Club History

Club History



Cycling in 1922 when Kings Moss was formed was far from as exciting as it is today. There were plenty of racing men for those days but the roads were in an appalling state especially when it rained as there was virtually no tarmac surface as we know today, however this did not deter those who were interested in the competitive side and the roads saw many racing men out training despite the fact that the number of open time trials could have been numbered on the fingers of one hand and leisure time for the working man was very much less than it is today.

Kings Moss originally met in the Kings Moss mission hall for their monthly meetings and prize presentations using it's facilities for many years until they moved across the railway lines to Whittley's Tavern.

The first president of the club was Lieutenant-Commander K.C. Kirkpatrick who remained in office until 1932 when he was followed by another well known east antrim name, Hugh Minford M.P. who was the unionist representative for the stormont area and he remained in office until 1947. The clubs next president was another man of note being The Right Honourable Justice Curran who stayed in office until 1972.

Over the years the club has produced a great number of fast hard riders winning many trophies and events in cyclings many different disciplines. Some names of note from the past include Joe Hadden, Paddy McNeilly, Cecil Forde and Bobby Allen who where very fine time triallists and the latter two both still play an active roll in the club. More recent members of note include Gordon Scott who represented Northern Ireland in the commonwealth games and Joe Cooke who managed the Northern Ireland cycling team.

In the past the club has been affiliated to the British Cycling Federation which looked after cycling in Northern Ireland until 2007 when the N.I.C.F. ( Northern Ireland Cycling Federation) took action to amalgamate to Cycling Ireland which Kings Moss did not accept and thus did not affiliate. Recently the club took a step back from racing and had been leaning toward the new phenomenom of the cyclo sportive which opens up cycling a much greater spectrum of riders and in turn has seen the members of the club rise over the past couple of years.

In 2011 Kings Moss Cycling club members did returned to the open racing calender in addition to participating sportives. The club also introduced a range of club races for the 2011 season. Interest in racing has grown for the 2012 season and turn out in preseason Reliability Runs has seen Kings Moss being up there as one of the best represented clubs. 2012 includes 15 club racing events on the calendar, which are sponsored by CRC and will be known as the Chainreaction Cycles Summer Series.

In 2012 Kings Moss Cycling will be celebrating 90 years. To commemorate this the club has acquired a new kit sponsored by club sponsors Chainreaction Cycles. The kit reverts back to the original club colours of blue and yellow. So be on the look out and come along if interested in any form of road cycling!