Thornton Road Club

 

Welcome

Thornton Road Club is a cycling club centred on Dymchurch and Romney Marsh while embracing the Kent coastal towns and villages situated between Folkestone and New Romney. Its members engage in the congeniality of regular cycling.

For all the latest updates and to find out just what members of Thornton Road Club are up to please visit the BLOG HERE

Membership

Club membership is open to anyone of either gender and practically of any age, so long as his or her interest is in bikes and bike-riding. There are two broad categories of membership: active membership for those who wish to ride regularly with the club, for sheer pleasure or in serious competitions; and a reduced-rate social membership, for those who want to support the club for historical and companionable reasons but who may not be able to ride with the club. Details are given on theMembership page.

 

For the hardy and the brave, the seasoned enthusiast and the novice, year-round Sunday runs are at the heart of the club’s activities. Three grades of riders are catered for by three kinds of rides


Club run 1  
First, is a one hour ride of about ten miles, which begins at 10.00 am at the Light Railway Café in Hythe. It is an undemanding agreeable social ride that ends at about 11.00 am back at the Light Railway Café. 


 Club run 2 
Second is an intermediate disciplined ride that is guided by an experienced club member. The ride encompasses a range of topography – flat and easy or hilly and hard – traversed at an average speed of up to 15 mph. The ride begins at the Light Railway Café, Hythe, at 9:00 am and ends at the same place at about 11:00 am.


Club run 3
Third is a more arduous ride that aims at high average speeds (17 to 19 mph) and/or interesting hill climbs (up to 20% gradient).  A variety of routes embracing the flat but windy Romney Marsh or its hilly periphery of central and east Kent are the measures of the challenge. This ride also begins at the Light Railway Café, Hythe at 9:00 am, and ends about two hours later at the same place.


If you need advice about the level of ride suitable for you, then contact any club member or use the contact page on this website.

Time Trials

In late spring and summer each year, Thornton RC organises up to half a dozen ten-mile time trials which are contested on the club’s Newchurch course. Details of the seasonal programme are shown on the events diary pages of this website. Entrants must be members of either Thornton RC or of any other club that is affiliated to Cycling Time Trials (for full details see www.ctt.org.uk). A small charge is levied on each entrant to an event. 
Club members are also encouraged to participate in other time trials conducted by neighbouring clubs, but particularly those trials organised by Ashford Wheelers (www.ashfordwheelers.btinternet.co.uk and Rye and District Wheelers www.ryewheelers.co.uk). 

Other Events

From time to time, other social and cycling events are organised or taken up. Such events have included club participation in a Tour of Flanders and competitive hill climbing in the Lake District, while social events have included an awards evening and a regular club Christmas dinner.