Many bike shops organize evening group rides, and I thought that I'd collect together some info about the ones that happen in the Lausanne region.
The Bike is a shop in Pully (which is about 2km east of Lausanne).
- Road rides leave from their shop on Wednesdays, meeting at the shop at 18:20-18:30 and departing at 18:35 sharp. Their website says that the ride is for "all levels," but these tend to be very intense rides and you'll need to be pretty fit already. These rides started on April 1st, 2009.
- The Wednesday event above is for everyone, but on Thursday they also have a "Girls special" ride, also meeting at 18:20-18:30 and departing at 18:35 sharp. These rides started on April 2nd, 2009.
BBR Cycles is a shop in Le Mont-sur-Lausanne (which is about 5km north of Lausanne).
- Road rides leave from their shop on Thursdays at 18:30. These rides will start on April 23rd, 2009.
Cyclophile Lausannois are an organization who organize various cycling events around the Lausanne region.
- Mountain bike rides leave from Chalet-a-Gobet (which is about 5km northeast of Lausanne) starting at 18:00 every Tuesday. These have already started.
- It does not appear that they organize training rides on the road, but they do organize a local race series on the roads during the Spring on local loops, see here. These have various categories to accommodate all levels of rider.
- They also organize track cycling and cyclocross events, see their website for more info.
Cycles Froidevaux is a shop in Morges (which is about 10km west of Lausanne).
- Road rides leave from their shop on Tuesdays at 18:45 sharp. Reasonably fast, and often head into the Jura mountains. These rides started in early April.
If anyone knows of other events, then please post the info below, and I will then update this list.
Most of the participants in these rides will be locals, so the main language will obviously be French, but you may find some English-speakers in the group, and if not then it'll be a good chance to practice your French. I know nothing about the intensity of these rides since I have not yet participated in any. However, I may start doing so, and if I do then I'll update this thread.