Starting off in road cycling as a sport?

KnightOfTheLongTights

Am just doing a bit of research on cycling growing as a mass-participation sport, and would be interested to know recent beginners' experience of this.

What obstacles did you find to the process, if any? What could have made it easier - in terms of public info or resources?

Are you happy just riding for your own fitness or do you want to ride in sportives and / or join a club and try road races?

If you haven't joined a club or tried racing yet, and you want to, why not?

If you are a club member, do you think club cycling is sufficiently welcoming to beginners? Is it up to beginners to get themselves in decent shape before joining?

What could public bodies do to help clubs absorb and bring on beginners - or to help beginners get used to club riding beofre they join?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

vorsprung

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

Am just doing a bit of research on cycling growing as a mass-participation sport, and would be interested to know recent beginners' experience of this.

What obstacles did you find to the process, if any? What could have made it easier - in terms of public info or resources?

Are you happy just riding for your own fitness or do you want to ride in sportives and / or join a club and try road races?

If you haven't joined a club or tried racing yet, and you want to, why not?


Thanks in advance for any replies.

I do Audax which I am told by club riders isn't a sport, it's just touring

I like riding events, never done a sportive or a race. Well, I think I once did the club xmas 10 mile TT in fancy dress and that was technically a race.

I don't want to do road races in general but I might do the Mersey Roads 24 hour TT this year.

I am in a club, racing doesn't float my boat

Berk Bonebonce

Cycling will never be a mass participation sport in any country in the world because a) it is hard, and b) it is expensive. Kind of obvious, I would have thought.

The best you can get is in countries like Colombia, Italy, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland and France.

navrig

What obstacles did you find to the process, if any? What could have made it easier - in terms of public info or resources? THE TECHNICAL JARGON IS A BIG ISSUE FOR A NEWBIE AND IS POSSIBLY OFF PUTTING. UNDERSTANDING THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN GRADES OF KIT. COST - WAY TOO EXPENSIVE FOR A HOBBY.

Are you happy just riding for your own fitness or do you want to ride in sportives and / or join a club and try road races? STARTED AS A FITNESS ON AN MTB THEN MTB WITH SLICKS AND THEN A ROAD BIKE TO ALLOW GREATER DISTANCES.

If you haven't joined a club or tried racing yet, and you want to, why not? COULDN'T FIND A LOCAL CLUB SO WE STARTED OUR OWN UNOFFICIAL CYCLING GROUP.

If you are a club member, do you think club cycling is sufficiently welcoming to beginners? Is it up to beginners to get themselves in decent shape before joining? IF BIF ENOUGH A CLUB CAN COPE WITH BEGINNERS BUT IF SMALL IT IS DIFFICULT TO ACCOMODATE THE 15 MILER IN A 40+ MILE WEEKEND RIDE.

What could public bodies do to help clubs absorb and bring on beginners - or to help beginners get used to club riding beofre they join? LITTLE OR NOTHING. BETTER TO CONCENTRATE ON ENCOURAGING COMUTING BY BIKE AND THEN LKEYT THOSE INTERESTED TO ADVANCE TO CLUB CYCLING.

rob13

Well I'm coming back to the sport after being interested (but never taking it seriously) as a kid.


There is a LOT of information out there regarding bike fit, and a lot of it untrue. I chose my bike, primarily on price/features and what size "felt right".

Its much easier to get information these days anyway (in all aspects) using the internet. Years ago, you'd have to buy the mags or read books to get the info, now its all at the touch of a button.

It can be an expensive hobby, but you could start off cheap and build up. I subscribe to the ideology - buy cheap, buy twice however I didnt want to break the bank in case I didnt take to the sport again.

I think there are resources like the BCF website which points you in the right direction for clubs etc. My biggest hurdle is being accepted or being competent enough to take part in an active club or membership. Having only recently returned to the sport, I think you can quite quickly feel very amateur next to people who have spent a lot of time and effort in the sport and maybe feel a bit of a burden. In time I'd like to join a club or meet up with other riders, and to take part in Sportives. I fancy giving circuit racing a go in time but its a bit premature at the present.
Time Trialling isnt for me and I'd rather compete against others than just myself but I dont really know whats out there for that.

Websites are an important aspect of any group/business/club now and they can be a hub for people trying to find out more information about it, however some are pretty primitive and there doesnt seem to be a lot of information for new riders as to what standard they want you at. I'm no shrinking violet but I can imagine there are a few shy folk out there who dont really know how to approach joining up with the team for their first ride out.

mattshrops

obstacles?- my own weakness.
happy with just fitness? initially yes, just joined a club- got to 50 miles first(dont like being weak) all contact ive had with various clubs in my area has been great- all friendly, non judgemental and helpful.
the club ive joined seems to be proactive with beginners.
now i want to try everything, which i intend to do as i get stronger/fitter.
there seems to be plenty of websites/info out there in terms of inclusion/participation etc. although i am a beleiver in people getting off their butts and sorting stuff for themselves.

