Beginners
Like anything else, to enjoy cycling to its utmost, you need to learn the rules and the skills to be proficient at it. It’s not all about fitness and testosterone, although that gets important later on when you’re racing and doing long distance training.
So we start by introducing you to rides that are easy and really friendly. Our Saturday morning ride is a good example. You’ll meet other cyclists who are starting out and be guided by an experienced Club member who will teach you how to ride in a bunch (Peloton) and a lot about safety and respect for your fellow cyclists and other road users. The emphasis at this point is on your safety and learning the skills to minimise an accident. We also concentrate on being courteous on the roads and to obey all the traffic rules and above all how to avoid road-rage.
We really encourage you to attend a Skills Course (run 4 times a year on a Saturday morning) during which you will learn cornering and braking skills as also gear selection etc. You’ll learn about your bike and how to care for it and how important it is to keep it in good condition and what to check before each ride. You’ll also learn about hydration and what to eat on the rides.
Very soon you’ll find that you’ll be comfortable riding in the C group and you’ll be looking with envy at the B’s and this is the time to start putting in the extra training. For that we have some really great ideas. You can of course regard this as mountain climbing and laboriously go forward, but a much better idea is to come on our famous Sunday Ride or even think about doing some criterion racing (at your level of course).
Our Sunday Ride is legendary. We have more beautiful rides than anywhere in the world - and that’s a big call but true. The fitter and stronger you are the more you’ll be able to do them and enjoy them. As always we have the 3 groups (A,B and C) and the aim is for us to all finish at the same time for coffee. At least once a month all the groups do the same ride to enable the C’s who want to, to join the B’s (and fall back to the C’s if they’ve been too ambitious and can’t keep up). You’ll see the gorges like Galston, Berowra and Bobbin Head as also Akuna Bay and witness the beauty that the National Parks of Sydney have to offer and it only gets better from here.
The aim of the Club Rides is to make training a breeze and enjoyable. Riding with others is always a bit competitive and spurs one on. We have training rides during the week too. On Tuesdays and Wednesday we ride through Bobbin Head in the evening (Daylight Saving months) and at Homebush for the rest of the year. Friday mornings is a ‘recovery’ ride - this means you get to ride slowly, but ride rather than bludge in bed. You’ll learn that not all rides have to be hard, for you to improve, and that recovery is very important and very enjoyable.
As you can see, by now you will have almost certainly graduated to the B’s and be ready for our wonderfully famous Training Camps - there isn’t another Club that has anything to offer that remotely resembles anything like them. This is beyond your wildest dreams even if you’re imaginative.