Tag: feedback

2024 Rides

Posted on by Web Editor


Rides Survey

Firstly big thanks to all those who provided feedback on the 2023 rides. We had 27 responses and that’s up by 250%.

In general, Saturday remains the most preferred day for a ride. The ride length we have of around 30miles is definitely the preferred distance, with some preferring shorter rides and a few longer. (Note: We do have one extra-long ride in June, and we are looking at a plan for people riding shorter distances. More on that in a later article.)

Over one third were not able to ride last year due to various circumstances, and that probably explains why numbers were down in 2023.

Finally, some people are not interested in group rides (so obviously they didn’t attend), and a few didn’t attend last year as not sure what to expect.

For those who are not sure what to expect, please check out the description of the 2024 rides below, please reach out to me at events@westberkshirespokes.org if you want to know more or join in on a ride.

2024 Rides

Spokes 2024 Social rides have not been uploaded to www.letsride.co.uk . They run from March to October, and are on the first and third Saturdays of each month. Each ride is around 30 miles, although the first is 24 miles, and the longest is 32 miles. They are graded from green to black (green being the easiest). A longer ride doesn’t always mean harder as the shorter route might have more ascending (in other words hillier). We ride at a pace of 10-12 mph. There is a café stop about halfway round (although the Saddleback Farm café closing may cause some adjustment). It’s a social ride, and people are able to converse as we wind ourselves round some lovely lanes and views.

Whilst we do try to make good use of quieter roads, sometimes we do need to go along short sections of more major roads, but it’s a small percentage of any ride. And, we occasionally go across Greenham common on the first part (rarely the last part) of a ride.

Our rides are probably not suitable if you haven’t ridden for a long while, only cycle short distances or are completely new to cycling. If you are in this group, then we may have a different option for you, or if you are not sure please email events@westberkshirespokes.org, as we would like to hear from you.

We set off at 09.30 promptly, and start gathering about 10-15 minutes before. Happy to meet up early if you want to go through more details, or would like us to give your bicycle a check over, particularly if you are experiencing any annoying little issues.

We hope to see you on a ride soon, and hope for good weather and pot-hole free roads 😊

Make Your New Year’s Resolution Count

Posted on by Secretary

Spokes Logo

If, like the rest of us, you have put on a few pounds over the festive season, then you may be tempted to make a New Year’s Resolution to lose weight or get fit. Well, we’ve got a better idea: why not do both and give something back to the community by getting on your bike and helping us to get more people to do the same.

Spokes relies on people like you to help with our activities, give us support and provide feedback. Here are 5 ways you can get involved in 2018:

  1. Become a member of Spokes – If you haven’t already done so, then please do sign up.  It costs nothing, we won’t bombard you with emails, you will get great benefits, including discounts at local bike shops, and you’ll get to be part of something amazing! The more supporters we have, the bigger our voice and the more effective we are at lobbying for improvements to local cycling infrastructure. Fill out our on-line membership application form and we will pop your membership card in the post in a few days – it’s as simple as that!
  2. Give us your views – We can only tackle the cycling issues that we are aware of, so if there is something that you feel we should know about, or if you think we could be doing things better then please contact us – we would love to hear from you!
  3. Come to a meeting – We meet on the first Wednesday of the month for a drink and a chat about all matters cycling. Check out our calendar for details of the time and venue. These meetings are informal affairs and all newcomers are most welcome. You can find out more about what we do and what we are working on. Check out the notes from recent meetings to get a flavour of the current hot topics.
  4. Volunteer – We are always on the lookout for people to help us with our activities. For example, we carry out counts of cyclists at various points around West Berkshire three times a year. The information is used by West Berkshire Council to gauge the effectiveness of their cycling policies and investment and the counts are our main source of income. We also have vacancies for social ride leaders, cycle count coordinators and people to help with our projects and events. You don’t need any experience and we can provide training where necessary.
  5. Join the Spokes committee – We know that this sounds like a big, scary commitment, but really it’s not. You don’t need any experience and it won’t take up all your spare time – we promise! Even a couple of hours a month is enough to make a significant contribution. Our committee is elected at our AGM in June each year, but you don’t have to wait until then to express an interest, since we can co-opt new committee members at any time. So if you would like to get involved, then please get in touch. We urgently need to find someone to take over as Secretary as Graham Hunt has recently stood down after 15 years sterling service.