Club run etiquette

Author
Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
I haven't been on a club run for a few years. I went on one today as a prospective club member. I want to check if it is my expectations that are wrong, or if the way the run panned out is typical these days - it is certainly different from club runs I remember.

So, its a bunch of 12 and the route is 66 miles, with a cafe stop at bang on half way.

Right from the off, there isn't a neat line of 6 pairs. There is 2, then a 1, then a couple of 2s, then a 1, then 2s

There is a lot of handwaving to point out hazards - damaged road surface, parked cars etc.

After just 1 mile, I had already said to myself that the level of road craft on display wasn't too good. Poor judgment of what other vehicles are going to do, riding on the wrong side of the white line, no interest at all in what is happening further back in the bunch and absolutely no interest at all in other vehicles behind the group.

After 10 miles there was a crash. 1 rider at the back of the bunch just ran into the curb and went over. Shook up a bit and a few grazes, but nothing major. I honestly thought some of the bunch wasn't going to stop, but they eventually did.

That all sorted (someone coming to pick her up and another bunch from the same club on a different ride waiting), off we went again. We were 11 now, but still this strange mix of 2s, 1s and 3-a-breasts continued.

The route was flat - very flat. Just a couple of bridges over major roads / railways. At each one of these there was 'an attack' leading to riders being dropped and, in the race for the summit, riders all over both sides of the road.

We made it to the cafe without the bunch doing anything to go anywhere close to helping other road users that we were delaying. No singling out, no riding as a nicely compact bunch, nothing. We had, at one point, 12 cars behind us and, just as it looked as though the road was getting wide enough and straight enough to allow them to get past, 'an attack' was launched, right on the white line by a rider who didn't even check over his shoulder before pulling out. The driver avoided disaster somehow, but the bulk of the bunch were berating him loudly when he used the horn and shook his head as he passed.

On the way back, some riders were getting tired. Energy gels / bars were out. Empties from said sustenance were just discarded onto the road. After seeing this a couple of times, I asked the next litter lout if he had dropped an energy bar. Nah, it was just a wrapper. I asked if it was weighing him down and why he couldn't keep it until there was a bin. That was met with a blank look.

About 3/4 of the way round the bunch was split by 'an attack' up a very small climb. Despite several shouts from several people for the front riders to slow down and wait for everyone to get back on, this didn't happen. So now we were a 2, a 4 and a 5. I was in the back pair of the 4 and I asked if the shouts to wait were actually going to lead to us easing off to get the bunch back together. Again, blank looks.

Fortunately there was some confusion about the route soon after this and I ended up riding with just 2 others (on the proper route), whilst all the others went a different way. We rode 'normally' back to near the start point and then peeled off to go home our own ways.

My summary was: road craft 2 out of 10, 'club' feel also 2 out of 10. Litter louting doesn't get a score because in my world that is just totally unacceptable.

So, my questions are along these lines

Does this sound normal?

Is there any wonder we cyclists sometimes get bad press?

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 2nd August 21:23

Ponk

1,380 posts

191 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
Avoid at all costs.

Not normal for any serious club that's more than just a bunch of guys that printed some jerseys IMO.

Thorpy

251 posts

147 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
That sounds horrendous! The club that I'm a member of all ride 2 up and if there is enough we will chain gang but single out where required. On climbs we all go at our own pace and re group at the top (stronger riders usually come back down to offer "encouragment" to the others).

Your ride just sounds disorganized, if it was me i would have abandoned the ride for my own safety!

JEA1K

2,485 posts

222 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
No, its not normal and you shouldn't accept that it is either. Sounds like a bloody nightmare to me. Dis-guarding of litter would have pushed my buttons for starters.

Whilst you've had a bad experience on that ride, other rides at the club might be different. I had this experience on another ride with a club ... I rode with them Sundays with a group of experienced riders who were a pleasure to ride with ... great etiquette, safe and alert. I tried the Saturday group and was amazed at the difference ... poor road manners and generally unaware of their surroundings. At one point we waited at the top of a climb ... two lads just stood in the middle of the road and only moved when a driver nearly took them out.

One lad spent so much time admiring my bike whilst riding alongside me, I almost expected to catch him with his shorts round his ankles at the cafe stop.

Joey Ramone

2,150 posts

124 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
Send an email to the club secretary highlighting your concerns, then find another club.

N8CYL

457 posts

149 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
JPJPJP said:
I haven't been on a club run for a few years. I went on one today as a prospective club member. I want to check if it is my expectations that are wrong, or if the way the run panned out is typical these days - it is certainly different from club runs I remember.

So, its a bunch of 12 and the route is 66 miles, with a cafe stop at bang on half way.

Right from the off, there isn't a neat line of 6 pairs. There is 2, then a 1, then a couple of 2s, then a 1, then 2s

There is a lot of handwaving to point out hazards - damaged road surface, parked cars etc.

After just 1 mile, I had already said to myself that the level of road craft on display wasn't too good. Poor judgment of what other vehicles are going to do, riding on the wrong side of the white line, no interest at all in what is happening further back in the bunch and absolutely no interest at all in other vehicles behind the group.

