Club Update - 29th March 

Spring is in the air, Kent is full of daffodils, and club cycling has resumed!

Club Rides

Cub rides have resumed from 29th March. British Cycling affiliated rides can ride in groups of up to 15, but we'll still need to stick to groups of 6 when we start and stop. Non-BC rides need to ride with a maximum of 6 riders. Most groups are riding in groups of 6, but we are leaving it up to ride coordinators to decide with your group how to best organise yourselves.

Sportives and audaxes

Our Sportive (on 13th June) and the Fairies Flat Audax series (11th July) are set to run - see the events page for details. It will be fantastic to be able to ride together again across the glorious Kent countryside. Please do register - we won't take payment until the events are confirmed.

Time trialling

We are set to start 12 weeks of time-trialling on Wednesday evenings from 12th May. Included in the planned programme are 8 mile distances as well as the normal 10 miles, as they’ve previously proved popular with novice time triallers. As always, we are dependent on volunteers, so if you’re up for helping out or marshalling please tick the relevant box on your website profile (or contact john.longbottom@gmail.com) to volunteer.  Do give Time Trialling a try - you don't need to be fast, or have a TT bike.

Road racing

We are dependent on more guidance before we can start mass racing, given how many people meet at once. However, as soon as we are allowed, we will start organising racing. The racing team Thursday night training session is due to start again at the end of April.

New things to share

We’ve been working on a few other things over the winter months, including better options for ’start points’ for groups. Positively, we’ve agreed with the Weald of Kent Golf Club (just outside Headcorn) that we can use their facilities as a start point for group rides - they have an indoor and outdoor cafe too, for before and after rides. We have also agreed with Brigade Fitness in Pattenden Lane, Marden, that we can start and finish rides there too on a Saturday. More details have been sent to members and ride coordinators.

Our 'Mr FixIt' will also be running 'Car Park FixIt' in Marden, at the Brigade Fitness site, on a Saturday from 8.15am - 8.45am. Free of charge - but with no parts being carried - if you've got a niggle, turn up early and Chris will help get you rolling.

We are also starting ’try it out’ rides for new joiners who aren’t sure what group to join. We will run these the last Sunday of every month, 10am from Marden Library car park - to start from 25th April. We hope this will help new riders get comfortable with club cycling and get good advice on which group might be right for them, at all levels.

In the meantime, please stay safe - and keep cycling!