Woodmancote Wheelers had been in existence only a matter of a few months before they were rubbing shoulders with some of the biggest names in the world of cycling.

Elliott Richmond, one of four founder members of the club three years ago, takes up the story.

“It was our first trip abroad as a club,” he chuckled. “We were going to Majorca which is where a lot of the top teams go to train, including Sky, and we found ourselves on the same plane as the Madison Genesis team.

“Our chairman Michael Woods was sat next to one of the athletic team members… mind you, they are a different level to us!”

But while Madison Genesis are clearly one of the better teams around, the great thing about cycling is that it’s a sport that anyone can take part in.

“Our founder chairman wanted to give something to the community,” said Elliott, “that’s why Michael Woods initiated the forming of the club. We wanted to introduce a physical activity with a social element to it.”

The Woodmancote Wheelers mission statement is as follows:

The Vision – To be known as a social road cycling club, with organised club rides at the core of our activities, encouraging the development of road cycling in our local district.

The Mission – The mission of Woodmancote Wheelers is to provide a social road cycling club, which enables its members and guests to enjoy organized club rides in a friendly atmosphere. It endeavours to promote road cycling as a safe and healthy leisure activity, with a club spirit. We seek to promote the club as a community organisation through participation in local cycling events and holding non-riding social events where appropriate.

Elliott and Michael were two of the club’s founding members along with Chris Shambrook, Neil Hamill and Kevin Mackelworth and the club have grown at a very respectable rate since those early days.

“We’ve now got more than 50 members,” said Elliott. “We’re absolutely thrilled with the way the club have grown.

“And while we’re a social club we do have some super fit guys who can do their own thing competing for other clubs, but they do keep coming back to us because of the social side of cycling.”

As befits a club where the emphasis is on having fun first and foremost, their ‘HQ’ tends to be either the Apple Tree pub in the heart of Woodmancote or Saffran Lounge, an Indian restaurant also in the village.

It’s not just an ‘eat, drink and be merry club’, however – there is the cycling side to it as well of course.

“We have a club ride every Sunday morning,” said Elliott. “We go anywhere around the Cotswolds. It’s usually a 30-mile ride and it’s quite relaxed. We ride at about 15-16mph and there’s usually a jelly baby stop along the way!

“We also have a midweek summer ride which takes place on Wednesdays at 6pm. That’s over 20 miles and is a bit quicker – we tend to average 17-18mph on that ride.”

The club does go further afield – much further afield – as well and is already planning their next trip to Majorca in March or April. And you can’t blame them for going there either because the beautiful Balearic island is one of the top holiday destinations anywhere in the world.

Not that the 20-plus riders from the club who will make the four or five day trip to Port de Pollenca will be spending much time drinking pina coladas and sitting on the beach.

“We’ll do three rides which will vary from fairly challenging climbing rides to long endurance distance rides on the flat,” said Elliott. “They can be anything from 60 to 80 miles.

“The roads are perfect for cycling. It can be a bit windy sometimes but when it’s calm and sunny it’s awesome. There’s a good etiquette between cyclists and other road users in that part of the world.”

A sense of common decency – too often absent these days – is something that is key for the club when they’re on the road.

“As a club, we are very much aware of other road users,” said Elliott. “When we go out we don’t tend to cycle in groups of more than eight and we single out on main roads. We also show concern for horses. When going into the countryside early on a Sunday morning it’s not uncommon to come across horse riders. If we see a horse on the road then we slow down. I think the club has a fairly good reputation on this front.”

That reputation is important, of course, and club captain Dan Frost is one of the people responsible for getting that message across.

But while Dan Frost’s wife Rach is also a member of the cycling club, Elliott’s long-time partner Rachael Willoughby has “no interest” in cycling.

“She can’t wait until I go to Majorca,” Elliott laughed, “because she gets a break from me!”