After 10 miles there was a crash. 1 rider at the back of the bunch just ran into the curb and went over. Shook up a bit and a few grazes, but nothing major. I honestly thought some of the bunch wasn't going to stop, but they eventually did.

That all sorted (someone coming to pick her up and another bunch from the same club on a different ride waiting), off we went again. We were 11 now, but still this strange mix of 2s, 1s and 3-a-breasts continued.

The route was flat - very flat. Just a couple of bridges over major roads / railways. At each one of these there was 'an attack' leading to riders being dropped and, in the race for the summit, riders all over both sides of the road.

We made it to the cafe without the bunch doing anything to go anywhere close to helping other road users that we were delaying. No singling out, no riding as a nicely compact bunch, nothing. We had, at one point, 12 cars behind us and, just as it looked as though the road was getting wide enough and straight enough to allow them to get past, 'an attack' was launched, right on the white line by a rider who didn't even check over his shoulder before pulling out. The driver avoided disaster somehow, but the bulk of the bunch were berating him loudly when he used the horn and shook his head as he passed.

On the way back, some riders were getting tired. Energy gels / bars were out. Empties from said sustenance were just discarded onto the road. After seeing this a couple of times, I asked the next litter lout if he had dropped an energy bar. Nah, it was just a wrapper. I asked if it was weighing him down and why he couldn't keep it until there was a bin. That was met with a blank look.

About 3/4 of the way round the bunch was split by 'an attack' up a very small climb. Despite several shouts from several people for the front riders to slow down and wait for everyone to get back on, this didn't happen. So now we were a 2, a 4 and a 5. I was in the back pair of the 4 and I asked if the shouts to wait were actually going to lead to us easing off to get the bunch back together. Again, blank looks.

Fortunately there was some confusion about the route soon after this and I ended up riding with just 2 others (on the proper route), whilst all the others went a different way. We road 'normally' back to near the start point and then peeled off to go home our own ways.

My summary was: road craft 2 out of 10, 'club' feel also 2 out of 10. Litter louting doesn't get a score because in my world that is just totally unacceptable.

So, my questions are along these lines

Does this sound normal?

Is there any wonder we cyclists sometimes get bad press?
which part of Yorkshire was it? (going by your profile)

CaptainSlow

13,179 posts

211 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
Sounds like a club run I did with my local club, within the first mile someone dropped their glasses in front of me and a couple of miles later on a fast decent a bottle popped out of a cage which I narrowly avoided. I left them at the coffee stop.

okgo

37,859 posts

197 months

Sunday 2nd August 2015
quotequote all
Sound like absolute knobs. Avoid going out with them, and please name and shame!

ShortShift811

532 posts

141 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Sounds horrendous. As a Leeds-based rider looking to try out a couple of clubs I'd be interested to know which one this is too!

TonyHetherington

32,091 posts

249 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
They're knobs...they just happen to ride bikes smile

outnumbered

4,067 posts

233 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Agreed... I lead a lot of rides for my club, and while they're rarely, if ever, perfect, I hope I do a better job than you've described there.

But it can be a tricky job leading a ride and trying to maintain some control of what's going on - you often have quite mixed abilities in a group; new riders who don't know what they're doing; a few congenital idiots smile, etc. On top of this, you have to recognise that everyone, including the leader, is out there trying to have fun. Over many years, I've decided that I'll only go so far in trying to keep people under control, as at some point I stop enjoying the ride myself.

For example, on the way back home yesterday, there was a guy who was having trouble keeping up, and the group kept stringing out as the stronger guys will unconsciously just ride at the speed that feels comfortable for them. My "solution" was to keep regrouping at junctions until we got to the direct road back to town, and then basically just let it go from that point. So the faster guys got a bit of a burnup for 10 miles and at least no-one was marooned in the middle of nowhere. So not perfect, but probably the best compromise.


Edited by outnumbered on Monday 3rd August 12:26

TonyHetherington

32,091 posts

249 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
For the same reason - as time's gone on (although I'm still very new to cycling compared to many of you!) I prefer rides with few people. 3 or 4, great. Any more than that and it needs control on the road. When it gets to say 7-8, then it's a pain for other road users as much as anything, which I hate.

markiii

3,565 posts

193 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
sounds the norm for the behavior I witness these days

Daveyraveygravey

2,018 posts

183 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
That sounds really bad, and as you say, can't help the general public's attitude towards cyclists.

I have never been in a club, I can't really commit to being in the same places at the same time on the same days. I've seen some club riders on sportives, and they put me off too, but I guess any sub-group on an organised event are more likely to follow their own rules and behaviour, rather than the whole thing. Close passing on bikes, what's that about?!

toohangry

416 posts

108 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
JPJPJP said:
I haven't been on a club run for a few years. I went on one today as a prospective club member. I want to check if it is my expectations that are wrong, or if the way the run panned out is typical these days - it is certainly different from club runs I remember.

