[Darkstar_DD]

Hi all, im new to riding and am wondering about a few things....
Are there any groups that do weekday afternoon, early evening rides? A good club for beginners that dont want to "coast" Also i saw a reference to a "bike swap meet, is that something that happens every weekend? and where is it?

Thanks!
DD

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[Indolent58]

Hi all, im new to riding and am wondering about a few things....
Are there any groups that do weekday afternoon, early evening rides? A good club for beginners that dont want to "coast" Also i saw a reference to a "bike swap meet, is that something that happens every weekend? and where is it?

Thanks!
DD

The swap meet was yesterday at the SD Velodrome. I believe they hold it twice a year. I don't know of any organized afternoon rides now that it's dark at 5:00PM, but they may exist.

[jsigone]

get a good light and stuff for rides after 5 cuz it's gonna be DARK. I'd stay off busy roads at night for a while, takes about a month for EVERYONE to get adjusted to the darkness when they get off work. Every yr it always seems people can't drive at night.

Two choices pending where you live at is to ride the bike trails or ride around a dealership after 6 or so.
Last yr we road "crit" laps around the carlsbad dealership, about a mile per lap. And was able to do so with no front lights, just the rear blinky.

[Darkstar_DD]

Thanks, Does anyone have any Bike club recommendations?

Edit> i ride a Road Bike, thanks

[jsigone]

clubs ride weekend only

http://www.efgh.com/bike/clubs.htm

[Indolent58]

Thanks, Does anyone have any Bike club recommendations?

Edit> i ride a Road Bike, thanks

SDBC is probably the biggest, and they have well attended Saturday rides for all levels (A through D) of cyclist starting from the UTC area. I haven't checked out any others.

[blue_nose]

http://www.sdbc.org

If you are new to riding I, I would encourage you to check out the C- ride on Saturday. This ride is usually lead by a very experienced rider. You will get some good tips and you will be taught how to ride in a pack.

[Grumpy Pig]

North County Cycle Club has Tuesday afternoon rides along the coast in spring and summer.

[jsigone]

SDBC does crit laps in MM on wednesday, not sure if they do that in the off season though.

[DaveSANYYZ]

From the webpage, SDBC's Wednesday night thing is only until October.

[Indolent58]

http://www.sdbc.org

If you are new to riding I, I would encourage you to check out the C- ride on Saturday. This ride is usually lead by a very experienced rider. You will get some good tips and you will be taught how to ride in a pack.

:roflmao::roflmao::roflmao: If by that you mean they teach you how to act like autistic cats with ADHD.......

[Nachoman]

San Diego Cyclo Vets has some mid week training rides.
http://www.cyclo-vets.org/training_rides.htm

[DaveSANYYZ]

Hey! SDBC C- rides are fun! But they don't teach you much pack riding skills though. The C- ride is a little bit like BikeForum rides in terms of pack riding behavior, but slower and much more frequent stops. More aggressive pack riding kicks in with C and up.

[Darkstar_DD]

thanks, i'll check out a few of those links, weekend rides are not something i can get away for (occasionally) so i was looking for something weekdays after work. I did go out to Rancho San Diego for a ride that a buddy told me about, and i was told it was a "super easy Sunday ride" Ha! well i didnt quite make it to Alpine, but at least i'm still alive.

[blue_nose]

Hey! SDBC C- rides are fun! But they don't teach you much pack riding skills though. The C- ride is a little bit like BikeForum rides in terms of pack riding behavior, but slower and much more frequent stops. More aggressive pack riding kicks in with C and up.

The pack riding skills I was referring to was the stop near the racetrack where they do pace line instruction. Many new riders find this very helpful. The principals of a pace line can be applied anytime you are riding in a pack:

- Don't overlap wheels
- Riding in a consistent manner
- No hard or sudden braking
- Looking ahead and anticipating obstacles
- Communication

These types of skills, amongst others, will lead to a safer riding environment when riding with a group of people.