Club ride average speeds, could i keep up ?

[Ridgeway]

What are you group riding skills like ? If you dont have much experience in it then it can be daunting and dangerous for you and other riders if they ride nose to tail and you are not used to their communication calls and signals as well as the confidence and skills for that sort of riding .If they run a beginners group hopefully you can gain the experience for that sort of riding , when i started the group rode further apart and now i can ride inches from the wheel in front of riders i know and trust .
As i said at the start contact them !

That's great info as i have only ever ridden with 1 other person and even that is a rarity. So looks like i'll need to learn how to group ride, off to do some research.

 

[Ridgeway]

Meet a lot of Swiss riders in Mallorca and they all seem to be keen racing snakes. My Brother in law lives in Kloten near Zurich and is a club cyclist. He goes like the proverbial S... off a Shovel. So maybe the Club scene over there is not at our UK CTC levels.

The boys i've seen do seem pretty keen here and there's not too many clubs, the local one looks impressive enough from the outside, probably full of lardy blokes in reality

 

[Ridgeway]

You can use up to 40% less power for the same speed when drafting. So you may find you are able to keep up as long as you sit in the group, don’t go on the front , or fall off the back.

As an example I found my HR was 13 bpm higher working on the front than sitting in. The difference between working at threshold on the front and being relatively comfortable in the pack.

So give it a go and see how you get on.

That's great info, thanks for that.

 

[Ridgeway]

With all due respect to the above posts (except racing roadkill's), perhaps now we can all stop talking about 'normalised power', drafting and the like, in a thread about a guy taking his 12yo daughter on a club ride.

actually i just meant that it might motivate her to join the club as well and join the junior section, think i may to as well

 

[Stompier]

actually i just meant that it might motivate her to join the club as well and join the junior section, think i may to as well

Perhaps racing roadkill could join her on the junior ride

 

[Ridgeway]

Perhaps racing roadkill could join her on the junior ride

 

[mjr]

Perhaps racing roadkill could join her on the junior ride

Why? What nermalised poor two eight ratio have they?

 

[PaulSB]

Are those average speeds uphill, downhill, on the flat, into a headwind, with a tail wind? Ask them what sort of normalized power to weight numbers their riders have, that will give you a better idea of where they are at / where you’re at. I’d bet my balls to a barn dance they don’t have a clue. If so, I’d avoid any club that has that level of ignorance ( which is pretty much every club I’ve ever encountered). If however they do know, they might be worth a look.

This is very dismissive of all cyclists regardless of whether a club rider or not. I have absolutely no idea of or interest in my normalised power to weight numbers. I don't even know how to measure it but imagine it requires me to buy a power meter? I can though tell you my expected averages under all the conditions you describe, it's simply experience.

I'd like you to justify why you feel all cyclists who are not aware of this detail are ignorant. I have friends who can give chapter and verse on such subjects. They would be at most 10% of my club's membership and I can assure you the remaining 90% are far from ignorant. I would suggest your level of ignorance is way beyond that of any of my cycling friends.

My advice to the OP would be to avoid clubs which are obsessed by numbers and look for one that is highly focused on cycling.

 

[Stompier]

I have absolutely no idea of or interest in my normalised power to weight numbers.

Nobody will. It's a made-up term. There is 'normalised power' and there is 'power to weight'. But not 'normalised power to weight'.

 

[PaulSB]

@Ridgeway my club runs five "official" rides to accommodate riders of varying abilities. The average speeds, in mph, would be 13, 15 (flat), 15 (hilly), 17 (flat), 20+ (flat). We also have a wide range of "unofficial" rides taking place which suit many different styles. In case you are unsure an "official" ride is one organised by the club, usually with a leader and published route. All those who take part are expected to respect the average speed, not ride off the front etc. An "unofficial" ride is simply when a bunch of people say this is what we are doing who wants to come along.

Your speeds sound good to me and if asked I would suggest you would initially look at out 15 (flat) group to gauge where you fir and then try other rides as appropriate. If you were to bring your daughter you would be asked to start on an Intro ride (the 13avg ride) which stays close to home, accommodates the least experienced riders etc. The leader and sweeper would assist you if needed and quietly comment on how they feel your daughter might fit in.

 

[PaulSB]

Nobody will. It's a made-up term. There is 'normalised power' and there is 'power to weight'. But not 'normalised power to weight'.

That's interesting as I've never heard our guys used the normalised term. I understand power to weight and the benefits some of my friends who measure all sorts of things gain. There are some who work hard with this detail and I can physically observe how it improves their performance. I know others who are obsessed with measurement, diet etc and I can still climb faster than them!!!! The common thing all my friends have in this is they are genuinely interested and knowledgeable on the subject, they enjoy it.

 

[Stompier]

That's interesting as I've never heard our guys used the normalised term. I understand power to weight and the benefits some of my friends who measure all sorts of things gain. There are some who work hard with this detail and I can physically observe how it improves their performance. I know others who are obsessed with measurement, diet etc and I can still climb faster than them!!!! The common thing all my friends have in this is they are genuinely interested and knowledgeable on the subject, they enjoy it.

'Normalised' in this context just means that an algorithm has been applied to a rider's power data to give a better representation of effort across the ride. Tends to be used as an alternative to 'average' power, which is generally a slightly lower number. Only really useful if you are tracking power numbers as part of a structured program. It can be used to calculate power to weight (w/kg), but the resulting number is only relevant to a specific set of ride data and not generally useful.

 

[PaulSB]

@Stompier - thank you. That is useful.

 

[Venod]

Normalised power power is calculated if you are using a power meter and upload your ride to Garmin Connect, if you upload to Strava it is listed as weighted average power, which I think is the same thing, they must use different algorithems as the figures differ slightly for the same ride.

 

[iluvmybike]

Never mind the OP being able to keep up - more importantly will his 12 yr old be able to do so in a bunch of adults?