Why should I start my own cycling group?

You may be happy to go out riding on your own or just with a friend but cycling with a group is a lot more fun! There isn’t much to it but the benefits of being an organised group are many. Here are just a few of our top reasons why should start your own group.

1. There isn’t one near you

This is the most obvious reason: you’ve looked and there simply isn’t a group close by. Or the ones that are within cycling distance don’t do the type of riding, at a distance, time or pace that suits you. Maybe you're looking for some off-road riding, but the only clubs you can find are long-distance roadies, for example.

This is what happened to Helen Ball. Having looked around at local cycling groups for women and not finding what she needed, she reached out to other women she thought might be having the same experience. She met fellow novice rider Pauline Bailey, and together they set up Liverpool Loopline Ladies Cycling.

Helen says: “I was looking for the first step back into riding my bike, and I really wanted to ride in a traffic-free, fun and non-competitive environment with other women. At the time, there wasn’t anything like that on offer near me.”

2. You’ll find more people who share your love of cycling

As it’s your group, you get to decide exactly what type of cycling the group concentrates on. Whether your prefer leisure cycling, mountain biking, road riding, touring – or some combination of all of these – you’ll attract people to your group who enjoy the same, and who might even introduce you to something new.

You’ll also have the satisfaction of bringing together like-minded people who might otherwise never have met.

Just two years after its inception, Liverpool Loopline Ladies Cycling had grown to around 40 women who dipped in and out of rides and a regular core group of 20 riders.

“I had begun riding on the Liverpool Loopline (part of the Transpennine Trail) with my husband, but I wanted a group of like-minded women to ride with, so I started a Facebook group hoping that other women like me would find it and join in,” adds Helen.

Keep in mind, though, that if your group wants to take part in races, it will need a British Cycling racing licence.

3. A healthy lifestyle

Cycling is a great activity that improves fitness and mental wellbeing. By forming a group, you’ll be providing more people with opportunities for taking part in a healthy, life-enhancing activity. They may also make friends for life, and as we know, social interaction is essential to a good life, with loneliness being as deadly as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Paula Bailey comments: “I began by riding a mile and feeling faint, and now I can ride 25 miles over a few hours and thoroughly enjoy it. We all have a fantastic group of new friends, women we would never have met if we hadn’t begun LLLLC.”

For me it was about the social side of cycling, but an unintended outcome is that I have lost over a stone in weight without really trying, and that’s a real bonus!

Helen Ball, Liverpool Loopline Ladies Cycling

4. Share knowledge

The very nature of a group – getting together a bunch of different people – means that there will be a range of experience and skills that can be shared. This is true even of beginner groups. Everyone will be at a slightly different point along their cycling journey and will have something to share with the others.

You’ll get to share your own knowledge with other members of the group, which can be especially rewarding with beginner groups. You’ll also improved your own skills – in riding, technical ability, navigation, socialising, organising, maintenance and more.

Cycling UK has a network of member and affiliate groups across the UK. Through this network we share support and advice on how to set up and run your group. Cycling UK development officer for Liverpool Chris Alston originally put Helen and Paula in touch when they were looking for a cycling group.

5. Mutual support

The camaraderie, the encouragement and the mutual support that comes from riding with others is irreplaceable. Knowing that a group of fellow cyclists are waiting for you provide motivation to get out on your bike even on the coldest of days.

You've got people to sit and chat with on what would otherwise be a lonely café stop. More importantly, there are plenty of people to watch your bike should you need to pop into a shop or to support you if you need to stop and fix a puncture – or to show you how.

Paula again: “The group prides itself in offering a fun and supportive place to get back on your bike; we don’t take ourselves too seriously, we’re not bothered what bike you have got or what you wear, as long as you’re safe and comfortable.”

6. You’re in control

It’s your group – you can run it however you want. This means you get to choose what type of riding you do. You also get to choose the name. You can use one that reflects the kind of activity you do – being as specific as you want. Or maybe it’ll reflect where you’re based or something else that’s significant to you. The choice is yours.

You can also decide where, how far and how often you meet and how formal the rides are. Flexibility can be especially important to women-only groups as women tend to have more competing claims on their time.

“Another big part of the group is being able to ride spontaneously and not having to wait for an organised ride; anyone can give a ‘shout out’ in our social media and see who else might be interested in riding that day,” Paula adds.

“This is particularly useful for women with work and caring responsibilities, in that you can find time to ride in between family commitments, taking advantage of a spare hour in the day to get out in the fresh air and exercise together when it suits you.”

7. Club kit

You get to design your own kit, or decide whether or not you even want to ride in club kit. Kit can be expensive, after all, and might put some riders off.

But if you do want club kit, you get to decide what it should look like. Maybe bright pink Lycra is your thing, but maybe you want something more understated. If you’re artistic you could even design a logo and really let your imagination run wild.

Ordering kit as a group means you might benefit from bulk discounts or negotiate special rates at bike shops.

8. Recruit new riders

Having a name and a more formal structure means your group can have a presence on social media, for example, a Facebook group or Instagram page, giving you a public profile. Cycling UK member and affiliate groups have their own publicity page on our website.

This makes it much easier for people to find out about you and get in touch so you can recruit new riders more easily. 

Helen and Paula run a successful Facebook page for Liverpool Loopline Ladies Cycling with more than 600 followers, through which group members can communicate with each other.

Women can borrow a bike from LLLLC and test out if cycling is for them without having to commit to buying their own. Helen and Paula find that most women come and enjoy it so much that they carry on, soon feeling the physical and mental health benefits of cycling.