biking club

[IGGY]

Hey all-I joined the local bike club (one of many) in D.C. and the FIRST day, as a D (lowest class of rider) I hooked up with a crazy leader and we did 22 miles! (my first real day on a bike outside of a spin class). Tonight I went back and did 8 with his wife. Here's the problem. Sunday way too much, tonight, way too little. NO in between.
I'm feeling down because I thought...this is THE GROUP! Now, unless I move up a group to become a C, I don't have many other options. I guess I could work on my own to become a C rider, but I need mentoring, mentoring, mentoring, plus skills with traffic, riding with others, etc.
I'm proud of the miles I was able to put on my bike the first day (and not do much at all the rest of that day!) but I want this to be fun, and fruitful.
Kind of complaining, but worrying I won't find a fit for me??????
If you live in the D.C. metro area, it's the PPTC. Which seems like the only alternative for me.
and, YES, I did fall the first 5 minutes into the ride on Sunday, on the same elbow, but hopped up and kept riding!

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Just so you don't feel too hopeless about the situation...

If you continue to ride regularly, you will soon find that there is not a huge difference between riding 8 miles and 22 miles. I know it seems so now, but your 'easy' 8 mile rides will quickly become easy 12 mile rides and then 15...and then a 20 mile ride won't seem like much more than the 8 miler.
I do find substantial differences when jumping say from 20 to 40 mile rides, but when I was starting out, after about 2 months of regular riding it seemed to me that most rides under 20 miles were do-able, and a 6 mile ride seemed pretty much the same as a 12 mile ride.

[madscot13]

umm new things hurt? I'm sorry I can't give any more good advice than that. I would hang steady if you like these people and you like biking. Arlington has a lot of fantastic trails that can help you get used to riding until you feel confident enough to ride in traffic. Local bike shops have rides too. I know Revolution does and they are not supposed to be difficult but I have never ridden with them.

I am hopped up busy right now. I've put all extraneous things on hold until after the 12th of sept. if you still willing by then, I would be happy to ride with you in traffic. I don't know the area super well and I only have one regular road route but we could figure something out.

If you are really concerned with riding in the road, check out http://www.waba.org/events/education.php#ccc
for classes on riding in the road.

[aicabsolut]

Go down to Hains Point one evening (avoid Thursday evenings for now, unless you want to be scared to death by the huge sprint group out there ). You can drive down there if the traffic intimidates you. There's lots of parking. Or you can take the trail by the Pkwy to Ohio Drive and then hop on the road. Or, there's a way to get there from the bike path over the bridge next to 395, but I'm rusty on those directions. Hains is low traffic (but watch out for the BBQers and other exercisers getting in and out of parking spots), low speed limit, and totally flat. There are a couple of stop signs that you can typically blow through unless there's a cop around, because of the light traffic, and they look out for bikes usually. But it's a way to get used to being around people on the road. It can get windy out there sometimes, but it's not too often the kind that will blow you sideways. So you can work on looking behind you and holding your line if you need to pass anyone. You can practice riding with one hand, eating, and drinking. There are parking spots were you can pull over to practice unclipping and stopping. Plus, it's only about a 3.2 mile loop (and did I mention flat?), so you can do as little or as much as you want. Because you have 2 normal traffic lanes, you have a little more space to move than on one of the trails.

[tulip]

There's also Oxon Hill Cycling Club (ohbike.org). Many of their rides are in Maryland, while PPTC are in Virginia mostly. Lots of overlap in the groups.

Keep riding with the Ds until you feel you can do one of the shorter C rides. The C rides consist of a variety of speeds and almost always have a sweeper who makes sure that folks don't get dropped. It's a good idea to have a bike computer and a cue-clip holder for cue sheets.

As Bleeker says, you'll soon realize that you can easily do 20 mile rides, and from there, 30 milers. A few 30 milers and you can easily do 40. Then they get longer, but you'll be doing those, too. Once you get comfortable in traffic, you might want to commute to work on your bike. It's a great way to build up miles and consistency, as well as a great way to get to work.

For learning to ride in traffic, Madscot's offer to go with you is very generous. There are occassionally cycling classes offered by the League of American Bicyclists and WABA (Madscot gives the web address).

[aicabsolut]

madscot, where do you usually ride? time? pace? I know a lot of route options between DC and Poolesville. Most of them are too long for IGGY right now--but IGGY, there are some places to park and do smaller loops if you're interested. I'm not good with NoVa routes yet, but there's supposed to be a good, challenging hill ride route in Arlington that I will try to learn sometime this fall.

[ny biker]

madscot, where do you usually ride? time? pace? I know a lot of route options between DC and Poolesville. Most of them are too long for IGGY right now--but IGGY, there are some places to park and do smaller loops if you're interested. I'm not good with NoVa routes yet, but there's supposed to be a good, challenging hill ride route in Arlington that I will try to learn sometime this fall.

I took the cue sheet for the "Arlington Hills" ride from the PPTC website and it's a good workout. (Actually I modified it to start/end at my office Ballston.) Also Babes on Bikes has a bunch of hilly rides posted on their website. I think they all generally cover the same area of north Arlington, with some venturing into parts of close-in Fairfax County, like McLean.

