Cycling clubs - opinions
Matthewfalle
Posts: 17,380
Morning all
Having just finished reading an article on the changing way that cycle clubs are viewed and used (last months Cyclist magazine) I was wondering about how people on here felt about them - the opinions of both club members and those who aren't club members. What do you use your club for, the benefits/downsides etc. On the flip side, why aren't you using a club/joining a club?
Be also interesting to know what irks club members about clubs (if anything).
Also the opinions of those who used to be club members and now aren't (and why) and those who are thinking of joining a club.
All opinions welcome, healthy discussion is what we are looking for.
No real reason behind it, just intrigued really.
Mods: if this gets a tad heated can it be moved to BB rather than locked.
M
Having just finished reading an article on the changing way that cycle clubs are viewed and used (last months Cyclist magazine) I was wondering about how people on here felt about them - the opinions of both club members and those who aren't club members. What do you use your club for, the benefits/downsides etc. On the flip side, why aren't you using a club/joining a club?
Be also interesting to know what irks club members about clubs (if anything).
Also the opinions of those who used to be club members and now aren't (and why) and those who are thinking of joining a club.
All opinions welcome, healthy discussion is what we are looking for.
No real reason behind it, just intrigued really.
Mods: if this gets a tad heated can it be moved to BB rather than locked.
M
Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour
De Sisti wrote:
This is one of the silliest threads I've come across.
Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour
smithy21 wrote:
He's right you know.
0
Comments
-
I use the club to make sure I have peer pressure to go out and ride in shit weather or company (silent is best) for long miles. Sharing an adventure is more fun I find.
I run a chaingang in my club, it allows me to yell at the Pinas' and get them into some sort of group discipline and force them to concentrate. More honestly it is to help people improve their bike skills and increase my fitness by ensuring some pace for 2 hours.
What irks me? The sheep, too many members in clubs just want to be told what to do with when and how and will refuse to step up on the odd occasion it is needed. I currently have a problem where the intermediate group (cafe/bimble) has lots of members but none who want to help lead rides if the regular leader is away (which has become frequent due to work). For me it feels that the club now isn't providing a service it offered, however with the other leaders already having rides to lead not much can be done.
(For the sake of any later discussion I would add, that the leader just needs to be able to navigate a route of X miles and find a cafe. Routes are offered and can be created. I don't think it is asking much of somebody, especially when according to strava they are already out riding with 3 or 4 others)
The picky politics between people (often those in different ability groups) and the hassle of committees (as a committee member). Dictatorship has so many more benefits.
Only benefit for me is the insurance for leading rides and having people who also like to cycle in lycra on a regular basis each week. Too many other friends are unreliable for getting out, and when they do, their fitness has dropped0 -
'use' the club?
A club is the sum of its parts, it's only anything if members are willing to make stuff happen!Blog on my first and now second season of proper riding/racing - www.firstseasonracing.com0 -
I eventually gave up on Rowing clubs because of the petty politics. I think its inherrent in the nature of clubs.
I used to love group rides, even though I never enjoyed racing. But I came back to the UK and joined a few club rides and utterly hated them.
The main issue I had was that in a group, riders seemed to abdicate all responsibility to the rest of the world. We'd start at the Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh (for those who know it) and the ride would just hammer out of town from there, even though its a good 15km before you are clear of big junctions, lights etc. Because the group was loathe to stop for stragglers, if you did happen to want to check for traffic at junctions or stop at red lights, you were instantly dropped. Most people didn't want to get dropped, so you'd get this amateur peloton flashing through red lights, and what have you.
Same issues with letting cars past on the lanes. I could shout myself hoarse saying "car back" and no one would respond - just waiting for everyone else to. I know you don't have to stop immediately, but by the same token its not fair to keep a driver waiting for 10 minutes either. I stopped going entirely when I overhead someone at work complaining about this and I realised I couldn't disagree.
