Cycling is a team sport and group riding is a wonderful experience. It brings us together, is great fun and a well organised group always travels further and faster as you share the work. That shared team effort as you tuck into your well-earned coffee and cake post ride is a fab feeling. But, riding in a group is inherently more risky than riding on your own.  As a club we are committed to riding as safely as possible and recognise that all riders have a responsibility to themselves, the other riders in the group and all other road users to be safe. Please be aware of the following club guidelines:

 

• Before starting a ride make sure that you and your bike are in good working order

  • If you are not well, tired, jet-lagged etc then skip this week and ride again next week instead

  • Keep your bike well serviced and in good working order, and make sure that everything on your bike (e.g. saddle bags, water bottles etc) are secure before you start

  • Make sure that you are well fuelled and hydrated

• Choose a group to ride with that matches your fitness and how strong you are feeling

  • Accidents are more likely if you are straining to keep up and therefore not able to concentrate or focus; ride with a group in which you feel comfortable, and if in any doubt go with the slower group

  • For those that are new to group riding, start of riding with the slower ‘Consolidarsi’ group as you build confidence and experience

• Every ride has a group leader

  • And they are your ‘road captain’ for the ride - please respect her or his decision making during the ride

  • If you are not feeling good or struggling, don’t try to be a hero – let the ride leader know

  • The group will ride at a pace that is consistent with the road and weather conditions – if the leader calls that the group needs to ride more slowly to be safe, then respect this decision

• Group rides are what they say on the tin

  • They are club rides for the group– they are not races or individual training rides, so if you want to do specific intervals, sprints or zones then please ride on your own

• Communicate as a group

  • Look out for hazards and sign and call them appropriately, and pass them back down the group

  • Be aware that everything that happens at the front will have a concertina effect at the back

• Respect other road users

  • We ride in a manner that makes it easy for traffic to pass (to reduce the chance of angry drivers) and look out for other cyclists, pedestrians and horses

  • We are courteous and polite to other road users at all times

• Ride in the group in a calm and predictable way

  • See the group riding guidelines and video for more information, but the most important points are

    • Be calm, focussed, predictable and consistent in all your actions

    • Always remember that someone is closely on your wheel behind, and everything that you do will have a cascade effect behind you, so always try to avoid any unexpected movement or braking

    • When riding in the group, stay close to the person next to you

    • Stay close but do not overlap wheels with the person in front of you

    • When moving to the front to take a turn, avoid surges in speed (which then make it hard for the group behind to hold your wheel) and do not ‘half-wheel’

    • When there is a call to move to single file, check there is space and communicate/signal with your fellow rider - the riders on the outside move in front of the rider inside of them

    • If overtaking another rider, always pass on your right (never undertake on your left) and do not move to the front until it is your turn to do so in a safe and predictable manner