Chairman
Originally from North Manchester, Karl has been a keen cyclist from an early age following in his Dad’s pedal strokes who rode and raced for Middleton CC. His Dad's love of cycling rubbed off onto Karl, who was gifted his first road bike in his early teens along with his brother. Cycling has always been part of Karl’s life, alongside many other team sports, but in his late teens he joined what was then known as the Territorial Army (TA), which somewhat reduced the amount of cycling Karl did during his 18 years military service, but he participate in some occasional racing with the Army Cycling Union (ACU). For several years Karl also participated in Mountain Biking mainly with friends, although he has become more involved in road riding again since his early 40’s.
After moving to Preston, Karl mainly rode solo until he approached Ribble Valley CRC after seeing rides promoted through British Cycling's “Lets Ride” programme, and joined the Wednesday Night “Ice Cream” rides in 2018. As he enjoyed them so much, he then joined the club and started to participate in the Sunday Club Rides, progressing from C Rides to B Rides. Since joining Ribble Valley Karl has now taken ownership of managing and leading the Wednesday Night Social Ride, the Zwift rides during the winter periods, as well as becoming a ride leader on Sunday club rides.
Karl also has a passion for riding for charities in memory of his Mum. These are normally Charity Sportives, where Karl does at least one annual long distance sportive for either Cancer Research or Breast Cancer Now. He has raised thousands of pounds for charity, participating in events such as the Prudential 100 and the London Revolution.
His ambition is to attempt the Ride Across Britain event in 2023
General Secretary
I started cycling in 2014 and have been a member of the club since 2017. I joined because I was new to the area. I had no idea where I was going and I was constantly getting lost. Joining the club has been fantastic and over time I have enjoyed lots of great rides to parts of Lancashire that I never knew about, and have made a lot of new friends. I have been leading Club Rides on Sundays for a few years now and I have also been introduced to cycle touring with my club friends, which I really enjoy, challenging that they are. I have been on the committee for a short time and I am now the General Secretary. This role is new to me but I hope I will be able to make a positive difference for all of our members.
Treasurer & Clothing Secretary
Membership Secretary with responsibility for Safeguarding
Communications Coordinator
Ian is currently our Communications Coordinator, which means he helps to ensure information about the club is shared with the rest of the committee and the club's general membership. Ian also helps run the PETTS events (Preston Evening Time Trial Series), which take place every Tuesday from April through to September, and he represents our club's interests amongst the five other local organising clubs. If you have any questions about riding those events or, equally as important, volunteering to marshal at one of the events he's the man to speak to about it.
About Ian
"I first joined Ribble Valley cycling club in 1967 as a schoolboy and started racing at fifteen, competing in all disciplines, Time Trialling, Road Racing, Cyclo-Cross and Criteriums. then organising many races for a good few years. I left the club for a couple of years in the early eighties when our son Matthew was born, but soon got back into cycling when Matthew started to ride regularly. On becoming a Vet I joined the LVCRC, and raced in the Manchester Track league for two years. Great Thrills. In 2009 I had a serious accident that changed my life, but they still haven't got rid of me and I am now serving on the Committee again as the Communications Co-ordinator and am the Chief Marshall for all Ribble Valley CRC. events. Look forward to seeing you all at our clubroom or at our events." Yours in Sport, Ian Hodges.
Time Trial Coordinator
Simon is your Time Trial coordinator. He began racing in 1986,
aged 16, and has raced all fixed distances, 10m, 25m, 50m, 100m, marathon 12 hour event and lung-busting hill climbs!
He helps to promote the Preston Evening Time Trials Series (PETTS) at Brock on the A6 on Tuesday nights – a great place for the novice to experience time trialling for the first time. He can help the novice time trialist with advice on how to enter events, courses, safety etc.
He also attends regular CTT committee meetings on behalf of the club.
"Time trialling is an ideal introduction to competitive cycling, it’s just you, your bike, and the stopwatch – the ‘Race of Truth”
You can contact Simon on 07816 834 111.
Clothing Secretary
General member
"My rebirth in cycling started around 10 years ago. I had an old mountain bike in the shed, which never got used. I finally started riding to work, and set myself a reward of a new bike, if I kept it up. I met my target and got a newer MTB. The following year my wife got a road bike to get fit. I got to borrow a road bike from a friend, and was introduced to speed on a bike!! It was a revelation, and I got a Cyclocross bike on the cycle to Work Scheme. I got the CX as I commute on the Leeds/Liverpool towpath a lot, and needed a bike which could handle mixed terrain. After picking up the mileage, my wife and I joined RVCRC (around 6 years ago now), mainly for the social side, and to get out on longer rides, which I wasn’t sure I could do. This was another revelation. I met a great bunch of people, and graduated from the C rides to the B rides. My mileage picked up and I undertook my first 100mile ride, with the club. Over the last 6 years I have also taken up Cyclocross racing, and am a member of the Northwest Cyclocross Association. I also ride a lot of the newer SportCross type events (now often called Gravel events). These are a cross between MTB and road Sportives. They are half on road and half off, and suit me down to the ground. After 6 years with the club, I have been racing for 6 seasons, done quite a few 100mile rides, lost 3 stone in weight, been cycle touring and a number of other activities. I strongly believe in the club, and joined the committee this year to try and make it better for all of us."
Vice Chair, Welfare Officer & Website Assistant
Gordon's involvement in the club has increased steadily over recent years and now regularly turns out on a Sunday morning to lead C-Group rides. Gordon's main interest is social riding where the objective is to enjoy the company of like-minded riders both on the road and at the cafe stops. Unil his retirement in 2019 he commuted to work daily on his fixie (about 20 miles) in all but the worst of weather, a machine that he also uses on club rides - if it's not too hilly! At the same time Gordon likes to challenge himself and each year trains (!) for some long distance sportives - usually century rides. A very capable bike mechanic, Gordon likes to tackle almost all his own (and other's) bike maintenance. He is the club's current Welfare Officer, a Rider Leader for HSBC Guided Rides (Let's Ride) and a member of Cycling UK. He owns 4 bikes (at the moment).