antimonysarah

Boston folks: does anyone know of a club/group ride aimed at slower riders who want to improve (i.e. not a fast group having a social day)? I enjoy riding solo, but it'd be nice to have a group to help me push myself. Problem is, I haven't found any I can keep up with. (And the slower groups I have found are often no-drop -- a 14-15mph group that does drop people would be OK too -- I can hang on as long as I can, and then ride solo.) Over moderately hilly terrain, I can consistently average about 12mph for about 40-50 miles. I'm a terrible, terrible hill-climber, though, so that includes much faster riding on the flats and crawling up hills.

The only one I've seen is the Ride Studio Cafe women's ride, which is a weekday ride during the work day, which doesn't work for me. (Plus, I've heard that it runs faster than advertised a lot of the time.)

I'd be riding from West Medford to any ride, so any starting location within about ten miles of there would be fine. Recommendations for rides that don't start again until fair weather also OK.

bcautilli

Sounds pretty much like the pace that I ride. I'm not a woman so I don't attend but there is a womens ride led by Kate at Ferris Wheels Bike Shop in Jamaica Plain. They ride at the pace that your looking for. It was on Sundays usually at 4. The ride wont start again until the weather gets better though. The best way to get more info would be to call the shop or email her.

antimonysarah

Thanks! I hunted back on their events calendar, and they say 14-17mph, but I might be able to hang on for the shorter distance if it isn't too hilly. I'll send her an email when it warms back up and see if I'd be OK.

fatdad

These guys https://amcboston.org/bicycle/calenda...uary&year=2013 do rides at around the pace you're looking for. They just happen to have a nice ride going this coming sunday and the weather is supposed to be very warm for this time of year.

antimonysarah

I saw that, actually -- my husband was evidently on the mailing list even though he doesn't ride much, and forwarded it on. It was what made me think to ask about other rides. (I'm tempted, but this Sunday is probably my only chance to get a really long ride in this month, so I think I'm sticking to my plan of a solo ride out to Bolton and Harvard.)

But do you know if they do a regular training ride in the summer at all? That's really what I'm looking for -- a hammerfest for people with very small hammers. If that makes sense?

Mass BikePike

Hey Sarah,
Two possible choices are Bike Rides for Ordinary People, which is run by my friend Bruce Lederer. It's not every week, but it's a great group of really friendly people.

Another choice is the NEBC women's ride, which is Tuesday nights out of Lexington Center (during warm season only). I haven't been for a while, but they break into several groups and I would say your speed would fit in. Very nice ladies, good camaraderie.

Oh! If you want to go a little further afield, the friendliest club I know (and with great routes to boot) is Nashoba Valley Pedalers. Check out their info, but I feel like they would be leading rides where you would fit in. They have a very active calendar, though from Meffa you probably wouldn't want to get out there on a weeknight.

Finally, if you want a tour where you'd fit in wonderfully, I work on the Mass BikePike Tour (also run by my friend Bruce) - it's 4 days of great riding and friendly people. Best use ever of just two vacation days! It's nice because it has super-challenging options and more mellow options, and we really don't care how fast you ride it!

antimonysarah

Thanks! I was under the impression that NEBC were hard-core racers and way out of my league, but I'll take a look! I am on the mailing list for Bike Rides for Ordinary People, but I was also looking for something that was centered around improving/sport, rather than socializing, just at a level I could keep up with.

The Nashoba folks are a bit too far away -- a ten mile to/from a ride start is OK, but when over half the ride is going to be to/from the ride, it seems a bit much.

I'm actually going to start by trying the Landry's women's ride, once it starts up again for the spring/summer, since it's near work, although not near home.

Yo Spiff

Have you thought of starting your own ride group?

My wife has been starting to ride with me, and she want to do group riding, but at this point she is still painfully slow for most of the regulars I ride with. We went on a casual group ride Sunday and were so far behind that I got an email from the ride leader the next day asking what happened to us. She has a lot of weight to lose, and has never done physical activity of this level before. She's improving, but it's slow progress. Her normal pace is about 6-8 mph, fall-off-the-bike speed for most riders. We do frequently run into others who are in the same extreme beginner stage.

She started a group on Facebook. All rides are to be under 10 miles, at a sub 10mph pace. Many will be even shorter and slower. Many of the regulars I ride with seem to know someone like that who wants to ride, but can't keep up. Getting a lot of interest, so we'll see how the turnout is for the first ride in a couple of weeks.

Since I'm in another part of the country, I won't bother with a link, however.

antimonysarah

I really don't want to run a group -- I'd rather ride solo, honestly. I guess I'm looking for something that seems to be a bit of an odd niche -- experienced, comfortable riders who want to push themselves, but just aren't that naturally blessed. I ride 60-70 miles comfortably on a regular basis; I rode 20 miles in driving rain on my commute this morning. I just average 12mph while doing it, and would like to improve, and think a group ride where I'm beating myself up to keep up but can keep up sounds like a great idea.

stephanierae23

Hi - I just came across this. I'm from West Medford, too, and looking for the exact same thing. Have you found anything useful yet? I'm thinking about doing the Farina's ride tomorrow am at 7--they do about 28 miles, but the leader said it's an average pace of closer to 17-18mph... I'm wondering if you also just went for faster rides and found you were fine with it? I'm usually in the 12-13 range like you. Please let me know if you've found anything that works well for you, or if you'd ever be interested in riding together!

the_doctor

There are some ladies that come to the Rockland ride. They ride approximately 12 mph. See https://www.facebook.com/SundayCoastalLoop. It is only a small contingent. Most beginners usually start riding around 16mph.

antimonysarah

I've been riding with the Landry's women's ride out in Natick -- it's about 20 miles, usually around 14mph. It's a comfortable pace over that distance for me, since they don't drag us up big hills. It's not near home, but it's near where I work.

Definitely get on the AMC bike list -- one of the ride organizers lives nearby, and there have been several not-too-fast rides lately, though none of them worked with my schedule so I haven't been on any of them.

And certainly, I'd be happy to go for a ride some time!