Some of you may already know but I am the Warranty Manager for Rutland Cycling near Oakham, in Rutland funnily enough! We have four shops, plus a large online presence, and two of these are based on Rutland Water. The water has a 17 mile route around, or 23 if you take in the peninsula in the middle, of beautiful and mainly traffic free cycling (only a small part is on a roadside cycle lane). It is suitable for all cycling ability so if you're an insane mountain biking whippet you can get around in just under an hour (did it once, nearly killed me!) or you can take a much leisurely pace and take a few hours.
My suggestion as a social event would be to hire a minibus, I'm happy to drive this as have experience, and take a few us upto the water (about an 1.5 hour drive away from Warwickshire, which I do on a daily basis so could do blindfolded but won't on this occasion!!!) so we can hire some bikes and take in the beautiful scenary and relaxed cycling. I'm sure I can get us deals on the bike hire and we just need to split between us the cost of the minibus and fuel, as a minibus takes upto 17 people with driver I'd say it'll work out cheaply for a day out as no profit is to be made out of anyone.
Around the water there are a couple of cafes and a great pub (http://www.horseandjockeyrutland.co.uk/) so we can take as much time as we like. If we go in the week the minibus will be cheaper, as I only need to book it for a day rather than weekend, and we'll have a better choice of bikes but am open to the general vote. Alternatively we could all go in convoy and drive in a few cars (lift sharing) if people would prefer.
Have a look at the following link for details of hiring from the company I work for (bear in mind I can probably get us a group discount on the bikes, especially if during the week).
http://www.rutlandcycling.com/article/495/hire-a-bike.html (Whitwell is where we'll go from)
Please let me know on any level of interest and thoughts on weekend or weekdays. I was thinking some time in April maybe.
Hi David, I think a bike ride is a great idea for getting people together especially following difficulties at Christmas. Rutland is a nice idea but I would be happy doing something locally and using our own bikes just cut down on cost and time travelling but would be happy to go with the majority (I can fit a few bikes on my car).
ReplyDeleteHi David, thought i'd commented on this but appears not? In any case yes i'd be up for this and know a few others who would be to. Let me know a date once you know.
ReplyDeletepaul
Hi
ReplyDeleteI'll await to see whoever else replies over next week or so and then if not much further response I am confident we can make the numbers up with non-Sustrans friends.
David