Am I being overly sensetive.

[DDH]

I have a question to pose to all of you. I have found a bike club here in town that is just starting out. I rode with them a month ago, and I told them before I started that I was very slow and didn't want to hold others up, so if they didn't want me along to please let me know. I'd rather people be up front and honest ya know?
Anyway, they were great to ride with that first time. They were all men, and they were a lot faster then me, of course, and the one guy stayed with me the whole time. As we rode a couple of the other guys came back to check on us and they seem like a great group.
They are a new club just starting out and he told me over and over not to worry about it, he does his training rides during the week, he didn't mind staying with me and riding slow. He was very encouragin on the hills and such and pushed me along. He said they are trying to grow in size with the club and in doing so, they need a diversity of riders.
Well, the next week I wasn't able to go and then they didn't have one the next week after that I think because he was sick, and then last week they were going at 2 in the afternoon and I am not up to riding in the mid-day heat so I opted not to go.
Well I emailed him just a bit ago about this weeks ride which is 25 miles in and are that I know is worse with hills than my area around here is, and told him that I am up to around 20 miles on my bike now and think I could do 25 but wanted his opinion.
He said he did think I would want to try this one. Well at first it didn't bother me, but now I am thinking. Wait a minute here, if you want to start a club and get more people in there, how can you keep having these long 20 to 25 mile rides on the weekend when most beginners cannot go that far.
You can't start a group that way, unless you are going to have some that don't mind riding with the slower people and riding less miles sometimes.
I mean, I want him to be honest with me about whether he thinks I can do it or not and I am not mad, I'm just confused on how you start a club, and then don't have easier rides for the beginners.
Should I say something to him or sugest something?
I'm now thinking that maybe they just want a club with people in their biking range and don't want to fool with beginners.
Which again is fine as long as they make the point to let folks know.

Okay, hit me with it girls. Am I being sensetive, and should I say anything or just leave it be.
Should I bother to try to ride with them anymore. My DH is telling me not to worry with them, but I don't want to seem like I am upset about it.
It's their club and I am the outsider.

[jobob]

Well I emailed him just a bit ago about this weeks ride which is 25 miles in and are that I know is worse with hills than my area around here is, and told him that I am up to around 20 miles on my bike now and think I could do 25 but wanted his opinion.
He said he did think I would want to try this one. Well at first it didn't bother me, but now I am thinking. Wait a minute here, if you want to start a club and get more people in there, how can you keep having these long 20 to 25 mile rides on the weekend when most beginners cannot go that far..

I don't understand, he encouraged you to give it a try, what more do you expect? :confused:

It sounds like a small group. Larger clubs have the member base to be able to offer rides that fulfill everyone's desires, but it sounds like this group is too small to accomodate everyone.

Is there another, larger club in your vicinity you could join?

[equus123]

this is my perspective...

20-25 miles IS considered a beginner's level because in the whole picture 20 miles is not that long of a ride, especially for a group. i don't mean any discouragement or hurt for you. i only mean it in a literal sense. if a cyclist cannot go more than 25 miles then he/she *probably* won't have the amount of time in the saddle, group riding skills, handling skills, etc. - to be able to safely and properly ride within a group setting.

i think 20 or 25 mile rides are an honest distance for a beginner's ride. if that is too much for you then wait a little bit before you get into it. time will only help you. :)

[li10up]

I guess it depends on what the club views a beginner to be. In our club we expect a beginner to be able to ride 20 miles anywhere from between 12-14 mph. I guess we think if you want to go slower or shorter than that then you really are most likely just looking to "tool around" rather than looking for an organized ride. Most people here start out on their own until they feel stronger and then they start thinking about group rides. I don't think of a "beginner" as someone who just awoke one morning and decided to join the club ride. The club should define what is expected on the beginner ride though.
Edited to add: DDH...I'm not saying that you just woke up one morning and decide to ride...I know you've been riding for awhile. I'm just speaking in general terms.

[mimitabby]

am i missing something? Join the club!
then it's YOUR club. Sensitive? I am too. I take everything like that personally.

if he says "I think it might be more than you can do" (is that what he said? re-read your post, it wasn't clear) if he's ridden with you, maybe he's just concerned that it is an order of magnitude harder than the last ride you completed with the club. But you just did some mighty hills on your own.
Call him back and say i did this hill and that hill recently, I think i can handle a 25 mile ride..

