Think racing is only for lycra-clad lunatics who can ride up hills at 25mph while discussing their FTP?

Well, not necessarily.

Here at Airedale Olympic, our Saturday rides are very much on the social side. The main competition is generally to see who can get to the café first and secure the last sausage butty. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have a competitive streak amongst the membership. Far from it.

We’ve got club members racing across a pretty broad range of cycling disciplines, including time trials, criteriums, cyclo-cross, gravel and MTB — and, for those who have truly lost their way, even triathlon and Ironman.

Fancy having a go?

If you’ve ever fancied trying a bike race but weren’t quite sure where to start, cyclo-cross is a cracking place to begin.

It’s competitive, it’s fun, it’s a bit muddy and, importantly, you don’t need a £5,000 race bike or years of experience to have a go.

Airedale Olympic is affiliated to the CTT, which means club members are eligible to ride CTT time trials. If riding against the clock is more your thing, there are plenty of opportunities throughout the season.

But if the thought of pinning a number on and lining up for your first proper race fills you with dread, there’s an even easier option.

Try-Cross

From September, the Yorkshire Cyclo-Cross League is introducing Try-Cross events — designed specifically for people who fancy having a go at racing without all the usual barriers to entry.

The idea is simple:

Sign up. Pin a number on. Bring any bike. Ride for 15 minutes. Have a laugh.

The courses are straightforward and off-road, and you don’t need to have raced before. There’ll also be a few friendly Airedale Olympic faces around to help you find your way and offer some encouragement.

You might turn up thinking you’re just going to have a go.

You might then discover that you’ve spent the next week wondering how you can go faster round a muddy corner.

That’s how it starts.

Keep riding, keep improving

If you fancy getting a bit more serious about your cyclo-cross skills, there are also Wednesday evening CX training sessions at Marley Stadium in Keighley throughout the winter.

They’re a great way to work on the things you don’t necessarily get to practise on a normal club ride — cornering, bike handling, riding off-road, carrying the bike up steps and generally learning how to stay upright when the ground beneath you has decided otherwise.

And, of course, our Saturday rides are still there to build the miles and fitness in a friendly, social environment.

You don’t have to be a racer to join us

That’s probably the most important bit.

You don’t need to be fast. You don’t need to own a race bike. You don’t need to know what your FTP is. And you certainly don’t need to turn up on Saturday morning wearing a skinsuit and shouting about watts.

If you fancy taking that first step into competitive cycling, get in touch with Airedale Olympic. We can point you towards events that might suit, help you understand how it all works and, if you fancy it, get you along to a few races with some friendly faces.

You can start with the Saturday rides, build your fitness, have a brew, eat a sausage butty and see where it takes you.

And if you end up covered in mud on a Sunday afternoon wondering why on earth you thought racing a bike was a good idea?

Don’t worry.

We’ve all been there.