Bicycle Adventure Club Community Interest Company

This coming March 2024 the Bicycle Adventure Club will be 5 years old, and I will be 50. The Bicycle Adventure Club (BAC), like life, has been quite a journey and a learning curve.

What started as a passion project to manage my own physical & mental health, has grown and become an entity in its own right. Since the first blog and video (Ride the Reservoir) from April 2019, I have filmed & edited 82 YouTube videos and published over 60 blog posts. The BAC blog has upwards of 50,000 hits. We have hosted over 75 rides & workshops, attended many more and I have become a qualified mountain bike ride leader.

Over the last five years we have ridden touring bikes over the Wrynose & Hardknott passes, around Watopia, pedalled Birmingham’s outer ring road, cycled the length of the Grand Union Canal, spent a weekend cycling the Isle of Wight, hammocked in woodlands, camped by canals; pushed, ridden and broke bones from Inverness to Glasgow, completed the Dirty Reiver twice….

Apart from all these physical endeavours our biggest triumph has been the community of people we have gathered together and inspired. 

We are a queer run group and our visibility through BAC activities has naturally attracted members of this community, but we have also attracted the allies, parents of queer children, the XXL riders, the older riders, women riders and neurodivergent riders. We built a community of people that have seen or felt what it is like to navigate the world as ‘some kind of different’. We recognise it in each other and understand the benefits of being in a community that reflects and uplifts you. Add in the physical and mental benefits of cycling and being outdoors: it’s a recipe for a good life!

The online and ‘in real life’ community (both nationally & internationally) that has grown up around the Bicycle Adventure Club has been incredible, an absolute joy to be a part of. Your feedback, stories, input and friendship is the motivating force for all the hard work.

So where do we go from here?

The Bicycle Adventure Club has undoubtedly grown and is no longer just my project. It belongs to us all, and as such needs to be run for the good of the community so we can share the love and goodness that comes from bicycle adventuring whilst nurturing a diverse community and disrupting the status quo.

Community Interest Company

Acronym WARNING! 

Over the last year I have partnered with a wonderful community called the EKHO (Earth Kind Holistic Offerings) Collective to host bivvy nights, workshops and collaborate on musical projects. Through them I have been introduced to the idea of a Community Interest Company.

The Community Interest Company (CIC) is a corporate structure that is designed for social enterprises or not-for-profit projects and is structured and regulated like a normal limited company. 

Operating transparently any profit that is generated must be reinvested to further its community interests. The CIC must also have an ‘Asset Lock’, a CIC or charity must be nominated to benefit from the company’s assets should the CIC dissolve.

I have watched other cycling clubs (such as NFORC – the New Forest Off Road Club) become CICs especially those that eschew the traditional routes – British Cycling, and Cycling UK – because their vision & values don’t align or the community simply isn’t sufficiently supported. A CIC seems like the natural next step for the BAC.

Here it is the Bicycle Adventure Club CIC!

The following is the community Interest Statement

“The Bicycle Adventure Club is primarily Women, LGBTQIA+ and XXL led and naturally serves these communities and its allies. We are welcoming to all by fostering a diverse, inclusive & supportive community spanning various ages, skill levels and backgrounds by promoting physical and mental well-being, environmental consciousness, creativity and social connectivity through organised group rides, educational programs, and community outreach initiatives. “

As a CIC the BAC can transparently reinvest funds into the maintenance of the club so we can continue to provide activities to bring and keep people together, encouraging folks that need a little extra support and breaking down barriers to entry . We can also apply for grant funding to bring new BAC community initiatives to life, to support the community we have created and continue to be a welcoming space for new folks.

Over to you!

On Monday 15th January at 8pm there will be a Zoom meeting to launch the BAC CIC and give you an opportunity to feedback your thoughts and ideas about moving forward, what adventures & activities you would like to see & do, how we can reach and help new adventurers, find new ride leaders and BAC representatives or if you can volunteer your skills or time. This is for the whole BAC Community and supporters, not just those local to Birmingham UK. 

To avoid spamming the world with zoom links, if you would like to attend the meeting please let me know HERE

Thank You

I’d like to finish by thanking all the folks that have contributed to the BAC: to all that have been on rides, starred in the videos, purchased merchandise, given advice, encouraged and supported. There are too many to mention here but you can see them on YouTube and read about them in the blog posts. Thank you all for your energy, time, effort and money. Look at what we all built!

See you soon

Sarah

Rides Planned for 2024

27th December 2023 – The Christmas Cracker – https://fb.me/e/86VP3VSpX

7th January 2024 – Wellness Workout Ride – https://fb.me/e/1F9rlVP3V

21st January 2024 – The Airport Run – https://fb.me/e/4B9rMXP8K

4th February 2024 – Wellness Workout Ride – https://fb.me/e/8Eu3vBOYv

18th February 2024 – Out to Play in Sandwell Valley – https://fb.me/e/3WDUyrmYq

3rd March 2024 – Wellness Workout Ride – https://fb.me/e/1vwSBbr7C

17th March 2024 – The Netherton Tunnel 5th Anniversary Ride – https://fb.me/e/1KmxCKahv

Ride with you soon!

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Oh …..and …..

Our lovely BAC member Gill Crofts has busted out her knitting machine and made these lovely BAC beanies to keep you all warm this winter. I’ve only got 7 left and they are just £15 with free P&P. Get them in time for Christmas!