Australian Cycling Forums - Bicycles Network Australia

Hi all,

First of all, thanks for taking the time to read my post. I'm relatively new to the cycling world and I have a few questions, I would greatly appreciate your thoughts and comments.

A little info about me: I'm 46, a little overweight at 85kg, I was 105kg before I started riding and the weight loss is part of what i love about this sport. I have been riding for about 5 months now, pretty much when the warm weather hit and the magpies went away! I'm what you might call a fair weather rider, when the winter hits i'm back in my box

Anyway, I was just wondering where I am at with my progress, I know it is subjective but I'm hoping for an indication of how I'm doing in relation to maybe joining a club and not making a total idiot of myself.

Ok, so on to the facts. I ride pretty much every day, I love it. A normal ride for me is around 30-50 kms, always solo and averaging around 25-30km/ph, depending on the headwind. On the weekends I try to increase the distance with my furthest ride topping out at around 80km in a little under 3 hours. I have been reading these forums and have since learned that I need to be eating more on these longer rides, I don't usually eat anything on the ride itself and I really fall off towards the 70km mark. Anyway, back to my inquiry, am I in good enough form to look at joining a club and keep up? I don't want to win or anything but I don't want to come in an hour behind everyone else either

I have a lot to learn I know and these forums are a great resource that I am glad I've found, hoping that you can provide some insight into where I go from here.

Cheers
Grant

Hi Grant35,

Don't get to hung up on whether you're good enough to join a club. Just join one and get into the structure of racing, training and general bike handling skills.

You will get more out of being around blokes, oh and girls that have been racing for ages than just riding by yourself.

Foo

105kg to 85kg in 5 months is fantastic (if I'm reading that correctly).

You're doing everything right, IMO. Keep on riding!

Thanks for your replies guys, appreciate it.

Oh and yes, the weight loss is correct, riding just as often as I can and p90x every other day, I'm on a mission!

Does anyone know of a good club or friendly ride in the Gippsland area?

Grant35 wrote:am I in good enough form to look at joining a club and keep up? I don't want to win or anything but I don't want to come in an hour behind everyone else either

Yes you are capable of joining a club , racing and being competitive. (though that does depend on the club and the grades they run)

I am 52, take beta blockers to lower my heart rate (myocardial infarction) and when I joined my local cycling club last year, I was riding similar distances to you, though probably a couple of kph faster and with a couple years more solo riding experience.

I was placed in E grade and was competitive immediately. Though if you raced with us now, (after experience with riders like me) your first race would be in D grade where you would struggle at the back, but you would not be the only one. If you performed badly, you would be given the option of racing E grade, which you are more than capable of winning.

One piece of advice I wish somebody gave me: find a local group ride and get use to riding in a bunch. You need to develop bunch riding skills, a group ride is a good place to learn and people are willing to teach you, unlike in a race. You don't need to, I didn't, but it helps and I wish I did.

Grant35 wrote:Thanks for your replies guys, appreciate it.

Oh and yes, the weight loss is correct, riding just as often as I can and p90x every other day, I'm on a mission!

Does anyone know of a good club or friendly ride in the Gippsland area?

Which part of Gippy Grant?

If West Gippy, look no further than Warragul Cycling Club - they are fantastic for new members, have friendly and helpful people and have plenty on all the time - from road / road circuit racing, track and plenty in-between, as well as some good structured weekday & weekend rides undertaken by members.

cheers

I wouldnt be jumping into a club just yet but by all means do. Group rides is where I would head to next. They will push you harder than you would on your own and you'll get to know the guys before you start paying for licence fees and the like.

Ahh ok so the consensus seems to be try group first then graduate to a club. Sounds good to me, I have zero experience riding with anyone so I have to start somewhere.

With that in mind in answer to maccas question I'm from the Morwell area, Yinnar to be exact. Anyone know of a local group that I could ride with? I could get to Warragul on the weekend but it's still a fair hike

Get yourself into a club and you will find more help and experience, otherwise you could be ages before you have confidence.

I don't understand this line of thinking, that you can't be in a club till you can ride in a bunch.

Foo

Grant35 wrote:Ahh ok so the consensus seems to be try group first then graduate to a club.

That was not what I was trying to say.

If you want to race, join a club and race now.

What I was trying to say was,the transition from solo rider to bunch racer had a steep learning curve for me. It would of been easier if I did some group riding before or when I was starting to race instead of at the end of the 1st season of road racing.

That said I survived, improved and learnt a lot about myself and riding. I would highly recommend to anybody on this forum to try to race a couple of road races, a couple of crits and a time trial or two in their cycling lifetime.

Joining a club will probably open some doors as far as group/training rides near you go. Otherwise ask at you LBS. The regular group ride I go on is from a nearby LBS that was recommended when I asked on the "friends of the club" facebook page.

I am with Foo On Patrol grab the bull by the horns and go race now, it will probably be hard, you will get spat out the back a few times, you will suffer, but you will get better and in the end enjoy it and hopefully start winning.

See above... My club races and nothing else. If you don't want to race, and just lift your fitness groups are the go IMHO.