I am actually trying to find out for my sister. My wife and I love to ride, and after hearing us talk my sister is thinking about getting into cycling. While an outstanding athlete in her youth, she's already at the point that riding her age in miles will take a little more than a metric century. I'm guessing that a hybrid will be much more her style than either a mountain or road bike. Unfortunately, we are in San Antonio while she is in Lubbock. For those of you in smaller states, that means we're about 400 miles apart. So I am trying to find out what kind of clubs are available to help her learn the ropes. Unfortunately, all I can find online are straight up road racing clubs or mountain biking clubs. And looking for routes/trails, I'm finding the same. Any help out there? Thanks in advance!

The West Texas Cycling Association might be what you are looking for. West Texas Cycling Association - Home

Thank you. Looks like it is the umbrella organization for two other clubs - one promoting racing, the other touring. in addition to asking at her local bike shop, I'll point her that way as well.

I started a group like this in Massachusetts and it's still growing like crazy after five years. It might be more energy than your sister cares to invest but why not start her own club? If there's a certain speed and distance she likes, there are probably tons of other people in her area looking for the same thing.

A simple way to get started is to find two or three others who could become "regulars". She could do this through a meetup group or Craigslist or just with some friends or co-workers. The secret is to keep a very regular schedule and find safe, interesting routes. Start off on the easy side with rides that are maybe only 15 miles long. An average speed around 10 mph is probably the most inclusive way to start. She might even make the first few rides on a local bike path.

Collect the email addresses of everyone who rides and send an email blast a couple of days before each ride describing the starting location and time, total distance and maybe total elevation gain. Use something like RideWithGPS and attach a cue sheet to the email that riders can print at home.

The first year, there might be only 2 or 3 riders per ride. With consistency, future years could see 5 then 10 then 20 and so on.

If a club that matches her needs already exists, great. If not, a little effort goes a long way towards filling the void. Good luck!

Have her check Meetup.Com. There are probably some clubs already doing what she wants to do. They have meetup groups for almost anything you can think of.