club ride etiquette?

[F8th637]

LOL I'd get performance anxiety having to fix a flat and having 30 cyclists doing circles around me! I would much rather be left with a select few than an audience.

[lph]

Thanks everybody!

The ride leader gave me and the other guy props for waiting up with the guy who flatted, on the club forum. I was about to post a reply, but I changed it to an email directly to the ride leader. I suggested that we could split up into smaller groups already at the ride start who would all stop if somebody flatted, as we were bound to have more flats. There'a a lot of crap out there on the roads still, and some people are taking their road bikes out for the first time. Then that group could be a bit more self-sufficient if they didn't catch up.

He agreed, sorta, and had already thought of splitting the group up into max 10 people, but for traffic issues. He found it "very surprising" that this guy had flatted twice - which isn't really that surprising when you know that he didn't find the culprit changing the first flat

Anyhoo. I'm already making a few friends. That's why I stopped, actually, I've chatted a bit with the guy who flatted and he's really friendly. Well - I'd like to stop for anyone. Good point about what kind of rider do you want to be.

And I AM going to make an effort to get to know my way around! I'll print out a pocketsize map to take with me, and try and study the route beforehand. Most days I won't have trouble keeping up, I think, but I could still easily take a wrong turn.

Thanks for the feedback!

[indysteel]

lph, do you use the same route for each training ride? If so, you might ask the ride coordinator if there's any benefit to just marking it with spray paint. As I indicated in my previous post, our training ride routes are marked with "Dan Henrys." In fact, almost all of our club rides, be they training or weekend, are marked. It's a bit labor intenstive but also very helpful. We have maps, too, but the markings are very reliable and we almost always just follow them. The other nice thing about them is that I often use them when I just want to go out for a ride somewhere by myself.

Anyway, if you offer to take the lead on it, they might go for it. When we mark a course, we usually put a marking about 200 to 250 feet from the intersection, another one closer to the intersection and a confirming mark after the intersection. White spray paint usually lasts the longest in my experience. Orande and yellow are easier to see, however.

Kudos to you for joining the group, by the way, and offering suggestions to them about how to run the rides. It sounds like a good group!

K-

[Trek420]

lph, It's common here on cub rides, especially rides posted as "easy" whether they are no drop or not for there to be a "sweep". Someone volunteers to bring up the rear so nobody gets lost. Sweeping is not only a good way to train but can be swapped, one person sweeps till the turn around then another.

I suggest that be brought up to your club

[Starfish]

just marking it with spray paint.

I've had non-cycling public folks give me an earful about spray painted Dan Henry's (that I was not involved with painting!) and how rude cyclists are for painting them permanently. They last a LONG time if you don't use the DOT approved paint that wears away. Just something to think about when we're trying to consider the image of cyclists in the community.

Not everyone is a fan of permanent markings on the roads.

[lph]

I would LOVE a marked route, (so, what are "Dan Henry"s?? ) but as far as I can see it's a different route each time. Or more likely they have 6-8-10 different ones they cycle through. Pun intended. But each route is described ahead of time on the club forum.

[MM_QFC!]

I would LOVE a marked route, (so, what are "Dan Henry"s?? ) but as far as I can see it's a different route each time. Or more likely they have 6-8-10 different ones they cycle through. Pun intended. But each route is described ahead of time on the club forum.

Dan Henrys are the cyclist markings (named after the guy who first used them)...you'll see them on supported rides near intersections so that cyclists get a bit of advance notice about upcoming turns or are directed to continue straight ahead...so they're on the road surface, and you've no doubt looked down in front of your bike on the curbside and seen others previously. Similar to this:

[Pedal Wench]

Wow! Learned something new!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Henry