What do I need to know?

Assuming I am even close to keeping up? feeling a bit nervous

some funny hand signals

If they’re decent blokes one of them might wait for you so you don’t get lost. 🙂

If it’s anything like my first group run, hang on in there for the first 25 miles and then blow up and get dropped every time the road turned upwards.

do you know how to draft and how to ride through and off in a chaingang and read the road ahead while in a group?

Don’t do anything suddenly, turn, brake, accelerate etc. Sit at the back at first and just get yourself happy with riding in a group, it’s not actually the easiest place to be (the middle’s better), but you can’t cause crashes!

At this time of year they’ll be focusing on sharpening up their skills so if you notice any pot holes etc, don’t shout warnings to the riders behind, they want to spot them themselves to improve reasction times 🙂

lol at jase.
you’ll be fine, most road clubs i’ve encountered break into two groups anyway, especially on saturdays.

Seriously, as above sit on the back and observe, you’ll soon pick up what to do.

do you know how to draft and how to ride through and off in a chaingang and read the road ahead while in a group?

No

Don’t do anything suddenly, turn, brake, accelerate etc. Sit at the back at first and just get yourself happy with riding in a group

This was my plan

No

Google what I asked, do what jase said (second post) so what Rusty Trowel said will be less likely to happen.

Oh.. and don’t wheelie up the entire first climb 😳 – they’ll only make you suffer for it later

Will they wait for me if I have a puncture?

nice plan 😆

More than likely.

Assuming they’re experienced and they know you’re not, they’ll have a word before the off. They’ll want you to enjoy your ride and they’d like to go home with as much skin as they left with.

Don’t do the shouting thing.
If they do the shouting thing, find a new club.
They’ll have no dignity.
Besides, at 30mph, a shout of “car up!” becomes “wah-hu!” The real problem is “grid left!”, “pulling out right!” and any other damn thing at 30mph sounds like “wah-hu!”

Do this, do that, dont do this.

Sounds like a real fun way to spend a few hours. 😉

30mph 😯

Will they wait for me if I have a puncture?

on a serious note…make sure you have an idea where you are going and how to get back – I’ve heard of newbies being left being and not having a clue where they are or how to get back home.

You’ll soon be up to that 🙂

You’ll be fine – just watch and learn.
If its a social ride out, just pass on the signals to those behind and have a chat with folk.
If its a full on chain gang, God help you 🙂
Will they wait for you? The first will, the second will definately not-they will consider one opponent down!

Tell them when you get there that you’ve never ridden in a group before and ask how the group will be run and how you should ride. Go and have fun but take heed of the other riders.

Ok, ta all, off to clean my bike shoes before bed now 🙂

Totally depends on what sort of club they are? If they are racers they may well rip your legs off, this to me seems to be the whole point of chain gangs. To totally demoralise any new riders. If they are just a leisure club they will probably be very considerate, give out loads of warning for road surface problems, obstructions etc. It’s pssoble the ride won’t have a particularly high average speed but you may well feel that you are really moving because of closeness to other riders. Stick near to the rear of the group and give plenty of warning if you need to do anything. As for keeping up the big secret is really staying with the group. Unless they are riding at a speed that you can’t handle at all you should be fine as long as you stay in the draught. There will probably be times when you will feel like dropping off the back, keep in the draught and you should be fine. I usually find that on my group rides there is at least one point where for maybe 20-30 minutes I feel like I need to drop back. Stick in the group and you’ll possibly/probably ride through it.

If it’s a chain gang don’t be surprised if they leave you if you get dropped. A good leisure/club ride group will wait at tops of hills if you get dropped.

Have fun, I really enjoy the group I go out with. The majority are pensioners but all could drop me on most rides if they were inclined to, which they aren’t. Sometimes, especially on a Sunday ride a couple of the more lively ones will have a bit of a break away/sprint for a cafe stop. If this happens on your ride unless you are pretty fit don’t get sucked in. I did it on one of my earliest group rides but I paid the price in the last 10 miles of the ride.

Hope you have a really good time fella.

These more serious clubs sound a bag of laughs for a newbie.

what club are you riding with?

Don’t use a mountain bike.
Seriously though, what bike you on?

Yep that’s why it took me 20 years plus of riding before I joined a group and when I did it is just a leisure ride club.

To be fair to cycling, I have found this in my limited experience of all sorts of sports clubs. Far too serious for me, I’ve always been a taking part type rather than a play to win type. I’ve heard some true horro stories of chain gangs. But then I have to say that I entered a few novice MTB races in the early 90’s. I read in all the mags how sociable the MTB XC race scene was. I can’t say I ever experienced it, even in the novice races there were too many riding like they could see Tomac and Overend just up ahead and could take them if they could just get past this fat w**ker on the Kona! That’s sport and competition, not just cycling.

alot of clubs this time of year will be starting winter training, so race bikes in the garage and out with the aluminium, 105 equipped, race guarded bike. The pace will be a tad slower but you’ll also find you will ride 2-up for the first 15 miles or so until everyone is warmed up. From that point on, generally, someone makes a break for it and then thats when the pace heightens up. You might get another point during the ride where it slows a bit so everyone groups up and then its off again.