The club in question got pretty defensive when I pointed this out and suggested a formal spot to regroup. It is a public ride, they said, not a club ride. But most of the riders seemed to be in club kit and the ride was advertised by and lead by club riders. I don't know that a formal club ride would be any different since it would mostly be the same people, so I didn't join.
Pehaps my experience was of a particularly badly run ride?
I'd join the local old gits' ride near where I live now, because bimbling around the borders with a little shelter from the wind would be fun. But unless I have to get to work, I'd rather lie in or wait for dry weather.0 -
I think my local club is great but I would say that as I am the Membership Secretary!
Our club has nearly 300 members and offers a big variety of organised rides (both MTB and road), albeit our guidance is that riders have to be able to ride a solo 25 miles in 2 hours as a minimum ability. We try not to be everything for everyone but like to be as inclusive as we can (with the min ability caveats, mainly due to the rides we offer). Fees are £25 and for that a rider gets the choice of about 6-8 different rides on a Saturday (3 lengths, each at least 2 speeds), several rides on a Sunday, midweek rides on Tuesday and a club organised TT event most Thursdays. We also run cyclocross events, the odd road race, hill TTs, and MTB away w/e's. Oh, and we have a very active ladies section who also run their own rides and organise things like maintenance training sessions. We also have a decent website, do newsletters and have a very active social media.
The downsides...having to conform to a club! Some folks just don't like the fact that any particular ride is not exactly what they want or that the club spends some money on something they personally don't approve of (like a free BBQ that might be inconvenient, etc., or a TT event when TTing isn't their bag).
We do have a large percentage of active riders and can see ~100 turn up on a sunny Saturday so the organisation has to be a bit regimented to be safe...and this is sometimes a bit too structured for some. The structured nature also means that ride leadership can seem onerous so it is a constant challenge to get the minimum needed, but we usually manage.
A club does take a lot of management behind the scenes like regular meetings, admin and even press interviews and is therefore heavily reliant on people prepared to give up their time to review the various things that crop up.
All in all, I would recommend a club but there are definitely some out there who seem to be stuck in the past and almost resent the current interest in cycling (or rather, welcome it but only on the old school terms). We also have some small clubs in our area who set themselves up because they wanted something different to us and good on them I say, more the merrier in my book
0 -
...
The main issue I had was that in a group, riders seemed to abdicate all responsibility to the rest of the world. We'd start at the Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh (for those who know it) and the ride would just hammer out of town from there, even though its a good 15km before you are clear of big junctions, lights etc. Because the group was loathe to stop for stragglers, if you did happen to want to check for traffic at junctions or stop at red lights, you were instantly dropped. Most people didn't want to get dropped, so you'd get this amateur peloton flashing through red lights, and what have you.
Our club does club rides on the 'no one gets dropped' mantra, hence the reason why we try and set min ability levels. We do the usual 'climb big hills at your own pace' and then regroup at the top. It isn't always perfect and some rides just seem doomed from the off but we do try our best but ultimately it is about the people on the ride...and some people seem to join a club only to then refuse to adapt to it.0 -
The club in question got pretty defensive when I pointed this out and suggested a formal spot to regroup. It is a public ride, they said, not a club ride. But most of the riders seemed to be in club kit and the ride was advertised by and lead by club riders. I don't know that a formal club ride would be any different since it would mostly be the same people, so I didn't join.
Pehaps my experience was of a particularly badly run ride?
Bad group perhaps rather than bad club? You see this problem with any club/group rides, especially with large peleton type groups. Often I see a sprawling mass with meter gaps between riders, some in pairs some not. That is when i've had words in the past0 -
Best to find like minded people of similar ability. Some clubs are very good with a variety of riders. Some seem more interested in breaking everyone who can't ride as far or fast as them.0
-
I really want to join a club, couple of things are putting me off;
1 - Not being able to ride all the time (although I know many do Sunday morning rides and one week evening, which would be perfect).
2 - not being able to hack the pace. I know there's often a "we won't leave anyone behind" mantra, but for me the thought of being the guy holding everyone up deflates and petrifies me.
