scottydoesntkno

Posted this in the Road Cycling section but since I do qualify as a Clyde, figured I would try here as well- not sure where more people in the LA area would reside...

I've recently begun riding again after getting sick of being overweight and not doing anything about it (for about a year and a half at least at the current weight, 2-3 ongoing..), and just in two weeks am down a solid 10-13 pounds (after eating, from 245ish to 232ish) and have started to readjust to my saddle again (from lack of riding for several months).

My question is this: Where's a good place to look for small groups or partners for riding? I've googled and googled to my heart's content (And being 25 and a bit on the tech knowledge, know how to generally find anything I'm looking for) and tried craigslist and everything but it seems a bit tough to find others looking for cycling partners.

I know someone suggested go to my LBS, the problem is that in West LA (Culver City area specifically, there really aren't any great ones that are all that friendly to my knowledge- in comparison to San Diego where I got my bike and began riding).

I mean, if anyone else is interested and in the area on here- let me know, I've just recently broken the 25 mile on a round trip mark, out to Redondo Beach and back, and I tend to keep an average pace of 15-17.. some calms of 10 and some higher ends of around 20. Morning and Evening rides are best but my schedule is very very flexible in general. I'm trying to work on pacing myself and getting better at being able to just maintain a decent pace for the long run and work on upping my cadence which I've been told is the greatest way to lose weight. I have more than enough muscle so there's no issue there, I don't need to build more but just rather lose the weight that's around to lose.

I ran into one group who was cycling from Palos Verdes and I just hung back a bit and paced myself with them for quite awhile which seemed to help me get so far on that ride, imo, but I'm not looking for competition style rides yet as they probably did- I'm not out in my spandex bike shorts or shirt or anything- just my regular ol cargos and t-shirt (however I'm considering dumping my wallet and keeping just a house key now because I realized how inconvenient it is with that in my side pocket swinging all over the place.. )

Sorry I made the post so long but hopefully I gave all the info that could be used to help my case out. Any help would be appreciated!! Thanks a lot!

Pamestique 

Since I live in Orange County I can speak for that area.... there are several bike clubs - for instance Bicycle Club of Irvine and Orange County Rebels that would be perfect for you. Each each rides geared towards "more casual" riders (shortest distance, slower pace) and both give one the opportunity to improve and advance up into other groups. They are social clubs with a coffee stop and usually lunch after so it doesn't matter if you can keep up - once you hit the coffee stop, grab something and sit down with a group to chat. I'm sure there are groups like that in LA. You of course, can come down and ride with either BCI or OCR... their websites are:

bikeirvine.org

ocrebels.com

Also many years ago I lived in El Segundo. I use to ride by myself along the Strand. I liked to ride towards Santa Monica and would sometimes take a break on the bridge between Marina Del Rey and Dockweiler. I met other riders there and from people to ride with. Just get yourself out there - you'll find others doing the same thing.