Our club has a long tradition of road racing. We race in opens (unrestricted entry for higher levels of competition) as well as at club level and try to get as many participants on the start line as possible. For road opens we travel all round the state racing the complete Cycling NSW road calendar. At a club level for ctrits our racing is at Heffron Park on Saturday afternoons for all ages and racing (normally) has four grades from A to D (sometimes only A to C), catering for most levels of participants and the new for 2012 Sydney Uni Velo Sunday morning Heffron Park racing featuring two grades especially for women. We also race Waratah Vets masters races on Sunday mornings for those aged 30+ (women of all ages are welcome to race).

Rider Safety: You'll need to wear an approved helmet on all rides, have functioning front and rear lights for any pre-dawn starts (like in the colder months) and we do not allow the use of personal music players as they may limit your ability to hear calls and stay safe in the bunch. You should also be familiar with bunch riding calls, procedures and techniques. Click the preceding "stay safe" link for a rundown or see this comprehensive guide (PDF) from the Sydney Cycling Club.

Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club (DHBC), conducts three (4) road rides every week.

1.Saturday Slowies: (Centennial Park and return).

2.Sunday Waterfall ride.

3.Sunday Royal National Park ride.

4.Wednesday ride to La Perouse

Saturday Slowies and the Sunday C25 cruisers bunch road rides are generally led by riders who hold a CycleSkill's (or higher) Coaching accreditation from Cycling Australia (CA). If one of these members is unavailable, each bunch will most often be led by a rider with considerable experience of the course and the experience to perform minor repairs.

Do I need to be a member? For those who are fairly new to riding, we promote a 'try before you buy' (at your own risk) policy for your first two or three road rides. After that we do insist you make a choice of wanting to join the club and get a licence, or not proceed with riding with the club. See this link for details on how to join DHBC. If you are already a CA member with another club then you are also welcome to join our rides.

Start Point: - All rides start from under the awning outside the Marrickville Rd Cafe at 212 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville, unless otherwise noted.

Saturday Slowies:

Saturday Slowies is a ride for everyone!
Leaving from outside the Marrickville Rd Cafe at 6:30am, the ride makes its way through Newtown and Redfern to Centennial Park.

Once you arrive in the park, go as hard or as easy as you like. Hit the hills or cruise the flats, but be at the Western (Robertson Rd or horse) gates by 8:00am to return to Marrickville with the bunch for coffee and breakfast at the wonderful Marrickville Rd Cafe.  All you need to ride Saturday Slowies is a roadworthy bike, a helmet and lights. As per the above, following two or three rides, we ask that you join the club and obtain a 'Silver' license from Cycling Australia. This ensures that our ride leaders have the comfort of knowing that you are insured and helps to build DHBC as a club.

You will never be left behind on Saturday Slowies: someone will always get you back to the starting point of the ride and help you out if you have a flat or a mechanical.

Sunday Waterfall rid: 

Every Sunday morning, DHBC rides the 80k's from Marrickville to Waterfall and back starting at 6:30am from the Marrickville Rd Cafe.

This ride takes between 2.5 and 3.5 hours (depending on your fitness and speed) and involves riding in a bunch on major roads with traffic and some 650m of climbing (hills).

DHBC sends four bunches to Waterfall - the bunches leave approximately 1 minute apart, from fastest to slowest. Average speeds are indicative only (except for C25's) as it depends on who turns up on the day.

• Fasties: With an average speed of 35+ km/h, our fasties bunch is for fit and experienced riders who want to attack a long training ride;
• Middies: Average speed 31+ km/h. Not for new riders, our middies know the course well and press hard for the whole ride;
• Cruisers 28s (C28's): An average speed of 28 km/h makes this a bunch that pushes hard, but does not attack the climbs. Generally waits for people with flats but it's not 'no-drop', although the bunch will strive to stay together and will re-group if split by lights;
• Cruisers 25s (C25's): With a target average speed of 25 km/h, this is the place to start your Waterfall experience as it is a no-drop bunch: assuming you can ride at the required average speed for the 80k's, you'll never be left behind and someone will always get you back to the starting point of the ride unless you are physically unable to ride (or continue) at the required speed, in which case you may be asked to catch a train home. The whole bunch stops for flats and mechanicals and you'll almost always have the an accredited CycleSkills Coach leading the bunch, although this is not always possible.

Note that the C25 cruisers bunch will stick as close as possible to the advertised average over the length of the ride. Other bunches may (will!) vary depending on which riders turn up on the day. Click this link for a map of the route.

Sunday ride to Royal National Park

The ride will leave Marrickville Road Cafe at 6.00am sharp and returns around 9.30 to 9.45am.

It's a ride suited for strong C28 riders and above. Pace going out should be somewhere between C28s/Middies with each group to find the right speed, making sure everyone stays together. The idea is not to blow everyone up prior to taking on the RNP. Waiting for riders at the top of hills in the Park at appropriate waiting points will be required as well.

Odd Weeks (1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday) will be in at Waterfall, and Even Weeks will be in at Audley.

Wednesday Mid-Week Ride 6am to 8am: to La Perouse

This ride is for experienced C28 and Middies riders averaging about 28 kms per hour. The ride will depart Marrickville Road Cafe at 6am sharp and head to La Perouse usually ending up in Surry Hills for coffee and an option to head straight back to Marrickville. There won't normally be a CycleSkills Coaches joining this ride (but they may attend from time to time).

Adventure rides

Once a month, we try to arrange a ride to a destination other than Waterfall. Click the link for details about these rides. 

Fixies

For those who love tradition or simplicity, a number of riders choose fixed gear bikes. Fixies are well supported within our club, and are a great way to gain some extra fitness and train for track racing. DHBC does not however encourage the riding of a fixie on the Sunday Waterfall rides unless you are a fit & experienced fixie rider.

Is It Safe?

As with all riders, new and including members, you ride at your own risk. This is because cycling, whilst a healthy sport, exposes you to new risks, such as road accidents. All riders have had accidents of some sorts. Mostly these are superficial, but can result in breaks, particularly collar bones and scaphoid bones. In rare, but unfortunately some instances, cycling can expose riders to serious accidents including fatal accidents.

Most accidents will occur within the bunch, particularly touching of wheels. Other riders will make mistakes and it is the nature of riding closely together which makes this a particular risk, rather than the mistakes of others, which will occur from time to time. Contact with cars is rare, but can be more severe.

By riding with the Club each rider accepts these inherent risks which they knowingly expose themself to. If the rider is not prepared to accept responsibility for these risks themself, they must not ride with Dulwich Hill. Riding with the Club constitutes acceptance of responsibility for these risks by each ride. Having said all of that, global research shows that people who ride regularly live on average 4 years longer than those who do no exercise at all, taking into account additional risks riding exposes themselves to.

The Dulwich Hill Bicycle Club (DHBC) does not take responsibility for the conduct or safety of the training rides detailed here. Cycling training and riding in a bunch on public roads can be dangerous and you do so at your own risk.