The problem is honestly, if these guys are A LOT better (ie faster) than you,
whoever holds back for you is not getting a workout like he'd like to.

There are some people that don't mind doing that, but most people are too self centered and want to ride their own ride.

I hope this helps.

[Triskeliongirl]

I will also chime in that I agree, he is being extremely sensitive to encourage you to try, and to have stayed behind with you like he did. 20-25 miles IS a beginners distance. Our club rides usually vary from 30-75 miles. Our beginners rides are in the 30 mile range, and if you are really slow its hard to find someone willing to stay with you.

[DDH]

I don't understand, he encouraged you to give it a try, what more do you expect? :confused:

It sounds like a small group. Larger clubs have the member base to be able to offer rides that fulfill everyone's desires, but it sounds like this group is too small to accomodate everyone.

Is there another, larger club in your vicinity you could join?


I'm sorry, I guess I should have re-read my post better. He said he did'nt think I should try it, not did.
I see why you are confused. Sorry for that.

[jobob]

There are some people that don't mind doing that, but most people are too self centered and want to ride their own ride.

Ouch, Mimi, that seems a little harsh to me. People have lives and responsibilities and might not have lots of time to devote to riding. So yes, I could see them wanting to get the most out of that time.

I used to teach a beginners road skills course which would kill my entire Saturday. We started out with 10 mile rides and by the 4th week we would be up to 25 (I think).

I don't teach that road skills class anymore, because after a while I didn't enjoy blowing a precious weekend day to ride a short distance at a slow pace. If that's being self-centered, so be it.

[mimitabby]

Jobob
i couldn't think of saying it another way. You took the initiative and taught beginners; but most people won't do that!
I've been on a lot of rides, and there are people that will stay in the back for folks like ME, but most won't.

[DDH]

am i missing something? Join the club!
then it's YOUR club. Sensitive? I am too. I take everything like that personally.

if he says "I think it might be more than you can do" (is that what he said? re-read your post, it wasn't clear) if he's ridden with you, maybe he's just concerned that it is an order of magnitude harder than the last ride you completed with the club. But you just did some mighty hills on your own.
Call him back and say i did this hill and that hill recently, I think i can handle a 25 mile ride..

The problem is honestly, if these guys are A LOT better (ie faster) than you,
whoever holds back for you is not getting a workout like he'd like to.

There are some people that don't mind doing that, but most people are too self centered and want to ride their own ride.

I hope this helps.


Your right, and I totally agree, and that's why I told him over and over that I don't want to hold them back, and I was very slow. I'm not really upset over him telling me he didn't think I would want to ride this one as I am over the fact that they say they want to start a larger club with more deverse riders but then don't have any easier rides for the beginners.
The last 3 weeks have been killer hills along with 30 miles, and 50 miles rides and then this week is 25 which I could totally do, but am not sure about the killer hills with it. LOL
I guess I will just ride with them when they have the little bit shorter distances. I really don't want to slow them down when they want to ride hard so that is why I always email him and ask him whether he thinks it's one I can do or not.
I'd rather ride a ride I know I can do and not make someone have to come pick me up or something, and then be embarassed.

[jobob]

Mimi, you'd probably like riding with my husband, he's super-patient and likes to ride in the back (and he has quite the fan club among the Northern California TE contingent, I'm finding out :D). Alas, I'm nowhere near as patient as he. :o

[mimitabby]

Mimi, you'd probably like riding with my husband, he's super-patient and likes to ride in the back (and he has quite the fan club among the Northern California TE contingent, I'm finding out :D). Alas, I'm nowhere near as patient as he. :o

Jobob, I guess we'll find out, huh! (November)
I am working as hard as I can when I ride to get my speed up. But it's not easy.
at least here where I live there are MANY choices. Poor DDH is stuck in the tooleys with only this one club!

[DDH]

Let me just say that I am very sensetive to the fact that some may not want to hold back for the slower riders, and I totally understand, and that is the reason I made it very clear that I am slow. I have the stamina to ride longer rides, but I am slow, I ride about 11 mph average on a rides. It is very hilly around here and I work them all the time but cannot seem to get any faster on them and that is what slows me down so much.
I feel like I have gotten stronger on my rides but them hills get me everytime.

I think if they could get more beginer's I could be the one in the club to stay back with them. Then I would feel useful and not like I was holding others back. LOL

[Dianyla]

Another thing you can do is ask this guy to give you the route that the 25 mile ride is going to take. Then, go ride it yourself to gauge yourself on it before signing up to do it with a group.


