Getting into shop/club rides (UPDATE bottom of pg 2)

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Comments

  • iron-clover
    iron-clover Posts: 737
    You'll be fine- if you can average 18mph by yourself then 18mph with a group will be easy as you'll be drafting behind everyone else. Then the next time you can try the next group if you thought it was too slow for you.
    You definitely don't want to jump right in with the fast group if there is a range of abilities available- we had that a couple of weeks ago where someone was new to the area and was used to the 'fast' group of his usual club but he struggled a lot and he elected to get dropped in the end.

    As for everyone saying that the average speeds are way higher than they should be, you just have to remember here in the UK (where most of the posters are from) we tend to ride on narrower, twisty country roads that tend to either be going up or down.

    Have fun- joining a club was probably the best thing I did cycling wise- it gives you so much more motivation knowing there will be others there, and the experience of the other members can be invaluable.
  • italianstallion
    italianstallion Posts: 17
    iron-clover wrote:
    You'll be fine- if you can average 18mph by yourself then 18mph with a group will be easy as you'll be drafting behind everyone else. Then the next time you can try the next group if you thought it was too slow for you.
    You definitely don't want to jump right in with the fast group if there is a range of abilities available- we had that a couple of weeks ago where someone was new to the area and was used to the 'fast' group of his usual club but he struggled a lot and he elected to get dropped in the end.

    As for everyone saying that the average speeds are way higher than they should be, you just have to remember here in the UK (where most of the posters are from) we tend to ride on narrower, twisty country roads that tend to either be going up or down.

    Have fun- joining a club was probably the best thing I did cycling wise- it gives you so much more motivation knowing there will be others there, and the experience of the other members can be invaluable.

    Thanks for the advice. The ride starting point is probably half a mile from my house, and sticks to roads in my area that I'm familiar with. I'm just doing a little bit of reading on shop ride etiquette and watching a few of their videos to get a sense for how everyone rides. Its a fairly large group, I would say 20 cyclists or so. I'll show up early, introduce myself and probably stick towards the back of the pack (not sure I want to be pulling first ride out). I'll hold my line, stay with the person next to me and try and learn what I can. And hopefully I have some fun along the way!
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    italianstallion wrote:
    iron-clover wrote:
    You'll be fine- if you can average 18mph by yourself then 18mph with a group will be easy as you'll be drafting behind everyone else. Then the next time you can try the next group if you thought it was too slow for you.
    You definitely don't want to jump right in with the fast group if there is a range of abilities available- we had that a couple of weeks ago where someone was new to the area and was used to the 'fast' group of his usual club but he struggled a lot and he elected to get dropped in the end.

    As for everyone saying that the average speeds are way higher than they should be, you just have to remember here in the UK (where most of the posters are from) we tend to ride on narrower, twisty country roads that tend to either be going up or down.

    Have fun- joining a club was probably the best thing I did cycling wise- it gives you so much more motivation knowing there will be others there, and the experience of the other members can be invaluable.

    Thanks for the advice. The ride starting point is probably half a mile from my house, and sticks to roads in my area that I'm familiar with. I'm just doing a little bit of reading on shop ride etiquette and watching a few of their videos to get a sense for how everyone rides. Its a fairly large group, I would say 20 cyclists or so. I'll show up early, introduce myself and probably stick towards the back of the pack (not sure I want to be pulling first ride out). I'll hold my line, stay with the person next to me and try and learn what I can. And hopefully I have some fun along the way!

    The GCN youtube channel has some half-decent etiquette videos.
  • ManOfKent
    ManOfKent Posts: 392
    For those questioning the average speeds, they sound reasonable to me. I know some people in southern Florida and it's not unusual for them to ride 60 miles in under three hours, and they're neither young nor racers. The roads are wide, smooth and pan flat, perfect for pacelines. One of my friends logged a 60-mile ride on Strava with 90ft of climbing - probably going over a bridge.

    To the OP, just be warned group rides like this can be a crashfest. I won't put you off by listing the incidents I've heard about this year, but some were very serious.
  • italianstallion
    italianstallion Posts: 17
    ManOfKent wrote:
    For those questioning the average speeds, they sound reasonable to me. I know some people in southern Florida and it's not unusual for them to ride 60 miles in under three hours, and they're neither young nor racers. The roads are wide, smooth and pan flat, perfect for pacelines. One of my friends logged a 60-mile ride on Strava with 90ft of climbing - probably going over a bridge.

    To the OP, just be warned group rides like this can be a crashfest. I won't put you off by listing the incidents I've heard about this year, but some were very serious.

    That's honestly the thing I'm most nervous about: crashes. Any advice on how to avoid getting caught in one?
  • g00se
    g00se Posts: 2,221
    italianstallion wrote:
    ManOfKent wrote:
    For those questioning the average speeds, they sound reasonable to me. I know some people in southern Florida and it's not unusual for them to ride 60 miles in under three hours, and they're neither young nor racers. The roads are wide, smooth and pan flat, perfect for pacelines. One of my friends logged a 60-mile ride on Strava with 90ft of climbing - probably going over a bridge.

