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You’ll find here some basic rules and etiquette of group riding that everyone should be aware of when riding in a group. Enjoy a safe ride!

Welcome to the BBB bunch!
BBB organises recreational rides adapted to everybody. Never forget a recreational-group is not a race-group 🙂
We are a large, growing club, regularly welcoming new riders. All riders should be tolerant, responsible and willing to help others within the group in a friendly manner.

General guidelines
When riding in a peloton, everyone is responsible for the safety of the group. We hope that this guide will assist in promoting safe riding, increase your enjoyment on the ride with the aim of getting everyone back home in one piece.

• Abide by the road rules.
• Wearing a helmet is compulsory.
• Ensure you ride with lights when required.
• Ensure your bike is in good working order.
• Communicate in the bunch. Call out hazards and anticipate lane changes.
• Never leave a rider behind.
• Support people who have flat tires or other mechanical issues.
• In the case of ‘’no-drop rides’’: be aware of riders that are off the back or caught at lights. Slow or stop to let them rejoin.
• Respect Road Captains. They are responsible for the ride.
• Ride as a Club… wear your club kit.

Abide by the road-rules
You’ll find here some of the specific rules for people riding in a peloton.

• Ride in single or double file.
• Allow incoming and read traffic to pass/overtake group when needed.
• Keep to cyclepath if <15.
• Respect priorities and traffic lights.

Communicate in the bunch

• Call out hazards.
• Anticipate lane changes.
• Communicate clearly ! Shout loud, using words such as “pas op”, “attention”, “watch out”…whatever the language 🙂

Mon groupe est-il un groupe au sens de la loi ?

• En-dessous de 15 cyclistes, les règles applicables aux cyclistes isolés s’appliquent toujours, et notamment l’obligation de circulation sur les pistes cyclables (quand elles sont praticables sans risque).
• Au-dessus de 15 cyclistes, le groupe peut choisir d’appliquer les règles dédiées aux cyclistes isolés ou bien d’appliquer les règles destinées aux cyclistes en groupe.

Quelles sont les règles applicables aux cyclistes en groupe ?

• Vous n’êtes pas obligé d’emprunter les pistes cyclables.
• Vous pouvez rouler en permanence à deux de front sur la chaussée, à condition de rester groupés.
• Sur une chaussée sans bandes de circulation, ne pas dépasser l’équivalent de la largeur d’une bande (± 3 m) et, en aucun cas, la moitié de la chaussée.
• Sur une chaussée divisée en bandes : bande de droite uniquement.

Quelles sont les préconisations de Brussels Big Brackets ?

Dans le cadre de sorties officiellement organisées par Brussels Big Brackets :

• les groupes de 20 cyclistes ou moins sont privilégiés;
• des capitaines de route âgés de 21 ans ou plus et porteurs d’un brassard qui les identifie guident et régulent le groupe;
• l’usage des pistes cyclables est privilégiée quand la sécurité du groupe n’est pas mis en péril (notamment par la vitesse ou le mauvais état d’une piste) – et obligatoire quand les cyclistes sont moins de 15 et/ou quand le groupe n’est pas compact.

Due to strict insurance requirements, all participants must be fully-fledged members of the Brussels Big Brackets Cycling Club to ride with us on Sunday.

Ride-registration steps are described below. 
Should you need help or any further information, please DM us or send us an e-mail: contact@brusselsbigbrackets.eu 

1. Ask us to join our strava “invite only” club (members only)
👉  https://www.strava.com/clubs/brusselsbigbrackets
If you use a nickname, tell us… it’s not easy to recognize everyone 🙂

2. Navigate through the “club events”

3. Choose one of the groups we propose for the ride

4. Confirm your choice with the button “I’m in”

To easily download the routes we ride…
🗺 Routes can easily be downloaded through Strava website, directly in the event you take part-in… but unfortunately not through Strava app.
👉 To Strava website: https://www.strava.com/
👉 All BBB routes are available here: https://brusselsbigbrackets.eu/routes

📲You can easily sync our strava routes to your Garmin device.
Check-out this tutorial 👉Sync routes with your Garmin

We do! And it’s not about testing your skills or your level.
Test-rides allow you to discover who we are and what we do.

We organise “test-rides” on a regular basis.
For more info and registration, check-out our membership page.

Test-rides are allowed provided that you are personally properly insured.
Please note that we appreciate you tell us what you think afterwards.

Welcome to Belgium. The weather is often rainy and windy, that’s how it is! Always remember this Norwegian or Swedish proverb that perfectly suits to our country: “There is no bad weather, there are only bad clothes”. 

When and why do you cancel rides?
We cancel the rides only when riding is dangerous, that’s to say in two cases:

• when the road is icy;
• when the wind is too strong.

How will I be notified of a late cancellation?
As the forecasts are not always reliable, we check the weather forecast on the morning of the ride. If we cancel the ride, we will announce it on our Strava Club. If in doubt, check before you get out of bed!

Where do you find the weather forecast information?
We use the WeatherPro app to see what the forecast will look like (wind direction and force, forecasted rainfall…). We use myWindsock, which provides forecasts dedicated to cyclists, with a focus on wind direction.
We do consider the alerts and forecasts provided by Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium.
The website about parks and gardens provided Brussels Environment allows us to know if our meeting point in the Bois de la Cambre is accessible or not.

Are the canceled rides replaced by virtual rides?
Yes ! When it’s obvious that we’ll have to cancel the ride and that we can announce it early during the week before, we set-up a “BBB x Zwift meet-up”. Keep an eye on the facebook group and or the Strava Club! 

All good ideas and initiatives are welcome!

About “unofficial rides” 
Please feel free to propose other rides directly through the facebook group. 
If you intend to join such unofficial rides, please ensure that you have adequate personal insurances in place in case of an accident.

About activity suggestions
Club members may wish to create an ad-hoc ride or invite other members to participate in an event. This can be organised on an individual basis, or can be discussed, organised and communicated through the club communication channels. Do no hesitate to contact us (contact@brusselsbigbrackets.eu)

Some of us take part, on an individual basis, in the Tour de Wavre or the Tour de Huldenberg organized by our partners and friends from Hors Catégorie every Tuesday evening (18.30 – from April to late September, for Hors Catégorie members only). Check-out the schedule and registration modalities with them directly before you join!