Just a gentle reminder of a few things raised in the Dev Ride Debrief from today’s ride:

On the whole we have managed to get the composition and management of these rides into a much smoother and well delivered package of late, but there is a few issues still outstanding and a few little reminders we feel it is right to just reaffirm to all that join the development rides.

You MUST: listen to ride leaders on these rides. They will take control of the ride and keep the pace, and the groups on the right track. non-inclusively this could be making sure we remain riding in 2’s at the most, assisting on crossing junctions, making sure traffic can see us, and that there is a safe passage for any vehicles. If you are not confident riding with others in close proximity ask a ride leader about this, it’s pretty daunting at first, but then again, didn’t you think clip-less pedals were when you first got them?

White Lines: As nice as the white lines may look on the road, do stay away from them, that’s the middle of the road, and we really don’t want to be there if we can. by no means do we suggest riding in he gutter but we want to keep at a reasonable distance from oncoming traffic (also cats eyes or missing road studs can be pretty dangerous to ride over!)

Calling it: When someone warns the group of a hazard, listen and look, don’t brake if you don’t have to, quite often people grind to a halt, and with a large group behind you that can start to cause problems.

Going Up: on climbs we have noticed a few people ‘boxing in’ others. if you are struggling keep to the left a little, this allows anyone who may need to get past, to do so. The person behind you might be in the wrong gear for the slower speed and need to get past if safe to do so.

Communication Is key: If you do have to stop. make sure just as you would in a car your intentions are clear. above all this, if you take one part away from this blog. it’s that communication is vital. We need to know what you are doing and what you are about to do and vice versa. Clear calls or hand signals form a big part of communication on the road. If you are unsure about what these are please ask one of us. Also please remember on the development rides when things are shouted they are shouted so that are clear and ultimate we want to get everyone around the course as safely and efficiently as possible.

Speed: Development rides are for those who are averaging 12-14.5 mph on the rides after many outings with them we have took the average speeds of the front and back and found this to be a fairly fair placing for the rides. if you can achieve this with ease we suggest coming along to the club rides as development rides may not be graded towards your ability! By all means join us but we ask you to keep to the group speed and avoid ‘pushing the pace’ and using your experience and skills to help newer riders. Development rides were brought in to bridge a gap many other clubs seem to forget about, those who are in the middle, that we think is why they get such a good turnout, that and our great sense in picking great cafes!

As always any questions please do comment below. One of the Development Ride crew will be to help out. Comments can be made on our facebook post that this will generate or the blog here using Disqus.