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A word from William, our Social Rides Coordinator:

Spokes rides have now finished, well for 2021 at least. Due to Covid we didn’t start until April, but when we did, there was plenty of untapped energy and all places were filled until the rules were relaxed and summer “holidays” began.

We continued the trend from 2020 and rides went off in groups of six. Unfortunately, we did have to cancel two rides due to bad weather. Though in general the weather was pretty kind to us, and there was certainly plenty of coffee drunk and cakes eaten too. Although, for one group there was a bit of wait at Bedwyn for elevenses and for another, there was disappointment that the cake shop wasn’t open!

Anyways, overall it has been another bumper year for the rides, and we have launched a survey for those who attended our rides, so we can get feedback and make adjustments and improvements for next year.

For 2022, the rides will run from March to October. They are publicised through www.letsride.co.uk, and I will also take a leaf out of Newbury Road Club and look into using Spond to help with ride coordination.

Another trend also going about is to label rides green, blue, red and black. And for those not in the know, that’s a grading system used for ski runs. So for Spokes a black ride would probably be the once a year special 60 mile route organised close to the longest day (but don’t worry were back by 3.30pm this year, having started at 9am). And a green ride probably equates to a 25 mile, not so hilly, ride. Most rides this year were about 30 miles with some hills.

Finally, a shout out to those who helped leading the rides this year – Gordon, Tim, Steve and Mike.