calling all the off roaders

[Hannah]

As one of the two girls out on Sunday I must say I was a bit disapointed - not necessarily because there was no one there- I know the area well enough to go out for a hack about on my own so it was no big deal but because the last time I'd been out - a year ago or so there had been a massive group and I was looking forward to catching up with folk. I've got out of touch with the club a bit and just presumed that there would still be folk there to ride with, from what I can see it has got very cliquey and unless you are on the "inside" you don't stand a hope in hell of working out what's going on where! I agree that Leith Hill is far better riding than croydon and from my point of view I know the area well enough and enough riding mates to have a good ride over there but a new person probably wouldn't. Not saying that you guys should be responsible for getting new people into mtbing but the mtb side of the club isn't anywhere near as open and accessible as the road side, a new comer (especially a woman) would probably find the whole thing very intimidating. Its a toughie though because I'll put my hand in the air and admit that I can be quite selfish and into my own riding and not want to spend Sunday pottering around easy bridelway - but I could do it once a month or once every couple of months. Anyway as I've not even been on ACC mtb ride for well over a year I'll butt out. I was a bit disapointed on Sunday though cos I'd come out on my cross bike and wanted to see if I could get down the wall of death on it or well some other time.........

[JayneToyne]

Ive been trying to ride as much mtn bike as possible this year, I want to gather as much knowledge and skill as possible so that i can talk with confidence to new comers and make them feel welcome without talking a load of bulls**t.

Ive led a few off road rides this year despite being away from cycling for a few months with injury.
most of the ladies on the accladies email group seem to have started off with mountain bikes but then got bitten by the road bike bug.

Im hoping to do more off road rides through winter, Im not interested in down hill, drop offs or any of that stuff, im not really interested in stopping either to watch while others go over and over a techie bit ( unless im coaching of course) I want to have a go at xc mtn bike racing next year, just for fun so that I can at least report back and see if anyone else fancies a go at it.

I think rides like the croydon to brighton can help raise the profile of mtn biking, especially if more road bikers have a go at it.

not sure what the all encompassing answer is, but I dont want to see mtn biking vanish from addiscombe cc.

[Jason]

I don't think it will vanish, but will diversify and splinter into smaller groups interested in different areas of the sport. Although it will seem like there are less people out I think that it will offer prospective members more options. There seems to be three different camps at the moment; the beginners rides (which I see as the East Croydon ones), the XC epic ones (like the one Rory & co did yesterday) and the technical / DH ones which I try and get people involved with.

We do ride with a diverse group of people on our rides and most aren't in ACC and aren't interested in joining. The way we may get people in through our rides is by introducing them to the more technical riding through ACC and mentioning racing, etc.

I know that some people see the way things are going as the MTB side running down but for those of us who have been riding off road for a few years, I see it as more of a progression in riding ability. It also means that for those people who've started riding off road and want to progress, there is the opportunity for them to move up within the structure of the club rather than look further afield (which I believe has happened before). As competence increases, people become disillusioned with riding around Croydon which let's face it, doesn't really offer much challenging technical riding. If we were to only ever ride locally, I think that a lot of present members would be less inclined to stay in the club.

As I (and a few others) have mentioned, we are now in the process of developing a rota so that there will always be someone at East Croydon station on a Sunday and those rides will be tailored more at both those wanting to get the miles in and at beginners (with easy drop-out points en route, which has worked well before). I can't promise that we'll do a huuuuuge ride next week but I do plan to aim it more at getting the miles in (for those who want to) rather than messing about at places like the Wall of Death. I'll be trying to hurt myself on Saturday at Jedi's North Shore trails instead

[Hannah]

Sundays epic sounds great and the kinda riding I would want to do with the club but where does someone like me who is out of the "loop" of the cushtie forum and general arrangements between mates get to know about it? I might not come out very often but if there was somewhere where ride time and meeting venue was posted every Fri then if I did feel like it I could just turn up. Sorry if this info is already floating around somewhere just point me in the right direction and I'll shut up.

[Will]

It goes in the Digest

In fairness, we have been a bit lax in getting all the 'special' rides into the Digest - as they often get organised at the last minute - but we are trying to give more notice now.

[Jason]

Yeah, I need to start sending the e-mails out again as they're a good way of encouraging people out. I'll send one out before this Sunday's ride.

Disclaimer: if my new forks don't turn up, don't expect a fast pace