The Bike Fest
September 19, 2009 at 2:22 pm | In Community, Safety, clubs | 3 CommentsTags: clubs, education
This morning I decided to forego my usual Saturday morning ride to volunteer for the Kiker Bike Fest. This is the second year in a row that my club, the Circle C Ranch Cycling Club, sponsored the bike fest at Kiker Elementary School in southwest Austin. It’s a chance for kids to learn cycling skills and have some fun in the bargain.
Last year, the bike fest attracted about 300 kids from the area, and we expected that many or more this year. Stations are set up to fit kids with new helmets, do quick bike repairs, learn the correct way to start and stop, ride a tight figure 8, ride in traffic with correct hand signals, and even ride a mountain bike trail behind the school.
Joe, who leads our Sunday morning A group rides, fits a girl with a new helmet donated by the Texas Medical Association.
Stay inside the lines!
Pat and I handled the Straight Line – Scanning station. The kids had to ride a straight line between two chalk lines 18 inches apart. Then, we brought them back again to practice looking over their shoulders. Once they got halfway down the lines, I yelled “Look!” and they were supposed to look back, make eye contact with me, and continue. Because most of them were quite young, I did not point one way or another, as is usually done in this exercise, and they did not have to say which way I pointed. For many of them, staying upright on the slight downhill track was challenge enough.
It’s been awhile since we had kids at home, and both Pat and I were disconcerted to see how some parents hover over their children. One mother grabbed her little girl’s handlebars, and pulled her down the lines — nearly tipping her over several times.
But mostly, people seemed to enjoy the event. Parents liked how well organized the whole affair was, and many indicated they would be back again next year.
Debra gets a young rider rolling on the traffic safety course.
One highlight of the morning was a group ride on the nearby Veloway, led by former Tour de France racer (Motorola, Cofidis, U.S. Postal, Telekom) Kevin Livingston. This was assuredly not a hammerfest, as kids on BMX bikes jockeyed for position with their sometimes-wobbly parents and fully kitted-out weekend warriors.
Kevin Livingston waits for the group ride to begin.
Hold your line!
“Just to show you how committed I am to this,” said my friend David, “I’m missing ESPN Game Day — and it’s here in town.” Texas is playing Texas Tech today, so I guess that is a good barometer of club participation. Besides, the game isn’t until this evening. Cycling education AND football — now there’s how to spend a Saturday.
More thoughts about bike clubs
May 10, 2009 at 6:02 pm | In Odds 'n ends | 2 CommentsTags: clubs
The bike club post drew more comments than most posts have recently. Obviously, riders would like to exploit the social aspects of cycling. The problem is, are most bike clubs set up to help them do that?
From the comments here and elsewhere, it appears that most bike clubs are dominated by what I call the “A” riders — the ones who can go long distances at good speeds. Most of these riders are experienced and well conditioned. For many newbie bikers however, those kinds of rides are intimidating. As Ramon commented in the previous post, once you combine a 40-mile ride with a 16 mph pace, it’s not a beginner ride anymore.
I’ll say one thing for the A riders: They show the rest of us how far we have to go to get better. In that regard, they serve as inspiration. Some of us set a goal of improving to the point of being able to keep up with the A riders. In my case, I realized that although I’m not destined to be an A rider, I am aware of room for improvement, and I have made it a point to build my speed and endurance, and mainly my hill-climbing ability.
What many clubs seem to lack is an organized effort to accommodate riders of all levels. Most of what I’ve learned about biking has come from tips by a friend or two who are experienced, but not necessarily fast. Some bike clubs conduct certification classes for their members, and require them to pass these classes before going on the more challenging group rides. But if a club’s primary purpose is to get together and ride once a week, instructional activities take a back seat.
I’m glad to see that there are bike clubs that work hard to cater to the needs of newbie cyclists. If you’re new to the game and want to join a club, shop around. Area bike shops should be aware of the local clubs, and might be able to point out the differences between them. Try a ride — or to be fair, try more than one — with a club to get a feel for the atmosphere. You’ll be able to judge if they’re into speed, hill workouts, or socializing.
I’m sticking with my club. Through it, I have met other bikers of my ability who are a pleasure to spend time on the road with. I’ve gotten better, especially in terms of endurance and climbing ability, if not speed. And finally, remember that no one gets paid to run clubs. If you want to see some changes in policy, get involved yourself and make it happen from the inside.
Do you belong to a bike club?
May 7, 2009 at 10:25 pm | In Odds 'n ends | 17 CommentsTags: clubs
Once I started biking, I looked for ways to make it a more social activity. Just as I was about to join a large area-wide bike club, I discovered a club based in my own neighborhood.
I’ve written before about it. We do regular Sunday morning rides. They’re supposed to be no drop rides, but I’ve managed to get dropped more than once. The 15 or so riders who show up on Sundays are nice folks, but they’re too strong for me.
