Run from 1984 to 2010 by Nottinghamshire County Council, this annual programme of short and middle distance rides was started by Pedals in 1983 to encourage more people into the saddle.
 
With the recent cutbacks in County Council spending they decided to stop running the Rural Rides programme from 2011 and Ridewise is now managing the programe with the strong support of Pedals.

We are keen to make sure that the new Rural Rides for All Programme is still county-wide and closely linked with health and community organisations wanting to develop cycling.

• If you can help please organise a ride for 2012 please download this form here and return it to Mark O'Reilly at Ridewise, email: bikeloan [at] ridewise [dot] org [dot] uk . Thanks!
  

  
  
  Group photo with ride leaders etc., taken at the Rural Rides for All Celebration Evening at the Lenton Centre on 6 December 2011 (Acknowledgements: Nottingham Post).

• The 2011 RRFA flyer can be downloaded below
  

In early April 2011 Helen McCullen was appointed to help Ridewise in the wider promotion of the new Rural Rides for All Programme throughout the county. Working part-time in the next few months she will be making personal contact with a wide variety of community groups and any other groups with an interest in cycling, as well as helping to get more people to volunteer to lead rides. Funding for this post, the successful restult of a joint Pedals-Ridewise bid for funding to the Peoples' Lottery Awards for All Scheme, ran until December 2011 and a summary of the RRFA 2011 work can be downloaded here.

More information from on ruralridesforall [at] ridewise [dot] org [dot] uk


Photo: Helen McCullen, 2011

Below are some pictures from past Rural Rides, when the programme was still being run by Notts. County Council, with support from many Pedals and local CTC members.

Rural Ride from Trent Bridge (County Hall) to Radcliffe on Trent via the National Water
Sports Centre at Holme Pierrepont on 16 June 2010

Other rural ride photos from previous years:

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  For details of the future Guided Rides programme to be run by Ridewise from 2011 contact: Graham Hubbard, Ridewise Coordinator, email: ridewise [at] hotmail [dot] com
  

Photos from some early Rural Rides in the 1980s after the programme was started by Pedals, before being taken over by Nottinghamshire County Council in 1984:

and a ride starting from outside the Council House in 1988, run jointly with Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust:

Rural ride to Wysall:

ride from the top of Queen's Bridge Road (by Nottingham Station) in 1999 to launch the third edition of the Pedal Pushers Guide to Nottingham