On yer bike!

If you're looking for something active to do this summer, a bike ride is a pretty good start. An afternoon's fun in the sun, no pressure to keep up with the leaders and you can raise some money for charities if that's what you like doing.

The London to Brighton bike ride, probably the country's most famous charity ride, is already fully booked, but there are a couple of more local rides available this summer which don't involve much tarvel to and from the start, since they start in St Albans.

The first outing, on Sunday 16 May, is the St Albans Rotary bike ride. It's been going for many years and is very well organised with marshals and mobile mechanical support. Starting from Oaklands College between 8:45 and 9:45, riders can cycle 10,20,30 or 40 mile routes through the local countryside to raise money for a number of charities. There are plenty of facilities available at Oaklands and riders get a free t-shirt and medal..

Booking is £15 (for adults) in advance, and you can book in on the day for an additional fiver. Booking forms are on the website.

A month later on Sunday 20 June, Verulam Cycling Club hosts the Ride for a Reason event. This is a slightly more strenuous, with courses of 20,30,40 and 64 miles, mostly marshalled with refreshments en route. You can even book a free post ride massage! The ride happens on the same day as the London to Brighton ride on 20th June and is part of Bike Week. Entry is £7 before 14 June but you can enter on the day. There's no set charity but you can raise money for a charity of your choice.

If you don't ride a bike much you'll need to do a bit of training in advance to make the ride more comfortable. This doesn't mean getting up at the crack of dawn and covering hundreds of miles, easy evening rides to build up a bit of stamina are really all you need to do. Riding a bike to work is always a good idea too!

I'm going to do both- 40 miles at the rotary ride and 64 for ride for a reason. Why don't you come along- you don't need to to the full distance, just join in on one of the shorter routes and enjoy yourself. We could run a StAlbansPeople team...