Tell us about your weekend ride

Thanks for the lesson in style Mr S.

Au contraire, dear Clive. In this instance, it is more elegant to 'split the infinitive'. (This, by the way, is one of the few things concerning style that everybody seems to have heard about and then applies rigidly without the benefit of the knowledge that while it is applicable some of the time, it isn't always applicable. You see, adverbs are supposed to be words modifying certain other words, and more often than you might expect, they are best placed adjacent to the word they are modifying. It not only aids clarity, but there are also instances in which different positions of the adverb can result in different meanings, and, last but not least, as in 'to boldly go', it can result in a ringing phrase which, if used sparingly, can be a bona fide stylistic device.)

Bollocks.

^ Style.

Everything becomes a ringing phrase when it's uttered by William Shatner. If he'd have said "to go, boldly, where no man has gone before", we wouldn't have had to put up with decades of illiterate cunts trying to justify their infinitive splitting by citing the Star Trek example.

finally joined onto a local club, with mixed results :/

Quite enjoyed the odd bit of banter I managed to squeeze out of people, but for 4.5hrs of the 5hrs in the saddle I was on my own, left out of the pack (dropped thanks to serious winds) or just ignored.
nice people!
Also most of them had ridden a few miles from their home to the starting point, so were off at full race pace (20-24mph into the wind) straight out of teh blocks, which put my legs into some kind of cramp hell for the entire period. All of which is ironic considering their groups front page (newbies welcome, ride at pace of slowest, help each other out, no-one gets dropped etc etc).
And lastly their attitude to other users on the road was borderline WTF! Almost felt embarrassed to be riding with them at times; very poor show for a road club thats meant to have been going for a while.
Bits I enjoyed... the brief bit of pack riding I got into ... and... when one of the "I'll just ignore him and maybe he'll go away" types had a mechanical that hurt him directly in the wallet.

Maybe I should just go back to riding with the MTB group rides and shelve/sell-up this roadie idea, at least they are decent fellas!

Which club was that then?

finally joined onto a local club, with mixed results :/

Quite enjoyed the odd bit of banter I managed to squeeze out of people, but for 4.5hrs of the 5hrs in the saddle I was on my own, left out of the pack (dropped thanks to serious winds) or just ignored.
nice people!
Also most of them had ridden a few miles from their home to the starting point, so were off at full race pace (20-24mph into the wind) straight out of teh blocks, which put my legs into some kind of cramp hell for the entire period. All of which is ironic considering their groups front page (newbies welcome, ride at pace of slowest, help each other out, no-one gets dropped etc etc).
And lastly their attitude to other users on the road was borderline WTF! Almost felt embarrassed to be riding with them at times; very poor show for a road club thats meant to have been going for a while.
Bits I enjoyed... the brief bit of pack riding I got into ... and... when one of the "I'll just ignore him and maybe he'll go away" types had a mechanical that hurt him directly in the wallet.

Maybe I should just go back to riding with the MTB group rides and shelve/sell-up this roadie idea, at least they are decent fellas!

So you are changing your mind about 'roadie idea' based on one experience with what sounds like an inconsiderate group of people. I would give it a another go with a different club before giving up.
Have you tried asking to drop the pace down? Some people think of club runs as races as it's their only chance to show others how strong they are etc...

It could also be that you joined a club's take-no-prisoners training ride rather than their clubrun. If it's a large club they'll often have a variety of options. Who was it?

it was the grupetto, wasn't it.

I do training rides with Hounslow and District Wheelers and they demonstrate perfect club ride discipline.

I did try a ride with a different club and had a shit time - the group split into 3 at a junction due to poor leadership and then never waited to regroup.

Well, I give everything 3 goes, so this weekend will try a different group, which claims to have 3 different speeds (happy group, mid group & pro epic elite carbon mofo group), will try the happy or mid group (11-14mph avg and 14-17mph, generally rides on my own are about 13-17 depending on number of climbs).
The other club is more miles to get to (35 each way) but if they are at least friendly then its worth it. There is one that starts just a few minutes from home, but it folded earlier in the year due to lack of organisation/leadership/money/old age.
I guess the other thing is its now the end of summer and those that have been out every week on club runs are up to full speed by now, vs. me who only has about 6months occasional road riding and 2months @ 3 weekly rides (1x 60 + 2x 30).
anyway. will try another. if that fails, then likely just go back to riding on my own on the road/ go on multi day rides out random places; and keep group riding to mountain biking duties.

