Reservoir Cogs

Sky Ride Local in Birmingham

If you’re fairly confident on your bike and ready to broaden your cycling horizons, our Steady rides are ideal. At a comfortable pace, and possibly with some modest hills along the way, rides take place on mainly quiet roads with plenty of sights along the way. Rides are between 6 and 20 miles long, at a moderate pace of between 7 and 10 miles an hour.

This eight and a half mile tour starts and finishes at the scenic Edgbaston Reservoir, an important 70 acre nature conservation site. It is mainly open water and supports a variety of birdlife and provides a sanctuary for newts and bats. A belt of woodland and grassland encircles the reservoir providing an oasis of natural beauty in an urban setting. This a traffic-free route for the majority of the way with a few suburban roads taking in the beautiful Cannon Hill Park - an ideal spot for an ice cream.

Additional Information

Helmets must be worn by all under 18's regardless of ride level.
Please make sure your bike is in good working order and bring equipment with you to repair punctures, Ride Leaders are there to help but are not responsible for your bike.
All rides leave at the time stated you must arrive early Ride Leaders will not wait. 

Children under the age of 5 must be in a BSA approved child seat, trailer or tag-a-long.

Meet the Ride Leaders

• Westley Beckford Hello everyone,
  
  I love off road mountain biking and ride up the lickey hills most weeks,
  I am an off road instructor and a bikeability instructor.
  I work at Lindsworth School in Kings Norton which caters for pupils with special educational needs and in September i am organising a vocational on and off road mountain bike course which will involve basic maintenance.
  I am looking forward to meeting all you keen riders soon.
  
  Wes B
  
  
• Ian Hackett Hello, Im Ian, a new ride leader for 2013, Im looking forward to helping you enjoy your cycling.
  I commute to work on my bike and like to get out on longer rides of a weekend, cycling is sociable and a great stress buster...and the cake can be delicious!
  See you soon.
  
  
• Samuel Henry I have enjoyed cycling for many years since childhood from a purely leisure activity to commuting to and from work in the USA & UK. What lead me to take cycling more seriously was a series of events in my previous role, (2005-2011) as senior youth worker for Wolverhampton City Council. Whilst in that post I was approached by a group of young people who asked me to set up a cycle repair workshop in the Blakenhall area of Wolverhampton. It was a great success and led to me devoting a lot of time developing cycle activities, i.e local rides to Baggeridge Park, ( Sedley, West Midlands), Cannock Chase (Staffs), or the old disused railway way from Tettenhall, Wolverhampton to Wombourne, Stafffordshire.
  Because cycling/mountain biking is considered a high risk activity I had to rely on qualified Road Safety Cycle Instructors to lead the cycle rides. I eventually realized that it would be worthwhile in becoming a qualified instructor myself so that I would be capable of leading rides myself both on road and off road. I qualified in 2007 as a Bikeability Instructor and Mountain Bike Off Road Instructor. In 2010 I began my Level 2 British Cycling Instructor Training which will qualify me to develop young people interested in competitive cycling. In 2009 I qualified as a Sky Ride Leader. To date I have led as an assistant leader in
  My greatest passion though cycling is long distance touring using the National Cycle Network, swiftly followed by off road trail riding. I have cycled the C2C (Working to Sunderland), Aberystwth to Newtown, Seven Stanes, Scottish Borders. I have also lived and cycled in New York, USA.