On Meetup and Strava Cycling Events

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Meetup and Strava are two sites filling specific niches. Meetup is a dinosaur of the web. It dates back to 2005 when the web was still looking for a way to be sustainable, and thus, more fun. Meetup was good for people in big US cities, London and other metropolitain cities. If you lived in Bumbleduck nowhere it was not. (Intentional spelling)

Strava in contrast is a young company. It was created in 2009 and became popular among the cycling community for a while, before eventually including running, hiking and then climbing and many other sports. The point of Strava is that it is a social network for sporty people. Meetup is a social network for sedentary, as well as sporty meetups.

I have been part of Meetup.com since 2005 so I have been around from the start, from when meeting people from the web was still an adventure. Today it has become the norm. I was a member of the site for two decades before I really began using it last year, and this year, mainly for hikes until recently.

It’s when I joined, and started joining rides with Bike Club Switzerland that my riding frequency increased, but also my desire to do longer rides.

I appreciate that there are rides that are "relaxed", "moderate", "peak" and "challenging" if I remember the levels correctly. In theory this should ensure that people find the groups that reflect their level.

Strava

The first Strava group I rode with met in Divonne. It was within the Club Skoda Auvergne – Rhône-Alpes group. I found that this group rode hard and fast. I often felt exhausted at the end of rides. In one case I said "You can drop me if you like" and they didn’t want to so I had to struggle to keep up. This isn’t a criticism of the group but serves to highlight the advantage of finding groups that are for a combination of abilities.

Bike Club Switzerland on Meetup, and Tête de Course on Strava are both good groups to know of.

Bike Club Switzerland

On Tuesdays every single week, in the evening Bike Club Switzerland offers people a chance to try their first group ride, to learn how to behave and signal correctly. On Thursday and Friday a number of rides are planned with a maximum of 15 participants per group. Each group has a specific course that you can download and add to your cycling computer.

Tête de Course

With Tête de Course you have a 06:30 ride on Wednesday mornings. The average speed is 25 km/h so it is better for cyclists that can hold this pace. The point is to offer keen cyclists an opportunity to enjoy a bike ride before heading to work.

On Thursday at 18:30 there are group rides. The groups are divided in three. Group 1 is the fastest, Group 2 is slower and may do a shorter loop. Group 3 is more relaxed, and will do a shorter loop. This allows for a more inclusive experience.

Endurance and Distance

When I went on this ride last year I really struggled to keep up with the group. I was blown out by the time we got to Gex. With this ride I wanted to be dropped, to get home at my own pace, rather than pushing hard.

In contrast, this year, with BCS and TDC I feel comfortable with the pace, and if I want to push I can, and if I don’t want to push I can choose an easier ride. I can work on base miles and endurance rather than speed. In the process I have progressed from 30km solo rides to century rides on a regular basis. This morning’s ride was hilly. I was comfortable.

And Finally

When it comes to finding group rides, it’s about finding groups that ride regularly within easy reach of where you live. For a time I was cycling with the Skoda Divonne group, before riding with BCS and then TDC. If a ride is comfortable then you can ride to the start, and back, without using a car or train. When it comes to cycling Strava and Meetup enable us to find cycling groups, and become part of communities.