Expectations, cycling clubs???
 

Any input from members of active cycling clubs will be appreciated.

Background:

Long established road bike club, recreational and racing to a lesser extent. Got involved to help grow the club, but careful not to push long standing members away.

The way they roll is very informal, new members show up, route and distance is discussed by a few long standing members when they meet and off they go. Those who cannot hang in, are blown off the back in the first 5 minutes.

We are planning to put more structure in place, but careful not to scare the "old boys club" away. Structure means A,B,C groups, announced routes before ride, a talk before the ride etc.

How is this done in your club?

In my club we have A,B,C,D, and Z rides. A is fastest, D is slowest and limited miles. All rides have a designated Ride Leader, who, contrary to the name, does not ride at the front. The RL stays with the slowest rider that maintains the designated pace. Others are allowed to ride off the front if they want. This isn't perfect, because a new rider may feel they're 'inconveniencing' the Ride Leader if they're the only two at the back. But if we require all riders to stay together, the speedier ones just get together and organize a non-club ride on their own, leaving exactly the same situation.

The Z rides still have a Ride Leader, but it's understood that they're completely self-paced. Z rides are only allowed on weekends or holidays, and only for longer rides.

Rides are scheduled by group (A, B, B-, C+, C, D, E) on our club website at least 2 days in advance. They have a designated ride leader. The groups are usually doing their own route from many different start points. The club I belong to is large with more than a 1000 members. We have an extensive ride library with cue sheets created.

Narragansett Bay Wheelmen The Narragansett Bay Wheelmen has about 700 members and has been around since before 1900. there are typically 70 to 100 members or guests participating in rides. There is always a choice of distances to suit different abilities; for example, 60, 40 and 25 miles. The faster riders will be sent off first, followed by next faster and so on so there is not such a huge cluster starting out simultainiously. There are no ride leaders and people just ride at their own pace. Typically though, a few people will ride together or mostly together. The club just provides route maps and arrows the turns so that a map is hardly needed.

When ever possible, as when someone volunteers, a ride leader will lead a group of newbies who have not ridden in a group previously or have no experience on public roads. The club also donates funds, about $70,000 annually to various organizations that promote cycling advocacy. In my opinion, the advocacy alone is more than worth the annual club dues. There is a ladies only ride, Saturdays I believe, cafe' rides on the bike path frequently, club picnic (catered) and a mid-winter new years day ride. It is a nicely run club with events going off smoothly.

Around here they have "slow poke rides" or "recovery rides" or "family friendly rides". Otherwise they're hammerfests, each to his own, and take no prisoners.

National Culture .. in England a took a day side-trip with a club in Northumbria while on a longer Bike tour ..

that group, someone dropped back to keep Lantern Rouge, Company.

The club I belong to , is open to all abilities. If you like a quick sustained ride, they have one, they have a easy ride as well. No one is left behind, flat and need help ( rare ) then someone will help. It organizes charity rides a time or two a year. The club has been around quite awhile, and seems to work. All rides are rated, which allows new members to quickly find rides they fit in with.

We race. You're expected to turn up to the semi-regular team rides and mock races, work the annual race series we put on, wear the kit to group rides, be a good ambassador for racing and cycling and the community in general.

And race of course. Placing is nice, but being a good teammate and a good rider is most important.

I thought that was the case in the Ville. I was going the opposite direction when a large group ride passed one day last week. It was definitely a hammerfest, very spread out, and didn't look like a group at all. The most you could say is that there were cliques within the group.

Why could you say that? Just because they were separated out by speed? Sounds pretty normal to me, for a training ride. You can't train for riding fast by waiting up for the riders at the back.