14-16mph & 16-18mph and 19mph+. Please choose according to your ability, if you’re unsure, err on the side of caution and go with the slower group, you can swap groups at the cafe stop.
You’ll benefit from the aerodynamics of riding in a group and find it easier to ride at a higher pace than normal. That said, if you pick a group that’s too fast, you won’t be left behind, the group will adjust to the pace of the slowest rider. Equally, if you pick a group that’s too slow, live with it, don’t try riding off the front trying to push the pace – these are social rides, not hard training rides.
Note: You should be self-sufficient – have a pump, spare inner tube, tyre levers and a puncture repair kit (and know how to use it!), money for cakes/coffee etc.
Racing
Opportunities for racing exist at every level, and the club has a healthy and growing level of participation in many areas. If there’s a discipline that you are interested in, you can guarantee there will be someone at the club who can give you advice.
The most popular disciplines in the club are Time Trials (TT’s) & Cyclo-cross (cyclo-x or just ‘cross), conveniently TT tends to be summer biased, and cross winter, so numbers are high throughout the year.
You’ll find a brief description below, for more details, refer to the individual discipline pages).
Time Trialling
The french call them the race of truth; it’s just you against the clock over a set distance with common races being 10 or 25 miles. Riders are set off at 1 minute intervals and ride the course as fast as they can.
IBC competes in, and organises a number of TT’s throughout the summer, it’s own Open 10 & 25, and 6 rounds of the ICA series
Cyclo-Cross
Off road cycle racing, on bikes which resemble a road bike – drop bars, narrow tyres – and with obstacles thrown in to force dismounts and bike carrying.
Road racing
About RR….
MTB
Sportives
There are many Sportives organised in the local area of Suffolk and usually cater for short (30 miles) medium (65 miles) and long (100 miles). These will be advertised in the news and events sections and sometimes will incorporate a club social ride at blue and red pace.