Fifty Plus (50+) - The New Guy On The Club Ride

So Saturday my club had its New Member Ride. A nice opportunity to get large numbers of club members together with newer members. As usual, I swept the D ride (11-12mph). We meet at a local train station parking lot (this is important later on) and park there because parking is free on weekends.

One guy shows up with a newish low-end Trek (probably 3 yrs old, but it looks unused). He's wearing a snow bike helmet. Think full head-coverage football helmet (or maybe even motorcycle helmet), but with even more padding, a full layer of insulation, and no ventilation (but technically legal since it does have all the appropriate SNELL certifications). He's also wearing a long-sleeve black technical tee and a black fleece vest. On a day forecasted to be 82-85 degrees with no clouds and a strong sun. When I suggest that he might not be very comfortable he assures me that he'll be just fine and that he's "... in very good shape ...". Hokay.

Club president gives the usual safety speech and says a couple of words to the new members -- especially the words about how to ride in a group and if you're not really familiar with the bike/experienced with the bike, this is not a good ride for you. I ask this guy if he's okay with all that and he says that he's "... in very good shape ...". Hokay.

About a mile from the start we hit open road (a nicely maintained bike lane running next to a busy road) and start picking up the pace, but he's falling further and further behind. I close the distance to him and see that he's in the lowest possible gear and pedaling furiously (had to have been 120 or 130 rpm). So I suggest that he might want to shift to a higher gear. He nods and immediately hits the brakes -- almost a panic stop -- without any warning. My choices are (1) hit him, (2) swerve out into the traffic that's doing 40mph, or (3) go up on the curb. I go up on the curb, get unclipped just in time but fall and gash my right ankle.

"Why the !#^@*!! did you stop", I ask. "Oh, so I could change gears", he answers. In other words, he hasn't the foggiest notion how to change gears. I'm not at ALL interested in teaching him, but two other long-standing club members circle back, hear the problem, and give him a Cliff-Notes version of how to change gears while I stop my ankle from bleeding.

Yes, I probably shouldn't have been that close to him, but I WAS trying to talk to him at the time.

Anyway, we eventually proceed, with him and three others falling further and further behind to the point where I'm now leading a very slow group instead of sweeping the normally slow group. At the next light, one of the women in this very slow group is complaining about how hard it is to pedal, even on the flats and downhills. I look at her bike and see two things: (1) the front wheel is on reversed (the quick release lever is on the right instead of the left and is tightened WAAAY too tight, and (b) the front brake cable is so taut that the front brake is fully engage while she's riding. It's amazing that she didn't go over the handlebars but because the brake was fully engaged she couldn't get up enough speed to go over the handlebars. Turns out it's a new bike that she picked up that morning from her LBS. I do NOT want to mess with the brake cable (what if I make them too loose and her brake stops working?), so I tell her to walk back to the start.

Meanwhile, the Mr. Helmet is also struggling up hills. His wheels are turning freely, but now I notice that he's in one of the higher gearings possible. "Well, I thought I was in good shape", is the only reply he gives when I suggest that he might want to downshift for hills. His face is literally beet red and I've never seen someone sweating that badly. When I suggest that he might want to take off the fleece vest, he tells me that he's "... in very good shape ...". Hokay.

I do drop back about 500 yards every time I see him reach for a shift lever.

We inch our way forward to the turnaround point. At one point, I notice Mr. Helmet take something out of his backpack and start holding it against his handlebar while he's riding. I move in and see that it's a !@#%!^^* Blackberry, and he's busy texting. I tell him to put it away before I take it away from him. I'm not sure that I can take it away from him, but fate intervenes in the form of a pothole that he doesn't see until too late, and his Blackberry is now a nice jigsaw puzzle spread out across the road. The tires of an oncoming car administer the coup de grace to the thing.

