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Perth United Cycling ClubEstablished 1946
Road racing, time trials, training rides, cyclo-cross and social runs.
Our Main Purpose
Perth United is a cycling club mainly focussed on time trials and road racing, though members also complete for the club in mountain biking, cyclo-cross and on the track. The club exists to promote cycling as a sport and to provide opportunities for people of all ages to take part in a range of cycling activities. We try to offer events that will improve riders’ fitness, skills and technical knowledge of the sport and to encourage them to take part in competitive racing both within the club and representing the club in open events.
Club Structure
The club has been in existence for a long time, and has gone through many changes in that time. In its current form there is a small committee of volunteers who organise the club’s activities in line with its constitution. Currently there is a Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, Coach and 3 ordinary committee members. There is an AGM every year (October) to elect committee members and agree plans for the coming season and a Prize Giving / Social Night in November. The club is affiliated to Scottish Cycling, who are the governing body for cycle sport in Scotland, who in turn are a part of British Cycling. As of 2016 the club has around 80 members, of who most ride in some of the events, while a small number are just associate members. There are no paid officials of the club and there is no permanent clubhouse or property. There’s a number of youth and junior members in the club at the moment, but the bulk of the membership is made up of adult riders.
Who Can Join and How to Get Started
We welcomes anyone regardless of experience or riding ability. For adults who want to come along we offer you the chance to take part in 2 events before you need to commit to joining the club. That way you can see if the activities on offer are what you want to do before you join. If you want to come along, ideally let us know in advance (e-mail ), but you can just turn up at any event. Introduce yourself to the guys who are there and they will explain the format of the event. If you’re unsure about the level of the events, either in terms of speed or group riding, then the Sunday morning rides will help newcomers as well as more seasoned riders. Don’t worry about being too slow to start with, there are a wide range of abilities in the club and you’ll get faster if you keep training with us. If you’re confident to just get stuck in then starting with any events will be fine.
In Youth (under 16) and Junior (16 – 18) age groups, all riders must be aged 13 or above to ride on the road with Perth United. We would prefer for them to be escorted during all rides either by a parent or by a pre-agreed volunteer from the club. When the club is confident the rider has the ability and maturity they will be allowed to join the larger and faster groups.
Younger children (under 13) are welcome to join the club, but there are fewer activities that will be suitable for them. The winter cyclo-cross sessions are a safe way to get them involved in cycling and it is a rapidly growing and very popular discipline with lots of competitive events around the country bringing in huge numbers of all ages. For kids who are riding competitively we don’t have a full time coaching programme, but we do have a club coach who can provide advice on training schedules, technique and what events are suitable to take part in. There are also many parents in the club whose children have been through the cycle of youth and junior events, who are always happy to provide guidance from their own experiences.
Clothing and Equipment Required
To take part in the road events you need a road bike in good mechanical order. Mountain bikes or hybrids with wide tyres are not really suitable, as you won’t keep up with riders on road bikes unless you’re super fit. Wearing of helmets is compulsory for all events. The club has it’s own branded clothing, but you can wear anything you like to ride in club events. We’d strongly advise that you wear clothing that makes you visible and that you use rear lights for all evening events. The club takes orders, normally once a year, for clothing. The club has only very limited clothing in stock so make sure that you don’t miss out on orders and that you have enough to last you at least a year in advance.
What It Costs and What you Get for Your Money
Senior (over 18) membership fees are £20, Juniors (16-18) are £5, Seniors (Over 65) are £5 and Associate (non-riding) members are also £5. Youths (under 16) are £5 and a parental consent forms must be completed when joining.
You can join the club by going to the club website (www.perthunited.org.uk) to theMembers > Registration & PaymentPage. You can register and pay your subscription by debit or credit card. Please take the time to ensure all your details (address, phone number, etc.) are up to date and most importantly your emergency contact person’s details. You’ll get a membership card issued to you at one of the club events. We’d also strongly urge anyone who isn’t a member of British Cycling to consider taking out membership with them too.
Aside from having dozens of organised cycle events laid on for you, there are other benefits to being a member. You get a 5% discount on bikes and 10% on everything else (excluding sale items) in JM Richards Cycles in George Street, Perth (our main club sponsor) if you show your membership card. If you plan to race in national ranking events then you won’t get points unless you are in an affiliated club, plus you get a discounted first year of British Cycling membership.
