All our rides (club runs) leave from the front of Rackham's store in the centre of Altrincham every Sunday where you will have a choice of rides. Destinations are planned in advance and can be viewed on our calendar pages here.
Social Rides
These are run on a weekly basis (click here for a list of the rides). They are being introduced to cater for those who are looking for a less demanding ride than the more established club runs but who still want the challenge of riding serious miles on a regular basis. All rides will have a designated current Seamons CC member as their coordinator and will be between 30 and 50 miles and all will be broken with a cafe stop in the middle. They should take about 3-4 hours.
Social rides are ridden at the pace of the slowest rider in the group so nobody will ever be left behind. As with all our club runs riders should ensure their bike is safe and roadworthy and should carry a pump, two spare inner tubes and some tyre levers. Riders should also be able to at least look as if they know how to change a punctured inner tube (although your coordinator may offer some assistance the first time if you are struggling). Riders should be dressed sensibly and we recommend the use of a hard shell helmet. Although full cycling “kit” is not essential it’s a good idea to wear layers which can be added and removed as necessary – remembering of course that you’ll need somewhere to carry any layers you do remove. A warm pair of gloves are a must during the winter months too as the wind chill while riding a bike can be quite severe. Also - don't forget to bring some cash for a cuppa and a slice of cake at the cafe stop.
If you're interested you can contact our cycling development officer Darren Buckley for more information or alternatively just turn up for one of the rides.
Half Day Rides
The “Half Day” group was born in the 70s when a number of members wanted to do a faster but shorter ride on a Sunday thereby offering them the opportunity to get home and spend time on something else in the afternoon. Thus the Half Day group was formed. Since then the group has grown in popularity and is now by far our most popular section.
The Half Day runs are our fastest rides and include many of our competition riders. To join these runs you’ll need to already have a moderate to good level of cycling fitness. As a rule of thumb (although this isn’t a guarantee!) if you can ride on your own for 30 miles at an average speed of 18mph fairly comfortably then you’ll have the level of fitness required to stay with the half day group.
Half day runs tend to be around 55-75 miles which is covered at an average speed of between 18 and 20mph. This is broken with a cafe stop. The runs tend to speed up considerably as we approach home and usually finish with a sprint.
Touring Rides
The Touring section club runs are mainly, although not exclusively, patronised by our older members. As such the pace tends to be more leisurely although the mileage is just as challenging as the half day runs. It’s probably fair to say that the touring section take a more social approach to their rides and are not averse to stopping off for a refreshing break at a watering hole (or two).
New riders are more than welcome to come along on a Sunday and try a club run two or three times to see how they get on. After joining us on a few runs the expectation would be for you to apply to join the club.
All leave at 0900 hrs in the summer, with the tourists going back to 0930 in the winter months. |