..and that's why clubs scare me

[BearPear]

I totally expected hills, it's the Dales!

I did not expect to encounter 3 hills which were so steep a that I had to dismount on a ride billed as good for beginners! Not every road in the area goes uphill so severely (2 other riders were pushing, 3 other riders we encountered commented about the hill we had come up which they were about to descend). But thanks for the comments, I realise that in the eyes of club riders I'm barely off stabilisers. I'll stick to riding by myself up the hills near my home.

 

[coffeejo]

I think the word "beginner" can be misleading.

 

[Kestevan]

To be fair to the OP a 24 mile hilly route would be a lot for a true beginner.

On the other hand I suspect that the club views a beginner as someone with decent fitness who has ridden a fair amount and is now looking to begin riding more seriously, as such the distance can be seen as a decent run.

On the gripping hand - living round here (or the Dales) planning a route that doesn't include steep hills is almost impossible, especially if you're trying to avoid main roads/towns/traffic as most club runs do. In that context 14% is not particularly steep and the Dales is overrun with such gradients.

 

[screenman]

I think the word "beginner" can be misleading.

They certainly were in this case.

 

[Apollonius]

I don't think there is any negative view of the club implied.

Clubs, perhaps can learn that in today's inclusive world a "beginner" can cover a wide range of people. We had a 24 year old on a 22 mile beginner ride last week and there was no problem. On the other hand, our club (Tuesday daytimes) is more used to recruiting retired people, and 22 miles is a huge ride for them.

If we believe cycling is for all, then clubs and other promoters of the sport need to make sure they have all ages and abilities in mind when they recommend a routs of beginners.
The Sky rides do this very well. Many of their beginner rides are less than 10km and the ride the OP describes would, rightly in my view, be classed as "demanding".

 

[ColinJ]

Chalk it up to experience and have another go when you're fitter. That's always an amazing sense of accomplishment.

Indeed!

In the mean time, make sure you have low enough gears on your bike and use all of them if you have to. If you can get up a 7% hill, then you should be able to get up a 14% hill by using a gear ratio 50% lower, as long as you can still balance going at half the speed.

I think I live not too far from you. It is not an easy area for inexperienced cyclists to ride in, except for busy valley roads which are not appealing.

I found an old diary of mine from 1990, the year after I started cycling again. I was typically riding only 10-15 miles, and the steepest hills that I usually tackled were about 8-10% and I struggled on them. I didn't really embrace the hills until I bought a new bike which had a triple chainset.

 

[Hip Priest]

I don't think there is any negative view of the club implied.

Clubs, perhaps can learn that in today's inclusive world a "beginner" can cover a wide range of people. We had a 24 year old on a 22 mile beginner ride last week and there was no problem. On the other hand, our club (Tuesday daytimes) is more used to recruiting retired people, and 22 miles is a huge ride for them.

If we believe cycling is for all, then clubs and other promoters of the sport need to make sure they have all ages and abilities in mind when they recommend a routs of beginners.
The Sky rides do this very well. Many of their beginner rides are less than 10km and the ride the OP describes would, rightly in my view, be classed as "demanding".

Good points. My local club has a bit on the website about the required level of fitness to attend a club ride, which is helpful. When I was a true beginner, I found the 5 mile flat ride to work an ordeal.

 

[Cycleops]

In my experience most clubs, not just cycling ones, are a platform for jealously, petty infighting, rivalry, power struggles and outright violence. I'm with Groucho on this one.

 

[screenman]

I my experience most clubs, not just cycling ones, are a platform for jealously, petty infighting, rivalry, power struggles and outright violence. I'm with Groucho on this one.

I would say that you have not got much in the way of cycling club experience to talk about then. I have always found the opposite, maybe it is you and me and not the club.

 

[byegad]

I think there is an element in cycling that does it to humiliate others. I took part in a 'Medium/Slow' ride at York Rally a few years ago. It was a ride I'd done at least 8 times before from the Rally, but this time a new Leader and about 15 young people arrived at the start in a club kit. More than 50 people set out, fewer than 20 returned as part of the ride.
Unsurprisingly the run out to the lunch stop was littered with people stopped on the side of the road that we never saw again. I was nearly 30 minutes behind the 'Leader' into the stop. On the way back despite taking a couple of short cuts I was 10 minutes behind him. The previous leader set a steady pace and if we had stragglers he'd slow or stop. The new guy was out to drop people, and he did it very ruthlessly. A real off-putter to newbie cyclists, and if the York Rally MkII manages to take off I'll not ride with the same leader again. He's not interested in keeping together and presumably dines out on the number of people he dropped.
By contrast on another York Rally I took part in a ride organised by the British Human Power Club. A lady on a Hybrid plus child on an MTB joined us and very quickly it became obvious they were totally unable to keep any kind of pace. A BHPC member talked to them and they, led by this member, did the same ride as the rest, but at a much reduced pace.

 

[Herzog]

...I found a 23 mile circular route near home which I uploaded from a cycle club's website (via MMR). It was billed as a "beginner/returner" route, nothing too challenging...

...I did not expect to encounter 3 hills which were so steep a that I had to dismount on a ride billed as good for beginners...

I'm confused (it doesn't take much ) - but you saw the route before the ride (1st quote)...but were then surprised by the hills (2nd quote) which you'd already seen on the route map on MMR?

 

[Alembicbassman]

The CTC (Cycle Touring Club) rides are good for beginners, they average out at around 12-14mph and your local group will have several ride starts and some have women only groups. My local CTC rides are about 75/25% men/women split for the mixed group. You don't need a touring bike to ride with them, any road/hybrid bike will do.

Some road clubs are better than others, one in my area is racing oriented 22+ mph for chain gang and not much less for social rides, the other is 15-17mph average (depending on terrain) for social rides and no chain gangs. I joined the latter.

 

[Hip Priest]

I my experience most clubs, not just cycling ones, are a platform for jealously, petty infighting, rivalry, power struggles and outright violence. I'm with Groucho on this one.

In my experience, cycling clubs are a platform for taking part in cycling-related activities and meeting like-minded people.

You get the odd disagreement or personality clash, but that's human nature. By and large it's all quite harmonious.

 

[briantrumpet]

I think the thing to remember is that clubs cover quite a spectrum, and it's unrealistic to expect all clubs to be able to provide rides for all abilities. Maybe the 'beginner' tag here is a little misleading, I'd admit. We call ours 'Intro Rides', and give a suggested speed for the published route, and though the route is 32 miles, it was the flattest one we could do on not-too-busy roads. But having said that if someone turns up in flip-flops on a BMX bike, we might politely suggest that they need a different sort of intro, as the club hasn't got the manpower to run 10-mile rides at 10mph. (And we're not very good at stunts either.)

The thing to do is to ask a few questions, and see if what a club does fits in with where you are. If it doesn't, then look for another club or group.

 

[BearPear]

Herzog - yes I saw it on MMR, but I looked at the map and read the comments on the club website. I'm not great with the elevation data - it can look less brutal depending on the scale. It certainly looked more ferocious on my Strava at the end than on MMR. But then that's probably another thing I'm particularly bad at. (yes I'm sulking now, some of these comments are...unfriendly.)