I think if they could get more beginer's I could be the one in the club to stay back with them. Then I would feel useful and not like I was holding others back. LOL
Maybe you could offer to help the club out and start leading beginners rides yourself?

[jobob]

But back to the original post.

Ah, now I understand where you're coming from, Donna. It sounds like you're a bit between a rock & a hard place here.

It's really unfortunate that the group is too small at this point to offer a variety of rides. Odds are a group of riding buddies of similar abilities got together and decided to form a club.

Hopefully more beginners will join in over time and someone will be willing to lead some shorter rides. One thing that some of the clubs around here do is have a ride scheduled for a specific day each month (say, the first sunday of the month) where they have a "getting to know you" beginners/social ride, as well as other short rides other times in the month.

One possiblity is to try to get something like that going yourself. Maybe if others see that there is an active beginners group in the club (even if it's a group of one at the moment ;) ) they might be more likely to join in.

[7rider]

am i missing something? Join the club!
then it's YOUR club.

I'd agree with this.
If it's a new bike club - it's probably a bunch of folks who knew each other and said "Hey! We should form a ride club!" - and you went and joined in and now they're puzzled by what to do with their own success (gulp! New folks actually joining the club!).
Ultimately, any group of riders will have folks of vastly different skill sets, and eventually, once it gets big enough, the group will, by necessity, splinter into different sub-groups.

Get the cue sheet - or have them make one for you - and offer to start up the "B" group rides. See if someone knows the area better than you who can initially lead a beginner group (or offer to lead it yourself). Encourage them to have their wives join you (if it's mostly guys and they're much faster than you - not making a sexist generalization here!). It's an opportunity.....Plus, as an added bonus, you'll meet more cyclists of your own ability and goals (b/c not everyone rides to go fast).

[Geonz]

This is a really common problem with about every small or medium sized bike club I know. See the other thread rolling around about "group ride etiquette" question ( http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showthread.php?t=17872 ) .
Some clubs rotate the ride leader for the "everybody" ride, so that one person isn't always the one getting the slow ride. They have to be organized enough to think of that and do it, though :)
See if you can bring others into the fold. For a long time I could go 40 miles, but at 12 mph. - a function of skill and my bicycle. There's a big group of folks like that in the Richmond Area Bicycling Association (or at least there was) - only when I moved away did I discover that's uncommon. Even out here, our beginner ride on Saturday often goes 20-25 miles, though we do not have hills and that makes all the difference.

[michelem]

Hi Donna,

I can relate! When I started out, the group I went with had some "EZ Rider" rides, which were basically 20 miles of flattish (gentle, gentle rollers that felt hilly to me as a beginner, but really were not!). Well, that group leader moved out of state and when I asked if I would be welcome on the other rides I was told no, that I was too slow and it wouldn't be fair to the sweep person. I was so disappointed, but glad they were honest. I took it as a challenge to improve on my own and rode the trainer a lot. About a month or so later, I heard of a new group forming and contacted them. They said come on out! The "C Group," which is the beginner's group started at 40 miles along that same "flattish" trail, but I made it! The next week we bumped it up to 50 and the next 60! We stayed at 60 for a couple weeks and then topped out at about 75. I'm always at the back, and part of that is a choice for me as I don't feel comfortable riding too close to other cyclists. Even when I tell them all to go ahead and don't wait up, someone always hangs back a bit to make sure I'm okay. Part of me feels "guilty" about that, as if I might be ruining his/her ride, but then I just have to tell myself that I've given the person an out and if he/she still wants to hang back, well okay!

We're now starting to cut back on the mileage and add in hill climbing. I find that everything evens out in the end - I am stronger at the climbing than some of the heavier-set guys, but they FLY past me on the downhills as I am clutching the brakes!

Anyway, all that to say, I think this may be a combination of things for you:

1. Confidence in your ability - sometimes you just have to take the plunge and find out - you may surprise yourself!

2. Ability to take feedback and believe it (oh, this is a tough one!) - if you say, I really don't want to hold you back, go on ahead, but the person hangs back anyway, well that is his/her choice! No reason to feel badly about it.