Which club was that then?

Who was it?

Si dice il peccato, non il peccatore.

Bollocks.

Anglo-Saxon.

So what was the name of the club?

Si dice il peccato, non il peccatore.

Yeah pretty much. It wasn't any one persons fault, just general group failure ;)

Si dice il peccato, non il peccatore.

Anglo-Saxon.

So what was the name of the club?

I love coincidences.

Well, I give everything 3 goes, so this weekend will try a different group, which claims to have 3 different speeds (happy group, mid group & pro epic elite carbon mofo group), will try the happy or mid group (11-14mph avg and 14-17mph, generally rides on my own are about 13-17 depending on number of climbs).
The other club is more miles to get to (35 each way) but if they are at least friendly then its worth it. There is one that starts just a few minutes from home, but it folded earlier in the year due to lack of organisation/leadership/money/old age.
I guess the other thing is its now the end of summer and those that have been out every week on club runs are up to full speed by now, vs. me who only has about 6months occasional road riding and 2months @ 3 weekly rides (1x 60 + 2x 30).
anyway. will try another. if that fails, then likely just go back to riding on my own on the road/ go on multi day rides out random places; and keep group riding to mountain biking duties.

Where are you based? I am sure people can advise you on suitable clubs.

Just read/ask on these threads :

http://www.lfgss.com/thread13782.html

http://www.lfgss.com/thread6442.html

Did a nice 50 mile derivation of BMMF's excellent 'Learning Curve' ride. All good this weekend, no issues with the 'electronic shit'. :-p

Phow on gods earth do you use those levers?

They're midge bars. Really quite comfy :)

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5093/5460971757_b12805d7ea_b.jpg

Hyperbole's said all that needs to be said about my main ride of the weekend, other than the fact I was recovering from food poisoning (imodium is a god send) and due to the resulting weakness in my legs he did all of the work at the front on the road sections. Thanks. It was a great ride. Eastbourne exceeded my expectations too.

@ Brickman - Shame about your first experience of a club ride, though what you've described is almost exactly the same description my uncle gave me of his first few club rides and what got him hooked to road riding over mountain biking; repeatedly being dropped on club runs until he was strong enough to keep with the group.

Hope you enjoy riding with your new club.

my weekend ride(s)
Yesterday to the uber chicken chef and affable Tibbs for the bbq
today was with cupcakes n friends, twas lovely despite a lack of Tibbs chicken which has now cemented its place in my mind as the best chicken in history.
:)

Hey Jacqui, it was a real pleasant surprise to see you today. Thanks for coming and I'm glad you enjoyed the ride!

it was a total success, by the way; Hannah is now talking about getting a bike. Win.

Where is the club that's getting mentioned, and what are they called?

Well, I give everything 3 goes, so this weekend will try a different group, which claims to have 3 different speeds (happy group, mid group & pro epic elite carbon mofo group), will try the happy or mid group (11-14mph avg and 14-17mph, generally rides on my own are about 13-17 depending on number of climbs).
The other club is more miles to get to (35 each way) but if they are at least friendly then its worth it. There is one that starts just a few minutes from home, but it folded earlier in the year due to lack of organisation/leadership/money/old age.
I guess the other thing is its now the end of summer and those that have been out every week on club runs are up to full speed by now, vs. me who only has about 6months occasional road riding and 2months @ 3 weekly rides (1x 60 + 2x 30).
anyway. will try another. if that fails, then likely just go back to riding on my own on the road/ go on multi day rides out random places; and keep group riding to mountain biking duties.

Persevere. It's really sad to here of a bad experience. Let people know your new, and hopefully they'll get you up the front doing your bit and involved, plus keep an eye on you.

The ride you joined sounded a bit like a chaingang ride which I only ever do out of season. They're a bit unsociable as the pace is higher and there's no let-up, not much chat and no pub/cafe.

where is the club that's getting mentioned, and what are they called?

tnrc?

Where is the club that's getting mentioned, and what are they called?

^ this plz