Boston area rides

[joep2517]

A friend of mine is moving to the Boston area and asked me if I could help them find any club or group rides in the Boston area. I didn't know of any but I was hoping someone out here knows of a club or shop that does a weekly ride. Also, they are big into indoor training - so if anyone knows of a shop that does this that would be great.

Thanks,
Joe

[Bruce K]

Joe

Tons of rides and lots of clubs in the area

Lots of Paceline members too

If we had an idea where in the Boston vicinity your friends will be I am sure we can point them in the right direction

BK

[MattTuck]

Joe

Tons of rides and lots of clubs in the area

Lots of Paceline members too

If we had an idea where in the Boston vicinity your friends will be I am sure we can point them in the right direction

BK

Also, what kind of riding they do? I've heard that there's a women's ride that leaves from Belmont Wheelworks, if he's a single guy...

[Ti Designs]

Also, what kind of riding they do? I've heard that there's a women's ride that leaves from Belmont Wheelworks, if he's a single guy...

Didn't your mama ever warn you about fast women???

[joep2517]

I spoke with my friend and she is talking about moving to the Malden/Medford area. She isn't exactly sure of where she will move, but her family lives in that area. I hope that helps.

[Ti Designs]

It's a hard question to answer without knowing who she is as a rider.

I just got passed the torch to running out Wednesday morning hammer ride which leaves from Harvard square at 6:00am, if she can hang on a wheel at speed she's welcome to give it a try. There are also easier rides on Monday and Friday morning and I've taken to riding with my fitting clients on Friday mornings, which is starting to grow into a small group ride as well.

For group rides, all of the bigger bike shops run their own rides, a quick check of their web site will tell you when and where. Clubs like the CRW run a wide range of rides including a weekly fitness ride from Lexington on Thursday nights. And then there are good groups to ride with. I did a ride this past weekend with our shop's multisport team, it was a nice, no-ego ride...

[Bruce K]

I'm not much help in that area.

I know there is stuff out of Wheelworks and Ride Studio Cafe. Also Charles River Wheelmen have regular rides in the area.

North of Boston I would be happy to give her more detailed advice. Have her PM (if she is on here or gets on here), or e-mail me if she wants to ride up this way and i will help her find the appropriate group or woemn's ride.

BK

[joep2517]

Ti Designs, it's hard to explain her riding abilities. We ride with a group in Central Florida (the Seminole Cyclists) and she's a B+ rider (20-23 mph). She has good bike skills and has been riding for at least 10 years. She's not into hammerfests but likes to ride hard. I know this, don't ever piss her off or she'll get into the drops and ride away from the pack. My wife reminds me every now and then that she kicks my butt when we are on the roads.

[Ti Designs]

This sounds like fun... I coach a number of women in the area, I'll often use the CRW Thursday night fitness ride to bring them into group riding. I put them in over their heads, and there are a couple of rules. Rule #1, if you're at a horsepower disadvantage, you need to ride smarter than the guys (really, it's not that hard). Rule #2, if you get dropped your coach will drop back and pace you back in. I have no problem with her decision to drop the pack, but in that crowd it's going to take tactics to do so. Because of this, it's the best learning experience I can think of. The first few rides it's all about learning how not to get dropped - when and where the guys attack is predictable. Once hanging on is a given the question becomes "how do I drop them?" and the fun begins. The first time was with Lily, who is a pure climber. I told her if she established a gap on the last hill I would come across and fuel the break. She never hit the front until half way up that hill, and they never saw her after that. A few weeks later it was Eve, and for some reason the guys were expecting the same thing. Eve is a sprinter, she was waiting for the flat bit after the hill where we up and left them.

[joep2517]

I'm not much help in that area.

I know there is stuff out of Wheelworks and Ride Studio Cafe. Also Charles River Wheelmen have regular rides in the area.

North of Boston I would be happy to give her more detailed advice. Have her PM (if she is on here or gets on here), or e-mail me if she wants to ride up this way and i will help her find the appropriate group or woemn's ride.

BK

Bruce,

Yesterday I showed her the forum site and told her to join so that she can get more info. I'm not sure if she's had the time to come out here and check things out. Hopefully she will join and ask more specific questions.

[benb]

Florida must be a different world if a woman rides 20-23mph average speed there and is in a "B" group.. I guess it IS a pancake.

One problem with a lot of the rides is they leave from awful places like Harvard Square.. unless you live in Cambridge or Boston who wants to ride into Harvard square when you could just start your ride and head straight for the non-horrible places. :P

[Ti Designs]

One problem with a lot of the rides is they leave from awful places like Harvard Square.. unless you live in Cambridge or Boston who wants to ride into Harvard square when you could just start your ride and head straight for the non-horrible places.

There are a few reasons for our rides to start from Harvard Square. First, it's central to where lots of cyclists live. Second, the Harvard team is sponsored by Peet's coffee, which is where they meet. Third, having the rides start there weeds out the people who whine when they hit potholes.

There's also nothing that says you have to ride in to Harvard Square. I live in Arlington, it's about 20 minutes in the wrong direction for me. I have the option of meeting the team at Peets or riding across to Belmont where I can pick up the ride on Trapelo road - another horrible place to ride. If I were smart I would sleep the extra 15 minutes and meet them in Lexington, but I'm not that smart.

Edit: this from a guy who rides to the start of rides less than 100 miles away, for what that's worth. In getting to the ramble we rode the tandem thru Providence. I'll take Harvard Square over that any day...

[benb]

Yah it makes sense for the Harvard Team.. not for most people who live further out and who have real jobs & are time crunched. Riding into downtown Cambridge is not an effective use of cycling time.

I've met up at Belmont Wheelworks in the past (long time ago now) but it's always amusing to me to ride into the city just to go on a ride in the suburbs. I did even show up for rides in Harvard Square a couple of times but that was when I had far fewer commitments & a whole lot more time to waste.

It's not a real problem though.. so many people ride in the greater boston area there is always a convenient ride nearby wherever you live and/or work.

[Mark McM]

One option is the NEBC Tuesday Night Women's Paceline Ride (http://nebc.us/rides/tuesday-night-womens-ride/) hosted by my club which starts at Lexington Center at 6pm. There are always several groups divided up by speed ranges, from a 12-15 mph group for intriducing paceline basics, to a 19+ mph group for experienced riders. Except for the 19+ mph group, all groups are NO DROP.

[joep2517]

Florida must be a different world if a woman rides 20-23mph average speed there and is in a "B" group.. I guess it IS a pancake.

Ben,

It's true that in some places, mostly around the coastline, Florida is fairly flat. But if you ride along the coast (A1A, etc.) you don't want hills because of the winds. I'm not a fan of a 20+ mph head wind. As for in the central part of the state we have hills. Nothing huge but they can get challenging. When the site opens up for the November ride - go check out the Horrible Hundred ride (and the horrible has nothing to do with the route, this ride historically has crappy weather).

I did a little research and found the link to one of our local Sunday rides. This isn't something we do all the time but the guy how puts the rides together threw this one together. He usually likes a 200K Sunday ride to the coast and back.

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1155751

As for my friend, she's not a fan of the descents so this type of ride isn't her cup of tea.

[Ti Designs]

I've met up at Belmont Wheelworks in the past (long time ago now)

Even our shop rides don't meet at the shop any more, they've been moved to Lexington center...


In some ways the whole "effective use of time" excuse works against a lot of people. Lots of riders don't want to be bothered by having to go on a group's schedule, so they go out and ride as hard as they can. The end result is a bunch of slower cyclists who lack pack riding skills and don't like to talk to anyone else on the bike...