For those new to either cycling or triathlon the scene can often look quite daunting and segregated with lots of different training groups of clubs. There are many benefits of joining a club however and doing so is much easier than it may seem at first, as well as being very welcoming to. It’s not just those new to it as well, with clubs offering great benefits to those who may have relocated to a new town or city, or those who are bored of training on their own.
To help, we’ve explored several of the benefits of joining a cycling or triathlon club.
The Social Side
There’s plenty of new friendships to be made by joining a club and spending time with likeminded people. Social club runs or rides are a great example of how sport brings people together and creates conversation. These regular sessions can easily be worked into your training plan and provide a great way of being social as well as plenty of other aspects which we’ve explored below, including learning new training roads, etiquette and more.
There’s often a good social scene away from training sessions too with annual get togethers at many clubs and also a good group of people to make friends with and to enjoy spending time with – even if you end up talking about cycling and triathlon all the time.
A New Training Group
Even if you’ve got your own coach and training plan, there are still plenty of sessions that can be done in a group and being a part of a club will help make this a lot easier. Long endurance rides are made easier with good company, while sometimes efforts can also be done riding with others, pushing one another on hills, riding through and off and more.
In addition, having other riders or athletes around you in your club gives a fresh level of motivation to keep progressing and getting stronger as you benchmark yourself against those at a similar level as yourself in the club. A bit of friendly competition never hurts!
Learning The Area
If you’re new to an area, joining a club will be hugely beneficial in finding out where the good training spots are. Those that have trained in the area for some time will know the best climbs for hill reps, the quiet roads to stick to and the most scenic routes too and so riding with club mates and discovering these hotspots is a great way to find your feet.
Develop New Skills and Learn The Etiquette
Riding with other more experienced riders who have been members of a club for some time will help you to develop new skills, especially on the bike. Learning from others is a very good way of developing as an athlete. There’s also a clear etiquette between cyclists and triathletes when training – pointing out holes, traffic and road furniture, helping those who are struggling and much more. All this will be picked up easily when training with others.
Club Kit
There are some pretty cool club kits out there and when you join you are privy to buying your own club kit – feeling part of the team and inclusive. Watch this space for our very own Blackzone Coaching club kit!
Ride Faster
When riding in a group there’s plenty more drafting opportunities to be had so when it comes to sharing your turn on the front you’re fresher and able to keep the group’s speed and momentum higher. As a result for the same if not less overall effort you’ll usually cover more distance on group rides with a higher average speed.
With a bit of through and off training, swapping fast turns on the front together, you might even start to creep closer to some of those Strava segments!
Get Into The Racing Scene
There will most likely be members of the club who either race, have done before or are considering it. This gives you a good opportunity to find out more about getting into racing and doing so with teammates to make the whole experience feel a lot less daunting.