On the way back, we have to take this steep hill (it WAS fun going down the hill). I'm in the lead, followed by a woman (who knows what she's doing but is out of shape), followed by another guy (who also knows what he is doing but is out of shape), and then Mr. Helmet. The woman and I make it to the top, but no sign of the other two. I mean, we can't see them from the top of the hill (there are some hidden spots due to trees, dips in the hill, and parked cars). We wait and wait and wait, but nothing. Finally, another rider comes up the hill. "Did you see two riders down there?" I ask. "Nope, nobody", he says. Nothing to do but head down the hill, where we promptly come upon my two riders about half-way down. They're both off their bikes.

The other guy is busy working on Mr. Helmet's bike. It seems that Mr. Helmet's entire rear wheel simply came off the bike. Best guess is that the quick release wasn't clamped down. In coming off, it's done some serious damage to the derailleur (sp?). It takes about 20 minutes of work, including some borrowed tools from a nearby homeowner, but the other guy has things put back together enough that we can continue as long as we don't have to take that big hill. By the way, during all of this, Mr. Helmet is sitting under a tree looking like he's going to die and repeating over and over again "I thought I was in good shape".

We have to go about a mile out of our way to avoid the big hill, but eventually we're about 1-1/2 miles from the parking lot where the cars are parked when disaster really strikes. Mr. Helmet's derailleur separates from the frame -- the metal has snapped -- wraps the chain around his frame, and takes out about the half the spokes on his rear wheel. It's probably a result of the damage done in the first incident, and he ain't going anywhere. So I ride back to the parking lot with the others, get my car, drive back to this guy (who is sprawled out in the shade looking like death warmed over), put his bike on my rack, and drive back to the parking lot.

Only his car isn't in the parking lot where we were supposed to park. "Oh, it's over there" he says, pointing to the parking lot of a Chinese restaurant across the street from the train station parking lot. Except it's not. Because the Chinese restaurant, being awfully sensitive to commuters who park in their lot, has a towing policy (and lots of big signs warning about it). And they've had his car towed.

Once again, I'm not feeling terriby charitable towards this guy, so I leave his bike, the phone number of a local cab company, and let him deal with getting his car from the towing company.

Well, I had thought about starting a new member ride in our club but after hearing this story I'm having second thoughts:eek:

So how'd your Saturday ride go?

How's your bike after jumping the curb? ;)

So when is your next turn as sweep rider? :)

Sounds like the least that should be done is an "inspection ride" in the parking lot, where the new riders could just do a couple of laps to test their shifters and brakes. That way you might spot riders who don't know what they're doing as well as bikes that aren't working right.

That was hilarious, I'm just about ready to go for a ride and I think I'll probably be laughing most of the way, thinking about your story. That was great, thanks for sharing your day in hell.

Maybe some qualifiers should be required, even for a new member ride. The Tour of the Scioto River Valley (TOSRV) requires riders to have a hefty number of miles under their belt in the months preceding the ride. Perhaps it would not be out of line to ask new riders to have at least one hundred miles on the bike they intend to ride done within the last month or so. That should shake out some of the real problems.

How's your bike after jumping the curb? ;)

Actually okay, thanks for asking. I took it to my LBS (not the one that the woman with the bad brakes was using) and they checked the wheel and everything. It was a curved curb, and not the usual right angle.

Great story, doesn't your group have beginner rides? The group I ride with will regulate you to beginners if you don't look qualified or say it is your first group ride. This is a reason I like to ride with the A group, if your dropped your on your own, everyone knows how to change a flat and are quick about it, no silly calling out of every little thing on the road and no stopping. It makes the whole thing more enjoyable as long as you can handle the 23mph pace for 40mi.

So when is your next turn as sweep rider? :)

Sounds like the least that should be done is an "inspection ride" in the parking lot, where the new riders could just do a couple of laps to test their shifters and brakes. That way you might spot riders who don't know what they're doing as well as bikes that aren't working right.

I like both the "inspection" ride requirement and the idea of the minimum 100 miles requirement. I'm going to propose that at the next club meeting. Thanks for the ideas.

I just want to know if Mr. Helmet ever comes back for another ride. Now that would be worthy of a TV series.

