I met a biker gang last week, the Silver Spokes. I tried to look them up to provide some contact info, but only found non-London clubs / groups of that name. We chatted a bit before I did a ride-by video of the group:
Although I talked a little about this blog, saying they could find the video on it, nobody has contacted me with any more info about their group. If some turns up I'll add it to this post.
As often happens when I see a friendly group of casual riders having a good time, I thought about whether I might enjoy being part of one. I cherish my alone time on the bike, but that shouldn't preclude riding with others once in a while. Just the same, thus far I have always opted to cycle on my own. I guess I'm just not a social animal that way.
I'm not a shy person... I find work and other relationships easy enough, but I'm not exactly a collector of friends either. Gang membership and mentality just isn't my style. I suspect that this quality in myself will eventually prove to be my loss. Who knows, maybe some day I'll just join in. Maybe.
Upon re-reading this post I realize that it contains more than a dash of pretty boring self-involved rumination. Ah well, I guess I won't be the first or last blogger to do a little introspective rambling; I will, however try to keep it at acceptably low levels. Unless of course you want to be my shrink. If that is the case, I warn you that I refuse to pay for our sessions and reserve the right to self-medicate at will. Like right now, for instance.
Yer Pal,
R A N T W I C K 
5 comments:
We have a Silver Tour group in Ft. Wayne area, and they have a ton more fun than those of us who try to ride much faster than we probably ought to.
I passed their group last week, and saw many of my fast-riding buddies in that group, and everyone was laughing and having a great time. Now that's what I'm looking for. And a good beer.
I don't even know that many people and I only know one person that regularly rides. I do know people that self-medicate myself being a leader in the field.
I also give a free shrink service (usually after self-medicating) with a full refund if not fully satisfied.
That bottom photo is something that vaguely makes me think of Canadian Tyre, er Tire. What about others, eh?
I definitely fall into the solitude and self medication category. Cycling itself is one of my anti-depressants. I used to train with other riders, then mountain bike with a group and road ride with the same group when they got tired of being bruised and muddy all the time. They go at a very inefficient pace for real training, but slower than an actual race, so I decided to sleep later on Sundays and ride the commute instead.
I get nervous in groups because of how much road we take up. Interaction with traffic can be worse in groups because of this.
cafiend, one way to make group rides work is to require (or strongly encourage) that all riders have completed a cycling safety class that covers group dynamics. Keri Caffrey of CommuteOrlando.com and CyclingSavvy.com covers such things. Did you know that one should begin a left turn or lane change from the rear of the group? The web site with the whole scoop is here:
http://commuteorlando.com/wordpress/animations/group-riding/
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