Club History

Co founder Gerald Corrigan

Co-founder Gerald Corrigan with current Club President Melissa

Back in 1980 Gerald Corrigan of Oshawa, a General Motors employee, fitness enthusiast and passionate amateur cyclist, just wanted to find people to ride his bike with. One day he was riding on Ritson Road and came across another cyclist, Ed Reilly. As they chatted they both expressed their concern about the lack of any organized riding organizations in Durham Region. Soon they started riding together regularly and decided to do something to bring more riders together. Gerald took out an ad in the newspaper and printed business cards to give out to cyclists they met on the road. On July 16th, 1980 they held the very first ever meeting for what would become the Oshawa Cycling Club on the back porch of Gerald’s house. Sixteen people attended this initial meeting and Ed Reilly was chosen to be the very first president of the club while Gerald became the Membership Chairman. At the meeting they established rules for this new club, agreeing the most important rule was “not to stress racing, but instead to emphasis the social aspect of the sport.” Within weeks the first regular club rides were run from Durham College on Sunday mornings and before long membership was up to 25. By the next year, membership doubled and the first female members had joined. Initially memberships were $10 or $20 for a family membership. In 1982 the first club jerseys were ordered using yellow and blue, the city of Oshawa colours.
In addition to the weekly Sunday rides from Durham College, morning rides were added on Wednesday mornings starting at Ritson and Taunton. In 1984, the Scugog Circle Century Ride became a club feature event that was attracting over 200 cyclists from all over the province. The club would run this ride every August for 25 years before it became the Ride4UnitedWay.
The club continued to grow over the years with the current club logo and new style jersey being introduced and becoming the standard for the club going forward. New rides were also added with Training and Time Trial rides offered on some evenings while the Wednesday morning ride was moved to King and Townline and increased to Monday, Wednesday and Fridays. Several different members served as club President over these early years. In 2002 Jeanette Piercy became the OCC president and steered the club for eight years before passing the torch to current club president Melissa Claxton-Oldfield in 2010. Around that time, a Tuesday evening was added to the regular schedule and membership soared. Next a Thursday evening ride was introduced, and as the club grew, Brooklin rides became a regular feature. The Sunday Durham College was also moved to Brooklin and a number of other new rides were added to a schedule which now offered rides almost every day of the week for much of the season. Membership climbed to the 250 member range with the annual Canada Day becoming the most popular annual club ride. Other rides like the Lilac Ride, Lake Simcoe and Minden-Haliburton also became regular annual events. A special two day ride to Peterborough, the Tour to Trent, ran for several years and may be featured again. Weekend tours have also been offered over the years, and in recent years have featured destinations that have included Niagara Falls, Collingwood, Kingston, Ganonoque, Cornwall, Ingersol, Magnetewan and even Montreal and the Alleghenies in Pennsylvania. Other special features in recent years have included Pizza nights, Saturday theme rides, the return of Time Trials, the club’s Adopt a Road program on Nash Road and a new annual combined ride with the Kingston Velo Club.
In 2020 the club celebrated its 40th anniversary and introduced a special edition jersey for the occasion. The future looks bright for the OCC which was able to keep operating through Covid thanks to a loyal core of faithful members. As we enter 2024 a new Pace Line training ride and regular gravel rides are being added to the club schedule and the club looks forward to many years of safe cycling ahead.