Club News - August 2025
In this edition:
Dates for Your Diary: Calendar for Away Days and other events
Safe Riding
Bike Loan Scheme
Dates for Your Diary
Provisional Calendar for 2025 (updated July 2025)
Set out below are the remaining events, in addition to the usual route schedule, that we are planning for 2025.
Aug: Flat 200k/125k (Green+ oriented) (Sun 17 Aug)
Sept: Split ride 2 - Shaftesbury (Sun 14 Sept)
Sept: Evening event (Thursday 9th October NB please note change of date) Physio and Nutrition
Dec: Christmas do (Friday 5th December, venue Cricket Club)
Dec: AGM (Monday 8th December)
Flat 200k/125k Sunday 17 August
For those interested in a longer ride at a steady Green+ pace, we have two super rides on offer this coming weekend.
Flat 200
The longer ride is the 'Flat 200km' (125 miles) which takes us to Cirencester, across to Ducklington, and back along the Thames valley via Lechlade and the Cotswold Water Park. With only 1000m of ascent it averages only 5m of climbing per km. Please note it's a 7am start from Springfield Campus. If needed we have three refuelling stops.
Route details can be found here
Flat 125
This is a shortened version of the 200k route, so if you fancy 125km (just under 80 miles) instead of 125 miles, this could be the one for you. Please note the 8am start time for this ride. Route details can be found here.
Safe Riding
We try to avoid groups bunching or the need for overtaking at the start of a ride by setting groups off in ‘speed order’, with faster groups setting off first. It doesn’t always work out that way and traffic lights don’t always help! Please bear the following in mind:
Leave a reasonable time gap between groups leaving Springfield or cafe stops.
If your faster group catches another group and intends to overtake you should
wait for a safe stretch of road to do so (we are very critical of drivers overtaking on bends).
As you overtake another group give them warning, for example a call of ‘on your right’.
If you are in a group that is being overtaken please don’t try to keep up or give chase. All that happens is your group is spread unnecessarily along the road.
If two groups of similar speed find themselves together for example after traffic lights or a wait at a junction please don’t ride on as a large group. One group should ‘soft pedal’ (ride slowly) for a short time to allow a gap of say 100 metres to allow other road users to be able to overtake into that gap if necessary.
Bike Loan Scheme
The club operates a bike loan scheme. We have five different sized bikes which for a modest deposit are available for loan. At the time of writing, four of the five bikes are available for loan. If you know someone who is interested in taking up cycling but not sure about the financial commitment of buying a bike this scheme could help out. For example, several current members began their cycling experience on one of the club loan bikes. Alternatively, if your own bike is out of action for a while it may be that a club loan bike could keep you on the move at least temporarily. Full details of the scheme, the bikes available and how to apply are on our website here: Bike Loan Scheme.