Club Guide Off-road career starts here
By TMX Archives on 2nd Mar 07
Whether you are a spritely six-year-old desperate to take your first steps into off-road or a bit over the hill born again biker, obsessed with motocross, trials, enduro, supermoto, quads, classic bikes or even sidecars, the bottom line is that if you want to compete in any form of off-road sport during the 2007 season you have to join one of the multitude of off-road motorcycling clubs around the UK, but how exactly do you become involved in the exciting world of competitive off-road motorcycling and where do you start if you want to go racing with a club?
Read on, as T+MX News brings you our annual Club Membership Guide and gives you all the info you will need to know about getting started and getting out there competing in 2007.
Your competitive plans may just extend to competing in the odd trial with your local trials club or you may have more lofty ambitions of racing motocross every weekend with different clubs up and down the country, but rest assured there is something out there to suit everyone and with a bit of easy research you will be able to find just what you are looking for and get out there competing.
With numerous organisational bodies who sanction racing in the UK catering for different aspects of motorcycle sport, which clubs themselves must belong to, and literally hundreds of clubs up and down the country catering for all disciplines of competition, the most important thing is that you find a club and organisation which fits your requirments. So the T+MX News guide is aimed to help YOU understand the club system, find the club(s) best suited to your needs and offer YOU the best fit with what YOU want to do in off-road competition.
It's surprising just how many clubs there actually are in your local area or region when you start looking, but importantly, not every club in your area will be open to you.
While some larger clubs do cater for more than one sport, the vast majority of clubs specialise in specific branches of off-road, be it Youth motocross, supermoto, or whatever and so just by virtue of this fact a proportion of the clubs in your local area will not be suitable for your needs. The chances are though that there will be at least one club in your area, most probably a few, that specialise in what you are looking for. It's just a case of finding the one that suits you best then.
Some clubs focus on hosting higher profile events such as national championship events and Expert level meetings, perhaps putting on only a couple of big events a year that are not suitable for new riders, while other clubs are directly aimed at the weekend warriors who form the core of the sport and run events on a more regular basis, ranging from once every one or two months to almost every week.
Potential enduro stars should note that there is the possiblity they may have to travel a little further than trials or motocross riders to compete because of type of land needed, and amount, to run enduro events, while wannabe sidecar motocross exponents, supermoto, quad or classic and twin-shock riders will need to check out the club scene in more depth and be prepeared for more travelling to and from events as these disciplines are more specialised and clubs which cater for them are more spread out.
While you may find that joining just one club will provide you with enough events and riding to cover all your competitive needs, you might also catch the off-road bug that so many of us have caught and want to ride as much as possible with a few clubs locally, or even further afield, to get your fill.
Many local motocross and enduro clubs within the same organisations work together to ensure that dates do not clash so riders can compete with and support all their local clubs. You do not necessarily have to become a member of all the other local clubs or compete at all their events if you don't want to, but the option is there in a lot of cases if you wanted to, and of course joining a club means you are eligible for its championships and trophies.
Increasingly in trials as well, clubs within a centre require you to join just one club to be eligble to ride with all the other local clubs.
Joining a club is not just about competing though, there is a huge social side to club membership that helps to make off-road sport such an enjoyable and rewarding past-time.
Motorcycle folk are friendly and beginning to compete on a regular basis with your club will see you and your family's circle of friends grow rapidly as you get to meet your rivals.
The Youth scene in particular has a very strong social element with whole familes taking in events and often making long term friendships with fellow families. There are also club meetings, social nights and the big annual awards presentation evenings to look forward to on the social calendar of most clubs too.
Clubs take a huge amount of work to keep running, however, and are always on the look out for people willing to help out with preparation for events. This also provides a great way to get more involved in the social side of clubs should you volunteer to help out, and for the sake of a few hours banging in posts at a motocross track or helping to mark out a trial you might even get discounted entry fees!
Clubs in the Amateur Motorcycle Association (AMCA) ask all members to help with the running of the club by agreeing to join work parties occasionally throughout the year and attend regular club nights so if you do join an AMCA club be aware that you will be expected to contribute to the club's upkeep.
Well organised and ambitious clubs, like the ones promoting themselves here, are always on the lookout for new members to bolster the ranks and will be more than willing to give you any information, advice and assistance to help you on your way to competing, as will the orgaisational bodies listed below, but if you are keen to get involved in off-road sport our best piece of advice would be to look through the T+MX News classified regs section or contact one of the organisations to find a local event in the sport that interests you, get out there and check out how everything works, watch what goes on and how everything works, talk to club riders and officials about their experiences and don't be afraid to ask for advice, most people will only be too pleased to help if it means getting more new riders involved in the sport.
All that's left to say is good luck, get joined up and get competing. You won't regret it.
THERE are numerous major organisations that run motorcycle events throughout the UK and if you are interested in finding out more about becoming part of the off-road community then feel free to contact them with all your questions and requests - they will be only too willing to help.
AUTO CYCLE UNION (ACU) - MX, Trials, Enduro, Supermoto, S/Car, Quad, Classic/ T-Shock. ACU House, Wood Street, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 2YX. 01788-566400. www.acu.org.uk
AMATEUR MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION (AMCA) - MX, Trials, Classic/ T-Shock, Enduro. 28 Mill Park, Hawks Green Lane, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 2XT. 01543-466282. www.amca.uk.com
BRITISH YOUTH MOTOCROSS (BYMX) - Youth MX. c/o ACU House, Wood Street, Rugby, Warwickshire CV21 2YX. 01788-566400. www.bymx.org
BRITISH SCHOOLBOY MOTORCYCLE ASSOCIATION (BSMA) - Youth MX. Tracy Wratton, PO BOX 437, Hampshire PO14 1ZG. 0845-6016251. www.bsma-motocross.co.uk
MOTORCYCLE UNION OF IRELAND (MCUI) - MX, Trials, Youth, Supermoto, Enduro. Motor Cycling Ireland, Stephenstown Business Park, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin, Ireland. +353-1-8834885/ 886. www.motorcycling-ireland.com
SCOTTISH AUTO CYCLE UNION (SACU) - MX, Trials, Youth, Enduro, Supermoto, Classic/ T-Shock. MR Eric Jones, Scottish Auto Cycle Union Ltd, 28 West Main Street, Uphall, West Lothian EH52 5DW. 01506-858354. www.sacu.co.uk
OFF-ROAD PROMOTERS ASSOCIATION (ORPA) - MX, Youth, Enduro, Quad, T-Shock. Mr Tony Ford, 131 Broomfield Avenue, Worthing, West Sussex BN14 7SF. 01903-265738. www.orpa.co.uk
NATIONAL OFF-ROAD ASSOCIATION (NORA) - MX, Supermoto, Quad. Dave Milnes (MX) - 07971-400061. Tony Brock (S/Moto) - 0870-0685802. www.norasport.com
YOUTH MOTORCYCLE SPORTING ASSOCIATION (YMSA) - MX, Youth, Trials. YMSA Ltd, PO Box 931, Sheffield, S26 5UX. 0845-1086407. www.ymsa-mid.co.uk
MOTORCYCLE RACING ORGANISATION (MRO) - Supermoto. Dave Stewart, Lydden Circuit, Wooton, Canterbury, Kent CT4 6RX. 01304-831714. www.bemsee.co.uk
QUAD RACING ASSOCIATIOn (QRA) - Quad MX, Quad Enduro. Tony Nash, 74 Roman Way, Andover, Hampshire SP10 5JJ. 01264-354259. www.qrauk.com