Newsgroups: rec.bicycles.soc
Subject: Re: Bike Club Survey
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 10:25:58 -0500

Kelly Prendergast <kprender@jscprofs.nasa.gov> writes:

 KP> Chris, we (the JSC Bike Club, Houston, Texas)

I've worked near you, although I have to ride 30 miles to get there, and I
agree that the traffic in the Johnson Space Center area is rather hectic.
Mostly high speed motorists rushing to get to work on roads that were not built
to handle the load.

For those who are not from the Houston area, let me explain that although both
JSC (Johnson Space Center bicycle club) and NWCC (Northwest Cycling Club, my
club) are both in "Houston", they are about 40 miles apart, with downtown
Houston between us, so we don't often get a chance to meet or ride together.

 KP> have two main types of rides, fitness and group.

A very interesting way of organizing rides.

 KP> At fitness rides we provide maps and people can
 KP> go at what ever pace or distance they want. These
 KP> seem to be popular but I think it discourages
 KP> more social riders who want to ride in a group
 KP> setting. We normally offer several different
 KP> "average" speeds so that slower or faster riders
 KP> can ride together. We have had a really tough
 KP> time though, getting folks to stick to a pace
 KP> during the se types of rides.

This type resembles the Houston Bicycle Club's rides. This ride method usually
becomes a map reading course for those who are not familar with the local
roads; this is especially true if you have a large number of routes.

It is difficult to get any group of riders to "stick to a pace" unless some
over-riding advantage is obvious. Riders who are not familar with the course
are the only ones who have a reason to maintain a pace, they want to stay with
a rider who knows how to get home.

Experienced riders either already know the route or totally ignore the maps.
They tend to treat this kind of ride as either a time trial or a casual jaunt
in the country.

 KP> The second type of ride, a group ride, has a
 KP> published pace and distance. The group normally
 KP> rides at the designated pace and the group leader
 KP> sweeps and controls pace. If someone flats during
 KP> a group ride the entire group stops and waits.
 KP> This is true for any other type of stop.

This kind of ride more resembles my club's new member / orientation rides,
especially the part about everyone waiting for a rider that stops. This kind of
ride has the social advantages that you mention, but it discourages those
riders who what to improve their strength, endurance, etc.

I'm sure you already read my post about our paceline-oriented rides. These
rides have published maps, but the maps are only necessary for those who cannot
maintain the pace and want to complete the course. The reason that riders
"stick to a pace" on these rides is because they can get their turn to draft
off other riders, they usually don't want to drop the riders who they will rely
on for a draft at some later time, and they know that at least some rider in
the paceline knows the route. Although these rides do not have "a published
pace and
distance" or someone who "sweeps and controls pace" the average speed and the
route is usually announced before a group leaves the starting point, and we
only have a few routes. The variation in our rides comes from the different
speeds and distances that the groups ride.

I will be riding with your club in January for the inter-club century JSC is
putting on, and I hope to see you at ours in February. I think Melvin Barnes
had a real good idea starting those rides. Hopefully, they are well attended.