logistics associated with starting a new riding group?

01-18-2007, 09:33 AM

I have now been riding again for a couple of years now, been a regular
here almost as long and now find myself wanting to ride with some other,
the problem with this is, there is a local riding group but from the
looks of some of the club photos, it looks like most of the riders are a
bit older, I would prefer to ride more with riders a little closer to my
own age group. Now I may investigate the local group a bit more and
maybe even do a ride or two when they have open rides, I don't want to
spend to join a group that I am not interested in riding with. So I
guess what this boils down to is this: Has anyone ever started a riding
group? Whats the hardest part? I would think it's probably getting new
riders. How would you go about such an endeavor if you were inclined to
make such an attempt? Thanks in advance for all the input.

Ken
--
The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets
old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without
shocking the entire community. ~Ann Strong

01-18-2007, 07:54 PM

What does age matter? You aren't looking to date any of them are you?
Go riding with them until you feel you can't learn anything more from
them or feel uncomfortable riding with them. Search out other clubs
and organized rides in your area. Check your local craigslist.com for
other riders, or people selling/wanting bicycles. Check
[Only registered and activated users can see links. ] for other riders in your area. Some of the
fastest riders around are the retirees cause they have all day to ride.

Once you make a few cycling friends, perhaps you can set up your own
club if a lot of you have differences from the other riders.

Ken C. M. wrote:
> I have now been riding again for a couple of years now, been a regular
> here almost as long and now find myself wanting to ride with some other,
> the problem with this is, there is a local riding group but from the
> looks of some of the club photos, it looks like most of the riders are a
> bit older, I would prefer to ride more with riders a little closer to my
> own age group. Now I may investigate the local group a bit more and
> maybe even do a ride or two when they have open rides, I don't want to
> spend to join a group that I am not interested in riding with. So I
> guess what this boils down to is this: Has anyone ever started a riding
> group? Whats the hardest part? I would think it's probably getting new
> riders. How would you go about such an endeavor if you were inclined to
> make such an attempt? Thanks in advance for all the input.
>
> Ken
> --
> The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets
> old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without
> shocking the entire community. ~Ann Strong

01-18-2007, 09:44 PM

rec.bicycles.rides has 588 posts since Nov.21.

They might keep you active. Find people to bike with on a regular basis
might be just what you are looking for.

01-19-2007, 05:19 AM

Mike A Schwab wrote:
> What does age matter? You aren't looking to date any of them are you?
> Go riding with them until you feel you can't learn anything more from
> them or feel uncomfortable riding with them. Search out other clubs
> and organized rides in your area. Check your local craigslist.com for
> other riders, or people selling/wanting bicycles. Check
> [Only registered and activated users can see links. ] for other riders in your area. Some of the
> fastest riders around are the retirees cause they have all day to ride.
>
> Once you make a few cycling friends, perhaps you can set up your own
> club if a lot of you have differences from the other riders.
>
Well I have my reasons for not wanting to ride with riders that much
older than myself. Maybe for something different once in a great while
but not on a regular basis. There is only one local club and that is the
one I mentioned. Thanks for the idea of craigslist and bikejournal.

Ken
--
The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets
old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without
shocking the entire community. ~Ann Strong

01-19-2007, 09:32 AM

On 2007-01-18, Ken C. M. <[Only registered and activated users can see links. ]> wrote:
> spend to join a group that I am not interested in riding with. So I
> guess what this boils down to is this: Has anyone ever started a riding
> group? Whats the hardest part? I would think it's probably getting new
> riders. How would you go about such an endeavor if you were inclined to
> make such an attempt? Thanks in advance for all the input.

You know, I've been thinking about getting a group together here [1] as well,
not because I don't like the local club, but rather because there *is no*
club to ride with [2]. However, I'm not certain that I'd care for a formal
structure rght away, so much as just getting some folks together to ride. Our
homeowner's association has a bulletin board on their web site, so that might
be one place for me to start.

I do have one standing offer of a riding partner from an friend, but he lives
an hour away right now, and is in China for the rest of the month, so I don't
expect to see him until spring.

[1] Gilberts, IL

[2] There was a club in the West/East Dundee area, the Dundee-Cardunal [3]
bicycle club, but they seem to have gone dormant; their site has even gone
404 now. Dundee is also about a 45 minute ride down from my house, and I'd
prefer not to drive to the start point of a ride -- the point is to ride!

[3] The misspelling of Cardunal is intended: it's short for CARpentersville/
DUNdee/ALgonquin, the three groups of towns along a stretch of the Fox
River.

--

__o Kristian Zoerhoff
_'\(,_ [Only registered and activated users can see links. ]
(_)/ (_)

01-19-2007, 12:53 PM

Ken C. M. wrote:
>
> Well I have my reasons for not wanting to ride with riders that much
> older than myself. Maybe for something different once in a great while
> but not on a regular basis. There is only one local club and that is the
> one I mentioned. Thanks for the idea of craigslist and bikejournal.
>
>

Be thankful you can still find people riding who are older than
yourself, Ken.

01-19-2007, 12:59 PM

catzz66 wrote:
> Ken C. M. wrote:
>>
>> Well I have my reasons for not wanting to ride with riders that much
>> older than myself. Maybe for something different once in a great while
>> but not on a regular basis. There is only one local club and that is
>> the one I mentioned. Thanks for the idea of craigslist and bikejournal.
>>
>>
>
> Be thankful you can still find people riding who are older than
> yourself, Ken.

Yeah I guess thats one way of looking at it.

Ken
--
The bicycle is just as good company as most husbands and, when it gets
old and shabby, a woman can dispose of it and get a new one without
shocking the entire community. ~Ann Strong

01-23-2007, 05:44 PM

Ken C. M. wrote:
> I have now been riding again for a couple of years now, been a regular
> here almost as long and now find myself wanting to ride with some
> other, the problem with this is, there is a local riding group but
> from the looks of some of the club photos, it looks like most of the
> riders are a bit older, I would prefer to ride more with riders a
> little closer to my own age group. Now I may investigate the local
> group a bit more and maybe even do a ride or two when they have open
> rides, I don't want to spend to join a group that I am not interested
> in riding with. So I guess what this boils down to is this: Has
> anyone ever started a riding group? Whats the hardest part? I would
> think it's probably getting new riders. How would you go about such
> an endeavor if you were inclined to make such an attempt? Thanks in
> advance for all the input.
I've been away and so I'm responding late to this post.

1. If you actually show up, you might find that there is more of a variety
of ages in the group than it appears. It's possible that the younger group
doesn't have any people who care to take pictures.
2. Ask them what other groups are in the area. Most people seem happy to
share this information, although naturally they think the group they ride
with is best. (and it probably is, for THEM)
3. Around here, you can ride with a group a few times before they get
serious about collecting dues, assuming they ever do. There's no real
investment involved.

The only group I was involved in starting was a spin-off. Some of us were
refereeing youth soccer, and thought it would be good conditioning / a bit
of fun to go for a ride on Saturday morning. Sometimes there were a few
older (5th-8th grade) kids along. We did this for two or three years. You
might do a spin-off from a fitness center, a church men's group, or
something else.