Club History

Malcolm Walker has been a keen cyclist since his early teens and having lived and cycled around the roads and lanes of Hampshire and especially Odiham for the last 20 years he found himself talking to himself more and more on his regular Sunday morning rides. On arriving back at the Next Door café in the centre of Odiham High Street for his regular coffee he got talking to other cyclists who had also been out riding on their own.

With many cyclists every Sunday stopping at Next Door for a coffee break and even some using it as a meeting place, Malcolm realized that there must be keen cyclists like himself that would benefit from a cycling club, if for nothing more than to have another cyclist to ride and talk to. If he was talking to himself on his rides surely others were!

Next Door was already a natural meeting point, so he approached James the owner and asked if the club could be based out of Next Door, with the coffee bar becoming a club sponsor. With Next Door on board and the club having a formal base, Malcolm then approached Mike Keynes, owner of 1st Gear Cycles in Alton, and a formal link was established between the club and the cycle shop.