Stretford Wheelers Cycling Club
RACING
A number of our members, male and female, take part in various forms of racing, including on the track, road racing, time-trials and cyclo-cross, but this is entirely up to each individual and this is certainly by no means compulsory.
To facilitate this desire, the club is affiliated to a number of the local and national organisations which promote cycle sport in UK. These affiliations allow our members to race as Club Members and participate in the competitions offered by these organisations.
One of our club members (Captain Chris) competed in the National Hill climb. Brave man Chris well done! Read about his ride here.
For those interested in racing one of our members Heather Bamforth has prepared this introductory guide. Hope you find it useful.
For anyone interested and wanting to know more please do get in contact with Heather on twitter @heverb
Time Trials
These are the races of truth - man and machine, against the clock.
Known in the sport as "testing," because you are testing yourself and equipment against previous performance, as well as testing against club-mates and other riders, riders are set off at one minute intervals to follow a prescribed course. The distances involved are normally standardised at 10 miles, 25, 30, 50 & 100 miles. Then there are 12 hour and 24 hour events where it is simply a case of travelling as far as possible on the course in the prescribed time.
Time trialling is quite popular, with local events based on circuits around the Chelford and Goostrey areas. Some of our riders will travel further afield to seek "faster" courses as they chase down improvements on their "Personal Bests". So, some Saturdays will see club members as far afield as Cumbria, Merseyside, Humberside, Staffordshire and even occasionally on the A1 in Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
Sometimes there are team time trial events for 2, 3 or 4 riders.
The club has a strong background with time trialling, having promoted events since its inception. As a consequence, we have a range of Club Competitions and Club Trophies dedicated for our time trialling members.
For newcomers, all-comers and older "Veteran" racers, there are Handicap systems to try to equalize ability, and the handicap arrangement is applied to a number of the Club Competitions - so we are all in with a chance.
Locally, the time-trialling season runs from early March into mid September, with a festive Christmas Time Trial event for those seeking some fancy-dress fun.
Hill Climbs
This is a variation on the time trial, which is an uphill race on a short course, usually on a stripped-down ultra-lightweight machine. Not an event for the faint-hearted!