Say hello to Clare

Clare joined the Club in 2016. Amongst her many achievements since then, she has just completed the epic L'Étape du Tour de France –an event that sees amateur cyclists race over the same route as the “Queen Stage” (hardest and longest!) of the Tour de France.  This year’s route started in Briançon and finished atop the iconic Alpe d'Huez – taking the same route as stage 12 of the Tour within days of the pro riders of the peloton. An incredible achievement!

Clare’s story:

I started road cycling since 2010 when I bought a second-hand bike and trained for a charity ride from London to Paris.  It gave me the cycling bug and I simply kept going from there.

I joined the Rouleurs in 2016, when the Club was just two years old.  Not only were they local to me I loved the ethos that “Rouleurs Ride Together” which sounded fantastic and very friendly. I knew I was far more likely to ride frequently if I joined a local club.

The Club Rides were a lot less organised in those days then they are now – when I started it was simply a case of turning up at the Tesco Recycling Bins on a Sunday morning!!! But the rides were so relaxed and friendly I felt immediately at home.  I remember the excitement at picking up my first Club Jersey, which gave me a real sense of belonging.

Club Rides are a great motivation for getting up on a grey Autumn/Winter morning and ride my bike, when on my own I simply wouldn’t. Which means I ride the bike so much more and get rewarded with great chats and guilt-free coffee and cake (or bacon buttie) at the end of the ride

My training really stepped up in 2017, after a year with the Club, when I joined multiple sportives, gradually building up the distance and the elevation.  However, before L'Étape du Tour de France this year my training was really squeezed – Rouleurs are all real people,  at times, life can get in the way of training – so a lot of the climbing practice I did on the turbo trainer (static bike) in the preceding weeks.

The best moment of L'Étape du Tour was when I reached the summit of the penultimate climb – suddenly I realised “I’m actually going to do this”!!!!”

 If you’re interested in joining York Rouleurs – JUST DO IT.  Everyone has the same nerves about whether they’re good enough. But the ethos of “Rouleurs Ride Together” is the founding principle of the Club so you’ll never be left behind. Not only will you improve as a cyclist the enthusiasm new members bring always keeps the Club evolving.