New to road scene

Philln
Philln Posts: 7
edited August 2011 in Road beginners
Just to bore everyone on my first post! (questions at the bottem)

Been into bikes since I could walk as a young kid, with thanks to my dad who was a die hard road biker until and accident put him out for a while then I just think he got comfortable with his feet up!

Much to his annoyance I started mountain biking instead of road cycling and after breaking pretty much every component and frameI had for 5 years I ended up buying myself a Santa Cruz Bullit.

Also along side the MTB I also road Mod trials bikes, not the best when your 6ft +!

Anyhow as soon as I started to earn a bit more I started motor racing and in particular drifting. So after completely building my car from scratch and doing a few rounds in a championship the other half falls pregnant!

So cars go on hold for something a bit cheaper and want to get into the road side of cycling.

Im currently building up my road bike which at the moment just consists of a Graham Weigh frame and a ebay watch list of around 200 items, im a cheap skate so im really hunting out the bargains!

My questions are.....

Is it worth joining up to a road club? With a baby on the way and when it comes I dont think ill be the most relieable person to attend!

What does a club do? I know it sounds stupid!

Are there any clubs in the Hampshire Surrey borders near Farnham (although not the clubs that race/time trail from Bentley down the A31)

Just in gerneral what to look out for!

Thanks
Phill

(apologies for the spelling - trying to type before the boss sees me!)

Comments

  • cornerblock
    cornerblock Posts: 3,228
    Welcome into the light Philln, join a club, you attend when you can, and if you can't make it because you are changing nappies the club still meet and ride anyway. Riding with others will improve your average speed and it also motivates you to get out on the bike when you are meeting up with club mates. Good luck with the new arrival, that's the baby, not the bike!
  • Philln
    Philln Posts: 7
    Thanks very much, ah great that sounds alot better, as most of the clubs I see locally to me are just doing time trials! Ill have a look for some others, thanks very much!
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    Most clubs do Time Trials - but its not compulsory and thats only a tiny part of what they do. Weekend club runs are great.
  • Philln
    Philln Posts: 7
    Ah ok, the only problems are the ones that do the time trials in the local area are quite lets say without causing arguements badly recieved in the area for some of their actions on the roads.

    However weekend rides sound great, time for me to finish up the bike and get going!
  • merak
    merak Posts: 323
    Philln wrote:
    Ah ok, the only problems are the ones that do the time trials in the local area are quite lets say without causing arguements badly recieved in the area for some of their actions on the roads.
    In what way?
  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    Philln wrote:
    Ah ok, the only problems are the ones that do the time trials in the local area are quite lets say without causing arguements badly recieved in the area for some of their actions on the roads.

    I'm gonna bite.......what exactly :roll:
  • Philln
    Philln Posts: 7
    Thought that comment might have started that, that wasnt my intention! At no part do I have a comment on this other than id rather join a local club that don’t do this route so I don’t get involved!!

    Well the local villagers don’t like the fact that the cycle club cars park all up the sides of the road in the village often restricting access and sightlines (They do use the local memorial hall but the size of the car park is to be fair not big enough for even half of the members).

    However my view is that the village cant cope with the scale for the car parking required, but this is overseen by the fact it isnt regular and it does bring trade into the local village shop and also can promote the local area pubs etc.

    When they are warming up the cyclist can often group up and ride in a bunch down the main road and there is alot of weaving going on.

    When on the dual carriageway and queuing at the roundabouts (coxbridge) the cyclist/competitors can become quite agitated shouting abuse at the motorists accusing them of blocking the road. This then leads to the cyclists/competitors darting out in front of traffic already on the roundabout without looking

    Where one of the clubs starts from is a small lay-by on top of a crest of a hill, more often then not it seems they are sent out on a 'time' rather then a clear slot in the traffic.

    The dual carriageway leading Westbound has recently been closed to one lane, the cyclists/competitors don’t use the cycle lane provided

    The general thoughts of the local community is that the stretch of road used is to dangerous to add the risk of 100+ cyclists/competitors added in, as it is one of the main southern routes into and from London. It has had a huge amount of fatalites on the road

    These are only concerns of the local communities that I have only had expressed to me as I work with the local councils, parish councils and residents often, non of which are my views and I simply do not want to get involved!
  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    Hmmm......
  • ollyridesfirst
    ollyridesfirst Posts: 486
    To be fair, they all seem like valid points...

