Guelph Cycling Club offers new name, new riding options

As the weather gets warmer, and more bikes hit the road, a local cycling group has taken on a change in look and name.

The not-for-profit Speed River Cycling Club (SRCC), in operation since 2004, is now the Guelph Cycling Club.

There were a number of factors that went into the change, not the least of which was an opportunity to re-brand.

"One of our sponsors is Speed River Bicycle, the bicycle shop downtown, but we're not actually affiliated with them," said Meg Thorburn, the member experience director, "and so there was often a lot of confusion around that."

On top of that, when cyclists from the club go to places like the Kelso Conservation Area in Milton for mountain bike races, Thorburn said people wouldn't know where members of the SRCC were from.

"While we completely honour and greatly appreciate all the hard work (and good times) that went before us in SRCC, we felt that the timing for a name change coincided well with our more recent efforts to grow the club into more of a welcoming, community-oriented organization," she said.

Thorburn also believes this will give the club more of an opportunity to advocate, and be at the table in the city and region on discussions related to cycling and cycling infrastructure.

On top of the name, some new riding options are being introduced regularly for 2022.

One of them is bike rides on gravel, which the club tried out in 2019 as special events, but became increasingly popular during the pandemic.

"When there were still social distancing requirements put in place by the Ontario Cycling Association, we couldn't do road rides for a while," Thorburn said.

"But we could still do gravel rides because you could ride together at a larger distance and still have a good group experience."

The gravel rides are being offered on the first and third Wednesday of every month.

Kelly Legge, a member of the club since 2018, said what is really appealing about it is not worrying as much about road traffic.

"When you get on the gravel or country roads, it's a little more relaxed," she said. "Less traffic, more sites, and you can get off onto a trail somewhere through a forest or you're on a gravel road in the middle of nowhere.

"And they almost always involve stopping for coffee and donuts."

The social aspect was also highlighted by Thorburn when she discussed their other new offering: women's only rides, which go two Wednesdays a month.

She said it'll be a mix of experienced and newer women group riders, with a supportive and social appeal to it.

"We may often end up at a patio afterwards," she said.

The club isn't solely focused on competitive riding, but Thorburn said it's not for beginners either.

You do need a good bike, and be capable at biking at a certain speed for an extended period of time. But it's not to say the club doesn't have visions of welcoming truly casual riders in the future.

"We need to have a ride leader from the club, a certified and trained ride leader to ride with every group," she said. "So as we get more and more seriously casual people in the club, then those people get trained as ride leaders and we can grow to slower and slower groups."

Pre-pandemic, there were about 140 members at the club per year, with this year's count around 120, between the ages of 14 and 72.

But the hope is to get up to 200 members, with Thorburn adding more people tend to sign up as the weather gets nicer.

For those interested in joining, the club offers what they call a "try-a-ride" night to go for a test drive without a commitment.

"They were very receptive when I joined, and they directed me to the appropriate speed group, so I never felt behind or over-stressed because I was not able to keep up," said Carlos Maldaner, who is back with the club for a third year.

"It was very comfortable for me."

Visit the Guelph Cycling Club's website to see all of their offerings, and their schedule.