Resources
Ride smarter. Organize better.
Evidence-based guides for cyclists and the people who bring them together — training that actually works, organizing group rides, and getting faster as an amateur.
Ride through the playbook in 3D
An interactive, scroll-driven 3D ride through group-ride dynamics — drafting, the paceline, echelons, and the surge that shells the back.
Enter the 3D rideShould Your Cycling Club Make Helmets Compulsory? Law by Country, Insurer Terms and a Policy You Can Enforce
What the law already requires in Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy, what to ask your insurer, and three helmet rules your club can word, adopt and enforce at the start line.
The First 90 Days: Onboarding New Club Members So They Stay
A day-by-day plan for a cycling club's first 90 days with a new member: the welcome, a one-page pack, a buddy scheme with rules, the drop-off points and messages you can copy.
A Rider Is Missing on a Group Ride: The Leader's Protocol
The count comes up one short. Stop the group, call, wait five minutes, send a pair back, and know exactly when to call 999 or 112: the leader's protocol.
The Cycling Club Treasurer's Guide: Budget, Books and Reserves
How to build a cycling club budget, keep the books month by month and set a reserve, with a worked 120-member club, a cashflow chart and a year-end checklist.
Caught in a Thunderstorm on a Group Ride: The Ride Leader's Playbook for Lightning, Gusts, Floods and Fog
The forecast was fine at roll-out; now there's thunder, gusts, floods or fog. The order of decisions, the group lightning drill and a threshold table.
Cycling Club Affiliation: Which Federation Should Your Club Join?
What club affiliation actually insures, what British Cycling, Cycling UK, FFVélo, FFC, the Spanish regional federations and the FCI each give a club, what they cost per rider, and when two affiliations make sense.
Cycling Club Awards: Ideas That Reward the Whole Club, and How to Run the Dinner
Award categories that reward volunteers, beginners and regulars as well as the fast, a nomination process members trust, a run sheet for the evening and a budget sheet for the dinner.
E-Bikes on Club Rides: Writing a Policy That Doesn't Split the Club
Should your club allow e-bikes on club rides, and on what terms? What the law counts as an e-bike, four policy options, where the motor really helps, and a sample policy to adapt.
Why Members Leave Cycling Clubs (and How to Keep Them)
The biggest single loss of cycling club members comes at the first renewal, and for a handful of fixable reasons. Here is how to measure the leak, rank the causes, ask the people who left and keep the next ones.
Hypothermia and Heat Illness on a Ride: What the Leader Does
Hypothermia or heat exhaustion on a group ride: how to spot it, when a confused or stumbling rider means calling 112, and how to warm or cool them and get them home.
How to Organise a Club Cyclocross Race: Course, Permits, Volunteers and Budget
A step-by-step playbook for hosting a club cyclocross race in a park or field: the landowner, the federation and commissaires, a worked 2.2 km course and taping plan, a volunteer roster, a six-race timetable and a break-even budget.
How to Set the Pace at the Front of a Group Ride
How to set the pace on a group ride: which number to steer by, what speed to climb at, and a pace card for each group.
Writing a Cycling Club Constitution: Clause by Clause
What each clause of a cycling club constitution does, the eight that start fights later, how eight published constitutions and models word them, and where to find a model in the UK, France, Spain and Italy.
First Aid for Ride Leaders: The Kit, the Course, Who Carries What
What first-aid kit a club ride needs, who carries which part, what to leave out, what it costs, and which course to fund in the UK, France, Spain and Italy.
The Dangerous or Difficult Rider on a Group Ride: A Ride Leader's Playbook
Half-wheelers, surgers, sketchy wheels: how a ride leader corrects a dangerous or difficult rider at the right moment, with the exact words, without a scene and without losing the member.
Cycling Club Legal Structure: UK, France, Spain and Italy Compared
Unincorporated association, CASC, association loi 1901, club deportivo, ASD: what each form means for who answers for the club's debts, its bank account and its grants, read in the primary texts.
