NEW MEMBER POST
24 August 2023
This year, so far, 29 adults have joined the club. Some primarily to join the Triathlon Swim sessions, some more focussed on riding. Members from 18 to 60 years of age, with interests covering road, time-trials, triathlon, duathlon, cyclo-cross, MTB and sportives.
Welcome to you all.
Not only do we hope you enjoy being in the club, but obviously the ‘club is the members’, and so we welcome any feedback, any ideas for new activities, and any offers of help (eg Marshalling near Stobo Castle in a couple of weeks). If you’re struggling about who to ask, or to whom to make a suggestion, please email erc.registrar@gmail.com and somebody from the committee will help.
Four of our new members have been kind enough to share a few thoughts on their background and experience with the club so far. The stories give different perspectives of being ‘a new club member’, so thanks to Reuben, David, Adam and Finlay for this.
REUBEN
My name is Reuben, a Financial Regulator at the Financial Conduct Authority. Recently, I got a road bike on Cyle2work and decided I wanted to train with more structure. I’ve since completed the Ride London 100-mile cycle and I have enrolled on the 75km Tour of the Borders. Apart from cycling, I'm passionate about running and climbing Munros. While I aspire to enter Triathlon racing, I'm focusing on enhancing my swimming skills, and will soon be making the most of ERC's tri swim sessions.
Joining the Edinburgh Road Cycling Club in June 2023 was a turning point for me. My primary interest was learning group riding techniques, and the Development Ride/Good Morning Ride proved to be an excellent initiation into these skills, offering a great social experience as well. I’m sure my girlfriend is sick to death of me rambling about different bikes and rides but fortunately this isn’t a problem in ERC. One aspect I truly appreciate is the club's inclusivity, catering to all skill levels through various groups, and its diverse range of rides spanning MTB, gravel, and road cycling. I’ve also enjoyed the opportunity to meet a number of other interesting and likeminded individuals. Before joining the club, it was hard to coordinate getting a group of my friends together to do a long group ride but thankfully this is no longer something I worry about, as ERC runs a number of rides which have a high attendance rate. I would definitely recommend the club if you are looking to improve as a cyclist whether that involves racing or just going for the social aspect. There’s something for everyone.
DAVID
I dabbled in cycling in my 30s, entering local Time Trials and Triathlons when I lived in Warwickshire. Now in my mid 50s I've kept reasonably fit thanks to indoor and outdoor rowing over the last 15 years. With lockdown I discovered Zwift which, as a numbers geek with a competitive side, was just my kind of thing. In Zwift I enjoy the racing, particularly the team events where we huff and puff on Discord while trying to plan some tactics
This year I wanted to see if my Zwift fitness could work in real life, and with all the bike skills of a Zwifter, and a concern about not wanting to get into any collisions, I thought that TT would be the best thing to try. I had seen the ERC midweek series running from Macmerry and decided I wanted to try that, so joined ERC in May, and signed up for the first event. I've raced it 5 times so far, and really look forward to it each week. I have a regular road bike that I cycle over from North Berwick each week as a warmup, thrash myself for 25mins on the course, then cycle home for tea. I don't challenge the leaderboard but that doesn't matter, I've seen significant gains in my times and that's good enough for me. These events require a lot of volunteers each week and I'm happy to take my turn having been timekeeper and assistant timekeeper so far. I'm looking forward/dreading the final TT which is a hill climb!
I do see the club invitations to other events and keep an eye out for other things I might like, if I can summon the courage I quite fancy trying the velodrome for an experience!
ADAM
I am primarily a cyclist. I am a "retired" ultramarathoner (hundreds of races from 50K to 100 miles mostly in the US where I just emigrated from 2 years ago).
Have done a bunch of triathlons and duathlons. I am now primarily a cyclist. I belong to a bunch of cycling clubs (pretty much every other one in Edinburgh, including leading rides for ERC). I am happy to lead some if that is of interest. I ride just about every day in East Lothian and do a lot of long distance rides (just rode London to Edinburgh in 5 days).
Very much a "developing swimmer" (putting in charitably). But just joined the new David Lloyd gym in Shawfair and am going to work on my doggy paddle now on a regular basis.
I’ve led some of the Saturday Good Morning rides, and I enjoy taking the Edinburgh city-dwellers out into the beautiful Lothian hills, with a coffeeshop en route. A pleasant change from the chain gang grind.
FINLEY
I'm a bit of an all rounder - I enjoy mountain biking, cyclocross and road riding. I moved to Edinburgh about a year ago, and my friend invited me along to the club.
Volunteering at Glentress during World Champs
So far I have just been out on a few Saturday chain gangs. Being new to Edinburgh, it's been good to meet some like minded people and socialise at the Red Box after the ride!
This is me at an XC race in Cannock Chase
