What are the advantages/disadvantages of joining a club?

[screenman]

It might or might not be the case above, but I have only ever heard negatives from people who do not belong to a club and have no real experience of such things.

Please note, this is my experience and may not be the view of others.

As for fitness etc. we have many non cycling members.

 

[PK99]

Negatives (not that I would see them as a bad thing):

• To join you will have to pay a fee

r.

my club costs me £20 a year, this year i have saved £350 in discounts on bikes and gear from our linked LBS

 

[PK99]

The advantages for me have been:-

• Increased motivation to cycle faster, further and on terrain I would have otherwise avoided
• New routes
• Meeting new people
• Learning more about bike maintenance and cycling tips
• Good times and lots of laughs along the way
• Now actively involved in organising rides, not just a participant

• Added motivation to get up and out to meet the guys/avoid being ribbed for wimping.

 

[tyred]

Well, no pompous ones I've met so far in the club I've joined, although being fairly race-orientated (I think) everyone seems to be fairly a competent rider, even on the social Sunday club runs. I haven't been on a club run yet when anyone's turned up on MTB wearing a cardigan and wearing flip-flops, so I can't say what their reaction to that would be. And as to the fee: £12 for a year. Four pints of beer, roughly translated. And as for kit - there's certainly no pressure to buy stuff. Not that that's ever stopped me buying kit of one description or another.

That's me out

 

[StuartG]

Where are you Dave?

The choice of club is quite crucial as there are a few you would appear to fit perfectly and others that might put you off forever! Thankfully websites are a great guide to the ethos of the club so helping you decide on a shortlist and ensure you don't end up out of your depth.

You are looking for a 12mph club (believe me 15mph is a lot/lot faster if you are going distance). Some clubs give a ride speed or use other terms such as 'gentle', 'conversational' & 'pootling' to suggest they go comfortably at the speed of the slowest, will stick together and the tea & cake can wait if necessary. Photos will show the dress code (club strip or a mix of Lidl & Aldi's finest, helmets or caps) and type of bikes (with/without mudguards/racks maybe a hybrid or two), age range and gender mix. If you can do 25 miles on your own then you should be able to do up to 50% more in company without apparent extra effort. That's the first great advantage of cycling as a group.

The others are:

1) Knowledge of good, quiet and pretty routes plus a collective encyclopaedic knowledge of cycle friendly cafes & pubs.
2) Help when help is needed (two can fix a puncture much faster/easier)
3) Finding out about other interesting cycling events, shops and how to fix a problem for free.
4) Comradeship. Our members are a great social mix but united in one interest.
5) Great value. Our sub is £15/year which is about a tyre's worth.

Most clubs are delighted to have you along for a few rides without any obligation. A real chance to sample the different clubs and decide where you would be most comfortable.

We have had people turning up on BMXs and in jeans. No problem for us - though we do remind them when they complete that it was us that had it easy and we respect the extra effort they had to put in, more than some of us could manage ...

 

[Dave7]

Where are you Dave?

Thankfully websites are a great guide to the ethos of the club so helping you decide on a shortlist and ensure you don't end up out of your depth. (Quote)



Sorry for delay in responding to your really good comments.
I'm in Warrington-Cheshire
I have checked out one club via it's web site and although it looks good with this "mantra"
Remember our mantra - "We never leave a rider behind!"

However the intro to their road rides is a bit scary with this "warning"........
Riders should expect an average speed of around 15 to 16mph and these rides are designed to feed into the Sunday rides
If they expect to "average 16mph" what is the top speed

 

[HLaB]

However the intro to their road rides is a bit scary with this "warning"........
Riders should expect an average speed of around 15 to 16mph and these rides are designed to feed into the Sunday rides

You'd be amazed how easy it is to maintain that in a group, I've come back from what seemed very slow (stop/start) bun runs and found when I checked the gps the average over 16mph.

 

[Alembicbassman]

Avoid Chain Gangs, boring and monotonous, unsocial performance based groups.

Try your local Cycle Touring Club - www.ctc.org.uk lots of chit chat cakes and tea

 

[mmoore5553]

Pure and simple for me as clubs just get me motivated and when i do not feel like going i just remember i joined a club for a reason or one of the members will blow up my cell phone til i show up

 

[screenman]

Do the chain gang, brilliant, exciting, social and fun. Just to bring some balance to the post above.

CTC, is it true you have to grow a beard and wear knitted shorts to do one of their rides.

 

[fimm]

Given that Dave is "older", the CTC might suit him very well, if there is a group in his area (he can be called "youth" and sent to get the tea, rather than be burned off by people half his age) - stereotypes aside, I believe some CTC groups do a midweek daytime ride which suits those members who are retired.

 

[screenman]

I have also done some CTC rides and have really enjoyed them, many CTC members also belong to clubs as well.

Some of the guys in our local chain gangs are well into their late sixties, so it is not just for the young.

 

[HLaB]

Some of the guys in our local chain gangs are well into their late sixties, so it is not just for the young.

I was in a chaingang a while back but we paired up through a small town and the bloke next to me came out with, 'I used to race fifty years ago'; he went on further and I realised he must have been 70 +. Mucho Respecto

 

[screenman]

Growing older is compulsory, growing up is not. I love to see the older guys still having fun on a bike, and women of course.

 

[400bhp]

Where are you Dave? ​

​

Thankfully websites are a great guide to the ethos of the club so helping you decide on a shortlist and ensure you don't end up out of your depth. (Quote)​

​

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Sorry for delay in responding to your really good comments.​

I'm in Warrington-Cheshire​

I have checked out one club via it's web site and although it looks good with this "mantra"​

Remember our mantra - "We never leave a rider behind!"​

​

However the intro to their road rides is a bit scary with this "warning"........​

Riders should expect an average speed of around 15 to 16mph and these rides are designed to feed into the Sunday rides​

If they expect to "average 16mph" what is the top speed​

This is North Cheshire Clarion and their saturday short rides?

I am a member and their mantra is true.

The 15-16 mph is about right. You will travel faster in a group than when you go out on your own primarily because of the shelter from wind that a big group provides. So, if you can average around 13mph on your own you can keep up.

If you are really concerned that you won't keep up, then turn up on saturday and speak to one of the organisers and explain. If it was me (and I thought I couldn't average 13 on my own) I would say to them that if I am struggling then I don't mind being left behine and will make my own way back.

I've been out on saturday a couple of times and the pace is very very gentle.