3 - I'm not really sure how to get involved, I tried emailing a local club earlier this year but never got a response
0 -
What drives me crazy in my club is the same members using club runs as an excuse for a race. If they want a race they shoulg go out on runs that are specifically tailored that way....0
-
I think as a club ours has changed a fair bit as it has got bigger. I now ride regularly with club members whose names I don't know - I do make some effort to learn a name if it's a regular face or if it's a smallish group but if it's just the local chaingang and someone in club kit I tend not to bother. I've even turned up to races and seen names on the start sheet listed as the same club and thought who...?
You also get more cliques now - again probably inevitable - and people organising rides which they will only advertise between a select group because they don't want to have to stop and wait for stragglers. Now I can sympathise with that but I tend to be of the opinion if you are in a club and organising a regular ride of more than a handful of you then that should be opened up to all club members even if it's on the understanding that if you get shelled out nobody is waiting - in other words give them the chance.
I think in general though you if you just let the stuff you don't really agree with wash over you, accept that no organisation is going to fit the exact model you'd like it to and take advantage of the activities which you enjoy then on the whole it's a positive.[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
I'm not a member of a club and doubt I will join one. The main reason is time, I like to tailor a ride to the amount of time I have available and when I want to get home. I have a regular riding partner and a couple of others (fell running is their main sport) who come out with us quite often too.
One of them had a bad experience with a local club, which has also kind of put me off tbh.0 -
Take a good long hard look at the club members.
Spend time with them and after a while you will decide that in the main, they are members.
There are only 2 good reasons for clubs.
If you are racing.
To meet future friends to cycle with once you have decided that the club is not for you.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
I really want to join a club, couple of things are putting me off;
1 - Not being able to ride all the time (although I know many do Sunday morning rides and one week evening, which would be perfect).
2 - not being able to hack the pace. I know there's often a "we won't leave anyone behind" mantra, but for me the thought of being the guy holding everyone up deflates and petrifies me.
3 - I'm not really sure how to get involved, I tried emailing a local club earlier this year but never got a response
1. The club won't care how often you ride.
2. With the boom in cycling a lot more clubs should be offering multiple rides for the differing abilities. We offer 3 rides on a Sunday, with the shorter rides tending to be the slower pace so try and find a club that offers a choice and pick a group that matches your pace. Don't forget you can go faster and longer in a group compared to solo.
3. Emails can go unanswered at clubs, it's nothing personal. Just turn up at their meeting point on a Sunday morning and make yourself known.
I like clubs. I've got a good group of friends that I wouldn't have met otherwise and sometimes we do things within the club and sometimes we do things outside the club. The club also puts on events such as TT's or chain gangs although I wouldn't describe them as fun until they're over.0 -
Take a good long hard look at the club members.
Spend time with them and after a while you will decide that in the main, they are members. 0 -
I can give the perspective of a non club member.
I play hockey from September to March, so that limits my time on the bike at weekends during that period. In addition with a 2 year old, and another child due very soon, time could well become more limited.
So for weekend rides I tend to go early (c. 7am) and do a quick 3-4 hours with a fair amount of climbing to try and make it a worthwhile session. In addition I have about 6 other mates who I go out with when time allows, in which case I get longer rides in.
So for me it is good to have the flexibility, but if I ever give up the hockey I would certainly consider joining a club.0 -
Some interesting comments here. I was thinking about this earlier in the week, after a post-ride discussion about a breakaway group that's been formed by some former members of my club.
I've come to the conclusion that a cycling club is basically a group of people who enjoy riding bikes in company, but don't necessarily have much else in common - or even always like each other. Within the club there will be groups of friends who meet up separately, to ride or for a beer, and sometimes those groups can become (or appear to be) cliques as DeVlaeminck notes; it's a fine line what's a club event and what isn't. And there will be a few who need a banner under which to ride road races or TTs and rarely appear at club runs or social events. They pay their subs and they're quite entitled to do that.
