Anyone started their own group ride?

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PaulSB

Legendary Member
Lot of clubs not allowing new members.
I find that surprising, do you have evidence to support this? My club is accepting new members, admittedly only seven new this year, and we are planning a membership drive with the aim of recruiting new members in 2021.

There seem to be many solo riders out there who might welcome the chance to join a club. One area we are considering is a group aimed towards those who ride a flat bar, hybrid or similar, wear street clothes etc. The idea being to address the myth around lycra clad speed merchants
 

screenman

Legendary Member
All the club's I know of are accepting new members.
 

PaulSB

Legendary Member
Have you tried asking them? Many have rides on other days but don't advertise them.

Mine has 'official' rides on Wednesday / Saturday / Sunday. but too many needed other days or to be back early. So we started the 'Dad's club' for an early Sunday monring ride plus others on Monday/Tuesday/Thursday. They're just not 'official'.
Forget the club run is on a Sunday, clubs will have members who ride everyday of the week, they belong to the club so that they meet other people who have the same interests as you,stop putting up invisible barriers.

Take note the above is typical of clubs in my experience. My club runs four "official" weekend rides, one on Tuesdays, another on Thursdays. Outside of this you could easily pick up on "unofficial" rides most weekdays.

My club did exactly that a keen cycling couple moved to the area but found no suitable rides so strated one on Facebook,in a couple of years we now have about 50 active members
There is a very large "club" up here known as the Lancashire Cycle Link. I'm not a member and I don't think "club" is the correct term. The LCL appears to be entirely Facebook based and is a large informal group in which people come together to ride. It has 5300 members.

We also have another local FB group known as the Friendly Cyclists, again FB based but a bit more formal with ride leaders and the need to book on to a ride.

Can I suggest a wide FB search may well reveal similar groups in your area.

Have you tried British Cycling?
 
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Rock bus

Über Member
Thanks for the responses.
Just to be clear, I’m talking about after lockdown and when we are able to ride as a group.
People are right when they say club members organise rides on different days to the official club rides but it can be difficult to feel part of these when you don’t attend the club rides like everyone else.
ps I live in Leamington, Warwickshire
 

bobsinatra

Über Member
I find that surprising, do you have evidence to support this? My club is accepting new members, admittedly only seven new this year, and we are planning a membership drive with the aim of recruiting new members in 2021.

There seem to be many solo riders out there who might welcome the chance to join a club. One area we are considering is a group aimed towards those who ride a flat bar, hybrid or similar, wear street clothes etc. The idea being to address the myth around lycra clad speed merchants

I looked at joining a club in St Albans. Their website said because of COVID-19, no new members.
 

Juan Kog

permanently grumpy
All the club's I know of are accepting new members.
I looked at joining a club in St Albans. Their website said because of COVID-19, no new members.
My club are not accepting new members ,you can email to register interest but new member briefings and induction rides are not taking place. Yep it's that formal . Bob has found that out.
 

DCLane

Found in the Yorkshire hills ...
Thanks for the responses.
Just to be clear, I’m talking about after lockdown and when we are able to ride as a group.
People are right when they say club members organise rides on different days to the official club rides but it can be difficult to feel part of these when you don’t attend the club rides like everyone else.
ps I live in Leamington, Warwickshire

You'd be surprised how many never go on the official rides. My club has an annual presentation ceremony and the trophy for most regular rider in 2019 went to someone who's never done an 'official' ride - he's only ever done the 6/7am Sunday Dad's Club ride. I go on 1-2 Sunday rides a year at most, together with a handful of Wednesday/Saturday rides: I need to be registered with a club for TT'ing and it helps for race entries.

The comment from the club president giving the trophy was - "Most of us have never met him, and we don't know what he looks like except for dark early-morning club ride photos, but the trophy goes to .... ah, so that's who you are."

But I can understand where you're coming from. If you're looking to do it informally a Facebook group plus messages helps. As posted by @PaulSB above there's lots of people riding who wouldn't consider a typical club-type activity and may welcome an opportunity to ride with others once the current situation gets easier. For me it was about new routes, learning new things and meeting other riders.
 

PaulSB

Legendary Member
I can very much echo @DCLane on this. We have 187 members, I guess 120 can be found on official rides at some point in the year.

There's also a very early ride for those with family pressures. Starts at 06.00/07.00 depending on time of year with the aim of finishing around 10.00 though does sometimes put in a longer 100/120 miler.
 

PaulSB

Legendary Member
My club are not accepting new members ,you can email to register interest but new member briefings and induction rides are not taking place. Yep it's that formal . Bob has found that out.
That's interesting. Can you expand a little on briefing and induction? I'm interested as club secretary because I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.

We run an Intro ride but it's mainly intended for those who like to ride at a lower pace and are new to group cycling.
 

Juan Kog

permanently grumpy
That's interesting. Can you expand a little on briefing and induction? I'm interested as club secretary because I'm always on the lookout for new ideas.

We run an Intro ride but it's mainly intended for those who like to ride at a lower pace and are new to group cycling.
Hi PaulSB the club room briefing and induction rides were introduced sometime after I joined . I think they were introduced because problems were occurring on club runs , some new members although fit and experienced lone cyclists had no knowledge of group discipline and techniques . So I think they include indicating hazards,explaining pace line and generally how not to P** off your club mates .
 
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Fab Foodie

hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
Location
Kirton, Devon.
I’m struggling to find riding buddies (I know .....how sad does that sound!).
None of my friends or family are interested and don’t really know anyone else local.

Ive tried a few local clubs but for various reasons haven’t found right one..... one issue I have is two have main rides on a Sunday morning and my son plays football then.

I was thinking of just using the local village Facebook page to see if their were any local riders interested in going out together. but worried it might be difficult to find a group at similar levels (and people i‘ll get along with!).

Anyone done anything similar or have any suggestions?
Yes, just go and do it.
Use fb whatever to get the message out.
Be clear about the kind of rides you want to do.
If nobody is interested cycling the same time as you are available from the local club, no worries, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
I've even accosted other riders to find out if they'd be interested in a regular ride at a certain time.
If you build it, they will come....
 
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