For 2016 you get the following for your membership fee:
· An events schedule for the summer consisting of 15 confined club races and 13 APR training rides, taking in some of the best routes in the area.
· 7 season long competitions, including 1 new one, and 4 individual race trophies from the club confined race series. There will also be TT standard awards to club riders this year for both open and confined events.
· Recovery and newcomers rides every Thursday evening.
· Training rides every Sunday morning organised jointly with Perth Tri Club.
· Three extended Sunday runs of up to 100 miles taking in lunch stops.
· Discounts from our main sponsors JM Richards Cycles. Present your membership card to receive 10% on spares and 5% on new bikes (excluding sale items).
· An open road race for 3rd and 4th cat. riders from across the country.
· A regular Wednesday cyclo-cross training session during the winter.
· Indoor turbo training sessions from a club coach.
· A social night and prize giving at the end of the season.
· A web site for results, news and photos.
Club Events
We base all our events within about 10 miles of Perth, with a wide range of courses on offer. The club website (www.perthunited.org.uk) has the full calendar of club events and will give you a flavour of what we do. They consist of the following:
Sunday Runs and 100 milers
Sunday rides run all year round and are generally 40-60 miles depending on the time of year and weather. The route is decided at the meeting point based on the riders present. Average speed is around 16mph (usually less) and the group will try to stay together. The group will only split by agreement; often the case if someone wants a shorter ride and turns back early.We run these events jointly with the Perth Triathlon club with the intention that between us we can have a faster and slower paced group. These rides are dependent on who turns up on the day, so you may find that on some days there are large groups and on others there are just a handful of people. Several times a year we organise a longer 100 mile run, with a stop for lunch, in place of the normal event. These rides require you to be fully equipped for a full day out any all weathers.
Wednesday Club Events
Wednesday rides run from end of March to middle of September, they mostly alternate between a time trial and training run. Time trials are individual races against the clock rides and vary between 10 miles and 25 miles with some hill climbs near the end of the season. Some take it seriously with deep section wheels, special bikes and aero equipment but most do not, and a normal road bike is perfectly acceptable. The time trials are competitive races with points up for grabs and end of season trophies. Training runs take the form of an APR with slower groups setting off first and subsequent faster groups followed finally by the scratch group.The aim is for each group to work together and maintain optimum speed, its good practice for road racing and great training. Though it’s not a race and there are no prizes, but the pace can be fast - the slowest group might average about 13-15mph while the scratch group will be 19-23 mph.The distance for a training ride is between 15 and 20 miles
Winter Training – SCX, Turbo
During the winter the Wednesday evening events switch over from road events to cyclo-cross training on the North Inch. These sessions are great fun and accessible for all ages. You don’t need a specialist cross bike, and either a mountain bike or a road bike will do to get started.
What the Club Expects from You
· The club operates on a voluntary basis and it can only do so if the members actively help out in the running of the club. As a member you’ll be expected to help out in the running of our open events, which amounts to a couple of hours of your time each year. There is also a rota for helping to run our confined Wednesday night time trials. You need to offer to help out with timekeeping or marshalling at one event per year, before you are allowed to take part in the series.
· We expect high standards of behaviour on the road. Aggressive behaviour, abusive language and lack of consideration for other road users are not acceptable, and can provoke equally stupid responses from drivers creating a danger to all riders. Dangerous and reckless riding that endangers anyone will not be tolerated.
· We expect that new members, particularly those with limited experience in group riding, will listen to advice and instruction from other members. We often find that children are very good at taking instructions, but that adults are not! Don’t think that because you can ride a bike and that you are fit that you have nothing to learn. You can improve your riding enormously with the use of some technique and tactics. We also need to ensure that no-one is riding in a manner where they are a safety risk to themselves, other riders or the general public.
Where to Get More Information
The primary sources of information are through the club’s Website, our Facebook page and through the members e-mailing list. There are e-mail addresses for the committee on the club website if you want to contact us with a specific question. Normally after a Wednesday evening event we have a short discussion about upcoming events and news after the ride has finished.
Representing the Club
Outside of the club’s confined events you have the opportunity to step up to riding in open events. You need normally require a race licence from BC and you need to be a currently paid up member of Perth United.
/ Affiliated to British Cycling and Scottish Cycling /Web Site - www.perthunited.org.uk
E-Mail –