New Riders!

[J]

I wanted to start a thread for new riders. We've had good participation thus far on the Mon/Fri rides, with newcomers Theo, Alan, Andrew, Themis, Phil, Hannah, and David all making it out with some regularity. But there are many more of you out there!

What can we do to get you riding? Do you know about the Wednesday noon ride? Are you waiting for the indoor sessions to start up? Are you waiting for spring?

[David Capretto]

I've only been on one Wednesday afternoon ride, but I highly recommend it. The trail is beyond empty, and it's usually warmer compared to the 7am ride. It's a tough time I know, but if you can spare the 1h30min, it's well worth it.

[Sasha Reschechtko]

I don't know the organizers' schedules, but the Wednesday ride might be more heavily attended if it were moved to 12:30, since classes on Wednesdays end 20 minutes after the hour...

[J]

Would moving the ride back 30 minutes allow anyone on the fence to ride?

[Andrew]

For the Wednesday noon rides, I think the time just does not work for most people. My experience thus far:
Oct. 14 - It was only myself and Davis, that was a good ride and we set a very fast pace, practiced drafting off of one another's slipstreams
Oct. 21 - I could not attend because I was out in the suburbs, I heard that two people did attend
Today Oct. 28 - went to the Quads but no one at all was there, rode by myself

Unless there is some core contingent that makes a commitment to the Wednesday noon rides, I question whether that concept is ever going to take hold.

The morning rides have all been well-attended, despite the fact that the weather was mostly lousy, with temperatures in the 40's, windy, and rainy. So a lot of people do want to come out. When I was on the rowing team, there was an attrition rate of about 75 percent, such that three-quarters of the people who signed up at the organizational meeting were gone within 2 months. But that explanation doesn't seem to apply to Velo Club, because:

- The Velo Club is a multipurpose resource that people can use according to their own interests
- As far as I know, there was no one who came out, decided they didn't like it, and didn't come back

Therefore the question is why many people did not come in the first place. Bad weather, don't yet have suitable bike or clothing, need an even earlier starting time, have a different set of training priorities?

[Hunter Davis]

My bike is getting into town on thursday. Once it gets here, i will be attending regularly. I will be at the indoor training session on tuesday.

[Maggie C]

I am currently without a bike (snapped rear seat stay) but should be getting the frame replaced shortly. Once that happens, I plan on participating in weekend rides, and depending on the grad school schedule, maybe some weekday rides too. Excited to ride with everyone (when I'm able)!!

~Maggie