Where to find other riders?

[bikerchick68]

hiya! I have met several people by noticing their "livestrong" bands and asking if they ride...

I ride with a local club but they are fast... especially for someone new... I was chatting one day after a ride and mentioned that the next day I would do a slow recovery ride, 25 miles flat at maybe 14mph... just an easy spin... one of the guys asked who I ride that with as his wife is too scared being new to ride with the group but really wants to ride... so she began riding my recovery day with me... since then, I've mentioned it to more people and actually had others from the group call and ask if their newbie friends could join in... so now I've created a "new rider" cycling club. I review safety stuff with anyone who joins, teach people how to draft, how to call out stuff in the road, when to take the lane, about being a respectful cyclist so we make friends of more drivers etc. Biggest rule I have is that we are a NO DROP group! If someone gets too strong for our pace then I encourage them to join another group with an intermediate level!

I guess in a nutshell... start letting every cyclist you meet know you are looking for someone to ride with! You'll be amazed at how many other riders are at the same level... and you'll all build your confidence and speed together! There is definitely something to be said for riding with others... it's very easy when alone to not push yourself the same way you would riding with someone else! Keep us posted ok?

[caligurl]

[QUOTE=bikerchick68There is definitely something to be said for riding with others... it's very easy when alone to not push yourself the same way you would riding with someone else![/QUOTE]

SEE! this is why i need to live in a more populated area! around here you have the "sd's" that are all into competing with one another and who can go faster (well.. DUH... you are guys.. and have been riding longer.. YES..... you are faster then i am!) or the ones who ride once a month!

i need to move to where there are people like you to ride with! (but not your brother.. he's WAY to fast for me! *remembering that cold, early morning RACE at the beginning of hemet!)

[CorsairMac]

I'm with you Cali - I've looked around here and so far have found 3 racing clubs and 1 non-racing club with a Wed night no-drop ride. When I talked to the ride host, the avg spd of the no-drop ride is 17-18 mph! and he pointed out the guys who ride it.....the same guys riding in the Tues night crits. and yes, they were all guys. So I'm still riding alone and still hopeful! oh...and PS...I did the Ride of Silence with this group and I don't know if they were ALL from this group, but they scared me - I thought I would be the one that wouldn't be able to hold my line, or forget to signal or something newbie obvious.....but let me tell ya hun....it wasn't ME that had the problems! When 2 riders from the club pinched me up against a curb and left me no where to move, I knew then this wasn't a group I probably wanted to ride with very often. Either that or I just ride alone waaaaaaaaaaay too much!

[caligurl]

the closest club to us (whichis still an hour away) is like that... i read their site and just shake my head.... they don't want newbies.. desert cycling club ... they just want to continue to be their little elite group! some of the guys from up here have driven down there to ride with them and came back with the stories of the studs dropping them.....

this is their easiest ride: speed avg 17 mph, 42 miles with defined cut-off routes to shorten ride... uhm.. ya... i can do that... NOT! i JUST finally got a 16.6 average ride this past sunday.. and i worked hard for that! i normally average 14.9 to 15.something with no hills! (and that's the average.. i'm a LOT slower most times!) elitests... BAH!

i did join a club ride in redlands a few months back.. i was still the slowest on the flats (managed to pass a couple on the hill)... now they were nice and club along the lines of what bikerchick is talking about.. unfortunately they are an hour and a half away

[nuthatch]

I was chatting one day after a ride and mentioned that the next day I would do a slow recovery ride, 25 miles flat at maybe 14mph... just an easy spin...

i JUST finally got a 16.6 average ride this past sunday.. and i worked hard for that! i normally average 14.9 to 15.something with no hills! (and that's the average.. i'm a LOT slower most times!) elitests... BAH!

Holy crud, you guys are fast! The boys are, well, beyond belief. Okay, when you are measuring your average speed, do your bike computers average your stops in too? I seem to be riding about 15/16 most of the time but I always end up with an average speed of 12 to 13 - and I stop frequently. Does it depend on your computer or do they all average the same way?

[CorsairMac]

Nut: you should be able to set you computer to either stopwatch or ATM. Actual Time Moving! (no...I have no idea what it really means but that's how I think of it.) If your computer is set for stopwatch it'll avg your spd based on total road time which could lower your avg. If you set it to ATM, ONLY the time the front tire is moving is measured. Check you manual: it should tell you if and or how to change your computer to ATM.

and no.....my avg spd is only about 13 +/- mph although when I'm on long straight flats I seem to avg about 16-17. My avg yesterday for my century was 14.?? which I was very proud of.

[nuthatch]

My avg yesterday for my century was 14.?? which I was very proud of.

I'd be proud of 14 as well!! My average was 12.3 yesterday over the course of 80 totally flat miles.

Nut "tortoise" hatch

[caligurl]

Holy crud, you guys are fast! The boys are, well, beyond belief. Okay, when you are measuring your average speed, do your bike computers average your stops in too? I seem to be riding about 15/16 most of the time but I always end up with an average speed of 12 to 13 - and I stop frequently. Does it depend on your computer or do they all average the same way?

no i'm not! lol! that's the average.. so it includes any downgrades! today... the same route... i did in average 15.1... but there were times i was only doing 11 or 12! (and even 8 on the partial climb i have to make to get home!!)

my HRM stops when i stop... so potty breaks, stop lights... it stops recording.. (polar s720i)

[LBTC]

(polar s720i)

yummy
that's the one with the infrared download, right?

santa, are you listening???

Namaste,
~T~

[bikerchick68]

Holy crud, you guys are fast!

I gotta agree with Cali... I'm NOT fast... I can maintain 17-18 in flats but am down right pokey up hills... when Cali and I rode together my brother took off at 20mph for the first 8-10 miles in the COLD! AAAAACK! I was fine (heck I was just trying to create any body heat!) Cali dropped me like a rock in the climbs tho...

my avg for THAT century was 15.1 I think... my fastest century was done in 6 hour 50 minutes at an avg of 15.4... that's the one I'm proud of... Solvang Century with 5000ft climbing! But the avg came up 'cause my top speed on a downhill was 47.3mph!!! WOOOOT! Yeah, I like the downhills!

CORSAIR! Congrats on the century!!! I remember you saying you wanted to do one but did not realize it already happened... that's a BIG deal! Way to go...

[KSH]

the closest club to us (whichis still an hour away) is like that... i read their site and just shake my head.... they don't want newbies.. desert cycling club ... they just want to continue to be their little elite group! some of the guys from up here have driven down there to ride with them and came back with the stories of the studs dropping them.....

this is their easiest ride: speed avg 17 mph, 42 miles with defined cut-off routes to shorten ride... uhm.. ya... i can do that... NOT! i JUST finally got a 16.6 average ride this past sunday.. and i worked hard for that! i normally average 14.9 to 15.something with no hills! (and that's the average.. i'm a LOT slower most times!) elitests... BAH!

i did join a club ride in redlands a few months back.. i was still the slowest on the flats (managed to pass a couple on the hill)... now they were nice and club along the lines of what bikerchick is talking about.. unfortunately they are an hour and a half away

Sounds like you need to start your OWN CLUB in your AREA!

Or at least... find a way to assemble the few riders you have in your area. Sounds like a few are looking for people to ride with!


Also... I want to add... that I found someone to ride with via this website! We are going to the Collin Classic together (in Dallas, TX) on June 11th!