So, its a bunch of 12 and the route is 66 miles, with a cafe stop at bang on half way.

Right from the off, there isn't a neat line of 6 pairs. There is 2, then a 1, then a couple of 2s, then a 1, then 2s

There is a lot of handwaving to point out hazards - damaged road surface, parked cars etc.

After just 1 mile, I had already said to myself that the level of road craft on display wasn't too good. Poor judgment of what other vehicles are going to do, riding on the wrong side of the white line, no interest at all in what is happening further back in the bunch and absolutely no interest at all in other vehicles behind the group.

After 10 miles there was a crash. 1 rider at the back of the bunch just ran into the curb and went over. Shook up a bit and a few grazes, but nothing major. I honestly thought some of the bunch wasn't going to stop, but they eventually did.

That all sorted (someone coming to pick her up and another bunch from the same club on a different ride waiting), off we went again. We were 11 now, but still this strange mix of 2s, 1s and 3-a-breasts continued.

The route was flat - very flat. Just a couple of bridges over major roads / railways. At each one of these there was 'an attack' leading to riders being dropped and, in the race for the summit, riders all over both sides of the road.

We made it to the cafe without the bunch doing anything to go anywhere close to helping other road users that we were delaying. No singling out, no riding as a nicely compact bunch, nothing. We had, at one point, 12 cars behind us and, just as it looked as though the road was getting wide enough and straight enough to allow them to get past, 'an attack' was launched, right on the white line by a rider who didn't even check over his shoulder before pulling out. The driver avoided disaster somehow, but the bulk of the bunch were berating him loudly when he used the horn and shook his head as he passed.

On the way back, some riders were getting tired. Energy gels / bars were out. Empties from said sustenance were just discarded onto the road. After seeing this a couple of times, I asked the next litter lout if he had dropped an energy bar. Nah, it was just a wrapper. I asked if it was weighing him down and why he couldn't keep it until there was a bin. That was met with a blank look.

About 3/4 of the way round the bunch was split by 'an attack' up a very small climb. Despite several shouts from several people for the front riders to slow down and wait for everyone to get back on, this didn't happen. So now we were a 2, a 4 and a 5. I was in the back pair of the 4 and I asked if the shouts to wait were actually going to lead to us easing off to get the bunch back together. Again, blank looks.

Fortunately there was some confusion about the route soon after this and I ended up riding with just 2 others (on the proper route), whilst all the others went a different way. We rode 'normally' back to near the start point and then peeled off to go home our own ways.

My summary was: road craft 2 out of 10, 'club' feel also 2 out of 10. Litter louting doesn't get a score because in my world that is just totally unacceptable.

So, my questions are along these lines

Does this sound normal?

Is there any wonder we cyclists sometimes get bad press?

Edited by JPJPJP on Sunday 2nd August 21:23
That seems to echo my experiences of most cycling club runs from behind my steering wheel. I'm sure they're not all like this of course but after being held up for 3-4 miles the other week by a peloton as you've described, it's hard to stop having negative thoughts about groups of cyclists.

numtumfutunch

4,705 posts

137 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all

find another club

There are several to choose from local to me

Some ride as you describe - most do not

PorscheGT4

21,146 posts

264 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
markiii said:
sounds the norm for the behavior I witness these days
This: riders hold up 20 or 30 cars and can be 4 wide over the white line , then look at you gone out when you pip the horn.

Worse coming the other way to find riders heading towards you on your side of the road.

I love cycling, but these guys in clubs do think they own the road and don't seem to give a st about anything :-(

GaryGlitter

1,925 posts

182 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
PorscheGT4 said:
This: some riders hold up 20 or 30 cars and can be 4 wide over the white line , then look at you gone out when you pip the horn.

Worse coming the other way to find riders heading towards you on your side of the road.

I love cycling, but these guys in badly run clubs do think they own the road and don't seem to give a st about anything :-(
EFA.

Not all clubs are the same, not all riders are the same.

I ride with a club and none of what the OP described occurs on our Sunday club runs.

thiscocks

3,127 posts

194 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
Sounds pretty poor. I cant stand all the shouting alot of club members on club rides seem to do. HOLE! CAR! TREE! HOUSE! SKY! ROAD!

Herman Toothrot

6,702 posts

197 months

Monday 3rd August 2015
quotequote all
thiscocks said:
Sounds pretty poor. I cant stand all the shouting alot of club members on club rides seem to do. HOLE! CAR! TREE! HOUSE! SKY! ROAD!
I've noticed this, I really don't get it and won't join in when I eventually get back out with a road club if that's the sort of thing they do. I rode with a club 1989 - 1993 and guys at the front if there was a major pot hole, (I mean the sort of thing that would snap a rim) would point at it - that's all that required everyone has eyes, if a car approached from behind 1st person to see / hear it would shout car and we'd all tuck in to make it as easy as possible for said car to pass. Absolutely no need for people to be shouting and pointing at every imperfection in the road - riders should have vision good enough to see if there is anything worth avoiding and usually it isn't.