It seems that many on here prefer riding off-road with mates as opposed to clubs, although I would be interested in knowing how man of you actually affiliate with clubs – however much you actually ride with one.

That said, what about road? The suggestion that road clubs are worth joining is strong, and seems to come from many quarters. What do you think? What are the advantages/disadvantages?

I’m a member of the local road club – i like to do the odd time trial. I prefer to ride by myself or with a bunch of randoms. Riding with the same people all the time would do my nut in.

Road you can always do in your local area. MTB frequently requires some level of travel. Maybe this is a factor.

Ride off road with a club pretty much every weekend. It’s what got me going from riding a fair bit, mostly pretty local, to riding a lot, all over the place. Still there 8 years later. Hadn’t really realised it was that long!

Lots of people leading rides, working out different routes, it’s great! Have met a lot of people I now consider good friends through it and ride with them outside of club rides plenty too.

I ride with a Club, on and off road. The main benefit is the organised rides and for me personally the fact that I can ride – and be pushed – and learn from riders much better / more knowledgeable than I, similarly I can pass knowledge on to others. It’d be much harder to do that bumping into people per chance.

I’m joined a road club last year and it has led to a number of new experiences. It gets me to places and on routes I wouldn’t take myself. They have arranged a few sessions at the velodrome including a club track championship which was fun. ‘Coached’ turbo sessions in the winter. I teamed up with someone in the club to do a 25 mile ‘2-up’ time trial for the first time. I had a few familiar faces to ride with on a 200km audax ride…and then when it went wrong and I hit the deck they looked after me, called the ambulance and got my bike and car home for me. A large number of members are just setting off for a club holiday to the Pyrenees and a smaller number of us are off to Mallorca at the end of September.

If you have plenty of cycling mates then I guess you could sort this out yourself.

The bad…rides tend to be on the ‘social’ side and with quite a large group there can be a bit of waiting around and faffing. The weekly club meeting is not my thing..having to pay a couple of quid (covers cost of meeting room) to sit around doing small talk and drinking vending machine coffee.

I’ve been with road clubs for over 30 years but very rarely ride with my current club now. I will ride out to whatever cafe they’re going to, have a chat then ride back via a different route. The reason is that club riders used to either racers or ex racers and they had half an idea how to ride in a group and handle a bike. These days it’s full of people who are totally clueless. The people on the front are the regulars, the people behind are the three abreast rabble which are, quite frankly an embarrassment.

Road I only ride with one club member I don’t enjoy group road rides I don’t feel safe with random club members on my wheel , off road we do ride a lot as a club/team it’s a good motivator but we ride a lot ‘off piste’ so it’s always good to have the security of people you trust to help if/when it goes wrong which has happened and it did involve the fastest rider getting to the rangers and me getting vehicles and bikes back whilst the injured one was off to hospital.

Road clubs are or should be good for learning about road riding.

Been there, ride mostly solo but with mates when I can.

These days it’s full of people who are totally clueless. The people on the front are the regulars, the people behind are the three abreast rabble which are, quite frankly an embarrassment.

My club has this issue too – a direct result of so much growth of new riders. But if we’re experienced riders who know how to ride in a group, surely it’s our responsibility to coach and teach, share the knowledge?

Overall my club is reluctant to deal with it properly – to the extent that a big bunch of the older members have effectively formed their own club. I think that’s sad. We’re going through revolutionary growth and the response from some is not to celebrate it, but to refuse to pass on the passion and the knowledge.

I think if new riders don’t know how to ride in a group, it’s our responsibility, not theirs…

I couldn’t think of much worse than riding with a club. When I have tried it they have been the most boring soul sapping rides. They seemed to go out of their way to miss out the good bits of riding (up and down) in search of tedious rubbish. They preferred miles over smiles. I’m sure there not all the same but it’s not for me. The most annoying part though was being told what to do. For example to leave 20 seconds gap to the bloke in front when going up a steep bank and being warned of almost every stick and rock on the trail as if it were a deadly snake.

I joined a club about 4 years ago and got into road riding on Sundays. It’s only a small club and everyone is really friendly. I’ve done a lot more with the club than I could have done alone – time trials, rides over 100 miles, trips to the Alps. The club has an MTB section, and that’s basically a bunch of mates.

Many road clubs are not just about “road” riding. You may also find your cycling horizons expanded to cyclocross, track, time trials and general competition – everyone can “have a go” at racing in our Club Championships, for example. Some of our club are out watching the TdF this week as a group. Some road clubs will even venture off road as well 😉 .

