Each week Cycling Weekly takes one step closer to finding the best club jersey in the world.
Ever clocked a local club run speeding past and reckoned their amazing kit could teach the WorldTour fashionistas a thing or two? Or maybe you felt it had no place being displayed in a public place and should be consigned to the recycled fabrics bin in the supermarket car park.
A little harsh perhaps, but in any case now you get to take a better look as we assemble club kits from all over the place and get the stories behind them. Even better, you get to choose your favourites in a weekly poll – this isn't called Club Jersey Clash for nothing! In each week's instalment we'll announce the winner of the previous week's clash.
Meet our clubs this week: Cardiff Ajax and Muckle CC. Let battle commence!
Cardiff Ajax
We spoke to Jon Shergold of Cardiff Ajax.
Q: How long has the club been going and what sort of riding do you do?
A: The club was formed in 1948. We are called AJAX, after the Greek God Ajax, meaning fleet of foot, so Cardiff Ajax it was and still is.
Q: Tell us the story behind the jersey design.
A: The design of the jersey has been fairly recently altered to reflect feedback from the membership, the design has been simplified while retaining the key colours and some nice features to boot. The jersey is a hark back to the early club jerseys capturing the simplicity. It has been through many iterations.
Q: What are some of the most interesting rides – or biggest achievements – members have worn it for?
A: Being a fairly new jersey we are looking forward to seeing it on more podiums this year, thus far members have seen success in the British national and Welsh cyclo-cross championships, and the British Gravel Championships.
Members have participated in events as diverse as Paris-Brest-Paris, AlleyCats, the Great British Divide (a 2,500km bikepacking epic) and Ironman Hawaii to name but a few.
This coming season we are looking forward to supporting riders in the National road series (we have a well-supported junior squad), various age group nationals (some of whom are looking to retain their titles both on and off road) along with a large contingent of Audax riders looking to complete various series.
Q: Is there anything else you might like to add about the jersey or the club?
A: We have an illustrious history, having been home to Nicole Cooke along with numerous WorldTour team riders (it's not uncommon to share a route with a Backstedt, Thomas or Rowe).
We have an award-winning coaching team working closely with an active diversity and inclusivity working group to ensure we can continue to offer the best experience possible to everyone, from national champions right through to those just discovering cycling for the first time.
Muckle CC
We spoke to Greg Charlton of Muckle Cycle Club.
Q: How long has the club been going and what sort of riding do your members do?
A: The club was formed in 2015 from a group of friends who loved hill-climbing and were looking for a club that was less traditional than regular cycling clubs. Since then the club has grown to around 100 members who ride and race in multiple disciplines, as well as putting on our own road and cyclo-cross races and our hill-climb on Prospect Hill.
Q: Tell us the story behind the jersey design.
A: The club kit was designed by one of the club members, Marc Ross. The brief was to be loud, bold and really stand out. The design features abstract images of mountainous landscapes to match the climbing ethos of the club and the pink/black colours were what worked best with the design. The kit is made by Castelli but more recently we also use NoPinz for some pieces of kit.
Q: What are some of the most interesting rides – or biggest achievements – members have worn it for?
A: Our club was founded on interesting or ‘muckle’ rides. We have had multiple riders complete Everestings, to cycling from Newcastle to London, to completing the Strathpuffer 24-hour MTB event in Scotland in winter, to racing the Marmotte in the Alps in France in summer.
Each year we award a prize to the most Muckle Ride of the Year where stupid miles and elevation are the only way to win the award. Last year Grace Inglis won the Scottish CX and XC title and Colin Atkinson aka Grandad Watts took an age category medal in the National Hill-Climb, as well as having a lot of local success in the North-East across road racing, hill climbing, TTs and all aspects of off-road riding.
Q: Is there anything else you might like to add about the jersey or the club?
A: We think our club jersey has to be up there as the best around, and this year the club is hosting the National Hill-Climb in October on our open hill, Prospect Hill where the Muckle colours will be proudly represented.
It's time to vote!
We had a great turnout for last week's vote between London Dynamo and Kingston Wheelers, with nearly 1,100 votes between them. In the end though, there can be only one winner, and that was Kingston Wheelers, with 70% of the vote.
Thanks to both clubs for taking part.
