How to join one of our rides

1. Look for a ride you'd like to join. Forthcoming rides appear in the sidebar of most pages on this site. Click any ride for more detail. See below for some other ways to be notified of rides.
2. If a ride requires you to book a place, you can email the ride leader to ask to join - there's a 'Contact us about this event' link on every ride page.
3. The ride leader will use email to invite you to join the ride, and will update the ride page with a list of invitees. Please do not join a ride that requires booking unless you have received an invite or your name appears in the list on the ride page.

Choosing the right ride to join will ensure you enjoy your day out and will reduce the risk of finding the ride either too fast or too slow.

Having found a ride on a particular date, first look at its duration. If you are unsure you can manage the distance, morning rides would be most suitable as they normally include a break for tea, coffee and cake. Then look at the terrain for that ride. This ranges from Flat, through Gentle, Hilly, Very Hilly and finally Severe. But Terrain is only half the story so next look at Pace in miles per hour which is usually shown on a ride. This is shown as Easy being less than 10 mph, Easy+ 10-11mph, Medium 11-12mph, Medium+ 12-13mph and then Faster above 13 mph. This speed is just a guide and note it is the moving average speed so ignores all stops. If you don’t know what speed you ride at then pick one of the slower rides as it’s more enjoyable to ride at a slower speed than it is to struggle at a speed that is too fast for you. Some rides do not specify a pace - they will go at the speed of the slowest rider.

Finally, look at the ride description and if present, the ride leader’s profile, which will give you further information about the ride itself, the leader's approach to rides and the type of bike they ride. If you are still unsure, contact the ride leader using the 'Contact us about this ride' link on the ride page for advice.

Important Note

We will never deliberately drop a rider and will endeavour to keep the group together. However, it is more enjoyable and less stressful for all if you read the ride descriptions to find out what to expect. But as above, if in doubt, contact the ride leader for advice.

If a ride you like shows as full then ask the ride leader to add you to the waiting list so you can be included if anyone drops out.

If you are unsure which ride to join or there are no suitable rides then please contact us as we may be able to suggest a ride that might suit or, in future, we can consider adding a new type of ride.

You can:

• If you are a Portsmouth CTC member, register for email notifications of rides via your profile.
• If you are a Cycling UK member, just let us know if you want to become a Portsmouth CTC member.
• Review the list of forthcoming rides in the side bar of most pages in this site - including this one.
• Review the full list of rides shown under the 'Types of ride menu'
• Use one or more of our electronic feeds:
  • Include the iCalendar feed in your electronic calendar
  • Monitor the Events newsfeed with a feed reader
  • Use an Amazon Echo device with our 'Portsmouth CTC' skill