8 reasons to join a cycling club + how to find the right one for you

Just reading the comments after coming across this article while looking for something to promote cycle club membership.

I definitely think it's a good idea to join a club and get involved. In cycling like I'm sure many other sports it's amazing that people are keen to moan but not get involved. They forget other club committee members, officials at races and regional officials are mostly volunteers. Rather than complaining about what the local club does or doesn't do the moaners could get involved. 

I'm not massively keen on people jumping from club to club choosing one that's further away or joining the "race team" that never organises any races but just rides other clubs events.

There's nothing wrong with going out on a group riding and struggling a little.  That's how you get better!

However, the manner in which the group deals with struggling riders is key.  If it's right at the start of a ride and someone has clearly chosen a group with whom they are going to struggle, then it is only fair for all riders to be straight with that person.  If, however, someone has joined a group, tried to do their fair share of work but it's finding things a little tough on the return leg, then you owe it to them to encourage them to sit in and get a tow home.  If the group agrees, maybe ease up a little or let the really strong riders or people who only have a morning pass go ahead.

Cycling clubs are made up of people and law of averages states that  number of those will be twats.  But, there are usually far more that are really decent people.  Local club rivalry is par for the course, but if you happen to be miles from home, maybe taking part in an overseas sportive, that rivalry soon melts away.

Just a post for anyone who is thinking of joining a club and sees quite a lot of negativity on here. 

I joined a club in August and in that time have gone out most Sundays. Sometimes I've been a group which is too fast for me but that's the point really and I've got faster even if I'm hanging on at the end. There are 7 groups and the ones I hang around in (the slow ones) seem to wait for everyone. It all seems rather civil with a good load of male and female riders of different ages. 

All in all although I wasn't convinced I should join a club, as it would be all cliquey with 100s of rules, it's actually quite fun. Boring, but how it's been for me

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All those pople moaning, I feel sorry for you, you're either miserable gits in general or you just havent found the right club. Differnt clubs will suit differnt people, you have to find a place where there are like minded people. I'd suggest a smaller club is better than joining the most poplular/largest/established. If your limited for choice in your area that's a s shame....you can always start your own!  'build it and they will come'  

Stirling Bike Club is very brilliant.  It caters for all cycling related interests and regardless of level.  I'm a tad biased as I love being a member of it. 

Well that's my club's jersey in the second picture, and I have to say I don't recognise any of the adverse comments on here. I'm not aware of any cliques, the club runs are always 'no drop', we always make sure everyone is able to either ride with the group or if they decide to head off they know where they are and are able to get home.

That's probably why it's been going since 1893 without a break and is 'probably the best cycling club in the country' .

(Bristol South, in case you were wondering)

Not being able to keep up has never stopped me from joining a cycling club. Yes, there is an expectation that you should be able to keep up during club runs (rather than training runs or chain gangs), but the alternative is pretty chaotic. 

I can only speak for myself but when I was a kid, and later in my 30s when I got back into the sport, I knew what cycling clubs were like and what I could expect; a month or so of solid pastings before I could keep up. Now I'm dropping the same people on chain gangs as soon as we hit the hills (and I'm not special let me tell you). 

It's not instant, it takes a bit of perseverance and suffering but it's worth it in the end. You'll be faster and stronger but that's only part of it. Clubs, any clubs, are social. Joining a cycling club means you can get out on your bike with like minded people and laugh your ass off in the process. Going out with the bunch is great fun, a laugh a minute, that's the real reason for me joining a club.   

Every club has its own culture, and sometimes it's not particularly conducive to bringing on new people.

In my area there are three cycling clubs I could regard as local, plus a couple of triathlon clubs that naturally include cycling. One of the cycle clubs is essentially about racing and Audax, another about sportives and Mamil-style rides, and the third is more about its local community and getting people together.

There's quite a lot of movement between these three, as people find their preferences - whether permanently or temporarily. Each wants to gather new riders, and ostensibly offers newcomer-friendly rides, but the actuality is often rather different. Of the three, the Mamil club is actually the most welcoming and responsive to the needs of new, adult, riders, with a variety of rides each weekend which cater for the slowest to medium-fast riders. The racing club obviously has a chaingang which does what it says on the tin, but its weekend rides tend to be longer and faster than most newcomers would wish to tackle. The community club is great for familes, and particularly children, but for anything more advanced it relies on sub-groups within the club to organise their own stuff.

I haven't experienced the triathlon clubs, but their cycling tends to be fast and individual, for obvious reasons. They do have good reputations as friendly clubs, though (which would accord with my experience of triathlon generally).

Most of the members of all of the cycling clubs are generous in their support of the others, but there are those - and they tend to be fairly prominent - who will denigrate the other clubs, and, more importantly, the style of rider they encourage. When the denigration is of those who are slower, less fit, older, younger, the wrong sex, riding the 'wrong 'bike, etc. etc., it gets pretty discouraging. Yet those doing the denigrating see themselves as 'protecting the ethos and purity' of cycling the old way.