How to Organise Virtual Club Rides on Zwift, Rouvy or MyWhoosh
Run an indoor club ride that keeps riders together: the platform, Meetup or Club Event, the pace band, leader and sweep roles, a 60-minute session and a winter league.
Group Rides Through Junctions, Roundabouts and Town Traffic: A Leader's Method
A junction-by-junction method for ride leaders: approach calls, holding short, crossing in sub-groups, the front waiting beyond the exit, and roundabout rules in the UK, France, Spain and Italy.
Club Ride Risk Assessment: A One-Page Template You Reuse Every Week
One page, scored on a 3×3 defined in words and checked before every ride: a cycling club risk assessment template, worked through on a 70 km Sunday ride and a club hill climb.
How to Run a Cycling Club AGM People Actually Attend
A six-week countdown, a model agenda, a 60-minute run sheet and the motion, election and minute mechanics for a cycling club AGM, with what to check in your own constitution.
How to Run a Night Group Ride: Lights, Law and Beam Etiquette
How to lead a club ride after dark: the lighting rules in Great Britain, France, Spain and Italy, beam etiquette inside the bunch, spacing, route choice, reflective kit and a weekly ride format with a kit check.
Am I Liable as a Volunteer Ride Leader? Duty of Care, the 2025 Case and Your Cover
What personal legal risk a volunteer ride leader carries in the UK, France, Spain and Italy, what the 2025 Hetherington judgment says, and whose insurance pays.
A Cycling Club Code of Conduct Members Actually Follow (Template)
A clause-by-clause cycling club code of conduct template for the road, socials, club chats and volunteers, with a four-rung enforcement ladder and how to adopt it so it sticks.
Cycling in Hunting Season: Club Rides, Battues and Shoot Days
Ride safely in hunting season: check which woods are driven on your ride day, give every wooded sector a road alternative, wear a bright outer layer and keep talking, and stop and ask before passing a sign or a hunter.
Riding Two Abreast: The Rules in the UK, France, Spain and Italy
Whether it's legal to ride two abreast in the UK, France, Spain and Italy, what changed in 2022, 2024 and 2026, and one single-out call your club can brief anywhere.
Cycling Club Committee Roles: Who Does What
What the chair, secretary, treasurer, welfare officer and the rest actually do, the hours each job takes, the committee a 20- or 150-member club needs, and who owns 25 recurring tasks.
Cycling Club Winter Rides: Mudguard Rules, Ice Calls and a 16-Week Programme
How to switch a cycling club to winter: a mudguard-and-flap rule, start times set from sunrise, an ice variant for every route, cold-stop rules, a kit minimum and a 16-week programme to the end of February.
Crash on a Group Ride: The Ride Leader's First 10 Minutes
What the ride leader does in the first ten minutes after a crash: protect the scene, check the rider and call at once, and give every rider a job.
How to Start a Cycling Club: From Three Friends to a Constituted Club
The steps to found a cycling club in the order they depend on each other, with UK, French, Spanish and Italian checkpoints, year-one costs and a 90-day plan.
How to Grow Your Cycling Club
Most clubs don't have a recruiting problem, they have a second-ride problem. How to grow a cycling club: the three numbers to track, the first and second ride, more ride types, enough leaders and a 90-day plan.
Organising a Club Sportive or Event Day
How to organise a cycling sportive or club event day: the timeline, who to ask about permits and insurance, route and feed stops, volunteer roles, a break-even budget and the ride-day run sheet.
Club Kit Orders Without Losing Money
How to run a club kit order that pays for itself: paid pre-orders, a proper sizing session, an honest price build-up and a timeline you can hold the supplier to.
Club Communication: One Channel, Not Five
Why ride details spread across a group chat, a newsletter and a social page end with riders standing in the rain, and how to run club communication from one source of truth.
Ride Waivers and Insurance Basics for Cycling Clubs
The kinds of cover a cycling club deals with, what a ride waiver can and cannot do, and the exact questions to put to your federation and insurer before the next club ride.
