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Porn Pedallers to carry on riding – despite being stripped of British Cycling affiliation

Club's name fell foul of UCI regulations - "but that’s our whole identity,” says founder...

Porn Pedallers  Cycling Club (PPCC) is to carry on riding to raise money for charity – despite losing its affiliation with British Cycling (BC).

The club, whose members work in the adult entertainment industry, had its licence revoked by British Cycling earlier this month.

The reason given was that the club fell foul of UCI regulations that banning licence-holders with being associated with pornographic products.

British Cycling subsequently said that it was in contact with the club and was offering “constructive advice” on how it could comply with the regulations.

But founder Chris Ratcliff insists the club, whose members have raised tens of thousands of pounds for the charity the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), will continue but without British Cycling affiliation.

“They got in touch saying if we change our name and drop our sponsors then we could get it back, but that’s our whole identity,” he told the Daily Star.

“We needed the affiliation at the outset, but now we can stand on our own. I cannot say whether we’d join up with BC again – it’s not a decision for me alone to make.

“We will have to weigh up our options and take it from there.

“PPCC is not for everyone,” he acknowledged. “BC wanted to get people involved in cycling and that’s what we did, we put bums on seats and raised money for a great charity.

“On the same day we got the message from BC, we reaffirmed our commitment with THT for 2019 and they are really happy."

News that British Cycling had revoked the club’s affiliation saw it receive a huge number of messages of support on social media, and Ratcliff said: “I don’t think they expected this reaction from people.

“We received hundreds of messages supporting us and organisers have got in touch telling us they want us at their events.

“We just wanted to show that we are normal people who enjoy riding bikes and have fun doing it,” he added.

“What BC has done is say ‘cycling is for everyone, except for people like you’.”

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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12 comments

Avatar
Awavey | 4 years ago
1 like

fwiw I personally would not be happy,actually an understatement,Id be livid, to see any bike club in the UK affiliated with British Cycling as an organisation or the UCI, with a registered club kit that had a logo promoting Pascals Sub s***s on it and all that it stood for.

I dont think its remotely unreasonable to block their affiliation.

Avatar
Nick T | 4 years ago
1 like

Thing is, it’s not BC that made the ruling - they’re just going by the UCI’s policy

Avatar
MichaelAlbany replied to Nick T | 4 years ago
1 like

Nick T wrote:

Thing is, it’s not BC that made the ruling - they’re just going by the UCI’s policy

 

And if other clubs push back against he UCI the rules will change, as they should. 

Avatar
BehindTheBikesheds replied to Nick T | 4 years ago
2 likes

Nick T wrote:

Thing is, it’s not BC that made the ruling - they’re just going by the UCI’s policy

If BC had grown a pair then the whole country wouldn't be in as big a mess with ragrds to cycle safety, why do BC need to fully adhere to UCI policy? it's not like the UCI can ban UK cyclists because BC don't support certain UCI rules, they can't ban cyclists from pro racing as that's not BC, they can't ban UK cyclists from the Olympics nor commonwealths as that's not UCI.

Basically BC needed to stand up and say enough is enough and go back and revise their policies on other matters that have had a detrimental effect on cycling safety.

Avatar
peted76 | 4 years ago
4 likes

Well this has been a good story overall.. 

1) We're exposed to the picture of a woman with a bike parked up her jacksie - (my vote for best headlne pic of the year)

2) PPCC have got a bucketload of PR and are now inundated with requests for members to attend their events

3) They'll probably join Cycling UK (CTC) instead.. either way they'll keep on pumping those pedals

4) BC are shown to be inflexible NIMBYs, like a pantomime baddy. Cycling is for everyone unless you represent something 'they' don't approve of.

Avatar
Milk Tray | 4 years ago
1 like

They lose the third party insurance that BC provides to members?

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Russell Orgazoid | 4 years ago
2 likes

That is a very British thing to do. 

Uptight and repressed.

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brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes

BC never said that PP couldn't cycle, just that they couldn't be BC-affiliated.  What problems might that cause PP?

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Nick T replied to brooksby | 4 years ago
0 likes

brooksby wrote:

BC never said that PP couldn't cycle, just that they couldn't be BC-affiliated.  What problems might that cause PP?

bugger all really. They aren’t organising or entering races, they don’t appear to accept general membership, BC affiliation seems pointless for a club like this. It’s pointless for any number of clubs to be honest, you don’t need to pay their fees to ride around with a few friends in matching kit

Avatar
Mungecrundle | 4 years ago
4 likes

How does one join?

Just asking for a friend.

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madcarew | 4 years ago
0 likes

I dunno. That photo looks crass, at best,

though some sort of comment "at least her partner is wearing some rubber in this picture" might raise a wry smile.

I can't but get the feeling that this really isn't about inclusiveness in cycling, but rather simply raising their own profile. I have nothing against porn, but....

Avatar
pasley69 replied to madcarew | 4 years ago
0 likes

madcarew wrote:

I dunno. That photo looks crass, at best,

 

Oh, I dunno - looks a bit like me when I have to get off every now and then to get my spine straightened out.

Adrian

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