Birkenhead North End CC/Davies Bros Cycles
Les Kennedy
9 Weymoor Close
Spital
Wirral,
Merseyside,
L63 9NS
Phone: 0151 3431880
Email Us
Website: http://www.bnecc.co.uk
Who Are We?
Welcome to the Birkenhead North End CC! The North End was founded on the 14th Januaray 1901, and 2001 is our centenary year. We are the oldest (continually-running) cycling club on the Wirral (Merseyside, UK). We currently have over 100 members, with a thriving and successful young racing section. In recent years two of our riders have been accepted into the World Class Performance Plan: Steve Cummings and Rachel Heal.In 1999 Steve won the National Junior Road Race and the Eddie Soens Memorial Handicap race, becoming the first junior to win that event. In 2001 Steve will be racing in Europe with assistance from the Dave Rayner Memorial Fund. Last year Rachel (pictured here) took the season-long Jo Bruton series, ahead of notable stars such as Britain's world champions Yvonne McGregor and Nicole Cooke. But it's not just these two - the club has taken the "first team" award at the 1999 and 2000 Manx International Cycling Weeks, although these were probably less of an achievement than in 1998, when with a team of just three juniors we took "second team"!
What Do We Do?
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!
Our category listings:
Cycling : 2 - Cycling Clubs and Associations