Milwaukee Newbie

I recently purchased a road bike (a Felt), I love it. I am training for two triathlons this summer. Does anyone know of any good routes in Milwaukee, or any cycling clubs that are open to having fairly inexperienced people join them?!?

What kind of riding are you looking for and where in the city/metro area are you?

There are two social road riding clubs in Milwaukee proper. Cream City Cycle is the oldest ( http://www.creamcitycycleclub.com/ ) and Bay View (http://www.bayviewbikeclub.org/ ). I ride with both, although mostly with Bay View. Bay View is slower (and so am I...sigh). I rode with Cream City eons ago when I was fast and a couple times a year still. Both groups are cue sheet rides where you may fall off the group, but you always have a cue sheet. At some point in time Cream City adopted a no drop policy, but of the sort that the ride leader is always behind you. 15-16mph is the slow end for Cream City and the fast end for Bay View.

Then, there are oodles of riding and Tri clubs. Of those I know little. Tri Wisconsin seems to do a lot out of the SW YMCA (116th and Beloit) and we see them often on the road (yep, I'm on the SW side of town). Wheel & Sprocket hosts fast rides one night a week as does the bike shop out on the Glacial Drumlin trail near ?Delafield? I suspect others do as well.

Thorn, Thanks. I have looked into the two clubs you mentioned and also the Hampshire Cycle Club. Unfortunately I live on the East Side (near UW-M), so it's difficult for me to get to any of the starting points of the club rides. The closest club seems to be Hampshire but it looks pretty intense (not for me)!

I checked out Wheel and Sprocket in North Shore and they offer a Tuesday night "Casual Ladies Ride" that I might be brave enough to check out. Also, on the TriWisconsin website, I came across a Ladies night ride that starts at Lake Park Bistro every other Thursday! I'm really apprehensive about going to any of these organized rides because of my lack of experience. I'm anxious however to ride with others, so maybe in a few weeks I will have enough miles behind me to try a group ride.

Thanks again for sharing your knowledge!!

Ah, the east side--a great place to live for almost every but getting out and riding varied distance rides. Every time I think about moving back to the east side I remember riding around and around in circles....down the lake front, up by the tennis courts, through the park, down the lake front....

Don't let lack of experience scare you away from a group ride--everyone starts somewhere. I suspect the W&S ride is very low key and people I've talked to from TriWi have been nice. One of the nice things about east side riding is that once you get up off the lake, the terrain is pretty flat. That pretty much elminates getting dropped on a hill climb :rolleyes:

Also on Apr 27th, Bay View starts out of Kletsch Park which is just a bit north of you, up the Milwaukee River Parkway. As I was driving home tonight, I realized I should have sent you to Rainbow Jersey (my guess was you were east side)...looks like you already found them. Eons ago they were my favorite shop (now they're too far away). I'd probably ask them if they had suggestions for lower key rides than Hampshire.

But really, jump in and try the group rides. Now is the best time--everyone is out of shape and out of practice. Good luck!

You're totally right about the mind numbing circles on the East Side. At least we've got Alterra on the Lake to indulge in post-ride. :)

I have yet to go to Rainbow Jersey, I've done most of my shopping in Madison. I will definitely check it out!! Let me know if you run across anything in Mke that might be of interest to a beginner. Thanks Thorn

you say you live in Milwaukee but I can't help but notice the Minn sounds so close to a neighboring great state.

Hey Minn,

I have done the Tues. night Wheel & Sprocket women's rides for the past two years. It's a fun ride and there are riders of all abilities so you should definitely plan on coming. It's also a great way to get to know the roads in that area. We usually go up to Thiensville and back depending on the weather and who's riding that day. If anyone isn't up for the whole route there is always someone to do a shorter loop with them. Hopefully we will be starting back up in the next few weeks.

I ride with a few other groups through a ski/social club that I belong to. Feel free to send me a PM if you'd like any information about those rides. I also have a group of friends that will be doing the "Miller Ride for the Arts" together if you'd like to join us. Doing organized rides is a good way to meet new cycling buddies and learn new routes.