Barbados Cycling Union
Cycling in Barbados has a long and proud history. Dating back to the 1940’s, Barbados’ cyclists dominated the Caribbean grass track scene, and with names like Dobbie Douglas, Garry Hoppin, and later Lyle Carmichael and John Skinner. Cycling became a very popular sport in Barbados and attracted a large number of participants and patrons. These international extravaganzas achieved a number of things. It enhanced Barbados as a sports tourism destination. It uplifted the sport of cycling and also generated revenues to the Cycling Union, which could be used in facilitating and stimulating the sport.
Today, cycling is still a very popular sport in Barbados, and the Cycling Union has seven categories of membership namely Ordinary Membership, Life Membership, Honorary Membership, Club Membership, Private Rider Membership, Visiting membership and Affiliated Membership.
Barbados is now the home of the Pan American Cycling Champion Barry Forde. One the Caribbean’s leading bike riders, Barry has won gold, silver and bronze medals in major international competitions. Prior to Barry Forde’s emergence, only Hector Edwards had won medals at the Central American and Caribbean Games with a bronze medal in 1974 and a silver medal in 1978.
The Barbados Cycling Union continues to work toward the development and enhancement of the sport of cycling in Barbados. A hurdle is the very high cost of cycling equipment. The organisation however remains very active and with the various plans and projects on the drawing board, it is expected that cycling will continue to develop in this new millennium.