Belper Bicycle Club
The club started out life in the 1940s as Belperion Road Club, before re-emerging in the mid 1970s as Belper BC, with sponsorship from Thorntons Toffee (who had a factory in the town). The club were known as Belper BC Thorntons Toffee during this period. This continued up until 1988 when Thorntons became a PLC and sponsorship ceased.
The club was established primarily to cater for the needs of local riders interested in competing in Time Trials and Road Racing. Over the years Belper BC has produced many riders who have competed successfully at regional, national and international level and the club continues to do so today.
The red and white jersey comes from when Thorntons sponsored the club. The late Ian Ringrose redesigned the kit with idea of the stars and stripes from the 1984 Olympics held in Los Angeles, USA. The kit has since had a couple of updates since but still retains the stars and stripes theme.
Famous riders for the club through the years have included (amongst others) Derrick Woodings, Mike Allen, Dave Orford, Rex Butler, Mick Potts, Mark Storer and Carl Owen.
The club supports both competitive and non-competitive cyclists. Members currently compete in Road Racing, Time Trialling, Cyclocross and Mountain Bike cross country events. Non-competitive participation includes touring, cyclo sportifs, club road rides and club MTB rides.
Riders meet every Sunday morning for the club run, either at Belper Triangle at 9am or outside the Hurt Arms, at the junction of the A6 and A610 in Ambergate at 9:15am, to normally return around mid-day.
The club night is the first Monday every month (except Bank Holidays - then it's a week later) at the Strutt Club, Campbell Street in Belper between 7pm – 9pm.