To join or not to join?????

popette

did you give it a try? I did and my lungs are still aching. AFter four miles, I was ready to be sick. A lovely pensioner stuck with me at the back and we went on a great route on our own as I just couldn't handle the pace of the pack. Shortly after our cafe stop, I had to stop again as I couldn't see anymore due to the black spots in front of my eyes! I had a banana as i figured the early madness had caused me to go anaerobic and I was in the middle of a bonk. That solved the problem for a while although later on I couldn't breath properly and felt as though I couldn't get a full lung full of air.
It was a huge wake up to me - I thought I was quite fit but realise that I've got a lot of training to do before etape.
The club were very friendly although their legs were intimidating.
I can't wait for next week.

a_n_t

popette wrote:

The club were very friendly although their legs were intimidating.
I can't wait for next week.

was that with seamons? they might be better for me living in stretford.
hhmmmmm, or I could try both!

spasypaddy

thanks to the whitewebb club who were great this morning... thank god they arent training hard as i struggled to keep up with them! But had a fantastic ride this morning! Everyone in the hertfordshire area should ride with them! I introduced myself to the club good and proper by getting a ******** on some random cold road. They even changed my tube for me and pumped it up even though i was willing to do it myself!! Then about 2mins down the road we stopped to help a MTB rider who'd chain had snapped. I ended up doing 60 miles in 3 and a half hours which for me is stunning pace! The only way from here is up, and by riding with them regularly i feel i will progress!

So in short, cheers Ham for letting me come out with you today! Hope your race next week goes well!

hambones

Good to see you on Sunday Daniel. You equipped yourself admirably and more than held your own on the flats. As you will have noticed I huff and puff up the hills but it's certainly a great motivator riding with a group.

spasypaddy

hambones wrote:

Good to see you on Sunday Daniel. You equipped yourself admirably and more than held your own on the flats. As you will have noticed I huff and puff up the hills but it's certainly a great motivator riding with a group.

dont know about held my own on the flat i think they were going slowly so i could keep up!

caherconree

i'd love to join a club but 9am on a sunday morning! I am not a morning person.

rugchucker

Why has no one bothered to mention the name of their club or contact details.

After 40 years of cycling both competitively and socially, I still find clubs are basically antisocial and elitist, its a wonder anyone joins!!

popette

rugchucker wrote:

Why has no one bothered to mention the name of their club or contact details.

After 40 years of cycling both competitively and socially, I still find clubs are basically antisocial and elitist, its a wonder anyone joins!!

I went along with the Seamons. They're on the internet if you look up seamons cycling. I didn't find them antisocial in the slightest. Everyone was keen to say hello and the cafe stop was very friendly. I felt at ease straight away and I'm going to join. The only thing I would say is that they were too flippin fast for me and it's going to take me a while to live with that pace. They do a half day route which is fast and a full day route which is moderate. Unfortunately, I only have half a day to spare and I can only manage moderate pace (although I think that may have something to do with my chest as I can't take in a full breathe at the moment and htink I may have an infection or something).

Ste_S

rugchucker wrote:

Why has no one bothered to mention the name of their club or contact details.

After 40 years of cycling both competitively and socially, I still find clubs are basically antisocial and elitist, its a wonder anyone joins!!

Likewise, names please. Which clubs have you had a bad experience of, and why ?

The club that I'm a member off (see sig below) is warm and welcoming, and in no way elitest.

spasypaddy

i went out with the whitewebbs cc in hertfordshire, the only contact details i have is from hambones on this thread. He told me to come out with them on this thread, i sent him a PM, we discussed it there and i met them on sunday. Good group of lads (supposedly there are females that go with them as well but they werent out this week) and i will be going out with them again!

rugchucker

Oops have I struck a nerve?

I would love it if all clubs were welcoming, but few seem to understand that riding the legs off a newcomer, or someone returning after a few years gap, is hardly likely to encourage them to return for more. Not all want to race and many want the social and friendly banter that is had in a group ride.

Am I asking too much? The successful clubs are those that embrace all levels of cyclist. They also find that those that dont want to race themselves are often willing to be marshals.

For those that have found welcoming clubs, thats really great and maybe the mood is changing at last!! As a lifelong cyclist with 50 years of 2 wheeling, I'm not trying to run down clubs, just the opposite, I want clubs to be a bit more savvy about new members and the fact that they need nurturing and supporting.

popette

I see where you're coming from, as I definitely struggled with that fast pace. However, one member of the group took me around on my own - we had a lovely four hours of cycling at a pace I could manage. We met the larger group at the cafe and then went our own way again and cycled back together.

Ste_S

rugchucker wrote:

Oops have I struck a nerve?

I would love it if all clubs were welcoming, but few seem to understand that riding the legs off a newcomer, or someone returning after a few years gap, is hardly likely to encourage them to return for more. Not all want to race and many want the social and friendly banter that is had in a group ride.

Am I asking too much? The successful clubs are those that embrace all levels of cyclist. They also find that those that dont want to race themselves are often willing to be marshals.

