I am the membership director for a large cycling club in California. For years the Club has tried to get people involved who are newbies, inexperienced riders. We came up with a solution. Every couple of months we offer a "newbie" ride. The purpose of the ride is to introduce riders of the same ability to meet and ride together so there's a reason to keep coming back each week. It's always nice to have different routes each week but there's nothing to say, that routes can't be repeated. Make it a coffee ride. The point is to locate a nice coffee shop, and ride there, have coffee and ride back. You have to decide the length of your rides. Our "Newbie" rides are about 15 miles and I try to keep them as flat and traffic free as possible. This means it is about 7 1/2 miles to the coffee shop and 7 1/2 back. 10 miles is also a good length especially for beginners. I used bike trails as much as possible. Also for "newbie" rides it should be "no drop" so re-grouping here and there is necessary. Can't speed away and leave the other riders lost and trying to find the rest of the pack. We usually have several ride leaders (who are familiar with the route) who sweep the group to make sure no one gets lost or left behind. The point is to make everyone feel like they aren't holding others up adn everyone is enjoying the ride. If someone wants to go faster, then they can speed ahead but as the leader, you always stay with the main group.

If you don't already have a group to ride with, partner with the local bike shop or gym (people who do spin class are usually interested in trying road as well). They can refer new riders (people who come in and buy bikes) to your "club." Come up with a clever name that says it all - "Pedal Pushers", "Coffee Cyclists" something that says this is going to be a fun group. Nothing wrong with starting with a small group to work out all the kinks and hopefully word of mouth gets more riders involved. Also if you have a favorite coffee shop you can partner with them. Have them post flyers about the ride and maybe offer a free cookie with a coffee purchase. You can also start at the coffee shop and end there and then have your coffee.

Good luck - and have fun!!!!