Cycling society still around?

notGill

Can anyone tell me if the cycling society is still around? I'm going back to DCU for final year after doing INTRA, and I would be interested in joining. But if it has been disbanded, I might be interested in getting it back up and running!

GangGreen3

Hello, right now I am in the process of building the club back up. I know the current chairman and a few other people but this is their final year.

Basically the club in DCU is very small and I am planning on bringing it back to life. I have been in contact with UCD and Trinity and we are trying to organise spins with all 3 universities to try and help make the 3rd level cycling clubs grow. The more the merrier though so if you want to help please let me know. Also join the dcu cycling club facebook group as I have posted information on that page.

If you want to talk further you can pm me any time.

Postit

Is there much interest in getting the club back up and running? Post a link to the facebook page?

GangGreen3

Postit wrote: »

Is there much interest in getting the club back up and running? Post a link to the facebook page?

Well I would help out in any way and have no problems organising things and setting everything up. I just don't know what the general interest is in DCU. I have been in contact with the chair of the Trinity and UCD clubs. I am currently a member of MAD and work in/cycle with Wheelworx.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/29616128221/

notGill

I'd be interested in regular spins from DCU, I'm willing to contribute in organising these. I wouldn't know if there is a large enough interest in DCU to have a club, but something could be done for clubs and socs day (I know, it's a bit far away) to drum up some hype.

GangGreen3

That sounds good. Yeah i am thinking the same thing that is why I am trying to organise regular spins with DCU/UCD and Trinity so that we can have larger numbers and try to promote it more.

Kavrocks

I've been following this thread but not posting, I might be interested in getting involved with this too.

Postit

"Cycling" as we all know encompasses different sports e.g. MTB, Cyclocross, Road racing or simply long spins for fitness etc.

Its probably best to concentrate on one of those if the numbers are low.

Personally I think MTB and cyclocross are just too difficult to get newbie students interested in. Too expensive and logistically difficult to get to mountains, trails etc.

Which of the above are you lads most interested in? I'm really only interested in long spins, but am happy to start with shorter spins for more inexperienced riders.


Also, with the growing popularity of cycling a lot of people are interested it, but don't have a decent road bike and probably don't wanna fork out for one until they decide if they like it or not.

Maybe a way to give people a taster during clubs & society week would be to have access to bikes for rent set-up before hand.

So for example, Phoenix Park bike rental have some decent road bikes for €5 an hour or €10 for three hours. We could ask if its possible to have a number delivered out to DCU. If not, then we go there.

Maybe we should also have something for people to aim for as a way of getting people involved.
Something like a 100km or 150km or even 200km spin towards the end of semester 2. It focuses the point and might bring in a few people who want to get fit or cross-train from other sports!

Just a thought!

GangGreen3

Postit wrote: »

"Cycling" as we all know encompasses different sports e.g. MTB, Cyclocross, Road racing or simply long spins for fitness etc.

Its probably best to concentrate on one of those if the numbers are low.

Personally I think MTB and cyclocross are just too difficult to get newbie students interested in. Too expensive and logistically difficult to get to mountains, trails etc.

Which of the above are you lads most interested in? I'm really only interested in long spins, but am happy to start with shorter spins for more inexperienced riders.


Also, with the growing popularity of cycling a lot of people are interested it, but don't have a decent road bike and probably don't wanna fork out for one until they decide if they like it or not.

Maybe a way to give people a taster during clubs & society week would be to have access to bikes for rent set-up before hand.

So for example, Phoenix Park bike rental have some decent road bikes for €5 an hour or €10 for three hours. We could ask if its possible to have a number delivered out to DCU. If not, then we go there.

Maybe we should also have something for people to aim for as a way of getting people involved.
Something like a 100km or 150km or even 200km spin towards the end of semester 2. It focuses the point and might bring in a few people who want to get fit or cross-train from other sports!

Just a thought!

That sounds really good. I suggest that everyone joins the DCU Cycling Society on Facebook that way we can spread some info around.

If you guys can help me come up with some ideas I can ask work if they can sponsor some stuff or help out with things that we may need such as club gear, servicing etc...

