Don't train alone - join a club!

Joining a cycling club used to be a bit daunting for women and especially so for beginners or cycling newcomers. We've all heard stories about newbies being put throught their paces and left behind on club runs. But don't feel alienated, many men feel like this too, and thankfully many cycling clubs have realised this and now welcome newcomers with open arms and are eager to encourage women members.

Twickenham CC is a great example and is a well established traditional club that boasts a strong junior, vets, senior and women's squad (of course), with turbo sessions held every Tuesday night in the club rooms, plus regular road rides, again on Tuesday night and on Sunday mornings. For full details go to www.twickenhamcc.co.uk Twickenham also have a thriving and successful track squad, including a mix of first timers, multiple National Masters and World Masters medallists, as well as several potential junior national champions. The track squad trains regularly at Calshot indoor velodrome, (and occasionally at Newport's 250m indoor track), as well as competing weekly at Palmer Park outdoor track in Reading during the Monday night summer league.

SheCycles spoke to David Jack of Twickenham CC about the clubs commitment to women riders "Next year's goals will be to build on the successful team spirit, create more opportunities for our girls to make an impact on races at all levels, whilst not taking it too seriously, laughing about and learning from their mistakes and above all, enjoying themselves." He also added "If you want to try racing and find some clubs/teams are a bit intimidating, visit our “Ladies Squad” page on our website or just turn up on Tuesday night at our club rooms for a chat, cup of tea and cake, or just a look and see at who we are and what we're about."

To find a club near you have a look at www.britishcycling.org.uk

Let SheCycles members know if your club is women friendly or if you've made your own biking club with regular rides and would like other women riders to come along. We've started a new thread on the forum to help spread the word!