Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Cycling Clubs

I have been thinking of joining a cycling club, not only so that I can have someone to talk to (my wife is a little sick of it), but really so I could have some training partners.  Looking around the internet I found that Celo Pacific was my local club and I went on a couple of rides with them and had a blast.  As there training rides start only a mile away from my house I was ready to send in my membership info, until the Boulevard Road Race.

At the race I was dissapointed to only see two guys from the club entered (actually there were two more that I did not see) and that they did not prepare together for the race.  On the other hand, I saw a nice tent for San Diego Bike Club, and they had a lot of guys entered that all lined up together at the start.  After doing some research on them it appeared that they put a lot of effort into their bike teams.  The Cat IV / V guys even do a mini training camp, have a designated coach, and the club rides work on specific goals.  The downside would be that I would have to drive to La Jolla for them.

So I was in a quandary, choose the local club, or go for the more "team" atmosphere.  While I was trying to make this decision I chose to stay away from the Celo Pacific group rides.  I feel bad using a club without any intention of joining them. But the other day, when I went to go do my time trial I saw ended up passing them on the road and was recognized instantly (Riding a classic Bianchi might have helped).  That has helped me make my decision.  Due to the fact that I would have to drive to ride with SDBC, and the size (I think I would get lost in the shuffle) I have decided to Join Celo Pacific.  Now I just need to save some money for the member's dues.

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