JBerman

Anyone here ride the road group ride from Ocala Bicycle Center, Ocala, FL? A/B/C group rides leave at 5:30pm on Mondays, starting tonight, from their store @ 2801 SW 20th St #203 , Ocala, FL 34474. I was thinking about checking it out (45 min drive from me though).

RonH

It's a great shop. I bought my grandson a Trek FX7.2 there for his 12th birthday two years ago.

Haven't done any rides from there.
If you're looking for more after work group rides, talk to Grant at Blue Run Bicycles in Dunnellon. Another great shop.

JBerman

Very nice people! Just did the C-group pace. 28.8 miles around Ocala (main and side roads). Lots of hills!!! I averaged 16.4mph. I was in the back of the pack (8 riders in C), but had a blast. I think part of my slowness was due to my stupid spd-sl cleat being completely worn, so my shoe came off the pedal every couple of minutes, after 5 miles in. Looks like I'm getting new cleats in the morning @ Inverness Bicycle & Fitness!

Legs are still burning! Will be there next Monday! There was an 81 year old who was at the front of the pack. I was impressed!

Thanks for the info! I reached out to Grant and there are 5pm Tues/Thurs rides which should work perfect. Just need to clarify the pace, as I'm a C-Group rider!

JBerman

Did the Citrus County Road Cycling group tonight from Hernando... 29 miles, my overall avg was 15.6 but it was by far the fastest ride I've done. Pretty much the entire course was uphill! And I thought Ocala was tough! Jim from SunCoast was awesome!!! It was an A/B ride (actually it was really all A tonight I guess) but he hung back and gave me some awesome tips, plus had me draft him most of the way. I told them all to go ahead as I planned on falling behind (I wasn 't going to even go but decided to give it a chance) but he stuck with me being super slow and all on the hills.

Between Sat, Mon and tonight I put in 88 miles.

Tues/Thurs I'll definitely be doing these evening group rides, and will probably do Ocala every other week. I'll be doing one of the Sat rides also (seems like there are a couple).

dbdg

Hi, I'm new to riding, making the transition from running to biking. I would love to go out with a group at some point, but I'm really unsure, as I am so new, I wouldn't want to be incredibly slow, or do something stupid, or?? However, I miss all the 5k's and the inspiration I got from them. I am close to this store (they tuned my bike up after I bought it), would these rides be something I might be able to do?

Im a bit worried about riding on the road by myself, so far Ive just gone to the baseline trailhead, but with multiple laps, I really can just do 15 miles there without getting tired of the same laps. (note, not tired, so much as just bored).

NoviceJohn

If you're new and want to ride in a group, I'll suggest you to go online (mainly youtube) and learn the etiquette of group riding before you go on one. It's nothing much. Just learn the basics like hand signals and different shouts / terms riders use to keep the group safe. Nice groups will let you learn the rest on the ride. Also, I suggest finding a group/ride that has a "no drop" rule meaning the group will not leave you behind if you go too slow. No drop rides may detach from you for a little bit (when you go too slow) but the group would, at least, stop at a stop sign or somewhere to let you catch up before the group continues. One last thing. NO GROUP RIDES WILL EVER LET YOU WEAR EARBUDS (if you wear them on your solo rides) so if you cannot ride more than 15 miles (30-45 minutes or more) without getting bored, you're either not going to like it or you'll be riding home yourself because you got too bored on the ride. I personally can ride for hours without getting bored because when you're that mode, time just flies by.

JBerman

They do have a no drop group (C) so you should be fine giving it a shot. I enjoyed my 1st ride with them. I ride with a closer local group now. This is a road riding group and not on a trail, so I wasn't really use to that. Don't worry too much about being new however as you should be able to learn fast.

dbdg

thanks for the youtube suggestion.

I don't wear ear buds most of the time, although I have started wearing them some. The boredom I was referencing is because the trail I was riding is a 3 mile loop. so 5 times around, I get rather tired of the same trees all the time. I like to look around. My current frustration with it is I want to Go somewhere when I ride. (same as when I run for that matter). It gives me something to ride for. If I am simply making the same loop repeatedly, I get bored, tired of it. I do agree that time flies when I am riding, and I am enjoying it a lot. I just want to be able to do more then this one small tail loop, and I'd like the motivation to improve that came to me from running in groups.

JBerman

Check out the Withlacoochee Trail if you want to trail ride... It's 46 miles long end to end. Round trip is 92 miles.

Find someone one to ride with (in addition to the group rides) to alleviate boredom.

NoviceJohn

wow I wish I have that trail in my area. The portion I (and most people) start at on the West Orange Trail combined with the South Lake Trail is only 23 miles (about 46 round trip). The remainder part of the WOT is only 6 miles longer and that stretch is scary (for safety reasons). The group I ride with would ride on the 23 miles on trail and 26-27 miles on roads.

NoviceJohn

I forgot to ask the type of bike you're riding with. Riding a MTB with a group of road bikes may find yourself in the back or be left behind often unless you're in top notch shape to keep up. Be sure to find out what types of bikes are usually in that group before you join. Good luck.

JBerman

I'll be riding this tonight in case anyone else is planning on going.. I'll do the C-Group because I'm slow

JBerman

Did better this time around... Avg speed was 17.6, ended up passing the C group as they were a little too slow, but we (me + 2 others) weren't quite fast enough to catch back up to B after riding for a bit. The guy on a single speed who rides B said his avg speed was 19.5 I believe. The kid is crazy in shape to do that route/group on a single speed. But then again he mentioned being an Ironman. I'll ride B next time.

dbdg

I stopped in earlier in the day yesterday. I'm planning on riding with the C group next week. Then I am scheduled Monday nights through the rest of the month at work.

I ride an airbourne thunderbolt.

JBerman

Had another good ride last night. Did c group again, even though I planned on riding b. Didn't want to push it too hard. Averaged 17.6 again, although I probably could have done better if it wasn't for the pace being slow at a few spots. B group is probably still too fast for me however. I need a c+ group

dbdg

i worked monday night this week, riding wasnt an option

JBerman

I'm pretty sure I'm going to make this a regular ride.. It's a little bit out of the way from Inverness, but I always enjoy the people and bike ride.

JBerman

Decided to give B group a try. It was great! The weather was nice and cool. Average was 19.3 mph so I was very happy with that!