ESTABLISHED during London 2012, with a mission to fulfil the Olympic legacy, Hadleigh MTB Club aims to open up the sport and its world-class course to as wide an audience as possible.
Attracting over 390 members in three years, it is one of the UK’s biggest MTB clubs, and still growing, thanks to its friendly and inclusive ethos. The club’s dedicated volunteers are bringing the Olympic legacy to life through a wide range of events and activities, engaging newcomers of all ages, with free coaching (including women’s only coaching), led rides, Go Ride events for children aged four to 12 and links with local schools and cub packs.
Working closely with British Cycling its organises, runs and marshals dozens of events every year, and has set a gold standard, with other event organisers looking to Hadleigh for best practice. Events such as Mud Sweat & Gears and the Youth Interregional championships draw followers from all backgrounds, inspiring them to take up the sport.
2015 has seen unparalleled success for the club: its Youth Race Team has won sponsorship from national companies and competed in local and national race series, with two members representing the Eastern region in the Youth Interregional championships. The club also organised, marshalled and delivered the UK National Mountain Bike Championships featuring Olympic athletes and the British Cycling Rio 2016 squad, attracting press and support for the Hadleigh Park venue.
These inspiring successes are due to the commitment of the club members who give freely of their time, energy and expertise to further the sport. By maintaining and improving a world-class course, and providing easy access to coaching for all, Hadleigh MTB Club is fulfilling the Olympic legacy by opening up the sport and the venue to mountain bikers old and young, from weekend enthusiasts to future Olympians.
Here Chris Hyde, chairman of the club, talks more about its mission and what it has to offer riders now and in the future.
When was Hadleigh MTB club formed and what has been your involvement to date?
Hadleigh MTB Club was formed in June 2012 just before the London Olympics, I was initially involved as a liaison to the media and built the club’s website and online presence but became chairman in 2013. I am also a qualified Level 2 MTB Coach and one of the coaches who works for the club and its members.
What are the main aims of the club and are you happy with what it’s achieved so far?
We want to bring mountain biking to the local area and all who live in it while preserving the Olympic legacy and encouraging new people, especially younger people to the sport.
What has been your own personal experience in mountain biking?
I started in BMX and specifically BMX freestyle primarily for recreation although I did take part in a few local events. I initially got into Mountain Biking in the mid-80s and started racing in a local series in South Wales.
During the seasons that followed, I raced in a few regional and national events and picked up a few wins here and there. I also did a few road events before deciding to stop the competitive side of cycling to concentrate on my career.
It wasn’t until 2009 that I started getting back into Mountain Biking in what is now our local area, this really took off when I became involved with a group of local mountain bikers during 2012 as the Olympics came to Hadleigh.
After the Olympics, as part of getting more and more involved in Mountain Biking again, I became part of the Hadleigh MTB Club and went on to gain my coaching qualifications to be a coach for the club and also am proud to be the club’s chairman.
Tell us more about the other committee members and some of the attributes they bring to the club?
The committee is many and varied details of each of the members can be found here.
Who can join and what are some of the key benefits of being a member?
Anyone can join the club, benefits include led rides, coaching sessions, marshalling and event participation opportunities and lots of discounts in local and national retailers. We also have two race teams, Adult and Youth and many social events throughout the year. More here.
How busy is the club’s annual calendar and could you tell us more about some of the rides you organise?
We have a pretty busy calendar, which you can view here, and these are just the race events we are attending as participants or organisers. In addition to this our coaches and ride leaders are doing something almost every weekend all year round.
We have at least two rides per week which are inclusive friendly rides, our Monday night ride is famous for having not missed a single week since June 2012 (also famous for finishing in the pub to explore the more social aspect of our sport).
How do you connect with your members and other enthusiasts online?
Our website is a little outdated and we are currently undergoing a revamp. The hub of most of our activity is our Facebook group which you can find here.
What developments and exciting new projects can we expect for this year and beyond?
This year, as we do every year we will be working with Hadleigh Park and Active Essex to offer events, coaching, Junior Race Series and many other things, details of all of these will be on our website, Facebook and also the Hadleigh Park website. In addition to this, watch out for our race teams at events all over the country, we now have 16 members and a number of national sponsors making them the envy of most other clubs.
