It's just how we roll - Regular Ladies Rides

Hey ladies (and friends of the ladies!)

Am all buoyed up by the seeming success of the London to Brighton ride at the weekend, and want to capitalise on the enthusiasm and enjoyment of the day.

I've been thinking for a while that it's a shame that more girls don't go on forum rides for whatever reason and there aren't that many ladies rides organised...I know we're all busy an' that, but I'd like to have a bash at making it a sort of regular thing.

I was thinking something along the lines of TNRC, say 30 or 40 miles which could only take up a morning or an afternoon of a saturday or sunday at least a couple of times a month, but at a steadier pace than TNRC, using these rides to increase fitness/ability distances etc etc with once in a while doing a more epic Ldn to Brighton type ride, and maybe aiming for some bigger rides next year, like the ladies of LFGSS representing at the IOW Randonee, or Dunwich, or maybe even somewhere in Europe? The world is quite literally our oyster, eh!

But yeah, before I get too excited and carried away with thoughts of road trips and centuries etc etc, who in principal would be interested in coming out for a ride once every couple of weeks? An informal, sociable ride, probably with a pub stop thrown in, but something a little further than you'd usually do?

Would people prefer if they were female only, or are you happy to have boys along as long as they play by our rules? They did behave exceptionally on Saturday ; ) Same thinking for all bikes welcome, or would you prefer fixed/SS only?

Over to you!

**Right then ride schedule for November!
**
Saturday 5th November**

Bitching Box Hill** - let's attack Box Hill! Now don't be alarmed....there is an easy way up Box Hill. I've done it - if you don't go up the zig zag road way the road climbs very gradually and the next thing you know, you're at the top of Box Hill. AMAZING. Really, please no one be put off as like I've said lots of times before, if I can get up a hill a) it isn't really a hill and b) anyone could do it.

Will post a proper route later in the week when I've done the recce but it will be something along these lines (cheers skive!) [ame]http://www.bikemap.net/route/424166[/ame]

It's 23 miles or so from Brixton to Dorking, where people can get the train back into London if they want or ride back.

and on a skive tip let's all ride to cambridge on **Sunday 20th November **and rep hard for the ladies on this ridehttp://www.lfgss.com/thread74324.html

skive does an awesome job leading rides and people who have done this ride before have all said what a brilliant ride it is...flat too ; )

I think its a shame that more ladies don't go on TricityBendix's Essex Afterworkers. They fit your description quite nicely most of the time.

I used to but then lots of quite fast boys who like doing hills started doing them and the pace sounds like too much for me..and if rides are happening/ending on the wrong side of town, then adding an extra 10 miles to get North from South is a bit of a mission on a school night.

Can we go for lunch afterwards? up for this.

can we have a one sunday a month spend the whole day cycling and eating ride?

Some sort of feeding station/stop would ALWAYS be a feature of the ride!

Yes!

I used to but then lots of quite fast boys who like doing hills started doing them and the pace sounds like too much for me : (

I think Rosie hates hills and rarely plots hilly routes.

We (pretending to be one of the fast boys here) join Rosie and* ride at her pace* because we like to top up our miles mid week and because nobody else was going on the rides. Rosey is ride leader and they are meant to be ladies rides.

The point is, they aren't particularly fast rides apart from when no ladies turn up at all and some of the faster chaps go out for a bit of a spin out like when 6pt and Laner went out for some fast hill fun a few weeks ago or when no ladies rode on Thursday night last week so Laner and I did Royston and back. In fact, nothing to do with Rosie's rides at all.

i didnt realise it was a ladies ride tbh i hadnt read the thread properly.

I would be up for this if the ladies don't mind having a bloke riding along with them.

.

It's all true. Essex afterworkers are never fast if I am involved :D

I'm definitely up for some weekend ladies' rides.

Hmmm...could someone try and change the thread title so it shows in the forum as "regular ladies rides" like above?

Ta!

Ask in the Moderators thread, Elaine.

