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?

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?

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 ). Alas, I'm nowhere near as patient as he.

[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 ). Alas, I'm nowhere near as patient as he.

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.