In my club there is a renowned troublemaker and there were some people who liked a good argument. The two don't really mix. If other people's petty squabbles bother you, or you want everyone to do an equal share of the work, don't join a club, cycling or otherwise. But I've met some great people, learned a lot and still enjoy getting out with the guys when I can, taking turns in the wind, talking nonsense in the cafe and sometimes supporting events organised for others' benefit. As long as you can defer to the needs and wishes of the majority even when they don't align completely with yours, there's a lot of benefit to be had from being a member of a club. The flipside is, because of other commitments I also ride a lot on my own and find that enjoyable precisely because I'm not tied to anyone else's idea of how the ride should go.0 -
Funny things, cycle clubs.
Personally, I think ours got too big, too quick. And it's changed a lot since I joined a couple of months after it was founded.
I've met some really good people though and my riding has improved - you know what it's like when you ride with similar ability mates... you don't give each other a single minute's peace!
What irks me? Members who see it as some kind of service... people who say "I want the club to do this" rather than "I think I'll do this for the club, I think it would be popular". As someone up there ^^^ said, a club is the sum of its parts.Ben
Bikes: Donhou DSS4 Custom | Condor Italia RC | Gios Megalite | Dolan Preffisio | Giant Bowery '76
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ben_h_ppcc/
Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/143173475@N05/0 -
Take a good long hard look at the club members.
Spend time with them and after a while you will decide that in the main, they are members.
Correct, cos most people are. No different to any other random selection of the public. Like you say, clubs are a necessity really though for TT-ing and racing.0 -
Clubs in general, for any interest, seem to attract a higher percentage of a certain mindset though.Take a good long hard look at the club members.
Spend time with them and after a while you will decide that in the main, they are members.
Correct, cos most people are. No different to any other random selection of the public. Like you say, clubs are a necessity really though for TT-ing and racing.The above may be fact, or fiction, I may be serious, I may be jesting.
I am not sure. You have no chance.Veronese68 wrote:PB is the most sensible person on here.0 -
Take a good long hard look at the club members.
Spend time with them and after a while you will decide that in the main, they are members.
There are only 2 good reasons for clubs.
If you are racing.
To meet future friends to cycle with once you have decided that the club is not for you.
Hahaha this is so true, and exactly what happened with me, I live in a so called affluent area and joined the local club, you can only imagine the 'members' I encountered!!
It was basically run via a fb page and the chaos it decended into was amazing!! Groups split off and formed new 'clubs' then those clubs split into two and so on... It was comical to say the least.
In the end I just hooked up with a few like minded guys I met in the club and we now ride, suffice to say none of them live locallyOne plays football, tennis or golf, one does not play at cycling0 -
Take a good long hard look at the club members.
Spend time with them and after a while you will decide that in the main, they are members.
Correct, cos most people are. No different to any other random selection of the public. Like you say, clubs are a necessity really though for TT-ing and racing.
I agree (now, unfortunately) with this. There are two Clubs near me and I joined the one in 2007 that had the reputation for being less about racing. Things have certainly changed, number of members continues to explode and with that its been noticeable that the people who have come in have changed the direction and I think ethos of the Club. It now organises and runs top level races, with members expected to give up days of their time to help out. But if you are a member like me who has absolutely no interest in racing at all, and only have the time for social rides, you are made to feel you should and are expected to be involved. Needless to say I won't be renewing
point is that a Club is constantly evolving, depending on who joins and the personalities that gravitate towards Committee. There does seem to be a reasonably high turnover of those types as well.
Depends what you're looking for in a Club and its working ethos.0 -
I think clubs are great- I certainly wouldn't be riding as much as I am without them. It means there will be a group of people there on Sunday morning regardless of the conditions, and a lot of like minded people, normally with a wide range of activities to do.
As with any voluntary organisation, you tend to get out what you put in, and a lot of people (but not all) that don't like clubs tend to be the ones that expect everything there on a plate for them without giving anything back themselves.
I led a university club for a few years and it turned out to be a very rewarding experience to take a group of spring chickens and turn them into fully fledged roadies with gentle encouragement- they probably didn't even realise they were training at the time!
