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!

[mrcharly-YHT]

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?

ERm, it was a few years ago (heck, more than 20, pre Park Run), but I went out for a run with a York club. Carefully checked with them that they accommodated new/returning slow runners. Me and a guy recovering from knee surgery were new.

Set off together. After a couple of km, the leader asked if person X would mind accompanying the two newbies on a gentler run.

9km (total) later, we got back. Knee man was reduced to walking multiple times, I kept having to call our lead back. Never joined them again.

[De Sisti]

@Redshift, thank your for your comments. Two of the three ladies have written to the club complaining
that they weren't being catered for (in terms at riding at their pace  . The third sent me a text, wanting
to "clear the air". She wanted to know if she was still able to ride with the group. I told her that nobody
said she could not  .

She said her first joy was still running and with her full-time job, she didn't have the time for more cycling
and that some members in our group (the slowest) had electric-assist bike. I said that is fine and
that they were using them on the hilly ride. I also pointed out that cycle club members have cycling
as their first joy, have full-time jobs and are more likely to be a stronger cyclist than she was.

Fair enough, she took it on board and said she'd learn from the points myself and the club road captain
put to her.

As I previously mentioned, my act of trying to get these ladies into our cycling club (after they expressed
an interest back in May 2023 has backfired and slapped me in the face).