Towards the end of 2004, Stewart Forbes and Keith Russell considered forming a cycling club in Horsham and worked on it together over the winter.
In early 2005 plans for the formation of Horsham Cycling were well underway. The main driver behind the formation of the Club was their desire to cater for all types of cycling, not just racing like the majority of south-east cycling clubs, hence the Club motto ‘Cycling for Everyone’.
Since the demise of the Horsham Unity Cycling Club who existed from 1908 until 1968 there had not been a cycling club in Horsham. Current Horsham Cycling member Brian Flint was a member of the ‘Unity’ between 1955 and 1960. During our first anniversary dinner at the Hornbrook Inn on the
25th April 2006, two members from the original club, Tony Howard and Freddie Miller, donated two Horsham Unity Cycling Club trophies which date back to 1908 and 1949. They also handed over a small sum of money left over in the old club’s Bank Account which had been dormant for some 37 years.
Stewart and Keith approached Horsham District Council who provided a lot of help and guidance plus a grant to enable them to set the new Club up. Keith worked at AD Cycles in Horsham and shop owner Andy Duffin and his friend Andy Bristow were of great help. Andy Bristow donated a set of racing numbers and time trial signs.
The Club was launched on Sunday 17th April 2005 with its first organised ride from the Carfax consisting of 21 riders. The Club grew at a fantastic rate and had reached a membership of 85 within the first year. In 2018, of those original 21 riders, a number are still regular riders with the club and the overall membership reached 279 at peak. The regular Club rides grew from 2 Sunday rides to 7 Sunday rides and 2 Saturday rides to cater to the wide-ranging needs of the members.
ChainLine, the Club’s magazine, was started in April 2005 with Keith Russell as the editor. The name was devised by Stewart Forbes from his old employers (Scottish Power) who had a corporate publication called Power Line. For the first two years ChainLine was produced six times a year then reducing to three times a year.
Much thought was put into the design of the original Club jersey and the mainly blue and white colours were chosen to differentiate us from other clubs in the area who have predominantly yellow designs. The idea was to have a retro looking jersey with inspiration coming from Merckx’s Molteni jersey from the 1970’s and Anquetil’s St Raphael jersey from the 1950/60’s as well as the Team Ireland jersey which had lines down the side that would suit any shape. In 2016 a new Club jersey was designed. The idea was to update the original design but maintain the predominant colours of Blue and White which are the Club’s signature colours. This new design was rolled out in early 2017.
Annual Highlights
2024 – 2025
Membership continued at a high level with the 2024-25 season exactly matching the previous season. Efforts to attract more female members continued although the overall proportion remained at 17%. Having started to record the number of accidents by members on rides the Club was pleased that only three accidents had occurred in 2024, at an average of one accident every 11,700 miles. 2024 saw a healthy programme of TTs, and good turnout for the Hillclimb and Social Downhill Challenge. The Summer Randonnée and autumn Reliability Trials were well-attended. Although Cyclo Club Mouscron had to cancel their annual randonnée, we pressed ahead with our weekend away in Flanders anyway, as well as our now-standard range of other social events and
trips.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairman: Dave Scott
Secretary: Becca Hancock
Treasurer: Paul Windust
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Tony Frankland
Membership: Bob Wall
Social: Richard Pendlebury
Membership: 298
Club Person of the Year: Charlie Hancock
Chainline Award: Rob Clegg
2023 – 2024
Membership again reached a new record. Efforts to attract more female members started to bear fruit, with the proportion rising from 14 to 17%.
Until this year the Club had not been keeping track of accidents on rides. We instituted an accident log, which over time should help identify trends.
2023 saw a healthy programme of TTs, and good turnout for the Hillclimb and Social Downhill Challenge. The Summer Randonnée and autumn Reliability Trials were well-attended.
