krazygl00

What if you wanted to assemble a group ride from a larger group, such as church, school, office, etc., but you wanted to orient it toward more serious riders, or those interested in becoming more serious riders? What would be the best way to do it?

I've tried this in the past with limited success. I advertised a weekly ride in a bulletin, but I was hesitant to be too unfriendly by saying something like "serious riders only" or "only come out if you know what you're doing", or to post an average speed, because my whole idea was to encourage people who might be new to road biking or group riding. But it never failed, most of the riders who showed up came wearing sneakers, with ancient superstore MTBs with dry-rotted tires.

Is there some wording or phrasing that has worked for others to assemble groups in the past, sort of like code-speak for roadies or proto-roadies who don't necessarily want to kill it, but want to get a decent two-hour workout and fun group ride in?

longbeachgary

Advertise it at a good bike shop.

gitarzan

Advertise cat level?

coasting 

that's not going to work. the non serious riders do not think of themselves as not serious and won't recognise the coded warnings. I think the dividing line is between those that wear lycra and those that don't and I'm not making this a superficial point. People are embarrassed about cycling clothes so only those who ride long enough know that it is needed and will not worry about the laughs because the pains are worse. Maybe you should say cycling shorts highly recommended.

RT

Start a thread called 'Addiction' on BF. Wait, you said serious cyclists

helmut

Serious cyclists? Cat level?

Machka 

Rowan and I have logged thousands of km in a lot of different types of cycling (racing, touring, long distance, etc.), and while we both own cycling shorts and will wear them, we both also cycling in regular clothes too. The beauty of a broken-in Brooks saddle is that it allows you to wear whatever you want to wear on a bicycle.

coasting 

Owning a brooks is a sure sign of serious cycling enthusisast in itself.

baribari

Pay them.

Caad 8

But in order to that you'll need sponsors.

Machka 

You need to decide who you're aiming to get out there ... beginners (i.e. 30 minutes of slow riding) or more experienced cyclists (i.e. a decent two-hour workout). If you don't want the beginners or casual cyclists (and it sounds like you don't), then advertise with words like, "maintain 22 - 27 km/h for 2 hours".

urbanknight

Advertise it as a training race.

krazygl00

I can just go to the LBS and find an already-established ride. The idea here was to get riders from a different group -- church/work/school -- together for riding.

I hear ya. Those who aren't familiar with the terminology won't know to be forewarned by it. Not a bad idea about the spandex thing, although I've seen some complete doofuses (I don't necessarily preclude myself from being a complete doofus :-) ) riding around in bib shorts 3 sizes too big, with the suspenders on the outside, sneakers and 20 year old styrofoam coolers for helmets.

Caad 8

Yeah, but if you want people from church/work/school, most likely they are going to be noobs.

Treespeed

I would argue that if you're trying to pull in a more diverse group then you should be happy with what you get. Anyone who comes to a ride that listed as being for serious riders obviously consider themselves a serious rider or would like to become one. It seems weird that you want a diverse group, but then at the same time you're being exclusive about it. If you want to encourage cycling amongst a new group then it would seem that you should be ready and patient enough to do a little educating. If on the other hand, all you want is a serious group ride you should just join one. Probably any 'serious' cyclists in your area are already participating in such rides.

Treespeed

We were all newbies once.

njkayaker

You are, maybe, trying to optimize too many things.

You could tell these other people about the LBS rides...

Or, you could basically create a club and publish a list of various types of rides at different levels. There aren't going to be any magic ways of excluding unprepared people.

Another way, is to start with some ride and see who shows up.

If you make the requirements clear, be prepared to disqualify people who are not prepared.

superdex

We created a cycling club here at work --got work to subsidize jerseys and entry fees for organized rides and races. We have folks of all levels, but really there's only a core group of maybe ten of us (out of 45+ on the distro list) who ride/communicate with any regularity.

Anyway, I put out on the group calendar a 2x/week "fast" lunch ride. Now for the talent here at work (other than one Cat2 I know of), "fast" means low20's mph pace, sub-20mph average. Even still, I'm solo most of those days unless a couple (literally) of the other guys join. So defining the ride with strong language may mean you don't have any takers. Also, keep in mind that most of us in the "serious" category that you're talking about probably already have their group rides.

One way to cultivate a new group is to rally around an organized ride. When I lived in Virginia I hooked up via word of mouth with some folks getting together to initiate an organized ride (https://www.fanfreeclinic.org/events/ride-to-provide/) so we all started training together. But the time the ride came and went, we were far beyond "recreational" and enjoyed riding together at higher speeds and tighter pacelines....

bwunger

This is a link to a ride I do somewhat regularly and this ride description seems to get only "serious" riders. The Cascade Bicycle Club has a ride calendar where all kinds of rides are listed, so there's the benefit of uniformity when it comes to pace descriptions or amount of elevation. Might give you some ideas for wording though.

https://www.cascade.org/EandR/Activit...?eventID=13835

In the end though, I'd list a pace for the ride, describe who you want to come like "people wanting to learn to ride in a group", or "people experienced with riding in groups", List mileage, and then whether it's a "no drop" ride or not. That should let people know what they're getting into.

coasting 

"Come along if you can handle being dropped and left to fend for yourself, you miserable maggots."
"Stop crying or I'll give you something to really cry about."

Take your pick.

Yaniel

most serious riders that want to ride in groups will already be riding in the LBS rides and other local rides. basically all you can do is go on those rides and try to recruit riders for days when nobody else is holding a ride. anybody you find in church, work, school will probably be new or not very serious

JohnDThompson 

And include the words "free beer!"

caloso

Promise to yell at them.

roccobike

This is easy, use the code words. State the speed or speeds, i.e. "This will be an A level, 20 MPH avg speed ride. Distance, 45 miles. Cue sheets will be handed out." Lets see how many Magnas and Roadmasters show up for that ride.

On the other hand, whats wrong with having a newbie ride. I led a slow, 34 mile ride through the winter and made a lot of freinds not to mention how I'm now seen as one of the leaders in two clubs (the fools!)

Velo Vol 

Advertise that you are doing training rides to lead up to a longer distance event. For example, 50 miles.

That might scare off the people who only ride a few times a year.