Dorset Rough Riders

Dorset Rough Riders was formed in August 1989 and was originally called the East Dorset Mountain Biking Society, but this name was considered rather dull and long winded and so the members voted it to be renamed Dorset Rough Riders. Realising that it needed some way to communicate with its rapidly expanding membership a newsletter, typed on A4 paper, was produced. This developed into our magazine Tyre Print, which has now been superseded by this website.

Dorset Rough Riders went from strength to strength, peaking at 500+ members in the early 90s - easily the largest MTB club in the country. It now has a more modest, just over 400 but very solid membership base with many riders having been members since the very early days. The average age in the early days was very young with a large amount of teenage members, now members ages range from early teens to mid seventies! But mountain biking keeps you young, and fun and enjoyment are the key to the success of the club.

The 'Roughies' have accomplished a great deal in such a short period of time. We have taken part in several conservation projects, featured in many television and magazine articles, adopted rights of way, organized numerous highly successful races and most importantly introduced many people into a fun, healthy pastime. We raise money for charities and actively support the British Heart Foundation annual Dorset Bike Ride (map of ride area) with our food and drink stand along the route.

The rides are of course the core of the club and we are able to offer a wide range to suit all abilities. We offer rides starting from many locations throughout the area enabling members to find something that suits them near to where they live. Not only do you have a choice of where you ride, but when you ride, as we are very active at the weekends and also weekday evenings throughout the year. Take a look at our ride calendar for full details of all the forthcoming rides.

Our biggest events is no doubt the DRRT days where we offer a route of around 30ish miles throughout the area for anyone wanting to challenge themselves! To date we have undertaken many of these events, growing from strength to strength wtih regular (updated and improved) routes with different ones in the pipeline.

For members, we organise day trips outside the area, visiting popular trail centres. There is also an annual weekend away to the Brecon Beacons.

We have an active social side with events throughout the year. BBQs, skittles nights, curry and paella evenings for example.

Whenever possible, there are bike skills and maintenance courses arranged.

So what are you waiting for? Come and join an active and friendly mountain bike club!