The return of group ride's.

It's been 9 weeks since lockdown was eased enough for us to start some group rides and even though the rules aren't ideal with the rides being restricted to just 6 people it's been great to be able to get out and ride as a group again. With face masks and gloves added to the first aid kit and hand disinfectant into the leaders bag, over the past few weeks the group have managed to get out on 9 rides and have covered a distance of over 300 kilometres which have taken us around the Tame Valley, Werneth Low and Hartshead Pike in Tameside.  We’ve also ventured into the Longdendale Valley, the Peak District, Holme & Colne valleys in Kirkless and into the South Pennines & Saddleworth.   We’re quite a well-travelled group!

Our rides have ranged from a nice steady 15-kilometre ride along the old railway lines that pass along the base of the Tame Valley to a big challenging 75-kilometre ride around a Northern loop of the Peak District so we cater for all riders. All the group rides we've done have been very social and ridden at a steady pace with lots of stops to discuss upcoming obstacles, technical sections, the view or just to have a breather and a drink.  We usually finish with a nice pint of ale, or whatever your favourite tipple is, and a good chat about the ride or anything else mountain bike related.

As a Tameside based group most of our rides start from Stalybridge as it provides great access to the local hills and it will soon be the base of our new cycling hub at the Stalybridge Labour club.  It will be an excellent community spot once we've got it set up.  Most of the rides take place on a Tuesday evening and this is something we aim to continue into the future and once the 6 people rule changes hopefully more riders and new riders will be able to join us.   We’ll continue to ride the darker evenings as summer is almost over, as night rides are a great way to explore your local area; just make sure you've got a good set of lights!

There are lots of great reasons to get out with the Tame Valley MTB group. We are a Cycling UK community group so all of our group rides are run by a qualified mountain bike leader who has ridden all the routes to risk assess them and they will also be first aid trained. A lot of our members have vast experience with mountain biking, so if you're just getting into riding you'll be able to get lots of tips about setting up your bike, riding techniques, where you can and can't ride, what you should be carrying with you on a ride, what you should be eating and drinking and if something breaks we'll be able to show you how to get going again. 

Which will all help you enjoy cycling more.

There is sometimes a misunderstanding to what mountain biking is; a lot of people think it's racing down the side of hills as fast as possible, jumping over big gaps and riding over huge rocks, which it is, but there is other disciplines to mountain biking and one being adventure riding where you make the most of the byway and bridleway networks and explore the countryside. This is more the type of riding we'll do on the community rides. Yes there will be some challenging climbs and loose rocky descents when you're ready for that level but there will also be steady flat rides to see if it's something you enjoy.  We're lucky in Tameside and the surrounding areas as there are lots of areas to explore that incorporate many different disciplines of mountain biking.

Hopefully, the restrictions will lift soon and we can open the rides up to more people and introduce some new people to mountain biking and off-road riding.