let them know your new to this and do a few things:

1. If in the lead warn of dodgy road surface ( on the left/right/middle/ all over) and any upcoming traffic ( on the nose )
2. DO NOT AT ANY POINT ATTEMPT TO GO IN THE LEAD JUST BEFORE THE BOTTOM OF A CLIMB
3. Attempt to stay mid-pack at all times and only go at the back 2 or 3 if the road is straight or going down so you dont get dropped
4. If you feel you are tiring keep of the front or front pack. Dont follow a wheel who is moving up and end up doing nothing ( i.e. going to the front). This will only piss them off
5. These road groups are actually not as bad as people make out. I attempt to speak to as many a possible from a quick ‘alright, how you doing?’ to a full blown chat
6. Enjoy the ride and experience. Everyone learns somewhere and you will become fitter because of this. My first outing i got dropped on a steady climb after trying too hard at pace setting and going way over my comfortable and fitness threshold. Learned alot that day and have became stronger, faster and tactically better.

I’ve been out with numerous different groups from a 4hr average of 12mph ( left that group) to an 18mph long distance steady ride to a full on 28mph group run

My first group ride was a race. Overtook 30 riders and 20th quickest out of 140. It was a tri so not full on hardcore racing but still very competitive. Just go for it!

As radoggair.
Most guys will be easing off right about now, probably right though to Christmas so a good time to join.
During the season most clubs split into racers and club rides, but about now they’ll often come together.
Don’t worry about signals and stuff, just stay back a bit and follow the lead. You’ll soon see how subtle the signs are, there’s no shouting and furious pointing and no one ever ever gives an elbow to tell someone to come through as you would be led to believe from here. That’s for racing not for Sundays out with your club mates.
It can also get pretty social near the back, you’ll probably find someone will be taking numbers for the Christmas dinner.
You’ll be fine.
Who are you out with anyway?

Remember not to wave at any MTB’ers, even if it’s your best mates 😀

That was fun, I think it was a group from the local council as they all seemed to have a an interest in potholes and kept pointing them out to each other

Kept up until they really wound it up for the last half hour but still got to the cafe while the leaders were still in the cue.

Will be back for more

Sounds like a fine start! What I was trying to say in my own silly way was that a fairly fit MTBer is often quicker than he/she thinks on a road bike.

I did the exact same thing yesterday on my crossbike/hybrid/mongrel recent build and quite enjoyed it.

I set off for the meet in plenty of time but then realised I had left my lid behind (club rules clearly state etc….) so I went back to get it and ended up being late. There was nobody at the start but I had seen the tail end of a group disappearing up a side road on my way in so I chased ghosts to catch up with the grade 1 ride and then eventually the grade 2 which was delightfully chaotic and none too serious with a vague but failed attempt at rule compliance in the mid section which ended in a split finish.

I could keep with them on the slow and steep ups but if they put the hammer down on gentle downs I was struggling with my 48T setup.

Nice bunch, nice morning out. Moody clouds over the Darent valley.

Lot of pointing at holes!

I’m usualy on a mountain bike so you get used to being blanked by roadies. So it was interesting to note that most other roadies did return greetings yesterday morning, but there were still some roadies so up themselves that they didn’t acknowledge other roadies either.

so you get used to being blanked by roadies

Having heard lots of complaints about roadies I thought I came up with some answers from actually riding with a group

1. The not acknowledging thing, I was way more concentrating on the guys wheel 4 inches in front of me at 20mph with some one else the same distance behind to wave at anyone, try waving at someone while riding a technical bit of downhill would be a similar thing

2. The less friendly thing. The ride started and didn’t stop until the cafe so no group chats at the top of hills of after a good section of singletrack but who wants to stop on a busy road junction, I spoke to almost everyone on the ride at some point as I came along side or at least at the end in the cafe most were quite encouraging and friendly

3. I can keep up with roadies on my full sus with downhill tyres on. I would like to see that in real life, maybe for a 100mtr or so but I would chalenge anyone to do a full ride and beat the group I was out with

I know what you mean billyboy, I was waking round town the other day and it was full of other people walking round town but did I get a return wave or hello , did I hell. Bloody upthemselves pedestrians the lot of em

Gotta love the bigoted comments on here sometimes about roadie club runs. 😉
Well done on doing it OP, it’s always nice to meet new people and find new routes. Keep doing that through winter and you’ll be flying next year!

Club runs (especially at this time of year) are just that, an opportunity for everyone to get out after a season of racing and just be social. Most folk are winding down about now although there may still be a few hill climbs etc going on. Generally, road clubs are just like any other bunch of like minded people, friendly and welcoming, no-one gets left behind, it’s just that there’s much less stopping, you do your talking on the move or at the cafe.

Chaingangs are the spring variation where the racers in the club start putting in some serious speed work ready for the racing season, these are NOT club runs and you get short shrift if you can’t do your turn/can’t keep up!

upthemselves pedestrians the lot of em – classic! 🙂