The Ribble Valley Ride is back again in 2023 and it's one of the friendliest cycle events in the UK, where EVERYONE is welcome to join in!

If you've never entered a cyclosportive before, it's easy to talk yourself out of it by worrying about these kind of questions. The fact is, pretty much anyone can enter the ride and everyone is almost guaranteed to have a great day out. If you're worried about whether you're up to it, you'll find a few pointers below...

The Ribble Valley Ride is probably one of the friendliest and most accessible cyclosportives in Britain and is the perfect introduction to road 'racing' for absolute beginners, while providing a serious challenge for more experienced riders.

The Ride has always been more of a community bike ride than a race, but there's something special about riding with hundreds of fellow cyclists through the beautiful countryside of the Ribble Valley and Yorkshire Dales.

And here's the thing: worrying about whether you are up to it - or whether you'll do enough training to be properly prepared for the ride is putting the cart before the horse. In our experience, the best incentive to getting in the training miles is to simply sign up and get back into the saddle this weekend!

Serious competitors will find plenty to test their legs on the 100-mile elite course, which takes competitors on a demanding tour of the hilly landscape of the Forest of Bowland and Yorkshire days with a series of challenging hillclimbs.

But for us mere mortals, the 25- or 60-mile routes are much more manageable, and with a bit of modest training, the vast majority of participants make it round the course just fine. Remember you'll be sharing the route with riders of all abilities and there will be marshalls stationed at various intervals around the course, together with food stops offering tasty snacks and cakes to refuel with.

The Ribble Valley Ride takes place on Sunday, June 11, giving you four months to prepare - which is plenty of time to shed a few pounds and tone those cycling muscles!

Signing up now puts to a date in the diary which you can start working towards. It's the ideal way to hold yourself to account and provides motivation to get out for a few training rides over the coming weeks. Better still, tell your family and friends you've entered and tap them for some sponsorship money so they will be expecting you to perform on the big day.

Over the coming weeks, we'll bring you some training tips and advice and share some targets to ensure your preparation is on track.

So sign up now, put your friends and family down for some sponsorship and get back in the saddle!

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