Recurring Rides

Recurring Rides

Most rides are organized through the mailing list, but big rides often go on the calendar and there are a number of recurring local rides that happen almost continually throughout the year.  For details, join the mailing list to see what the route is this week, check weather cancellations, etc.

Road

Mountain Bike

  • Thursday Pandapas Ride: run by the Virginia Tech Cycling Team. Thursdays at 5:30 PM. Coordinated through their listserv.

Big Yearly Events

There are a number of favorite big rides that happen every year.  Some of these are run by the NRVBA and some are run by other groups or bike clubs.

  • Spring Up Wolf Creek - Road. Early May. Sponsored by the Narrows Lions Club

  • Wilderness Road Ride - Road. Memorial Day weekend Saturday

  • Artie Levin Memorial Century - Road. Late June. Run by the Blue Ridge Bicycle Club.

  • Burke's Garden Century - Road. Century or metric century. On move-in weekend at Virginia Tech. Run by the NRVBA. This is one of the easiest and prettiest centuries around and is a great excuse to get out of town during the business of VT move-in. Includes a great lunch stop in the middle in Burke's Garden. Registration opens 1 July.

  • Tour de Wolf Creek - Road. Early October. Sponsored by the Narrows Lions Club.

  • Tour de Bland - Road. Early October. Routes from 5 km to 100 miles.

  • Rowdy Dawg - MTB. Late October.

Want To Join a Ride?

  1. You don't need to be a member to join your first ride. The bike club's insurance still works for your first guest ride. Visitors and potential members are welcome!

  2. Join the NRVBA email list -- ride details like the planned route or a moved starting location go out over the list. It's free and you don't need to be a member.

  3. The ride leader will send an email to the list about the ride, typically two days to a week before the ride. This will have the ride details like the route, departure time, planned pace, etc. (Note that some of the above recurring rides are coordinated through the VT Cycling Team list.)

  4. Make sure you meet the four simple requirements:

    1. Are you wearing a helmet? (NRVBA club insurance reasons.)

    2. Can you ride safely? The social rides are happy to help teach new riders things like group etiquette, etc., so are more concerned about things like working brakes and ability to steer.

    3. Do you think you can ride the day's planned ride at the advertised pace? This is subjective but it's more to catch the cases of "if the farthest you've ridden is 5 miles then maybe jumping up to a 20 mile ride is going to be really painful." Be respectful of the other riders: if the leader advertises a fast hilly training ride for a race, don't go out for a casual slow ride. Similarly, if the leader advertises a slow social ride, don't expect everyone to run a paceline and sprint out of turns.

    4. Show up for the ride before the designated departure time, sign in with the ride leader, and have fun!

  5. If you're new to group riding, just let the ride leader know in advance and they'll help you out.