'If you want to ride a bike, we'll figure it out': the innovation and all-are-welcome attitude that made Newbury Velo our Club of the Year

Newbury Velo is Cycling Weekly's club of 2025. This feature originally appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 4 December 2025. Subscribe now and never miss an issue.

To borrow from one enduring marketing campaign, if Carlsberg did cycling clubs, they might well be looking to a certain Berkshire market town for some pointers. Newbury Velo's entry for this year's Cycling Weekly Club of the Year award was so comprehensive, so saturated with innovative, inclusive and wide-ranging membership offerings, it was hard to imagine who else the top spot might go to.

A relatively new fixture on the roads – the club only formed in 2020 – its riders are difficult to miss in their bright pink and dark blue jerseys. The short time in which the club has built so much to be proud of makes these achievements all the more impressive.

Newbury Velo offers something for all members, with a time trial series and a summer cyclo-cross series too, plus open time trials and a round of the local Wessex Cyclo-Cross League in winter. That might already sound like a lot, but the club also organises the Newbury Triathlon, numerous three-day touring trips throughout the year, plus a children's tour, and trips to Mallorca and the Newport Velodrome.

Fun above all

So why has the club become so successful so fast? "I think it's probably the breadth of what we do," chair Simon Bowden tells Cycling Weekly, reeling off the various racing options. The club time trial series often holds themed nights, he explains, encouraging members to use their Bromptons, for example, or to wear frilly skirts. "We're not just serious racers. It gives people a chance to have some fun and not take it too seriously. I think that's the key."

There is also a youth section for young riders below 12, who will often take part in off-road cyclo-cross type training with DBS-checked coaches. "They just love it, they don't want to ride road bikes," Bowden smiles. At the other end of the age spectrum, the club's oldest member is 85. "Basically, we say, if you want to ride a bike, you can do it with us. We'll figure it out," Bowden adds.

Part of this 'figuring it out', particularly for a nervous rider, might include a one-to-one test ride so the club can place them in the correct group, or or a 'couch to 50k' programme to help them along. "In my old town, I asked to join a club and they said, 'Well, go away, and when you can get up to an average of 15-16mph, come back. We don't do that," says Bowden.

While an annual trip to Mallorca is not a new concept, Newbury Velo manages to shy away from the usual 'training camp' vibe by providing, once again, something for everyone. "We wanted to take people there on a social trip," Bowden says. "They could ride and train if they wanted, but they could ride socially as well. So we go there, and there have been a couple of small groups so far, but it's really beginning to grow."

Tandem triumph

Newbury Velo has always placed a strong emphasis on inclusivity, so much so that it has been granted British Cycling Limitless Focus status for its work with blind and partially sighted children. "One of our founders, Rachel Elliott, is partially sighted, and we started a tandem project even before Limitless existed," explains Bowden. "Then we partnered with Berkshire Vision, a charity that predominantly looks after families with children that are blind or partially sighted – and that partnership has really grown. We started off doing track sessions. There's a running track locally, we hire that. The kids turn up in a minibus and we ride them round the track. The grins on their faces and the screams… It's just magical.”

And it doesn't stop there, either. The club has now managed to secure a grant that will enable it to buy some high-quality electric tandems, and take partially sighted riders out on club rides, too. "I think our work to be disability friendly is probably the thing we're most proud of," Bowden says. "It's really special. It means you offer cycling to so many more people." In fact, just eight months after becoming a Limitless club, Newbury Velo was granted British Cycling's high-tier 'Focus' status – "they said, 'you're one of only 25 Focus clubs in the country.'"

There is a lot to be proud of for Newbury Velo, a progressive and creative club that has brought the joy of bike riding to many riders, some of whom likely would not otherwise have experienced it. Here’s to the young club’s long future.