An Introduction to Club Cycling - 22 March 2014

Want to join Islington Cycle Club on a ride, but unsure about your ability? Then why not come along and join us for a workshop session entitled 'An Introduction to Club Cycling' which is intended to equip you with some skills, knowledge and confidence to attend one of our regular clubs rides with ease! This ride will be led by Alison.

Making the jump from regular commuter cyclist to club cyclist can initially be intimidating - but with a little investment in your base fitness and support from like-minded individuals (hopefully us!) you should be cycling along with us in no time at all.

This is not a session for complete cycling beginners. You should have already been cycling regularly in some capacity and be confident cycling on London's roads.

What will we cover in our session?

We will cycle a short route (15-25 miles) and discuss group formation, signals, group communication.
There will be a cafe stop where will will discuss things such as endurance fitness, hill climbing and any other techniques or cycling related stuff you wish to talk about.
The session should last a couple of hours.
If you wish to attend, please come along to Whittington Park on Holloway Road at 10am for a pre-ride chat, rolling out around 10.15am on Saturday 22nd March. A degree of road sense and safety is essential, under 16's must be accompanied by an adult.

What to bring:

A road bike is preferable to a hybrid. Islington is primarily a road cycling club, so we feel this point is very important and having a road bike will make your ride more enjoyable (not to mention speedier!)
Spare inner tubes and a pump. Also, please check your tyres are fully inflated before you join us.
Energy food. We're only doing a short ride, so an energy bar or a banana will do.
Water. Make sure that you can easily carry water with you on your bike.
Waterproofs and / or warm clothing. The weather can change quickly - make sure you have checked the weather report and dress appropriately.
Money. Either for the cafe stop or in case of an emergency (you might be in a situation where you need to get a train or taxi home! So bring enough cash or your cash card!)
What to leave at home:

Your D-Lock. You won't like climbing hills with a lock in tow.
Your rucksack. You should be able to stuff all your things into jersey pockets - or invest in a saddle bag. Rucksacks aren't much fun on a club ride.

Really looking forward to this! I wanted to go on the last one but couldn't make it. It's nice to find a club that's helping to make joining a club for the first time a lot less intimidating. Hoping to join up in the near future. Jack

Great, +Jack_S

Hi there,
I'm really looking forward to this as I missed the last one. As long as I can keep up then I will be looking to join up after this :)
Also hoping to bring my husband along but I'll defo be there.
Amanda

Been a commuter cyclist for a while now but just been accepted into Ride London, admittedly a little bit nervous so really hoping you guys can help me out. See you then!

+Klara - riding with a club is the best thing you can do to boost your cycle training for an event like Ride 100. +chunkiiee - don't worry about not being able to keep up. The pace will be steady and we never leave anyone behind.

Sounds great Laura, I'm looking forward to meeting everyone. We have also got places in the Ride 100 so have (just) started to think about training and thought joining the club would be a good start. :)

Club ride on Sunday with me would be a good start, gentle paced 40 miles, the group c ride.

Otherwise @Laura will look after you.

Seeing as @aidan is racing next weekend I will require a helper for this from ICC.

+Ali - I am back in to help you with this. I will be rearranging what I was originally doing on that Saturday.

Hi, I'm looking to join ICC soon and would like to come on a couple of Sat/Sun rides - I've been riding road and MTB for years but never formally in a group (although I've done sportives/ audaxes and group rides with mates) - is it worth coming along to this?

Bakes - Very much so. I look forward to seeing you there.

Hi,

I am going to join this. I am already a member but have never been out on one of the club rides and think this might be a better introduction, especially seeing as the Sunday rides seem to have pretty big groups now the weather has improved.

@The_Other_Rob would love to join the Sunday ride but will sadly have to give this week a miss. Will defo be at the intro ride on the 22nd and then hopefully the Sunday C rides after that. I'm so glad that I've come across this club, will be nice to learn new routes and techniques.

Hi all,
Looking forward to my first ride with the club this weekend. Will definitely try to make either the intro session or a Sunday ride (or both).

Glad to be living close to such a sociable club!

See you there,
James

Please count me in for the intro ride!
Cheers, Pip

You're in!

Welcome Pip, James, Amanda and Simon!

I'll be there! Any clues as to the route that we'll take?

Woop! Full house. Looking forward to meeting you all on Saturday. Our route will be published ASAP, but will be similar to the last one (if you can find that thread). It basically heads out of London on the A1000, into Totteridge and a bit of South Herts then back into London. +Ali will post the route as soon as she has it prepped.

@Laura I will come along to assist in any way I can.

Have fun everyone. I am sure it will be a great session.

Thanks @Morgan

Hi All,

This is the route that we will be following on Saturday. http://www.strava.com/routes/222717 It'll give us a good chance to ride in the city and also out on the quiet lanes just short of M25.

Wrap up warm, make sure you bring some food and water, and I'll see you all tomorrow.

Would it be cheeky if I picked up the group at Totteridge Lane?