Most clubs have access to qualified coaches# and will give instruction in how to ride safely in a group as a minimum. Find a group of similar riders who ride at a pace that is just a little challenging, and watch your skills and fitness improve. Or just enjoy the company and cake.

#COI: Well ours has quite a few and I’m one of them (BC Level 3 RTT)

“I think if new riders don’t know how to ride in a group, it’s our responsibility, not theirs…”

and this is one reason why I trained to be one.

Clubs are great if you race ‘cross. You can pool resources in terms of jet washers, water etc, and pit for each other. Quite happily train on my own however 🙂

Road, about half and half – club run on a Sunday which is nice and sociable then training rides on a Tuesday and Thursday, which are much less sociable but really enjoyable. The rest of the week i tend to ride myself.

Mountain bike then it is usually on my own these days. I miss some of the banter but i dont miss all the stopping and faffing about that accompanies group rides. I realise the social nature of things is an attraction for many but if ive got limited time i’d prefer to spend it riding and i get much more of that done when i’m on my own.

New riders ? the ones who do sportives and get their bikes fixed in shops ?

Clubs?

* shivers *

A lot of MTB “clubs” are very informal and more like groups of mates that ride together in my experience (i.e. no official joining / membership etc). This fits in nicely for me alongside my other riding.

I’ve not had any experience of roadie clubs.

I ride with mates, I’ve had an MTB club membership in the past but moved areas and discovered the local club to be defunct so just cracked on riding my MTB on my own and met a few people that way…

The trouble with clubs (IMO) is that once a couple of “Competing visions” and egos clash, it can easily all go to shit…
Just riding with your mates (Whatever discipline) is more fun TBH…

Only a member/officer of a kids mtb club. So help out and ride with the kids at the coaching sessions and club evenings. Also help out with kids at races, do course pre-rides with them etc as not all of the parents are cyclists. If I am racing, then i’ll do it in the club kit.

Never been part of a road club and tbh, wouldn’t have time to commit to club rides as my own rides are so sporadic or at odd hours nowadays.

These days it’s full of people who are totally clueless. The people on the front are the regulars, the people behind are the three abreast rabble which are, quite frankly an embarrassment

I think this attitude is the main thing that has stopped me joining a club.

I ride on the road fairly regularly and like to think I can keep up a half decent pace and ride a fairly decent distance, I don’t however have any experience of riding in a group.

Seems that most clubs contain individuals who would rather get pissed off and spout off rather than help nurture new riders to a point where they can ride at an acceptable level in a group.

The club most local to me has a reputation for being a bit snobbish and ignorant, not something I want to introduce to an activity I do because it’s fun.

I rode with a mountain bike club for years and eventually the whole thing deteriorated into a morass of bitching, back-biting and squabbling. Also a couple of the older members were overtly hostile to a couple of Asian guys who came along for some tryouts.

I’ve been out with the local road club a few times but never joined because I was appalled by the aggression of a small number of the riders towards motorists who couldn’t get past the road gang and expressed frustration. The older members of the club made no attempt to integrate me and my son or educate us in roadie lore and the rides were badly led to the point of farce.

So I just ride with my son and my regular buddy; a good riding buddy of similar ability who shares your interests and sense of humour is worth their weight in gold.

Never been part of a road club and tbh, wouldn’t have time to commit to club rides as my own rides are so sporadic or at odd hours nowadays.

My problem too. Quite fancy road riding with a club, partially the group skills partially the peer pressure to get out when you maybe don’t quite feel like it – but weekend mornings I’m the kids taxi service, and they take priority. I can always ride later.
MTB I pretty much always ride alone or with a couple of friends.

It’s also to do with living in a village – driving to a town start jsut seems daft with miles of great riding right out of my garage.

I think the problem with most clubs of any sort is that for some people the club and its rules become more important than the activity. Certainly true for the running club I narrowly avoided, what a bunch of joyless jobsworths they were.

Been in a similar quandry for a while too. Would be interested in pushing my road riding a bit, so training and TT’s might be of interest. Have no real desire to go on group rides though, and would hate too much snobishness if it came up. For MTBing though, it is mainly alone and that is what I treasure about the experience. Also, i’m fundamentally a loner and quite socially awkward, so the social side of club riding would seem like an added pressure to me!

I’m a member of one (mainly) road club and one MTB club. The road club is affiliated to British Cycling, the MTB club to the CTC.

Pluses: you’ve got a source of people to ride with (handy if you are new to an area); insurance; social.