3. Maybe look into some skills and drills clinics to help you feel more confident in your group bike handling skills.

4. Challenge yourself to keep increasing fitness on your own.

5. Shop around for other cycling groups and maybe you'll find one that is more your speed.

Anyway, not sure if any of this helps or not. I am super-sensitive myself, so I do understand. I have to say that just getting out there and doing it has increased my confidence level though (even in the non-cycling-related areas of my life), even though I am still quite the beginner.

Good luck to you, and keep us posted! :)

[jobob]

mea culpa - there I am talking about "blowing" a Saturday teaching the beginners class. Talk about sounding harsh :o

In actuality, I enjoyed teaching the road skills course. It was a lot of fun and very gratifying. It's great to see how most of the students really took to it, and to know that I was a part of it.*

The parts that got old had nothing to do with the students - there were actually a couple of other teachers that got under my skin after a bit (snapdragen would totally understand where I'm coming from here :D) and it was a long drive for us to and from the start of the rides.

And, unfortunately, since I wasn't getting very much riding in while I was teaching the course, my own fitness really suffered during that time ! :(

*Here's something that I'm especially proud of - one of my students from a couple of years ago really got into riding, and this year she completed three double centuries for a California Triple Crown !

I have to admit I was tickled pink and super-proud when I heard that. :D

[Pedal Wench]

I gotta side on the 'being overly sensitive' team.

I'm a member of a large club of very diverse women. Some rides are beginner rides, and some are not. I think you can't expect every ride to cater to everyone, and I would much rather know ahead of time that a ride is out of my league - for now! Some rides are no-drop, and others have occasional regroups, and some have none. As a club, whether new or small, they owe it to the other riders to have some rides that cater to them, and some that cater to you. Perhaps you can start your own slower-paced group that meets with everyone, but rolls out a minute behind at a slower pace. You get the commaraderie in the parking lot, and maybe arrange to meet for eats afterward - the fast group has to wait for a table and order drinks just as you roll in and sit immediately.

[jobob]

Jobob, I guess we'll find out, huh! (November)
Ooh, are you guys planning on doing the Oregon Randonneurs' Wine Country 100K near Portland on Thanksgiving weekend? I'm really looking forward to that.

[mimitabby]

yeah, don't any of those guys have wives that might ride if it wasn't such a hard pace?? :D

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Ask the guy to send you a map of the route in question. Then go for the ride on your own, do as fast as you can, and see what your average is.
If you can complete the ride and your average is say 11mph, then a group ride of 12mph should be ok, you'll only be a little bit behind.
You can always tell him you will go on the first half of the ride this time and turn back on your own and head home half way through, if they will allow that. That might be a nice way to break into it easily.
And yep- 20-25 miles is a pretty small ride for a typical group ride. Groups don't usually bother doing 10 mile rides because lots of people drive to the ride starting point and it just isn't worth the hassle unless you can ride for 2 hours or more.

Good for you Donna, getting into all this!!! :)

[mimitabby]

Ooh, are you guys planning on doing the Oregon Randonneurs' Wine Country 100K near Portland on Thanksgiving weekend? I'm really looking forward to that.

oops, Jobob; we don't do wine. I was thinking you knew Raleighdon from a ride in Arizona!

[jobob]

nope, JulieB I not be.

[Crankin]

Wow, I can see why I lead rides for AMC. Our "easy" rides are 10-25 miles and often range between 10-13 av. Sometimes people with higher abilities come on these because it's at a convenient time. The rides I lead are called "intermediate." The average is usually around 15, sometimes less with bigger hills, or longer distances. Anything over 50 miles is advanced or an average over 16. These are social rides, but you get a good work out. On the weekly series rides, the pace is upped a bit, but still nobody goes crazy. I usually sweep these when we lead, but when i am just a participant, I am usually near the front.
I belong to another club too, but I ride with a group of this club that does social rides using a human arrowing system. The other rides in this club are known for being ruthless, so this group of amazing people who range up to 85 years old is fun to ride with, even though the average speed is often a bit slower than I like. But, there are quite a few others who ride the same speed as me and sometimes they do a ride on the weekends which are perfect for me. I don't know, I am starting to think that there is no one else who has the attitude i do toward riding; I improved my speed and distance quite a bit in the beginning. I can ride up 18% grades, but not fast. I can ride distances, but I choose not to all of the time. Last year I rode 3,000 miles and frankly, I don't know if I will make that this year. I am not going to improve any more unless I really train and at this point, I feel like most almost 54 year old women cannot do even a fraction of what I do, so I am happy.

