Besides the rides!

Here at Colvelo, whilst riding our bikes is central to what we do, we make sure to balance that out with plenty of other stuff! Here’s a taster of things we do to compliment our rides.

One of our favourite ride formats is the Transit ride, a long-ish one-way ride to a destination followed by a train home laced with beers and sausage rolls (non-alocholic and vegan options also available). Popular destinations are Norwich and in previous years we’ve reversed the Dunwich Dynamo route and got the train back from London after settling on London Fields with a couple of beers, watching the night riders head off.

On a similar tangent we’re looking to hone in on the light touring/bike-packing theme after a successful trip to Hunstanton last year. The themes being bikes, beers and bivvy bags (weather permitting…) Keep your eye on the members’ Strava page!

We also organise regular social and curry nights, lead by one of our most “sociable” members Andy Colsell. To date these have been at the fantastic Ghurka Restaurant just off Abbey Fields with a few beers at a nearby pub of choice!

Here at Colvelo we love the Spring Classics, and try to screen 1-2 each year. In 2018 we are showing Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix at Queen Street Brewhouse, Colchester. A great chance to catch some pro racing, drink beer and maybe even win the sweepstake! The MSR screening will follow a casual local ride, distilling what we do into a single day. Keep an eye on the Strava Members’ Club for details.

On top of that we organise two bike jumbles every year, a good chance to get some cheap parts for a build or make space in the garage for your next bike! We make sure as many local riders, clubs and organisations get involved, e.g. Re-Cycle who’ve had a presence at both jumbles so far. These are usually run in conjunction with Colchester Bike Kitchen, a project that encourages you to fix your own bike under the guidance of experts, lubricated with plenty of tea and for a small donation which would hardly get you an inner tube in most bike shops.

All of the above is in addition to the 1,000’s of kilometers on offer with the club, both on the road and gravel tracks in the area. Memberships are due for renewal on 1st March 2018, and for £25/10 second claim the above is pretty good value!