Mr. Beanz

Zactly!

Neil_B

You sound like me after my 'initiation' into Bicycle Club of Philadelphia four years ago.

As a person who has organized rides for Clydes on both ends of the Commonwealth of PA, here are some suggestions:

1. Decide on the route ahead of time. Don't leave it to a vote at the ride start, because you run the risk of someone not being happy with the decision.

2. Choose a route that's both fun and not too challenging for novices. As an example, in June 2010 I organized a trail ride for Peter C. Details here:

https://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...r+C+reading+PA

We rode 40 miles from Pottstown to Reading, PA, along a main line of the old Reading Railroad. About 8 guys showed up.





That's Mr. DanW and Sayre Kulp in the above photo.

3. Include a stop to do something. A picnic in the park, or a lunch stop. In the case of the June 2010 ride it was lunch at Scoop DeVille:



4. Don't leave details to chance. Organizing a ride is like writing - if the writer takes it easy it means the reader has to do the work. Know the route beforehand, advise people if they need to bring locks, helmets, extra water, etc. Know where the bathrooms are along the route. And the bad traffic areas. And the places to get water.

5. Post about the ride here, and other places.

maidenfan

There are A-Holes in every sport man, and I've been involved in a lot. For some reason though, I've run into more POS "roadies" than most - its a stupid myth, but man, it sure seems true at times. Example...I was running down a bike/walking path in a park one day and passed an older couple walking their dog. A dude on his road bike rides past the couple w/out saying anything (the couple was taking up most of the path) and the older gal said, "You should put a bell on that bike." A-Hole responds by saying, "This bike cost more than my car...a bell would be stupid." What???? What a jerkoff! Anyway man, I guess my point is that you should take control of the situation and fix it yourself. Personally, I'd go on a ride w/those peeps and "roller derby" their asses, but, you could just go find some good people and hang out with them. Good luck brother.

CliftonGK1

My beater bike is probably worth more than my car. Hell, my bell on my beater is probably worth more than my car. What's his point?

john423

I realize this is more my insecurity than anything else, but I hate the "arms race" aspect of this little hobby, summed up nicely by that quote. All the guys had their carbon bikes and their fancy aerodynamic helmets and of course they've got the jerseys stuffed to the brim with those little energy things, and they've got two gigantic water bottles filled with some sort of Pepto-lookin' liquid that's probably still more of that Hammer Tonic or whatever it is they call it.

I'm positive there wasn't a bike out there that cost less than my car. I feel like I can't keep up from the get-go 'cause I don't have at least $2,000 to drop on a carbon road bike, and I couldn't stand the road bike I did have, so I'll never be able to keep up with the Joneses.

I just thought when I got into it, they'd say "hey, a new rider, let's help him," and instead, the whole bunch seems more cliquish than high school.

socalrider

John

Riding these days is very different than when I started in the early 80's. People today are much more into what kind of bike you have and how much it cost. Just learn the route, get out and ride and jump in with that group and see how long you can hang in.. Each time you go out have a new goal of hanging just a little longer until you can finish with the group.

Mr. Beanz

Meh, got to lose that frame of mind. I paid $1000 for my Canondale and with a little training, I've punished a ton of riders on it, including my buddies with $8000 Time, Colnagos, etc. Gina's first roadie is an 84 Bianchi, steel with 105 components. The seller asking $40. Few years back, she punished plenty of my friends on a mountain climb (GMR).

Old steel, $40. But I did drop some upgrades into it. It aint about the bike.

seenoweevil

Last October I rode a club ride on my aging steel frame Bianchi with a friend on his older steel Trek. After the pit stop at an ice cream shop, several guys were complaining(good naturedly) that ours were the only two bikes that passersby and other riders looked at! Ha!

seenoweevil

Wow, I'm amazed to hear there are that many clubs around the country whose members are such tools. I am extremely fortunate to belong to my local club then(Spring City Cycling Club). There are some racers and fast pacers that leave some of us in the dust on rides, but there's always a slower group that takes "no rider left behind" seriously. I even lead rides, and I'm a 13 - 15 avg at best(yes, usually closer to 13!). Everyone has been helpful and respectful every time I've ridden in the last two years, so come on down to Huntsville Al and ride with US!

Mr. Beanz

I have to say lots of club riders are great people but there are plenty of the others.

