group rides seem intimidating (Washington DC/Silver Spring, MD)

[rain]

Here's my story:
I've been riding for several - maybe 7 - 8 years in the Washington DC metro area. I'm a slow learner, ride somewhere between 12 - 16 mph, but I've come a long way given my set of challenges and I think I've got a lot more in me, certainly if nothing else, I'd like to ride til I'm 80. I can ride further but I don't trust my skills so I've stuck to ~30 mile rides on Beach Drive (Washington DC) because it's a known bike route and if something happened a helpful (probably male) cyclist would stop. Plus it would be easy to call a cab.

But the prospect of doing that for another year has me ready to quit (I'm being dramatic but I'm frustrated.) It's just too short of a ride and I'm not learning new skills. Yet, I have no idea how to go about joining a group.

The one group ride I did was a D ride. It was fun, there were not enough people and I learned nothing. And logistically it was hard to get to.

I would really appreciate your tips and suggestions. I ride slowly but I'm not a casual rider, and that's where I'm not sure what to do. I also (another source of frustration) don't have any friends that ride so I'll be joining this group on my own so I'm looking to start slow.

Fearful but ready to plunge!

[7rider]

Hi, Rain.
Welcome to TE!
First, be sure to check out the Mid-Atlantic forum here. There are several of us in the MD/VA/DC area, and occasionally we organize (informally) group/casual rides. That's a great way for you to meet new folks and try some new rides.
If you're in the Silver Spring area (there are several here on the boards who are), the Bicycle Place, on Grubb Road hosts a ride every Sunday a.m. 12-16 mph is a bit on the slow side for our C-ride - do you ride a road bike? - (well, today my C-ride average was 15.4, so this may be a great time for you to jump in!). Bear in mind that riding with a group is often (usually) easier than riding by yourself. So if you can do a 16 mph ride solo, you can probably hang with the C-ride. The C-route is roughly 30 miles and goes out to Potomac and back. Let me know if you'll join us...as we have an informal "If you brought the new guy, ride with 'em" policy. Your best way to learn the ride is to go with someone who's been on it before. And, the best way to improve your skills as a rider - both in terms of speed and technique, is to ride with a group. Pfunk on these boards is a new-ish rider to the shop ride. She may give you her perspective on the group riding thing.
Hope to see you around....

[rain]

Thanks 7rider!
I looked into the ride at Bicycle Place and it seemed daunting - I'd be too slow at this point. Yes, I ride a road bike.

...this is such a puzzle. I'll be sure to check out the Mid-Atlantic forum.
Thanks!

[Cataboo]

Rain - do you know how to change tires/flats/etc? If you take a maintenance course of some sort, you might be more confident in your ability to ride by yourself... I ride by myself most of the time on sort of random routes - but I do carry spare innertubes and tools with me, enough that I'm pretty sure I could get myself home if I had to... otherwise, I have my cell phone and can phone for help.. even if I might have to wait a couple hours before someone could get to me.

Otherwise you could maybe plot out some routes that go around metro stations... so you know that if something went wrong, you could just take the metro and get out of there.

[HillSlugger]

Hi, Rain.
Welcome to TE!
First, be sure to check out the Mid-Atlantic forum here. There are several of us in the MD/VA/DC area, and occasionally we organize (informally) group/casual rides. That's a great way for you to meet new folks and try some new rides.
If you're in the Silver Spring area (there are several here on the boards who are), the Bicycle Place, on Grubb Road hosts a ride every Sunday a.m. 12-16 mph is a bit on the slow side for our C-ride - do you ride a road bike? - (well, today my C-ride average was 15.4, so this may be a great time for you to jump in!). Bear in mind that riding with a group is often (usually) easier than riding by yourself. So if you can do a 16 mph ride solo, you can probably hang with the C-ride. The C-route is roughly 30 miles and goes out to Potomac and back. Let me know if you'll join us...as we have an informal "If you brought the new guy, ride with 'em" policy. Your best way to learn the ride is to go with someone who's been on it before. And, the best way to improve your skills as a rider - both in terms of speed and technique, is to ride with a group. Pfunk on these boards is a new-ish rider to the shop ride. She may give you her perspective on the group riding thing.
Hope to see you around....

Hi Rain and welcome.

7, I ride 15-20mph, with decent bike handling skills, and I've never been able to hang with that C group! I would not recommend it for her.

[7rider]

Hi Rain and welcome.

7, I ride 15-20mph, with decent bike handling skills, and I've never been able to hang with that C group! I would not recommend it for her.

Yeah, but you joined us in July, when everyone was in as good of shape as they're going to be. You COULD have hung with us today, fer sure. And I wouldn't drop you and leave you for the dogs.
Rain....Keep your eyes posted on the Mid-Atlantic forum. I'm sure we'll get something together soon (or...offer to organize something!).

[owlice]

Hey, come ride with me! This year, I'm signed up for one metric century, and plan to do a fundraising ride in Columbia that is as much riding as you can manage in 24 hours. I'm thinking of riding the GAP this year, too.

I ride mostly trails, and there are lots of good ones, many paved, that would get you off Beach Drive.

Also, check out the Potomac Pedalers; they have frequent group rides that might appeal to you. I've been on one (a D ride, which is just about right for me), and enjoyed it.

[pfunk12]

Yeah, but you joined us in July, when everyone was in as good of shape as they're going to be. You COULD have hung with us today, fer sure. And I wouldn't drop you and leave you for the dogs.
Rain....Keep your eyes posted on the Mid-Atlantic forum. I'm sure we'll get something together soon (or...offer to organize something!).