[KSH]

I think if they could get more beginer's I could be the one in the club to stay back with them. Then I would feel useful and not like I was holding others back. LOL

Build it and they will come. :cool:

Seriously. Tell him you want to start a BEGINNERS ride. Something with few miles and maybe you can find a route with small hills. You be the one to head it up!

You can do it!

[Trekhawk]

Mimi, you'd probably like riding with my husband, he's super-patient and likes to ride in the back (and he has quite the fan club among the Northern California TE contingent, I'm finding out :D). Alas, I'm nowhere near as patient as he. :o

Hmm is this the jobob that hung with me for the 200km ride??? I think that Jobob is very patient.:D

I have been looking at different club rides for when I return to Aust and what it seems like to me is that if you ride pretty slow they assume you dont want to or cant ride very far. I will need to see the terrain when I return home but I think I fall between groups. It looks like to get in sixty miles with a club you need to be able to manage at least 15mph or you are stuck in the 25 mile distance which frankly for me wouldn't be worth the effort to get there.

DDH I hope you find some other riders to do your club ride with. Ask around maybe other riders would come if they knew they would have someone to ride with rather than being dropped off the back.

[Torrilin]

I'm still not up to 20 mile rides (slooowly making progress). And my speed is nothing to write home about. For people who are really and truly *beginners*, 20 miles is too much. They may not have a good bike fit. They just learned how to ride, or just got back into riding after years away. They're vague on riding in traffic... For a beginning racer, it's a reasonable ride. Those are two entirely different skill levels, and they probably don't belong on the same ride.

Offering to run a regular beginner's ride and/or class would probably help the club out a lot :).

[bcipam]

I belong to a large bike club (BCI). Although it is a social/recreational club, the riders are strong and experienced. We have several levels of rides but do not practice a "no drop" policy. It is very hard for a large group to do "no drop" especially if the group fitness level is mixed. My club provides a route slip and you are on your own to the coffee stop and then back to park. If you can hang with riders good, if not, keep riding until you can.

Not certain why you are upset or angry. He was honest enough to tell you the truth. I'm assuming he assessed your ability and knew you wouldn't be able to hang. I have done the same thing many times. Just this weekend I had to explain to someone that she should stay with our Saturday rides until her fitness comes up to the level of our Sunday rides. I rather say that then she come out and get mad because she gets dropped right off the bat. If your expectation is someone has to ride with you, then he was right to tell you what he did.

If you are OK to ride alone, at least until the stop - go out and do the ride. Asure the other riders you can find your own way so they can enjoy their own rides. You will earn their respect.

BTW my club does a "newbie" ride the first Saturday of each month. The ride is approximately 15 miles long, no hills (maybe an overpass) there is a lead and a sweep (or several). We also tie it to a training/safety class. We usually get around 15 people or so. All rides (short, medium, long and xtra long meet up at the same coffee stops for socialization. You might suggest he do that once a month. Maybe you can volunteer to lead or sweep it????

[amelia05]

I agree with the folks who say to lead your own beginner ride...that's what I did. :D

Our club had a beginner-friendly ride on Sundays that I enjoyed, but I couldn't always make it because of church obligations. All their current Saturday rides were too fast, so I just rode solo Saturdays every week. When they asked in one of the meetings for volunteers to lead a Saturday beginner ride and there were no more-experienced takers, I decided to go for it. I had no ride leader experience, and only a few months' group riding experience, but the group leaders from the Sunday ride were really helpful with my route planning and getting the ride started. There was a month or so when I didn't have any riders, but then they started to trickle in after that, especially as the weather got cooler. Another woman in the club tried my ride a few times and decided that it was too fast/long-distance for her, so she now leads an ultra-beginner ride that takes a shorter version of the same route. We all start out together, then the two rides split up at our different paces.

It's been over a year now, and I think it's one of the best things I've ever done. It's really helped me to feel part of the club in a way that I didn't before. I've met a lot of great people, seen a bunch of riders gain confidence and speed to move on to the faster rides. That's always kind of bittersweet...thrilled that they're moving on, but sad that they won't be riding with me every week anymore. :o

Anyway, all that to say that leading a ride is not at all hard...all you have to have is a a willingness to show up and ride every week (or every month, or whenever you schedule it), a little bit of basic riding/safety knowledge, and someone more experienced to help you get started and help advertise the ride. If the club truly is trying to bring in all kinds of riders, I'm sure that the club leader would be more than willing to help.

