The mountain biking section of the club is quickly growing and encompasses cross country (XC), downhill (DH) and everything in between. Riders of all interests and abilities are welcome. We centre on regular local club rides during term. Additionally, we organise a couple of adventure rides or trips to trail centres, bike parks or races every year. Most of our rides and trips are organised on the OUCC MTB facebook page which is where we organise most of our rides.
Local rides: Most of our rides are at Shotover, the local woods, which is a 15min ride from the town centre. It offers 70m of elevation difference, has plenty of trails running through it, mainly bridleways, and a collection of dirt jumps at one end. Our rides there range from quick morning spins to trail sessions of 1000+ vertical metres.
Less frequently we go to Boars Hill, which is 20min from the city centre and offers some further fun trails.
We also regularly run longer rides in the wider periphery of the town.
Bike trips: The club is planning to run a few weekend trips to nearby areas where we hire overnight accommodation and head on longer rides on Saturday and Sunday.
We also organise a one-day trip to a trail centre or bike park once per term.
Furthermore, we are looking into joining the road section of the club for the week-long training camp in Spain in the spring.
Varsity: The yearly Tab shoeing takes place in 5th or 6th week of Hilary, and is in the form of an XC race. Currently, anyone who wishes to participate can join. Males and females compete separately with the final result depending on the cumulative time of the fastest 3 riders from each team. Last year we organised it at one of the Gorrick Spring Series races, so this year Cambridge will organise it. Coming in the top three at the Varsity Race is one of the criteria for getting a Half Blue.
Racing: Recently, we have only focused on varsity. We are happy to get more racing going again. So if there is enough interest, we will coordinate entries to local XC races, BUCS Downhill or any other MTB race. Entries are usually well subsidised. So please get in touch if you are interested.
Club bikes: The club owns two hardtail MTBs. All members are welcome to borrow the bikes for term time rides. Just get in touch with Jake or Alex whenever you would like to borrow them.
Get involved!
If you are even vaguely interested in riding mountain bikes please do get in contact with Jake or Alex, there is provision for every kind of rider and we are always looking for new members. Join our Facebook page for more information!