    Have the residents not tried to set up a meeting with the club organisers to try and come to some sort of agreement?
  • Philln
    Philln Posts: 7
    I do believe they were trying to set one up, I think the issues in the village with regard to the parking etc do cause concerns and annoyance but are more annoyance to people which isnt a very good arguement. However I do understand its quite difficult to organise a meeting for the issues on the dual carridgeway as it spreads over three parish councils and two counties as unfortunalty Hampshire and Surrey dont tend to work together over the issue of the A31.

    I can understand the issues raised by the motorists and many of which are caused by lack of common sense, ignorance and regard for their own safety.

    But as a keen motorist and cyclist I would also like to know what its like on the other foot not all motorists are like myself, considerate and a 'good' driver.

    I would love to join the clubs however it would cause me more aggrovation then anything else as I lived in the village for 22 years and its one of those everyone knows everyone situations (glad to have bought my own house!!!)
  • keef66
    keef66 Posts: 13,123
    Even if I was interested in time trialling, I wouldn't want to be riding on busy main roads. Recipe for confrontation / accident / death IMO.
  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    keef66 wrote:
    Even if I was interested in time trialling, I wouldn't want to be riding on busy main roads. Recipe for confrontation / accident / death IMO.

    :roll: not this old chestnut.......its no less safe than riding on a country lane, I've had tons more near misses on my commute to work down country lanes than I have had on a TT.

    As for avoiding whole clubs just because of a few bad apples..... :roll:
  • Peddle Up!
    Peddle Up! Posts: 2,040
    danowat wrote:
    keef66 wrote:
    Even if I was interested in time trialling, I wouldn't want to be riding on busy main roads. Recipe for confrontation / accident / death IMO.

    :roll: not this old chestnut.......its no less safe than riding on a country lane, I've had tons more near misses on my commute to work down country lanes than I have had on a TT.

    As for avoiding whole clubs just because of a few bad apples..... :roll:

    I take your point having cornered crisply into the bin men yesterday down a country lane! :roll:

    That said, it's the size and density of traffic on busy main roads that gets me. Car after car, truck after truck all passing within a coouple of feet.
    Purveyor of "up" :)
  • Philln
    Philln Posts: 7
    danowat wrote:
    keef66 wrote:
    Even if I was interested in time trialling, I wouldn't want to be riding on busy main roads. Recipe for confrontation / accident / death IMO.

    :roll: not this old chestnut.......its no less safe than riding on a country lane, I've had tons more near misses on my commute to work down country lanes than I have had on a TT.

    As for avoiding whole clubs just because of a few bad apples..... :roll:

    I dont think that you can compare a country lane to a dual carridgeway, each have their own hazards, country lanes are narrow and often twisty, alot of corners causing reduced sightlines. A dc has heavy goods viechles, speeds well in excess of 70mph and more often then not drivers not paying attention/dangerous driving.

    I believe that you cant simply state time trails are ok on a busy dual carridgeway because its less dangerous then a country road. When you have 100+ cyclists on a dual carridgeway where it dips in and out of single lanes a couple of times, alot of foreign lorries (from the ports), blind turnings and lanes accessing the dual carridgeway (for years these have been protested against)

    A few examples of the road
    http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/legcom/Counc ... %20A31.pdf

    The dual carridgeway in particular this part has a accident rating three times higher then that of the national rating

    Although I cant find the link a girl was jailed for dangerous driving after a huge accident happened near where the cyclist set off, one of the main parties who contributed to the accident (swerved to aviod) was a cyclist.

    As I stated I simply rather not join the clubs associtated with the local time trialing as with local communities it will make me a messenger man.


    cadseen wrote:
    Back to original question, a club near to Farnham worth considering is the "farnborough and camberley", they are not 'all' racers, although many are getting on in life :)

    http://www.fccc.org.uk/

    Fantastic thank you, ah dont mind about ages im only 23 but im sure most of them would show me up any day of the week! Just a nice relax 'dont need the best stuff' club

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