[Tuckervill]

Sounds like you're the perfect person to lead their beginner's ride. Volunteer!

Karen

[Tuckervill]

Your right, and I totally agree, and that's why I told him over and over that I don't want to hold them back, and I was very slow. I'm not really upset over him telling me he didn't think I would want to ride this one as I am over the fact that they say they want to start a larger club with more deverse riders but then don't have any easier rides for the beginners.
The last 3 weeks have been killer hills along with 30 miles, and 50 miles rides and then this week is 25 which I could totally do, but am not sure about the killer hills with it. LOL
I guess I will just ride with them when they have the little bit shorter distances. I really don't want to slow them down when they want to ride hard so that is why I always email him and ask him whether he thinks it's one I can do or not.
I'd rather ride a ride I know I can do and not make someone have to come pick me up or something, and then be embarassed.

Responding to the part I bolded.

DON'T ask him if he thinks you can do it. Get the route, look it up yourself and decide for your own fine self whether you want to tackle it or not! You decide! Use your power! You rock!

Karen

[DDH]

Thanks girls for all the advice and comments.
I am not mad or even really hurt, I was just confused as to whether they really want to start a club for everyone or just for thier own elite.
If thats what they want, that is their own priveledge and I have no problem with it really, as long as they make it clear and be up front about it.
They advertise at the LBS and that is where I got the number.
Please believe me when I say, they were great to ride with when I did ride with them. I ride by myself all the time so I don't mind being left behind as long as I have a map of the route and someone knows that I am riding so they know I'm out there.
Trust me I made all of that very clear and yes he was honest and I definitely appreciate that. I would rather someone be up front with me.
I just got a little sensetive I guess about, if they really want to start a club for everyone then they have to include everyone with different rides and such. I really think that they want this but right now, they just don't have anyone but me that is slow and a beginner "so to speak".
Like I said, I don't want to be the one slowing eveyrone down. I did email him yesterday and told him that maybe if they get more beginners I could be their leader to help them with the route and those guys can still get a good workout.

[Irulan]

Maybe you could offer to help the club out and start leading beginners rides yourself?


There have been a lot of good comments along these lines. I will throw in my two cents to elaborate.
I am president of a really small but busy bike club. People will come up to us and say, "why aren't you doing such and so" or "you should be doing such and so". Well, you know what? In any organization, there may be a lot of members and attendees to events but usually only a few key people that actually get involved and organize/create activities. It's the same old thing, only 5% or less help out wit the organization. Organizer usually have thier hands full with all the things that are planned already. This is why new blood is so important, and getting involved to get what YOU want out of the club is vital to the growth of the organization.

I agree that this is a great opportunity to maybe add a new beginners element to your organization. Hopefully they will support your efforts to set up a super-beginner ride. Don't be discouraged if only a few people show up, either... be proud you are taking care of yourself and being part of the solution.

Irulan

[jobob]

Well put, I.

[Bad JuJu]

They advertise at the LBS and that is where I got the number.
So you could maybe advertise at the same LBS. Just put up a flyer (on colored paper, to get people's attention) saying you're getting up a little beginners' section for the new club's rides. You might even want to mention your (starting) average speed, no one will be left behind, varied routes, etc.

Also, if there are any recreational trails in the area, you could ride there occasionally to "recruit" beginning riders. That's how I started riding with my club. Lots of cyclists here start out on a local paved trail to warm up before jumping off onto the road. One day, another woman and I seemed to be riding at the same pace and she told me all about this club she rides with and the not-so-fast group, and invited me to come out and join them. Been loving it ever since, and I even found a riding buddy to ride with on other days--she lives so close to me that I can see her house from mine, but didn't even know her before riding with the club.

Sure, some of them are speedsters, but then there's always a little knot of us at the back. Some got involved like I did and some came around because they saw a flyer posted at the LBS--try it!

[Irulan]

So you could maybe advertise at the same LBS. Just put up a flyer (on colored paper, to get people's attention) saying you're getting up a little beginners' section for the new club's rides. You might even want to mention your (starting) average speed, no one will be left behind, varied routes, etc.



If she is going to do it as a representative of the organization, it's best to check it out with the board or whomever oversees things before flyers start going up. I know in our club, anyone with initiative to something/anything that falls under the umbrella of our mission statement is welcome to get something going, following the parameters of how we do things. We are pretty loose actually ( i know it doesn't sound like it) but communication within the organization is vital for success.