Funny club dude of the year. Gina and I rode up on a group of about 12 riders. I won't mention the club. First saw them from about 1 mile behind. We rolled up then I told Gina to hop on the back so that she could feel the draft of a larger group. Keep inmind onthe trail the undepassed end witha a short incline of about 20 yards. I mentioned to the last rider inline that we were there fro safety reasons. He didn't respond but he kept looking back at us on every underpass.

He'd slow on the down side, let the group pull away then sprint away from us opening a gap so that we'd fall off the pace.

You've got to be kidding me, we caught you from a mile behind (without breaking a sweat) and you think you're going to drop us on a 20 yard underpass?

I was on to the oldest trick in the book so I waited till it was clear then told Gina to step on the gas. We blew around them like they were flies stuck to..........................flypaper.

Sheesh, if the dude had been cool, we would have gone up front to pull the group.

aenlaasu

I ride with a husky. He gives me dirty looks from time to time when I stop to offer him water or take pictures. I can't go faster than 17 to 20 mph with him, but he doesn't complain or leave me behind when I creep up hills either.

CraigB

Amen to that. I miss the club I rode with back in the late '70s and early '80s - they were the friendliest bunch I've ever ridden with. Yes, there were racers and racer wannabes in the group but they were the exception rather than the norm. And no one else cared if they took off. The rest of us helped one another, welcomed newcomers and held actual conversations while riding.

No other club I've ridden with since then has been like that, and I don't know if it was the people and locale, or the day and age.

StanSeven

Nice idea but won't work in practice. Everyoen won't like riding the same speed. Some are in good shape and get bored riding slow all the times. Others would die keeping the "slow" pace. Most large clubs break down group rides based on average anticipated speed. For example a "D" group would ride at a 10-12 mph pace, "C" at 13-15 mph, etc. all the way to "A" or "AA". So you pick a ride at your pace.

hammond9705

+1 The way to get faster is to ride with fast groups. Hang on as long as you can, and come back next week and hang a little longer.

motobecane69

This. Last year I started riding and one particular hill was pretty brutal. even when i'd put it in my lowest gear my heart rate would go way up and it' snot like I was trying to race up it. But ikept on riding all summer and into the fall. Did a 50 mile ride, then an 80 and then a 110 mile ride. by the end of the fall I went out to do some hill repeats at that same hill because I only had 45 minutes to ride and really wanted to up the intensity. I EASILY did 10 repeats on that hill strong as an ox and only stopped at 10 out of boredom. It was like waking up with magic legs!

As clydes, we need to put ourselves in the shoes of those who aren't and look at it. I can EASILY average 15mph at 245lbs but I'm tall so i'm fairly fit. But imagine if I were 200lbs? I would easily hit 20mph with ease. So imagine that you are 5'10 175 and in pretty good cycling shape, you really aren't going to want to stick around and wait for slowpokes.

I do agree, your club needs to market the rides appropriately. No drop is sort of a bad term to use. To me "No Drop" doesn't mean come one come all it means a certain speed is posted and if you are close to that range of speed then we will wait for you. If we are planning to ride at 18 and your at 16.5 and this is a hilly ride, we know we're gonna have to wait for you on the top of hills. BUt if the ride is marketed at 18 and you know you can only muster 12, you have no business even considering getting on the ride.

My club also uses letter rankings. most of the faster rides are A so it would be A20. A level rides generally mean that there will be pacelines forming and you need to have bike handling skills. B rides could also be up close to a 20 but typically arent that high and less pacelineing. then you have C level rides which are more recreational. My club also offers "SIG's" Skill Improvement Groups each year. It's a series of rides that focuses on training you to get to a certain speed. There is a test they give everyone that consists of seeing what your cruising speed is for 4 full laps in central park and based on that you get assigned to a certain speed group. Then there are weekly rides and skills work that culminate in the final week of a longer ride at the designated speed. It's a really well run program from everything I hear and they have it for C riders all the way up to A22 riders. I wish I could do it myself but I work on saturday mornings.

bbeasley

OP, you found a bad club or bad group. The group I ride with is Baton Rouge Bike Club and they are awesome! I started on a "C" ride and am now a mid pack "B" rider. They have pushed, pulled, stretched, and encouraged me each step of the way. It's so much fun I drive 90 miles round trip just to make their rides. I'm also the highest BMI "B" rider in the crowd.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience. Try another group if available, group riding is the desert of my cycling.

john423

Excellent point. I'm just not sure I'd ever have enough people to be able to break down rides like this. I'm looking at rides as being more social events than exercise fests.

