Reliability rides

sumosprintstar

Can someone please explain to me what these are? I have seen some clubs advertising them and as I am fairly new to the sport have no idea what they are.

Thanks folks

nochekmate

Just like a sportive but about £30 cheaper!

Gizmodo

From what I have read they are generally used to test a route, normally before a Sportive. They are a free group ride around a set route but they don't guarantee to wait for the slowest rider. The slowest may get dropped.

danowat

nochekmate wrote:

Just like a sportive but about £30 cheaper!

Pretty much this.

From wikipedia....

A reliability trial is an organised bicycle ride which challenges a cyclist to complete a course, passing through designated control points, within a preset time limit. In the United Kingdom, such events are often held in the wintry opening months of the year and are used by club cyclists as training rides. A common test would be a 100 in 8 - 100 miles would have to completed within eight hours, including any stops.

The term is historic and dates back to the early years of the 20th century when cycling equipment was less reliable, roads were rougher, routes were more poorly sign-posted, and mobile telephones had yet to be invented. The name was also a way of emphasising to the police, at a time when the place of cycle sport on British roads was insecure, that the mass rides they might see were not races.

Reliability trial riders needed to be self-sufficient, adept at navigation, able to deal with mechanical problems, and fit enough to complete the course. In some cases, successful completion of the ride entitles the rider to a certificate. Reliability trials have lost a lot of their popularity although they remain a regular feature for sections, or clubs, of the Cyclists' Touring Club. The function of reliability trials as a test of fitness, reliability and the ability to ride long distances has largely passed to the closely similar Audax style of riding.

The term reliability trial is also used to refer to motorsport events and are similar in concept. Rather like rallying, drivers and their vehicles (or riders and their motorcycles) must complete a designated course within a set time limit, without recourse to outside help along the way.

markos1963

Around here a RR is a non stop ride, usually 50-65 miles, cheap to enter £2.50-£5, with cakes and food included at the end, minimal marking of route but riders are issued with maps or gpx files, riders go off at intervals based on ability, all in all a great way to increase early season milage.

sumosprintstar

Thanks guys.

Can't believe I did not think to use wiki :oops:

Pross

Most clubs used to have reliability trials just before the start of the racing season. They would consist of a set route (100km in our club) which you had to complete within a set time (possibly with gold, silver and bronze times). I think the idea was that you didn't do it too quickly as well as too slowly.