Pigtail

What obstacles did you find to the process, if any? What could have made it easier - in terms of public info or resources?

Cost and cynicism from people around me. Coupled with losing a lot of weight and changing my diet it was seen as some sort of mid-life crisis. An easy route to advice from a human being, even possibly some supported rides with tips.

Are you happy just riding for your own fitness or do you want to ride in sportives and / or join a club and try road races?

I want to try it all - including racing and TTs

If you haven't joined a club or tried racing yet, and you want to, why not?

I think there are lots of barriers to joining a club. Advertising rides better and maybe an open day would help.

If you are a club member, do you think club cycling is sufficiently welcoming to beginners? Is it up to beginners to get themselves in decent shape before joining?

Not a member - but they could definitely do more.

What could public bodies do to help clubs absorb and bring on beginners - or to help beginners get used to club riding beofre they join?

Idiots guide - keep plugging away, reduce the jargon, offer opportunities to be supported through the joining process possibly by buddying or mentoring.

KnightOfTheLongTights

thank you all - great stuff and much appreciated

danowat

What obstacles did you find to the process, if any? What could have made it easier - in terms of public info or resources?

From my personal experiance, to a newbie trying to get into the sport, it can feel very secular and hard to get into, also, I feel that the sport is stuck in an era of about 20 years ago, it really needs a big shake up to bring it into the present day, I mean, untill I started racing, the last time I used a cheque book was about 15 years ago.......

Are you happy just riding for your own fitness or do you want to ride in sportives and / or join a club and try road races?

I do a bit of everything

If you are a club member, do you think club cycling is sufficiently welcoming to beginners? Is it up to beginners to get themselves in decent shape before joining?


On the whole?, no, I don't, I really don't think new members are "shown the way" enough, too many clubs just take the subs each year and not assist members in the way things run, the majority attitude I run into is like the comment above "people should find stuff out for themselves", which is fine, but surely the whole idea of joining a club is to tap into the already great knowledge of the members?

What could public bodies do to help clubs absorb and bring on beginners - or to help beginners get used to club riding beofre they join?

For starters, both BC and CTT really need a good shake up, as I stated above, they are stuck 20 years ago, and as such, it almost feels like a secret society, there is a lot of jargon that is hard for a new member to understand, also I think there is a massive lack of advertising for both BC and CTT events, unless you are already in the racing circles, you wouldn't know about any of the events that go on, I mean I live on a local TT circuit, and untill I joined a club, I didn't even know it was a TT circuit, although saying that, the press are less than enthusiastic about reports.

Sportives are going some way to bringing events to the wider audience, and this is why they are flourising (even with the massively overpriced events) and smaller events, crits, TT's, audaxes are a bit stagnant with regards to being attractive to new riders.

There is a whole new "lifestyle" section of riders out there that the governing bodies (BC, CTT etc etc) really need to tap into

SBezza

KnightOfTheLongTights wrote:

What obstacles did you find to the process, if any? What could have made it easier - in terms of public info or resources?

None really, the only obstacle I see is being able to afford a bike, there is plenty of resources on the net, and most local authorities have information about cycle trails and the like, well Kent does anyhow.

Are you happy just riding for your own fitness or do you want to ride in sportives and / or join a club and try road races?

I would be happy just riding for my own fitness, but my real pleasure is time trialling and the competitive aspect of this.

If you are a club member, do you think club cycling is sufficiently welcoming to beginners? Is it up to beginners to get themselves in decent shape before joining?

Most cycling clubs are very welcoming to beginners, you need to research the club though to make sure it is suitable for you, a pure racing club for a beginner might not be the best starting point. I would hope they have the mental attitude to get better, but they have to start somewhere. I started in a slow group on my MTB, and progressed to where I am now.

My club has a fantastic record of introducing new relatively inexperienced riders to the sport, even if it just the weekend club rides. But also some of these riders have gone onto ride competitively for the club as well.

We as a club share a huge wealth of knowledge between newer riders (like myself), and the more experienced riders

What could public bodies do to help clubs absorb and bring on beginners - or to help beginners get used to club riding beofre they join?

Does a public body need to do this, surely there are lots of clubs out there that cater for beginners and experienced together, as mentioned above you as the rider need to research the best club for your level of riding. Choose a club that has a variety of ability levels and you will not go far wrong

BC do great things with the GO Ride scheme to encourage more youngsters to the sport, but even this is to try and get them to ride in competitive events.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

jibberjim

danowat wrote:

If you are a club member, do you think club cycling is sufficiently welcoming to beginners? Is it up to beginners to get themselves in decent shape before joining?


