Bailed on a club ride

[davidphilips]

looking at your Strava you are a strong/fast cyclist ,the cyclists that dropped you must be very fast. Because of this, way i look at it is you have 2 options, option one is just keep going out with them if you want to get faster just keep a note of how long you can keep up with them and try to make it further until you dont get dropped.
Second option just start going out with another club/group, if it was myself i would perhaps just go out with them every second week or so have a few solo cycles and at the same time look for another club, on fast club runs its not to easy to spot some one of the back.
If you do keep going out with this group just stay of the front and dont be adverse to saying steady up guys.

 

[cyberknight]

looking at your Strava you are a strong/fast cyclist ,the cyclists that dropped you must be very fast. Because of this, way i look at it is you have 2 options, option one is just keep going out with them if you want to get faster just keep a note of how long you can keep up with them and try to make it further until you dont get dropped.
Second option just start going out with another club/group, if it was myself i would perhaps just go out with them every second week or so have a few solo cycles and at the same time look for another club, on fast club runs its not to easy to spot some one of the back.
If you do keep going out with this group just stay of the front and dont be adverse to saying steady up guys.

spoke to someone who rides with me an them and it seems they might be able to drop me a bit but they tend to be fast blast short distance riders and a 65 mile club ride is not something to tempt them : ) ,The ride in question was 42 with a cake stop .

To be fair i weighed myself this week and im the heaviest i have been in years due to a bucket load of family problems then working 3 hours overtime a day for 5 months ment i have been eating oddly .I have been getting the miles in , coming up on 2800 for the year so i will bite the bullet and take some of the blame but still doesnt excuse the feck em attitude of the riders.

 

[yello]

I'm not sure it's a matter of "blame" as such. It can be that you're either not cut out for club riding (not everyone is) or not cut out for that particular club.

I want to pick up something someone else said earlier. That is, it's a two way thing; the club (ride) owes you a responsibility and you equally owe it one.

Some club riders have been doing it for years, the process comes naturally to them, it feels easy and friendly. Hence club rides are advertised as "friendly" (Who would advertise themselves as unfriendly!) For someone new to club riding, it's not so straightforward; it's not simply a matter of picking the right group and keeping up. There are rules and etiquette, some of it spoken, some of it just known. Example from earlier, a mention of ostracizing for half wheeling.

A new rider may fall foul of such rules without ever knowing it, find themselves shunned for reasons unknown. When a new rider joins a club, it's the rider's responsibility to pick this up (not just ride etiquette but club etiquette too) Yes, more experienced riders will obviously help but there's also an element of osmosis to it. During that learning process, you're best served just being respectful and sensitive, observing and asking. Don't assume that you know because you can ride a bike. As I say, that's not all there is to it.

Most cycling clubs are, I'd wager, friendly - once you've served your apprenticeship and know the ropes, got yourself known and accepted. In fact, I'd say most clubs are like that, not just cycling clubs. It's just a club dynamic.

I've ridden with cycling clubs and it's not for me. I don't fit and I accept that, no problem. There's no blame to it, it is what it is - a two way thing; I don't fit them and they don't fit me. I don't even care WHY, I just accept it.

I should hasten to add that by "cycling clubs", I mean the traditional style racing club. I don't mean CTC and the like. I've ridden in CTC groups and enjoyed it greatly - a vibe that suits me more. I've learnt a great deal about bikes and cycling through CTC groups, they've motivated and enthused me, enabled me to find and place myself as a rider. Had I have taken the traditional cycling club route, I would probably have given up!

 

[cyberknight]

I'm not sure it's a matter of "blame" as such. It can be that you're either not cut out for club riding (not everyone is) or not cut out for that particular club.

I want to pick up something someone else said earlier. That is, it's a two way thing; the club (ride) owes you a responsibility and you equally owe it one.

Some club riders have been doing it for years, the process comes naturally to them, it feels easy and friendly. Hence club rides are advertised as "friendly" (Who would advertise themselves as unfriendly!) For someone new to club riding, it's not so straightforward; it's not simply a matter of picking the right group and keeping up. There are rules and etiquette, some of it spoken, some of it just known. Example from earlier, a mention of ostracizing for half wheeling.

A new rider may fall foul of such rules without ever knowing it, find themselves shunned for reasons unknown. When a new rider joins a club, it's the rider's responsibility to pick this up (not just ride etiquette but club etiquette too) Yes, more experienced riders will obviously help but there's also an element of osmosis to it. During that learning process, you're best served just being respectful and sensitive, observing and asking. Don't assume that you know because you can ride a bike. As I say, that's not all there is to it.

Most cycling clubs are, I'd wager, friendly - once you've served your apprenticeship and know the ropes, got yourself known and accepted. In fact, I'd say most clubs are like that, not just cycling clubs. It's just a club dynamic.

I've ridden with cycling clubs and it's not for me. I don't fit and I accept that, no problem. There's no blame to it, it is what it is - a two way thing; I don't fit them and they don't fit me. I don't even care WHY, I just accept it.

I should hasten to add that by "cycling clubs", I mean the traditional style racing club. I don't mean CTC and the like. I've ridden in CTC groups and enjoyed it greatly - a vibe that suits me more. I've learnt a great deal about bikes and cycling through CTC groups, they've motivated and enthused me, enabled me to find and place myself as a rider. Had I have taken the traditional cycling club route, I would probably have given up!

I rode with another club for maybe 7-8 years and moved to this one as it was a bit closer to get to when it formed i started maybe 1 month after it got going so i have been there from the start near enough putting a lot of time and effort into running rides , planning routes , advice etc

 

[yello]

Sounds like a club or personality issue then @cyberknight as you're clearly an experienced club rider.

