McGill Cycling

During the Fall

Le Club Rides: These run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings and are usually about 1 hour long, followed by a stop for coffee. They’re a good way to see some of the roads if you’re new to Montreal and want to go with a group. More information can be found here.

KOM/ TPR: On Tuesday and Thursday mornings, we run our Kind/Queen of the Mountain and Team Point Ride series. KOM is a hill ride that takes place on Mount Royal and approximately follows the course of the Montreal GP. TPR is a ride that takes place on the Montreal F1 track. Both rides have point systems for those who want to engage in some friendly competition! Expect these to begin around the second week of school with more info forthcoming in posts.

Pie / Coffee Weekend Rides: These won’t be following any schedule, but periodically we will be going for group rides on weekends (and now that school is online, likely weekdays too!). Watch on the forum for these rides, or post about one if you don’t see any but would like to go with a group!

Winter Training

When there’s snow on the ground, we would normally transition to spinning in the gym. Unfortunately, as it stands we are uncertain about whether we will be able to have indoor spins at the McGill gym through the winter. Options including group zwift + zoom rides are being explored to replace these. Toguri (indoor, coached spin classes) will be offered in the fall and winter. All the details will be posted on the forum!

Spring Fun

Training Camp

Every year, a training camp is hosted by McGill Cycling during March reading week. The camp lasts almost the entirety of the break, usually from the first Saturday until the last Sunday. It consists of 8-9 days of riding with many different routes and levels of training available! In previous years, this has usually been held in South Carolina which has much more agreeable weather than Montreal at that time of year. Whether or not we will be able to travel to the US in the Spring is still tbd due to COVID-19. In the event that we are unable to travel, we are looking into some equally fun alternatives!

Races

McGill Cycling is proud to compete in the Eastern Collegiate Cycling Conference (ECCC) - one of the eleven regional conferences that makes up USA collegiate cycling. The ECCC spans from Delaware to Maine and includes over a thousand student athletes from 50+ schools competing in track, mountain bike, cyclocross and road racing events throughout the academic year.

The ECCC races from September to December and again in March and April, with three separate seasons: Mountain bike, cyclocross and road.

Riders and teams compete to earn points for individual and team season standings. Each race weekend features a number of categories for riders of all levels - with coached “intro clinics” for absolute beginners all the way to the ‘A’ division where a number of pro and semi-pro riders regularly compete.

What do I need to race?

To compete, you must be a full-time student in an undergraduate or graduate program at McGill (there’s no limitations on age) and possess a valid UCI license. Many of the race weekends also feature alumni and open category races so there is something for everyone.

What does a race weekend look like?

Typically we leave Montreal on Friday, after everyone has finished class for the day, and embark on the 4-10 hour journey down the east coast to the race location. Each race weekend hosts a combination of road races, criteriums and time trials over the course of the weekend (Saturday and Sunday). We drive back to Montreal after the last race on Sunday so all of our racers can get back in time for 8:30 Monday lectures! Thanks to our sponsors, race weekends are typically affordable ranging from ~25-50 dollars in trip fees, plus the cost of registration.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to our executive or refer to the ECCC website for more information on how to get started racing for McGill!