Summer is here, let’s ride!

Seacoast Area Bicycle Riders (SABR) offers free group rides for all levels and types of riders. As we emerge from the pandemic and look for safe ways to congregate, SABR is hosting slow rolls on the Seacoast. Slow rolls are about taking your time and enjoying where you are. It’s the ‘no judgment zone’ of bicycling — riding at an easy, convivial pace while touring through neighborhoods.

“Slow rolls” were started in 2010 by two friends in Detroit. What started out as a handful of friends riding together at a slow pace spread to hundreds, then to thousands of riders in Detroit, then followed by other cities across the country. These rides are meant to foster a sense of community. Slow rolls are inclusive of all ages, abilities, backgrounds and bikes. Detroit – synonymous with cars and urban blight- has been reborn as a bike city thanks to slow rolls.

Since 2010, every major city in the US has had a slow roll. Not far from us, the informal “Portland Bike Party” group hosts monthly family friendly group rides that often end at a playground or by the waterfront.

SABR’s first one on May 22 started from the PortCity Maker Space and took us around Portsmouth via Pease and ended at Loaded Question brewery. There were riders on different kinds of bikes: e-bikes, old fashioned cruisers, road bikes and even two recumbent bikes. Our second slow roll in early June took the Newington loop (GPS route available here https://seacoastbikes.org/where-to-ride/) for an eleven mile, under 10-mile an hour ride.

SABR does not offer technical assistance but we have people on the ride who can help with a flat if needed. If you do not have your own bike, our friends at the Pedego Portsmouth store rent e-bikes with a slow roll discount ($15 off the day pass) on the day of the event.

Our next scheduled slow roll is Saturday, June 26, 3:00 pm starting at Mitchell Elementary school (7 School Ln, Kittery Point). We will ride to York, stopping in York Village for ice cream. The ride is close to 12 miles and it starts with a bit of a hill. 

For longer rides (and at a bit faster pace but still very casual), SABR will host its 3rd “Throwback Ride” loop on Saturday July 10th, at 8 am (arrive at 7:45) starting at Throwback Brewery in North Hampton. Three different length rides will be available, 15 miles, 30 miles and 60 miles.  The 15-mile loop is a flat loop that runs through the back roads of North Hampton and Rye and will be fully marked. The 30-mile ride includes some hills and will take riders through North Hampton, Rye, Greenland and Stratham and will also be fully marked. The 60-mile ride will take riders through some of the prettiest back roads of the Seacoast in Stratham and Exeter.  The 60-mile loop will not be marked but the GPX files will be available for all of the rides on the SABR website.

To learn more and RSVP to all rides, email SABR at [email protected] and specify which ride you are interested in (slow roll on June 26 or July 10 Throwback Rides). We’ll send out an email the day before if the event is cancelled due to weather. Follow us on Facebook for last minute info too! All riders are asked to sign a waiver before the start. The waiver can be signed on-line or at the event.  Rides are free. Tell your friends about SABR!

SABR (Seacoast Area Bike Riders) works to create and promote a vibrant bicycling culture and bike infrastructure in the Greater Seacoast Region of New Hampshire and Maine.  Visit www.seacoastbikes.org and https://www.facebook.com/seacoastbikes