It's become pretty obvious that some clubs have really got it right and have grown exponentially over the last few years, and some have stagnated or died (and been proud of their failure to 'give in' while doing so!). Sadly, for me the one club in my area that has 'got it right' I can't rejoin because my ex is a committe member and would hate me being in it!!

Even the best has their downside.

Quote ,'While tour local CTC group will likely be dedicated to pootling the most obscure lanes the lead rider can find to connect pubs and cafes'

I find this most deprecating and visualise a good many CTC groups and individuals frothing at the mouth, likewise cyclists and groups under the National Clarion ubrella. Many of todays top cyclists began at a lowly level in clubs that embrace the social and competitive element, look no further than the Yates twins for instance, nurtured in a well established clarion section, namely Bury Clarion. Blackburn CTC is another grass roots section to have made an impact competitive wise locally while maintaining a social ethos. I enjoy the rise in cycling participation but deplore the media's (magazines) total immersion in sportive events and marketing, there is still a place for grass roots cycling which will, against the odds, produce future champions. 

I went out with the other half on a CTC so-called 1 star friendly ride. It included a number of short stiff climbs that were too much for her, which the ride leaders sprinted up. But they did wait at the top.  So far so good.

Then at the end they told her that the ride wasn't really for cyclists like her. We never went on a CTC group ride again.

Joining my first ever cycling club after moving from the UK to Florence Italy and buying my first road bike has been a really good experience. It's helped me meet new people, both Italians and others, and be part of something where I would otherwise be much more of a tourist, plus practice the language a bit.

I've done quite a few granfondos/mediofondos already and have become quite a good climber on intermediate hills and learning how to tackle mountains too.

It's inspired me to start planning a guided ride company too to take tourists out of the city into Chianti and the Apennines.

My club are all a good mix and a good laugh. Of course, I could be the dick.

THe reality is that for every good club that has a solid and responsive board/committee, a mix of rider abilities and enough numbers to safely lead rides for all abilities and even more importantly a commitment to helping people improve at all levels there will be a club that has none of this and give clubs in general a bad name.

Interestingly in my area, the introduction of a club that set out and achieved all the fist set of points I make made at least one other "old school" club have to up its game and become more inclusive as everyone started leaving......

Join a club. If it doesnt work, no harm done what have you lost (most clubs will let you try before you buy.

If you are in Oxfordshire, I suggest my club www.condors.cc 

There's a couple of good clubs round my way but they all start their rides early on sunday mornings. Weekends don't start until the clock's on double digits! Fortunately I have enough cycling mates who will drag me out of my duvet :¬)

The main advantage of joining a club is having another, nearby club to disparage - with comments about their racing prowess, their manners, their event organising. Having another group to dislike is really popular - see the rise of ISIS as an example.

Wolfie's point above is a good one. I'm one of those people daft enough to put my hand up for jobs when nobody else will. If I spent as much time on the bike as I do on club admin, then I'd be thinner. And faster. And happier.

Surprised at how negative many of the comments have been. My own experience to date as a Sportif/touring cyclist has been entirely positive. New routes, coffee stops and friends; plenty of encouragement, advice and banter, and, best of all, a real incentive to get out on the road when the weather is less than perfect. Comparing this winter to last, I have clocked up 400-500km each month as against 120km between November 2014 and the end of January 2015. 

The only slight negative is the disinclination to head out solo as riding in a well organised group is so much more fun. 

I moved to the Woodlands area in Texas a few years ago. The local club has not been a positive fun experience. They did the same routes over and over again, so I became frustrated and bored. I volunteered that they could have different ride leaders on a revolving basis to keep things fresh and interesting, but that idea was ignored. The regular Saturday ride leader also didn't hide her racist beliefs. The last time I rode with them was when I heard some snippets of trash talking about my unique bike. 

Each time I've taken up a new sport or activity I've joined the relevant club or society and I had every intention of joining a cycling club after I bought my first road bike.

That was before I'd been out solo on Sundays and experienced at first hand the arrogant and selfish way club groups rode.   I then looked at the newsletter of my local club online and found a plea from their Chairman for members to try to treat each other with respect.   He cited instances of inappropriate and dangerous racing in the town centre resulting in crashes and slower riders being left behind on 'social' rides.

I do know a couple of club members who won't join these groups but only ride with a handful of friends and in TTs, so it's not only me who is put off.

Quote:

Every club has its twat though

definitely.

If being a cycling club member makes you as happy looking as the bunch in the black and white photo, I think maybe I'll give it a miss.

I just rode with mates for 15 years but when I moved back up North I joined a club. All the points mentioned were valid.

There is often an awful lot of politics and power struggles going on in many clubs. After 6 years I left the club along with most of it's members.  I joined another to be part of a club for racing. 

My advice if you choose to join a club is to keep your head down,  benefit from the teaching, make some good training mates and try and avoid any committee meetings!