NYC Cycling Club/Group Ride

[nstone]

I'm looking for a low-key cycling club or regular group ride in New York, getting a little bored with solo riding. I'm not a racer, but I enjoy an ambitious ride. I did come across the Five Borough Bike Club, NYCC and NYCRC. Anything else out there?

[richard4993]

There is a bike club in Staten Island and the Weekday Cyclists, never rode with either club however.

[Inertianinja]

I have ridden with the NYCC. It's a good organization, but I stopped riding with them.
The C rides are for complete beginners, the B rides are too slow/not "ambitious" enough, and the A rides are far too aggressive for a group ride.

You might want to try the CRCA. Riding with racers has been fun, and the regular group rides (Gimballs, Triangle Ride, etc) are plenty competitive, without all the "let's stop here and buy carrot cake" crap.

send me a PM and i'll give you more info.

[zacster]

I'll agree with Ninja, the NYCC doesn't seem to have a middle ground. I did their A19 training series a few years back and it always turned into a hammerfest, even though this wasn't supposed to be for the hard core racers. And then they would stop for waaaay too long a time at a diner. I wanted to ride at a brisk pace, maybe stop for 15-20 minutes at some point, and head back. I also expected to get some different rides in, but we ended up in Nyack 3 times in the first 4 weeks. I then tried a B ride and didn't like stopping so often and the pace was too slow. This was a B17 ride I think. I met up with a few people that were in the training series and they all had the same opinion and were pretty turned off.

With that said, you can give them a try. They publish some of their rides for each weekend to non-members. Maybe you'll find the right group.

[Inertianinja]

I'll agree with Ninja, the NYCC doesn't seem to have a middle ground. I did their A19 training series a few years back and it always turned into a hammerfest, even though this wasn't supposed to be for the hard core racers. And then they would stop for waaaay too long a time at a diner. I wanted to ride at a brisk pace, maybe stop for 15-20 minutes at some point, and head back. I also expected to get some different rides in, but we ended up in Nyack 3 times in the first 4 weeks. I then tried a B ride and didn't like stopping so often and the pace was too slow. This was a B17 ride I think. I met up with a few people that were in the training series and they all had the same opinion and were pretty turned off.

With that said, you can give them a try. They publish some of their rides for each weekend to non-members. Maybe you'll find the right group.

YES. that's what i mean. i did a 70 mile ride with them, and it alternated between:

dangerously fast pace on a tight shared path in a paceline (note, far more dangerous than the training rides i do with my team now)
and
incredibly long stops at stores to have cake.

it's like - we've been riding for hours - don't you want to get out of the bronx?

[billm45s]

Check the daytrips listings on the 5BBC website (5BBC.org). Every weekend there are a variety of different types of rides. Also, come March the training series for Montauk begins, and the series offers lots of excellent rides whether or not you are doing the Montauk century in May. Finally, although the 5BBC rides are free, I would strongly suggest becoming a member for only $20.00 a year. The membership fee helps support the Club offering these rides.