Welcome, Rain! 7 - I was thinking that, based on what Rain said about her cycling, she could probably handle what you did today (based on your description of the ride) and especially since you didn't start at the shop with the A and B group. In my opinion, the start of that ride is insane and I have a feeling it would intimidate her. It still intimidates me . There is absolutely no warm-up. And before you know it, you're doing 25 mph on Beach Drive - 1/2 mile into the ride. So if you and the others plan on doing that again in the near future, it might be good for Rain to give it a try.

And Rain, when I first started cycling, I was doing the same thing as you. I would ride on Beach Drive and do 30-35 miles every single time. It got old and stale. Then I met 7 on TE and decided to join her for the shop ride. The thought of doing it scared the heck out of me because I didn't have any confidence and I was totally intimidated by doing a group ride. But a year later, I'm still doing it and I love it.

[ny biker]

I need to think about this some more, but off the top of my head:

In addition to the Potomac Pedalers, there's also the Oxon Hill bike club: www.ohbike.org. I've never actually been on their club rides but I know at least one person here used to ride with them (Tulip, maybe?).

Also, it sounds like it might be good to have a goal for you to work towards. The OH club sponsors the Patuxent River Rural Legacy ride every year in early June. This year's ride is on Sunday, June 12. It's one of my favorite rides every year. You can choose between 24, 46 or 62 miles. You might want to aim for the 46 miler, and you could gradually increase your miles from 30 up to 45 or so between now and June.

The same club is co-sponsoring a ride on April 24 to raise money to fight hunger in Calvert County, MD. (The fundraising is just your registration fee; there's no need to ask friends for donations or anything like that.) I did the 36 mile version last year and this year I will either do that again or do the 48-miler, depending on how much training I'm able to do in the next month or so. It's a nice ride that goes along the western shore of the Chesapeake.

Both of these rides are in eastern MD, but on this side of the Bay so the drive to the start isn't too far.

The good thing about these kinds of rides is that there are other riders around, reststops with food, drink and bathrooms or porta-johns, and SAG support if you have a problem. And they get you off your regular weekend route and onto some new roads, which is always nice.

There are other organized rides like this in Maryland and NoVa. Here's a partial list which includes the Patuxent River ride and the Ride to End Hunger in Calvert County:

http://ohbike.org/events/index.htm

[rain]

Wow -- this is great. Thanks so much for all your replies.

Catriona, I do know how to change my tires, but I don't keep the supplies with me. I need to do that. I also haven't had enough exposure to hands on tasks with my bike to feel really confident. But I really like your suggestion - esp riding from metro stations. Though, I'm not entirely comfortable riding on the road by myself....ahh!

MDHillSlug - that's what I feared!

owlice - for sure I aspire to ride the Seagull Century this fall - that's the goal, now to find the path to get there.

pfunk12 - gosh, that warms my heart to hear. I have no idea if I can do it, but the thought of giving up my bike out of boredom makes me very sad. It's a JOY to ride.
After reading ny rider's post, is there some sort of baseline that I should train towards before trying that ride? It's ideal because that group rides every week.

nybiker - thanks! I will act on your suggestion. I'll aim for the April ride (family in town so we'll see). But it's a good way for me to get an idea of what a group ride is like and have goals to work toward.

Gosh - I'm so glad that I found this forum!

[ny biker]

BTW, I'm about the same speed as you, and I consider myself average, not slow. I would be a B rider according to the Oxon Hill club classification, and I'm CC according to Potomac Pedalers.

[kmehrzad]

If you're in the Silver Spring area (there are several here on the boards who are), the Bicycle Place, on Grubb Road hosts a ride every Sunday a.m. 12-16 mph is a bit on the slow side for our C-ride - do you ride a road bike? - (well, today my C-ride average was 15.4, so this may be a great time for you to jump in!). Bear in mind that riding with a group is often (usually) easier than riding by yourself. So if you can do a 16 mph ride solo, you can probably hang with the C-ride. The C-route is roughly 30 miles and goes out to Potomac and back. Let me know if you'll join us...as we have an informal "If you brought the new guy, ride with 'em" policy. Your best way to learn the ride is to go with someone who's been on it before. And, the best way to improve your skills as a rider - both in terms of speed and technique, is to ride with a group.

Hey 7Rider and Pfunk, some Sunday I'd like to join you and the group on your morning ride. I've not ridden out that way and would like to take part. I'll send an email the night before just to touch base and make sure you plan on doing the Sunday ride.

[Cataboo]

Rain, the worst thing that has ever happened to me riding alone was that a chain broke and I walked my bike 7 miles home. But then I tend to ride out in farm land. Now I keep a chain tool & a spare chain connector thing (the sram powerlinks) on my bikes. But if I'd been farther, I'd have just headed for a coffee shop or mcdonald's or whatever, called a friend and sat there twiddling my thumbs or posting facebook status updates on my cell phone till I got a rescue.

A few of us on here are riding in the terry wild goose chase in October if you need another group ride to do. I think Kalidurga posted something about a Baltimore park group ride that's in June. I might be doing that with her and she & I probably ride about your speed.

7rider & Pfunk's group sounds a bit fast for me, but that can be a goal - in a couple of years, I'll be fast enough to hang with them.

[tulip]

Hi Rain,
Please sign up for a basic maintenance class. REI and many local bike shops have such classes.

Please also look into cycling classes offered by the League of American Bicyclists.

When I lived in DC, I rode with Potomac Pedalers and with Oxen Hill. Both were great. Start out with slower rides and work your way up. There's so much more to see than Beach Drive!

[ny biker]

Please also look into cycling classes offered by the League of American Bicyclists.

Yes, I thought of that last night. They have Confident City Cycling classes. I've met the guy who teaches them here in NoVa. I think they would help a lot.