Are we what you're looking for?
We are a social, road-only cycling group located in Tadpole Garden Village, North of Swindon. Contrary to the name, we do accept members from the surrounding areas.
We slot in amongst a number of well established clubs of the surrounding area that can offer more organisational structure, greater numbers, multiple group rides on the same day and perhaps focus more on the riding/completion times aligning to the "cycling rules". If any of that is more your thing then TGV Cyclists is probably not the place for you.
Please be aware we are not and will likely never be affiliated with British Cycling, Cycling UK or any similar organisation. As such we do not have any of the typical club roles so please don't expect/propose them.
Membership and Our Offering
It is free to join the group but we would ask you only do so if you expect to ride with the group at least a few times a year. One of the goals of the group is social engagement and this is not supported by members who don't ride. The group operates an end of year clean-up removing any member who has not ridden with the group at least 3 times.
Our ride progression is described under Starter, Intermediate and Advanced. Ride classifications are described under Introductory and Categories.
Subject to availability, holidays, bad weather forecast, etc. rides are typically scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday every weekend. The start time and location will be clearly stated when the ride is posted.
A GPX route is provided when a ride is posted. This route together with the elevation profile should hopefully be enough for you to work out if it's a ride for you.
We prefer to support independent cafés who serve great coffee and have a decent menu (excellent cakes and/or great bacon sandwiches). We encourage all riders to suggest new destinations.
Group riding on the road can be quite intimidating so we try to look out for everyone on the ride. We try to alert riders behind to significant road imperfections or if we are slowing for any reason including junctions. We announce vehicles front and back when the road conditions warrant - typically any road without a marked centre line or when navigating parked vehicles. However, we are not liable for any rider and each rides the provided route by their own free will and risk.
Group Expectations/Rules
We ride for enjoyment so you should try to be socially focused
Ride start times are prompt (usually within a couple of minutes)
Please indicate your attendance in advance of the ride date. On occasions where there are no riders signed up we may choose to cancel the ride or head somewhere different.
The ride speed is variable depending on terrain/distance but we try to keep to an average somewhere between 13 and 15 MPH
We would ask that you do not attend rides that significantly exceed your ability - we'd love everyone to improve and reach their goals, etc. but not at the expense of those that have already done so. Equally, please don't attend a ride more focused at an introductory level if you wish to have a workout.
If you are not riding to the pace of the group you may be asked to reconsider what rides you sign up to
To maintain membership of the group you need to ride a minimum of 3 rides/year
Epics and Trips are invitation only based on group participation
Events such as the Christmas meal are open to all but subject to the 3 ride minimum
If you are interested or have any questions, please contact us using the email in the site footer.