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03.27.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 10 Comments

The bike club I joined in January was profiled in a neighborhood newsletter as having A, B, and C groups. The A group could be classified as the “serious” bikers – fast pace, long distance riders on high-end bikes. The B group would be what I call the “15 mph crowd” – those who like to ride, and have pretty good road bikes, but just can’t keep up with the As. The C group would be parents on hybrids, kids, oldsters on cruiser bikes, people who ride short distances for fun and a little exercise.

Lately, discussions on the club’s Yahoo! group about As and Bs have been getting contentious. A couple of self-described B riders have used the term “weenie” to label the Bs. Others have taken umbrage at that – they want to be respected for their decision to ride for fun and not get roped into speed contests.

Another group has begun breaking down the Bs into B+, B and B-, or “wannaBe” groups, which has put some into high dudgeon over the whole labeling thing. One of the organizers of the club’s Sunday ride, which is open to anyone, takes issue with classifying riders at all. “We’re all one club,” he says.

Some self-classified B riders say they just want to make sure other riders of their caliber are on the Sunday ride, so they’re not left far behind on their own (These are no-drop rides, but it’s been known to happen). Other self-classified B riders are trying hard to become part of the A group, and are training hard to get it done.

It’s been awhile since I’ve ridden with the club. My last ride with them was in late January, and was a great experience. I got to see a route I hadn’t ridden before, and while there was no way I could keep up with the better riders, I did fit in with a group that was content to travel more slowly than the ride leaders. But I had bike issues and weather issues in February, and was out of town two weekends in a row in March.

This Sunday, I hope to join them again. I have a good idea who I can ride with, and who will leave me behind quickly. The longer distances the club rides will challenge me to build my mileage, and for now, endurance is what I’m after – not speed.

So, I guess I’m a B rider. Don’t care. I want to ride, not race. We’ll see if the ride breaks up into two distinct classes of cyclist. If it does, maybe I’ll just have to make friends with the ones at roughly the same level as I am – and we’ll all know that despite well-intentioned “one club” protestations, we really do fall into separate and unequal rider classifications.

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Categories // clubs

I joined a bike club

02.28.2008 by Ray Niekamp // 1 Comment

I learned entirely through accident – by reading the neighborhood newsletter, which I never do – that my neighborhood has its own bike club. Who’d a thunk?

They maintain a group site on Yahoo! where I learned all about them. There are A, B, and C class riders in the club – A being the “hammerheads,” or fast bikers, B the 14-16 mile-per-hour crowd, and C the beginners, families, hybrid riders, etc.

Looked good, so I mailed in my $30 family registration along with my and my wife’s signed waivers for club-sponsored group rides (if we’re hurt, we don’t hold the club liable).

They have regular no-drop rides on the weekends, with Saturdays being the faster of the two. I opted to show up for one of their Sunday rides. About 13 were there. We rode city streets to the far southeast corner of town, then headed out into the country. As the new guy, and the guy who was inexperienced in group riding, I opted to hang off the rear and see how the ride shaped up. One of the regulars, who styles himself as the club “sweep,” hung back with me and gave me tips on drafting. It was a pleasant ride, with lots of chatter about bikes and other things. I felt like I could keep up with them without any trouble. Then we hit the country.

It took me a few minutes to realize what was happening. But after a few minutes, only one other rider was anywhere near me. We were far behind, and could see a rainbow of bike jerseys topping a far-off hill. At the 20-mile mark, they stopped and waited. I caught up, downed a big gulp of water, and ate half a granola bar. Then they were off again. It looked like they were not going to use this as the turnaround point, but just keep going. Once again, I found myself with the same biker who had been alone with me when we first hit the country. He, too, was frustrated that he couldn’t crack a 15 mph average, but we were both on steel bikes (I still had the Raleigh at this point), and we weren’t in their league.

Finally, we hit a t-intersection, and none of the other bikers had waited to point the way. “Which way?’ I asked. “Left,” he said. We turned. And we didn’t see a soul for the rest of the ride.

Eventually, we made it back. Well, I did. My new biking friend turned off to head home before we got back to the local Starbucks where our rides begin. A few of the original group were finishing up their lattes, and I stopped to let them know we had gotten back all right. At that t-intersection, the group had turned right, and waited for us at a country store about a half mile down the road. After a half hour, they gave up on us and came home. Total distance for the day: 47 miles, and it was tougher than a metric century I had done back in November. But we had achieved one distinction: In the year and a half the club had been around, we were the first to ever be dropped in an organized ride.

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