TO get the most out of your cycling and improve your cycling skills and knowledge its often best to join a local club. The Worcester and Malvern CTC is the largest locally. It has 400 members in the area and organises Saturday rides of 40-60miles, shorter and more leisurely fortnightly Tuesday rides, weekly Thursday night rides, weekends away and various social events including fortnightly Friday night slide shows and talks at a local hostelry through the winter months.

To take part in club activities you need to be a Cyclists’ Touring Club (CTC) member. The Cyclists’ Touring Club is the national cycling charity that has over 70,000 members nationally and 800 in Worcestershire. The CTC has championed the cause of cycling for well over a century and still campaigns nationally and locally to make it safer and easier to get out on your bike.

As a CTC member you automatically receive third party insurance and access to a free legal helpline. Other benefits include the club’s award winning bi-monthly magazine ‘Cycle’, various discounts and access to lots of cycle related information on its website and the CTC’s own worldwide cycling holidays.

Membership also means you can join any of the rides and activities offered by the many local groups around the UK.

There are no additional local membership fees to pay. In addition to the Worcester & Malvern there are other local CTC clubs in Kidderminster and Bromsgrove & Redditch.

To find out more have a look at the Worcester & Malvern CTC website at www.worcesterctc.co.uk Details on national membership and its benefits can be found at www.ctc.org.uk.