I'm lucky enough not to have come across many bullish clubs, although there was one that treated their weekly club ride as a bit of a race, got dropped (even though they said that no-one would be dropped) and I just rode home and had nothing to do with them again. You tend to be able to tell if a club will be like this if their website is only focused on racing- although I do race myself, the first thing I look for in a club is a traditional club run, with other training/ events around it as extras.
Most clubs nowerdays do ask as a condition of membership that you help out at at least one event because of the large number of freeloaders you tend to get, and I think is fair tbh. Usually it's pushing off at a local TT or waving a flag at a road race if you're lucky enough to still have one. Not a whole lot of effort in return for guided rides through (probably) the best cycling routes in the area each week.
I do occasionally have bug bears with standard club rides, such as when someone (or a few people) start trying to race each other and blow the group apart irrecoverably (i.e. not just to the top of the hill) and conversely when people join the fast group when more social groups are also available and then hold the group up because they've grossly overestimated their abilities. In the main though, this is rare and people sort themselves into the different paced groups without much issue and everyone gets a good ride with a few hills to have a dig at and plenty of cruising to chat to the others.0 -
The main issue I had was that in a group, riders seemed to abdicate all responsibility to the rest of the world. We'd start at the Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh (for those who know it) and the ride would just hammer out of town from there, even though its a good 15km before you are clear of big junctions, lights etc. Because the group was loathe to stop for stragglers, if you did happen to want to check for traffic at junctions or stop at red lights, you were instantly dropped. Most people didn't want to get dropped, so you'd get this amateur peloton flashing through red lights, and what have you.
Same issues with letting cars past on the lanes. I could shout myself hoarse saying "car back" and no one would respond - just waiting for everyone else to. I know you don't have to stop immediately, but by the same token its not fair to keep a driver waiting for 10 minutes either. I stopped going entirely when I overhead someone at work complaining about this and I realised I couldn't disagree.
The club in question got pretty defensive when I pointed this out and suggested a formal spot to regroup. It is a public ride, they said, not a club ride. But most of the riders seemed to be in club kit and the ride was advertised by and lead by club riders. I don't know that a formal club ride would be any different since it would mostly be the same people, so I didn't join.
Pehaps my experience was of a particularly badly run ride?
I'd join the local old gits' ride near where I live now, because bimbling around the borders with a little shelter from the wind would be fun. But unless I have to get to work, I'd rather lie in or wait for dry weather.
Not going to defend going through red lights etc however the group that leaves from the Commonwealth Pool is a chain gang, that is very different to what you would expect going out on a normal club run with members of the same clubs that are represented.0 -
My riding has improved in a couple of ways since joining my club 3 years ago.
> Most importantly, I am enjoying my cycling more
> I have a lot more people I can ring up and go out for a ride with
> I can now ride for longer, and much faster
> I have tried new things like TTs, chain gangs and helping out on the beginner rides
Yes there is the occasional political spat, but I just keep out of those.
I love the club rides, the banter, the peer pressure that makes you ride faster, and the sense of giving something back.0 -
Having recently taken the plunge and joined my local club, I can understand the comments from more experienced 'members' and also the reticence of those who haven't taken the plunge.
I've been riding for a couple of years and consider myself neither quick nor a beginner - so I'd expected to be somewhere in the middle. I decided to start in a slightly slower group to learn about group riding and really glad I did this. The fear of not being able to keep up wasn't an issue and as an earlier poster said, if you can ride 25 miles solo in under two hours, you'll be fine.
What has surprised me is how much you need to concentrate and communicate. On the first few rides I didn't feel confident enough to shout out hazards and luckily there were plenty of others doing it, but 5 rides in and I'm getting the hang of it and even went on my first chaingang last night.
As you'd expect, there are politics and a bit of a pecking order, although most people are chatty and friendly, there are a few who don't consider you worthy enough to even acknowledge - luckily I'm at an age where I don't give a sh@t about stuff like that, although flying past them on hills makes up for their lack of grace.
