Pedal Hard With These Five Beijing Bike Clubs

Need to get some last minute recreational cycling in during the holiday? Here are five city clubs that can get you started.

Beijing Peloton: With a focus on long distance road cycling, this club has three categories of speed and difficulty for all levels. Rides are organized on Saturdays (March-November). A van leaves from the Trek Store at Chaoyang Park and brings you back to the city following the ride. For more details, visit asiapeloton.com.

Beijing Road Cycling: This crew organizes Tuesday and Thursday morning rides starting out from Chaoyang Park South as well as evening rides around Olympic Park. For more details, visit their Yahoo! Group: beijingroadcycling.

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Big Dirty 巨脏: This urban cycling club does a weekly ride with two groups, fast (race-pace, fixed-gear only) and cruise (conversational-pace, all bikes welcome). Routes vary weekly, but always depart from (Workers’ Gymnasium West Gate, 8pm) and end at the Drum and Bell Towers every Thursday. For more details visit bigdirtycycling.com.

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Natooke: Well-known for their focus on urban cycling and fixed-geared bikes, this hutong institution organizes related events, such as the annual Fixed Gear Open and bike polo (not limited to fixed gears). For more details and newsletter sign-up, visit natooke.com.

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Serk: Beyond outfitting you with caffeine, booze and a smooth ride, Serk organizes a number of activities including rides in the mountains on the city outskirts, vintage wear rides, the MeWe bicycle festival and I’m In!, group rides organized on the best air quality days. They are also revitalizing Mountain Biking of Beijing (MOB). For more details and newsletter sign-up, visit serk.cc.

A version of this article appears in the September 2013 issue of the Beijinger

Photo: serk.cc