Early morning rides in Regents Park

Thigh_burn

This may be a bit specific - and the wrong thread - if so, apologies.

But does anyone on here do early morning spins around Regents Park, before work? I'd really like to ride with someone (or people) if possible but not looking to join a club. I usually do about an hour from 6am but it's fairly boring by myself. The RPR's are a bit too hard core/serious/intimidating for me. Other clubs like CC London might be of interest, but basically, I'm after a pre-work training ride.

bigmat

I was there on Wednesday morning. I ended up circling solo - didn't get there until 7:40 so probably a bit late. There were a few groups around, Islington CC seemed pretty steady if you want an easier group to start with. I would just tag on the back of the first group to overtake you though, and see how long you can hang on / maybe do a couple of turns if you feel strong enough. I got the impression in summer that a lot of the groups form quite organically. I have to say, the traffic lights ruin it for me. I seemed to spend half my time waiting at lights on Wednesday (seemed worse than usual). Maybe an earlier start is better for that, but I can't face getting up much earlier than 6!

Anonymous

RPR are quite hard to join as they have limited memberships slots, but organise a relaxed spin from 6am on Fridays so you can chat to them then. They are a really friendly, chatty bunch on Fridays, but do ride pretty seriously when training.

CC London are an extremely friendly and inclusive club, with a focus on racing, so their rides are pretty fast, but they run two groups so you can pick your speed. I think on Thursday's they head up to Swain's lane to do hill work. I used to ride with them until I moved further out, but recently I've spotted an RPR and CCL jersey returning home within 300m of my house so no more excuses!

London Phoenix do Tuesday night chaingangs I think as well.

There are also a load of other people in there (5th Floor, Pretorious etc) who you can just tag on with and its quite good fun and pretty fast if you want to play at the front.

There is a facebook group called Regents Park Cyclists where people are pretty good at posting.

BigMat - one of the RPR guys is heavily campaigning to make it a traffic free area, CS11, no cut through, and has managed to get TFL to improve the light phases between 6-7 so you get steadier runs.

pastryboy

I do from time to time getting there just after 6 and doing an hour solo. It is luck with the traffic lights sometimes you never get a clean lap at all.

I could possibly be up for it if it's not stupidly cold or wet. Depends how quick you are of course, I'd look to ride an hour at about 280w which worked out at a 22.6mph average last time I did it.

Anonymous

Easily done with CC London

Thigh_burn

pastryboy wrote:

...I could possibly be up for it if it's not stupidly cold or wet. Depends how quick you are of course, I'd look to ride an hour at about 280w which worked out at a 22.6mph average last time I did it.

Umm, thanks for the offer, but I'll wave as you shoot past!

spasypaddy

get involved with a club, there are phoenix members there most mornings (including me if i get my censored into gear). we also organise evening chain gangs in the winter on tuesdays and thursdays.

then there is ICC who do wednesday evening chain gangs, CCL who organise laps, RPR (who only invite you to join), plus a multitude of other clubs and solo riders.

by joining a club you open up meeting people and knowing who is a regular in the park. Alternatively just ride clockwise until you see some groups and ask if you can join the back of their group. Always introduce yourself and make sure you're not causing trouble.

If you've never ridden in a group before we (Phoenix) organise monthly intro rides on a saturday to get an intro to group riding, CCL and ICC i'm sure do something similar.

If you're interested drop me an email - [email protected]

Thigh_burn

Thanks all for the advice. I'll give clubs a go, I'll try to tag on to CCL and see how that goes.

I know some Phoenix members and they're all fantastic riders - much better and faster than me - so might do that once I've got my speeds up.

Anonymous

Nice one. They meet at the Zoo Gates.
They have a website

forum.cc-london.com/

but some info here:

https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/club/ ... /cc-london

pastryboy

I should really get round to joining a club, if only for the nice jerseys.

tetm

@thigh_burn, come and say hi to CCL at the zoo gates at 0700 tomorrow or Friday and join us for some laps.

What do you ride? I'll keep an eye out for you.

Thigh_burn

tetm wrote:

@thigh_burn, come and say hi to CCL at the zoo gates at 0700 tomorrow or Friday and join us for some laps.

What do you ride? I'll keep an eye out for you.

Thanks I will try to do so tomorrow. I'll be riding a blue Condor Fratello.

Anonymous

I may come along and say hi as well....if you don't oversleep tetm.....

Anonymous

Well I did get up but arrived a bit late (7.15 or so) as I hit every red light from home to the Park. Lapped ACW for about 45 mins then sloped off to work.