MBSwindon is a friendly and non-competitive club, which is affiliated to British Cycling. The aim of the Club is to promote mountain biking, fitness and an enjoyment of the great outdoors to members via regular and ad-hoc organised events.
The Club caters for all abilities, and we make sure that no one gets left behind on our rides. Many of our rides are “Novice Friendly” events, suitable for new or less confident riders.
The club also manages the Croft Trail, overseeing all the hard work that goes on there as well funding the trail, mainly through the subscriptions of members.
Why does membership matter?
For the protection of our ride leaders: Our ride leaders are all volunteers, not qualified leaders or instructors. While leading Club rides, they are covered by the Club’s British Cycling insurance. For this to apply, they are only able to lead Club members or those who are on a ‘try before you buy’ ride. We are happy for you to come on a couple of trial rides before deciding to join.
To fund work at Croft Trail: This is where the vast majority of our money goes. A big build day can use hundreds of pounds’ worth of materials, and there is always something that needs repairing or updating along the 5km of trail.
To belong: We know that lots of people just join to get access to the discounts. Others do it as a way of donating to Croft. But we hope that for many others, joining the Club is a way of showing a commitment, a sense of belonging and community. We want people to join and get involved!
We ride throughout the year. Funnily enough, there is no seasonal difference to the numbers who will turn up and ride. Sometimes there are three of us, sometimes there are thirty – people’s busy lives seem to be much more of a deciding factor than the weather.
If you are not sure whether riding with the Club is right for you, you are welcome to come along on a couple of rides to try it out before deciding whether you want to join. You don’t need all the latest gear, and you won’t get left behind.
If you’d like to know more, please feel free to get in touch – email us or join our Facebook group.
Get Involved
We are always looking for more people to get involved in running the Club. There are several ways in which you can help:
Lead Rides
We always need more people to lead our rides, especially at weekends. You don’t need to be the world’s fastest or most skilful rider, but a knowledge of local routes would be useful.
Promotion
Can you help promote the Club, our events, and keep the website up to date? The site runs on WordPress; we can provide basic instructions but some knowledge would be a help.
Events
Do you have experience organising events? We’d like to organise some more ambitious events but sometimes need help getting everything organised properly!