edinburgh rc cycling club

Mountain bike

The offroad group is an active and sociable part of Edinburgh RC. If you feel like getting off the tarmac and onto some singletrack it could be the crowd for you.

Off-road organised rides

Saturday morning

The Pentlands ride meets at 10am on the corner of Westgarth Avenue and Colinton Road. This is usually a 3 hour ride at a steady pace and will travel at the pace of the slowest.

Wednesday nights

We also nightride at Glentress every week, with a different option (usually Innerleithen) on the last Wednesday of the month. We usually ride out at 7 but check the mailing list for details. In winter you will need offroad lights – these can be hired from The Hub but you must book a day or so in advance. The Hub is open late on Wednesdays so you’ll get your tea when you get back.

Irregular rides

There’s usually a day ride on a Sunday – trips to Glentress and other Seven Stanes centres, longer local rides, big Highland day rides and uplift days at Innerleithen and Fort William. These are generally posted on the What's on? page and organised through our Yahoo! group

As well as the Wednesday night Glentress rides, there are occasional evening rides on other nights e.g. Cloish Forest near West Linton and Pentland Hills.

The ERC Race Team will often run an Offroad Training ride at a faster pace at 10am. See the What's on? page for details.

Weekend trips

We run, on average, a weekend every couple of months – trips to places like Braemar, Fort William, Aviemore, Mabie Forest and the Lake District. These usually involve a couple of ride options each day and the social aspect is quite strong as well (i.e. a few beers down the pub).

Racing

Members of the offroad group race in the Scottish XC and DH series events at all levels and we have a particularly strong representation in Women’s racing. The club aims to offer a supportive environment for people with race ambitions, whether you want to finish high in Elite or just not finish last in Fun. We also have a good, sociable representation at enduro events such as the Merida 100 series and 24 hour relay races like Sleepless in the Saddle.

The club promote an annual Trailquest event at Glentress Forest. Trailquest is a fun mountainbike orienteering event open to individuals and teams of all ages. More information about the Glentress Trailquest

Social

We have a monthly pub night where we meet for a bite to eat and a pint or two. Please check the What's on? page for details of venues and times.

Pentlands image by Les Weston