Who Are
We?BIRKENHEAD NORTH END CYCLING CLUB
Quick Jumps Club Activities How to meet us
Who Are
We?Welcome to the Birkenhead North End CC! The North End was founded in 1901, and is the oldest (continually-running) cycling club on the Wirral, in Merseyside, UK, and are celebrating our hundredth year in 2000. We currently have over 100 members, with a thriving and successful youth section, headed by multi-national champion Steve Cummings, who in 1999 won (amongst other things) the National Junior Road Race and the Eddie Soens Memorial Handicap race against a field including many seasoned elite riders (see the picture board), and is pictured (right) starting the 1999 World Junior Time Trial Championships in Verona, Italy. But it's not just Steve - the club took the £4,000 "first team" award at the 1999 Manx International Cycling Week. Although this was probably less of an achievement than the previous year, when with a team of just three juniors (Chris Byrne, Mike Garner and Dave Lethbridge) we took "second team"!
We participate in most disciplines of cycle sport:-
| Time trialling - the solo rider against the watch. Races are held over fixed distances from 10 miles up to 100, and also for fixed periods (12 or 24 hours). This is the easiest way to get into organised cycle sport: no licence is required to race, just pay the money and await your start time. You don't even have to be a member of a club to race this way, although it can be difficult to track the races down unless you know someone! |  |
| Road racing - originally called "massed start racing" as opposed to the solo time trial. Held over distances ranging from 60 miles to anything up to 200 for the real elite. You need a licence from the organisation involved (e.g. the British Cycling Federation or The League International) to enter these races. |  |
| Track racing - racing takes place on a banked oval track, such as the Indoor Velodrome at Manchester, where the North End is having monthly racing sessions throughout the winter. Track bikes use fixed gears and no brakes, which is scary at first but you get used to it! Track races vary greatly, from short-distance time trials (500m or 1km) through pursuit races (3 or 4km) to 40km-long 'points' or 'scratch' races. |  |
| The North End also organises the very popular off-road Flintshire Challenge rides, in conjunction with Flintshire County Council. Held every October, riders are sent on a demanding route through scenic areas of North Wales. Several hundred people take part, which means that the course gets pretty clogged up towards the end! Click to discover details of the 1999 edition. |  |
Club runs start are held every Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday, starting from the Eureka café, Two Mills, Chester, starting about 9:30am. This is located about 50 yards south of the Two Mills junction of the A540 Chester Road. Click here for a map. We do trips into Wales, Cheshire, or Shropshire. The Eureka (or simply "The Mills") is a mecca for cyclists from Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales. Established in 1928, it caters especially for cyclists (which means that when a guy popped in and asked "Do you sell any fags?" we all gave him a funny look!), and is a chance to hob-nob with the stars, as even Chris Boardman pops in for a cuppa!
Alternatively, club meetings take place at the Pensby Community Centre, Fishers Lane, Pensby (see map), every Thursday, from 8:30 onwards. Our monthly committee meetings are always on the second Thursday of the month. Pop down to find out about upcoming club activities, or to chat to members.
But if you can't make that, or just want to get in touch, then either email myself or the club secretary, Les Kennedy.
