Five friends who enjoyed cycling and were willing to let others join them, that is all it took to create club Fechan Flyers, based in Ecclefechan.
Mike Warbecks and his cycling friends started cycling sportives together so decided to get some kit designed, by 2015 other cyclists became interested in joining them and the more people joined, the more word got out and a club was born.
The club affiliated to Scottish Cycling in 2016, with some of its members trying out Cyclocross events for the first time.
We spoke to Fechan Flyers founder Mike to find out how it had been going.
"Fechan Flyers take a very relaxed approach to cycling and we are willing to try and cater for all our members cycling needs. The club currently has 62 members who compete or ride Cyclocross, Time Trial, Road racing, Sportives – as well as members that do Ironmans and Duathlons!
After we affiliated to Scottish Cycling it allowed us to offer more as a club. We can now run events and give our members lots of information on training courses courses, as well as more tips on how to move forward and progress in cycling - whether that riding, volunteering or coaching. We also have a point of contact for information for ourselves when we are not sure how events should be run.
It wasn’t long before women became interested in joining so we decided to create a women’s section in the club to encourage them to get on their bikes, and be able to do so in a safe and comfortable environment. After a little advertising on Facebook, the ladies group grew to 21 members.
On Sunday the 11 June we held a ladies day at Cressfield hotel in Ecclefechan . This was to encourage more female riders to come and join us and enjoy cycling safely. We had a great turn out and everyone seemed very happy with what the club was aiming for. We also got the chance to speak about events we want to run in 2018, including a female only sportive . We also had a visit from one lady that hadn't been on her bike for 30 years which was amazing to see!”
As well as club rides and organising Time Trial events, Fechan Flyers also hold days for members to come along and get some information on safe cycling and road side assistance.
If you want to find out more about Fechan Flyers please click here, or to find the nearest club to you please use our Club Finder tool.