Although Cyclo Club Mouscron had to cancel their annual randonnée, we pressed ahead with our weekend away in Flanders anyway, as well as our now-standard range of other social events and trips.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairman: Dave Scott
Secretary: Becca Hancock
Treasurer: Paul Windust
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Tony Frankland
Social: Richard Pendlebury
Membership: Bob Wall
Special Projects: Ian Bradbury
Membership: 298
Club Person of the Year: Ken Cullern
2022 – 2023
The full range of events, rides and races returned to their pre-Covid norm. That said, there were a number of significant changes:
After a member consultation it was agreed e-bikes would be permitted on Club rides. We changed our kit supplier away from Le Col to Champion System, prompted mainly by a hefty price-hike by the former. Two new ride groups were set up: Saturday ‘Sporting+’ and a women-only group. Each would schedule occasional rides subject to demand. The Mouscron weekend used a new approach whereby members grouped together by car, each group deciding separately when to leave/return and where to stay. Feedback was positive. It was decided to discontinue Chainline in its original form, mainly due to the difficulty of getting members to submit articles in time for publication. Instead an online-only version was set up on the Club website, linked to a full archive in PDF format for previous editions. The last edition in the ‘old’ format, issue 64, was published in June; subsequently 5 articles were published using the new online format. In February we were honoured to be joined on an off-road gravel ride by cycling legend Johan Museeuw. The committee afterwards agreed to offer Johan honorary Club membership, which he graciously accepted.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairman: Dave Scott
Secretary: Becca Hancock
Treasurer: Paul Windust
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Tony Frankland
Social: Richard Pendlebury
Membership: Bob Wall
Special Projects: Malcolm Rawlins
Membership: 288
2021 – 2022
2021 saw the gradual easing of Covid restrictions, and with it a welcome return to business-as-usual for the Club. Club rides and TTs resumed in April, albeit with restrictions limiting group size to 10 riders. As feedback on this limit was generally positive the Committee decided to continue with it, a policy subsequently confirmed at the AGM. Social events also resumed, with the Summer Lunch, Annual Awards evening and pub nights all well-attended. The Spond app was introduced for organising rides and events, and soon became the standard method of communicating with and between members. The Club website was refreshed to make it mobile-friendly and easier to navigate.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairman: Dave Scott
Secretary: Andy Ruban (to Aug 20) / Becca Hancock
Treasurer: Paul Windust
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Tony Banbury
Social: Richard Pendlebury
Membership: Becca Hancock (to Feb 21) / Bob Wall
Chain Line Editor: Malcolm Rawlins
Membership: 275
Club Person of the Year: Lloyd Griffin
ChainLine Award: Mat Brass
2020 – 2021
2020 proved a challenging year for the Club due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We had to cancel all Club Rides and social events for much of the year from March, and when we re-started Sunday rides we kept to a maximum of 6 per group in accordance Government guidelines, along with other measures to help keep riders and members of the public safe. All social events, racing and trips away were cancelled so this year there were no racing trophies, Club Person of the Year or Chainline article of the year awards. There was also a fall in the number of membership renewals. That said, the group rides we managed to run were well-organised and spirits remained high.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairwoman: Barbara Lefebvre
Secretary: Dave Scott
Treasurer: Paul Windust
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Tony Banbury
Social: Richard Pendlebury
Membership: Becca Hancock
Chain Line Editor: Malcolm Rawlins
Membership: 230
2019 – 2020
In 2019 we added a Social Saturday ride to our weekly group rides programme and we added a new Women’s downhill trophy to our annual awards in memory of one of the founding members of the Club, Anne Maher. The Club started offering Ride Leader training to all current and aspiring leaders.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairwoman: Barbara Lefebvre
Secretary: Dave Scott
Treasurer: Luke Sparkes
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Tony Banbury
Social: Richard Pendlebury
Membership: Malcolm Curtis
Chain Line Editor: Malcolm Rawlins
Membership: 268
Club Person of the Year: Charlie Hancock
ChainLine Award: Mike Ward
2018 – 2019
In 2018 we added an Intermediate Saturday ride to our weekly group rides program, we started road racing in addition to the ever-popular Time Trial program and we added a summer Randonnée inviting our Belgian friends to attend. Several members participated in the Chase the Sun ride in June for the first time, riding from the Isle of Sheppey at sunrise and finishing at Burnham-on-Sea by sunset. Stewart Forbes was granted a Horsham Cycling lifetime membership in recognition of his extraordinary service to the Club.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairwoman: Barbara Lefebvre
Secretary: Dave Scott
Treasurer: Coralie Clarke
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Philip van der Veen
Social: Richard Pendlebury
Membership: Malcolm Curtis
Chain Line Editor: Michael Horner
Membership: 260
Club Person of the Year: Steve Strickland
ChainLine Award: Phil Merryweather
2017 – 2018
In 2017 we started to hold Saturday morning Sporting rides in addition to the standard complement of 7 groups of Sunday morning rides.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairman: John Chaplin
Secretary: Barbara Lefebvre
Treasurer: Coralie Clarke
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Philip van der Veen
Social: Ali Bruce
Membership: Malcolm Curtis
Chain Line Editor: Michael Horner
Membership: 265
Club Person of the Year: Jon Fry
ChainLine Award: Malcolm Rawlins
2016 – 2017
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairman: John Chaplin
Secretary: Robert Skeet
Treasurer: Coralie Clarke
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Philip van der Veen
Social: Ali Bruce
Membership: Malcolm Curtis
Chain Line Editor: Michael Horner
Membership: 219
Club Person of the Year: Peter Delve
ChainLine Award: Alex Palmer
2015 – 2016
The Club held its 10th Anniversary lunch at Rookwood Golf Club, featuring a special Anniversary Cake baked by Ali Bruce and his wife.
Hon. President: Stewart Forbes
Chairman: John Chaplin
Secretary: Robert Skeet
Treasurer: Coralie Clarke
Competitions: Stewart Forbes
Club Rides: Philip van der Veen
Social: Ali Bruce
Communications: Alan Dolan
Chain Line Editor: Alan Dolan
Membership: 219
Club Person of the Year: Malcolm Curtis
ChainLine Award: Fiona Ordidge