Group Riding Guidelines
Welcome to CTC Oxfordshire Midweek Group. We are part of Cycling UK (The CTC). The following guidelines are designed with three principles in mind. In order of importance these are:
- the safety of all the riders in the group
- the enjoyment of the ride
- to minimize any inconvenience that may be caused to other road users.
Our members comprise a mix of riders, some have many years experience of group riding and others who are relatively new to it. Clearly these guide lines are aimed mainly at the latter group so apologies to all who know all this already.
It is always down to the individual rider to take full responsibility for their actions. Regardless of the advice given below you should always use your own judgment as to what is best for your own and the group’s safety, in any given situation. During the ride please abide by the Highway and Countryside Codes.
- Be alert to what all the other riders in the group are doing.
- Please use the calls “car back” and “car front” to warn the group of approaching vehicles. Pass all calls up and down the line.
- When we stop to regroup, keep the road and any junctions clear.
- When moving to single file the outside rider should drop back. Do not overtake the rider ahead on the inside.
- Do not stop suddenly, do shout “stopping” before braking and coming to a halt.
- Warn riders behind of potholes and hazards both verbally and by pointing, whenever it is safe to do so.
- If you do ride ahead, wait at the next junction or at the top/bottom of a hill.
- Do not ride more than two abreast and keep in single file where appropriate.
- Do not leave the group without informing either the ride Leader or the Sweeper.
The bullet points above cover most situations that arise but there are areas that cannot be covered in one line answers.
We state in our publicity that we ride at the pace of the slowest, never leave anyone behind and regroup at the next junction. There is one simple, tried and tested system that does this. It is both unnecessary and often hazardous to other road users for the majority of the group to stop at a junction to regroup. It only requires one person to mark a junction! So if your group has become split up and you are at the back of your section at a junction you stop and wait for the following riders. Wait until either the next rider has signalled that he has seen that you are turning or, generally better, wait until the sweeper/last rider reaches the junction. In this way every junction will be marked and a complete regroup can wait until there is a safe space at which everyone can stop. A junction means any turn where the route is leaving the main road.
When riding together on flattish roads the group should be quite close together. Riding in a fairly close-knit group is one of the great attractions of going out with other people. In an ideal world we would be riding along rubbing shoulders and handlebars with the person alongside and nearly touching the wheel in front. This may be possible in the pro-peloton but it is not a realistic skill level to expect from a group of more occasional riders. However, when we are riding as a group, people should not be nearer to the centre of the road than to the centre of the left hand lane and there should not be gaps of one or more bike lengths between riders. Reducing these gaps to a few inches should, with practice, be possible. The benefits are quite considerable: less wind-resistance for most of the bunch, improved bike handling skill over time and perhaps most importantly the group cannot be described as a rolling road block.
Another point for consideration is that a call of ‘Car Back’ is only informative. It is not an indication that the group should single out. In general, singling out on a two lane road obstructs rather than helps traffic trying to overtake. Overtaking vehicles require the right hand side of the road to be clear whether they are passing a single or double line. Singling out makes the line longer and therefore more difficult to overtake or, if we leave gaps, increases the number of groups to be overtaken. Obviously, single track roads require a completely different technique, namely ride in single file if that gives a vehicle room to pass in safety and stop in passing places to let vehicles overtake.
One final point is that the increased numbers attending our rides often necessitate splitting into two groups. Not faster and slower groups but two groups riding the same route a few hundred yards apart. However, some riders seem to find it too infra dig to be in the second and jump across to first group as soon as possible destroying the whole purpose of the exercise. Do not do this!
CTC Midweek 