The cycling fraternity in Qatar as busy forming the first independent bike club in Doha. The club's name to follow shortly. The summer riding schedule is as follows:

Meet 4:30am Friday on the Corniche on the road near the public toilet (Sheraton). This is a fast ride for more accomplished riders. The group goes to Al Khor and back with a side route through a side road frequently taken. The group pauses in Al Khor for water and heads back. The group generally does not wait for stragglers. Distance is about 90-100km and time is about 3hrs.

Meet 4:30 Friday on the golf course parking lot. A more relaxed ride and slower paced. The group goes to the Simaisma bridge and back with some folks going all the way to Al khor. Group generally waits for straglers.

Meet 5:00am Saturday on the golf course parking lot. A mixture of the two Friday groups. Average speed and distance varies.

Weekday rides - Most people are on their own. The National Junior team trains on the public road outside of the Lusail GP track and many of us go there after work to join them or do our own laps. 1 lap of the interior roads is about 10km.

The above represent summer hours. The starting hours are adjusted for daylight so that by December the various groups are leaving 6:30 to 7am.

There is also a group that does mountain biking off road all over Qatar. Generally they are some of the same people as the road riders. The ride locations and times are decided a few days before hand via emails etc.

The soon to be new bike club will have a website up and running by August 2009 where all this into will be posted including planned off road races, road time trials, and others.