Portsmouth Cyclists' Touring Club is one of 250 local membership groups. Together they form the National Cyclists' Touring Club, an organisation that has a total membership of around 60,000. Portsmouth CTC has some 200 active members drawn from a wide area including Waterlooville and Emsworth and as far afield as Chichester, Gosport, Fareham and Petersfield.
The Club’s activities include weekly ride-outs, Clubroom presentations and talks during the winter, cycle tours in UK and abroad, liaising with local councils to improve cycling infrastructure and facilities and promoting cycling in the local community. The Club also publishes a quarterly magazine – ‘The Pedal’.
Portsmouth CTC has four rides per week in the summer and three in the winter. Sunday rides start from Cosham Library at 09.15 and cover 60 miles plus at a fairly swift pace. Wednesday and Saturday rides start from The Spring Arts & Heritage Centre, East Street, Havant at 09.15. These rides go at a more leisurely pace (although if numbers permit the rides often spilt into faster and slower groups) with a coffee stop after about 15 miles. Some riders return to Havant from the coffee stop and there is always someone to accompany any newcomers back to the start point. The others continue to a lunch stop and a round trip usually of between 40 to 60 miles. Lunch stops are normally near cafes or pubs. A few riders, particularly in summer, take a picnic lunch. Each ride has a leader that has planned the route and stopping venues, all published well in advance in the magazine and on the Club web site. Thursday evening rides start at 7.00pm from The Spring at Havant during the summer and visit a local pub after a ride of about 5 to 10 miles.
For members occasionally wanting less challenging rides, additional shorter rides are provided on some Saturdays and Wednesdays, starting at 09.30 from The Spring at Havant, and wherever possible, published in advance in the magazine or on the Club web site.
There is always a personal welcome for newcomers to the rides and members are happy to have non-members accompany them for a couple of trips. If they then want to continue they would be expected to become a CTC member.
In the winter there are fortnightly talks or presentations at the Bedhampton Social Hall.
The Portsmouth CTC has an Easyride event starting from The Spring at Havant on Wednesday 21 January at 09.30. The gentle ride will stop at the Woodmancote Pub, near Westbourne, for ‘elevensies’ and readers are very welcome to join the ride with about a dozen members and discover the joys of social cycling with Portsmouth CTC.
For further details about Portsmouth CTC and a full list of planned rides visit the Club website at: www.PortsmouthCTC.org.uk/
The National Cyclists' Touring Club has its origins in the early days of cycling when the bicycle opened up new horizons for independent travel and was founded in 1878 as the Bicycle Touring Club. Since then the National CTC has been involved with all aspects of cycling, including campaigning on specific issues and influencing cycle related legislation. In 1936, the National CTC created a first cycling proficiency scheme in response to increasing cyclist casualties at the time. This was adopted as a national programme run by RoSPA in 1948 and has been in use almost ever since. Today, the National CTC is at the forefront of cycling training being fully involved with the government’s Bikeability scheme.