Interested in Joining

I have / we have seen your website – can I come along and try before I join?
Yes please do come along – the best way to see what we are about is to give it a go. The ride venues and dates are available on the Club website, or within the Newsletter that we publish for Members every quarter year. You will be welcome as a guest, but we ask a rider to join once they have participated two or three times as a guest – this allows the individual to assess that he / she likes the Club activities we are offering.

I am / we are new to mountain biking – what would the arrangements be?
We try to organise our rides into manageable groups of about 10 people of similar abilities but we do not teach and you will need to be reasonably confident on a mountain bike as well as fit enough to cycle for at least three hours – more for an all day ride.

I am / we are new to mountain biking – will I be able to keep up?
Our rides are reasonably demanding. We don't go manic - and we are certainly considerate of others, but we can and do push the pace sometimes. From time to time we go up and down big hills. A total beginner might find it hard the first few times. Newcomers are more than welcome to come along and give a ride or two a try – as above, or look out for our New Riders events. The main thing is to have a decent bike, good bike handling skills and some fitness (which soon picks up if you keep riding).

I am interested in what sort of rides do you do?
Our focus is riding in a group of friendly people to enjoy great company and to have a good time. We ride, as far as possible, away from public highways and feel that we come in the category often referred to as cross country mountain biking (xc). The group consists of a really wide variety of people from all walks of life: male and female. What we all have in common is a passion for mountain bike riding. Since inception of the Club we have not restricted ourselves to the New Forest and we ride generally within about 1 hours car travel from Southampton and Winchester, i.e. around Sussex, Dorset, Wiltshire, The Isle of Wight and Hampshire. This includes venues such as the North and the South Downs, The Purbecks at Swanage / Corfe Castle, Salisbury Plain, Marlborough Downs and The Isle of Wight which we visit frequently for one of our all day events.

How many female riders do you have?
Typically we will have females about a third of the riders within the Middle group and a couple within the Hot group. Membership numbers are around 100 households with individuals (male and female) of a broad age and fitness level, with several family groups and children cyclists also considered.

How much does it cost?
We have a membership subscription – see the Joining pages of the Club website – which covers the cost of issue of a quarterly newsletter and some sundry expenses. No one who goes out on the ride is trained or formally authorised as a mountain bike leader and we do not teach. There is no charge on a per ride basis. The group is solely aimed to bring together people who want to enjoy the company of others for mountain bike riding. Individual or Family Membership can be made by paypal on the website, or by post, with the bonus that we have negotiated discount for Members at numerous local bike shops.