National Governing Bodies
Custodians of Cycling in the UK
Detailed below are the organisations that provide all of the resources for cycling in the UK. They will have their own rules and technical regulations, and in some cases provide professional indemnity and public liability insurance to officials, coaches and riders. We are affiliated to British Cycling, Cycling Time Trials and Cycling UK.
BC - British Cycling
The Wheelers Membership and Club management is hosted by the BC Portal. Each club member has their own dashboard page, where your contact information and details are stored. BC is the Governing body of Cycle Sport in the UK across six disciplines. There is a wealth of information on the BC website including campaigning, coaching and education, disciplines, Great Britain Cycling team news, insurance, membership, race calendars, race officials, rides and Breeze rides, technical regulations and volunteers.
CTT - Cycling Time Trials is the National Governing Body for time trials in England and Wales.
The idea of individuals riding "against the clock" is popular, and there are also events which are for teams of two, three or four riders who ride together known as Team Time Trials - shortened to 2up/3up/4up TTTs.
Events held on flattish main roads and following a more-or-less "out and home" pattern are still in the majority but with the increasing level of traffic there has been a tendency for more events of a so called "sporting" nature to take place. These are often on hillier roads and usually follow circuit type courses so that the route can be followed by using only left turns. This means, the problems associated with the long "spear-point" intersections of dual carriageway roads can be avoided.
Many over 40s take part in Time Trials and the VTTA (Veterans Time Trials Association) devised a system of "Standards". These are only for those 40 years old and more and consists of a table of allowable times at each age for all the standard distances competed at. To work out the result of an event each rider's time is compared to his Standard and the difference (±) is credited. The winner is the rider with the most plus.
About 1200 open events are advertised in the handbook this year. To ride in any of them you need to be a member of a club affiliated to Cycling Time Trials.
There is no individual membership to Cycling Time Trials. Membership is for clubs/teams. Once affiliated any member of the club/team can enter any CTT event. Whilst competing all competitors are covered for £10,000,000 third party insurance.
CUK – Cycling UK previously CTC - Cyclists Touring Club
Join us to share the love of cycling and our vision for a better world by bike. Your membership will enable us to have a louder voice to lobby government, campaign for improved rights and inspire millions more people to cycle. You’ll also receive great cycling benefits including insurance, discounts and expert advice and information. Cycling UK Membership benefits
VTTA - Veterans Time Trials Association
If you are over 40 and interested in time trialling the VTTA is the organisation for you. We have 3000 members in our 16 regional groups. We promote 100 time trial events a year, 8 national championships, 3 season-long competitions, plus various competitions and trophies at regional level. We also organise individual challenges (called Standard medals) and national age records, and we produce four glossy magazines each year. It costs as little as £14 a year to join
British Masters Cycle Racing (BMCR) is an independent body proudly established by Percy Stallard in 1986 as the League of Veteran Racing Cyclists. Created to provide a programme of competitive cycling events for members aged 40 and over. We have recently rebranded ourselves with a new identity, logo and website, but the ethos, the spirit of the organisation and the people involved are still the same. The LVRC legacy lives on now in BMCR.
While the UCI, the international governing body of cycling, holds that masters racing is for those aged 30 and over, we are strictly for those aged 40 and over.Our membership varies from newbies to World Champions, this is the place for everyone, whatever your ability. Membership does not exclude anyone from joining any other cycling organisation.
Aside from a nationwide racing programme, each member is covered with third party insurance. Provision of membership and racing is administered on a regional basis, while an Executive Committee deals with policy, and co-ordinates the regional activities. Most of the road races are under 55 miles; there are also some stage races, criteriums, time trials and track leagues.
It is BMCR policy that races are organised on an age-group basis grouped by 5-year age bands. If you’re unsure whether you’re fit enough to race, don’t worry – except for National Championships and Series events, the excellent national Percy Stallard and Le Col / Arcadian / Velopace series for example – you are welcome to compete in an older age group than your calendar age indicates. Then you can move up to your actual age group as fitness builds.
For example, if a 42-year-old rider feels that they are not up to the standard of that age group then they can ride in a 50+ or even 60+ race. (The only exceptions are Championship events and the national Percy Stallard race and Le Col series.) Conversely riders of masochistic tendencies can opt to race in a younger age group than their calendar age, for more intense competition and longer distance. BMCR age categories for men are designated as follows: A, 40-44; B, 45-49; C, 50-54; D, 55-59; E, 60-64; F, 65-69; G, 70-74; H,75-79: I,80-84, J,85-89; K,90-94: L,95-99.
BMCR age categories for women are designated as follows: C, 40-44; D, 45-49; E, 50-54; F, 55-59; G, 60-64; H, 65-69; I, 70-74; J,75-79: K,80-84, L,85-89; M,90-94: N,95-99.
Members will change category on the 1st of January in the year of their appropriate birthday. (e.g., if a man is 50 on 10th June 20202, he will be a C category from 1st January 2022).
This flexible format of age-related racing has proven very successful at enabling riders to compete at their optimum level.
In 2019 we have had huge success in running separate women’s races too, with all categories racing together. This is run as part of an EFGH race or when there are sufficient numbers, as a separate race.
TLI Cycling - Age-related cycle sport for all supporting grassroots cycle racing for over 35 Years
TLI Cycling is a voluntary sports organisation which supports cycling clubs in the UK, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, to organise competitive cycling events for all ages. Entrants race against others in their peer group. It is run on a not-for-profit basis entirely by unpaid volunteer members, any surplus being used to maintain, improve and develop TLI Cycling’s activities.
TLI Cycling has for over 35 years provided grass-roots cycle racing for all ages and abilities, with competition based upon age. In 2018 we accommodated over 10,000 male and female entrants in our events, the competitors ranging in age from 6 to over 75!
The aim of TLI Cycling is to encourage cyclists in the UK to ‘have a go’ at cycle racing. Whether you are a complete novice or an ex-professional, male or female, we welcome your participation in our events. Your age determines your category, so that although races may contain riders from several age groups, the results will be structured where possible so that each category will have its own classification based upon your age. To allow females to compete on an equal footing, TLI Cycling operates a ‘unisex’ age category system. Female competitors are allocated an age category which for senior and veteran women is generally three bands above that of a male competitor of the same age.
Annual Membership Membership of TLI Cycling is available to everybody aged 6 years and over and costs £15 for those aged 18 and over, £10 for those aged 16 or 17 and is free to under 16-year-olds. Full membership is on an annual basis, with the year commencing on the 1st of February, and is mandatory if you wish to compete in events on the open road. Day Membership is also available for off-road and closed-circuit events at a cost of £10 (again free for those under 16) and allows you to compete in a single event, or multiple events on the same day. Benefits of annual membership for Junior and Senior members include public limited liability cover while out training and while involved in other TLI Cycling recognised activities such as club riding. It does not cover commuting and/or travelling between home and a place of work.
TLI Cycling is a voluntary organisation, run by its members for the benefit of our members and as such, as a member, you are expected to be involved in our day-to-day activities and may be required to help with the organisation at least occasionally or marshalling of events.