CTC Cambridge has organised cycle rides in the Cambridge area since 1921. For many years we published regular printed "runs lists" which listed the rides we had arranged. On this page you can see some runs lists from the period 1957 to the present day.
If you're interested in finding out more about the history of the club, see also CTC Cambridge in the 1930s, a charming set of photographs that were taken by a club member at the time.
Click (or tap) on the photos for a larger view. Once in the larger view you can move between photos using the arrow keys, the mouse, or by swiping.
There is much of interest in these old runs lists, but one aspect that quickly becomes apparent is the enormous contribution made to the club over more than half a century by our former runs secretary and president
George Rich (who provided the runslists shown in this article). See how many times his name appears.
May 1957 (side 1).
This shows an active club with a pattern of rides not very different than those we have now (2018). The club's main rides are on Sundays, with two all-day rides (one for "hardriders" and another for "generals") starting at 8.30am and an afternoon ride starting at 2.30pm. In addition there are evening rides twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays and an "informal" ride on Saturday afternoons.
May 1957 (side 2)
Advert for a film show organised by the club at a local pub
July 1958 (side 1).
Note the advert for a local camera shop: nowadays our rides list or website does not have adverts.
July 1958 (side 2)
The club held regular meetings in a room at a local pub. These were known as "clubrooms". They would typically involve a member giving a talk, perhaps assisted by slides, about a cycling tour or holiday they had taken part in.
July/August 1963 (side 1)
Now we've reached the 1960's, and several of the names on this runslist will be familiar to current members: Adrian Lee (still leading rides regularly),
Vic Skelton (still riding regularly) and the late
Donnex Claydon.
July/August 1963 (side 2)
This runslist shows another name familiar to modern-day members: the late
Peter Rowell, who was still helping run the club as secretary fifty years later.
August/Sept 1963 (side 1)
This shows another familiar name: our current (2018) club president George Rich. George was awarded the
Len Nice Trophy for six years in succession from 1957 to 1963 in recognition of his service to the club at this time (as well as on numerous occasions more recently).
August/Sept 1963 (side 2)
Sept/Oct 1963 (side 1)
We're not certain what an "Acrostic" run (Sun 22nd) is. If you know then please tell us!
We think it might be a ride that passes sequentially through places whose initial
letters spell a word or phrase, and with a competition at the end to see who can identify the word or phrase.
Sept/Oct 1963 (side 2)
The end of summer appears to be associated with the return of the "clubroom", with games on one night and a slide show on another. Can anyone tell us what "half pound night" means?
Dec/Jan/Feb 1963/4 (side 1)
The darkest months of winter were compensated by regular clubroom sessions, with photos, records and darts. Note also the weekly evening rides, which will take place entirely in the dark. Nowadays our winter evening rides are only monthly. Note also the Christmas break at a Youth Hostel in Epping.
Dec/Jan/Feb 1963/4 (side 2)
The rules of a photography competition.
Apr/May/June 1963 (side 1)
Apr/May/June 1963 (side 2)
Aug/Sept/Oct 1964 (side 1)
Aug/Sept/Oct 1964 (side 2)
Oct/Nov/Dec 1964 (side 1)
Feb/Mar/Apr 1966 (side 1)
This shows just two rides a week (on Sunday) during the depth of winter.
Feb/Mar/Apr 1966 (side 2)
Notice the "runs points", awarded for participation on club rides. Each year, trophies were awarded to the member who had taken part in the most rides over the previous year, a tradition which continued until 2007. Read more about the
club trophies.
Oct/Nov/Dec 1969 (blank on reverse)
In addition to rides on Sundays and on Tuesday evenings this runslist shows an active programme of clubroom events for the winter months, including a tiddlywinks evening and a night of sing-song
Aug/Sept/Oct 1970 (blank on reverse)
Notice the darts match against Oxford CTC. No doubt the
Oxford and Cambridge Trophy was awarded to the winning club. The engraving on the trophy records that this particular annual event was won by Oxford
June/July/August 1980 (side 1)
This shows the re-emergence of two speeds of all-day rides: a "hardriders run" starting at 8am and a "general" or "loiterers" run starting at 8.30am.
Nowadays we'd avoid a term like "hardriders" for fear of putting people off, but the word "loiterers" seems to perfectly describe what we like to do on a warm, languid summer's day.
June/July/August 1980 (side 2)
Evening rides continue, with an emphasis on off-road exploration. There's an active junior section for young riders 10-14 years old. The ride on 14th June is led by "Peter and Simon". These are the late Peter Hunt and current active member Simon Gallaway
May and June 1999 (side 1)
We're now almost at the end of the century. Although our runslists are now generated on a computer and available on a website, most members still relied on paper copies. This midsummer runslist shows two rides on Sundays, starting at the (slightly strange) times of 8.50am and 2.20pm, always meeting for tea at 5pm in the summer and 4.30pm in the winter - which made for quite a long day out.
This is also one of the oldest runslists that we have found that was created on a computer and made available for download from the club website, though it is likely that this has been the case for several years by now.
May and June 1999 (side 2)
During the week we see all-day rides on both Tuesdays and Thursdays, no doubt reflecting an increased number of members available to ride on weekdays. Evening rides are now organised by a separate mountain bike section.
February 2009
Despite this being the depth of winter, the club continues to hold four or five rides every week.
This runslist alludes to a longstanding problem around this time, where leaders considered their duty to be complete when the ride reached tea and left riders to make their own way home.
Since 2010 all club rides have been recorded in a database and from 2011 the monthly runslists were generated automatically. Here's an automatically-generated runslist from September 2016. Note also the Cycling UK branding. (Screenshot from the
Internet Archive)
Many members now view our runs lists using the calendar on their mobile phone. This is a live view of the database, so if the ride is modified or cancelled the updates will be sent automatically to your phone.
Find out how to do this.
You can even view our rides on your Apple Watch.