Club History

CCAshwell from beginning to now by Geoff Godschalk (co-founder):

Officially the club was formed in 2000. Unofficially it began for me in 1994.

Bob Swain was the original motivator having been a serious cyclist since his teens and racing as an amateur. I hadn’t ridden since my teens and was now 45. Bob was keen to encourage us middle aged and unfit individuals to get back to cycling and so we started doing Sunday morning rides of 25 to 30 miles as a motley crew who soaked up Bob’s cycling knowledge. Apart from Bob, myself and Adrian (recently deceased), all others fell by the wayside. We kept going for 5 years and in 2000 I suggested there were many others cycling alone, so why not advertise and open our ride to all-comers. Word of mouth and stopping to chat to other cyclists spread the word.

We put a bit about the club in the local village magazine and within a year our numbers swelled to 20 or so.

By 2007 we had three Sunday rides, a Saturday ride, Wednesday time trials and a membership of 50 to 60.

I wanted to encourage youth and start a youth section. I trained as a British Cycling coach and organised a village facility and sport England funding to buy track bikes. Max Pendleton (Victoria’s father) was a club member and encouraged me to organise grass track. He helped from 2008 when we started the youth cycling Go-Ride activities. In 2010 I was offered a 7-acre field in the village by a local couple who were supportive of our youth activities. Christopher and Christine Schwick agreed a 25-year lease for a peppercorn rent and the club now fully constituted voted to accept their generous offer.

Richard Maynard and Mark Wyer were pivotal in their support for the youth section.

Parents too numerous to mention and many other club sponsored members trained to become BC coaches, help run events and the club steadily grew.

About the same time Carmelo Luggeri initiated the Primavera road race and that started our club into racing proper getting us a reputation for a well organised Race.

British Cycling Olympic success in 2008 and 2012 helped cycling explode onto the sporting scene and all clubs saw fast growth.

From 3 riders in 2000 to over 200 in 2018 our club is recognised across many categories, whether track, TT, CX, MTB, or road we have a strong presence in all age categories and still run popular Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday club rides. We boast several national champions in various categories.

I moved to Durham in 2012 and whilst still a member only ride occasionally with the club.

Others have taken up the running of the youth and adult sections and we boast a great number of coaches and officials running events in all cycling categories.