Road Racing
As a club we host and participate in many different levels of Road Racing. As with all cycling, Road Racing should be enjoyable so finding the right race for you is a key first step! The right race will depend on your age, fitness and the time of year. See below for more details.
Everyone Wins
British Cycling is celebrating the return of grassroots racing with #EveryoneWins
We have a wide range of competitive road racing cyclists of all ages. If you are interested in racing competitively, please read on, and use the Racing Enquiry section below to contact us.
Closed Circuit Racing
The Tudor Grange Circuit in Solihull has been in use for some years now and has proved to be a great asset to the region. Whilst Solihull CC played a significant role in getting the circuit built and established, the circuit is open to all clubs and organizations to promote events and use for training and other cycling activities.
We organise lots of races throughout the year at Tudor Grange
- BMCR Early Season Criterium
- BC No Frills Racing Series
- BC West Mids Youth Circuit series
- BMCR Late Summer Criterium
Youth Racing
Here at Solihull CC it is not just the adults with a competitive streak, many of our youth riders enjoy the challenge of racing too.
Circuit Racing is the main racing for our younger members throughout the summer months where all ages (6-16 years) can get involved in a safe, closed road environment.
Within the West Midlands there are a number of cycling clubs who have come together to create the West Midlands Youth Circuit Series.
Each race in the series is organised by a different club and the locations of the races will vary.
These races give our youngsters the chance to compete amongst children, within the same age category, from around the region and on different circuits in a safe environment. Some of our youth riders also compete at a local race league organized at Mallory Park Race Circuit and some will travel to races further afield competing at both Regional and National Level.
Races are held under British Cycling Regulations which includes age categories, specific gear restrictions and of course a Race Licence.
If you are interested in racing please speak to your coach to find out more
Road Racing
The "classic" expression of competitive cycling, mass start open road races. The club has a strong heritage of good road race cycling performances, as can be seen from the list of current and older champions. We actively encourage anyone who has the interest and drive to want to compete in open road races, to obtain a British Cycling, BMCR or TLI license and give racing a go.
Online Riding and Racing
Throughout the pandemic we have been riding online both socially and racing using Zwift and RGT. If you are interested in getting more involved with this just ask on one of the club groups.
Track
Our local track is over in Halesowen and many of our members take part in the regular summer track league that is organised by HACC.
This needs practice and accreditation from the velodrome but there are always opportunities to learn. If interested please talk to your coaches.
Cyclocross
Cyclocross is one of the best ways to start your cycling career. The evidence is strong. Some of today’s top professional cyclists first made an impact in this off-road cycling discipline. And it’s not hard to see why. At elite level, cyclocross requires supreme bike handling skills and fitness. Although races last for only an hour or so, that time is spent at the racer’s limit.
At the other end of the spectrum, cyclocross is very accessible for the beginner. It’s easy to get started with very few rules and prerequisites. Most races can be entered on the day without a racing license and on a wide range of bikes. You can have a good race – and great fun - even if you are toward the back of the field.
No Frills Racing
The Tudor Grange Circuit in Solihull has been in use for some years now and has proved to be a great asset to the region. Whilst the Solihull CC played a significant role in getting the circuit built and established, and enjoys an excellent relationship with Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, the circuit is open to all clubs and organizations to promote events and use for training and other cycling activities.
All clubs have great pressure on them in organizing events and we have sought to minimize this burden on our club volunteers by creating cheap and simple racing with the minimum of fuss and administration whilst still meeting the requirements of British Cycling - we use the phrase No Frills Racing. So if you are planning to enter one of our No Frills events we ask you to bear the following points in mind and help us ensure the events are a success and are not a burden on our club:
- Unless otherwise stated we do not accept entries in advance.
- We try to get the cost of each event as low as possible, and if we make a profit we will either reimburse a pound or two on the night or lower the entry at the next event.
- There are no cash prizes. You just race for BC points.
- The post code for the circuit is B91 3LU
- It is critical that you do not park on the approach "road" to the circuit or on the grass at the circuit itself. We find competitors frequently ignore this request. The race organization team have dispensation to take their own cars beyond the barrier but if competitors start doing this as well then we will lose a much-valued privilege. Please do not be one of the riders we have to ask to move their car.
- The best car park to use is of Monkspath Hall Road opposite the circuit. It is pay and display. If you use the small car park next to the Bottle Banks adjacent to the circuit you are highly likely to get a parking ticket.
- If we have to cancel any race at short notice we will advise everyone on our Twitter feed which is @SolihullCC so please ensure you "follow" us.
- We run all our events using MyLaps transponders and normally video the finish.
- We have to provide marshals on the circuit to prevent dog walkers straying onto the course. It is a condition of your entry being accepted that if we ask any of your accompanying friends to pop a Hi-Viz jacket on and help us they do agree to help - the duties are nothing more onerous than advising park users a race is in progress. Without this help from race supporters our events will not be able to take place. If we are short of volunteers on the day we will cancel the event; this has never yet been necessary but we do depend on the goodwill of competitors.
- We do not publish result sheets - the full result will be published on the BC website. You can typically see where you have come by seeing the transponder print out very shortly after the race finish.
- There are no toilets at the circuit but the Tudor Grange Leisure Centre is just 300 metres away with toilets, changing rooms and a cafeteria. You are allowed to ride through the park but cycles have been stolen when left unattended outside the Leisure Centre. It is absolutely essential you do not "pee in the bushes" as we get complaints from the general public - if you do you will understand why we will simply disqualify you from the event and not have you back at future races.
- We ask that you bring exact change to the races - we have many entrants who ignore this request. Please help us to keep things simple for the organizing team.
If you comply with all of these measures we are sure you will enjoy many days of great racing at a low cost and we look forward to seeing you ride our No Frills events!
