Fifty Plus (50+) - Leading my first club ride tonight

....wish me well. I'm filling in for a regular leader who is on a tour. I chose a simple route, about 25 miles, with an ice cream stop. It's a "3-star" ride, which in our club means around 14 mph. I won't push the pace as that seems to be the one thing that ticks people off the most .....hehehe, OTOH...(evil grin)

Colleen

Good luck and let us know how it goes. Leading rides can be a lot of fun.

14 mph? 1st group ride I did in my town was with an older group- They were on Road bikes- and I was on the MTB with knobblies. Only a 40 miler and took in about 5 mile of flat before the first hill. Off they went and it was 12mph. That was too slow even with my handicap of knobblies and heavy bike. Came to the first slope and the speed did not change- Long climb to the top of the hill and gravity took over on a 10%. Speed- 12mph. Then came a hill- 1 1/2 miles at 12% and the speed- 12mph. I was puffing at the top of that one- I must admit. Then down for Coffee and they found a superb cafe- but this lot were Tea Drinkers. No stimulants for this lot. Off we went again and we had done about 20 miles and I called it a day. That ride was the most boring I have ever been on in my life. As I left them I was at the bottom of one of my offroad climbs- But I have to admit that I slowed to less than 12mph on that one- More than made up for it on the downhill though.

Good luck on the ride and pics are required.

Then down for Coffee and they found a superb cafe- but this lot were Tea Drinkers. No stimulants for this lot.

FYI...Most tea has about as much caffine as coffee.

Have fun and keep to the agreed pace unless everyone says different. Nothing runs folks away from group rides better than riding faster than expected. If your roads are as hilly as most around here, 14mph average is a decent pace. Not fast, but not slow either.

[QUOTE=BluesDawg]Have fun and keep to the agreed pace unless everyone says different. Nothing runs folks away from group rides better than riding faster than expected. QUOTE]

+1

I lived in a community with a very successful bike club. One reason is that all the rides were rated for speed, and the leaders stuck to the ratings. Hence, everyone from hard-core hammerheads to ice-cream social riders were happy.

Later, I moved to a much larger community with a much smaller bike club. Every ride was a hammerfest, where slower riders were dropped like an ugly date. When I asked if they might consider social rides, I was told, "Nobody is interested." A true case of self-fulfilling prophesy.

Best of luck leading the ride. I think its really hard to set a pace, especially in hilly areas. On the other hand, 14 MPH is a nice pace.

My son told me not to take it personally, but no one showed up for my ride!! :cry: I kind of had a hunch when I arrived at 5:20 for a 5:30 start and there was one else there yet that I might be riding alone. That makes me so sad! I am a good club member (I bring fresh home roasted coffee to club events) and I'm trying really hard not to take it personally. Of the usual 7 or 8 regulars on this ride, 5 are on a tour right now, one is working lots of mandatory overtime, another just started a new job....and there's me :rolleyes:

Our roads are very flat so the posted pace for a "3-star" ride is 12-14, tending more toward 14, but that's do-able on flat roads. Our club originated as an offshoot of the Lorain County Wheelmen to accomodate people over 50, kind of like what you all have going here. But they started lowering there standards and letting younger folks in....all downhill from there, no doubt :D

But we accomodate a very wide variety of people and riders, mostly non-racer types who like to ride for fitness and fun, focusing more on the social aspect of cycling. No one ever gets dropped. If someone is having trouble keeping the pace, a more experienced rider will usually stay back with that person to help him or her along. It's really non-threatening and inviting. I am so lucky to have a club like this to ride with.

Except for the fact that no one showed up for my ride :cry: It's a good club, really, it is!

Colleen

The first ride I led, back in the mid 80's, was set for a Saturday morning, naturally it rained. No one showed up and I did the ride by myself. It happens, don't take it personally.

I did a Lorain County Wheelmen invitational ride called "Four County Metric" years ago. Nice ride...of course it rained.

That would be an interesting challenge for me. I've never been able to maintain a 14 mph average over more than about 2 miles, but all of my riding has been on dirt & gravel trails. A group like that would probably drop me after a few miles, but it would be interesting to see how long I could maintain that speed on flat terrain in a group.

