A break-up letter to stupidly long club rides

It’s the dread that came first. It normally arrived the previous evening, when I was usually in the pub, as one should be on a Saturday night. It was trepidation about what would be coming the next day, what would await me on my club ride.

Bike rides should be things to look forward to: the adventure, the speed, the camaraderie with your fellow riders, the sense of achievement. Club rides should be doubly exciting, really, because it should be with your peers, often your friends, all embarking on the same thing. And yet, when I used to cycle with my former cycling club, I came to dread the long Sunday rides.

The rides were invariably 100km, began at half eight or nine, if I was lucky, and were ridden at a pace which, while not ridiculous, was relatively high. Taking a look back at those club rides on Strava now, there isn’t one below 26km/h. Again, nothing too speedy, but still a lot for little old me, just out of bed. I was never in the fastest group either. This was considered ‘medium’.

It helped that I was fitter back then than I have ever been, and relatively new to Bristol. In the tail-end of the pandemic, a reliable few hours of being together with people was all I needed. However, looking back now, it feels alien to me, the idea of wanting to do so much every weekend. I have things to do, now, and 100km in the saddle is not what I want.

The problem with the long rides wasn’t just their intensity and length, but the fact that once they were over, everyone just went home. This seems fair enough when you’ve just spent four hours on the bike, but what about if you did two or three hours, then an hour at a café or pub afterwards? Revolutionary. It feels like this is a better way to get people into the sport too, less intimidating, which is something I’m passionate about.

This is, of course, one of those 'it’s not you, it’s me' break-ups, which while a Hollywood trope, also seems like the only polite way of splitting up with something - or someone. It isn’t my former cycling club’s fault that I wanted something different, something that wasn’t just flat-out cycling and then going home every Sunday.

These clubs have a place, and perhaps I’ll come back to them one day, but it isn’t for me right now. When I want to cycle that far, I’ll do it on my own or with a select group of friends, on an adventure, rather than it feeling mandatory every weekend. I much prefer socialising more, being around people with whom my only connection isn’t cycling.

People have different needs and wants from their time on a bike, and mine is more about fun than pure numbers. It’s that simple. The club I’m in now is younger, more mixed in gender, ability, and type of person, and feels more relaxed. This won’t be for everyone, but it is definitely what I want. I don't want to be in a club where 21km/h is considered too slow, or where women stand out. 

Now, when it comes to Saturday nights, I don’t dread the ride the next day anymore. Maybe I will go out on an adventure, do it later, or do it differently. I just don’t want to do 100km with five or six people I only ever see on club rides anymore. It’s not you, it’s me.