Club runs

[mjray]

Re:

I think those brakes are properly set up but inappropriate for tight formation group riding. Mine are on the backs of porteur bars in a similar way but I kept my hands over them on the few occasions I've done any formation riding. I couldn't do that for a full ride. The group I usually ride with doesn't do formation riding.

 

[Old Ned]

We have one guy who attends the clubruns/chaingangs and he is the worst rider I've ever encountered! previously he rode solo on MTB's.

This idiot takes his life into his own hands! if we are riding in a group and there are oncoming car which are on the correct side of the road, this idiot will go to the middle of the road and kinda flag down the approaching car to slow it down, many cars blurt their horn at him and if there is a car overtaking us he will move out to make the car pass even wider, sheer stupidity if you ask me! asked him once why the hell he does that and he reckons he is keeping the group safe, one day he will be hit by a car and killed.

When I was just starting to give up on the clubruns and my last clubrun was a real shocker and one of these 'new-bee's was riding half a wheel and ten minutes before an accident happened! We was halfway to the cafe stop and the front of the group decided to sprint for a sign and this new-bee went too, but he didn't look ahead as two of the riders was not sprinting, the new-bee put his head down and went for it!! I shouted ''look out'' but it was too late and he ran into the middle of the two riders, he braked hard and started to drop back but his front wheel was up against the rear wheel of one of the riders in front and the new-bee was falling over gracefully but as both wheel parted, the new-bee shot to the right, he hit a vauxhall astra head on and watched him explode into the front of the car and then he was sling shotted up into the air, like a rag doll, must have gone twenty feet in the air before he hit the tarmac. I thought he was dead and myself being right at the side of him the moment of impact, I went into shock almost instantly and had to lay on the grass whilst other mates tendered to him, the new-bee broke his legs in three places and the impact also damaged his back. the new-bee after he had partially recovered from the accident and used to brag about it and he became the centre of attention!!

I told the gaffers of the club that something has to be done and a list of rules drawn up for each and every rider, the rules was good and many adhered to them but three months down the line when everyone had forgotten about the bad accident, it was back to normal with dangerous riders.

For this was my milestone in keeping safe and to finally to stay away from these dangerous riders.

Sounds awful Ian and it is exactly the sort of thing I'm worried about going out with my local club. Total lack of discipline and a refusal to listen to experienced riders. TBH, I prefered cycling before all this publicity and popularity and 'fashion'. Then you were involved in a minority sport and were able to get on doing it in peace without all the associated hype.

 

[Ian Raleigh]

Sounds awful Ian and it is exactly the sort of thing I'm worried about going out with my local club. Total lack of discipline and a refusal to listen to experienced riders. TBH, I prefered cycling before all this publicity and popularity and 'fashion'. Then you were involved in a minority sport and were able to get on doing it in peace without all the associated hype.

The noise when the guy crumpled into the car was just like a two car head on with bits flying everywhere, his shoulder hit the top on the
windscreen which catapulted him into the air, to get a sense how he flew up in the air! Get a glove and hold one finger of the glove and spin it in the air ?

Like you say mate there is no discipline on the rides and one thing that piss's me off, is when they all start hammering it down the road and the group ends up splitting into three groups, then some four miles down the round, the idiots are either stopped on a bend or blocking a junction as they wait for the tail enders! I remember going mad at them one day, they'd stopped just over a brow of an hill, on double white lines and cars was going over the hill and having to brake hard because there was a mass of stationary cyclists who was in the middle of the left lane, I swore like ferk at them and asked what the hell are you lot doing stopped here?? They replied we are waiting for you slow riders!! I then swore again and told them ... look, can you see that layby ? Get in the ferker out the way!

Many of these riders asked me what was my problem, I told them... you lot are because you just don't listen when somebody has told you lot at least ten times about were you stop and wait.

 

[Johnsqual]

Re:

Pretty lame, all that naff competitive stuff. Over here, the clubs are always split into two groups that try to maintain a steady average speed, 30km/h for the more sporty group, 25 km/h for the more leisurely riders. The main thing is to keep up with the group you've chosen, not to wave your willy about by being the fastest rider.

A lot of people, especially beginners and sporadic riders, seem to underestimate the importance of being able to ride in a peloton in a safe way, which is a skill that's at least as important as being able to ride fast, even for competitive riders.

 

[Ian Raleigh]

Re: Re:

A lot of people, especially beginners and sporadic riders, seem to underestimate the importance of being able to ride in a peloton in a safe way, which is a skill that's at least as important as being able to ride fast, even for competitive riders.

When we get these newbe's on the front of the group, who are not youngsters by the way, maybe 20yrs to 30yrs of age, they just look at it that they are on the front and got to go as fast as they can! and drop as many as they can within a couple of miles!

 

[Deleted member 24574]

Can I send this to the top brass at our club ??

I don't think we have ever had such a list like that

http://www.thanetrc.org/sunday-ride-guidlines.shtml

Yes feel free to ...

 

[VanhireBoys]

Re:

Club Spins are the same here in Galway. We usually have a turnup of around 25 so the groups are split.

Faster longer lads do around 60 miles and normal crew do around 40 miles. The fast lads take up first to avoid them catching the weaker bunch and causing mayhem !!

Im in the normal crew where everyone stays together !! Any body that is struggling is looked after and the group will be slowed up ! We have a stop halfway for coffee and buns !!

We have triatheletes and all sorts of fellas join up in the winter. Summer lads are racing and doing all sorts so numbers will fall !

 

[mjray]

Re: Re:

...25 km/h for the more leisurely riders...

A lot of people, especially beginners and sporadic riders, seem to underestimate the importance of being able to ride in a peloton in a safe way, which is a skill that's at least as important as being able to ride fast, even for competitive riders.

Is it only important if you're riding in a racing club or sportive club that does that sort of thing and regards 25km/h as "more leisurely"? Easy riding clubs at 16km/h do exist and we're more stress-free pootleton than a peloton.

All the crashes and aggro reported by faster groups mystify me. If you're not training to enter races, is riding faster enough fun to be worth dealing with that? ;-) In three summers so far, I remember only two riding problems in the pootleton that worry me: one rider who's basically fine but I try to avoid following because he never holds a tempo, accelerating then braking all day long; and one who keeps overlapping wheels on the nearside, that I probably should ask to stop before it contributes to a collision. We've had a few route-finding bloopers and some social disagreements but they're probably inevitable.