Our road cycling group, or ride club as we call it, meets several times a week and offers rides spanning a wide ability range.
For the absolute beginner, we run a 4 week ‘First steps into road cycling’ course that builds knowledge and confidence on the road as well as teaching the basics of group cycling, getting you ready to join our club group rides.
We offer a range of rides across the week and weekend depending on ride leader availability. All rides are posted on Spond, our club app, a few days before.
girls ALIVE – Cross Country Cycling
The idea for Cross Country (or XC) riding is to get outside explore, take in the view, and have fun. XC riding emphasises endurance and distance covered above technical skill and difficulty of the terrain.
Some rides are short and local and some are a bit further afield taking advantage of the wonderful countryside we have in the SE corner of England. We ride on a mix of tracks, “non-technical” trails, byways, bridleways, disused railway lines, canal towpaths, and quiet roads.
The location, surface and distance varies so details are provided for each ride so that you can choose the ride best for your riding style and level, from beginner to more advanced adventurer.
A wide variety of bikes are suitable for XC riding including hardtail mountain bikes, full-suspension mountain bikes, or gravel bikes.
girls ALIVE Dorking – Mountain Biking Group
- Are you a lapsed mountain biker?
- Maybe you lack riding buddies and/ or confidence to try new routes?
- Maybe you are a road or cross-country rider who wants to give it a go?
- Maybe you just want to have fun in the hills?
Whatever your previous experience, all you need is a mountain bike, a helmet, and a sense of adventure. We ride on Monday and Friday mornings and sometimes at weekends. In the summer we often do evening rides. We ride downhill trails all over the Surrey Hills; Ranmore, Leith, Holmbury and pitch
girls ALIVE – Zwift Virtual Cycling Group
Here at girls ALIVE we love getting out and about in the fresh air, no matter the weather! But we also appreciate the many benefits of exercising virtually. Our Zwift group have discovered the joys of exercising at home without losing the girls ALIVE camaraderie! Here is what our Zwift group guardian George has to say about the group:
Cycling on the roads on my own in the winter months during lockdown was proving to be a challenge but equally the thought of getting onto a turbo trainer filled me with dread. I needed to be creative! On 1st January 2021 I set myself a virtual challenge of cycling every day that month working my way through the Zwift Watopia routes. By the end of January, I had achieved my goal but it was very clear I was craving the wonderful feeling of riding with my amazing girls ALIVE ladies. Their camaraderie, laughter, encouragement and togetherness was missing from my solo rides! After a couple of texts with some equally desperate gA girls, gA Virtual was born. We started out with 1 Thursday ride a week but we very quickly needed more so we added in another night on Tuesdays! We can cycle all over the Virtual world and be cycling and chatting to our gA buddies feeling connected and very happy. There’s no faffing, we can ride whatever the weather, and we don’t have to worry about childcare! Some ladies finish work at 7:15pm and can be climbing Box Hill by 7:30pm. The Zwift sticky band keeps us together but we can all push ourselves to our personal limits and we can try and beat our own times on previous rides on certain segments. The group now has riders from all over the UK from Warwickshire, Sussex, London, Kent and Surrey. I’ve ridden routes that I would never ever considered riding and it has brought out the inner demon in me as I can concentrate on power rather than corners, junctions, descents and cars! After every ride, the WhatsApp group is buzzing with excitement from ladies who have achieved things that they never thought they would. Be warned, the Virtual world is rather addictive and you never get the feeling of not turning up. It’s fun and the sense of achievement is virtually out of this world!
Women and girls