Frequently Asked Questions

When do your rides take place?

We aim to run something on the second and fourth Saturdays of each month, but a lot depends on the availability of someone to lead the ride.

Where/when do the rides start?

The usual start is at Cycle Heaven in York (the ‘main’ branch, just off Hospital Fields Road in Fulford. The postcode is YO10 4FS). The time at which any given ride starts will depend on things like the weather (heading out when it’s chucking it down is silly) and distance, with longer rides starting earlier.

A typical 40-50 mile ride will start around 9.30am - some enterprising (and hungry) souls often congregate in the cafe about half an hour beforehand in order to partake of a pre-ride cup of tea and bacon sandwich. The rides will generally finish at Cycle Heaven too, and if the cafe is open then there’s the opportunity for post-ride cake as well.

Can I ride my ….?

Yes.

Ride whatever you like as long as it’s (mostly) human powered - we’ve had riders on electric bikes and electrically-assisted recumbent trikes in the past. You don’t need a mega-expensive carbon bling machine to take part - both Simon and Mike have been known to do the rides on singlespeeds, and Simon has been known to turn out on a fixed gear.

Nothing is too weird - as long as it’s road-legal, you’re good to go.

Do the rides have cafe stops?

Yes and no.

Shorter rides (30 miles or less) tend not to unless we’re going to be passing somewhere particularly noteworthy. Longer rides will generally have at least one stop, which happens by concensus. If nobody wants to stop then we just keep going. For really long rides, the aim is to have a ‘proper’ stop at least every 25-30 miles.

How fast do you ride?

As fast as we need to.

We’re not a fast group - the aim of the game is to get some miles in and attempt to have fun doing it. Quality over quantity, you might say. If you want a fast ride then we’re probably not the group for you. The aim of the game is to set a minimum pace, including stops etc., of 15kph (slightly less than 10mph, also known as ‘randonneur pace’) - moving average will depend on a number of factors such as road conditions, weather, terrain and whatnot, but on past form we generally manage 20-22kph.

Nobody is knowingly left behind, and we mean that - if we’re going too fast, just shout out and we’ll wind it in a little bit.

Where can I find routes?

Routes are generally available to download from RideWithGPS and/or Garmin Connect. If you want a Strava-friendly route then you’ll need to take an existing GPX or FIT file and sort it out yourself.

If you’re coming on a publicised ride, please endeavour to download the route onto your GPS unit (if you have one) - this makes life a lot easier if, for any reason, the group gets split up during the ride or if we have to split into smaller groups prior to setting off.

I’ve got a great idea for an article

Great. Content is, as they say, king. In the first instance, contact Simon (simon{at}straggleurs{dot}org{dot}uk).