My (long) reply above was me thinking generally about clubs, and cycling clubs particularly, rather than intended to be a specific comment on your situation.

 

[velohomme]

Went out with a group once. Thought I was going out with moderate group. Turned out they were some where else. I knew I was in trouble as soon we left the meeting point. All you could hear was the sound of chains dropping onto small sprockets. Needless to say I soon bailed out. Definitely knocked my confidence for a while. I find I prefer riding on my own anyway.

 

[mjr]

I should hasten to add that by "cycling clubs", I mean the traditional style racing club. I don't mean CTC and the like. I've ridden in CTC groups and enjoyed it greatly - [...]

Well, CTC had Club in its name long before most of the current racing clubs were even formed, so I think we should probably be careful to say "racing club" or similar when that's what we mean, else we do the touring and leisure cycling clubs a great disservice.

 

[Globalti]

I was on a cycle training camp holiday in Spain... (Not because I was training for anything in particular; mainly because it was nice riding in the sunshine in March when the weather at home was crap.)

I chose a group aiming for my kind of comfortable pace and we all set off together.

After a good warm-up, Super-fit Triathlete Woman said goodbye to us and time-trialled off the front into the distance and then out of sight.

We continued steadily on our way but I found myself drifting off the front every time we came to any slight ascent. I did it one time too many and Grizzly Veteran Ride Leader rode up behind me and barked "Oh, so you think that you are effing fit and can split the effing group up on every effing hill, do ya...?" I felt a gnarly palm on my back, and he shoved me so hard that I almost went over the front of my bars! "Well eff off up the road after Super-fit Triathlete Woman and see how you get on with 'er!"

I was really embarrassed and felt that I had no choice so I set of in pursuit of S-FTW. I chased her for about 10 kms, half-killing myself to catch her and by the time I did I was a spent force. It didn't matter anyway because she didn't want me messing up her training and she ordered me to go back to the group!

I drifted along until the group caught me up, sheepishly apologised and sneaked to the back ...

Just read this Col and I'm a bit appalled. My experience with clubs has never been good; I rode with a local mountain bike club for some of my 21 years of dirt and hated the bickering and overt racism towards a couple of young Asians who tried to join. Have more recently ridden a couple of times with a local shop club and there is only one character who has any leadership skills or concern for his pals and he is an RAF officer - go figure. Even back in the 70s when I tried to join a mountaineering club I was appalled to be left behind sherpherding an extremely slow, frightened and ill-equipped young woman on the Aonach Eagach ridge in winter; we reached the pub an hour after dark by the light of my head torch and nobody seemed to have been concerned enough to wait or come back for us.

When my brother was a teenager he wanted to take up Scuba diving but the older members didn't take kindly to him because he was too young to go boozing in pubs. He joind a club in Tyneside and the dive boat succeeded in losing him and his buddy. who were swept down the coast into a neighbouring bay where they managed to swim ashore and stagger back on foot with all their kit. Disgusting.

All sporting clubs need to have a personality in charge wo makes sure novices are looked after. The only club approaching that is Cycle Sport Pendle who I would call a proper club who take care of junior members.

 

[screenman]

Globalti, I can add loads of named cycling clubs that look after kids, have you been to a grass track event recently as they are full of kids having fun and being well looked after. The cycling club I belong to has about 200 members, I guess 35 race and some do not even ride a bike.

 

[ColinJ]

Just read this Col and I'm a bit appalled. My experience with clubs has never been good; I rode with a local mountain bike club for some of my 21 years of dirt and hated the bickering and overt racism towards a couple of young Asians who tried to join. Have more recently ridden a couple of times with a local shop club and there is only one character who has any leadership skills or concern for his pals and he is an RAF officer - go figure. Even back in the 70s when I tried to join a mountaineering club I was appalled to be left behind sherpherding an extremely slow, frightened and ill-equipped young woman on the Aonach Eagach ridge in winter; we reached the pub an hour after dark by the light of my head torch and nobody seemed to have been concerned enough to wait or come back for us.

When my brother was a teenager he wanted to take up Scuba diving but the older members didn't take kindly to him because he was too young to go boozing in pubs. He joind a club in Tyneside and the dive boat succeeded in losing him and his buddy. who were swept down the coast into a neighbouring bay where they managed to swim ashore and stagger back on foot with all their kit. Disgusting.

Blimey, those clubs sound more like training for the SAS!

My experience didn't exactly make me want to rush to join the nearest cycling club. I heard quite a few racist and sexist remarks in the group.

I've had much better experiences meeting people on CycleChat rides. That must be well over 200 different riders in the past 12 years and there have only been 2 or 3 who I didn't want to meet again, based on what I heard or what was reported to me by others.

 

[I like Skol]

I've had much better experiences meeting people on CycleChat rides. That must be well over 200 different riders in the past 12 years and there have only been 2 or 3 who I didn't want to meet again, based on what I heard or what was reported to me by others.

I've not been on one of your rides for quite a while...….

 

[ColinJ]

I've not been on one of your rides for quite a while...….

You weren't one of the dodgy ones!

Come and join us on the Cheshire ride on the 20th July?

 

[Dayvo]

I've had much better experiences meeting people on CycleChat rides. That must be well over 200 different riders in the past 12 years and there have only been 2 or 3 who I didn't want to meet again, based on what I heard or what was reported to me by others.

I've not been on one of your rides for quite a while...….

Are you one of the 2 or 3?

 

[ColinJ]

Are you one of the 2 or 3?

See post before!

(Although he did call me a 'Fat b*st*rd' when he first met me... )

 

[I like Skol]

See post before!

(Although he did call me a 'Fat b*st*rd' when he first met me... )

Was I lieing?