Riding with bike north

I have never ridden with BN but .. As far as I know there are two different bike North groups. One
are "hard" riders the other social riders. There is also a spin off the Muggaccinos who seem to like
writing their name in the road.

My experience of all them is that they are nice people, why not give them a try.

Jack Russell

Arpit said:

could someone please tell me what the atmosphere is like on a typical bike north ride? I was hoping
for something very friendly, but pages like
bikenorth.org.au5 for participants.htmlOpen ↗ on their site seem to
foreshadow a very hostile atmosphere, with things like "Participants shall increase their effort
and close up any gap that opens up in front so that two or more groups don't form." just seeming to
detract from the enjoyment of the event. I was hoping to go along for a ride or two, do I need to
be a member to do that? regards, Arpit Thomas

Arpit said:

could someone please tell me what the atmosphere is like on a typical bike north ride? I was
hoping for something very friendly, but pages like
bikenorth.org.au5 for participants.htmlOpen ↗ on their site seem to
foreshadow a very hostile atmosphere, with things like "Participants shall increase their effort
and close up any gap that opens up in front so that two or more groups don't form." just seeming
to detract from the enjoyment of the event. I was hoping to go along for a ride or two, do I need
to be a member to do that? regards, Arpit Thomas

I've done a number of BN rides and they are very friendly. The rule you read does sound a bit
fascist, but they probably only made it as a last resort - in practice, I'm sure common sense rules
the day (of course gaps are going to appear, for all sorts of reasons). The rides are very relaxed,
particularly the shorter ones.

Muggaccinos are an offshoot of BN and they are also a very friendly bunch - they are into longer
distances (80km upwards) with at least one big climb per ride, sometimes four or even five (by climb
I mean >= 3km ridden).

AFAIK you only need to be a member of BNSW to ride with either group (worth it for bike shop
discounts alone, not to mention the free mag) - something to do with insurance. A UCI licence isn't
enough, I don't think.

HTH,

&roo

Arpit <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

could someone please tell me what the atmosphere is like on a typical bike north ride?

I've ridden on a bunch of Bikenorth rides over the last six months or so. They're a very friendly
group. They offer a whole range of rides from the disgracefully easy 25km ones through to 100km odd
rides. I prefer the harder rides.

The pace on the harder rides is usually fairly easy (generally 22-26km/h), and they almost always
stop for brekky/brunch/coffee somewhere.

My only complaint with their rides is that their longer rides can take most of the day (finishing
around 1-2pm), whereas when I do a long ride with my racing club (Randwick-Botany) I'm back home by
11 odd. However, if you're a little slower, you'll find the regular stops are a good thing.

If you like hills, the muggs are a good bet as well. They usually do rides around 80-120km, with
plenty of good solid hills in the middle. Just the thing for getting yourself thoroughly worn out.
Same thing as Bikenorth though with pace - these rides often don't finish until 2pm.

Regards,

Suzy

Suzy Jackson said:

<snip>

Quoted message said:

If you like hills, the muggs are a good bet as well. They usually do rides around 80-120km, with
plenty of good solid hills in the middle. Just the thing for getting yourself thoroughly worn out.
Same thing as Bikenorth though with pace - these rides often don't finish until 2pm.

Regards,

Suzy

N.B. the Muggs don't ride all that slowly (I've been in the red zone hanging onto the leaders at
times), it's just that they do take a few "sag/nosh" breaks, some of them quite long (30-40
mins while people order and consume coffee & cakes), which isn't to everyone's taste (e.g. my
riding buddies, as they told me once over coffee and cake during a longer ride).

&roo

well thanks everyone for your answers. one more queston though, what age are most of the people who
go for the bike north rides?

Andrew Swan said:

Arpit said:

could someone please tell me what the atmosphere is like on a typical bike north ride? I was
hoping for something very friendly, but pages like
bikenorth.org.au5 for participants.htmlOpen ↗ on their site seem to
foreshadow a very hostile atmosphere, with things like "Participants shall increase their effort
and close up any gap that opens up in front so that two or more groups don't form." just seeming
to detract from the enjoyment of the event. I was hoping to go along for a ride or two, do I need
to be a member to do that? regards, Arpit Thomas

I've done a number of BN rides and they are very friendly. The rule you read does sound a bit
fascist, but they probably only made it as a last resort - in practice, I'm sure common sense rules
the day (of course gaps are going to appear, for all sorts of reasons). The rides are very relaxed,
particularly the shorter ones.

Muggaccinos are an offshoot of BN and they are also a very friendly bunch - they are into longer
distances (80km upwards) with at least one big climb per ride, sometimes four or even five (by
climb I mean >= 3km ridden).

AFAIK you only need to be a member of BNSW to ride with either group (worth it for bike shop
discounts alone, not to mention the free mag) - something to do with insurance. A UCI licence isn't
enough, I don't think.

HTH,

&roo