Bike Noob

Because I'm Always Learning Something New

  • Home
  • About
  • Contact
  • Partners

What is a bicycle club group ride like?

06.24.2015 by Scott Jangro // 5 Comments

Photo Notes: 23 club members with three unidentified bicycles and a BSA Path Racer, somewhere in Springwood.

Springwood Cycling Club

Via:
Blue Mountains City Library

As you improve in your cycling, at some point, you may want to test your skills against others. And rather than jump right into a race, you can join a group of other riders. If you don’t have 6 friends ready to take off for 4 hours on a Saturday morning, there’s usually a local bike club as an option.

Bike clubs come in different shapes and sizes. Some are hard-core and others are more friendly to noobs like us. They usually have websites that contain descriptions of their rides and the skills needed to join them. Many clubs have different levels based on the average speed you can maintain, like 16-18, 18-20, and 20+ mph. Keep in mind that you can typically ride a few MPH faster in a group than you can alone, which is also why group riding is fun.

The craziest group ride I’ve been on is a local one called the Bullet Train in the club called “Monsters in the Basement”, a friendly club here in nearby Concord, MA. We achieved a crazy 25mph average over 30 miles. I’m lucky to average 20 solo, on my best day.

Don’t be afraid to show up and give it a try.

What’s it Like?

Here’s what an actual group ride looks like. I happened to be on this ride. I’m in the blue helmet and black and yellow kit. Coincidentally, that’s me on the video image, and you can see me at about 30 minutes in after taking a corner.

Not that you should watch the entire hour-plus of this ride, but there are some interesting things to see in it. We start out in the dark, at 5:30 am. You can see the dynamics of a fast group ride with lots of uphills and downhills.

This particular ride is FAST. It’s a “drop-ride”, which basically means that it’s cooperative, but if you fall off the back, they’re not waiting for you at the top of the hill. It certainly adds some urgency to the ride and keeps you pushing hard or you’re on your own.

Most club rides are “no-drop”, which means the group will stop at important points to let people catch up. So if this looks scary, this isn’t necessarily typical. It’s about as hard as they are likely to get.

Also, this is historic Concord, MA of Revolutionary War fame, which may be interesting to those of you from around the world.

 

www.youtube.com

Holy cow, that video is cool.

It was taken with a Garmin Virb Elite, which not only takes video, but it connects to other ANT+ devices and/or your Garmin 500 or 800 cycling computers to sync up all of your ride stats and get those cool dashboard graphics.

This Looks Dangerous!

Well, cycling is dangerous. And riding in a group has its own risks. There are definitely more crashes in a group. When a rider in a paceline hits the wheel of the rider in front of him, he’s probably going to go down.

I’ve crashed once at speed and walked away with just some bruises. Others aren’t so lucky with broken collar bones and dislocated shoulders, or worse. Most crashes that I see or hear about end in only scrapes and bruises, which is good news because if you ride a lot, especially in groups, chances are you’re going to go down at some point.

On the other hand, group riding can be safer as you’re easier for motorists to see.

What Club Should You Join?

There are clubs everywhere, and they are becoming more and more popular every year. You should be able to find one near you. Ask around and keep your ears open for people talking about it. Look at the kits other cyclists are wearing as clubs usually have branded kits for their members to buy.

Also, here’s a great post by someone in my local club, who also has a cycling blog, about cycling clubs…

WHAT CYCLING CLUB SHOULD YOU JOIN? | In The Know Cycling
What’d I’d like to offer you, and ask for your help as In The Know Cycling readers, is a way for anyone to find the best enthusiast cycling clubs near you, ones that can offer you the kind of exper…

Like this:

Like Loading…

Related

Categories // clubs

Comments

  1. Neximus says

    June 24, 2015 at 10:45 pm

    Yes that ride is fast! I hope it doesn’t put off noobies from joining a club. Most rides are a lot slower than that. A ride average of 15 – 16mph on lumpy terrain is a reasonable speed but most clubs (in the UK at least) will have a slower group.

    Reply
    • Scott Jangro says

      June 25, 2015 at 4:56 pm

      That’s a great point.

      I tried to make that clear that there’s something for everyone in most clubs except the really hardcore ones.

      Clubs always advertise what types of rides they have on their websites.

      And I always try to go a bit above my ability so I get better. There’s nothing like chasing someone’s wheel to make you push harder.

      Reply
      • Neximus says

        June 25, 2015 at 5:02 pm

        I agree. I put myself up to a higher group in my club and it was amazing how my performances improved but I felt fine at the end of the ride. So long as clubs have a good basic starter group that will help the club flourish over time.

        Reply
  2. Darrell says

    June 29, 2015 at 2:25 am

    I’ve never thought about joining a club, but there is group that I’ve seen meeting to ride at the high school about a half mile from my house, but I’m not sure if it’s a regular run or just a once in a while thing. Plus, I’m just an old hobo biker, I average only about 10 MPH, so they would probably smoke me, but it might be interesting to check it out. I did participate in my first organized ride a few weeks ago. I hadn’t planed on it, but a buddy of mine & his brother were going to ride in it, so I thought OK, why not. We did the 29 miler, I broke a spoke, got my picture on the ride’s facebook page, squeezed 27 MPH out of The Hoss on the way down the Maury Myers Bridge, and was the last rider on the 29 mile ride to finish. I got a lot of comments on the American flag I attached to my helmet, and there were a couple of guys on Calder watching cyclist in their cycling gear go by and when they saw me one of them said “hey, look that dude’s in blue jeans”. HAHA! Had a blast.

    Reply
  3. Michelle says

    January 25, 2016 at 11:24 am

    Explore 150cc Bike in India, Top 2 Wheeler
    in India, Best Super Bike in India and much more. The most apparent benefit
    of mobile auto repair is that you need not to take your car anyplace by towing it,
    hence saves the dragging expense. Again,
    you can always ask the shop owners and workers about their waste and cleanup practices as a start, or
    check with online and local green business organizations.

    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