Fingers on buzzers...

[huw williams]

For a Cycling Weekly feature.

Give me 5 good reasons why you should ride with a club (as opposed to just riding solo or with the same mates all the time.

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

Cheers

[Marky Mark]

[quote="huw williams"]For a Cycling Weekly feature.

Give me 5 good reasons why you should ride with a club (as opposed to just riding solo or with the same mates all the time.

1) Stops me getting rangooned friday night, units reduced. G.P. he say yes!!!

2) Provides you with a piece of mind to try new routes and features.

3) It gives you another family. Difference being, you choose this one.

4) With mates you race, with a club you pace. (training group excluded )

5) Opens doors that you would never of dreamed even existed.

Cheers

[Keith]

[quote="huw williams"]For a Cycling Weekly feature.

Give me 5 good reasons why you should ride with a club (as opposed to just riding solo or with the same mates all the time.

1) Always riding alone is ultimatley soul-destroying.

2) The best way to improve is to ride with people quicker than yourself.

3) It saves you having to choose what jersey to wear in a race or sportive.

4) Who wants to be a "private member"?

5) What, you want more reasons?

Cheers

[Maria David]

For a Cycling Weekly feature.

Give me 5 good reasons why you should ride with a club (as opposed to just riding solo or with the same mates all the time.

1) A steady influx of new members/racers means more chance to raise your game - can be quite motivational

2) With all the various club affiliations (eg. CTT, BC, London Cyclocross, Surrey League etc) it's easier to get involved in different aspects of cycle racing

3) A chance to find out about better training techniques, and even access to club coaches

4) Wider cycling/social network

5) When wearing club kit you can be identified wherever you go - even while riding abroad. Always a good ice-breaker when you're in a strange land and the going gets tough.

Only trouble is, with so many clubs around it can be a real dilemma knowing which one to join.

[Toks]

[quote="huw williams"]For a Cycling Weekly feature.

Give me 5 good reasons why you should ride with a club (as opposed to just riding solo or with the same mates all the time.

[Grahame]

1) Local knowledge - routes, good cafes, events to enter

2) Access to coaching

3) A new set of mates

4) People at the "right level" to ride with to improve your skills/speed/stamina (delete as appropriate)

And last, but by no means least

5) The opportunity to write a letter to the stuffed shirts resigning your Bronze BC membership each year, letting them know just how little you think they do for grass roots cycling.

[Andrew G]

In no particular order:
1) new friends / social events etc.
2) improve bike handling and riding ability (anyone who commutes in to London knows how shocking some standards are).
3) improved knowledge - expansion of route knowledge, bike maintenance, races/events which can be entered etc.
4) affiliations - CTT, BC etc to allow you to try out a variety of different competitive aspects of the sport, and with a club it will be safely and with assistance.
5) achieving things you may not have thought possible if left to your own devices, be that your first 100 mile ride, a TT, a RR, a sportive, a foreign trip.

[Jon C C on a Bianchi]

1. another thing to do on a bike - variety is the spice of life - another dimension to this multi-faceted sport.

2. riding in a group with faster riders does push you - improve fitness, speed, stamina.

3. being a member of a club lets you tap in the a fantastic depository of knowledge and expertise - I found that fellow members are only too glad to help out when you've got a problem with your bike, give advice on buying a new one etc etc

4. I'd have never got into time trialling had I not joined the club - not sure if this is a good thing or bad thing!!!

5. the people - nearly always better than riding alone

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

Maybe the question is skewed, and should ask

Give me 5 good reasons why you should belong to a club (riding with comes along by default)

[Mike I]

In no particular order:

1. Every Saturday morning, there is a group of riders who want to do much the same as me - whether that's a slightly hung-over gentle spin, an eyeballs-out thrash or a long hilly one.

2. Cake. I never stop for cake when I'm on my own, but I always do on a club run.

3. A sense of heritage and history. When you join a club, you gain a personal connection with its past riders and achievements, as well as those of the present.

4. You're not a 'proper' cyclist until you have a club to call your own.

5. And of course 'gay companionship' [url]http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?docid=-6802201998165417735&q=cycling+&ei=_CdiSPvWC5fYjQK4nZGLBA&hl=en[/url].

6. er

7. that's enough reasons.