Hello!

We're happy to announce that we've rescheduled some of our most popular 2020 rides. You can find details here on our website - just visit the homepage.

If you have already registered for any of the rescheduled rides, your place will be automatically transferred to the new date. If you are unable to attend on the new date, you can transfer your place to another rider - please see the relevant ride page for details of how to do this

Unfortunately, some rides - such as the New Forest, Tour de Tendring and Essex Castle rides - have not found new dates but we're still hopeful of staging the London to Southend ride at a date in the early Autumn. If you've registered for this ride, we'll contact you by email to confirm the new date.

Please note that the Manchester 100 ride, due to take place in September, has been postponed and will now be held in Spring 2021, on a date as yet to be confirmed. Again, your place will be automatically transferred to the new date but if you are unable to attend on the new date, you can transfer your place to another rider - please see the Manchester 100 pages for how to do this.

Social Distancing

On this year's rides we'll be employing measures - recommended by British Cycling and Public Health England - at the Start & Finish venues to promote rider safety. These will include one way systems, physical screening & contactless payment for on-the-day registration, as well as setting riders off in small groups. Having once departed, each rider will be able to ensure they maintain a safe distance between themselves and other riders for the duration of the ride.

We'll email all registered riders a set of guidelines in advance of the event, setting out the measures that will be in place on the day. And if you have any queries you can always contact us using the contact form accessible using the link in the menu, above.

In line with the NHS Test and Trace programme, we will retain the contact details of all participants for 21 days, to be made available to the NHS as required.

DO NOT take part in any ride if you have symptoms consistent with (or you believe to be) Covid-19

We look forward to seeing you at the Start line. In the meantime, stay healthy - and keep pedalling!

Best wishes - The Bike Events Team


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COVID-19 UPDATE at June 2nd


We are continuing to work towards rescheduling as many of our 2020 rides as possible. Details of those rides with confirmed new dates can be found on our homepage.

The New Forest and Suffolk Coast rides, due to take place this month, have still to find new dates but we hope to be able to announce these soon.

We're also working to reschedule the Tour de Tendring, Essex Castle, London to Southend, London to Cambridge and London to Windsor rides and hope also to be able to announce new dates for these rides soon.

Please note that the Manchester 100 ride, due to take place in September, will now be held in Spring 2021, on a date as yet to be confirmed.

If you have already registered for any of the rescheduled rides, your place will be automatically transferred to the new date. If you are unable to attend on the new date, you can transfer your place to another rider - please see the relevant ride page for details of how to do this.

We hope to resume online and postal registration shortly and will notify all riders on our mailing list when we do so.

We hope that all of you are well and that the better weather is as least managing to lift your spirits a little, despite the continuing crisis and uncertainty.

Just to remind you that Bike Events are still very much here and we're looking to rearrange this year's rides to more viable dates, wherever we can.

The options for those that have already signed up to an event is that you could take part on the new date, or transfer to a different ride, or substitute a friend in your place, or do the ride in 2021. Or when the dates are published, if you can't make the ride, you can apply for a refund less an admin charge to cover bank and credit card costs.

Updated ride information will be posted on our website and on our facebook page. We'll also send out email updates to those on our database. We know that some of our emails get diverted into spam folders so make sure you check there, too. And if you want to unsubscribe from receiving future email newsletters from us, there's an 'unsubscribe' button at the bottom of each newsletter.

Stay well and keep cycling!

Cycling responsibly - the dos and don'ts 

(Based on the original article by Tony Farrelly of Cycling UK - full article here)

 

Recreational cycling for health is still allowed in the UK. The current guidelines are that during the lockdown you can exercise outside once a day, and cycling is permitted, so long as you cycle alone or with members of your household. Cycling to work is also very definitely still allowed and has the extra benefit over public transport of built-in Social Distancing. 

Among some misconceptions around the current rules on cycling and exercise generally, we're sharing this edited post from Cycling UK on how to cycle responsibly - including the latest information & the rules laid down by government and the best practice for applying them drawn from the expertise of, and what is being advised by, cycling's main governing bodies.

The actual regulations covering exercise in the emergency laws were enacted by the Government last week [link] and lists excercise as one of the main exceptions to the rule that 'no person may leave the place where they are living without reasonable excuse' and that 'a reasonable excuse includes the need...to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household"

It is worth noting that the vagueness of the act means that some things the public, and police forces are interpreting as the law are not actually covered by it: there is no limit in the act to the number of times a day you can exercise, nor any specific bar on driving somewhere to take exercise. However, the Government as part of its efforts to stop the coronaviurs clearly doesn’t want people to do either of those things and some police forces are doing their best to enforce the Government’s wishes rather than the letter of the law and that situation may change

So, in the meantime…

Why we need to ride responsibly?
First, because of the ethical and moral considerations placed upon us all to do our bit to slow the spread of the coronavirus to safeguard the health and lives of our fellow citizens and the health workers striving to keep us all well. And second – and a very distant second – because if we don't cycling will be banned for weeks and possibly months.

So what should and shouldn't you do to be a socially responsible cyclist during the current crisis? 

Do ride on your own, stay on your own, go home on your own and keep social interactions down to the absolute minimum. if you do meet people along the way then observe the guidance on social distancing. In like with all other forms of exercise the only exception to the riding on your own rule is if you ride with other members of your household – partner, children, housemates/flatmates.

Don’t go out for a recreational/training ride on your bike more than once a day. Government advice is very explicit about this. While there are no rules about how long, or how far you should ride – beyond Michael Gove’s assertion that you should do no more than you would normally do (link is external). The advice on how often you should go outdoors to take exercise is VERY clear. Once.
Do stay local – stick to routes you know well and ride within your limits.