I prevaricated for over a year about joining a club and really wish I'd done it sooner0 -
do I hold the record..?. havent been out on a 'club' run as such for about 4 years.... proper club as well... not some iffy facebook gathering of weirdoes, wannabees and mamils... ;-)0
-
Not sure about that tbh. Their reaction wasn't that the Commie pool ride was problematic but theirs weren't, it was more like what's the problem with the Commie pool ride?The main issue I had was that in a group, riders seemed to abdicate all responsibility to the rest of the world. We'd start at the Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh (for those who know it) and the ride would just hammer out of town from there, even though its a good 15km before you are clear of big junctions, lights etc. Because the group was loathe to stop for stragglers, if you did happen to want to check for traffic at junctions or stop at red lights, you were instantly dropped. Most people didn't want to get dropped, so you'd get this amateur peloton flashing through red lights, and what have you.
Same issues with letting cars past on the lanes. I could shout myself hoarse saying "car back" and no one would respond - just waiting for everyone else to. I know you don't have to stop immediately, but by the same token its not fair to keep a driver waiting for 10 minutes either. I stopped going entirely when I overhead someone at work complaining about this and I realised I couldn't disagree.
The club in question got pretty defensive when I pointed this out and suggested a formal spot to regroup. It is a public ride, they said, not a club ride. But most of the riders seemed to be in club kit and the ride was advertised by and lead by club riders. I don't know that a formal club ride would be any different since it would mostly be the same people, so I didn't join.
Pehaps my experience was of a particularly badly run ride?
I'd join the local old gits' ride near where I live now, because bimbling around the borders with a little shelter from the wind would be fun. But unless I have to get to work, I'd rather lie in or wait for dry weather.
Not going to defend going through red lights etc however the group that leaves from the Commonwealth Pool is a chain gang, that is very different to what you would expect going out on a normal club run with members of the same clubs that are represented.0 -
Clubs in general, for any interest, seem to attract a higher percentage of a certain mindset though.Take a good long hard look at the club members.
Spend time with them and after a while you will decide that in the main, they are members.
Correct, cos most people are. No different to any other random selection of the public. Like you say, clubs are a necessity really though for TT-ing and racing.
People who aren't socially dysfunctional loners?[Castle Donington Ladies FC - going up in '22]0 -
do I hold the record..?. havent been out on a 'club' run as such for about 4 years.... proper club as well... not some iffy facebook gathering of weirdoes, wannabees and mamils... ;-)
I haven't been on a club ride since I was 19, which is 23 hrs ago. To be fair I had 20 years out of cycling and got back on a bike a year ago. The local club has recently decided they will only take new members if they come to a newbie ride on the first Sunday of a month - just seems that I can never make those rides as I have something else going on (eg first Sunday in June I was riding in the closed roads event around Peterborough, then in July I am in Holland for the TdF, then in Aug I'll be doing the Ride 100).
At some stage I may get to join up, but am slightly put off as their club rides all start at 9am and I'd prefer to get out earlier so I have more time with the family on sat/sun.0 -
do I hold the record..?. havent been out on a 'club' run as such for about 4 years.... proper club as well... not some iffy facebook gathering of weirdoes, wannabees and mamils... ;-)
I haven't been on a club ride since I was 19, which is 23 hrs ago. To be fair I had 20 years out of cycling and got back on a bike a year ago. The local club has recently decided they will only take new members if they come to a newbie ride on the first Sunday of a month - just seems that I can never make those rides as I have something else going on (eg first Sunday in June I was riding in the closed roads event around Peterborough, then in July I am in Holland for the TdF, then in Aug I'll be doing the Ride 100).
At some stage I may get to join up, but am slightly put off as their club rides all start at 9am and I'd prefer to get out earlier so I have more time with the family on sat/sun.
Yes but if that club is KWCC it has plenty of other rides arraned via the club forum including early sunday rides, it just means members tee them up amongst themselves. The process to join was adopted after a massive increase in memebership and a perceived decrease in rider ability on club runs0