The local club has a ride like this that's gonna start when the weather gets warmer, but it's on Thursday evenings, which are a particularly psychotic night at my job. Trying to take the night off throws everyone into chaos, and taking off to go on a ride would be impossible.

There's a lot of pretty country where I live, I just thought it'd be fun to have weekend rides that were more social events/scenic excursions than exercise sessions. But I see your point, and I'd love to be able to break it down that way if I had the people.

That's the thing, though - between the "no drop" and "pace set by the group," I figured it was being deliberately set up as an easier ride for more than just the regulars. Or at least the regulars would be willing to drop pace for the amateurs involved. I mean, the guy told me "gotta be able to go at least 15." If the ride had been marketed from the get-go as "pace: 15," I would've skipped it even with the "no drop" because I'm not there yet. Instead, the pace was "set by the group," which apparently set it at 15.

CraigB

That was one of the great things about that club I belonged to back in the Dark Ages. Every Saturday morning during the riding season they'd have a breakfast ride that was basically a social event. The start was always the same place, and the destination was chosen by consensus at the start, depending on the wind direction and whether anyone had strong feelings about a given restaurant destination (pro or con). There were little towns with diners and such within easy riding distance (usually no more than 20 miles) in just about any direction. No one cared if the racers got there first. We'd just let them go.

I miss those rides (and the people) a lot.

Neil_B

They decided to include you out.

mymojo

How is the PBA Saturday novice ride? I saw it on the website and have been leaning toward trying it out in a couple of weeks. I did a 20 mile Custer>McDermott>Ohio>15th loop this weekend to see if I could do the distance & speed prior to trying a group ride (I averaged 13 MPH even with the wind we had!). I have a previous commitment this Saturday but really want to join up the following weekend. How many riders usually show up?

BTW, my hams are KILLIN' me!!!!!!!!!!!!!

iforgotmename

Very well put and inspirational!

indyfabz

+1. I lead club rides. We are always encouraging ride diversity.

But I take issues with the implication that people who want to lead and participate in fast rides are Lance Amtrstrong wanna bes. (I don't care how much money he has raised for cancer research, the guy is and has always been an arrogant prick IMO.) Never understood that sort of attitude. There are fast riders, slow riders and people in between. What's wrong with people doing there own things?

CliftonGK1

While this is true, it's not necessary to hang out with jerks just because they're good training partners. I pick the shops rides that I do because it means that I have to push my comfort level to keep up with them, and on the climbs I'll get dumped off the back; but I know the group will be there at the top of the hill when the last of us stragglers makes it up there.

engstrom

Good job on the 20 mile ride.

I actually haven't ridden with the novice group. By the time I found out about PBA I had been cycling long enough that I started with the Step Up group. I'm now riding Tweeners and hope to move up to DB Lite in a month or two.

I did ride one of the First Sunday of the month Caffeine Cruises (novice distance/pace) and I can say that you'll have no problem. In fact you're probably closer to the Step Up distance / pace than the Novice distance / pace but it's still better to start out with the easier ride and the move to the harder ride the next week if you think you need more of a challenge.

From what I've seen in the parking lot there's about 5 - 10 riders on the novice ride but now that the weather's changing it'll probably be much higher. Come on out - it's a fun group and I've had nothing but good times riding with the PBA.

RichardGlover

Right.

So, the only group I currently (or ever, for that matter) have ridden with is a cycling interest group at my church. Rides are all posted as 'no drop', and they mean it. One of the main purposes of the group is to get people together so they can get to know one another (big church, it's impossible to meet everybody after a service); another purpose is to reach out to newcomers who might join a ride. If we're jerkoffs on the ride, what does that say about the church?

So, anyway... If a ride is posted at 20 mph, and somebody shows up that can only do 12, then at least one other person will hang back with them. Somebody has a mechanical, at least one person will stop with them, help them fix it, or help them get back to the start/end of the ride.


I like riding fast, but I enjoy riding slow with somebody else more, encouraging them to keep interested in riding. If I wanted to be an elitist snob, I'd be <insert political or religious group here>.