What's a Reliability Ride?

Richie G

Bit of a newbie question i'm afraid! At lot of clubs seem to have them early in the year- any ideas?

Rich

henderson_mk

its literally just that... a 'reliability' ride to check that your bike is in good nick and you are in shape for the start of the season.

they're not exactly races... but folks have been known to go a bit mad on them so expect a faster pace than the normal club run.

Bronzie

Here's my take on it:
Reliability rides are traditional early season non-competitive training events similar to an Audax ride in format. At signing-on, you decide how long it will take you to ride around the course, and if you complete the event within your chosen time band, you receive a certificate. Some of the rides are route-marked, others will provide you with a route sheet to navigate yourself around the course.

The "non-competitive" bit should be taken with a pinch of salt as a lot of fast boys treat them as a chance to batter their clubmates legs.

Richie G

Cheers for that - yet another cycling term that didn't have a clue about!

andy_wrx

And a lot of clubs are now calling their Reliabilities 'Sportives' and charging a higher higher fee in order to jump on the bandwagon !

geoff_ss

My wife and I fancied a change so shoved our tandem into the car and entered a reliability trial that started in a town about 20 miles away. We were somewhat disappointed when the route passed within a mile of where we live It was good fun though,especially when the fast lads caught us and we latched onto the back for a few miles.

Geoff