For those that have found welcoming clubs, thats really great and maybe the mood is changing at last!! As a lifelong cyclist with 50 years of 2 wheeling, I'm not trying to run down clubs, just the opposite, I want clubs to be a bit more savvy about new members and the fact that they need nurturing and supporting.

Is this just the one bad experience, or a series of bad experiences with different clubs ?

Did you write to the club or speak to the Chairman about your experiences ?

rugchucker

Not just my experience as is observed from other comments.

There are a some clubs which actively embrace new members of all levels of fitness, and these should be applauded.

As a new member, if you have to complain on week one, then week two is not going to happen. Its the club structure that rarely is there a policy or a designated officer to look after new members. Sunday club runs often are 50+ miles, which to newcomers is uncharted territory, perhaps shorter runs which link up with the main run at cafe stops with support (I know , who wants to drive round?). The investment would encourage new young members and not frighten the life out of potential converts to our great pastime.

spasypaddy

rugchucker wrote:

Oops have I struck a nerve?

I would love it if all clubs were welcoming, but few seem to understand that riding the legs off a newcomer, or someone returning after a few years gap, is hardly likely to encourage them to return for more. Not all want to race and many want the social and friendly banter that is had in a group ride.

Am I asking too much? The successful clubs are those that embrace all levels of cyclist. They also find that those that dont want to race themselves are often willing to be marshals.

For those that have found welcoming clubs, thats really great and maybe the mood is changing at last!! As a lifelong cyclist with 50 years of 2 wheeling, I'm not trying to run down clubs, just the opposite, I want clubs to be a bit more savvy about new members and the fact that they need nurturing and supporting.

dont get me wrong they did ride very quickly and they did tell me after that it was fast pace even for them (on the hills anyway!) but i enjoyed it. It was more of a challenge. If i wanted to go out and ride at my own pace i would ride on my own, i want to go out with them to improve my pace and ability on the hills. The only way to achieve this is by riding with faster and better riders!

They were very welcoming and the banter was good, two more great reasons to go out with them again! I was by far the weakest cyclist there but they were encouraging me to come out with them again, in fact they were pushing for me to ride with them every week. After my first hour out with them they were already discussing entering me into a race beginning of march!!

rugchucker

Glad you enjoyed the ride and have recovered.

Its great that there are positive intro's and with luck many more will get on the bandwagon.

It has not been my intention to be negative, I love the sport & the leisure of cycling and just want to see more clubs embrace new members and make the first club run a pleasurable experience that you would want to repeat.

Anyway thats enough from me on the subject.


Happy wheel sucking to you all

Peter007

So where do whitewebb club meet? I have just moved to Knebworth and am looking for a club to join, never been in one before. I can and have been out for 3-4 hours on my own before never realy know what speed I do though. When I go out with my old man we'll go out for a couple of hours at 15-16 mph although I'm usually waiting for him to catch up. To be fair he is in his mid 60s. What time does the club meet and what sort of route do they do?

hambones

Peter, Whitewebbs CC meet at 9am on Sunday at Brookmans Park (just up the A1000 from Potters Bar) - right in the centre of BP outside the big pub!! (You can tell the name escapes me for a moment!). Mostly the rides are for around 3 hours. Routes vary but typically they involve heading up to Hertford and further north or sometimes out towards Ware and the Hadhams. Probably around 2000ft of climbing and a pace of around 17mph.

Toks

Smokin Joe wrote:

Most clubs tend to be race orientated, especially during the summer months. .

Thats blatantly not true. How many clubs have you joined or have you been a member of? A few years ago while tarting about i rode with Dynamos, Willesden, brixton, Islington, Kingston and finally Addiscombe CC (still here!) all of whom were very friendly and in percentage terms were definitley not all race orientated. Dynamo's maybe a little different now however. Most decent clubs will give you an idea of intensity/av speed of their runs. Don't wait till summer do it now especially if they don't have a dedicated weekly run

Ste_S

rugchucker wrote:

Not just my experience as is observed from other comments.

There are a some clubs which actively embrace new members of all levels of fitness, and these should be applauded.

As a new member, if you have to complain on week one, then week two is not going to happen. Its the club structure that rarely is there a policy or a designated officer to look after new members. Sunday club runs often are 50+ miles, which to newcomers is uncharted territory, perhaps shorter runs which link up with the main run at cafe stops with support (I know , who wants to drive round?). The investment would encourage new young members and not frighten the life out of potential converts to our great pastime.

You've got to remember that clubs are run by volunteers who give up huge amounts of their free time to keep the club running. They may not be someone there to lead a ride for beginners, or the demand might not be there for it week in week out. It is worth writing to the club if you think there's a gap for another club run, if there isn't anyone available to lead it, maybe you could volunteer yourself ?

There's a lot of people who've demonstarted positive first club experiences in this thread, and I'd like to think that most are friendly and welcoming. Certainley the ones who'll drop a new face on their first ride are dieing a death.

My own club caters for people from the age of 5 (with stabilizers) up to vets with a range of Saturday and Sunday rides, and freewheel sessions on the track.