I think the first social ride out from Starfleet Academy was an (almost) unqualified success. We had ten starters on Saturday morning: Penelope, Pene, Jane & Paul, Phil & Elina, Carol, Susi, Quentin, and Dennis. With me and Super-Gran riding as whip, we had a round dozen all up.
It was the Merri Creek route: north through the University and Princes Park to the Capital City trail, then to Rushall station where we picked up the Merri Creek Trail making a loop out to Coburg Lake and return.
Merri
We made pretty good time along the Capital City trail, although the road crossings at traffic lights required us all to be pretty slick. By the time we reached the Merri Creek we were making a steady though not really cracking pace as the group stretched out over a few hundred yards. We regrouped at CERES and I was pleased that no-one was going to take a break here and wait for the group to return.
Disaster
Our biggest disaster of the day struck just after we crossed Normanby Rd - as he pushed up a small rise something jammed in Paul's derailleur and the whole mechanism sheared off. We left Jane and Paul (with chain and derailleur in hand) to walk back to CERES in the hope that the BrunsBUG workshop might be able to find the parts and tools needed to fix such a catastrophic failure.
"Easy, mostly flat"
The rest of the group headed on over a couple of bridges towards Coburg Lake. I'd rated this ride as "Easy, mostly flat". We had a few first-time riders and a couple of other who were a bit "rusty". By this time in the ride I had to accept that what I considered mere undulations, others called "bloody big hills".
I think I should have paid more attention to the Fat Cyclist's advice on "Selling the Lifestyle (or Not)", especially:
- What I consider an easy ride is not an easy ride.
- What I consider slow is not slow.
- What I consider an easy climb is a hard climb.
and
- What I consider a short ride is a long ride.
Oh well, you ride and learn.
Lake
Coburg Lake has a very pleasant garden where we regrouped and rested for a few minutes. You can make sort of a circuit of the lake, so we did and then headed back on the return leg.
"Can we have coffee yet?" Dismounting on the Capital City trail.
CERES
We returned to CERES to find that Paul hadn't been able to get his bike fixed here but he'd bought the bike at a shop not all that far away, so he was hopeful of getting the bike working enough so that he could ride it there for more permanent repairs.
The decision to break at CERES turned out to be a flawed one. We arrived just as lunch was getting into swing, meaning that there was a 12+ minutes wait for coffee. Wow. The ride had already exceeded my time estimate and some folks were keen to get back, so we kept going - abandoning Jane and Paul again.
Coffee, third try
Super-Gran went out in front for the next bit and I took to the rear because no-one was coming up to talk to me at the front. We sought out that cafe that's in an old railway station on the Capital City trail (damn, I still don't know what it's called) and although it looked quieter there was a critical mass of numbers who wanted to continue on to the finish immediately. So we continued on and had coffee at the Brunetti cafe in University Square at the end.
Phil had his bike computer running and when compared with Super-Gran's reading we agreed that the route was about 30km.
Comments
This brings back memories Treadly.
The first BUG ride my partner and I ever led was an unambitious 20km that took about 2.5 hours! Same problem with hills .... those little slopes look very big if you haven't been on a bike in a long time. Then there are those niggardly issues with bikes that haven't been ridden in 20 years .... like rusty chains, chains that jump off every time the rider changes gears, brakes that need adjusting ..... oh .... the list goes on. And now we are very ... suspicious... of people who arrive with brand new shiny bikes and outfits .... we've learnt that this often means the rider has just recently decided to take up cycling (or in some cases re-discover the lost art of cycling) and hence tends to be inexperienced but doesn't want to appear that way.
But it is much better to go slow, take lots of breaks to (uh-hum) enjoy the scenery, take a while to chat over coffee .... and hopefully everyone will have had such a wonderful time they will all want to repeat the experience.
I was quite relieved when no-one showed up in shiny new gear - as you say, a sure sign of an eager new convert. However I was a bit worried when one rider showed up on a decrepit looking old fixed-gear number saying "I hope you were serious when you said mostly flat", but she kept the pace pretty well.
Another rider had bought her bike second hand and hadn't ridden it much - she still hadn't worked out how to use her gears! She was held up a bit by not being able to get off the smallest chainring - the bike needed a bit of servicing, so I hope she took it off to a bike shop.
Generally it was a pretty fit looking bunch - I think we were just hamstrung by the logistics of moving a dozen people on bike trails. It's inherently slower than riding solo or in a small group of two or three.
The upshot is that I'll have to adjust my expectations for the group, at least for the next few rides.
We've now progressed some of our recreational riders to committed commuters, and another couple to racing, so it really is all worth it Treadly. Good luck.