Sometimes, we slower riders get a “B” ride together. That’s a lot of fun, and it’s the kind of experience I had in mind when I decided to join the club. We don’t go as far as the regular group, or as fast. But we’re all at about the same level, so the ride holds together. The trouble is, we can’t seem to sustain a regular “B” group ride.
It also turns out that a sub-group of the club is into mountain biking, and they’ll get together for some trail rides in the area.
The club’s original intent was to provide something for everyone, including families with children and older folks who might ride cruisers or hybrids, and wouldn’t mind going several miles, but don’t want to make a hammerfest of it. However, if we do any of that family-oriented riding, I’ve never heard about it.
In fact, the more active members of the club seem to be heading in a more hard-core direction: racing. A club racing team formed this spring, and one of our members recently took first at a local criterium. A number of members ride in a time trial in the neighborhood every other week.
I’m not interested in racing, and since we have trouble putting a “B” ride together on a regular basis, I find myself skipping club rides and heading out on my own. It’s been a bit of a disappointment to me, although not a big enough deal for me to mope about it. I suppose the active members of any organization will set the tone for the rest of the group to follow.
So I wonder: Are you in a club? Why did you join? Does your club specialize in any particular type of riding? Are you getting out of it what you wanted?
Anticipating a good year
January 28, 2009 at 11:12 pm | In clubs | 3 CommentsTags: B ride, clubs
I’ve been bad lately. Haven’t been riding much over the past couple of weeks. When I have ridden, my mileage has been below what my average rides were a couple of months ago. The one longer ride I took recently showed me just how much my biking fitness has declined. I’m in a biking slump.
But there are some signs that I’ll be on the rebound soon. For starters, my bike club had its monthly meeting tonight. I don’t usually go, but made it a point to be there tonight. They were collecting our annual dues, and I wanted to make sure I paid up. Although I haven’t been on a club ride since October, I do like these folks, and do want to continue riding with them.
Turnout was pretty high, both because of the dues thing and because we got our first look at the design for this year’s club jerseys. And it pleased me to find myself seated at a table with several folks I’ve ridden with a lot on past rides. David, and Pippa, and Bob, and Debra have all gotten mentions in this blog from time to time. Anyway, I forget who started the discussion, but we reached a consensus that we’re tired of showing up for club rides and getting left behind by the strong riders (see “ABC” from way back in March).
We had all ridden on “B” rides with each other at various times during last summer, and we decided we had to make the B’s in the club a visible, viable contingent. One of us proposed that we round up a core of B riders — say, eight or so — who we could count on to be more-or-less regulars on weekend rides. Then each of us would take a turn as B ride leader. The idea is, if other slower riders know there will be a group of folks out each week who won’t be keeping a 17 mph average over 45 miles, they will be more likely to show up themselves and grow the ranks.
I’m ready. I had already decided that I would step up and offer to lead more B rides this year. It was great to learn that others share my attitude.
A nasty cold snap seems to be easing. This weekend could be the start of this year’s real riding.
Joining a cycling club — virtually
December 11, 2008 at 3:23 pm | In Community, clubs | 4 CommentsTags: clubs
The Internet has changed the way a lot of us work, and spend our free time, and it even changes the way we have to think.
Recently, I became a “virtual” member of a cycling club.
I had no idea how to cycle “virtually,” unless it was spinning in front of a Tour de France video. But it turns out that the president of a cycling club saw one of my posts that mentioned Bike Journal, the online ride logging site. He e-mailed me, and invited me to join the club. Now, this club is actually in my area. It’s centered about 10 miles from where I live. 
But I’m not really keen on driving to a bike ride, and that’s not something I’d care to do on a weekly basis. Besides, I’m already in a club — the Circle C Ranch Cycling Club (CCRCC) — right in my neighborhood, so when we have club rides, they start about a mile from my house. It’s an easy pedal over there. So I told him that while I appreciated the invite, I didn’t think I’d take him up on it.
That’s when he came up with the notion of the “virtual” membership. Bike Journal has a section for clubs to log their members’ combined miles, and if I joined his club, my miles could be added to the club’s total. That’s an additional 2,500 miles for them. All I had to do was log onto Bike Journal and add my name to his club. I mulled it over. There wouldn’t be a conflict of interest with CCRCC, since they don’t participate in Bike Journal’s club totals. Soooo…
Ta da! I’m now a virtual member of Lake Travis Cycling. They’re pushing for over 60,000 miles on Bike Journal this year. They’re almost there.
The beauty of it is, I still might be able to do some real — not virtual — rides with them. Some of their routes come east, near my part of town, and the club president said he’d let me know when they’ll be in the area. Heck, despite my earlier comment, I might even put my bike on the car and drive out there for a ride or two in the coming year.
