Club ride average speeds, could i keep up ?

[DCLane]

I contacted one CC via FB and website 3 weeks ago. Still waiting for an answer. and yes, their FB is updated almost daily.

I'd either stick a message on their FB page or turn up. Often the contact person's moved on and you'll get a response from a club's page directly quicker.

 

[steverob]

thats why i swapeed to my current club , the gap between my old medium and fast groups was about 4 mph avg so i was either dawdling or getting spat out the back and left for dead as the old fast group was a"your own you own after the cake stop "ride that used to chain gang it back .

Yeah, this is the problem that I've got with the club nearest me - I seem to be in that gap between their fast group and their slow group and that gap has grown even bigger over the years, but I guess they don't have enough members or interest to create a third middle group (it's not a big club admittedly).

Also the slower group does tend to do rides of a lot shorter distance than I'd like, plus has a coffee stop halfway - as someone who typically rides solo, I prefer to just stay in the saddle, get the miles done, then get a drink afterwards. Getting back going after 30-40 minutes off the bike is really difficult for me!

 

[matticus]

Ride a little slower.
Bring a heavier bike/luggage.
Kill yourself for an hour before the meet-up.
Do reps on the One Big Hill of the day.

Think about the good of the group - don't expect the perfect guided ride laid on for you every week. This is how CLUBs work.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Yeah, this is the problem that I've got with the club nearest me - I seem to be in that gap between their fast group and their slow group and that gap has grown even bigger over the years, but I guess they don't have enough members or interest to create a third middle group (it's not a big club admittedly).

Also the slower group does tend to do rides of a lot shorter distance than I'd like, plus has a coffee stop halfway - as someone who typically rides solo, I prefer to just stay in the saddle, get the miles done, then get a drink afterwards. Getting back going after 30-40 minutes off the bike is really difficult for me!

I would argue that clubs continually expanding to more runs just makes the problem bigger. When I joined in 2012 we had 2 sunday runs denoted specifically as a club ride(for all) but still averaging between 17 and 18 over hillier routes and a faster/racer kinda run. You certainly had to have a decent level of fitness from the off

Now there's 4, and less riders, and fewer capable leaders.

 

[Dogtrousers]

The club I used to ride with (and am considering rejoining) had 7 levels of ride on Saturday. From beginners/social (7) up to turbo nutters (1 and 2). I used to ride in the 6 or 5 group at about 12/13 mph. From all these horror stories of people being dropped on high speed rides I think I got lucky.

I drifted away because I prefer longer rides and there was a lot of faffing: Standing around before the start, and having coffee breaks. Like @steverob I prefer to just sit in the saddle.

 

[cyberknight]

you heathens coffee break after 35 ish miles is all part of the fun

 

[itboffin]

you heathens coffee break after 35 ish miles is all part of the fun

I introduced regular coffee stops on every ride which was very welcome, prior to that it was all out smash fest out and back

 

[cougie uk]

You do need ride captains to bollock people who push the pace. If you're flying then you can always spend more time on the front and tow the ride.
Same as if you're suffering. Skip a pull or two and enjoy the rest.

 

[matticus]

You do need ride captains to bollock people who push the pace.

That seems to be frowned on now - very out-of-date.

 

[Pale Rider]

It's impolite not to reply to an inquiry, but it does seem common.

The leader of my group told me he got fed up with getting involved in long online discussions about the ins and outs of everything with people who never turned up to a ride.

I like to think we are welcoming to riders who do pitch up, so my advice is do that - turn up, ready to ride.

It can be daunting, but the worst that can happen is you peel off the back of the ride and never see any of the participants again.

 

[gbs]

I have trialled with 6/7 clubs. All adopt a convoy approach. BUT I do not want to hold others back. On two occasions I insisted that the faster riders proceed.

My experience, solely in the middle to slow end of the spectrum, is that clubs are accommodating and will wish to take care of newbies. I suggest you take an experimental approach; turn up, explain your concern and benefit from the drafting offered by the group. If you cannot hack it, by agreement, drop off.

The extent to which you preplan for this depends on the difficulty of the terrain but you should be self sufficient with water and energy bars, knowledge of local trains/taxi services/road network. Good luck.

 

[kingrollo]

This threads a year old ! - almost !

I also think you need to think about when you go to such rides. On a cold Jan morning, you're going (or more likely) to get your grizzled roadies - come sunny July you're more likely to get a few beginners.

I seem to have been lucky in that 3 clubs I have been in - they have always waited for slower riders. Current club has 4 levels of training rides - the top 3 don't wait if you get off the pace - but the bottom one always waits.

Over the course of the summer the rides do speed up, and people are reluctant to move up a group instead try and make the slower rides faster - however the ride leader or another experienced rider always stays with the slowest rider and/or tells the faster riders to back off.

 

[straas]

My issue in the winter isn't my fitness, but nervousness at riding in close proximity to people in poor conditions. Especially when there's a mix of brakes.

 

[mjr]

Current club has 4 levels of training rides - the top 3 don't wait if you get off the pace - but the bottom one always waits.

4 training rides. How many freewheeling groups?

 

[CXRAndy]

I doubt I'll go out with my club again. The pace of a good few lads has jumped significantly. They do 60+ miles at over 20mph average. I could only do that 15-20 miles in a group ride. Plus my desire to be the fastest I can has waned over the last year or so.