Information | | The aim is to to ride together in a variety of no or low traffic areas agreed on by the group. The areas need to be accessible by bike, train or car and having bike hire would be beneficial for those without a bike. All manual and electrically assisted forms of bicycle are welcome, as are suggestions for places to ride.
Our inaugural meeting was at Cyclopark and this will be the default place to ride if an alternate route hasn't been agreed by the group before the next meeting. They have a 2.9km, 6m wide, smooth tarmac road circuit. They also have 6kms of mountain bike trails for a mixture of abilities. The entrance fee is £6.50 if you are brining your own bike and helmet. This gives you access to the road circuit and mountain bike trails in the park for the rest of the day. Helmets are mandatory and you are able to hire a bike, if you book in advance. Bike hire is £12.00 per hour, but includes a helmet and entrance fee. The car parking charge is £1.20 for up to three hours. There is a Café at Cyclopark, but it closes at 15:30. Cyclopark is also on a cycle route, so rides can start from there without paying to go in.
Being 'Fair weather cyclists' we will cancel a ride if the weather doesn't look good, but will take wet weather gear in case the heavens open during a ride. I hope we'll be able to ride some of the north east Kent coast around Whitstable, Herne Bay, Reculver, Minis Bay, Westgate-on-sea, Margate, Broadstairs and Ramsgate in the summer. They take about an hour to get to by car or train, but there's some nice traffic free flat cycling next to the sea, which is lovely on a sunny day.
I try to record our rides on the Strava app on my mobile phone and add a link to them on our group page on our web site as the date that they took place. Strava uses GPS to track the ride so that you can see exactly where I rode, how long it took, what speed I was doing, hills climbed and other data about the ride. I add photos that I took along the way too. Its a free app and I can help you set it up on your smart phone, if you have one and would like to keep a record of your rides.
Please join my group if you're interested and I'll add you to the eMail and WhatsApp groups and I'll keep you updated on future rides. |