Perhaps some of the regular riders could meet the newbies some time before the ride and bring them up to speed gradually. Some of these folks need classroom time before mounting a bike.

The moral is: "If your inviting newbies expect NEWbies"

How to shift, when to shift, what to wear, riding conventions, how to deal with traffic, lights, signs, other riders. What to eat, drink. How to pump up tires, what to bring and seemingly even where to park. Real newbies require diaper changing and that might be a useful start for a New Members Ride.

Not many break out of the shell clipped in and spinning.

I had much better luck leading my sweeps ride this past Sunday (http://www.brucew.com/blog/2007/07/08/359).

Of course, our club's "Slow and Easy" ride series sounds closer to your club's Sweeps rides. Our sweeps bridge the gap between S&E and the regular club rides. The suggested pace is 12-13.

Also in our Ride Leader's Handbook is the suggestion that "Sometimes the best help you can give a new rider is the phone number of a good bike shop."

I like both the "inspection" ride requirement and the idea of the minimum 100 miles requirement. I'm going to propose that at the next club meeting. Thanks for the ideas.

So, you really don't want newbies at the new guy ride? You want experienced riders at the new "experienced..bies" ride.

I just want to know if Mr. Helmet ever comes back for another ride. Now that would be worthy of a TV series.

And if he doesn't come back bicycling is the worse for it!

I just want to know if Mr. Helmet ever comes back for another ride. Now that would be worthy of a TV series.

If he's anything like the "all speed-no skill" rider who joined us for a few rides earlier this year, you'll never see them again.

So, you really don't want newbies at the new guy ride? You want experienced riders at the new "experienced..bies" ride.

Well, it is a New Member ride, not a New Rider ride.

It's probably a good idea for the club to add a new rider ride, or maybe a new rider workshop or something like that, but this specifically said people who have some experience with the bicycle.

Thanks for the story - a great read! I especially liked the Blackberry outcome - priceless!

Thanks for further validation of the joys of riding alone.

Well, you know, I really thought I was in good shape...:)

Those blackberries are expensive and make horrid pie.

I'm still terrified of any sort of club ride. When Stonecrd talks about maintaining a 23 mph pace for 40 miles, my fears are not allayed.

So outside of Mr. Helmet losing a Blackberry, a bike, and a car, he had a pretty good day?

At last, I have found someone that I might be able to beat on a club ride.

Thanks for further validation of the joys of riding alone.
Well said. :)

Those blackberries are expensive and make horrid pie.

I'm still terrified of any sort of club ride. When Stonecrd talks about maintaining a 23 mph pace for 40 miles, my fears are not allayed.
That's the way I felt - but this year I decided to try it. Now my 'club' ride is on Tuesday nights - a 25 miler through some rolling hills. It is not actually a club but organized by a local bike shop and 40-60 people usually ride it. I wear a heart monitor when I ride and the first time I rode it my heart was beating over 150 bpm when we just started. I was a bit over-excited to say the least.

The ride turns out to be a lot of fun - I find myself pushing myself a lot more than I normally would. It also serves as a yardstick about my progress or lack thereof. My average speed started at 17mph and peaked at 19 in late May. Because of 2 long vacations, I've only ridden it once since May and my speed had dropped to 17.5. Tonight is the next ride, because I'll be riding w/ a slower friend and the heat, I'll be happy with anything.

So if you have a chance to do a club ride, I'd suggest it, I found it to be a lot more fun than I anticipated. And if the group is a good one, you don't have to push yourself to hang with the big dawgs, even if I tried I don't think I could ever hang with the lead group on this ride.

So outside of Mr. Helmet losing a Blackberry, a bike, and a car, he had a pretty good day?

At last, I have found someone that I might be able to beat on a club ride.
Maybe when he finally got home, he found his wife had packed up and left.:eek:

Great story to start a great thread, very funny! And I realize how funny this is because I have become so capable of laughing at myself.

That is the best story I have heard in a long time. And the Blackberry part......made me LOL.
You did a great job bringing the story to life. I was right there with you.

