I've been offering no-pace rides for the club on the last Sundays of the month. Our rides are classified by the average pace we expect (although most of them have gotten faster than the advertised pace in the past couple of years)... but some folks don't want to have to maintain a particular pace, or have friends or partners who ride at different paces than they themselves... and some of our number have particular bikes that aren't geared for the rides they like to do, often older, classic bikes, or specialty bikes.
Some examples of these bikes:
Will I ever get tired of bike pics?
Anyway, this ride has gotten popular; I've had it filled with a waiting list the last couple of times. We go out of Village Park in Cranbury on an easy, flat 22-ish mile route. (Go check the ride page.)
These riders have all different abilities, and ride at different paces. I make sure nobody's ignored at the back and nobody rides alone. One rider had to turn back after a knee problem (and made it home fine; I was contacted afterwards); another didn't want to have to work so hard to keep up with the group (I'm fine with that; it's what this ride is for). We still came in faster than I expected we would... but we all got to the stop together.
We stop at the McCaffery's on Southfield, and just as we pulled in, it started to rain. (What? NOBODY was predicting rain today!). About five minutes later, the rain stopped, long before we were even thinking about getting back on the bikes and proceeding.
After the ride, people were hanging around the parking lot and chatting. A usually-reliable source (The Excellent Wife [TEW]) suggested that this was a sign that people had a good time. I'm beginning to think I may need to schedule more of these; we seem to have a certain level of interest.
If you're a club member, you may want to come along. Ride at whatever pace you like. Unless you're rocketing off the front, you won't be alone.
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