I knew Sarah would have the perfect advice for you, Kelly. I am even older than Sarah if you can imagine I just want to add that we do require that all who ride in club rides wear a helmet. You can try us out - you do not have to join to ride with us. Hope to see see you at a club ride soon.

Jen

I just started riding with the club about a month ago or so and just joined a week or two ago. The group has been very welcoming and I have enjoyed the rides more then I can tell you.

On my first ride with the club, I was way, way in the back. The last person to finish by a long way. Except for the ride leader, who stayed back with me to make sure I safely returned to my vehicle and finished the ride.

I have picked up tips from other riders every time I have gone out. I have not felt left alone, and frankly feel much safer with the group then I felt when I was riding alone.

I strongly urge anyone interested in riding to join this club, listen and learn from the more experienced, and most of all enjoy the activity. It is well worth it!

Tom

If you heart is in it, just do it.I'm 57 with asthma so usually i ride by myself. This gives me a chance to clear my mind, and by riding like i do i can ride as fast as i want or as slow as i want. And i also take as many breaks that i need.I usually ride on highway 99 leaving from one of the schools,sometime i leave from the ball park, either i ride to the williamsom co line and back or iride into town and get on the greenway there at cason lane. I really don't like the greeway because of the foot traffic but if you want to,goto smyrna'greenwayitismuch better with less foot traffic.
The club is a good place to ride if you don't want to ride alone. I usually make several cz rides a year and i always have a good time.
Worried about getting run off the road. It happened to me several years ago.Afer the butthole left i repaired my bike and finish the ride. Mad as a wet hen and bleeding on both knees, elbows and finger tips.I have scraps on my brake handles from the payment as i went over the bars.Accidents will happen but my haven't been too bad.So just do it. And my wife b... when i ride, but she will not stand between me and my health
Go ride, let him sit on hie rump

Come on out for a ride- riding a bicycle is still fun at 61 3/4. Just like it was when I was 5.
Cary

Kelly come ride the cz ride in the morning. Sara P. is one of the best leader

I turn 40 in Oct, am new rider too, no significant other/friends will ride with me either, but I've met some fantastic people through the group rides. No one is left behind on the CZ rides. Some clip in, some don't, some have road bikes, some have hybrids. You'll totally fit in :) If you get this, come tomorrow morning - I saw that it's a pretty flat route and Sara P IS an excellent leader :) I look forward to meeting you!

Kelly,

Sarah explained it perfectly. There is risk in anything you do. In fact, you risk your life every time you drive your car. I have sprained my ankle going to a personal training class just last summer. 4 years ago I severed BOTH my calf muscles from running (I couldn't walk for a whole year and had a 3 month old and a 1 year old). All of my injuries happened off the bike, not on.

Like you, I am a mother of two small children and will be 35 this year and my husband doesn't want to ride with me at all. I have been riding all my life and started riding with the club two years ago. I made a choice to ride responsibly, for the sake of my kids, by NOT riding on public roads by myself (which I have done countless times in the past). I ride alone only in neighborhoods (great time to work on interval training) or I go to a spin class. When I find the time, I meet up with the club rides and feel very comfortable.

Come join them when you can. They are a great group of people and if you enjoy cycling it is well worth trying it out.

Kelly,
You sound a lot like me when I started riding. That was about 17 years ago. I Am now 54. I had always owned a bike but only rode in my neighborhood. It was my escape. I joined the club nervous like you about riding on public roads. I was a real novice. The women in the club took me under their wing and taught me everything I needed to know. The club became a real community for me. (And still is.)
I guess the best part is that it has kept me healthy. I really feel as young today as when I started. I now have a different perspective of what becoming older means. It means having fun, having adventures and playing. I've had a couple minor wrecks but don't have a general physician. (Knock on wood) haven't needed one. Look forward to meeting you!

This might sound a bit strange, but reading all your responses makes me feel like I'm home! It's just nice to hear from people who love to ride. I did not even realize I could "test the water" first by riding with you without joining (although I'm pretty sure I will want to ultimately join). One question though, I currently ride a "comfort bike" with mountain bike type tires. I realize that I need a road bike and will upgrade to that. In the meantime though, would I be ok coming out and trying a CZ ride or should I put off riding with you until I actually own a road bike?

