Ben Ayers

About six months ago I came across a fledgling social network for UK cyclists called Cycle Social. I contacted the guy behind it, Simon Tucker, as I too had started a social network for cyclists (meandmybicycle) and I was keen to find out how he was getting on.

About three months later we finally managed to sit down for a beer and, after realising we both had similar ideas about (a) cycling and (b) social media, we decided to explore the possibility of working together.

A second meeting in which I was introduced to Simon’s partner Tim sealed it and we were off, coming up with lots of ways we could work together.

Finally, after a few more ‘meetings’ in which we enjoyed the Guinness as much as discussion about cycling, we have formulated a plan that sees us concentrating on building Cycle Social into a top online destination for fans of the humble bicycle while continuing to develop meandmybicycle as a global cycling community.

We’ve got loads of ideas about where we want to take Cycle Social but this blog post explains where we are at now.

Crucially, we believe in creating a vibrant community for all cyclists, regardless of whether they ride to work every day or compete professionally. We also believe that creating compelling and inclusive content is key, which is why we have just offered members the chance to pose their own questions to Olympic champion Nicole Cooke.

Cycling is booming in the UK and Cycle Social has seen tremendous growth. We’ve been inundated with approaches from cycling organisations and brands keen to feature on the site and the opportunities to explore various partnerships are clear.

As social media usage continues to explode we expect to see more and more people adding content to the site and linking to and fro with gusto.

Developments in GPS and its integration with the web mean that technology and cycling are coming closer together and, with the olympics around the corner, we expect to see a growing interest in cycling generally which should add to the momentum we already have.

We are bursting with ideas for Cycle Social and if you’d like to follow what we are up to you can via the Cycle Social Twitter feed and blog.