Rider Stories: Rose Carey

In the lead up to the Summer Gathering, we caught up with Rose Carey who’s been to two of them!
Rose already knew a few people who would be coming to the first ever gathering, but she didn’t realise that she would meet her future housemate and adventure buddy!
Last year Rose returned to party with us and made more new friends and also bumped into familiar faces. We asked Rose a few questions about her experience and how she ended up living with another rider…

You’ve been to two of the three Summer Gatherings. How did you end up at the first one and how were they?

I knew it was a great concept. Getting a bunch of people together, ride bikes, share skills, share dinners, what’s not to like? There's always like a couple of different levels of routes as well, which is good because I was really nervous that I wasn't a very good rider. Before the first Summer Gathering I’d done a bit of bike touring. I'd done two long distance multi-day ride trips before which got me into the idea of going further than into town. The first was a charity ride from Bristol to Paris and the second was a trip on a Eurovelo route along the coast in Portugal. They were both on road bikes and it was all very smooth and lovely. We were camping so that was the first time I put bags on my bike.

The by the time Sisters in the Wild came around I had gotten a gravel bike and was ready to explore off-road! It was a steep, but very enjoyable, learning curve of skills! I went from just getting out a bit to doing all sorts of riding on different terrain. To be honest, I haven't looked back. 

I was away for the second Summer Gathering and I got really bad FOMO so decided I must get a ticket for the third one. I did get one, and found a friend, Alice, to lift share and ride with. The third one was great as well. It had grown in popularity and size and I bumped into quite a few people that I knew from other walks of life! I was like, “oh my God I didn't know you rode, that's cool!”

How did you find meeting people at the Summer Gatherings?

It’s so relaxed, most people are just up for a social ride. They aren't wanting to go fast and there’s a variety of different routes each day. Even if you all leave at different speeds, you're going to be passing little bundles of groups on the same routes, either stopping to have snacks, a good photo point or sorting a puncture or something. You can ride out with people, or share snacks and merge with different people throughout the day.

At no point was I ever riding alone and rode with so many different people. Everything was very fluid. Take snacks. You make friends!

So you had someone you met at the Summer Gathering move in with you? Tell us more.

I met Abby at the first Sisters in the Wild Summer Gathering. We rode together on one of the days and I remember chatting to her on one of the evenings. We spent time together but we weren't glued at the hip, it wasn't anything like that. But, we did get on, and we followed each other on Instagram as you do. 

A good while later she put a post out saying, “I'm thinking of moving to Bristol, anyone got a room to rent.” I’d never had a housemate before but we’d gotten along and we both liked cycling so I offered her a room in my house.

I figured I’d met her when she was tired and hungry and we still got along, so I was sure it would be fine…and it was great. We had an awesome summer together and even rode the Torino Nice Rally!

And what’s next for you?

I’m gearing up to do the Veneto Trail this summer. It’s a beautiful rally in The Dolomites so I’m expecting lots of climbs and lots of amazing views! After that, who knows.

Tickets for this year’s Sisters in the Wild Summer Gathering have now sold out. If you want a taste of epic riding with chilled basecamp vibes you can still book a spot on our magical Scotland Gravel Camp, 11-15 July.