I'm a mountain biker but I do pretty much 80% of my training on road because of location and all the endurance training. Most college clubs focus on road cycling and have MTB spins every now and then for club members. I can always lend out some of my bikes to members if they need them as I have a few.

Postit

GangGreen3 wrote: »

That sounds really good. I suggest that everyone joins the DCU Cycling Society on Facebook that way we can spread some info around.

If you guys can help me come up with some ideas I can ask work if they can sponsor some stuff or help out with things that we may need such as club gear, servicing etc...

I'm a mountain biker but I do pretty much 80% of my training on road because of location and all the endurance training. Most college clubs focus on road cycling and have MTB spins every now and then for club members. I can always lend out some of my bikes to members if they need them as I have a few.

The key to getting numbers involved I reckon is aim for people who don't cycle but want to, or who just want to get fit.

Perhaps, we could piggy-back an already organised sportive in April 2013 as the one to aim for and use that to get new blood interested. That'll mean much less organising for the committee.

Does anyone have access to a van to transport about 15 bikes around Dublin? I'm sure that guy in the Phoenix Park would do us a discount for a group booking. He supplies helmets too at no extra cost.

Also, maybe getting everyone signed up to Cycling Ireland first wouldn't be a bad idea.......only for the purposes of insurance.

GangGreen3

Yes that is the best way because people who already cycle tend to stick by themselves or go with whatever club they are already in.

That is the easiest and best way as there will be a huge crowd at the event and people will enjoy the atmosphere. They did the same with with the Inter-Varsity race in February, They tied it in with the Biking Blitz.

Hmm I don't but I might be able to get one of my friends to do it for us I can always ask when the time comes. That would be great, does he have road bikes or just hybrids?

If they are first time members of CI they only have to pay €5 (or it could have gone up to €10, i'm not too sure) otherwise whatever category they select they will get 50% off for having a student card.

Postit

GangGreen3 wrote: »

Yes that is the best way because people who already cycle tend to stick by themselves or go with whatever club they are already in.

That is the easiest and best way as there will be a huge crowd at the event and people will enjoy the atmosphere. They did the same with with the Inter-Varsity race in February, They tied it in with the Biking Blitz.

Hmm I don't but I might be able to get one of my friends to do it for us I can always ask when the time comes. That would be great, does he have road bikes or just hybrids?

If they are first time members of CI they only have to pay €5 (or it could have gone up to €10, i'm not too sure) otherwise whatever category they select they will get 50% off for having a student card.

He has road bikes and hybrids! http://www.phoenixparkbikehire.com/gallery.html

I reckon it'd be best to have automatic Cycling Ireland membership as part of the fee to join. It could be a minefield if some don't have insurance!

Might be an idea to advertise/publicise it as something like the "DCU 150 Cycle Challenge" or something like that. Really it'll be the cycling club, just rebranded!

GangGreen3

Ah ok that is perfect than!

We could cover the fee but they would have to sign up to CI as they have to create an account, we would also have to be an official club to grant them the license.

Yeah that sounds perfect, I think we should be able to get a decent club going, cycling has been booming lately and a lot of people don't know much or what to do once they get a bike unless they are part of a club. Does DCU not cover insurance for some things because what about when other club organise events and such?

Postit

GangGreen3 wrote: »

Ah ok that is perfect than!

We could cover the fee but they would have to sign up to CI as they have to create an account, we would also have to be an official club to grant them the license.

Yeah that sounds perfect, I think we should be able to get a decent club going, cycling has been booming lately and a lot of people don't know much or what to do once they get a bike unless they are part of a club. Does DCU not cover insurance for some things because what about when other club organise events and such?

DCU cycling club is listed as a club on CI's website, but yeah maybe DCU do cover insurance. Didn't think of that! If they do, then there's no need for CI membership which would keeps costs down.

Would Wheelworx sponsor say four saddle bags each filled with two spare tubes, two CO2's and tyre levers? If we could get a mini-pump a few lights and maybe a even a track-pump that'd be brilliant? It'll be difficult enough getting people to buy any of that at the start, so if we had four saddle bags filled with that stuff it'd go a long way towards mechanical support for the group out on the road.

GangGreen3

Oh that's great that it's already listed. It would be something to look into because getting CI membership could be costly and messy. I know you can get membership cheap enough but for a full competition license it cost me something like €60 with the student discount.

