Welcome to the online home of Germiston Wheelers, a place where you can find out a bit more about us, when and where we ride, who we ride with and how we give (to charity and back to the sport). Cross-training and recovery are key aspects of training; if one considers stopping for coffee (after the ride), or doing coffee rides, as recovery… then we are well rested.

We have three main sections of the website:

  • Who are we – the club that cares, based in Germiston – scroll down to see more
  • What we do – we ride (and race) bicycles for fun – scroll down to see more
  • Giving Back – to charity and to the cycling community – opens a new page

Our BLOG posts can be viewed in the Latest News section, or simply see the Instagram and Facebook feeds capturing our busy lives on and off the bike. If you wish to contact us, please make use of the Contact Us form.


CyclingSA Membership Notice:

CyclingSA have decided that all cyclists must belong to a club in order to get Membership or a Racing Licence. No matter where you are in South Africa, we offer a “virtual membership“. 

CYCLINGSA MEMBERSHIP NOTICE
Jan 27, 2022
We wish to inform CyclingSA members that a decision was made by the General Assembly for all members to belong to a club to obtain annual CyclingSA membership.
We wish to inform CyclingSA members that a decision was made by the General Assembly for all members to belong to a club to obtain annual CyclingSA membership. This decision was taken in order to aid in developing a robust club network within South Africa to enable CyclingSA to have a greater impact when representing cyclists interests at a local and national government level. The compulsory club component has been implemented on the CyclingSA membership platform with immediate effect and members will now be required to select their cycling club to purchase or renew CyclingSA membership. Once the CyclingSA membership has been purchased, a notification email will automatically be submitted to the relevant cycling club administrator for approval. CyclingSA is committed to the development of events, athletes, officials, coaches, clubs, and youth cycling across all nine provinces of South Africa and we thank all members for your ongoing support to grow the sport and strengthen the voice for cycling within the national sporting and government structures.

Apply Now

Download a membership form, complete your details, and send back to us together with proof of payment. It’s as simple as that. No thrills, no fuss, just a club that cares.


Who are we?

Germiston Wheelers was founded in 1984 and have been catering for cyclists of all ages, abilities and gender since day one. Although the club is based in Germiston many of the club rides take place south of Johannesburg and Alberton.

Interested in joining us?

We believe that members need to be happy with the company they keep, and this why we insist potential members join us for a ride or two before they commit to joining the club.

If you are interested in joining us, get there at least 15 minutes before the start, and ask one of the members present to introduce you to the others.

All rides have a backup vehicle following, in the event of a mechanical problem, or perhaps some tired legs. The groups are split into sizes based on rider ability, and we don’t leave anyone behind (ever).

After a few rides, you’ll soon realise the benefits of joining the club, which means you need to complete the paperwork. A step-by-step process can be found below, under formalities – download a Membership Application Form and join us now.

Introductory Ride

If you are interested in joining the club, the following steps will guide you through the process of becoming a member. But first, join us for a ride, or two, introduce yourself and get to know the people that you’ll call your riding mates


MTB

Dirt road crossing the Klipriver (river).

Once a month we have a mountain bike ride varying between 60Km and 80Km on terrain suited to both mountain bikes and gravel bikes. Some sections might require an lesser experienced riders to walk, but nothing too technical.

It’s a “we will wait you, at the end of the road” ride – some of the stronger/faster guys will race away on a section of the route, but they will always wait at the next turn.

We may even ride back to escort slower riders to the next “checkpoint”, but you will never be left on your own, at least not for long.


Coffee stop

We officially stop at Seattle Coffee Co., at Newmarket Mall AFTER our rides. It’s not really a traditional, but more of an official post ride social where the members enjoy a coffee, or other drink, and have a short chit-chat before heading home.

R40 will get you a Grande-sized cup, and the balance goes into a kitty to cover the back-up driver’s drink, or for a rainy day. We also pool the loyalty rewards onto one phone number, and save the free coffees for a rainy day.

Come join us, and say “I can smell the coffee” as you get to a few kilometres from the finish of the ride.


The formalities

Once you’ve decided that The Club That Cares is the club for you, then follow these steps:

  1. Download the Membership Application/Renewal Form (right click the link, save as);
  2. Complete the details, and send with proof of payment to the email addresses on the form;
  3. Transfer the amount due on the form (which includes a club shirt);
  4. Optional extra – not compulsory:
    Register, and pay, on CyclingSA’s website if you want to:  
    • Race in the licensed categories (Elites, Juniors or Vets);
      Please note that a licence is only valid from Jan-Dec of each year.
    • Enter events without having to pay for a day licence each time.
      Please note that membership with CyclingSA is valid for 12 months from the day you pay, eg. pay on 01/04/2022, your membership will be valid until 31/03/2023.
  5. Expect to receive an invite to the club Whatsapp group(s) depending on your requirements. We have an official club group for communications, as well as a chit chat group, for general conversation about anything and everything.

What we do?

“Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance, you must keep moving.” ~ Albert Einstein
Riding up towards Walkerville, south of Johannesburg, on a chilly autumn morning.

What do we do?

In simple terms, we ride our bicycles.

In this section, you can view information about:

  • Club rides – when, where, how far and so much more;
  • Club events – club champs, tours, hospitality at events, charity rides and more;
  • Race Team – a page dedicated to the “race snakes” of the club.

Club rides

All club rides start from the same location, at Decathlon, Newmarket Mall (cnr Vootrekker Road & Ring Road East, Alberton). The club has organised rides on a Saturday, Sunday and most public holidays, and vary according to the time of year, as well as each day. During the week, a few members ride/train together in the early mornings, before work:

Day of the week“Summer” 01-Sep to 30-Apr“Winter” 01-May to 31-Aug
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday4:004:00
Fridays are Coffee Rides4:304:30
Saturday (Early Bird)5:005:30
Saturday (Club Rides)6:156:45
Sunday (Club Rides)6:156:45
Public holiday (Club Rides)6:156:45
  • Weekend Club rides vary from 60Km to 150Km depending on the upcoming races/events;
  • Most rides are 60-80Km (medium group) and 100-110Km (fast group);
  • Groups are split into a fast (>28km/h) or medium ((25-28km/h).

Race Team

img_7409
2016 947 Cycle Challenge

The club caters for both the recreational cyclist, as well as the competitive amateurs – the race team is known as “the red train“. The club currently has members riding in a number of age-specific race groups (licensed) as well as the open seeded start groups.

Racing has taken a back seat since COVID19 restricted our ability to host our event, and also take part in other mass participation events. As a result, we spend more time simply riding our bikes.

[more…]


Start Venue

Use the map to get directions to our start point:


Our rides

A number of members share their rides on Strava, and belong to the private club, Germiston Wheelers, on Strava.