Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

How To Join a Bike Club – Part 1

04.06.2010 by Ray Niekamp // 4 Comments

Guest poster Don Blount suggests you not join the first bike club you hear about — first, check out several, then decide.

One of my riding goals for this year was to begin doing group rides. Mostly because of my schedule, it’s difficult for me to find time to ride with others. During the week I have work. Sunday mornings, when many groups go out, I have church and I also have young children at home, and a wife.

But I do have a window on Saturday mornings. So I have targeted a few of those a month as an opportunity to get out.

I found that just picking a group and riding with them isn’t as easy as it appears.

I had to figure out what I wanted in a club and as part of that process, I e-mailed three groups within a 45-minute drive of my home.

One of three, the Stanislaus County Bicycle Club I didn’t hear back from for weeks (more on this group later).

The Stockton (Calif.) Bicycle Club got back to me within a few days but said most of the rides they were doing in March were too difficult for people just coming out. One of the membership people sent a followup e-mail: “The SBC rides are often heavy with Type-A’s.  Many of us are retired with time and disposable income. Sometimes the rides are not friendly to the new person but you’re doing the right thing by making inquires … hah!”

He went on: “That’s the other thing — we are mostly in the AARP-Social Security Range. Young riders come out but it’s almost always ‘one and done’.  Can’t blame ’em.”

So it didn’t sound too attractive.

I also received an e-mail from the third group, the Sacramento (Calif.) Wheelmen. This is a large group, its website says it has 600 members. The group usually has three to four rides each Saturday. One of those often begins about a 40-minute drive from my home.

“We hope you can join us. You don’t have to be a member to join us on rides, but if you do, you might decide to join up.”

I did join them for a 40-miler on a recent windy Saturday.

I had a good time in spite of the wind. I was most surprised to see that most of these riders were older than me. One guy was 75 and logged 15,000 miles last year. That’s farther than I drove my car.

When I asked how he managed to do that, one of the others chimed in, “He’s retired!”

The ride leader was 70 years old.

They weren’t hammer heads. I could even hang with the A group, but that may have been because of the wind as they just tried to keep the group together.

I had an enjoyable time riding with them and may look for other opportunities to ride with them again.

I’m not looking to race and I doubt I would socialize much with this group, in part because of the distance from my home. But I found the joy in riding with others.

This experience would become my baseline for comparison when I joined the Stockton Bicycle Club for a ride two weeks later.


Like this:

Like Loading…

Related

Categories // clubs Tags // clubs

Comments

  1. Alice says

    April 7, 2010 at 7:17 am

    Nice post, Don. I’m new to riding with local groups also, but last summer managed to find a really good one I enjoyed (the Mad Pups – I wrote about them on my blog a while back). Great people – mostly my age and very encouraging with each other and with newbies. They never made me feel like I was a hinderance and I managed to keep up with them for the entire 35 mile ride.

    I think contacting someone in the group ahead of time seems to be the best approach. Another local group here seems very snarky and pissy on their message board discussions, so I’ve been hesitant to join them for any rides. I’d much prefer to ride with people I enjoy talking to.

    Reply
  2. bjjoondo says

    April 8, 2010 at 4:02 pm

    It’s tough on a club, the Mrs. and I are mainly, recreational/utility riders that dream of doing touring some day. We joined the local club, mainly to “support” their “working with the local government” for bicycles. Thought we’d try a Sunday Social Ride, it was ok for me I’m just fast enough to keep up with the rear of the group. My poor wife, she is just not a fast rider, I think we had some folks that got a bit miffed that she was taking so long.

    After the 1st. stop, we “volunteered” to be the “Sweep Riders”, as the orginal sweep rider had to bail on the ride. That seemed to make things a bit better for Jo since the sweep riders take up the rear of the group.

    She made the whole ride but I know it was tough for her, infact she told one guy, who was still complaining to others to “BITE OFF”. Hopefully it will get better, we will keep volunteering for “Sweep” as I doubt she will ever be able to ride at the pace they set for the front of the group. You can tell these folks have ridden together for much longer mileage, (maybe century rides, etc.) so having “true” newbie’s is gona take some getting use too for them too! 😉

    Reply
    • rainycamp says

      April 8, 2010 at 4:22 pm

      Do they have separate A, B, and C groups, divided according to speed and endurance? It sounds as though your wife would be a good candidate for the C group.

      Reply

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Get Email Updates

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 257 other subscribers

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

Recent Posts

  • Getting Back on the Bike: Road Cycling Tips for Older Cyclists
  • Are BCAAs and EAAs Good for Cycling?
  • How to Fix Numb Toes When Cycling
  • How to Find and Vet a Bike Club
  • Celebrate Pearl Izumi with Big Savings in the Memorial Day Sale

Categories

  • Accessories
  • Bike fit
  • Bikes
  • Blogging
  • Books
  • clubs
  • Cold weather
  • Community
  • Commuting
  • Components
  • crash
  • cycling
  • Equipment
  • Favorite rides
  • fitness
  • food
  • guest post
  • Heat
  • Injury
  • logs
  • Maintenance
  • Mental
  • Nutrition
  • Odds 'n ends
  • People
  • Poll
  • Racing
  • Records & stats
  • Review
  • Rides
  • running
  • Safety
  • soreness
  • Specialized
  • Technique
  • Technology
  • Tips
  • tires
  • training
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized

Archives

  • May 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • March 2022
  • October 2020
  • November 2018
  • May 2018
  • September 2017
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • January 2016
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008

Copyright © 2026 · Modern Studio Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Go to mobile version
%d