History
A hundred years riding out of Valencia
The Peña Ciclista Excursionista was founded in May 1924 and was, for decades, the driving force behind bike racing in the city. This is its story according to the available sources.
This page has been pieced together from press and institutional sources, not from the club's own archive. The facts are pending ratification by the Peña and will be completed with the centenary book.
1924, not 1914
Several sources date the founding to May 1914. That is a repeated typo, and the arithmetic of the club's own anniversaries disproves it: the Peña celebrated its 90th year in October 2014 and its centenary in October 2024. Both dates point to 1924. Had it been founded in 1914, the centenary would have fallen in the very year the 90th was celebrated.
Founded in May 1924, in Valencia, by some twenty cycling enthusiasts.
Timeline
1924
Founding
Some twenty enthusiasts found the Peña in Valencia. Enrique Bea is its first president and Fabio Regolf its secretary.
1924
Valencia–Castellón–Valencia
The club organises its first national-scale race, with 48 riders on the start line.
1924–1972
Almost half a century without premises
For 48 years the Peña meets in the city's cafés —the Café Bar Sorolla, the Café Oriente on Avenida del Oeste— passing through eleven different venues in total.
1972
First premises of its own
The club settles at Calle Otos 5, in the Fuente de San Luis neighbourhood.
2004
Move to Calle Alberola
New premises next to Avenida de la Plata.
2014
90th anniversary
Miguel Indurain attends as guest of honour, alongside Fernando Escartín, Ángel Luis Casero and Stefano Garzelli. The exhibition at the Petxina Sports and Cultural Centre brings together more than 200 historic photographs and a dozen vintage bicycles.
2018
The current clubhouse
The club moves to Calle Grabador Jordán, where it remains today.
2024
Centenary
On 17 October the Peña presents its centenary book and an exhibition at the clubhouse. Two days later, a 50-kilometre commemorative ride sets off from the Palau Velòdrom Lluís Puig.
The races it organised
Before becoming a touring club, the Peña was the engine of competitive cycling in Valencia. These are the events it once ran:
- Vuelta a Levante
- Gran Premi Orbea
- Regional championships
- National veterans' championship
- Trofeo de Fallas
That past explains the archive the club keeps, but not what it does today: its current rides are social and touring.
What survives
The club keeps an archive that is unusual for an organisation of its size: more than two hundred historic photographs, a dozen vintage bicycles and the book published for the centenary. The clubhouse doubles as a museum of Valencian cycling.
Sources
The information on this page comes from:
- 100 años de la Peña Excursionista, la gran impulsora de las carreras ciclistas en Valencia
- Indurain y el ciclismo se vuelcan con la Peña Ciclista Excursionista de Valencia en su 90 aniversario
- La Peña Ciclista Excursionista de Valencia presenta el libro de su centenario y una exposición
- La Peña Ciclista Excursionista de Valencia celebra su Centenario