Although we have been doing gravel bikes for a good while (and doing very well at them too) we realised we had a bit of a blind spot on organising owners rides for them. So, without further ado, I would like to cordially invite you on our first Cotic HQ Ride Out to get your gravel on with us.

Join us on Friday 24th February for a sociable afternoon of lanes and bridleways out into North East Derbyshire.

We'll be riding from the new Cotic HQ in North Chesterfield, located here

Please arrive around 1.30pm and we will be riding by 2pm sharp. The ride will be around 30km, or a couple of hours. Steady pace, nothing hectic. It's a combination of quiet roads and ancient bridleways.

This area is my favourite place to ride my Cascade locally, and I have criss-crossed it many times on my drop bars. If you own an Escapade or a Cascade, it would be great to see you and show you where the bikes were developed.

Important bit:

The ride is ticketed. Because this is our first gravel ride and our first Friday afternoon get together, we are keeping numbers limited to 16 riders so we can keep it manageable and get a feel for gravel ride groups.

For those of you with Cotic hardtails and of a more XC leaning that think this sounds great, I appreciate that, but for this one we want to keep it Cascade and Escapade and see how it goes. This isn't the last HQ Ride Out we will be doing, so aim to keep some flexi hours or leave saved up to join us one Friday soon.

Tickets are £10 which covers your place on the ride, plus a Cotic water bottle and a few other goodies. Any money left in the pot afterwards will go to Edale Mountain Rescue.

If you'd like to come along simply contact us with your full name, billing address and phone number and we'll sort your ticket order and organise payment.

You'll need to show us your email receipt on the day, printed or on your phone.

Kit Notes:

It's February, and this is not a supported ride and we are not guides. You need to bring spares for your bike (inner tubes, tyre levers and pump as a very minimum), water and food, and spare layers in case of bad weather coming in.

Because it's an afternoon ride in winter, please also bring some lights. We will aim to be back around 4pm, which is still plenty of daylight, but if we get delayed by punctures or mechanicals we could easily end up benighted. If that happens we want to be able to stay safe, but also still have fun on the offroad sections in the dark.

Word to the wise for Escapade owners: Whilst this ride is all very much in the gravel realm, and totally doable on an Escapade, it needs to be an Escapade with reasonably offroad capable tyres. It's the UK in February, so mud will feature, along with extended sections of singletrack. In reference to the tyres we sell on the bikes, on 650b something like a WTB Byway or Panaracer Gravel King would be great, but the Horizon won't. On 700c, the Continental SC2 or GP4 Season tyres won't cut it, but WTB Resolute's or Raddler's would be great. If you're unsure, let us know what you're running when you email for your ticket.

I will be riding, and Sam and a couple of the other staff will be joining us. We will have the medium and large Cascade and medium and large Escapade demo bikes available too, so if you are drop bar curious and would like to join then add in which bike you are keen to have a go on when you email for a ticket.

This will be the first of many HQ Friday Ride Outs. We're not sure if we will manage monthly yet, but we will certainly be doing more. Our newsletter email subscribers heard about this a couple of weeks ago, so you'll need to sign up to hear about the rides first.

Cotic Email List - Sign Up Here

Remember, it doesn't matter if you bought your Cotic brand new from us or second hand; if you own a Cotic, you are in the Cotic CC. We're looking forward to seeing you gravel guys and gals for a spin.

Hopefully we'll see you on the 24th.

Cheers,

Cy