Agree with everyone else. That was an excellent post, well written. Worthy of one of the bike magazines, IMNSHO.

The Louisville Bike Club has beginners' classes designed to help people avoid this kind of debacle. As irritating as it was, you'd hate to see someone get seriously injured from not knowing what they are doing.

Humility also helps. I let folks know I'm inexperienced and they've been very nice to keep an eye out for me.

You know in giving this more thought, it really is a difficult situation. On one hand, encouraging others to take up this wonderful passion is a very good thing. Yet, there has to be some level of mechanical soundness and riding ability for the kind of ride you were describing.

Your club is faced with an interesting dilemma and challenge. While it is easy to laugh at "Mr. Helmet"and wonder how he's lived as long as he has, many of us may have been just as "green", uninformed, and inexperienced as he. At our varying stages of development we came to more fully understand the dangers inherent in riding and learned how to deal with them - hopefully in less painful ways.

I guess the real challenge your club faces is making the determination of who it wants as members and how it wants to attract these people. Do you really want a raw novice? Do you want people who have some riding experience and are looking for the "next level"? Perhaps your club wants both, but not on the same ride. If you do want the raw novice, it seem that there needs to be some way of getting them up to speed before they jump into a situation that puts them and you at risk.

I don't know much about how clubs operate, but would be really interested in hearing how other clubs deal with these issues.

You know in giving this more thought, it really is a difficult situation. On one hand, encouraging others to take up this wonderful passion is a very good thing. Yet, there has to be some level of mechanical soundness and riding ability for the kind of ride you were describing.

Your club is faced with an interesting dilemma and challenge. While it is easy to laugh at "Mr. Helmet"and wonder how he's lived as long as he has, many of us may have been just as "green", uninformed, and inexperienced as he. At our varying stages of development we came to more fully understand the dangers inherent in riding and learned how to deal with them - hopefully in less painful ways.

I guess the real challenge your club faces is making the determination of who it wants as members and how it wants to attract these people. Do you really want a raw novice? Do you want people who have some riding experience and are looking for the "next level"? Perhaps your club wants both, but not on the same ride. If you do want the raw novice, it seem that there needs to be some way of getting them up to speed before they jump into a situation that puts them and you at risk.

I don't know much about how clubs operate, but would be really interested in hearing how other clubs deal with these issues.

Excellent post. You expressed this so much better than I did.

You know in giving this more thought, it really is a difficult situation. On one hand, encouraging others to take up this wonderful passion is a very good thing. Yet, there has to be some level of mechanical soundness and riding ability for the kind of ride you were describing.

Your club is faced with an interesting dilemma and challenge. While it is easy to laugh at "Mr. Helmet"and wonder how he's lived as long as he has, many of us may have been just as "green", uninformed, and inexperienced as he. At our varying stages of development we came to more fully understand the dangers inherent in riding and learned how to deal with them - hopefully in less painful ways.

I guess the real challenge your club faces is making the determination of who it wants as members and how it wants to attract these people. Do you really want a raw novice? Do you want people who have some riding experience and are looking for the "next level"? Perhaps your club wants both, but not on the same ride. If you do want the raw novice, it seem that there needs to be some way of getting them up to speed before they jump into a situation that puts them and you at risk.

I don't know much about how clubs operate, but would be really interested in hearing how other clubs deal with these issues.

Fair question/issue.

Over the past 5 or 10 years, as the club founders have died out (literally) to be replaced by the "young turks" (mostly yuppies in their 40s), the focus of the club has moved from all-encompassing (with an extensive outreach, new rider program) to focusing on the better/faster riders. I'm probably hanging on to the left end (slow end) of the bell curve by my fingernails. The club has had no problem attracting large numbers of better/faster riders so there has been little incentive to reach out to anyone but the faster/better riders -- and the folks in the club have not shown any special interest in reaching out. A few of us older folks still make an effort, but the motto of the club might as well be "fast, faster, fastest" (what WOULD that be in Latin??).

I've sent a version of my post to the club president, along with some of the comments from this post in terms of suggestions for new rider training, etc. Maybe I can get a dialog started.

