Am I being overly sensetive.

[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 .

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[jobob]

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

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 ) 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.

[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.