Rides

Guided Rides

We lead rides every weekend, except 5 Saturday months (when we’ll run a special skills session). We open just before 11am, so all rides can leave promptly – getting you back in time for lunch. By the time you are ready for Level 4 we expect your bike to be ready to go bang on 11am – with no need to pump tyres or tighten the saddle.

Our rides favour low (or no) traffic routes, so there’s always some off-road cycling. If you, and your bike, can manage the Jubilee River gravel path then you’ll be fine.

We do Beginner’s Training for adults who’ve never ridden, or perhaps haven’t for many years. Contact us here to request a session, we typically hold these in the 4th and 5^th week of the month.

Guided Ride Schedule

Our schedule of rides is published on our Cycling UK page:

We’re proud to be affiliated with Britain’s most established cycling organisation. We support their aims to make cycling available to all. They also provide us with support, including insurance cover for our guided rides.

Our system’s really easy: as the month progresses our rides get longer, faster and hillier. Level 1 (our easiest ride) is always the 1^st Saturday of the month, Level 2 the 2^nd, Level 3 the 3^rd and, you’ve guessed it, with Level 4 on the 4^th. You’ll find the level that’s right for you or perhaps you’ll challenge yourself to ‘step up’ over the course of a summer. We’ve attached a longer document here that tells you everything you need to know about our rides. Please take some time to read it.

Guided Ride Levels

The document at this link here contains the details of all you need to know about our rides but this chart summarises our Guided Rides Levels. Levels 1-2 are aimed at less experienced riders, Level 3’s intermediate, with Level 4 for the more confident. If you’re not sure what level you are, start at 1 or 2 to see how you get on. Likewise, please don’t come on 1 or 2 expecting a pacey ride.

Week	Level	Description	Av. Miles	Av. Hrs	Min. Yrs
1	1	Easy – flat	8	1:15	7*
2	2	Moderate – some roads	12	1:30	13*
3	3	Intermediate – hills	18	2:00	16*
4	4	Advanced – mixed	25	2:30	18
5	RS	Skills Day	N/A

*Minimum age for active riders (younger children can attend on seats) Each under 18 must be accompanied by 1 adult.

All rides leave The Swan at 11am, be there 10-15 mins earlier.

Cycling is More Than Stamina

Just because you’re fit, or have an electric assisted bike, doesn’t automatically mean you can consider our longer rides. An ability to ride safely with others, cycle through tight gaps and fix your own bike are key skills. You might also need to learn about keeping fuelled. The progression through our levels can be about learning new skills too, it’s not all about cycling further. But don’t worry, we’ll show you how to do these things.

What to Bring

In addition to a working bike (that can brake properly, and won’t hold us up for ‘mechanicals’) you need to be ready for the Great British weather, to stay hydrated and avoid running out of energy:

Rain jacket
Water & a snack (bananas & flapjacks are great)

There’s no legal requirement to wear a helmet, it’s your choice – but you’ll notice that all of our volunteers do, as they know we use paths with a lot of over-hanging branches.

Please dress appropriately for the weather. You’ll notice that keen cyclists wear layers for maximum flexibility. In winter it’s essential to stay warm and dry, but be able to easily regulate your temperature with zips.

Tool Up

We advise that everyone carries essentials to fix their bike – but appreciate that many of you are new to this. It’s a strong recommendation for Level 3, and now mandatory for Level 4 rides to carry:

Inner tube
Tyre levers
Pump
Multitool – Allen keys etc.

We have a selection of these at our HQ. Being able to fix your own bike is a life-skill – we’ll show you how on 5^th Saturdays.

Your Bike, Be Prepared

As well as you being fit to ride, your bike needs to be too. If it’s been sitting in a garage for a while we won’t judge you – we’ll be glad you came along. But, we’ll be even more glad if you bring the bike to our Bike Kitchen at least one week before your first ride. We’ve a 15 minute window to check bikes before we leave on guided rides – just about enough time to pump up some tyres or adjust a saddle. It’s not enough time to fix brakes and adjust gears.

Safety, Our No.1 Priority

Every week we have a Ride Leader, who plans and recces the route, they’re the ‘Road Captain’ – they ride at the front passing key information as they go. They’re supported by Ride Assistants, including a Sweeper – who makes sure no one’s dropped. Our leader and assistants are trained volunteers, they wear orange Windsor Cycle Hub gilets.

Our training includes safely shepherding groups of cyclists, considering other vulnerable road/path users and first aid. It’s essential that you follow any instructions given – including the one to look carefully when crossing junctions.

It’s a condition of attending a ride that you sign-in, and tell us anything we should know. You must provide an emergency contact, ideally one who lives nearby – but elsewhere in the UK is fine.

Risk Assessment for Guided Rides

A Risk Assessment is an important step in protecting both our visitors and volunteers. Every time we ride our bikes we’re exposing ourselves to risk, and our Risk Assessment helps our volunteers to us to focus their minds on them, with a view to minimising them. We can’t eliminate all risk, but we’re required to protect everyone as far as is reasonably practicable.

To this end, we use familiar routes and recce them as close to the day of the ride as possible – noting changes in environmental condition, road surface etc.

Please email us if you’d like a copy of our standard Risk Assessment.