Top 5 Cycling Clubs for your Child

Cycling clubs are a great way for children to learn road safety, fitness and exercise with bikes. They are sociable and stretch children to do things they wouldn’t normally attempt in a safe environment. They can be coached to a competitive level, go on long-distance rides, try different terrains in cyclocross and meet other like-minded kids. They just need a good bike and a helmet. 

Go-Ride Clubs

Go-Ride clubs offer fun, inclusive and safe environments for kids under the age of 18. There are coaching sessions, group rides and access to facilities like velodromes. The clubs are accredited by British Cycling. Many international competitors started out on Go-Ride clubs. They have policies for children’s safety and coaches are qualified and police checked. There are welfare officers. Sessions take place in traffic-free spaces. There are national programmes like Go-Ride racing for novice riders. There are registered clubs throughout the UK which can be by putting your town into their website.

Cycling UK

Cycling UK encourages kids to use cycling as a means of transport, for recreation, as a sport and for exercise. The aim is to have as much fun as possible while on bikes. There are more than 200 Community Cycle Clubs across Scotland and England that organise activities including teaching road safety. Cycling UK sets out to give kids freedom with their own means of getting around. They can attend other kinds of clubs using bikes as transport. Some clubs organise family rides which is a great way to enjoy cycling together and build your kid’s confidence on their bike.

Council Clubs

County Councils often have cycle clubs and promote cycling safety in schools through the Bikeability scheme for road safety. Some have bikes you can borrow as well as cycling skills sessions and cycle rides. They aim to make biking accessible to as many people as possible. Councils often support cycling as a means of transport. They also see the benefit to communities of cycling together so you will find organised rides and routes through them.

BMX Cycling Clubs

BMX stands for bicycle motocross and takes place on specialist tracks with hills and jumps. There are competitive races and BMX freestyle where riders perform stunts and tricks involving walls, spires and box jumps. The bikes are smaller with one gear. Clubs might meet twice a week with races organised every month. BMX became an Olympic sport in 2008. There are 2 Olympic level tracks in the UK in Glasgow and in East London. BMX riding offers the most excitement of any cycling.

Scottish Cycling

Scottish Cycling has affiliated clubs that issue British Cycling memberships and licences. They set out to make cycling safe, inclusive and progressive. They regard cycling as a sport. They include cyclo-cross, mountain biking and BMX clubs. There is a checklist for clubs to ensure they comply to a certain standard whilst accepting that clubs serve different audiences.

Photo by Amber Faust on Unsplash