Minuteman Road Club

Hi all,

I'm new to cycling and just bought my first bike (an entry level specialized, and I haven't added all the accessories yet - ie clipless pedals).

From reading the posts here it seems like you folks are fairly serious riders. I'm not quite there yet, but would like to be eventually.

So ... do you do casual rides where I could meet some of you guys and see what you're all about? I wouldn't be worried about not being able to keep up, I can handle taking off on my own if I'm not up to the challenge yet.

Are you doing a ride that might fit this criteria this coming Sunday?

Thanks for your time,
Brian

Where are you located?

Unless you have a whole lot of time on your hands (and/or no kids), like david said it depends on where you live.

Todd - goes by Taudep - started a Road thread asking people to submit riders that they regularly do. Not sure how many people responded and if it is still coming together. But if you look on the Road and Road Race threads, you see some rides like these:

- 6pm Tues. Night Worlds - agressive road ride - leaves from the Needham/Newton line near 128 - about 26 miles
- Wed. Night Stow Ride - loop leaving from near Rt. 117 - low 30's in miles (you will also see it on the weekends as well as a more recent one called Sat Quad Buster that is like 50-60 miles that goes further south in metrowest)
- 6pm Wed. Night Landry's Ride from Natick store - loop to S.Natick/Dover - about 20 miles - has advanced to beginner groups
- 615pm Wed. Night Wompy training crit on the South Shore - Cat 3-5 level is about 32 miles
- FMR - Friday morning ride - early ride out near Northboro, I believe (past 495) - like 6am
- Sun. am Wells training crit - near the Needham/Newton line - Cat 5 level (C race) is about 12 miles at 9am
- and many others or variations of the above

Thank you for all your responses. I live in Marlborough. I will definitely try to join one of the rides soon ....

Thanks Doran, I forgot about putting the list together, nice summary you have there.

Uh, WTF.. guys....none of those rides are appropriate for a beginner who has never used clipless pedals or ridden in a pace line, with possible exception of wed landry's. The fact is we don't really have a regular beginner rIde...

....here's my advice

....hook up with Doug Kennedy who lives in Marlborough when he is on a recovery ride, he's a greAt guy and might be willing to show you the ropes.

...spend some time riding in a parking lot and clip in and out of your pedals a million times, pratice looking over your shoulder without swerving and pratice some cornering

...a very good ride would be the Thurs night CRW ride from Hanscomb field. They break the ride into groups by speed...and there is a specific pace line training group teaches how to ride safely in paceline while drafting in traffic. Speed is 15mph for 20 miles or so on gently rolling terrain

another idea would be to post a beginner ride on our site and see what happens, and look for rides on our site that say "easy" or "recovery"

don't get me wrong, we want to have you as a member and look forward to seeing you imRC kit, but you would not be a
happy or safe camper if you went on those rides

see you out there

bruce



also check CRW And Nashoba Valley Pedalers websites--these are recreational riding groups with rides ranging from beginner tu advanced rides.

Ps by saying easy...I have no idea what your fitness level is. For all I know you're a monster. My advice wouldn't change

If you have access to a trainer that you can connect your bike to, then it is a good way to just practice clipping in and out. And I'm pretty sure we've all fallen with our feet still clipped in the pedals.

Our Saturday morning rides might be a good place to start too. You can just hang on the back and see how things work. Just introduce yourself at the start and let people know your ability level. There have been a lot of people saying they have wanted different pace groups for the Saturday ride, so this might be a good time to start. They are posted on this forum, and typically take place around 6:00am on Saturday mornings from the Shaws plaza in Stow.

Brian-

Bruce is right about some of the MRC rides not being beginner appropriate. Not that you wouldn't be welcome, but you'd probably not have much fun.

The Landry's (Natick) Thursday ride is a very good place to get started.

Here are a couple of others:

-- Landry's group ride out of the Westborough location that leaves at 7am on Saturdays. Landry's Westborough also used to run several beginner rides on Sunday mornings - call the store (508-836-3878) to see if they're still doing those and to find out time and meeting place.

-- CRW (Charles River Wheelmen) has a large group ride on Saturday mornings (8:30) that meets at Nahanton park in Newton. Officially, you're supposed to be a member to partake - I don't know what the real practice is. But, honestly, it's a great organization and pretty cheap to join. Check out crw.org for membership and ride info.

Hi -
Can't do this Sunday, but I'll post something to do a fun ride at different time. Most of these rides are pretty serious with pace lines and unwritten ettiquette of group riding. You need to not only be fast enough, but also have good handling skills. Anyway, I definitely enjoy a fun 40 mile ride on the roads with a little conversation.
Keep your eyes open for the following week, I like to leave from the Concord/Acton/Sudbury area my only warning is that I'm an early riser!

Brian,

I totally agree with Bruce's comment: if you are a true beginner, showing up on a MRC group ride is totally the wrong thing to do. There is lots of riding etiquette to learn for safety and courtesy of the group, and group rides tend to be total hammer-fests where guys try to rip the legs off of other guys. If you're a true beginner, with beginner fitness, you won't last more than 10 minutes then you'll be on your own. There are beginner rides out there...somewhere...but not really here.

I also agree with Bruce's other comment: you're welcome to ride with me on one of my recovery rides, which I try to do once or twice a week. It could be a good initiation without the chaos of a group ride. I live in Marlboro near the Solomon Pond Mall. I mostly ride North past the mall into Berlin, Bolton, Clinton, Boyleston, etc.

As for being "a great guy"...I'm not so sure about that. That's not usually the adjective I get...

My email is onegeardoug@gmail.com. I'll be doing 1.5 hours slow tomorrow rolling at 5:30AM. If you want to come, shoot me an email. If not tomorrow, one day next week...

Doug

I'll be the one to disagree here. I learned a lot on MRC groups ride when I first joined. Again, the Saturday morning ride might be a good option. If you are interested in coming out to any ride that is posted on the board, just post ahead and ask if someone could hang to give instruction on riding etiquette, etc. I'd be happy to do so sometime. Just post up. I live in Stow and you can contact me at gcdavid at yahoo dot com.

It's not like any of us are that fast and scoring huge results that we can't take some time to help out a new rider.

Thank you all. I really appreciate all your responses, there's certainly a lot to absorb here.

Generally my plan is that I'm going to continue getting acclimated to the bike, get the pedals all set up, and get used to those on my own. In the coming weeks I'll probably post to see if anyone is interested in hooking up for an easy ride, or one of your recovery rides. A couple of you have emailed me and I've responsded, and I may drop you guys a line as well just to get used to riding with other people and figuring out the rules of the road.

I'm interested in learning this stuff but I don't want to be "that guy" who jumps in not knowing what he's doing and pisses everybody off. Nevermind annoying everybody else, that would just suck for me. I'm a beginner with a beginner bike and a beginner mentality. But I am looking for growth.

Much appreciated,

Brian