Elephant in the room

[Kim]

I don't think I could average 14mph over a reasonable distance other than on a race track...

[Pedal Castro]

When I ran a "beginners/social" group I specifically said speed of the slowest and for those that asked I said expect 12-14mph depending on who turns up. The group was usually 4-5 and the distance around 20-30 miles.

[De Sisti]

The name '14 mph' is just a name, aspirational, but nothing more. I suppose we generally achieve an average of between 12 - 14.  The club could revert back to the naming convention of the early 2000s; A, B, C, D, etc, etc, but that is for the committe to decide.

[citoyen]

I don't think I could average 14mph over a reasonable distance other than on a race track...

But for a racing club, it’s a fairly relaxed pace.

It sounds like the root of the problem is these women not understanding the nature of the club. And their insensitivity to the problem they are causing to other members.

[fimm]

The other thing is how good people are at drafting and sitting in groups. If you can do that well then you are more comfortable in a group that's going faster than you can go on your own.

[tom_e]

Many other activity clubs will have a range of categories of ability, which will usually go right down to a beginners or social level.  In that last group the emphasis will be on participating, and there being a space for everyone pretty much regardless of ability.

Road cycling is possibly unusual in having clubs which don't maintain that "bottom rung".  It would be very very unusual for a running group for example, to not support this social / beginner run. 

I fully understand how you ended up in the situation but with 20/20 hindsight the best time to clarify would have been much sooner after they first joined in?

[Kim]

The name '14 mph' is just a name, aspirational, but nothing more.

Well that's just stupid, isn't it?

[De Sisti]

I fully understand how you ended up in the situation but with 20/20 hindsight the best time to clarify would have been much sooner after they first joined in?

Yes, that is very true. I was just trying to be helpful in encouraging them to experience club cycling.

[redshift]

...I was just trying to be helpful in encouraging them to experience club cycling.

Frankly, it's why I ride alone 99% of the time.  I choose to ride at my own pace for my own reasons and don't expect anyone else to match it regardless of whether I'm faster or slower.  "Club cycling," for me, is everything I don't want in a ride.  I'm not competitive, or racing, and I rarely want to talk to anyone.  In fact I recall an incident written about in the ACF days where a club 'chased down' and laughed at a solo cyclist that they didn't know simply because he'd had the temerity to ride past them wearing a team kit, which was all considered great fun by the group.  That's appalling, and another reason I don't like clubs.

You did the right thing.  If they want social bimbles, they need to find a group that accommodates that.  If they want to join a road club, and the club says "Here are our criteria" then they should meet them, or they could start their own club.*  They clearly don't wish to accommodate your established criteria so frankly they're not compatible with your group, and if they're incapable of understanding that I wouldn't see their 'disapproval' as a loss at all.  They need to work out what they want from their cycling and do that.



*Which would be another club I wouldn't join.  See, it's easy!