Help needed

[RSClio83]

Hiya all

I'm in the process of organising a charity cycle ride at work and for anyone that would like to join and raise money for two great charities (St Peters Hospice & Kidney Research Uk) to cycle Bristol to Bath on the cycle track either Sat 13th or Sat 20th April, I'm awaiting final votes on what day at work.

Help needed is that many of the people that are going have not cycled for years and wondered if I could find out a training plan.

Anyone have any ideas where I can find a training plan for them to follow to help them cycle the 13 mile distance.

Thanks

Dee

 

[Boris Bajic]

I'm not sure you really need a full-on training plan.

My children (not particularly athletic at that age) used to do 25-mile charity rides before they were 10 and quite enjoyed them.

They knew they'd been on a ride, but they weren't TdF-ed.

13 miles is quite a nice distance for a charity ride. It won't put off even the most inexperienced rider.

Give them a lot of time to complete it in and provide people along the way and lots of signposts.

If you really want to get them training, just suggest a few gently rides, maybe a 6-mile circuit.

More important than physical condition will be the condition of the bicycle and the 'cyclist' road sense of the rider.

The bicycle: These will have been hanging from a garage rafter for aeons, with stiff or seized brakes, perished tyres, seized cables and a rusty chain. Bikes may need a lot of TLC. I'd advise a few evening sessions where they can bring their bikes to get them looked at.

Road sense: If they've been driving and not cycling for a while, they may mis-judge the speed of oncoming vehicles relative to their own speed. they may also be surprised at how slowly they are able to pull out and junctions or cross major roads. Having a throttle pedal can warp the sense of relative speed.

I really wouldn't be too fussed about training for 13 miles, even if the riders are 95 years old. I'd get them to make sure their bikes are in good nick and that they are used to riding them in traffic.

I hope this helps. Good luck with the ride and with the fund-raising.

 

[Kiwiavenger]

Hey dee

The main problem I had when arranging mine was getting people to commit to it! Personally I would just pick one day and run it then! Someone will always be put out but then theres a decision made.

The cycle track your using is fairly flat until you hit the ring road, then it has a little bump and flattens out again. If your taking it easy it's not a bad ride. Ill pop along to help out but wont ask or collect sponsorship as I used to do it once a week (bath and back into town) without fail!

One thing you will need to do is remind people that pedestrians on the path have priority, dont pass them too closely and be prepared to stop! Also on the bristol to bath keep left and ride single file through the narrow bits to avoid conflict with other path users. I can bring my mini tool kit and track pump to the start to make any minor adjustments to brakes, tyre pressures etc that people may need.

Most of all though enjoy it! Encouraging people onto their bikes is always a good thing!

Sent from my LT15i using Tapatalk 2

 

[summerdays]

I agree that they won't need to train for it, though a suggestion to do a couple of rides to get their bum worn in a little will help. As it is off-road then there shouldn't be a problem dealing with traffic. Where are you going to start the ride, as many of them if not regular cyclists will want to drive to the start, so having somewhere to park near the start would be good. (I've been on a couple of rides that started near Morrison's for that reason I suspect). Or if you are starting at the very beginning then I can think of one place to park if it was the weekend.

The suggestion to get their bikes checked over beforehand would be very good.

Thinking about it ... won't it be 26 miles? assuming they are coming back again too .

 

[Kiwiavenger]

I agree that they won't need to train for it, though a suggestion to do a couple of rides to get their bum worn in a little will help. As it is off-road then there shouldn't be a problem dealing with traffic. Where are you going to start the ride, as many of them if not regular cyclists will want to drive to the start, so having somewhere to park near the start would be good. (I've been on a couple of rides that started near Morrison's for that reason I suspect). Or if you are starting at the very beginning then I can think of one place to park if it was the weekend.

The suggestion to get their bikes checked over beforehand would be very good.

Thinking about it ... won't it be 26 miles? assuming they are coming back again too .

whats an extra 13 miles between friends! lol