Group Skills - 1900 Thursday 10 August

Group Skills is a session for prospective and current members of ICC which teaches group riding skills so that we can ride together more safely, more sociably and with less effort. It is a great opportunity to refresh and build on skills.

If you are new to the club and wish to become a member you will need to complete either a Group Skills session or an Introduction to Club Cycling training session. Please make yourself known to the ride leader when arriving so they can confirm your attendance to our membership manager.

We will look at communication skills and formations such as pace line and two up, plus how to pace/lead the ride from the front and rotate being at the front.

If you know all this, come and share your knowledge and if you don't, come and take advantage of the sharers.

Note that we will adjust the level depending on the ability of the group.

ABOUT YOU

You should have been cycling regularly in some capacity and be confident riding on London's roads.

You should be familiar with your bike, its set-up and be confident riding it. If you've only just bought your bike, take it out for a couple of spins on your own to gain confidence before you join a group ride with us.

You should have a moderate level of fitness and be able to ride 50 km at an average speed of at least 20 km/h on the flat, with several steep hills and only brief stops. If you're not yet comfortable at that distance or pace please build up with solo rides before coming along.

Unfortunately, we cannot offer this session to complete cycling beginners as we are not teaching cycling proficiency.

THE SESSION

Meet in the Regent's Park Inner Circle, at the big gates opposite York Bridge. Sessions typically last about 90 minutes.

Please read our Group Skills Guide before attending:
https://islington-cc.squarespace.com/s/I­CC-Group-Riding-Guide.pdf

HOW DO I JOIN IN?

If you wish to attend this session you should register as a user on the forum then click the 'Yes I'm Attending' button above to confirm your attendance. We will ask you to reconfirm a few days before the ride. You will need do this on the Forum.

Click Register in the top right corner and change your user name from the default User12345. To make sure you receive messages please click “Edit Profile” in the top right corner, then click “Notification Settings”, and tick “Enable Notifications”, “When you are @mentioned in a comment” and “When an event you are attending is imminent”.

If you are a former ICC member please add a note below to let us know.

These rides get booked up quickly. If no places are left, the session is full. We do not maintain a waiting list so please keep checking back in case a place becomes available.

If you do sign up but cannot attend, please remove yourself from the attendance list so someone else can take the spot. You can do this by clicking the ‘Can’t Make It’ button above which appears once you have signed up.

If you do not attend and do not remove yourself, we reserve the right to restrict your attendance of future Intro Rides and Group Skills. This is due to high demand for places.

WHAT TO BRING

As with all club rides, you must wear a helmet to take part in this ride.

Your bike must be in a good and roadworthy condition. Check your wheels are straight, that your gears shift reliably and your brakes work correctly. Ensure your tyres are inflated to the correct pressure.

Spare inner tubes, tools and a pump. Other riders may help you if you are in trouble but you should be self-sufficient and at the very least be able to fix a puncture.

Food and water. We're only doing a short ride, so an energy bar or a banana will do for food, but do start the day with a decent breakfast! Make sure you can easily carry water with you on your bike.

The weather can change quickly so check the forecast and dress appropriately (waterproofs/warm clothing when appropriate).

Money if you want to visit the café afterwards.

OTHER STUFF

ALL RIDERS MUST observe the Highway Code AT ALL TIMES when riding with Islington CC. This includes: riding no more than two abreast; riding in single file to allow traffic to pass on narrow roads; obeying traffic lights and signs; not riding on pavements; and not abusing other road users.

Please acknowledge any courtesy shown to you by other road users and stop at pedestrian crossings where necessary.

Riders attend club rides strictly at their own risk. Please listen to your ride leaders and follow their instructions.

JOINING THE CLUB

Once you have completed an Intro or Group Skills ride you will qualify to pay the membership fee and join the club. Once you’ve signed up through British Cycling our membership secretary will process your application and be in touch shortly to welcome you to the club.
See https://islington.cc/membership

Looking forward to seeing you!

David,
Development Secretary

I've reserved a spot here. If an earlier session becomes available and has spots I will switch to it and free up my spot here.

ok thanks @user156008.
This is currently planned to be the next earliest Group Skills session.
However there is an Introductory Ride on august 5th if you prefer.

Intro Ride Saturday 5th August

thanks Richard, I have swapped and released my spot here

Hi Richard,
I was wondering if I can attend this session and the other rides with a Buzzbike:

https://www.buzzbike.cc/cty-city-bike

I'm confident cycling in London, however at the moment I wouldn't be able to fix a puncture. I could use the Buzzbike repair service, and would like to learn once I commit to the club. Is this kind of training provided?

