The Cogals

Cogals (pronounce it correctly: kog-al) are meetings of like-minded misfits brought together by the promise of beer, preceded by a bike ride. Cogals are free, open to all, organized by our fellow Velominati and are always followed by consumption of post-ride recovery ales and merriment. These are gatherings of unbridled observance of Rule #4.

Cogals differ themselves from other group rides by the meeting the following criteria:

  • First, Cogals are free, organized and supported through Velominati, though not necessarily a Keeper. Anyone is welcome to join a Cogal. Legally speaking, however, we have no involvement, so if you crash or die, it’s your own problem. Please be careful to study the route previously and take precautionary measures to stay safe.
  • Second, a Cogal is a day-long undertaking that focuses 100% on the bike. The rides are categorized (Casually Deliberate,  Rule #5,  Rule #10, for example) but are long. This is what you’re doing today, nothing else; see  Rule #4. Rides can be any length, but a minimum distance of 130km should be expected.
  • Third, Cogals always include a session of Malted Recovery Beverage Consumption after the ride. Whenever possible, it should also include a pre-ride espresso.

Not all the events in The Cogals are actual Cogals. We also post rides and events that are of interest to the community, as well as Keepers Tours, which are Velominati-hosted, paid cycling Tours tailored to the tastes of a velominatus.

Any member of the community is welcomed to organize a Cogal. If interested, either post your interest below or email us with the following information:

  • Date of Cogal
  • Starting Address (ideally somewhere neutral, like a café or park)
  • Route (MapMyRide, Bikely, or Strava)
  • Ride Classification (Casually Deliberate, Rule V, Rule VV, or suggest another)
  • A paragraph describing the Cogal

Upcoming Cogals

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Submit Your Own Cogal:

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  • Haven't really thought of a date yet, maybe something in late August or early September? That way the midges should have eased off a little bit but the weather should still be ok...

  • That sounds like a plan, I dare say I could hire a hard tail from somewhere, maybe even get something with a rigid fork. Is the such a thing in the MTB world nowadays? Or what would be the general consensus on taking the Domane after all it does have 25mm tyres!

    i would prefer as early in August as possible.

    for the classics type cogal it would be better in rule9 weather anyway, so maybe sometime in November?

  • @the-farmer

    Be careful taking the Domane off road. Way too nice for that. How tall are you? I have a hard tail mtb although I could also try to source something CX like from a club mate.

    In Scotland we can get rule #9 weather at any time of the year.

  • The track along Gleann Gaoithe is pretty rough, so a CX bike is probably the best choice, and I doubt you could actually get up the climb from Loch Lomond on a standard road crankset, even a compact would be a massive challenge!

    I think I will be on my mountain bike, rather than my touring bike as it weighs a tonne! Even though it's the closest thing I have to a CX bike, it's definitely not a quick bike...

  • @campbellrae1

    The track along Gleann Gaoithe is pretty rough, so a CX bike is probably the best choice, and I doubt you could actually get up the climb from Loch Lomond on a standard road crankset, even a compact would be a massive challenge!

    I think I will be on my mountain bike, rather than my touring bike as it weighs a tonne! Even though it's the closest thing I have to a CX bike, it's definitely not a quick bike...

    Sshit. My CX is a compact because I use it mostly for commuting. I like a challenge though, put a 27 on the back or leave the 25?

  • @JohnB

    @campbellrae1

    The track along Gleann Gaoithe is pretty rough, so a CX bike is probably the best choice, and I doubt you could actually get up the climb from Loch Lomond on a standard road crankset, even a compact would be a massive challenge!

    I think I will be on my mountain bike, rather than my touring bike as it weighs a tonne! Even though it's the closest thing I have to a CX bike, it's definitely not a quick bike...

    Sshit. My CX is a compact because I use it mostly for commuting. I like a challenge though, put a 27 on the back or leave the 25?

    My CX rig has 46/36 chainrings so the 34 on a compact would be better n'est pas?  Um, biggest sprocket is a ludicrous 32, to be changed when I put the 10 speed levers on.

  • @JohnB Definetly go for the biggest rear sprocket you can! The climb is quite short, certainly less than 2km, but the gradient is unrelenting. I think it climbs 340m, so that's an average of just over 17%, but the straights hit 30% or more, almost cetainly more! Should be fun.

     

    @snoov The 32 will probably be quite welcome!

     

    Other than that one climb, the rest is pretty managable, and once you are at the top, it's mostly downhill or flat for the next 20 odd km so plenty of time for the guns to recover before climbing over the Menteith Hills and down around Loch Venachar. @the Engine mentioned the loop around Glen Finglas previously, I haven't ridden it before so not sure how it is, but that could be added on the far side of the loch if it is good or even rideable?!

  • This is the sort of route I had in mind, although it is a little different in that we turn off Loch Lomond at the Glen one south of Inversnaid, but Map My Ride wont pick it up as the 2 tracks don't quite meet! So in reality we would be following the reverse of the strava route posted below for around 45km before heading into Aberfoyle and then following the Map My ride route.

    http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/240153005

    http://app.strava.com/activities/18926981

    Let me know what you think!

    Campbell.

  • @campbellrae1

    This is the sort of route I had in mind, although it is a little different in that we turn off Loch Lomond at the Glen one south of Inversnaid, but Map My Ride wont pick it up as the 2 tracks don't quite meet! So in reality we would be following the reverse of the strava route posted below for around 45km before heading into Aberfoyle and then following the Map My ride route.

    http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/240153005

    http://app.strava.com/activities/18926981

    Let me know what you think!

    Campbell.

    Not getting the map my ride link but got the strava one. Description is good enough for me. What do you other guys think?

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