There are a lot of different clubs with different goals and attitudes. I think it is up to the club to clearly indicate what type of rides they do and up to the rider to check this out before showing up. It would be like showing up to a Cat 5 Crit race without knowing anything about pack riding or racing, you are just a danger to yourself and others.

I've sent a version of my post to the club president, along with some of the comments from this post in terms of suggestions for new rider training, etc. Maybe I can get a dialog started.


Good luck. I think it's an effort worth making. It could be that some of the young guns haven't thought about the reality that with more people riding the roads, it makes it safer for all of us.

May I suggest that for Mr. Helmet and others who haven't actually spent much time on a bike that some orange cones be set up in a parking lot and they could do laps around the cones.

I don't understand the mentality of going on a group ride without doing some basic conditioning first and making sure you have a bike in working order (riding it would be a good test). I just wouldn't have the patience to deal with this.

Great story though.

Hilarious! It's as if "Mr Helmet" set out to accomplish every possible bone-headed newbie gaff all at once! Texting on the Blackberry, though, that's priceless. Then his car being towed....too much!

I guess I don't understand the mentality either, Denny, of going on a ride and not being absolutely sure I can keep the posted pace. I would be too embarrassed to be the one who gets spit off the back or slows everyone else down 'cuz I can't keep up. I guess this wouldn't bother some folks, apparently.

This harkens me back to my first club ride I attempted after putting in a lot of solo miles on the bike path, mostly. I was getting tired of riding the same route alone. I was the only newbie w/a few regulars, who looked very "pro" in their attire. I honestly don't know how I worked up the nerve, but I'm glad I did. I made sure to compliment the other cyclists and ask them questions about signalling and group etiquette. I stayed to the back and remember hanging on by my fingernails, but hanging on nonetheless. My pride is the only thing that kept me going. I didn't want to be the one to slow down the group. I felt totally spent when we got back in but I kept coming back for more. The ride leader still laughs about my comment about "being out of my comfort zone". They were welcoming and helped me along so much, I am very grateful that they are that kind of club.

Colleen

Maybe some qualifiers should be required, even for a new member ride. The Tour of the Scioto River Valley (TOSRV) requires riders to have a hefty number of miles under their belt in the months preceding the ride. Perhaps it would not be out of line to ask new riders to have at least one hundred miles on the bike they intend to ride done within the last month or so. That should shake out some of the real problems.
And demonstrate knowledge of shifting!

"Agree with everyone else. That was an excellent post, well written. Worthy of one of the bike magazines, IMNSHO".

+1, as I was reading I was thinking this should be on the back page of a cycling magazine.

people who are 'new' have most likely never ridden with others...
so they have nothing to gauge by... so howz a rider to know when he/she are ready to ride in a group?
they're ready when THEY think they're ready and wanna do it - regardless of what others may think.
send them packin to the 'cone course' and you'll likely have created another lifetime solo rider.
unless they have been showed by the LBS where they bought the bike, how to shift, each attempt will be an adventure of experimentation. forget someone who bought a garagesale machine and is now 'experimenting', its like 'The Bride of Frankenbike'.
you advertise for newbies, you get newbies
expect anything and everything.
they're almost always very nice people trying to be painfully considerate, except for the occasional guy with a complex who needs to 'prove' hisself. Best cured by letting him 'prove' hisself and maintaining a large follow distance.
even on so called 'experienced' B & C rides I see lotz of 'faux pas' from riders who claim to have ridden decades...
unless you have some assurance of proficiency, a good rule of thumb is to never ride closely behind someone until you've watch them for a few miles - Rule I follow on every ride I do with a group.

I'm not being my normal obtuse-twisted humor-psycho babble, cause newbies deserve a little space, encourgement and understanding.
In return I have a bunch of fun and so much laughter I usually end up crying. I always make it a point to followup the laughter with "I remember the time I did the very same thing ..." :D
not to say the OP didn't offer all that - anyone who takes on newbies and survives deserves big kudos.