On the whole?, no, I don't, I really don't think new members are "shown the way" enough, too many clubs just take the subs each year and not assist members in the way things run, the majority attitude I run into is like the comment above "people should find stuff out for themselves", which is fine, but surely the whole idea of joining a club is to tap into the already great knowledge of the members?

This expectation on what a club is could be the disconnect, and it's not what I see a club to be, most clubs don't have a goal of assisting members etc. etc. they're much more about participating in cycling. There's no club entity who's job it is to encourage people or hand hold people through the process of learning how to ride a bike, or enter an event. The information does need to be pulled by the interested party and not pushed from the club, there's simply nothing the club wants for that outlay.

Clubs generally don't need members, or particularly want members, they just want some interesting people to ride with which is a different thing. I couldn't care less if my club had 50 members or 350, it doesn't particularly help me having more, indeed it makes it more difficult as you end up with people you don't know riding with you. Of course I'm also happy to answer questions, and even organise training events for other club members, but I don't see it as an important part of being a club.

Clubs require participation, when I joined mine I found it to be very friendly and welcoming, it took some effort on my part to figure out how to enter a TT, but it was answered quickly and easily by by clubmates when I asked them. Just like most of the questions I've asked. No easier than if I asked on bikeradar, but that's because it's just the same, it's a club where if you want something you need to ask for it. And because it's a club you also generally need to give something back in return for that asking - membership is a social contract and just taking doesn't make you popular.

I think British Cycling's goals at increasing membership of clubs to help meet their overall targets of membership are a bit of a PITA, as they seem to be promoting the idea that clubs are a resource for people to just take from, rather than a club you have to join with the attendant obligations.

ducknumber1

Are you happy just riding for your own fitness or do you want to ride in sportives and / or join a club and try road races?

I ride with a couple of people from work at the moment, but not far. I am toying with the idea of entering a sportive and club later in the year.

If you haven't joined a club or tried racing yet, and you want to, why not?

Not too sure how to go about it, Had a bit of a look round the websites, everything seems sunday based too, but this is currently football day (playing), but I'm considering making the change. I've also only bought bike stuff from the big boys (Halfords mainly for bike to work) and they seem to have zero part to play in or support for local cycle scenes. I've visited local bike shops lately and the difference is immense

What could public bodies do to help clubs absorb and bring on beginners - or to help beginners get used to club riding beofre they join?

I've not seen much from public bodies in Leeds to promote clubs, so something would be a start. Kirklees have a councillor very keen on cycling and participation, and you can see the difference in the quality and quantity of cycle routes between Leeds and Kirklees, I assume clubs in this area benefit more from this

KnightOfTheLongTights

cheers folks, again I appreciate the responses

rick_chasey

danowat wrote:

From my personal experiance, to a newbie trying to get into the sport, it can feel very secular and hard to get into

What, seperate from religion? I thought that was a given? :?

johnoakleyallen

I have so far only entered into some local club TT.
I would say it defiantly seems very elitist to enter into anything bigger, although I would like to give it a go I'm not convinced I could!

SBezza

johnoakleyallen wrote:

I have so far only entered into some local club TT.
I would say it defiantly seems very elitist to enter into anything bigger, although I would like to give it a go I'm not convinced I could!

Why do you think it is elitist to enter an open event, alot of the same people that do club TT's will do open TT's as well.

You may have issues getting on a really quick course as they are normally over subscribed, but your local open events are probably not. Riding an open TT is exactly the same as a club TT.

I have never come across any elitism to be honest, and I only started 2 years ago, as an over weight guy on a road bike.

The biggest problem is people's perception, not the actual sport.

magoo289

What obstacles did you find to the process, if any? What could have made it easier - in terms of public info or resources?
Cost and technical jargon. Forums like this one really help, but then so many views with conflicting experience ends up adding to the confusion.

Are you happy just riding for your own fitness or do you want to ride in sportives and / or join a club and try road races?
Started off riding with friend who does triathlons, now after a year I can match and beat him on the hard courses!! Not interested in races, if I am not going to win not interested. We are going to do a couple of sportives this year and going the the Giro for the last week!

If you haven't joined a club or tried racing yet, and you want to, why not?
Like my comment on racing, the uncertainty about I would match against seasoned clubbers, might affect my enthusiasm. Also, I know I push myself more when I am on my own as its me against the road. Might consider joining a club at some point.

What could public bodies do to help clubs absorb and bring on beginners - or to help beginners get used to club riding before they join?
Not sure about clubs. But to improve participation the CTW scheme should be promoted. Organisations like Sustrans should be encouraged by public bodies. Also TV courage can only be good.