Hi. I wish to join the group skills on the 10th as a prospective member of the club. Can you please advise how to do so as there’s no current option to join

Hi @NikkiF2609, there is no option to join now as the session is currently full, so keep an eye on the page for dropouts.
Unfortunately there is no waiting list function on the forum, but people do often drop out nearer the time

Hi @elecipollina,

Some club members ride city hybrid style bikes and manage very well, though 90% + ride road/gravel style bikes.

For just Group Skills in the park you will be fine with the Buzzbike.

Later if joining a club ride you will find the three gears and general geometry of Buzzbikes limiting on hilly sections and at higher speeds. You would likely be limited to Green rides which are the slowest paced banding of rides. I have ridden this style of bike on Green rides ok (but with 8 gears).

Perhaps after Group Skills you could try the social chat-paced laps at Regent's Park (8am Saturdays) to see how you keep up with the group, where you would easily be able to drop off if necessary.
And if you haven't already I would recommend trying out a hillier ride outside central London solo, maybe even part of the Intro Ride route - at least up to Highbury and ideally past Mill Hill (so the first 15km or so). If you can manage this without being stuck on hills and at a reasonable pace (>18kmph on average) you should be ok for Green rides.

While you should be able to fix a puncture, again for just Group Skills in the park this is ok, then ideally you could learn before a club ride. While there are always people willing to help, of course if everybody relies on others then there is nobody :)
The club occasionally runs maintenance training sessions, but these are not regular enough for all new members, for example the next session is in January.
This video is quite good: https://youtu.be/Suh1-o6KBo8

@RichardN1 will I get a notification if there’s any drop outs ? Thanks

Hi @NikkiF2609, no, the best you can do is follow the thread to be notified of posts.

However since you have noted interest, if I see any drop outs then I will @ or PM you, which doubles your chances!

thanks it would be appreciated

have there been any drop outs ? if so can i be added on please ? it’s very unfortunately that the weather is so poor today im unable to attend the intro to ridin session, and am away on saturday 19th august. Will another weeekday session be taking place ?

@RichardN1 as I couldn't make it to the today's intro ride due to the weather conditions, I would like to join this group ride on the 10th. I'll be keeping an eye on for drop-outs, but if you can also @ or PM me when there is a spot available, that'd be great.

Thanks a bunch!

Hi @NikkiF2609 & @tolga I just increased capacity on this session

perfect thanks i’ve just booked myself on :))

@cp1234, @elecipollina, @Erinc, @FelixG, @George_W, @james.lowson, @Janegeiger, @LorenzoBE, @Marchetto, @Marina, @mgzuber, @NikkiF2609, @RaulN, @SammyNH, @sophiebracke, @tolga, @TomN8, @user150534, @user156110, @user156149

We hope you’re looking forward to the Group Skills ride this Thursday evening and look forward to meeting you.

Unfortunately, sometimes people drop out without telling us. Please could reconfirm your place by copying the list below and adding your name.

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

If you reserve a space but fail to attend we may limit you from attending in the future. If you do not reconfirm, we may have to send you away if we don’t have enough leaders.

Please remind yourself of the information at the top of this thread and read our Group Riding Guide before the ride so we can spend less time standing around during safety briefing and more time riding!

If you still have an @user username it would help if you could change to something more personal. This makes it much simpler for us to process new members after the rides.

The meeting place is the Regent's Park Inner Circle, at the big gates opposite York Bridge.

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

1.
2.
3.
etc

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

1. James.lowson
   

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

1. James.lowson
   
2. SammyNH
   

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

James.lowson
SammyNH
Marchetto

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

James.lowson
SammyNH
Marchetto
Nat Shaughnessy

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

James.lowson
SammyNH
Marchetto
Nat Shaughnessy
Tom Parker (TomN8)

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

James.lowson
SammyNH
Marchetto
Nat Shaughnessy
Tom Parker (TomN8)
Erinc

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

James.lowson
SammyNH
Marchetto
Nat Shaughnessy
Tom Parker (TomN8)
Erinc
George W

If you have booked onto the Group Skills session on Thursday 10th August please confirm that you can attend by copying this entire message and adding your name to the list. (If you remove the @ from your name you won't be emailed each time someone new adds their name).

If you are no longer able to make it, please remove yourself by clicking "Can't Make It" at the top of this page. This means others have a chance to take your place and we don’t have to organise more ride leaders than we need.

This ride is only open to people who have booked by clicking "Yes I'm Attending at the top of page 1.
If you haven't booked but would like to join this ride you should check this page regularly to see if places become free.

James.lowson
SammyNH
Marchetto
Nat Shaughnessy
Tom Parker (TomN8)
Erinc
George W
Sholto C