Sound Cyclists Bicycle Club Hold New Members Ride

This past Sunday, June 26, Sound Cyclist Bicycle Club (SCBC) held our President's New Members Ride and Picnic under beautiful sunny skies (finally!). Over 100 riders — many new faces mixed in with long time friends — rode a multitude of routes and paces. The ride leaders spent a good amount of time before leaving, going over safety pointers and rules of the road for each group. Since we were able to have 16 ride leaders, the groups were relatively small and manageable.  Everyone came back safely, which is most important, with only a few mechanical issues over the rides.

After the rides we adjourned to Weed Beach in Darien for a wonderful picnic. The club catered the party, so virtually all club members could relax and mingle. I know many of the ride leaders were verbally thanked by new riders in their groups, which is always nice to hear. When people come to appreciate how much fun riding with the club is, that is how we stay strong, promote cycling and safety, and grow. 

As I mentioned, safety is the preeminent concern for all our rides. Before each of our club rides, the ride leaders (RLs) always present a short talk to all riders, mainly stressing safety issues: ride single file, obey all traffic laws, always give motor vehicles right of way, communicate with each other, etc.  At this ride, since there were many people who might be riding with a group for the first time, the length and scope of the pre-ride safety talk was enhanced. That said, cycling is potentially, some might say, inherently, an activity with a significant degree of risk. Crashes do occur — sometimes through no one's fault.

There is an absolute rule within SCBC — no helmet, no ride. It is critical to have a properly fitting adequate cycling helmet before riding. That means it also has to be sufficiently secured on your head. Last year, while marshaling for a charity event, I passed a fellow riding up a hill with his helmet unbuckled. It was a very hot summer's day, yet that is no excuse. As I rode alongside I cautioned him to stop and fasten his helmet. He dismissed me by saying he could not stop on the hill. I only hoped he did stop and fasten it at some point soon, but you cannot legislate common sense — even as I pointed out to him that his helmet was absolutely worthless with the strap undone.

Sometimes crashes occur when cyclists make a small error — such as touching the wheel of the cycle in front of you as you attempt to "draft" — which is being close to the cycle in front to allow them to push the air out of the way and reduce your resistance. It does permit you to exert about 30 percent effort for the same speed, but it is very technique sensitive and also sensitive to the person in front maintaining a constant speed. A fellow on our Bloomin Metric had this unfortunate crash close to the end of the ride — he broke his collar bone when he went flying over the bike. Sometimes, holes in the road can cause a rider to lose control and crash. This happened last year on one of my rides in Wilton, where a rider signaled a turn while on Rte. 33 and hit a small hole in the road just at that moment, lost control and crashed, again breaking bones. 

Just a few weeks ago, one of my good friends who comes up to Greenwich to ride ended up in the hospital for three days with serious injury from hitting some debris in the road while going "only" 20 mph. The rapid and thoughtful response from local EMS really saved the day.

I could go on and on with a litany of tales of woe — just as I can complain endlessly about the minority of motorists who seem hell bent on running us off the road — or the "bad boy/girl" cyclists who have absolute disregard for anyone else.

Point is, we all share the same space, frequently at the same time, and need to respect each other's right to be there. Since cyclists need to maneuver around holes and debris, and sometimes suffer a mechanical issue which might cause them to swerve — please remember to give plenty of room when passing in your motor vehicle. It really costs the motorist nothing to be a little sensitive and thoughtful. I am certain that if someone caused a crash it would have an emotional toll, even if you are not physically harmed. Of course, that does not extend to the criminals who hit and run people, cars, cyclists, etc.

Still, cycling is a tremendous amount of fun and probably one of the best ways to age backwards, since that old adage of "use it or lose it" is very true. Just make sure to "use it" along with a dose of common sense and keep safety in the forefront.