Rides on Sundays from Alton and Petersfield are faster paced and are best suited to riders who are reasonably fit, perhaps intending to complete a Sportive event. A road bicycle with drop handlebars is needed. Most riders use a lightweight bike without mudguards in the summer. In the winter, a more robust audax-type, bike with mudguards, but without panniers is recommended.

The riders usually ride close together in a group to maximise the wind shielding effect of the rider ahead. Riders need to become confident riding in this way, and group riding with us will help you to learn this skill.

The mid-paced rides from Alton and Petersfield both cover up to 50 miles in a morning at an average speed of between 13 and 15 mph, starting at 9:00am. This part of Hampshire is hilly and this average is sustained over this terrain. The hills can catch out the unwary who are quite comfortable at these speeds on the flat.

The faster paced rides cover a similar distance but at average speed of 16 to 18 mph. The average speed tends to be fastest in the summer when everyone is fit and the sun is shining. Mid paced and faster rides from Alton have a pattern of riding for up to two hours, coffee stop and then on to a pub by 1:00pm latest. The rides from Petersfield don’t lead on to a pub lunch because of family lunch commitments.