Cycling Club Membership Fees: What to Charge and What to Include
How to set a cycling club membership fee from your real costs, what the package should include, and how to collect renewals without chasing riders for months.
Recruiting and Keeping Volunteer Ride Leaders
How cycling clubs find, train and keep volunteer ride leaders: the arithmetic of a leader pool, a role card, the personal ask, a five-step ladder and how to prevent burnout.
When to Cancel a Club Ride: A Weather-Call Policy
An example go, modify or cancel policy for club rides: the wind, ice, rain and heat thresholds, when to make the call, who makes it, and the messages to send.
Running a Beginner-Friendly First Ride
How to set up a club ride for people who have never ridden in a group: the route, the pace, the helpers, the welcome, and the follow-up that brings them back.
Flats & Mechanicals on a Group Ride: What to Do
What to do when someone flats on a group ride: the first ten seconds, who waits and for how long, a roadside tube change with an audience, and the get-home plan for what can't be fixed.
The Pre-Ride Safety Briefing: A 90-Second Script
A group ride safety briefing riders will actually listen to: a word-for-word 90-second script, how to time it, the quick bike check, and the emergency plan most leaders skip.
A, B, and C Pace Groups: How to Split a Club Ride
How to set A, B and C pace bands, size each group to your real turnout, start them without chaos, and move riders between groups without anyone riding alone.
Planning a Club Group Ride Route
A route that's perfect on your own can be miserable with twelve riders. Here's how to plan a club route that suits the group: distance, timing, roads, climbs, regroups, the café and a plan B.
What Is a No-Drop Ride?
A no-drop ride promises that nobody gets left behind on the road. Here's what that promise covers, what it doesn't, and how a club runs one that keeps its word.
How to Be a Good Ride Leader: A Volunteer's Checklist
The ride leader's job is mostly invisible: hold an honest pace, count heads and make the calls nobody else wants to make. Here is the checklist, from the night before to the last rider home.
How to Get Faster at Cycling: A Training Guide for Amateur Riders
The honest, evidence-based version: build the aerobic engine, ride easy days truly easy, go hard on the two that count, and let consistency do the heavy lifting.
How to Fuel a Long Bike Ride: The Complete Cycling Nutrition Guide
The bonk at km 120 isn't bad luck — it's a fueling plan you didn't make. Here's the full before, during, and after arc, with a simple rule of thumb for each.
What to Eat Before a Long Bike Ride
The tank you finish on is filled before you clip in. Here's how to eat the night before, the real breakfast, and the top-up so you're not chasing a deficit at km 40.
Cycling Heart Rate Zones Explained (and How to Find Yours)
You've got a HR strap but no power meter. Here's what your five zones actually are, why 220-minus-age is a rough guess, and how a 30-minute test (you average the last 20) fixes it.
Cycling Group Ride Etiquette: Hand Signals and Calls Every Rider Should Know
The bunch runs on information moving down the line — a pothole pointed out, a "car back" relayed, a smooth pull. Here's the signal-and-call vocabulary that keeps everyone upright.
How to Not Get Dropped on a Group Ride
Most riders get dropped for reasons that have nothing to do with fitness. Here's how to read the bunch, sit in, fuel early, and stay glued to the wheel in front.
How Many Carbs Per Hour? A Numbers-First Guide to Fuelling Long Rides Without Bonking
The exact grams of carbohydrate, fluid, and sodium to put away every hour on long rides — and why mixing glucose with fructose lets you push past 60 g/hr without gut rot or the bonk.
How to Run Your First Club Group Ride: A Playbook from the Front
What actually keeps a first club ride together: the group sizes that work, honest pace bands, route limits for mixed legs, a minute-by-minute ride-day timeline, and the safety numbers worth designing around.
Zone 2 Training: Why Riding Slower Makes You Faster
The dull conversational rides you keep skipping are the ones building your engine. Here's the physiology of Zone 2 — how to find yours, hold it, and watch it work.