joining a club

ianbar

so i am looking at joining a club, its a mix of wanting to help push my speed on and also would just be nice for company on longer rides. so there is a definate divide social or competative clubs. now i have emailed a few and i have yet to ride with any butdoes anyone ride with more than one club?

fish156

ianbar wrote:

... does anyone ride with more than one club?

Yes. I ride with and race in the colours of my "first claim" club, plus use the training rides of another local racing club, and have hence joined them as a "second claim" member.

ianbar

sorry my original post was written while just waking up lol I'm basically a bit caught between the social and racing club but also think i will probably get dropped in the faster groups. i know what i might do is ride with the less serious clubs but would then feel guilty leaving for another club once faster hense the question if it would be fround upon riding for 2 clubs.good to know others have more than one clubs though thats for sure

jibberjim

Ask the clubs and find out what they're like - given that you presumably live in a pretty popular area if you have a choice of clubs, saying which ones here will probably give you more info on them too.

Join the club that most suits you and get involved...

Pross

A lot of bigger clubs will have a range of club runs from beginner to high level racers so if you can find one like that it is perfect. You may struggle more in less populated areas though. As someone else said though you can join as many clubs as you want as a second claim member.

drlodge

My club typically has 2 or 3 groups or different abilities/speeds and sometimes routes to the same mid point cafe stop. That way we can cater for most abilities, and its very popular.

saprkzz

fish156 wrote:

ianbar wrote:

... does anyone ride with more than one club?

Yes. I ride with and race in the colours of my "first claim" club, plus use the training rides of another local racing club, and have hence joined them as a "second claim" member.

Exactly what I do as well,

One club is full of mixed riders, committee members, social secretaries, route planners blah blah blah, makes me cringe! but I ride with them for casual slower social rides, this club don't have a faster group as such so I 2nd claim to this one.
My first claim club is fast fast fast , with E/1/2 racers in it, and everybody in the club is competitive so training with this lot has me blowing out of my a**e which is great for development. The only bad thing is they only do group rides twice a week, so this is why I have 2nd claim.

You have to pick a club(s) that suit your needs!

ianbar

thank you for your responses. within say 10 miles theres is about 10 clubs of various types. i have reduced the list to 4, 1 is a social club 3 more race focused. i think i am going to try out the social one first to bed myself in riding in groups etc but i would like joining a cub to push on my fitness so riding with the other clubs would be a next step. been in contact with one who has said i can come and talk to them at there annual road race sunday, i mentioned i wouldnt mind doing some tt's to give me targets to train too and they said i could turn up and have a go at them too so there sounding quite good too.