How to Join a Group Ride on a Mountain Bike: Your First Ride, Step by Step

Joining your first group ride is simpler than it feels. Pick a ride at your level, tell the organiser you're coming, bring what you need to fix a puncture, and ride at the group's pace rather than chasing anyone. Cycling UK says it's completely natural to get a bit nervous before your first group ride, and that preparing is the answer. This is how I'd prepare.

Some of my best days on a bike have been group rides with riders of every age and ability (the story's in Forest of Dean group rides). Every one of those riders turned up to a first ride once.

Step 1: pick a ride at your level

Let's Ride, British Cycling's ride site, puts it simply: read the description of a mountain bike ride to judge whether it suits your current level of skill. Look for the distance, how long it takes, which trails it uses and how fast it goes.

Trail grades help. Mountain bike trail centres rate their routes from green (easy) through to black (severe), so a ride on green and blue loops is a very different morning from one on reds and blacks. If you're not sure, pick the easier ride. You can always step up next time.

If you're new, look for a ride that says beginner, social or no-drop, on trails you'd be happy riding on your own. In the Forest of Dean, that means the Cycle Centre: the blue Verderers Trail, or the family trail, the Colliers Trail, if you've got kids with you. I've written more about that in the Forest of Dean for beginners. If you haven't found a ride to join yet, start with where to find mountain bike rides.

Step 2: message the organiser before you go

Always tell the organiser you're coming. Cycling UK's advice is to introduce yourself to the ride leader when you get there, and they should be expecting you if you've let them know in advance.

Keep the message short and honest. Something like: "Hi, I'm new to the area and I ride blue trails comfortably. Is Saturday's ride OK for me?" Then ask whatever the listing doesn't tell you:

• Where exactly you meet, and what time you set off, so you can arrive with time to sort your bike and say hello.
• How far, how long and roughly how fast.
• Whether it's no-drop.
• Whether there'll be e-bikes, and whether yours is welcome if you're on one.
• What happens if the weather turns.

Be straight about your level. It's much easier for an organiser to plan around you when they know what to expect.

What to bring on a group mountain bike ride

Cycling UK's minimum is a puncture repair kit and a spare inner tube or two, and it says a multitool and mini-pump are useful too. Nothing slows a group down like a puncture nobody can fix, so carry your own even if you think someone else will have one.

On top of that I'd bring:

• Water and something to eat.
• A charged phone.
• A small first aid kit.
• A spare layer, because you'll cool down fast when the group stops.
• Lights, if there's any chance of finishing in the dark.

Tell someone at home where you're riding and roughly when you'll be back, even on a group ride.

What is a no-drop ride?

Cycling UK explains a no-drop ride as one where you won't be left behind: the group waits for you if you drop off the back. That's the kind of ride to look for first.

MBR's view is that a group should ride at the pace of the slowest member wherever possible, and that if you want to race or set PBs, you should ride on your own. That's the spirit of a good social ride.

Not every ride works like that, though. If a listing says it's fast, or doesn't say anything about pace, ask. And remember that an informal meet-up arranged on Facebook or an app isn't a guided ride. Don't assume there's a qualified leader, or that anyone will wait, unless the person who posted it says so.

If you're the slowest in the group

Someone always is, and on a good ride it doesn't matter. Tell the leader at the start that you're new, ride your own pace, and say so if you need a breather. Pushing too hard to keep up is how people crash.

If you're the fastest, the same rule works the other way. Wait at the top of climbs and the bottom of descents, and don't set off again the second the last rider arrives. Give them a minute.

Group ride etiquette on the trail

A few habits make a group ride work for everyone:

• Keep the rider behind you in sight. Cycling UK's group guidelines ask you to stay within sight of the next rider behind, so the whole group quickly knows if someone has stopped.
• Leave room on descents. Give the rider in front enough space that you could stop if they stopped or came off.
• Tell the leader if you're leaving. It isn't rude to leave early. It's rude to vanish, because then the group waits or goes looking for you.
• Don't race. It's a social ride.
• Stay on the right trails. At the Forest of Dean Cycle Centre, Forestry England asks riders to only ride on waymarked cycle trails or hard-stone forest roads.

Joining a group ride in the Forest of Dean

These are the spots where I meet people:

• The Forest of Dean Cycle Centre at Cannop.
• Mallards Pike, on the Mallards road where the cattle grid used to be. You can see it from the main road, so it's easy to find.

Cannop car park can fill on a sunny weekend, so give yourself time. At the Cycle Centre, parking is £6 for up to two hours, £8 for up to four, £10 all day, and £3.50 if you arrive after 5pm between March and October, which suits an evening ride (checked 25 September 2026). Forestry England members park free, and the Forest of Dean membership is £55 a year. I've lived here thirty years and never paid for parking, though: use the lay-bys, don't block the gates, and please don't park on the road or the verges.

After the ride, the Cycle Centre serves coffee and pints, both great. The Fountain in Parkend is an amazing local pub, and there's free parking around Parkend village, so it works well as a start and finish too.

For more on who rides here and how to find them, see my guide to Forest of Dean group rides.

Where Plus1 fits

Plus1 is one more way in. You can see rides posted near you, with the level and discipline on each one, and tap to join, with a reminder before it starts. Or post your own. Active now shows who's out riding right now, roughly within a 1 km square and never as an exact pin, which helps if you've turned up and want company. It's free, with no ads, on iPhone and Android. It's new and it only works when riders are on it, so bring your mates.

A ride on Plus1 is riders arranging to meet, not a guided or insured ride. Everything above still applies: read the post, message whoever posted it, and ask about pace and whether they'll wait. If you'd rather ride with a club, I've covered how to find a mountain bike club in the UK, including women's groups.