Feature photo – En Route to the Lea Gardens cafe on a lovely spring day, Tuesday 18 April 2023. Photo courtesy Derek P.
Our regular Club Rides are on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays where we meet at the Queens Park Sports Centre. We can often have 2 or 3 groups riding out at varying paces and distances. We aim to get back from rides before 5.00pm. But in poor weather and darker days we return for around 3.00pm when lights and mudguards are essential. Many members use lights at all times to increase visibility to drivers, particularly when riding on shady lanes.
We do not advertise forthcoming rides here but members communicate through Google Groups email to discuss weather and destinations. If you are new to the club it is worth emailing the chair so that we can arrange for someone to meet you at the start and help you find the most appropriate group
Some rides might involve travelling by car to do a route outside the immediate area. These we call Car Assists and there are examples of these on this web site. Some may be Trail Rides, better ridden on a hybrid or mountain bike. See below, but again advance notice of these are given to our members. Even with these there are often members who can’t or prefer not to join these specific rides and go along to the cafe for a regular club ride instead.
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The safety of our members is all-important. Please do not come if you have any of the Covid symptoms or have recently been beside anyone you suspect has.
Our Club ethos is NEVER to leave anyone behind. We have countless stories of members getting “mechanicals”, punctures or chains coming off, or for whatever reason wanting to cut their ride short. All gladly receive support from the other riders to ensure they continue riding or otherwise get home safely. Please read our Riding in a Group page
Trail Rides
Some examples: Five Pits Trail, Monsal, Rother Valley and others, where hybrids or mountain bikes are best used. We do very little pure mountain biking.