    To the OP, just be warned group rides like this can be a crashfest. I won't put you off by listing the incidents I've heard about this year, but some were very serious.

    That's honestly the thing I'm most nervous about: crashes. Any advice on how to avoid getting caught in one?

    Keep your front wheel behind the rider in front (don't overlap - otherwise if they move a little, you'll go down).

    Watch what's going on ahead - not the back wheel of the guy in front.

    Learn the groups signal calls.

    If you're going eyes-out, watch out for those struggling to keep the pace (including yourself) as they're more likely to be the ones making mistakes.

    If you're riding a pace-line/through-and-off etc, and feel nervous, sit back a bit from the wheel in front (not too far to break up the line though). Or - as it's your first group ride - sit on the back and let them rotate in front of you. Check that's cool with them first though.
  • jgsi
    jgsi Posts: 5,062
    italianstallion wrote:
    ManOfKent wrote:
    For those questioning the average speeds, they sound reasonable to me. I know some people in southern Florida and it's not unusual for them to ride 60 miles in under three hours, and they're neither young nor racers. The roads are wide, smooth and pan flat, perfect for pacelines. One of my friends logged a 60-mile ride on Strava with 90ft of climbing - probably going over a bridge.

    To the OP, just be warned group rides like this can be a crashfest. I won't put you off by listing the incidents I've heard about this year, but some were very serious.

    That's honestly the thing I'm most nervous about: crashes. Any advice on how to avoid getting caught in one?
    Thats obviously the way things are in Flo rider.. you'll get an affectionate "oi!" if you transgress over here.
    Club runs are NOT crashfests. Be at peace.
  • solosuperia
    solosuperia Posts: 333
    25+ mph that isn't a club ride ............. That is a chain gang.
    If you can hang in there, start racing, in no time at all you will be getting points on your license and climbing through the categories!
  • italianstallion
    italianstallion Posts: 17
    Alright just got back from the ride. Ride departs at 8:00am and does about a 47 mile loop. I woke up this morning at 7:30 and it was 45* out. For us Floridans, that's freezing. But I told myself to HTFU and got dressed. I put my short-bib on but opted for a long under-armour type shirt with another long sleeve golf pullover for the top. I looked a little off but I figured I needed to keep the upper body warm as the guns would certainly warm up quickly.

    So I arrived right as the ride was leaving, so I tacked myself on the back of the 20 or so riders and we were off. I wasn't 100% comfortable bringing up the rear as I wasn't sure when to call "car back" or not. I called it a couple of times but got no response from the rest of the group, leading me to believe the points at which I called them didn't matter as we couldn't let the car pass anyway. But after about 10 minutes about 4 or 5 riders who were at the front pulled back and I found myself at the middle of the back.

    Pace was good. I rode 63 miles yesterday (furthest I've ever gone) and I was a bit sore. But we were cooking at a steady 19-21 mph on mostly flat roads. Drafting made it really easy to keep the sustained pace. I'm happy to say I avoided overlapping the rear wheels of riders in front of me and was able to hold my line with the person in front of me. I also figured out how to slow myself just enough without using the brake by either pulling my upper body up or by soft pedaling. For the most part I maintained about a 3-5 foot gap from the rear wheel of the person in front when I was in the middle of the pack. Later in the ride I found myself in the first 5 riders and we got into a rhythm where I was more comfortable with riding a little closer.

    Hardest parts/room for improvement:

    1) Turning: I had to corner a little harder than I am use to when I ride on my own. I was a bit nervous at first, and certainly still need to get use to it, but I'm starting to trust that my tires won't slide out from under me. The important thing is I managed to maintain my line through the turns and didn't disrupt anybody around me.

    2) Pulling: After a stop light I was toward the front of the pack. As soon as we started rolling the person who was pulling up to that point waved me up. Not being familiar with the route, I asked him if we were going straight for a while, to which he replied yes. So I waited a bit for everyone to catch up and took my turn in the wind. Definitely alot harder to maintain a smoother pace when you're out front in the elements, so I kept it at 20 for about a half mile then pulled off and let the person behind me take over.

    3) Calling out hazards: Sometimes I became a little too focused on the ride and was a little late calling out hazards. Things can come up quick and before you know it a hazard someone else calls out ahead of you is 50 feet behind you.

    Overall I had alot of fun and I manned up and went. At a SAG stop I introduced myself to a few riders who were very nice and welcoming. I didn't get dropped nor did I fall off the pace, but I think I'm going to stick to this group ride exclusively until I can really master a few more of those finer nuances and build up my strength for some more strenuous rides. Thanks everybody for your comments and posts, it feels good to be initiated.

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