Welcome!
…to the 2025 Ribble Valley Ride Cycle Sportive, organised by the Rotary Clubs of Accrington and Clitheroe – in association with Ribble Cycles
The aim of the organisers is to give cycling enthusiasts – of varying abilities – the chance to enjoy some of the wonderful roads in the Ribble Valley and Yorkshire Dales, as well as some friendly camaraderie (& good home-made cakes!) and also, hopefully, to raise money for the Rosemere Cancer Foundation (75%), Ribble Valley First Aiders and Rotary Foundation (12.5% each).
This is our tenth anniversary event and the third since the Covid pandemic; as with all events of this type, participant numbers are down from the heady days of the 500+ entries, but, hovering around 300 and with a decent weather forecast for Sunday, we are hoping entries may exceed 300 cyclists. This is also our second year’s association with Ribble Cycles (rumours that the company is named after our event – or vice-versa – are totally untrue!) but this year, instead of one lucky winner leaving the finish with a £3,000 cycle, THREE participants – one from each distance – will go home with a £1,000 voucher towards a new bike, or spares: it’s entirely up to you.
Bill Honeywell continues to suffer from ill health, although he’s been slowly (and only slightly!) improving over the last few months, and new team members Mark Sutcliffe and John Spencer, as well as the rest of the organising team, are doing sterling work as our event goes from strength to strength. For the second time running, Bill will not be taking part this year though.
Thank you so much for supporting us. Events like this don’t just happen, but are the result of months of hard work, and we thank all those who have been involved in the organisation as well as the enthusiastic marshals and other assistants who will be out helping on the day of the event, and a whole host of bakers for providing the excellent provisions which will be made available.
We would also like to thank our sponsors – Heidelberg Materials (formerly Hanson Cement) for providing the excellent start/finish venue and true all-round support and generally ensuring that the Ribble Valley Ride can run on a firm financial basis, and other supporters Rufus Carr (Clitheroe) – for their help in various areas of the organisation, the provision of food, and other items. Many thanks, once again to Pendle Print, who always do us a ‘good deal’ for flyers and rider numbers.
Sadly, Peter Croft of Harrisons Welding and Engineering Supplies decided to retire earlier this year, so we lost one our sponsors - but please remember our sponsors and supporters next time you need any of their services.
Our aim is to give you an enjoyable yet challenging day out with no fuss and no frills – three wonderful routes and hopefully a great atmosphere too. Having participated in many other sportives we think we know what cyclists want and hopefully this is what we will deliver!
Feel free to print out what you need from this Riders’ Pack – in particular the route descriptions which you should carry with you on the day. If you use Strava it should be a simple case of copying the route to your GPS unit. For the .tcx and .gpx routes you will need to download to your pc, tablet or GPS unit - you can’t necessarily just ‘double-click’ to open them up on a pc or laptop.
DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE RIDER PACK
REGISTRATION OPENS AT 07.15AM - FIRST DEPARTURES FROM 7.30AM ONWARDS
REGISTRATION CLOSES AT 09.15AM
THE ROUTES – INSTRUCTIONS FOR DOWNLOADING
Whether or not you’re a Strava user, it couldn’t be easier. These are the routes:
ELITE 70: https://www.strava.com/routes/3319371185141509044
EXPERT 50: https://www.strava.com/routes/3319366572755939830
ENTHUSUAST 25: https://www.strava.com/routes/3319362030034493942
HALL HILL (for those who want the challenge!): https://www.strava.com/routes/3319374080614354370
If you don’t use Strava, or prefer to load the routes directly on to your Garmin or other device, then click on the links below for OS Maps versions of the routes which can be downloaded from the OS Maps site as .GPX files:
THE HALL HILL CHALLENGE
Just to spice things up for the 50- and 70-milers, this year we are accommodating a timed section up Hall Hill, near Cow Ark via the Strava App. A short detour will take ONLY THOSE RIDERS WHO WISH TO up Hall Hill – a short but very steep ramp that climbs from Whitwell.
To take on the Hall Hill Challenge, simply head left at the Inn at Whitewell. Your Strava App will record your time over this segment automatically which you can then share with us to cross check with the chip timing. All those not wishing to take part can remain on the standard route and continue as normal!
Please remember – signs can be (and are, sadly) removed and unless you carry the route with you, you are likely to get lost at some stage. We do our best, but ultimately it is YOUR RESPONSIBILITY to find the correct route.
CUT-OFF TIME
While a broom wagon will be in operation, this doesn’t always sweep up the entire field – particular if riders head off-route – either deliberately or inadvertently! To avoid a very long day for some of our volunteers, this year we are imposing cut-off time of 5pm. Anyone returning to the HQ after this time will not receive an official time and will be charged if they do not return their timing chip to SI Events.
Finally – and this is MOST IMPORTANT! – DO obey the rules of the road and the Highway Code, and any instructions given to you by our official marshals. We recognise that the Ribble Valley Ride is a challenge, BUT IT IS NOT A RACE – and you MUST NOT treat it as such. You are PARTICIPANTS, not COMPETITORS. This is for your own safety, which is of paramount importance and also as responsible cyclists we mustn’t do anything to bring cycling into disrepute. Many cyclists are motorists too, and know that there’s room on the roads for everyone – providing we show a little patience and courtesy. So good luck, and have a wonderful day!
RESULTS
While the Ribble Valley Ride is NOT A RACE, we know our regular riders like to see confirmation of their performance on the day. A comprehensive list of timings and results will be provided by our long-standing partner: Si Entries
The link to results is: https://www.sportident.co.uk/results/RibbleValleyRide/2025/RibbleValleyRide/
Riders can scan the QR Code at the bottom of the splits print and results will appear on their mobile phone, mobile signal permitting.
Good luck, and have a wonderful day!
Best wishes - The Organising Team
