Offroad
Addiscombe Cycling Club have an established mountain bike section, organising off road rides in South London and beyond. Our MTB rides are always about fun firstly and fitness secondly. They’re not really used for training, but for exploring new trails and having a laugh with likeminded people.
The flagship MTB ride
Meets in central Croydon on Sunday morning and leaves the tarmac as soon as possible. Croydon has a surprising number of bridleways that lead to some seriously big hills and exciting riding opportunities. The pace is always manageable and beginners normally keep up fairly easily. If you struggle to keep up we’ll wait for you – and don’t mind doing so! Some of us have been riding these trails since the dawn of UK MTB back in the late 1980s, so know where the best trails are and how to link them into an enjoyable ride.
Further afield
For the more experienced riders, there are excursions to the purpose made trails on the North Downs around Leith Hill and Peaslake.
Recently we’ve also been riding from Coulsdon on Saturday mornings. These give even more variety and open up new areas from Caterham to Kingswood and even stretching to Epsom Downs.
All rides are advertised on the forum, usually in the week leading up to the ride but sometimes further in advance for the special rides.
Mountain bike racing
If you’ve had a go at our social rides, you might like to try your hand at racing. The Beastway series, which Addiscombe help out at every year, is well-known in London for its welcome to riders of all standards. There’s also the Gorrick series.
Cyclocross racing
During the winter, some Addiscombe riders also compete in cyclocross races (mountain bikes are allowed too) against the cream of the South East’s riders. Generally we do pretty well and it is a good safe introduction for many of our new riders into the world of bike racing.
There is even a tenuous link between mountain biking and time trialing as Addiscombe off roaders have been known to use mountain bikes and even BMXs to compete in local time trials!