winter bitch parade time. From November to February. Every Sunday at 11 am Meeting point on the Rheinterrasse. And then we crank off together. Two to three hours. Flat stretches on the left bank of the Rhine. Gravel sections, forest and dirty farm roads at a relaxed basic pace. In wind and weather.

While a few years ago there were still complaints that you couldn't ride such routes on a racer because you'd get yourself and the material in the water, almost the entire racing bike world is now discovering the fun that bikes in the intersection between randonneur and crosser can be. Racing bars, wide tyres, mudguard eyelets and a longer wheelbase, which made the perfect vehicle for our tours years ago, is now on everyone's lips under the name gravel bike. We are happy about that, because we simply have a lot of fun with these versatile bikes. On the road, on gravel and off-road. The Swiss army knife among racing bikes, good for everything.

Something about the material

It remains an exit for racing bikes in the broadest sense. The racing bar is and remains a must. Whether with or without gears is up to you, even with one gear you can have a lot of fun in winter. However, due to the small distance in the group and slippery paths, we ask for brakes.

Most of you can judge the tire width very well yourself, we recommend from 25mm upwards, preferably wider and with a profile. It makes sense to use hard-wearing, puncture-proof material to minimize the number of repair breaks along the way. On cold days, unwanted longer stops are poison for the interpersonal relationships within the peloton. You collect plus points with nice long fenders, they make you respected fellow riders in the group. Not everything lying on the paths in winter or bobbing in puddles dissolved in rainwater would like to be heard gnashing between the teeth of the person behind it.

It starts this year on Sunday, November 5th. We stick to our meeting point in front of the Rheinterrassen, it is established and is practically on the Rhine for trips in flat terrain. As usual, the routes will be between 60 and 80 kilometers long and the average speed will be around 25 km/h. +/- 2 km/h for those who need it very precisely. Depending on the weather conditions and the size of the group, we will increase the proportion of gravel on the rides, so join us in expecting that we will occasionally include longer sections of forest and unpaved farm roads.

We will announce the trips of the WSP on Facebook and Strava and at least communicate any special features via Facebook. We understand that not everyone wants to be registered there, but feeding an email distribution list plus a Whattsapp group at the same time is beyond our capabilities. Otherwise: just come to the Rheinterrassen on Sundays at 11:00 a.m., there will be someone there who will be fun to go for a spin with.

And what about October?

Crosstober. Nice word. Autumn is fun on the bike, nature is colorful and the rain is sometimes still a little warm. Therefore, before the fourth winter bitch parade season, we will leave the paved paths for two trips and switch to gravel, forest paths and single trails. We go gravel. We recently went with a small team to the Dutch colleagues from Pathfinder Giro as guests, had a lot of fun and were able to be inspired. We start small, both in terms of the number of passengers and the distances. The first round remains on flat terrain on the left bank of the Rhine and can come up with nasty paths around Rommerskirchen that are new for us, the second exit will then start in the Eifel. Our friend Kurt will be offering a gravel tour there with elevation gain, which is really fun in terms of the landscape and the route. We've had the pleasure and loved it. In this case, you have to organize your own journey to the Eifel, but we are happy to help you organize carpools.

Since these two gravel loops contain terrain that is complicated with large groups, we would like to ask for firm and binding commitments. If there are too many requests, unfortunately the order must decide, the starting places are limited. We have used a new tool for this. If you would like to join us in gravel, send us an email to info (at) schickemuetze Punkt de with the subject "I want gravel ONE" for the flat edition and "I want gravel TWO" for the Eifel edition. We will then send you an invitation that you can confirm.

SCHOTTERN EINS – 10/15/2017 approx. 70km

SCHOTTERN ZWEI – 29.10.2017 approx. 70km

winter bitch parade – from November 5th, 2017 to February 25th, 2018 every Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Rheinterrassen, Joseph-Beuys-Ufer 33, 40479 Düsseldorf

We're excited to be with you this year wahoo , Cafe Du Cycliste , Lake Cycling and Ritchey to be able to name four partners who will help us to get the winter season off the ground. Thank you for your support, we look forward to realizing this series with you!

Chic hat Strava Club: here

Winter bitch parade on Facebook: here