What are the Birthday Rides? 

In the 1970s CTC decided to run a week-long cycling holiday as a build up to a big celebration on our centenary in 1978. The idea was such a success that it has kept going ever since and become one of CTC's flagship events.

Each year, anything from a few hundred to over a thousand cyclists gather for a week of cycling and other social activities. The event is based at a fixed centre with the venue moving around the country each year. Whilst the rides always used to take place during the week which included the 5th August - the actual date on which CTC was founded at a cyclists' meet in Harrogate, Yorkshire - this is no longer the case. Finding suitable venues is a hard job without the added burden of date inflexibility.  However, whatever the week chosen, on one of the days there is an organised tea party where CTC's original birth date is celebrated.

Moving around the country as they do, the rides provide a perfect showcase for the local organising group to show off their region and its best rides. Volunteer group members plan rides for each day, from short family jaunts to demanding challenges, and the routes themselves become a permanent legacy of the week available normally anytime afterwards from the Touring Department at CTC's National Office.

2010 Birthday Rides

Falmouth, Cornwall ~ 19 - 25th August 2010