For Iggy, I was going to recommend WABA's classes that madscot already mentioned. You should definitely look into them. And yes definitely the best thing is to just get out there and ride and you'll become more comfortable and in better shape with practice.

One place that I like to ride is Beach Dr in Rock Creek Park on weekends. The road is mostly closed to cars from 7 a.m. Saturday to 7 p.m. Sunday between Pierce Mill and the DC/MD line. There are lots of other cyclists, joggers, etc. out on the roads but it's wide enough to pass or be passed without problems. My guess is that it's about 8 or 9 miles if you ride from Pierce Mill north to the DC/MD line and back again, so you could do that a couple of times, or ride up and down a shorter section a couple of times, or whatever you like in order to ride the distance you're comfortable with. It's a really pleasant area, with lots of shade and for several miles you are right next to the creek.

Also I agree with your frustration with the PPTC ride groups - although on paper I am totally a CC-level rider, I usually am too slow to keep up with CC rides, but the C rides usually are not long enough or hilly enough for my purposes. It's hard to find exactly what you're looking for.

If you guys plan a ride let me know, because I might be able to join you and/or get a couple of other people who could join in and provide advice and route ideas. (Some of them are guys, but they're nice.)

[aicabsolut]

I was referring to a route that some NCVC folk use, but maybe they share the route with the other groups. I dunno. I've pissed off my knee somehow recently, and so (aside from one poorly timed training trip to the WV mountains) I need to take it easy on the climbing for a while.

I am not a huge fan of RCP, usually because I'd have to ride either the Parkway or Conn Ave to get there, but also because of all the people and some poor road surfaces in the park. My team also got pulled over on Beach for doing a double paceline on our last ride through there. Yes, people laughed at us and motorists cheered. It is a nice shady spot on the really hot days, though.

I refreshed myself with the PPTC classifications, and I suppose I'm in the BB-AA range (but on the low mileage side of AA), so while I am not the best riding partner for you ladies all the time, I have learned several roads. I could post links to some of my data in MotionBased, which lets you look at the routes in Google Maps. Just give me some ideas for where you want to go.

[ny biker]

I can definitely see how riding in the park is not the best for someone who rides at a faster pace or is training with a team. You do have to be prepared to hit the brakes at any time in the car-free area, because there are people there at all different ages and skill levels. But I used to live near the park when I first got my bike, and I found it to be a good place to ride on weekends because it's pretty friendly for someone who's just getting started or re-acquainted with cycling.

I generally use Beach Dr for long training rides when I'm by myself -- I don't like to go too far afield on my own because if I have a mechanical or health problem there's no one I can call to come pick me up. I drive to the park and park my car in lot 6 just off Military Rd. Then I ride down to Pierce Mill, turn around and go north out of the park all the way to where Beach Dr ends at Viers Mill Park in Maryland, and then turn around and go back to my car. That's about 23 miles. I keep a cooler in my car with extra water bottles, so that's my "rest stop." Then I repeat the same route once or twice more, depending on how far I want to ride that day.

There are some parts of the road that are a bit rough but other sections have been totally repaved in the past few years. And overall the other cyclists and joggers have not bothered me because it's usually easy enough to co-exist with them given the pace I ride at. However, the last time I did this ride was a couple of weeks ago and I was pretty annoyed by all the other cyclists out on the road. Inside the park was actually fine, but north of the park in Maryland (north of East/West Hwy) there were too many people and it got annoying. So for next summer I will probably try to find a different place for my long rides. I probably just need to find the phone number of a cab company in Loudoun County and head out that way instead.

[RoadRaven]

Just persevere, Iggy

You have a great base of SPIN behind you, so just be patient. You will find your place. Many of us here started out frustrated because we were too fast or too slow for the people we rode with.

I would be too fast on the flat, but not be able to keep up on the hills... with time I have been able to move up a grade and now only get dropped on the truly hilly rides. Most races I am beginning to be able to stay with the leading bunch or the chasing bunch. Albeit in a low grade, but I have a place.

Take heart, your body will adapt and respond - and because of the spinning, you will probably find you respond much faster than someone like me.

[Geonz]

+1 on the "keep doin' it." You've done it once. YOu have also started in *August.* I can almost guarantee, sight unseen, that the pace is significantly faster with fewer options for rest than that same ride offered early in the year. (We call it "midseason pace creep" and it's danged near unavoidable. This ride leader has been dropped by her 'beginners' rather often in August, trying to hold to the advertised speed ).

The learning curve seems steep but it happens fairly quickly. I lead our club's easiest ride and it is usually 22 miles, though we usually pause a lot. People are generally astounded at how quickly they progress from 22 miles being just the other side of forever to it being "just a ride."

[madscot13]

Hey, I know how to bike more than one route. That is my extended- I have nothing better to do today- bike route.

[aicabsolut]

You said you didn't know the area very well yet. I was just trying to let you know about some good roads..