Riding Food for Thought Part One

[Bruce Taylor]

Some thoughts about Riding Clubs & Groups

The new “inclusive” cycling clubs are going to kill someone.

Here are some of the issues at hand….

Zero hand signals.

Overlapping wheels everywhere.

One guy braking mid-corner in the bunch.

A “welcoming” ride

No intimidating rules. No stuffy customs. Just “show up and ride.”

This is a ticking time bomb.

I LOVE that cycling is becoming more accessible.

The traditional club model, with its unwritten rules and insider knowledge, has kept too many people out for too long.

But the pendulum may have swung too far.

These “rules” we’re abandoning? They’re not there to exclude people.

They’re cycling’s version of Darwin.

Holding your line through corners. Signaling when you stand. Never overlapping wheels. Calling out road hazards. Knowing how to ride a crosswind in formation.

These customs weren’t invented by stuffy club elites to make newcomers feel small. They were developed over 100+ years of trial and error.

They exist because the alternative was crashing, injury, and chaos.

Every mature industry has “unwritten rules” that seem like gatekeeping but are actually compressed wisdom.

In surgery, there’s a protocol for everything.

In aviation, there’s a checklist culture.

In cycling, there are bunch riding customs.

Calling these “barriers to entry” misses the point entirely.

Some clubs throwout all the “old school” rules.

They’re growing fast.

Everyone’s having fun.

Until someone hit a pothole and went down.

Then three more riders went down because they were overlapping wheels and couldn’t react.

One organizer reportedly said: “Crashes happen, it’s part of cycling.”

No I clearly disagree with that statement...

Preventable crashes happen when you ignore 100 years of hard-earned knowledge.

I want to mix up the status quo

I want clubs that challenge stuffy customs

I want fresh energy and perspectives

I want lower barriers to entry into cycling,

But

I also want clubs teaching the fundamentals that keep people safe

I want them respecting why the rules exist before breaking them

You can be inclusive AND have clear defined standards.

The most welcoming thing you can do for a new rider isn’t to eliminate all the rules—it’s to teach them why those rules exist and give them the skills to ride confidently in a group.

We don’t need to choose between tradition and inclusion.

We need to teach the newcomers what took us decades to learn.

Because the group ride is more fun when everyone knows what they’re doing.

And the rules aren’t there to exclude you, they’re there to bring you home safely.

Just something to consider as our club moves forward with growth and inclusion….

[Santiago Miro]

Great message Bruce 

Indeed a growing sense of disorderly riding.

One caveat, as far as I am concerned… overlapping wheels are not an issue (and required on a fanned spread to cut oblique winds—also always present in pro pelotons.

However that is ok as long as people hold their lines(and that means regardless of the hole you didn’t see till it’s too late)…

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 17, 2025, at 08:58, 'Bruce Taylor' via Winchester Wheelmen <whee...@googlegroups.com> wrote:

Some thoughts about Riding Clubs & Groups

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[Laura Bergmann]

Just saw this exact post in another cycling group on Facebook too.....must be a geowing thing....people dont know what they dont know. Maybe a handout can be created to give to new members? Or 'new to a group' riders. May help to  ensure that everyone is on the same page. Maybe everyone that leads a group ride has a copy to give out? Just a suggestion.

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[K Tenney]

Hi Laura, et al.,

I agree with your statements, and with the question about how to reach people?  We have "how-to" video links at our website.  https://www.winchesterwheelmen.com/education We've have links for safe riding, etc., e.g. https://www.vdot.virginia.gov/travel-traffic/bike-ped/bike-safety/

A huge problem in 2025 is information volume.  Folks are inundated with information.  How to reach people when they don't open mail or visit websites is difficult.  I am generalizing, but I hear enough questions from people asking who, what, where, when, and how long after something's been posted to know that it's real problem.

It's an interesting question as to what to do.  And Bruce, thanks for posting.  This is good cool season discussion.

Ken Tenney

[George Wysor]

Like Laura, I've seen two general versions of this on Facebook. One is "the death of the group ride" and the other is the appearance of strong riders who've never ridden outside.

COVID took a lot of experienced riders off the road as they got hooked on the safety, repeatability, and convenience of smart trainers. At the same time, others were introduced to riding via their smart trainers and now want to go outside. They got strong but have rarely even used two real wheels while pushing big gears, and certainly never ridden in a pack.

Good points in the earlier posts about offering advice and support. I think most people new to a club ride will appreciate it. When I was a new rider, I remember being yelled at by the designated Pack Policeman which was annoying but usually warranted and always educational.

George

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