British Cycling ''local events''

[snorri]

BC website tell me there are 1151 'Rides near me' until I put in my post code when that number drops to zero.

 

[theclaud]

I am all for equality / diversity etc

You're not, though, are you? Or you wouldn't get all twisty-knickered at attempts to bring them about.

 

[Racing roadkill]

BC website tell me there are 1151 'Rides near me' until I put in my post code when that number drops to zero.

Try specifying a radius.

 

[tom73]

Mrs 73 has been on local breeze ride and found it ok. Though the cycling events we've been to and ride's out together she's found it's the none cycling set that make her feel uncomfortable. She's found cyclists to be a welcoming bunch.

I understand the need for women only rides my area is like many most are breeze type. It's ok to say "well plenty of rides for men" other then BC ones. Which maybe the case but not all men feel comfortable in these types of groups either. BC rides are good way to help find your feet when you're starting out or trying to build confidence around others when out on the bike. It's just a shame that at times the balance is a bit out ended up with breeze only options. Replacing one imbalance with another is not going to help anyone.

I know it's all volunteer ran with what sounds like very little support from BC. i've done it I know how much work volunteering can be it can and how it can take over and not getting support you need. So I'm not about to blame anyone who sets up rides and the like. I've signed up for BC ride I ended up not being able to go so cancelled my place. Equally not getting a relay from the leader even if just to say "ok thanks" won't help either.

 

[Racing roadkill]

One of the ones local to me is 4.3 miles in 90 mins. Er...you don't need a bike for that!

They are organised according to ‘toughness’. Easy going, steady, challenging, challenge 60 and mountain bike. ‘Easy going’ is for the people who’ve never ridden / rarely ride. Challenge 60, is a long ( over 60 miles ) hard one, the others fit in between. Another real issue ( for me at least) is that in order to lead a ‘challenge 60’ you need a ‘level 2’ qualification. B.C. don’t put ‘free’ level 2 training courses on very often, when they do, they’re never anywhere near where I’m based, and the ones that are, are ‘at cost’. Now, there’s another complication. ‘Official’ Guided rides, are fully insured by BC, covering all riders for liability insurance. ‘Ride Socials’ aren’t. If all the riders on a ride social are with B.C. / CTC, there’s no difference, and any one can create / lead a ride social, which have no mileage limit. Now why would I bother with the hassle of getting to a level 2 course, and / or pay for it, when that’s the case? Answer, I wouldn't. It’s a proper mess, and I’ve had about as much as I can be arsed with. Add in that some riders who come along go all “DO YOU KNOW WHO I AM, IM NOT DOING WHAT YOU WANT, I’M A CLUBBIE DAMN IT, A CLUBBIE I TELL YOU” which really doesn’t make my life easy. Throw in the fact we don’t get paid for it anymore, and you can see why things are the way they are with this system.

 

[mjr]

I can see why BC cannot run successful male/mixed rides, whilst being able to accommodate female only rides. Most male cyclists will easily be able to find a local club to accommodate them from social to full on racing, not all clubs are so open to female cyclists or at least a few appear not to be even if they are. The Breeze rides set a common standard and seem to work pretty well and are being well and truly focused on by BC.

TLDR; Try your local clubs and ignore BC.

Aren't many of those local clubs BC? But BC only give support to Breeze and a few other funded "projects" and expect volunteers at the rest of their clubs (and non-affiliates too) to fight their own way through the buggy user-experience disaster zone of the Let's Ride site dashboad - unsurprisingly, most don't bother and rely on things like their own websites or farceberk to advertise events.

I spent about a year putting most of a weekly rides series onto Let's Ride previous name, RideSocial, and if I had £5 for every rider who said they heard about a ride on Let's Ride or RideSocial, I'd have no pounds. However, I did get to ride around the Tour of Britain London Circuit for an hour before the race so it wasn't completely without reward

And I don't think most male riders can find a non-racing club easily, especially if you're not a healthy helmet-user. I certainly didn't when I lived in Weston-super-Mare - it was only after six years that I found one (a CTC affiliate), just before I moved away. But there's no obvious money attached to this and it's not been made a string attached to their lottery funding, so BC don't care.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Let's Ride previous name, RideSocial, ,

Not quite, it used to be split into ride social, and Sky ride ride Local. The Sky ride ones were the ones put on by the qualified leaders, and we got paid. Ride social was a later addition, to ‘test the water’ as to whether we’d set up and execute the rides for free. Too many did, now we have the mess they helped create.

 

[Racing roadkill]

Guided rides aren’t ‘men only’ either, they are for anyone. Only Breeze differentiate, and are Women specific.

 

[mjr]

Not quite, it used to be split into ride social, and Sky ride ride Local. The Sky ride ones were the ones put on by the qualified leaders, and we got paid. Ride social was a later addition, to ‘test the water’ as to whether we’d set up and execute the rides for free. Too many did, now we have the mess they helped create.

You're right but there definitely was a previous name covering it all. Was it "Go Sky Ride"?

 

[Racing roadkill]

You're right but there definitely was a previous name covering it all. Was it "Go Sky Ride"?

Only later on. Originally ( about 11 years ago ) there were only ‘Local / Guided’ rides on Go Sky Ride, these were set up / risk assessed, by the qualified ride leaders, and paid by Sky / B.C. the ‘Ride Socials’ ( not risk assesed, or necessarily set up by anyone with the first aid / riding ability assessment qualifications, previously required) and not paid.

 

[snorri]

Try specifying a radius.

This rather confirms what the OP discovered.
There are four events when I apply the 50 mile (ie the max) radius but all are women only.

 

[Racing roadkill]

This rather confirms what the OP discovered.
There are four events when I apply the 50 mile (ie the max) radius but all are women only.

Yep, that’s what the problem is.