I'd be up for a weekend ladies ride once or twice a month in the style of Ldn to Brighton (i.e. boyz aloud but ladies pace). And I only have a fixed bike at the mo, so that's what I'll be doing. Nice one poots.

I'd definitely be interested in doing some more ladies rides. Personally I'm happy if boys want to come along too, the main thing for me is ladies pace. :)

Changed title, I like the idea of the afterworkers ones, but can never do stuff after work (life in the way) I would however be well up for the occasional weekend ride somewhere. My mileage has dropped drastically since moving and because of having to study on the train, so would really like to get some miles in.

^ This - afterworkers sound great, but weekday evenings are almost always out for me - either I'm training or struggling to get out of the office before 7. Steady medium distant weekend rides over the winter sound perfect - I'd be happy with either morning or afternoon rides. We could do a mixture of ride out / train backs and circular routes out of London depending on preference. And very happy for it to be mixed ... in every sense.

I think its a shame that more ladies don't go on TricityBendix's Essex Afterworkers. They fit your description quite nicely most of the time.

I did one pre-Dunwich, then 'stuff' got in the way then I lost my nerve cos of the mileage and cos I was certain I'd have to bail and get lost finding the nearest train station.

Will have a rethink.

The more rides the better I reckon. These will be ace but if any other women are going for a ride it might be worth chucking it in the ladies' forum just to let people know they're happening.

That's the only reason mine are in the ladies' forum. It wasn't a 'these rides are going to be slow so I'll put them in the women's forum' decision; my being slow is entirely coincidental. I just wanted to get some midweek rides in; if people join me, great; if it gets more women on forum rides, even better.

I know the mileage is a bit hefty for after work but I find any less than 40 miles and it doesn't really feel like you've made it out of London. I'll probably do shorter ones as it gets colder though.

Anyway, sorry, unproductive ramblings about afterworkers probably not that helpful. Weekend ridingz yes.

Hi, I've not posted on the ladies forum before... I'm Therese, I live in east London and like riding bikes, but none of my female friends are interested in bikes, so it would be great to make some new friends...

I'd be very much up for this. Been wanting to go for rides on weekends since I got my road bike, but find it hard to know what routes to take etc. Would be really nice to go as a group and to make some new friends.
My ultimate goal is to do Vätternrundan (300 km in Sweden), but that's not until 2013 as I missed out on registration for next year. So I think this would be a good way to start!

Hi there, similarly I have never posed on the forum before but am always reading it (the joys of an office job!). I have been riding single speed in London for just over a year now and have only just started to go on longer weekend rides. I've been wanting to do some for a while but the lack of other interested friends or knowing whether I could even do it always stopped me. So yes, very much up for some longer weekend rides - or weeknight - I just rode to Southend this weekend past and it was ace.

Welcome! both of you!

Southend is a good example, apart from a couple of hills before you get out of London it's fairly reasonable, and it's always nice to ride to the seaside.
I'm going to try and find some good routes out west that I can potentially include, we have some nice green spaces here.

@betstacey check out Bendix's 'Essex Afterworkers' ride thread for weeknight rides.

Thank you! Will definitely check out the afterworkers.

Hurrah! For Ladies What No Longer Lurk! Awesome user name 2wheeledpony. I'm in Tottenham, so fairly local-ish...good aim too. I've heard great things about that ride - maybe a Ladies Road trip in 2013 ; ) And hey! Betstacey, get involved!

Right then: first date to propose Sunday 23rd October, leaving 11-ish, probably head into North Essex countryside with pub lunch enroute?

I know some people won't be able to make it, so am suggesting the second ride as Saturday 5th November? I'm thinking switch it between saturdays and sundays for those that work/have childcare committments/etc etc.

Suggestions for routes, volunteers to lead warmly welcomed. I've got a couple of ideas for the 1st few, so watch this space!

Hurrah! Glad people like the idea!

Sunday 23rd sounds good for me, I return from a week in Copenhagen the day before so may need to be reminded which side of the road to stick to.