Great post - I loved it. And it's all true stuff that happens - at some point.

My wife got me into cycling because she wanted to do triathalons. She cringes now when I remind her that when she started, she didn't understand why anyone would use the easy gears or bother with shifting at all. And I cringe when I remember reinstalling her rear wheel so it rubbed on the brakes. And I won't admit how many times we fell over because we couldn't unclip quickly.

But I've been on group rides advertised as "14 MPH" and then been dropped even while averaging 20 MPH. All this stuff does happen.

I have to say the Blackberry thing is new, though...:eek:

We had a new club member join us just a couple of weeks ago. There were only about 5 of us on the ride. He is an athlete and happens to be the sports editor of our little weekly paper. He was very upfront about never having ridden in a group, asked questions and made observations, like, "Wow. You guys sure communicate a lot", as we noted hazards, said "on your left" etc. It was fun for us and good for him. But he was a strong rider and generally knew his bike.

Thanks for the story - a great read! I especially liked the Blackberry outcome - priceless!

++1 -- LOL! :roflmao: :roflmao:

By the way. Thanks all for the compliments on the writing.

Any suggestions on magazines I might try sending it to? I can't even find an address for submissions at Bicycling.

Maybe when he finally got home, he found his wife had packed up and left.:eek:

No, no, no.....when he finally got home, he found that his mother-in-law showed up unexpectedly for a month's visit. With her 2 untrained Toy Poodles. :D

By the way. Thanks all for the compliments on the writing.

Any suggestions on magazines I might try sending it to? I can't even find an address for submissions at Bicycling.

Just an idea - Reader's Digest!

people who are 'new' have most likely never ridden with others...
so they have nothing to gauge by... so howz a rider to know when he/she are ready to ride in a group?
they're ready when THEY think they're ready and wanna do it - regardless of what others may think.
send them packin to the 'cone course' and you'll likely have created another lifetime solo rider.
Great observation. I'm new to group riding this year. Its tough because not all clubs that say they have a "no drop ride" live up to that statement. Now that I've had three group rides, I realize I had nothing to be concerned about, but mostly because my average speed puts me in a faster crowd than the slower riders in the group and this club REALLY does mean no drop when they say it, with a sweep rider keeping tabs on the slowest riders.

Once again, I'm not feeling terriby charitable towards this guy, so I leave his bike, the phone number of a local cab company, and let him deal with getting his car from the towing company.


Good for you. Thats what I would have done.

Nice write up. We had our ride for people wanting to see what it's like on Sunday. I've ridden sweep on that ride before, and dropped a guy while coasting a 6 mph.
You might think twice about going to the shop that the woman got her bike from, with her brakes misadjusted that badly.

unless you have some assurance of proficiency, a good rule of thumb is to never ride closely behind someone until you've watch them for a few miles - Rule I follow on every ride I do with a group.


One of my biggest embarassments lately was being in a group, riding by a turn we should have made, and braking hard to check out the street sign. The rider behind me just missed me and started muttering to herself a bit (she might have started swearing at me but fortunately I was riding with a church group). I spent the next five miles catching up with her so I could apologize, which she graciously accepted, but she wouldn't let me pull ahead of her for nuthin'.

I knew better, of course, but when you're a noob things are not second nature to you. I'd like to think I'll never do it again but I probably will.

My assumption would be new rider, inexperienced in the ways of group rides (maybe even to riding in general). Check ride, explanations of etiquette and rules of the road . . . snot rockets to the left, lugees to the right. :rolleyes: Obviously an equipment and clothing check is a must.

Maybe a mentor approach with experienced riders taking a newbie under their wing and babying them through that first ride . . . the goal would not be how fast, but rather teaching the new riders how to have a quality ride with a group of people. (I have a friend teaching me the finer points of group riding this summer. He is trying to organize group rides and is finding solo riders who just don't understand!)

It also makes me appreciate this forum, where I've learned a lot of these lessons without the embarrassment of making those inevitable mistakes in front of a group. :p

I'm glad I ride alone.