Minuses: can be a lot of egos to contend with; club “politics”; structure.

Sports like running and road biking are traditionally club based even in competitions but mountain biking hasn’t sprung up from that background so it will seem alien and pointless to many. Running clubs tend to be part of regional then national structures – either FRA for fell clubs or EA for road – this does give the opportunity to have a small input to national policies: government agencies like to deal with national bodies especially where funding is involved, but also means that blanket national rules get applied to local situations for which they may be inappropriate.

Overall for me there are more positives than negatives.

I moved to a new area so had no real riding buddies as such and not knowing local riding spots I did a bit of research into local clubs. After reading the club facebook page i presumed they’d be a pretty decent standard and attended one of their rides. After a particularly frosty reception at a carpark full of more expensive bikes than the world cup circuit we then set off for what is likely the most tame and dull ride I’ve ever been on. Endless miles of slow paced gravel fireroads interrupted by frequent bike tinkering stops to ‘go into climb suspension setting’ and adjust tyre pressure.
Shame really as a regular group of decent like minded riders to go for a blast with and explore the local trails would be great but all the snobbery and general dullness has only made riding on my own more appealing.

I couldn’t think of much worse than riding with a club. When I have tried it they have been the most boring soul sapping rides. They seemed to go out of their way to miss out the good bits of riding (up and down) in search of tedious rubbish. They preferred miles over smiles.

You’re in the wrong club andysredmini!

I’m leading a club ride on Sunday. A 4 Passes variant with a bit of extra cheek thrown in to get a slightly sillier descent in for good measure 😉
Less than 20 miles but it’ll take most of the day!

I think the secret of club rides is to get some variety in the calendar, so there’s different rides for different folk, plus making sure they know what they’re getting into so no-one finds themselves out of their depth in the middle of no-where.

The benefit for me of putting up a schedule of club rides is having a bigger population of folk, some of whom will be up for an epic or a tech-fest or whatever, so rides happen and don’t get postponed just ‘cos somebody’s got a family commitment or whatever.

horses for courses–many different types of club-some more formal some almost anarchic –got to find one that suits–but yes learning to ride in a group is daunting at first, but like going off top board you soon wonder what all the fuss was about. A good club should be welcoming , tolerant and able to absorb ‘newbies’ –into the etiquette of group riding, this has developed for the common good –also when your tired you get a tow..edric makes a funny observation regarding the sportive/non mechanical –i agree that they have become races for people who cant race….and with more money than sense…

I run an informal MTB “Club” in Sussex and Surrey.

Without doubt the most satisfying part is the process of meeting folks who come along and struggle initially, but with encouragement, cake and absolutely NOT leaving them behind, slowly start getting better.

TM

I do a bit of riding with clubs, on my own or with mates. Each has it’s merits but riding with clubs has got me into doing different stuff, meeting new people and going different places.

I ride on the road fairly regularly and like to think I can keep up a half decent pace and ride a fairly decent distance, I don’t however have any experience of riding in a group.

Seems that most clubs contain individuals who would rather get pissed off and spout off rather than help nurture new riders to a point where they can ride at an acceptable level in a group

Choose your club, do some research, there are good and bad, and some clubs actively welcome new riders and are committed to nuturing, others don’t sometimes it’s because they’re grumpy sods, sometimes it’s because that’s not what the club is about.

Our road club has exploded in numbers from < 50 several years back to a few hundred now with club rides regularly getting 30+ riders and having to be split into multiple (different paced) groups.

Part of the reason membership has increased and we have so many new members I think is that we offer different levels of rides to cater for different abilities and experience.

Every other Saturday is an Intro ride, targeted at people who already ride either in an informal group or solo, but who want a introduction to group riding. The route is the same each time (33miles) and published, pace is kept at an advertised level, unless we have a slower rider in which case it is dropped to their level.

It’s always lead by 2-4+ experienced members and is an opportunity for new or potential new members to get to know us, get used to group riding, and ask questions.

We try use a mix of A road and B roads, and some lanes, some longer flat sections and a few smaller hills to make sure people get to experience the differences in group order and pace on different sections, and we finish it with a few miles of “through and off” practise to introduce the concept of chaingangs and sharing the work.

On the other alternate Saturdays we’re now running an intermediate ride which is a bit longer (40-50miles), and a bit hillier but kept at roughly the same pace and is designed for people who either want to work up from the Intro ride to a something longer or a full club run or who have ridden in groups before but want to do something a bit shorter first.

