# First ride with a club



## endoman (14 Jul 2011)

Well 10 weeks into cycling and 3 weeks after getting road bike I braved it with a local club tonight. They do a " spiralling" 10 mile route, for 2 or 3 laps. About 500 feet of climb, but feels reasonably flat. 

Met some thin people with bikes in car park and was told first lap was nice and gentle. Well it was 18 mph avge but I got round ok, some of the others were saying it was too quick for the first lap, and some still hadn't got round when we set off for the second faster lap. I tried to maybe 80 - 90% of effort, and knocked a couple of minutes off, nearly dipping under 30 mins for the second 10 miles which I was happy with. Nice riding in a group, and had a bit of a race with another guy for the last mile and a half, I went ahead up a hill, and when I heard him trying to get past at the end went into Cavendish mode and made sure he was stopping behind me, enjoyed that! 

The proper fit ones came past at some rate, and I had no chance of keeping with them, but was pleased not to be last. I think it did me good to ride quicker than I would on my own, didn't feel too bad at all at the end, and will be back next week. 

If you get the chance, then do it. My goal is now to get under half an hour for the route. I will learn where I can push it etc.


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## American Cyclist (15 Jul 2011)

Glad to hear it went well.  I am only about 6 weeks into cycling and have been looking for clubs around my area and I think I am going to contact them for a group ride sometime in the near future!


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## endoman (15 Jul 2011)

Will do the spiralling ride again next week, then a family ride with them, busy next couple of Sundays but eventually will make the long Sunday ride, hopefully a few more pounds lighter!


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## cyberknight (16 Jul 2011)

Keep it up !

My club run on a Sunday is the highlight of my week, i go for the steadier pace group that do maybe 20 miles before a cake stop and another 20 or so after.
The average speed depends on who shows up , last week was fairly steady with an average of 17.3 mph although at the end when we started to split up as riders turned for home i was with a couple of others and we were taking turns at the front and maybe doing 23-24 mph on the flat after 50 miles of riding.

Might wimp out tomorrow as it looks like it is going to be a wet and windy weekend and i get enough wet weather riding commuting .


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