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

+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.

Yes, sorry about that. You'll have to wait until our secretary returns from Mallorca at the end of this week and he will be able to get you setup on the forum as well as send out your new membership details.

Thanks,
Laura

Looks like +aidan might be heading over for some Regents laps on Wednesday night. There should be a Weds eve thread on the 'In The Saddle' section of the forum that you can keep an eye on....

Wednesday evenings are still in the diary, but attendance can be mixed from week to week - so have a look on the 'In The Saddle' section under the Wednesday rides thread and people usually post if they are going. .

Hi John, the club secretary is away this week, but he should be able to process your club membership and get you up and running on the forum upon his return next week. Thank you for your patience!

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.

Good call putting the flat speeds in though +aidan. I would say the C ride is about 16 mph on the flat.

Saturdays - yes, the Zoo entrance by the road. Come along for the 8am session.

Sundays -
C 35-45 miles average pace 12-14mph
B - 55-65 miles average pace 13-15mph
A - 65 miles + average pace 15-18mph

Given that you are not used to long distances, it is best to estimate your ability conservatively on your first ride. Chat to the guys on Saturday, and see what they recommend. Also, ride routes should be posted in the corresponding forum threads in our 'In The Saddle' section.

Hello +SteveD - I would say that you should try both!

8am Saturday rides are great to meet the group, build some endurance fitness and learn about group riding.

Sundays are more sociable, but again its all about endurance. Even a 35 mile ride can catch some people out - but that's why we have a 'C' ride which goes at a slower pace and does slightly less miles.

Alternatively you can attend our 'Introduction to Club Cycling' session on March 22nd which does a mini club run and gives people a feel for the pace, terrain and distances we cover.

Make sure you read our FAQs and Guide to Group Riding both here on the forum. We hope to see you soon!

Welcome to ICC +CoffeeGuy! Feel free to say hello in our clubhouse thread and introduce yourself.

Great stuff, welcome to ICC!

Save your tears for the hills ;)

Oh, what a shame you couldn't find anyone - sorry about that +Steve_Harris. Wednesday nights to tend to be a bit patchy in attendance. Please do come along on Saturday if you can - its much better attended and good fun. Also, because its daylight you should be able to see the Islington Jersey's!

Hope to see you on Saturday +Orestis!

More on group riding here

When you write it down, it sounds more complicated than it really is. My top three tips are:

NEVER overlap wheels with the rider in front
NEVER brake suddenly. Stay smooth.
BE AWARE of riders around you, and how you ride can impact on them

You'll be fine! :)

Alternatively we're doing outer laps on Saturday mornings which are simpler, and are getting a decent turnout at the moment. 8am by the Zoo, RP outer circle. 7am for advanced riders.

All new members are welcome of course! If you haven't ridden in a chain-gang before, please flag this up to the established ICC members there and listen to their instructions. It's a bit of a discipline! Here are some tips from our Club Chairman, +RichardM:

Chain Gang comprises two parallel lines. And as with the Club Run riders shift position in an anti-clockwise direction. [NB: Clockwise depending on wind?]

So what’s different?

Well, this time the riders’ changes of position are constant, fluid, and are not announced by verbal signals. Essentially, the right hand (outside) lane moves about 1-2kmh faster than the left hand (inside lane). Consequently:
when a rider reaches the front of the right hand (outside) lane he or she moves to the left to join the front of the left hand (inside) line and then eases his or her pace slightly; and
when a rider reaches the back of the left hand (inside) lane he or she accelerates slightly and moves right to join the back of the right hand (outside) line.
Sounds complicated. Any tips?

Yes. A couple:
Accelerate when at the back but not when at the front: When moving left to join the front of the left hand (inside) line, do not accelerate – Rely on the fact that the left hand (inside) line is moving slightly more slowly to allow you to do so. This is really important! If you don’t do it the Chain Gang will get faster and faster until it breaks up.
Be subtle: When moving left or right keep your lines shallow – A sharp change of direction is likely to move you into the wheel of the rider ahead of, or behind, you (depending on which way you are moving).

Relax: Look up, and don’t just focus on the wheel ahead. Doing so will enable you to anticipate what is going to happen rather than react to it. And do try not to use your brakes. Yes, really!

Hello there Orestis and welcome to ICC! Here's some info for you regarding the Chain Gang:

Warm up from 6.30pm at Regent's Park, Inner Circle, ride anti-clockwise until you find each other.

At 6.45pm, pull in by the college opposite York Bridge Gate and form groups according to speed. Groups should be 8 riders max. Explain to everyone what we will be doing, ie chain gang, especially if non-members arrive.

Ride in chain gang for 45-60 mins

Then pace line for 15-30 mins - taking turns at the front, maximum of 1 lap, a half lap is best.

Tips
*Take great care if you fall off the back of a group and try to rejoin a group.
*Have mudguards if it is wet, as we ride close to each other
*Don't start off too fast, get some rhythm with you group and build slowly

If you have any more questions then please ask!

A photo of today's most excellent group:

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.

Great! Looking forward to seeing you Lisa :)

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

And also available below as a gpx download.

I should have mentioned one more thing:

Winter Supplemental

Please attach mudguards to your bike October - April.
Please bring more than one inner tube - and ideally three. Punctures are more common in the winter months. Spare inner tubes make for speedier repairs on the road rather than trying to make repairs to the inner tube with patches.