Do keep a safe distance from other cyclists in as safe a manner as possible and remember that your speed dictates how safe a distance you need to be behind someone before you pull out to pass – inevitably it is going to be much more than the two metres prescribed for pedestrians. Read our guide to How much distance you should leave the cyclist ahead in a time of pandemic.

Do make sure that you're self-sufficient and that you can fix your bike and make it home without help from anyone else.

Don’t share bikes or equipment – pretty easy if you’re riding on your own. Only use your own bike, and your own equipment.

Don’t drive somewhere to ride – the Government's Covid 10 Travel Guidance (link is external) is clear on this only essential travel is allowed and it deems only three things essential: going to work (if you can’t work from home) luckily you are allowed to ride to work if you have to go; health reasons; and buying food. True the relevant wording of the travel exemption for exercise "to take exercise either alone or with other members of their household" is open to interpretation, but it is also clear that the Government don't want you to do it. The court of public opinion is definitely against it too. Given that you can ride your bike from your front door on deserted roads it's hard to dress driving somewhere else to ride it as either essential or smart.

And remember: a pandemic isn't the time to be pushing your limits – certainly not doing things you wouldn’t normally do. Getting some fresh air on a leisurely solo ride is a very different thing to a hard, fast training loop, and the risks are different too. And while Michael Gove might say that doing what you normally do for exercise outside is fine – so long as you only do it once a day – British Cycling has wisely advised its members to ride for “calm recreation” [link] and not to challenge themselves.

If you're self-isolating, there's also some guidance, here:

The locked down cyclist's guide to getting fit and staying fit from the comfort of home

AND FINALLY...

Failing to ride in a socially responsible way will have devastating consequences for communities, individuals, and the health service. It will also mean the end of cycling outdoors for everyone for quite some time. That in turn will see bike shops and all those that depend on them – yes, even websites like this – going the way of pubs, clubs and restaurants in having to shut or severely restrict their operations. 

Best wishes to you all from the Bike Events Team - stay fit & healthy!

Covid-19 & Bike Events rides update

Dear Cyclist

If the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us anything - it’s that it’s going to take all of us pulling together to get through this safe and sound.

In these strange times we are making new plans. Bike Events will be rescheduling all rides due to take place in May and June (Cambridge 100, Tour de Tendring, Hertfordshire 100, Norwich 100 and Suffolk Coast).

 

We may also have to reschedule the July events (Manchester to Blackpool, London to Southend and London to Cambridge) 

We'll email riders the new dates and post them on www.bike-events.co.uk and on our facebook page

 

Here are the options, if you’ve signed up to an event: you could take part on the new date, or transfer to a different ride, or substitute a friend in your place, or do the ride in 2021. Or when the dates are published, if you can't make the ride, you can apply for a refund less an admin charge to cover bank and credit card costs.

We sincerely hope that the current crisis resolves as early as possible and that we can all return to some kind of normality.  And so while we’re all waiting for that happy day enjoy the Spring and keep cycling in order to stay healthy and keep your spirits up  - but remember to  do so responsibly: either alone or with one other person maximum, keeping that safe two metre-plus distance (at least) from each other!

Best wishes from the Bike Events Team

Covid-19 and Bike Events rides update

With the rapidly changing situation around COVID-19, we are continuing to follow guidance from the Government, Public Health England and the World Health Organisation. Bike Events’ priority is to operate in a way which protects the health and wellbeing of all our cyclists and staff.

Current government advice is that 'While the risks of transmitting the disease at mass open-air events are relatively low, banning of non-essential gatherings will also allow emergency services that would have been deployed for these events to be prioritised in alleviating pressure on public services.'  Our events have their own medical and other services, so do not make demand on public services.  

British Cycling current guidance is that mass cycling events should not take place before the end of April and no Bike Events rides take place during this period.  We are currently looking at rescheduling our Spring rides (in May and June) to dates later in the Summer and Autumn and will post further details both here and at www.bike-events.co.uk

In the meantime, we encourage you to keep cycling for your health and well-being. Health experts, including the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Professor Sir Andy Haines, said on March 17^th that:
“Walking and cycling, particularly in green spaces, is good for mental as well as physical health. ”Walking and cycling can be compatible with social distancing if people are responsible.”
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/latest-news/support-people-cycling-outside-during-coronavirus-pandemic-say-experts-452006

We hope everyone stays safe and healthy and wish all of you the best in these incredibly challenging and worrying times.

COVID-19 and Bike Events rides 2020

At present we are planning for all our events to go ahead this year and we are following  guidance from government, public health authorities and our medical providers.

We know people may be nervous about staying active at the moment, but being fit and healthy is an important deterrent to the risk of any infection in the first place. As long as you follow all the relevant advice on how to avoid catching or spreading the virus, we would still encourage you to look after your health by getting active and getting out on a bike

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Current Government guidance indicates that sporting events can go ahead, and at present, all our forthcoming events are scheduled to go ahead as planned. British Cycling are recommending that no cycling events take place until April 30th. Our events are due to begin in early May but we will continue to keep this under review.

We will post any updates on our website, here, and on our facebook page 

Cancelling or postponing events will always be a last resort, however we will continue to closely follow Government advice to ensure that we are following best practice with regards to rider safety, which remains our highest priority.

Should we have to postpone an event we will offer riders the new date, to substitute a friend in their place, switch to a different event, or to receive a refund less an admin charge to cover bank and credit card costs.

For information on cycling events and coronavirus, please visit the British Cycling website

For further official guidance on COVID-19, please visit the Public Health England website
and the NHS111 website