An Introduction to Club Cycling - 22 Feb 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!

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 cycling novices. 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 for 10am on Saturday 22nd February to Whittington Park on Holloway Road. 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.
  
  
  
  
  

This session will be run by +Ali and +Laura so please ask any questions you may have below and we'll answer them as best we can :)

Many thanks for this, Laura. This is great.
Your practical suggestions are really important. We should ensure that they are ALL picked up in the FAQS on the website.

The current proposed route for our session on Strava here: http://www.strava.com/routes/175094

And also available below as a gpx download.

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• Intro to Club Cycling 001 (1).gpx

Looks good. Thanks.

Thank you for organizing this Laura/Ali! I was planning to join you guys on a Sunday ride, but as I've done most of my cycling solo, this is probably a better fit for me.
See you on Saturday!
Orestis

I'm going to come along to this one as not done any club cycling really. Hopefully this, then try a Sunday ride or Regents park session and then join the club

Great! Looking forward to seeing you Lisa :)

Hey All
Is there room for a group riding novice with some riding experience to tag along on this ride?
Have not really ridden since my last event and can already feel the pounds piling on and the fitness slipping away :-)
Steve

Yes, of course there is room for you! See you on Saturday Steve. If you have any questions before then, feel free to ask.

Me again...i've read the icc riding rules and noticed the mud guard part.
Any recommendations for a trek madone 5.2 (rear brake placement by BB)?
Ive had a look at the race blades but not sure they'll give enough coverage.
If all else fails ill get out on my specialized.
Cheers
Steve

The weather is good for Saturday, and there shouldn't be too much, if any standing water on the route so you should be okay for this time.

SKS race blades do quite a good job for deflecting most of the muck .

good times...if i can pick some up i will.
looking forward to Saturday :-)

This sounds like a great idea. I'll be there. Looking forward to it.

Sounds like a great introduction to the club. I'm hoping to join this tomorrow.

+Laura,+Ali, thank you for the awesome ride today! Looks like I got lost on the way back though... Went to Whittington Park for a while but no joy. Hopefully the rest of you got back safely!

Thank you all who attended today - well ridden each and every one of you.

Sorry to those who missed us this morning - I may have left rather promptly at 10.15am. Ooops! Please join us again either on a Regent Park morning ride, or the next Intro ride which should be in March.

Looked like a really nice group, I see you guys coming through high barnet. Lovely day for it and lots of new faces. Hopefully see some of you tomorrow.

A photo of today's most excellent group:

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Well done to everyone who rode this morning. It was a great day for it. And, of course, welcome to the Club!

Thanks for the ride this Saturday. I really enjoyed myself and it was very well organised with a lovely bunch of people. I'll definitely be signing up shortly.

Hi! How can I sign up for the introduction of Saturday the 22th of Feb? Thanks!

Can these old threads be archived @Sir_Shannonball ......?

Maybe moved to an open access 'archive' folder for those that may want to do a little darning and check out old posts, photos, etc...

Hi Camila, you can find our up coming introduction rides here:

https://forum.islington.cc/search/?type=event&eventAfter=0&sort=oldest

This one has passed unfortunately. Just sign up by clicking the 'Yes, I'm attending' button.