Anybody else out there a “virtual” member of a cycling club? How about more than one “real” club? Why?
Two grand
September 21, 2008 at 1:15 pm | In Records & stats, Rides, clubs, training | 4 CommentsTags: clubs, hills, Loop 360, mileage
The Sunday morning club ride was another hills excursion. Geez, these guys like to ride hills. I took one look at the proposed route, and figured it was not for me. However, to get out to their hills, they would take a route I’ve done before — so I told the ride leader I would ride part way with them, but then break off on my own.
Once we got started, a familiar rider pulled up next to me — my friend David. He had gotten a late start, and was about a block from our Starbucks starting point when he saw us pull out. He pushed hard to catch up.
But he didn’t have it today. After about five miles, we hit some moderate hills — a precursor of things to come — and he dropped off the back. I thought he would be able to catch up, but we didn’t see him again, even after waiting awhile in a church parking lot at the top of a killer hill (I walked my bike up that one!). By the way, church parking lots probably are not the best places to regroup on Sunday mornings, especially between services!
Then we headed out to Loop 360, the best-known biking road in Austin. Long uphills, followed by long downhills. Six mph going up, 38 going down. Fun. The group turned into a ritzy golf course neighborhood to head for their hill route. I kept going north on 360.
Pennybacker Bridge. Image from www.texasescapes.com.
I hadn’t been this far north on 360 before. You get to cross an Austin landmark, the Pennybacker bridge, over Lake Austin (which is really the Colorado River). The bridge surface is roughed-up concrete, so if it ices up in cold weather, car tires will still get a grip. So crossing the bridge is not smooth going. No problem, though, and I soon found myself at my predesignated turnaround spot, the Arboretum. It’s not a park with flowers, but an upscale shopping center. With shade! I took a break, ate a Lara Bar, drank some Heed, shook out my foot, and turned around to head back.
The trip home was uneventful. My average speed was slower than I’d like — 14.4 mph — but no big deal. A more telling stat is my new total mileage for the year: 2,031. I crossed the two-thousand mile mark for the year on this ride. Never in my wildest imagination last January did I think I would put in so many miles. It took me five-and-a-half months to get my first 1,000 miles in this year, but only three months and eight days to get in the second thousand. Summer will do that for you — more riding time, longer mileage per ride, and a big increase in monthly mileage. I’ve also noticed the length of my average ride is increasing. Rarely am I satisfied to go just 14 miles anymore. Eighteen is closer to the norm.
I still am not shooting for a mileage goal for the year. The miles will come, and I’m more focused on the century ride coming up next month (I’m concerned that my long rides aren’t getting long enough, fast enough). For now, as David Bernstein of the Fredcast says, I’m going to “Enjoy the ride.”
The ride leader gets dropped
August 17, 2008 at 3:17 pm | In Rides, clubs | 5 CommentsTags: clubs, drops, Rides
After a pleasant experience riding with the “B” riders in our club, I wanted to keep doing it on a more or less regular basis. But two weekends in Michigan interrupted those plans.
So now that I’m back, I stepped up and volunteered to lead a B group ride. I suggested a trip to Kyle, Texas and back — a ride I like because the turnaround spot is a little independent coffee house in Kyle, the Lucky Cup.
Two other riders indicated they’d come along. Then the guy who ordinarily leads the A group rides every Sunday said he thought the route was a good idea, and the A riders would go that way, too. About 17 of us headed out. I rode with one of the other B riders, Bob, and we fell behind, but caught up with everyone in Buda (BYOO-duh), a small town south of Austin.
Buda still retains its old downtown, although it is rapidly growing into a bedroom community for Austin and is full of the fast food and chain store sprawl common to American suburbs.
From Buda, we took some back roads into Kyle, the next town south. We reached the Lucky Cup, and sat out on the patio with coffees and energy drinks. It was a pleasant break after 24-something miles of pedaling.
On the way back, Bob and I quickly fell behind again, and then I found myself well ahead of Bob. As I hit the turn onto Burnham Road (Ranch Road 1626), I glanced back and saw that he was hanging in, but trailing by several hundred yards. I figured we would regroup in Buda as we did on the way out, and he would catch up to us there.
But in Buda, I was alone. If the rest of the group had stopped, they’d already moved on. And there was no sign of Bob. I was perplexed. Two women cyclists we had passed in Kyle crossed ahead of me on Main Street. How did they get ahead of me?
I rode alone the rest of the way back to the Starbucks where we started the ride. Most of the gang was out on the patio, enjoying their post-ride coffees. And in the middle of them was Bob. “When did you pass me?” I asked. “When you turned onto 1626,” he said. “I kept going past the cement plant. It’s a shorter way into town. I caught everyone in Buda.”
We took the more roundabout route on Burnham Rd. and Old Black Colony Road (Aside: It has that name because it was the site of a settlement for freed slaves after the Civil War). Bob’s route into Buda was more direct.