My son told me not to take it personally, but no one showed up for my ride!! :cry: I kind of had a hunch when I arrived at 5:20 for a 5:30 start and there was one else there yet that I might be riding alone. That makes me so sad! I am a good club member (I bring fresh home roasted coffee to club events) and I'm trying really hard not to take it personally. Of the usual 7 or 8 regulars on this ride, 5 are on a tour right now, one is working lots of mandatory overtime, another just started a new job....and there's me :rolleyes:

Colleen

Don't worry about it. Looks like everyone was on tour or working:)

Sounds like a club for me! I'd have been there, but you live too far away. :)

My son told me not to take it personally, but no one showed up for my ride!! :cry: I kind of had a hunch when I arrived at 5:20 for a 5:30 start and there was one else there yet that I might be riding alone.

Keep it up, please don't get discouraged. I remember when I led my first group ride, no one showed up at the start time, then finally one person showed up a few minutes late. We had a fine ride together, but I was disappointed too. Rookie blues. :( Got better after that.

My son told me not to take it personally, but no one showed up for my ride!! :cry: I kind of had a hunch when I arrived at 5:20 for a 5:30 start and there was one else there yet that I might be riding alone. That makes me so sad! I am a good club member (I bring fresh home roasted coffee to club events) and I'm trying really hard not to take it personally. Of the usual 7 or 8 regulars on this ride, 5 are on a tour right now, one is working lots of mandatory overtime, another just started a new job....and there's me :rolleyes:

Our roads are very flat so the posted pace for a "3-star" ride is 12-14, tending more toward 14, but that's do-able on flat roads. Our club originated as an offshoot of the Lorain County Wheelmen to accomodate people over 50, kind of like what you all have going here. But they started lowering there standards and letting younger folks in....all downhill from there, no doubt :D

But we accomodate a very wide variety of people and riders, mostly non-racer types who like to ride for fitness and fun, focusing more on the social aspect of cycling. No one ever gets dropped. If someone is having trouble keeping the pace, a more experienced rider will usually stay back with that person to help him or her along. It's really non-threatening and inviting. I am so lucky to have a club like this to ride with.

Except for the fact that no one showed up for my ride :cry: It's a good club, really, it is!

Colleen


Of course you should take it personally. Next meeting, take them a can of Chase & Sanborn...that will show them! ;)

At least you were there.

[/COLOR]

Of course you should take it personally. Next meeting, take them a can of Chase & Sanborn...that will show them! ;)


eegad, I could never be that cruel! :eek:

Well I don't feel so bad after all. Today I rode w/Larry, a long-time club member and former cat 1 time trial specialist and he's led three rides this year and no one has shown up for any of them. I'm glad that Larry took it easy on me today but there were some hills that really kicked my butt. But I live to ride another day :o

can someone tell me how to post pics? I don't know how to do that "url" thingie.

eegad, I could never be that cruel! :eek:

Well I don't feel so bad after all. Today I rode w/Larry, a long-time club member and former cat 1 time trial specialist and he's led three rides this year and no one has shown up for any of them. I'm glad that Larry took it easy on me today but there were some hills that really kicked my butt. But I live to ride another day :o

can someone tell me how to post pics? I don't know how to do that "url" thingie.

You and your Cat 1 buddy are too scary to lead rides.;)

Here is your bike...look at the software code by replying to my post. Note the . You copy the picture url between those.

http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u250/rallen94402/fierte_steel_06.jpg

so...........now remember, the only dumb question is one that doesn't get asked, right?

In order to post a pic I must have the pic uploaded to an internet site w/a URL? How do you do that? I can't just upload a pic from my computer?

And as for being too scary to ride with, I can understand people being intimidated by Larry with his background and all, but he's really a lovable guy and very nice to ride with....But me, OTOH, who could be more non-threatening than a middle-aged woman on a hybrid??? an old man on a mountain bike, perhaps?:rolleyes:

so...........now remember, the only dumb question is one that doesn't get asked, right?