The very idea of CZ rides is to get people like you involved. Nobody gets left behind on these rides and sometimes old timers like myself and others ride CZ to help out with advice for new riders and to answer questions in general about biking. Come on out.

Kelly - the CZ ride is a "come as you are" ride - all types of bikes are welcome!!

Your post spoke to me as I can relate to being "alone" in regards to riding. It can be difficult, and discouraging at times, when you don't have the support you'd like. My wife doesn't have any interest at all in cycling, and neither does any of my family. Sure, it would be great if your husband would ride with you, but you can't always share the same interest, unfortunately. For what it's worth, I don't feel it makes you a bad wife or mother at all. If anything, you're setting an example as a mother to follow what you're passionate about.

I rode with this group starting in 2008 into 2009 and then moved to Hendersonville. I haven't ridden much at all since. With gas prices & being tight on money, I couldn't drive to Murfreesboro. I did find a club in Hendersonville, but there's just something about this group - there is an unspoken friendship and camaraderie. If you have any questions about anything, people here are more than happy to help. I went on a couple of Comfort Zone (CZ) rides within the last month, the first I've ridden since 2009, and it brought back a lot of great memories. It was like I picked up right where I left off.

Yes, cycling out on the road can be dangerous. As others have said, Sarah hit the nail on the head - there is danger in everything you do. When I first started cycling, I was scared to death of riding on the road, knowing there are people behind the wheel that don't pay attention, don't know (or don't care) that they are supposed to give cyclists three feet of space, and at times, simply drivers that purposely drive as close as possible to cyclists. With that being said, and as Sarah stated, there is safety in numbers. In my experience, drivers are able see a group of cyclists much easier than a single rider, and thus, less accidents tend to occur. I can tell you that I feel very safe riding with this group. After a bit of riding, I got one of those mirrors to put on my helmet so I knew when cars were behind me, which for me, made me feel a lot safer out on the road. This club is very safe, and every measure is made to ensure that all riders know when cars are coming in any direction. The Comfort Zone group would be perfect for you to get your feet wet in group riding and ease out on the road, and the ride leaders are not going leave you by yourself.

Do what makes you happy :)

Hey everybody! Well, after doing a ton of research and asking dozens of people hundreds of questions, I finally felt like I had progressed from knowing zero about bikes to slightly more than zero and I have ordered my road bike!!! Woohoo. I got a 2011 (only because I couldn't wait for the 2012) Jamis Ventura Race Femme and the shop agreed to swap out the 25 cassette with a 28 cassette because that's what everybody told me I should do if I went with a compact.

Anywho, I know your group rides will be ending soon but I'm hoping to participate in a few CZ rides before the season ends so maybe some of you can teach me how to ride my bike correctly. BUT, my question is, will there be any of those beginner rides in October? I think that might be a really helpful thing for me to do first as I have never ridden in a group and I don't want to do something wrong that could at worst cause somebody else (or me) to get hurt and at best cause others to have ill feelings towards me because I don't know the ins and outs of group rides.

Regardless, I really look forward to riding with you some and more than likely joining the club next year and becoming what I hope to be a regular participant! Once again, woohoo!!!

Kelly- get signed up for the ride/eat from The Blue Porch on Oct.8th- There will be a CZ short ride and it will be a great time to meet members.

See the post on the message board.

Call if you have questions-

Cary
615-893-0721

Kelly, there are CZ rides every Saturday in October. The weeknight rides have ended for the season.

Please join Susan Barber for the CZ ride this Saturday (10/1) at Rockvale Elementary @ 8:00AM. I am not sure how many miles she is doing but you will discover a great group of riders that look out for one another.

Bill G.
CZ Ride Coordinator

YAY Kelly!! Welcome!! Hope to meet you Saturday!!

Hopefully I'll have my bike by then. I ordered it last Friday, and they said it would take about a week. They've talked me into going ahead and putting on clipless pedals...my hope is to take it out to an empty parking lot a couple of times so I can get used to the bikes and the pedals before attempting a group ride. I will have a lot to learn about gearing as I have never ridden anything more than a 7-speed!