So the leader of the B ride was dropped by the B riders (Pippa, the other B rider today, had no trouble hanging with the A’s throughout the entire ride). Whatever. I did 46.25 miles at a 15.7 mph average — respectable for me. But I’m thinking about exploring a suggestion another riding friend recently made: Let’s start a group for C riders.
Riding with the B’s
July 27, 2008 at 4:27 pm | In Rides, clubs | 9 CommentsTags: clubs, hills, Rides
After last weekend’s reality check, I figured I’d be better off riding with the B riders in our club. Just a reminder — we consider A’s to be able to ride decent distances at a fast pace. B’s are slower, and don’t go as far. I know many other clubs break down riders into more classifications than we do.
Anyhow, since our B’s haven’t been very active lately, I guessed that if we were going to have a B ride, I would have to organize it. But whadya know, another guy beat me to it.
The A’s had an ambitious and difficult route planned for today. The B organizer picked a route that would follow them for a ways, then head back to our starting spot. We’d be in for some hills, but the ride itself would be relatively short.
The route on Map My Ride. The tough hill is at the top of the twisty part at the upper left.
Ride elevation. The hill most of us had to walk is at the 10-mile point.
The morning was perfect. Sunny, warm but not hot, not much wind. We set off with the A riders, so about 17 of us cut a fine figure pedaling through the neighborhood. We turned onto Barton Creek Blvd., which winds through a swanky neighborhood by a nationally-famous golf resort. I hadn’t ridden this road before, and I knew it was hilly. But the hills weren’t too much of a problem, until the last one before reaching Ranch Road 2244. That forced most of us to get off and walk.
At 2244, the A riders turned west, and we turned east for the ride home. The rest of the route was on shoulders of sometimes busy highways. Plenty of hills through here as well, as seen by this cell phone camera shot along Loop 360, but these were not difficult.
We got back to our Starbucks starting point for some FrappaMochaCappucinoLattes, or whatever, and some chit chat. Ride time: about 23 miles in 1 hour 43 minutes, avg speed: 14.7 mph. None of us could have kept up with the A group, and none of us cared. It was the kind of ride I’ve been looking for since joining the club. I’m looking forward to many more of the same, now that the B’s seem to be up and running again.
Sunday morning club ride
July 20, 2008 at 5:21 pm | In Rides, clubs | 9 CommentsTags: clubs, hills, Rides
I did something today I haven’t done in awhile — I joined up with the neighborhood club for its Sunday morning ride. The club is the Circle C Ranch Cycling Club, or CCRCC. It’s named for the neighborhood in southwest Austin where we live.
I was interested in doing the ride because it’s one I rode many months ago, and really enjoyed it. It gets out into the hill country west of Austin quickly, and features lots of rolling hills. I have also realized that I have to do more hill work if I want to complete that century in the fall.
We started off in a group of about 17 or 18, and stayed in a pack for about six miles. Once we crossed U.S. 290, though, the pack started to split up into two groups. I was on the back of the second group. Soon, I was watching the second group disappear out of sight around a bend.
We got to the main objective of the ride — Fitzhugh Road. Now, the last time I was on this route, the group stopped at the convenience store at the corner for a quick rest break. Today, no rest break. Well, it was only 10 miles out from the start. One club jersey was just reaching a bend about 500 yards ahead of me.
I followed, but couldn’t catch them. I am pretty much a 15 mph average rider, and these guys (and several women) are faster. Plus, the rollers. Oy!
One of the nice things about the Fitzhugh route is that you can pick your own distance. It’s an out-and-back route, so you can turn around wherever you like. Most people pick a cross road. The first major intersection is Ranch Road 12. I figured they would take a break there, and that’s how I would catch up. At the same time, the rolling hills were really taking it out of me. I planned to tell the ride organizer that I was turning around there.
When I approached the intersection, I could see a group of about seven of them stopped beyond it. Ah ha! I had caught them. But before I reached the corner, they shoved off. I pedaled hard, and latched onto the back of the group. It took awhile to get to the ride organizer at the front, to tell him I was turning back.
By now, the morning sun was out in full force, and the temperature was around 90°F (32°C). The breeze wasn’t bad though, and I was wearing a full zip jersey, so I could zip down and take advantage of the breeze. When I reached the convenience store back at the 290-Fitzhugh corner, I got a bottle of sports drink, stood in the shade of a tree, and finished it off. The rest of the ride was uneventful, and I got home in time to watch the end of the British Open.
I’m a little bummed that I’m not on a par with the club riders, but there are also rides for slower guys like me, so maybe there will be more club rides in my future.
Totals: 36 miles, 14.3 mph average (That’s .7 mph faster than the last time I did the ride, in January. I’m not in their league, but improvement continues).
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