Welcome!
To the 2024 Ribble Valley Ride Cycle Sportive – organised by the Rotary Clubs of Accrington and Clitheroe – in association with Ribble Cycles
Last year, 2023, saw our first serious return to a ‘proper’ cycle sportive since the Covid pandemic, and it was a great success. Although numbers were down on some previous highs, we still managed to raise several thousand pounds for our charities, and most importantly, we caught the eye of Ribble Cycles.
Ribble had been thinking of organising a similar event, and several employees, at all levels of ability, took part in the 2023 Ribble Valley Ride. After doing so, they sensibly realised that, as we had the expertise already, they would be much better off pooling their resources with ours. So we’ve ended up with the UK’s best cycle event and best sponsor – and a draw on the day that will end up with one of the participants WINNING A BRAND NEW Ribble bike worth at least £3,000!!
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 hosts – Heidelberg Materials (formerly the Hanson Cement Group) 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 – including SportSunday photographers, PLT Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic, Barnoldswick, Harrisons Welding and Engineering Supplies and Rufus Carr Ford (Clitheroe) – for their help in various areas of the organisation, the provision of food, and other items. 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 the Rider Pack which you can download via the red button below. 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. 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.
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.
ROUTE GPX FILES
Use the links below to access the routes on Strava or as GPX files
Strava
GPX
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/2024/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
