Commuting - How important are bike clubs to the commuter.

I recently ran into a gentleman who was a member of a bike club. He mentioned that it was good for commuters to join a club, butupon quesitioning, he didn't nail down one specific reason.

I'm sort of an anti club person (call me crazy), but is there some benefit to a bike club?

Not during the week , but on weekends they have social rides , racing etc, and you have a good feeling of "belonging" as being a member of a cycling club .

Yes, and when you are in a club, there is usually a roster full of folks who will be handy to answer questions that might arise! (And they do arise!)
I am not real big on the conventional club scene...seems to me that as useful as Robert's Rules of Order are, some get more worried about them than the basis for the club, in this case, riding bikes!
Having said that, I am happpily a 'member' of two different clubs...One that rides and never has formal meetings or dues, and the other to whom I pay modest dues, attend meetings when they let me know they are happening, and try to support in my own humble way. I am thankful for both of them..I know that I get a lot out of them, I hope someday to return the favor! And shoot, it's another good excuse to ride!! :p

It depends on the club. A racing club probably isn't a lot of use to the commuter, but an advocacy group can draw attention to various issues (such as dangerous parts of the road) more easily than a single rider can.

I belong to a very active local "touring" club. Touring as in longish recreational rides as opposed to racing. There are usually two rides scheduled each Saturday and Sunday, a city ride of usually 20-25 miles and a country ride of 25-60 miles. Members of the group are close friends and welcome newcomers with open arms. I joined the club about a year ago, thinking it would be fun to do some country rides. In that time I have attended one monthly board meeting (all members are invited) and done one ride. I would love to do more rides, but since I ride every day, I don't feel the urgency to ride on weekends as do many other members who only seem to ride with the club. The main reason, though, is that doing a 3-hour ride winds up taking 6-8 hours with travel time, and the rides tend to start with an 8:00 AM meeting here in town, 1-2 hour drive, then ride and drive home. It just really shoots an entire day.

I don't feel like I NEED the club, but I do like belonging. Just wish I had the time to do more rides with them. They are a great group.

That's the wierd thing. Spending all my cycling time and energy a solitary cyclist has amazing rewards. Cycling is entwining itself into my life like kudzu.

But sometimes I realize how much I am missing by not cycling with a raucous group! I'd love to get with other cyclists!

<sigh> I guess I will, someday.

(Sometimes I feel like a lonely "mountain man." :eek: )

:D

Originally posted by Pete Clark
That's the wierd thing. Spending all my cycling time and energy a solitary cyclist has amazing rewards. Cycling is entwining itself into my life like kudzu.

Yeah, the best thing about being a solo cyclist is that I can ride where I want to ride, without caring about what anybody else wants to do. If Joe Bloggs doesn't want to ride to the mountains in the rain, who cares?


Originally posted by Pete Clark

(Sometimes I feel like a lonely "mountain man." :eek: )


That's something else I understand very well :D

Hey Will, if you are an anti-club person then it might not be your cup of tea. Like Chris says, it may not bring any advantage to commuting unless they are inclined to deal with local road issues. You will only get out of the club what you put in anyway, so if you like biking on your own or with a few mates then stay that way.

I can only say that it might work for some and not for others. My club is mainly racing based, meaning that we only see each other regulary for a few months each year. The rest of the year we are in hibernation, but you can be sure we have a blast when we get back together again!

Try to keep an open mind. :)

I've joined one advocacy/rides group but I'm not sure I'm going to be that active. Again I'm not much of a club person.

Richard

I don't belong to a club as such, but I have 8 buddies in the neighborhood that cycle, (mostly roadies). We get together occasionally for a ride 25-50 miles on some weekends. We have a double century planned around a nearby lake planned in April.

I'm breaking in my new Brooks Team Professional now, so I'll have a nice comfortable ride!

I enjoy the fellowship and the opportunity to compare notes on bikes. I must admit I am no weight weenie, but these guys are!!! ... so I'm going to have to "lighten-up" some before the double century!!!

One advantage to getting into a recreational club (vs a racing club, e.g.) is that you can have the kind of "can you believe the stupid thing this motorist did" conversation we have here in the Forum, but in person with others that will nod their heads and validate your frustration. Many of the riders in the club I belong to are commuters, and some are car-free. We can swap route suggestions and alert each other to when there are sales and specials on gear and clothing.

I like the solitariness of commuting (although there are many regulars along the routes I would take, worthy of a nod or a wave, or a comment at a stop light). but it is also nice to be in a group, chattering away, and finding yourself at the top of a long climb before you know it.

Oh, one thing I forgot to mention. It is also probably the case that a number of people in the club will have had ongoing communications with the various city engineers along your route, and with other governmental folks. This will come in handy when a road contractor ends up doing something totally stupid that puts cyclists at jeopardy, or makes a change that violates a regulation meant to encourage non-car uses of the rights-of way. Knowing to whom to complain, and having a name to drop, comes in really handy.

Thats a fair enough point.

Good luck with the dub-cent Alphageek!

I'm not sure if "clubs" do anything to help the cause of commuters. Most are for socializing and group riding.

I belong to the Southern Bicycle League (SBL) (http://www.bikesbl.org/) which has organized rides and social events, but don't do much in the way of commuting. But their monthly newsletter does include occasional articles about commuting.

I also belong to the Atlanta Bicycle Campaign (ABC) (http://www.atlantabike.org/). They are an advocacy group whose main emphasis is commuting, educating the community about cycling and cyclist's rights to the road, working with regional planners, the state legislature, etc.
They have group rides every week or two where skills such as riding in traffic, maneuvering around potholes, avoiding dangerous situations, etc. are "taught".

This is the kind of "club" to join for commuting help.

BTW: Most of the cyclists I ride with in the SBL group rides do not commute.
Most of the cyclists I ride with in the ABC do commute.

Ive belonged my local city cycling campaign, which folded up after the council started to act pro-cycling (not quite true, it merged with the Campaign for Real Ale).
In London I belonged to the London Cycling Campaign, a very good organisation.
I also belong to the Cyclists Touring Club and rode with the Norwich branch.
In all clubs I have met people willing to share their experience with me. In the CTC, you get many old-timers who have been riding for decades, and the magazine is very good on commuting and practical gear.