When I was approaching 40, I felt an urge to get fit again. I was riding solo for a whole year before I thought about joining my local club. If you’re still at the stage where you’re thinking about whether to get involved or not, here’s some good reasons to dive in.
Good reasons to join your local club:
- Motivation to get out and ride more often, and longer distances
- No more lonely solo rides
- Safety in numbers – car drivers find it easier to see a whole group
- Push yourself harder and get fitter and faster
- Discover new places and great routes
- Make friends!
- Learn a bit more about bike mechanics
- Cafe stops are awesome
- Feeling a part of something. The “community spirit” aspect.
I asked Twitter for some good reasons and got these replies (thanks guys!):
https://twitter.com/davidkcowie/status/284338280638578688
@StravaTips clearly it has to be about which local club has the best club kit :-) or the club who do the most to promote cycling .
— alan overson (@AlanOverson) December 27, 2012
Tempted to get involved?
It’s common to be a bit apprehensive about approaching a cycling club for the first time. You may feel a bit anxious about not being able to keep up with the group, and that sort of thing. Many clubs have different groups to accommodate those who want to just bimble along merrily, and those who want to chain gang their way to fast and fluid efficiency.
If you just happen to live anywhere near Rhyl, or down the Vale of Clwyd, and you’ve been thinking of getting involved with a cycling club, I would urge you to make contact and go for it. We’re a very friendly bunch and we regularly regroup to wait for everyone on the club rides. Nobody gets left behind!
I remember lurking in their Facebook group for a few weeks prior to making contact, just to suss out the [whatever it was I was trying to suss out…]
So go ahead and lurk at Rhyl Cycling Club’s Facebook group.
Last word of advice – if you’re thinking of cycling with a club, just do it.
It may be the best thing you do in 2013.
Or you could just carry on watching TV and wasting time on Facebook…. your call.
Did I miss anything? What other good reasons are there to join your local cycling club?
in effect I’m approaching 40 and urge to get fit again … !!! Thanks to reming me this personal necessity ;)
There’s a growing army of mid-life cyclists! It’s all good :-)
I’m apprehensive about joining a club because I see them as largely being ‘mid-life cyclists’…
As a 23 year old (fairly novice) cyclist, what sort of a reception am I likely to get?
You won’t know until you try, but if you enjoy riding your bike in the company of others, then you’ll probably find more similarities between yourself and the “mid life cyclists” than differences. I can only reflect on my experience with the club I’m a member of, but there’s nothing but support and mutual respect , and we’ve got riders from their teens right up to their seventies. Everybody’s cool.