In order to post a pic I must have the pic uploaded to an internet site w/a URL? How do you do that? I can't just upload a pic from my computer?

And as for being too scary to ride with, I can understand people being intimidated by Larry with his background and all, but he's really a lovable guy and very nice to ride with....But me, OTOH, who could be more non-threatening than a middle-aged woman on a hybrid??? an old man on a mountain bike, perhaps?:rolleyes:
You can upload a picture from your computer, but it must be an attachment. It also must be (if I remember right) less than 100mb. To do this, you click on "Manage Attachments" below the Reply window and follow the directions there.

It will then show up like this:

You can upload a picture from your computer, but it must be an attachment. It also must be (if I remember right) less than 100mb. To do this, you click on "Manage Attachments" below the Reply window and follow the directions there.

It will then show up like this:

DG is only off by a factor of 1000, the max size is 100 kb.

DG is only off by a factor of 1000, the max size is 100 kb.

how do you make a picture small enough to post if it's too big?

(sorry for all the dumb questions)

so...........now remember, the only dumb question is one that doesn't get asked, right?

In order to post a pic I must have the pic uploaded to an internet site w/a URL? How do you do that? I can't just upload a pic from my computer?

And as for being too scary to ride with, I can understand people being intimidated by Larry with his background and all, but he's really a lovable guy and very nice to ride with....But me, OTOH, who could be more non-threatening than a middle-aged woman on a hybrid??? an old man on a mountain bike, perhaps?:rolleyes:

I use photobucket.com and upload the pics from my computer to the www.photobucket.com (http://www.photobucket.com) site. I actually use the code generated by photobucket by clicking in the img icon under the picture. I suspect you can use google, kodak or other sites. i like the autocode generation capability of photobucket and its free.

I said that tongue in cheek for exactly the reason you state. But..the mear fact that you have enough confidence in yourself to ride with Larry, try to keep up knowing in advance that you cannot and have a Serrota on order make you scary.;) Keep it up.:)

how do you make a picture small enough to post if it's too big?

(sorry for all the dumb questions)

I often use this website to resize photos.

http://www.resize2mail.com/

After resizing you can save it back to your computer in the reduced size.

DG is only off by a factor of 1000, the max size is 100 kb.
Yeah, but the shot can't have Florsheims in it.

how do you make a picture small enough to post if it's too big?

(sorry for all the dumb questions)
Use a smaller camera. :D

Yeah, but the shot can't have Florsheims in it.
I don't get it.

Our club originated as an offshoot of the Lorain County Wheelmen to accomodate people over 50, kind of like what you all have going here.
Colleen

Is there a website for your club?

yes as a matter of fact there is:

http://www.silverwheelscycling.org/

We are having our first invitational ride this Saturday "Dog Days Wine Tour", anyone in the NE Ohio area this weekend, please stop by and ride with us! (I won't actually be riding, I will be serving refreshments at one of the snack stops)

http://www.silverwheelscycling.org/index_files/Page1528.html

Colleen

We are having our first invitational ride this Saturday "Dog Days Wine Tour",

Colleen

Looks like a fun ride Colleen. I have a question for you though. The highest rated ride your club has is a 4 star ride with a MAX of 16 mph. Do you think if you were to raise that to maybe 20 or 21mph you may attract more riders to ride with your club or has that not been an issue?

Looks like a fun ride Colleen. I have a question for you though. The highest rated ride your club has is a 4 star ride with a MAX of 16 mph. Do you think if you were to raise that to maybe 20 or 21mph you may attract more riders to ride with your club or has that not been an issue?

Boy has that been an issue, Gary. We have recently gone through some growing pains and the club now has some open-ended rides with no max speed limit. We don't have that many fast riders but for those who do choose to ride faster, we can now accomodate them.

On the flip side, we are blessed to have two cycling clubs in our county, and the other club, the Lorain County Wheelmen, has fast rides. Those who ride fast usually choose that club over ours.

Our club was initiated as an alternative for cyclists who preferred a more social, less competitive cycling experience. There was quite a bit of resistance to raising the speed limit, but it finally has happened.