Sundays are the normal full length club runs and will split into either 2 or 3 groups targeting different pace (16mph/18mph/20mph+) and this is full of a mix of experienced older riders, current racers and newer members, so a good mix, but most will have come through the Intro rides first and been given the nod by other members to join the Sunday rides, so it’s all kept in good shape anyway but is still used to teach newer members as well.

MTB wise, I’m not a member of a club, only a loose association of like minded individuals who like mucking about in the dirt, some of us race MTB as well, some dont’, but there’s no formal order to the riding and it’s more about the fun so not really the same atmosphere as road clubs and certainly not much focus on ‘training’, occasionally there’ll be some informal coaching and we do get new people joining us form time to time normally as a result of invite by friend.

I have ridden with a few MTB clubs before though and found them to be great fun, well organised and very social, but then you get good and bad clubs so I might just have been lucky 🙂

I also ride both MTB and Road solo as well, as with life in general variety is good, you don’t have to ride with a club all the time.

I like to base my choice of riding destinations on many factors –

Current weather
weather in days leading up to
Whether I can be arsed driving for ages
How long I have for that day
What kind of ride I fancy (big day, pootle, ride and build)

blah blah blah…

None of which is really conducive to club riding, as the rides (in my old club anyway) were always either pre planned weeks in advance, or if it was ad hoc, lots of people looking for different things from the day.

And, very impportantly, there is always at least one dobber on a club ride that I wouldn’t normally choose to ride with. Like most folks on here, we have a group of 4 or 5 like minded fools that ride together, and I prefer it that way*

* I am actually a member of GMBC, but only really go on the odd ride or weekend with them, they are a fab bunch and I have met many good friends from the club. And Iainc too, but as I said, there’s always one….

😆

^^^^ bawbag 🙂

We have the best of both worlds, a club of mates & potential new mates
https://www.facebook.com/groups/NWAlps/

Without doubt the most satisfying part is the process of meeting folks who come along and struggle initially, but with encouragement, cake and absolutely NOT leaving them behind, slowly start getting better.

+1

Went for a couple of rides with an mtb club a few years ago but at the time I didn’t really enjoy the couple of rides as it felt like everyone was in a rush to get the ride over and done with. Most probably because most of the guys were older and had kids to get back and spend time with. Tend to ride the mtb on my own or with a mate now though and find it pretty enjoyable. Obviously when you’re by yourself the banters pretty rubbish.

I’ve done one club ride on the road bike and whilst initially I enjoyed it by the end it just felt like a group of 4-5 riders were determined to turn it into a race and drop anyone who couldn’t keep up which for a Sunday club ride billed as being at the pace of the slowest rider pissed me off a bit. I’d consider joining a club now though as always riding solo on the road bike can get pretty boring but now I’ve got a little one finding time to actually ride any of my bikes is becoming a challenge in itself.

I ride with a club, road ride and cross. I’m fairly sure one or two own MTB’s too.

As for the structure, well it’s very well organised, publishes group rides on Sat/Sun/Wed morns and Fri morns. Rides are led by experienced leaders with local knowledge, encouraging and pretty good paced too. During the rides, the first half we have a no drop policy. When we stop halfway a lead group will do a long loop and have a drop policy, the rest continue on the inner loop and have a no drop policy. This works very well indeed. It encourages those not used to riding in groups or improving to ride and not feel oppressed by the fast lads.
Racing, yup a lot of our lot race, pretty well as it happens.
Trips, yup a lot of these, small groups to spectacular places and often these coincide with UCI ProTour races.
Off road, well cross mainly, during winter theres organised training and Wed morn bridleway stuff and of course racing.

We have superb backup/planning/members who all seem t think the way I do.

Once or twice you can see us gazing longingly into the distance whilst wearing matching kit 😉

I used to ride with clubs, my favourite club was at my university and I enjoyed it because I got to ride with like-minded student folk.
I’ve tried a number of non-uni clubs since and for the most part I find the chat/banter tedious and predictable (work, wives, drinking, shagging about covers it).
Re road cycling, there are some crazily big groups riding around these days, I know about safety in numbers but surely that’s a pain to manage, especially across ability levels.

Ride with a club as I like the folks there and I also really like the new people who drop in and drop out. There are often fast and slow rides going so you pick how you feel

It’s not super serious though and there is often beer involved

Just remembered my first attempt to join a cycling club’s (Macclesfield Wheelers) MTB section: they weren’t very enthusiastic about me joining, probably because I’m a woman and was 40 years old at the time. I joined a different club and they have no problem with 47 year old women!