Training

Training Rides

Every Saturday, through the winter, there is a 40 mile non stop faster group ride, starting from the Unicorn at West Heath at 9:30am. These rides follow the same route each time and are ridden at brisk pace; participants should be able to ride at 16-18 mph on their own, to enjoy this ride. Unlike club runs which proceed at the speed of the slowest, riders who are unable to hold the pace may be left behind. Riders are also expected to have the ability to ride in a group in a safe manner and to know about the correct protocol for moving up and down the line with pointing out road hazards with the appropriate hand signals. For more details and before turning up please click here to send an email

Occasionally there are Chain Gangs. A Chain Gang is a group of riders co-operating in a rotating formation to benefit from one another’s slipstream. Each rider takes a turn leading and while subsequently following can save a lot of energy without the gang as a whole slowing down. Since the fitter riders will usually do slightly longer turns leading, a single gang can benefit riders within a range of abilities and everyone improves their group riding technique and fitness.

A comprehensive guide to Chain Ganging which is a “must read” before joining these sessions is provided here.

Training

Individuals can pick and choose from our Competition menu to create a training programme to suit themselves. Indeed, we had guests (Ed Clancy and Andy Tenant) from the GB Squad using our Tuesday Time Trials as part of their training towards the 2012 Olympics.

The Social rides (see Leisure Cycling or click on Club Runs List to the right) provide a convenient meeting place for members to make up informal groups for additional rides with fitness and training objectives.

Merged into the Club Runs you will find the Club Reliability Rides which provide a sequence of progressively longer rides with various speed options designed to help members build their fitness in the early months of the year towards the main competition season.