A Starting Place for Everyone: Bike and Blether Saturdays

Our club offers both on-road and off-road rides for everyone. From those who love to compete, to those who crave adventure, and to those who want to enjoy the social side of cycling.

The aim of our Bike and Blether group is to reduce barriers to entering the sport of cycling or barriers to returning to cycling. These barriers can affect mental health and wellbeing. Common barriers to cycling include: concerns about fitness level, pressure to meet a certain level or ability, peer pressure to advance (elitism), fear of injury, lack of high level equipment, and so on.

With Bike and Blether, there are no imposed improvement requirements or pressure to advance! Just come along and have some fun! It is, by nature, a social cycle for the benefits of mental health and wellbeing - the added bonus being a bit of exercise in a social environment. Each week, we focus on enjoying the bike, having a chat, seeing the beautiful countryside, and getting some social time together. These rides are low stress, low pressure, and must always be beginner friendly - a safe, pressure-free place for people to begin. 

Everyone is individual and has different desires for their own cycling needs. While other types of rides are available within the club, this ride meets the needs of people who are beginning cycling, wanting to try a new sport, or getting back onto the bike.

Here is our criteria when planning our Bike and Blether rides:

- 25-35 miles

- Social Pace (always match the slowest rider, zero pressure to go faster)

- Back by lunchtime (on a Saturday)

- Short loop in the evening (when available)

- Mostly flat routes, vary start locations when possible

- If there are hills, keep this to approx 1000ft maximum

- Always beginner friendly and welcoming for new people starting out

It’s great to meet new people and we hope to be a part of your cycling journey!