First group ride report...

I went on my local AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) chapter's Tuesday night ride, which is the easier weekly ride. Tonight it was about 10 miles through Grafton, MA (we may have gone into Westborough as well, but I'm not sure on that). The weather was great--mid 60's and sunny. There were (I think) 14 of us on this ride, a decent size group--some people were on road bikes, a good number of us were on hybrids, and there was one mountain bike; I think I had the fattest tires other than the woman on the MTB. I was the only one (at least that I saw) using platform pedals with no clips or straps; this came in handy at one point in the ride when there was a trash barrel in the road, which I kicked to the side as we went by much to the amusement of a couple of people behind me. The group was about 50/50 men/women, a nice mix; I was the youngest person there. I was really nervous going into the ride, thinking for sure that I'd have trouble keeping up since I always feel really slow when I ride. In fact, I was so nervous that when I put the front wheel back on the bike after getting it out of the car, I forgot to reconnect the front brake (had never made this mistake before)! I discovered this upon braking to avoid getting too close to the person in front of me as we were starting out of the parking lot and quickly fixed it; good thing I found it then rather than at an intersection at the bottom of a hill--yikes!! Fortunately this was the only problem I had on the ride, and I didin't get left in the dust--I was solidly in the middle of the pack the whole way, which was better than expected. The route was very scenic and had lots of rolling hills but nothing ridiculous; one of the guys said at the end that our average speed was just over 13 mph (I'm assuming this doesn't count the stops we made to regroup and figure out directions). Not too shabby, and I had a really good time. I think I'll show up for more Tuesday night rides--it was a friendly group and nobody gets dropped, and it doesn't hurt that they're not all faster than I am!

Jolt,
I went through just the same experience only a few weeks ago- my first group ride!
Wonderful that you felt like you belonged- and 13mph is a great speed! (I usually do about 9-10!)
It's a whole different experience to ride in a group...i usually ride alone or with my DH.
Congratulations! I know the feeling- now you don't have to be afraid anymore! :p :p

That is a peppy speed for that kind of ride (our beginner ride averaged about 11 last night) - Great job!!! Especially having bigger badder tires :)

It's always great to find a nice solid group that you can ride and keep up with. My first experience was quite similar and I'm glad that you had such a great first group ride.

Welcome to AMC, Jolt. I think you will find that we are a social group of people.
I knew this would be a perfect ride for you. If you ever care to venture east, there are the same level rides that often leave out of Concord or Lexington, also on Tuesday nights. You might also look on line to see if there are "beginner" level week end rides. I kow the Boston chapter has quite a few coming up and it probably wouldn't be much further for you to get to the starting points for some of these. The Worcester chapter also has a calendar on line, which is probably where you find the Tuesday ride.

Robyn

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Originally Posted by Robyn Maislin

Welcome to AMC, Jolt. I think you will find that we are a social group of people.
I knew this would be a perfect ride for you. If you ever care to venture east, there are the same level rides that often leave out of Concord or Lexington, also on Tuesday nights. You might also look on line to see if there are "beginner" level week end rides. I kow the Boston chapter has quite a few coming up and it probably wouldn't be much further for you to get to the starting points for some of these. The Worcester chapter also has a calendar on line, which is probably where you find the Tuesday ride.

Robyn

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I have definitely found the AMC to be a social group of people. I joined last year and have done a fair number of the hiking trips (both Young Members and general chapter) but this was the first bike ride as I just got the bike this year. I think there are a couple of weekend rides that sound pretty reasonable as far as speed but are longer distances than the Tuesday night ones; I don't think the distance would be a problem so I might do one of those if I don't have other things going on. As for the Young Members rides, which I also looked into, forget it! The person who leads these is apparently quite a speed demon, and the descriptions usually specify "road bikes only" so I don't have the proper equipment anyway. I'll look into the Boston chapter schedule as well--maybe they will have some rides that are at convenient times and are easier ones. The one thing I wish our chapter did was rides that start in Worcester to avoid having to drive to the start--that always bugs me a bit, partly because of the gas price factor and partly because it's somewhat of a pain to load a rather heavy (30+ pound) bike into the trunk/folded down backseat of a small sedan. Maybe that's something to suggest to some of the ride leaders...

