Bristol Shedders is opening the memebership to another 10 riders. Please see steps below. We will need a completed memebership form and payment to confirm your space. The spaces will be allocated on a first come frist served basis. Please read the following information which includes the membership process.
This club is a joint initiative of parent volunteers, British Cycling and Pedal Progression. It is operated as a not for profit organisation. The email address is monitored by volunteers, all of whom are parents and have full time jobs, so please be patient. We’ll get quicker as we get a more established but for now it may take a day or so to respond to queries.
Please ensure ALL queries about the club are sent to bristolshredders@gmail.com (and not Pedal Progression). Thanks!
About Us
Bristol Shredders is a British Cycling Go-Ride children’s mountain bike club for Bristol eastablished in Spetember 2019. We are supported by Pedal Progression but are a separate, not for profit organisation run by volunteers. The club has the aim of furthering and increasing opportunities for children and young people to get involved with off road bike riding.
What will happen at Bristol Shredders club ride?
Club sessions will be held once a month on a Saturday in term-time . They will be led by trained and experienced coaches and will take place in the beautiful traffic free Ashton Court. Sessions will start with a warm up, continuing into a mixed ability “core skills” off road coaching session, lasting about 20-30 mins.
Depending on how many leaders we have we will then split into one, two or three rides. Your child will be allocated to the ride by one of our experieced leaders. Spaces are limited, so all participants must be pre-booked and pay a ride fee to secure their place. Only registered club members can do this.
In time, we hope to expand activities to include short taster sessions for new riders, more regular club rides, fun club racing, trips away to ride and to watch races, socials and lots more!
Booking Process
Only registered club members can book places on club rides. Members will be emailed a link to the booking site on the 1st of each month.
Where Will Activities Be Held?
The meeting point for all activities will be Ashton Court, BS8 3PX. There is large field by the minature railway, you will find us here. There is parking on site costing £1.20 for the day. However it can be very busy. There is some on street parking in the village of Leigh Woods just accross Abbots Leigh rd – this will add 10/15 mins so leave plenty of time.
How Many Children Can Attend The Sessions?
We will have between 7 and 21 children per club ride session this will be dependent on volunteer leader availablility.
Do I Need To Be A Member, What Are The Costs, And How Do I Pay?
You will need to be a member to join a session. There is an annual fee. You will also need to complete the registration form at least a week BEFORE the day of the ride. Please email the form to Bristolshredders@gmail.com at least a week before the first club ride your child will join. You can download the registration form here.
Once we have recieved your form we will send you BACS payment details.
We will only confirm your memebership once we have recieved a completed form and payment.
All riders will be asked to pay per session to cover the basic costs of the club, such as British Cycling membership.
We would like to make the club as inclusive as possible so if cost is a barrier to your child participating, please get in touch.
Can Parents Attend The Sessions?
In order to create an environment in which children learn about and love off road cycling, we take issues of safety and safeguarding extremely seriously. As such, parents will not be allowed to accompany the ride unless they are fully DBS checked and if there is room on a club ride in line with the permitted ratios. The club coach and other volunteer committee members are fully qualified, insured and DBS checked. As the club grows we will need support from parents and will encourage and support parents to get trained if they are interested.
As A Parent How Do I Register My Interest To Get Involved?
You can send an email to bristolshredders@gmail.com FAO: Ollie and we’ll get in touch.
Club Kit
In due course we would like to be able to offer Bristol Shredders club kit. We’ll keep you posted about this. In the mean time, make sure your child is suitably dressed for the conditions, with (for example) warm non-woollen gloves, long leggings, proper trainers and a rain or wind jacket. No helmet no ride. Make sure they bring a water bottle. Hot chocolate and biscuits will be provided. A full kit list will be sent out prior to each session once your booking is confirmed.
Club Sponsors
At the moment we are being supported by Pedal Progression, who are providing our first club coach. If you work for or run a small business that would like to further support the growth of the club, please get in touch.
Who Is Running The Club?
Fi – Treasurer, Membership Coordinator, Trainee Coach:
Fi is a lecturer at Bristol University. She has been riding mountain bikes for twenty years, racing 24 hour solo, multi-day stage races and many, many challenging wild country events all over the world. Although she loves all sport, and runs as well as cycles on the road, on her cx bike, on her gravel bike and on one of her various mountain bikes, her true love is mountain biking. As a mother of three girls, she is as passionate about cycling as she’s ever been. Nothing makes Fi happier than shredding the trails with her family!
Andy – Committee Member:
A cartographer by trade, Andy is an expert navigator, which is handy when he competes in adventure racing, which he has been doing for several decades. He has run, biked and kayaked in far flung places including Alaska, Patagonia and Abu Dhabi. And a lot in Wales. He has many beautiful mountain bikes, but unfortunately his wife (Fi) keeps nicking components off them to fix up her own bikes. He loves riding the local trails, with or without his three children. Andy is a navigation guru and loves nothing more than planning exciting rides on new trails and figuring out how different rides all string together.
Ollie – Head Coach & Parent Volunteer Coordinator:
Ollie has been riding mountain bikes since the age of 13. He enjoys all disciplines and has spent his whole working life on and around bikes. Ollie started work at Pedal Progression in 2015 and started running Little Rippers mountain bike classes for kids in 2016. He has a wealth of experience coaching and guiding young people and enjoys nothing more than giving kids their first taste of off road fun! You can find out a bit more about him here!
Chris Kinston – Welfare Officer:
Chris has been into cycling for many years and more recently has enjoyed mountain biking with his son, taking part in their first organised MTB events and loving it. Chris has also been involved in the coaching and running of several Bristol children’s sports clubs including football, rugby and cricket. He has previously held the role of welfare officer covering child protection and health and safety for a parent led after school and holiday club. Chris has worked within the field of mental health for over 20 years and has completed Safeguarding Level 2 training covering all aspects of child and adults at risk protection.
Leon Gierat
Policies and Procedures
Bristol Shredders Constitution.
Bristol Shredders has adopted British Cycling Safeguarding and Child Protection Policy.
