A CYCLING club have taken part in a historic ride by following in the tracks of original members from the 19th century.

On Sunday, the Chepstow Cycling Club held the ride which started at Chepstow Leisure Centre and ran to what was described in 1888 as “the ninth mile post north of Monmouth and back”. This ride was held by the original club in 1888.

Riders set off from the leisure centre and returned through St Briavels - stopping off for lunch in Tutshill.

Mike Gorshkov, the chairman of the club, said the ride was organised to look at what original club members did.

Mr Gorshkov said: “The aim of the historic ride is three-fold, firstly to acknowledge our past heritage by following a route used by the original club, secondly to become a community event to show-case the fun, benefits and freedom cycling can provide and thirdly in future years, to raise funds for local charities.

“The ride was for club members, friends and their families and we hope we’ve new riders interested too. We are very ambitious for the club and its future.”

Matt Duxbury, the club’s ride co-ordinator, said: ‘The Wye Valley is a great place to cycle – we go out on club rides every weekend and rarely do the same route twice.”

Chepstow Cycling Club was re-formed and launched in January this year.

The original club badge now appears on the new club kit with the addition of an image of the Severn Bridge to bring things up to date.

The club now has more than 100 members and runs regular rides every weekend.

Members have been recently involved in evenings at the Velodrome in Newport with a specialist track cycling coach helping new riders learn the skills of track cycling.

For more information contact Mike Gorhkov on Mike.Gorshkov@chepstowcyclingclub.wales. Alternatively, to view cycling sessions go to chepstowcyclingclub.wales