I will ask at work and see what they can do and if they are willing to sponsor us some supplies. I hope that they will and will let you know when I find out any info.

I have a lot of tools and spare parts lying around so I can do most mechanical work except press fit headset's and press fit BB's other than that I have the tools to cover pretty much everything else.

Kavrocks

I'd be in the long spins for fitness category.

Does anybody know if the club is still alive and if there is a committee? I do remember there being one 2 years ago. It might be a bit of work to get it back up and running if it isn't still there.

If the club and committee are still around there is no reason why funding for saddle bags (with equipment) and some gear can't be got. Probably even be able to get CI membership funded too.

notGill

I am also in the long spins for fitness category.

I think it's vital for a remnant of a club to still be there. That takes out the hassle of setting up a new club.

The semester 2 spin is a great idea. Every society needs a manageable goal to aim for, both to keep members interested and to actually give the society something to plan towards. It would also encourage people to sign up if they thought they could work to cycling a given distance within a few months.

Promote the group spin as a motivation factor. I know when I'm cycling in a group I cycle further for longer.

I for one didn't know there was a cycling society around for my first two years in college, I never saw a presence at clubs and socs day. That being said I wasn't looking. I think that if we set-up a stand, we can at least show people that it exists and those people already interested in cycling will join. Then we can look at attracting beginners once we have a committee base established.

Postit

notGill wrote: »

I think that if we set-up a stand, we can at least show people that it exists and those people already interested in cycling will join. Then we can look at attracting beginners once we have a committee base established.

Personally I think looking for beginners after Clubs & Soc day will be an uphill struggle.

99% of people join clubs on Clubs & Soc day. If you haven't attracted them by the end of that day, there'll be very little chance of getting anymore.

The focus should be on attracting beginners, not established cyclists. They will join anyway.

notGill

Do the three of ye fancy organising to meet up in early September to discuss things?

OnlyNow

Hey Guys,

Great to see interested people in the society, Fairplay on starting to get things organised.

I will be new to DCU in September and was just wondering if there was anybody interested in training for competitive mountainbiking racing?.

I know the trails are some distance from DCU, But perhaps maybe if we could get people together from all cycling disiplines to target race fitness within the DCU facitilies?. Then the mtbrs etc could go to trails within a schedule?

notGill

I'm gonna give this a much needed bump.

Any developments on this or can anyone provide any information?

GangGreen3

OnlyNow wrote: »

Hey Guys,

Great to see interested people in the society, Fairplay on starting to get things organised.

I will be new to DCU in September and was just wondering if there was anybody interested in training for competitive mountainbiking racing?.

I know the trails are some distance from DCU, But perhaps maybe if we could get people together from all cycling disiplines to target race fitness within the DCU facitilies?. Then the mtbrs etc could go to trails within a schedule?

I do mountain bike racing and am a member of MAD. I will have a car with me this year at college so I can provide lifts to the mountains for training.

GangGreen3

Sorry I haven't been on in a while I've been very busy and away for some time. I am more than happy to help out and to help set up a stand at clubs and socs. I suggest we bring a few bikes and gear to the stand to try and attract a few people who are interested. I can bring a mountain bike and a road bike if needed? Also I will be moving up soon so we can discuss things and get the ball rolling. I have a set of DCU cycling gear I can put on display.

notGill

I'm up from Orientation week onwards, so I'm also around then for a chat!

I'll have my road bike up with me if one is needed for the stand too but that can discussed a bit closer to the date.

I will pop into the SU when I'm around to inquire about the current state of the society, I'm guessing if it was active last year then we just need 20 members this year to keep her alive.

GangGreen3

Cool I'm the same I'll be up from orientation week onwards. I'll see what I can do about stands as well.

I will try and get into contact with Oisin and see what is the story with the club and see if I can get access to the DCU Cycling soc page on facebook as well.

notGill

Anyone interested in joining the club can join the facebook group, information will be posted there.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/29616128221/

Kavrocks

notGill wrote: »

Anyone interested in joining the club can join the facebook group, information will be posted there.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/29616128221/

Didn't realise that group was there, any chance it could be made public? It would be easier to join and easier for people to stumble upon.