Winner - Club of the Year | Sport at Cambridge skip to content
 

Winner - Club of the Year

We are delighted to announce that the Club of the Year is... Cambridge University Cycling Club!  

 

Rounding off this year's awards in style, CUCC have had a brilliant year in all club areas, building on fantastic work by previous committees and pulling together to create a sustainable club which provides a huge amount for members. 

Read more about some of their successes: 

 

CUCC has had a massive uptake in membership and has kept club activities running successfully throughout this entire year.” 

 

 

Tim W. 

 

While the Cycling Club has always been extremely competitive in competitions, the club had fewer than 70 members three years ago, rising rapidly to 247 in 2020-21 

This change in member demographic means the club have had to focus on creating suitable development opportunities for beginners and improvers much more than in years gone by, whilst also considering the changing Covid-19 restrictions.  

 

CUCC's response to Covid-19 has been second to none. Club communications remained regular (twice per week), keeping everyone informed on what was going on and ways to stay engaged. 



Socials were frequent and engaging, despite the challenges of being limited to virtual events. The club ran weekly Wednesday night Zoom chats where we dropped in to touch base, talk bikes, eat dinner together and play games. They also did "Come Dine With CUCC" on a Friday night where one person circulated a recipe ahead of time and then ran a virtual cook-along. It was so nice to feel a sense of community and know the club cares about us and how we're going aside from training and our studies. 



On top of socials, there were informative talks where the club got guest speakers or senior members to share their expertise on things like training to improve time trial performance and designing top level bikes and kit. These talks were a great way of sharing knowledge around the club, supplementing the "learning by osmosis" that would take place in normal years. 



Finally, the racing captain (Jack Kellam) was incredible in organising Zwift racing throughout lockdown. As someone who is new to the club and competitive cycling, I was really nervous about putting my hand up to race for the club. Jack was incredibly inclusive and every week through Lent term he put together two teams of cyclists to compete in a team time trial. There was an amazing sense of camaraderie and across the term we became really good mates with our teams. This was the highlight of my week every week in a very bleak term and I learned an INCREDIBLE amount about how to race, riding with a team and maximising my power on the bike. I also had a ridiculous amount of fun, made new friends and stayed engaged with the sport when I otherwise may have taken a step back.” 

 

Mia G. 

 

 

CUCC also achieve brilliant racing results, which the current crop of freshers look set to continue. In the abridged season, we had top 10s in National time trials, wins in races and at the other end of the scale, many members just beginning their racing journeys and pinning a number on for the first time. 

 

I've been a part of the committee and have been able to see how much work goes in behind the scenes to ensure everything goes off smoothly - one example being the freshers club run, where over 90 riders were grouped into 6s by ability, including cross referencing Strava data to ensure each group member would be comfortable at the given pace. It's been a crazy and often unpleasant year, but being part of CUCC has been my highlight, and I think the highlight for many of our members!." 

 

Elspeth G.  

 

“A huge effort has been made in engaging with Alumni, with a termly newsletter being operated through CUDAR [Cambridge University Development and Alumni Relations], and events being hosted on an annual basis, with a garden party currently scheduled for this summer - allowing current members and Alumni to exchange experiences, stories and memories of CUCC. From the club's annual kit order, over £6000 was fundraised through Alumni, with profits from the sales of retro Alumni jerseys contributing to this hugely. 

 

All of this would not have been possible without a truly stellar committee, with each and every committee member innovating ways in which to make their role not only adapt to the pandemic, but go truly above and beyond the port of call to help CUCC grow.  

To continue this growth, the club established a Senior Committee, featuring Alumni of the club from a range of generations in order to help extended the institutional memory of the club and ensure that CUCC can operate and develop into the future.” 

 

Jack B. 

 

 

Congratulations to Cambridge University Cycling Club!  

 


Photo: Nordin Catic