I want to ride as a guest

Hello There

I would love to have the first session with the club as a guest to try it but I'm not sure what I should do.
Could you please direct me in the right direction? :)

Hey!

Please email us at [email protected] and we'll send you all the info you need along with an invitation to ride.

We look forward to seeing you soon.

Hi there!
I am unsure how to create a new conversation so I thought I would just comment on this one and hope it is seen. I have just turned 16 and am looking to join a cycling club. I am experienced enough at cycling both on road and track (I used to go to Herne Hill regularly when I lived closer to there and also managed to somehow obtain VC Londres kit and become a member although not an active one). I cycle a decent amount but usually solo and want to change this by joining a cycling club. I am looking at different clubs such as London Dynamo, Hackney CC etc. I particularly want to join ICC as I live in between Regent’s Park and swains lane so not far from any Islington CC meeting point. I am also leaning towards joining this club as the adult group is from 16+ which would allow me to ride with adults and challenge my fitness whereas in other clubs I would have to join the junior section of the club. I was wondering if I could join you on up to 3 rides to see the different types of rides you have on before I make a decision as to what club to join. I am usually quite shy and as I will not know anyone just yet I will just pedal quietly and keep myself to myself. I plan to join a Regents Park Saturday morning ride, a north London hills midweek ride (as I want to see the pace which is set up climbs such as swains lane and whether I will be able to hold on) and finally will hope to join a Sunday ride. On Sunday rides is there any way I can know the Sunday route in advance or would I just turn up at the meeting point and follow the leader of my group?

Also, after riding for a while with the club, should I choose Islington, I would like to start racing crits; I see on the British Cycling website that some members of this club participate in the type of events I will hope to compete in and my question is: If there are multiple members in a race do we ride as a team, as individuals or only as a team if we are already familiar through previous rides?

I will of course email to let you know in advance what rides I hope to join but I just wanted to ask these questions about the club first.

Yours faithfully,

John

Hello John!

Thanks for your message.

Please email us at [email protected] and we will send you an invitation to ride along with all the info you need.

I’d advise signing up to our group skills and/or introduction to group cycling sessions anyway as they are free and will be very useful to you regarding group riding even if you eventually decide to join another club.

We hope to see you soon.

Best wishes,

Sean - ICC

Hi John,

I'm the membership manager for the club and will happily send you all the info you need if you send me an email as Sean suggests above. Just one thing to note is that we can only have guests come along on our Sunday rides for up to 3 occasions before becoming a member, this is for insurance purposes. As such, the Saturday laps and the Weekday rides are only available to club members.

On Sundays, sometimes the routes are posted in advance and sometimes not - it really does depend on who wants to lead a ride that day and how organised they are! Generally we suggest all new riders go on a Green ride (easiest pace), these can vary but there will always be one taken out that is around 60-65km. You won't need the route in advance as you'll be well taken care of by the ride leader(s) on the day.

As for crit racing, there is a good turnout by Islington at crits and it tends to be decided among participants as to what, if any, the strategy of the race will be. There isn't anything set by the club for this. For example, if an individual needs some points to go up a category then likely the other ICC club mates will help them achieve that goal, but other times it will just be a free for all.

If you have anything else you need to know then by all means drop any questions into an email to me and I'll be more than happy to help. Send me an email anyway and I can give you more information on the joining/trying us out process.

Thanks,

Sally

Thank you both for replying so quickly. I am currently away but will be back in London by Sunday. I will email once I am sure that I am free on Sunday. Seeing as I am unable to join the Saturday laps or midweek rides I will probably try to attempt 3 Sunday rides. The first time going in the C group, the second time going with the B group and the third time I might try the A group if I can get the route beforehand as I am likely to get dropped and I will tell the leader that they should not wait for me.

Yours faithfully,

John

Hi John,

We no longer operate A, B and C rides as we found 3 categories too restrictive for the number of people we have in the club now. We split into four groups: Black (fastest, hardest effort, approximately 35km/h average on the flat), Blue(30km/h average), Grey (25km/h average) and Green (Slowest, reduced effort, 20km/h average).

I suggest you start with a Green group (there will be a new riders group called every Sunday so join that one) and then move up a grade as appropriate. Joining the 'new riders' ride will also help you learn our group riding skills in a less pressured environment.

There is little point going along with a fast group if you don't think you'll be able to hold on for the duration, especially as we operate a no drop policy on our rides unless otherwise stated at the set off. It is unlikely that other riders in the group will let you fall off the back so if your speed is exceptionally slower than theirs then it is slightly unfair to join their ride.

All of our club rides are operated in the same way, you will find that only the distance and speed varies really.

Okay thank you for informing my about the changes to the groups. I will join green first then go with grey and then I’ll decide whether to ride with grey or blue for my last ride as a guest depending on how I go with grey. Do the different groups ride different routes or do all the groups ride the same route as each other.

Thank you for your helpful and informative replies!

John

Hi John,

Mostly the different groups will ride different routes although there may be a small number of groups who go on similar rides. With a club as big as ours it would take over the roads if everyone were to ride the same route. Our week day rides are different, with everyone riding the same route - but these are much lower in turnout than our Sunday rides.

Hi again,

Last Saturday afternoon after having got home from a ride I sent an email to [email protected] asking for details and an invitation regarding the Sunday club run. I got no reply and then sent a message via the British Cycling website in the evening in the hope this may be seen.

Neither of these attempts to communicate were replied to and so I was unable to join a the Sunday club ride. It is now Friday and I would like to join the club ride this Sunday. Could you please reply to my emails or reply on here telling me what I have done wrong and how I should make contact and then join the Sunday ride. (I have attached a screenshot of the initial email I sent on Saturday afternoon - my email address is [email protected])

Thanks,

John

Hi John,

I replied to your emails first thing on Monday morning, stating that I'm not usually able to check and reply to the membership emails over the weekend and providing you the details of how to come along to the Sunday rides etc. I assume you didn't get this email so I'll forward it on again for you. Keep an eye on your inbox.

Thanks,

Sally

Thank you so much!
For some reason the first reply didn’t come up on my inbox but luckily the second one did. I have read it and look forward to joining the club ride as a guest this Sunday.