No helmet - no ride

Riders must always abide by the Highway Code. Dangerous and unlawful cycling cannot be tolerated, and riders must not bring the Club into disrepute.

If you decide to leave a ride you must let the leader know. This is most likely to happen once you have returned to Ealing and you just peel off the group without letting the Route Leader know

If you ride off the front of a group you will be on your own. If you ride off the back the group will wait for you or find you

You must be able to share your live location on WhatsApp with the route leader in the event you become separated from the group

Tri bars are not to be used on a club ride. We would also prefer them to be removed from the bike

All members must follow the club’s Code of Conduct

During the months of GMT mudguards must be fitted to your bike to prevent the rider behind being sprayed from your back wheel

Riders should have third party liability insurance available from British Cycling/Cycling UK/LCC or other reputable provider

Riders should have a bike suitable for the route and distance: no TT bikes on group rides; you’ll suffer on a heavy commuter or mountain bike if you’re only used to short distances on the road. Likewise a lightweight road bike is not recommended for gravel rides.

Your bike must be in good working order. The club has two great mechanics in Dave Eckersley and Alex Gold who can check your bike over and ensure it is road worthy. Also take a look at the M-check video on the Useful Info page

Riders should be equipped to repair a puncture. Ideally you should be able to fix a puncture yourself but if you can’t, as long as you have spare parts and appropriate tools, someone will help

Bring water, food, gels, money/card for cafe stops (or transport home), a multi-tool, spare inner tube and a pump.

Riding in a group should always be smooth. No sudden accelerations or braking without warning. Always call “slowing” or “stopping” when covering your brakes.

When the roads are wet (in summer or winter) riders should fit a rear mudguard (with mudflap extension if necessary) so that the rider behind does not get wet

Pick rides that are appropriate for your ability. We encourage riders to push themselves, and the group is always happy to wait for someone who is trying. However, if you’re a long way off the pace, the polite thing to do is to inform the leader that you’re struggling and will drop back to a following group or otherwise make your own way home.

When are you ready to try a more advanced group? Are you already contributing as a stronger rider on your current rides? Do you spend more time working on the front than other riders in your group? Are you the first rider up the hills and you put in the extra work by returning to the back of the group to keep the last rider company? If the answer to all these is “yes”, then you’re ready to move on up.

Communication in the group is crucial to keeping the ride safe and fun for everyone. Riders at the front should be calling out potholes and other hazards and these should be relayed to the back of the group. Just because you have heard the call from the front doesn’t mean the rider next to you or behind you has: relay the message. The same goes for communicating hazards from the back (usually a car approaching or a mechanical issue for another rider). Whatever it is: relay that message!

Be able to self-navigate, including loading a GPX file onto a device (Garmin/Wahoo/phone), follow a route and be able to get to a train station or home

Club Members should wear the club kit if they can. This helps raise the profile of the Club and helps the leader identify riders within the group.

It is the responsibility of each rider in the group to consider the safety of their fellow riders and other road users, to consider the road and weather conditions and to ride accordingly.

Group riding can be dangerous and requires your full concentration and co-operation, so please take notice of instructions from the route leader.

Ride as close to the rear wheel of the rider in front as you feel comfortable, however never overlap the rear wheel of the rider in front.

The group cannot go faster than its slowest rider. Be cognisant of the situation around you. If you see another rider beginning to struggle, or if you begin to struggle, let the group know. Once a rider drops off the back, they will have to work against the wind to try to make it back on. If you drop off accelerate gently to get back to the group - if you accelerate hard it takes too much out of you and means that everyone behind has to do the same. If you drag them all back gently then only 1 of you is making the effort. And you could also share the effort

The only time riding off the front is acceptable is on a hill when you want to challenge yourself. However, you only get to do this if you’ve already spent your fair share of time on the front helping the group.

Wait at the top of hills (or even better, ride back down the hill and keep the last rider company). When the group is back together at the top, bring the pace up slowly. Less fit riders will still be recovering from their effort.