I have seen a few rides that start in Worcester, but mostly the rides are in rural/suburban areas, so the car factor isn't as bad. The group I rode with today, which is part of CRW is great, but even i won't drive to some of the places they start at; it's just too far for a day trip. However, sometimes you have to do this, so you can ride in different areas and vary your routine. And yes, YM groups tend to be "fast," in both the Boston and Worcester chapters. Maybe you could start a "slower" YM group of cyclists.

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Originally Posted by Robyn Maislin

I have seen a few rides that start in Worcester, but mostly the rides are in rural/suburban areas, so the car factor isn't as bad. The group I rode with today, which is part of CRW is great, but even i won't drive to some of the places they start at; it's just too far for a day trip. However, sometimes you have to do this, so you can ride in different areas and vary your routine. And yes, YM groups tend to be "fast," in both the Boston and Worcester chapters. Maybe you could start a "slower" YM group of cyclists.

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I'm sure the traffic factor is the reason for none of the rides starting in Worcester, although there are some places where one could start in Worcester and not have too far to go before getting into a quieter neighboring town (like along Rte. 122 going into Millbury/Grafton--the first part would be busy but the lane is wide enough to share for most of the busier section). As for starting a slower YM group, maybe eventually but I don't feel that I am experienced enough to think about doing that yet. If I do end up starting something at some point, I'll have to think of an amusing name for the group or the rides (somebody on another thread said she'd like to get a jersey made for Equipo Tortuga, a hypothetical slow racing team). It's interesting that the YM cycling group is a bunch of speed demons, because in my experience the Worcester YM hikes have generally been less challenging than those with the general chapter--either shorter, easier ones like Mt. Wachusett etc. or just slow/lots of stops. I may be slow on the bike, but I like to keep a brisk pace when hiking and that's hard to do in some of the groups I've hiked in (the larger the group, the slower the going--probably true of cycling groups as well!).

Jolt, it's funny you said that about the hiking. I think the hiking adage is "go as slow as the slowest person." Generally, big groups of cyclists don't go slow, they go the speed of the advertised ride! AMC is different than most groups in that our liability rules say we have to keep the group together and no one can be dropped. This is hard on the show and go rides like you did, but generally, if someone wants to go faster, they have to tell us and then they are "off" the ride. I find hiking very difficult; I don't like heights and freak out on rocky steep sections. I do a fair amount of local hiking in conservation lands, and I have found if I bring my pole from snow shoeing, it helps. I am much faster on the bike! (in relation to my fitness level).
Maybe we can hike one day this summer (at my slow pace!).

Robyn

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Originally Posted by Robyn Maislin

Jolt, it's funny you said that about the hiking. I think the hiking adage is "go as slow as the slowest person." Generally, big groups of cyclists don't go slow, they go the speed of the advertised ride! AMC is different than most groups in that our liability rules say we have to keep the group together and no one can be dropped. This is hard on the show and go rides like you did, but generally, if someone wants to go faster, they have to tell us and then they are "off" the ride. I find hiking very difficult; I don't like heights and freak out on rocky steep sections. I do a fair amount of local hiking in conservation lands, and I have found if I bring my pole from snow shoeing, it helps. I am much faster on the bike! (in relation to my fitness level).
Maybe we can hike one day this summer (at my slow pace!).

Robyn

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I think part of it may be that it's hard to have an advertised speed for a hike (too many variables that affect this) and it's more dangerous for the group to get split up and somebody get lost on a hike than on a road ride. Getting lost in the woods can be serious, while getting lost in a town is usually just an inconvenience, so "dropping" anyone on a hiking trip is not a good idea. As far as places to hike, sounds like you might like the Midstate Trail--it's mostly easier terrain (it does go over Mt. Wachusett but that's not hard either). Re: the pole, a lot of people use a pair of poles--it takes stress off the knees on descents and can help with balance. I picked up a pair at Ocean State Job Lot and have experimented with them, and find that they are only helpful for me on some descents (and depending on the terrain sometimes they get in the way more than helping). Speaking of snowshoeing, I got a pair of snowshoes this year and of course we hardly got any snow so I guess I'll be starting that next year instead!