Ride and Glide FAQ
Here's a bunch of typical questions I usually receive about Ride and Glide Bike and Ski Club. If you still have more questions send them to me at sdthatcher@q.com
Biking
Skiing
How do I join the Tuesday night bike rides : To do the rides on Tuesday night, out of Ramsey Beach in White Bear Lake or the Fat Bike rides at Lake Elmo in the Winter, you need to be a Winter member or join for Bikeonly (only $10). Registration begins for the new year around the end of September. You can do that at www.rideandglide.org/cgi-bin/form_input2.pl Select Join_Club. If you're in as a skier you're good to go and everything else is free including the Time Trials
How do I join the Winter ski instructional program? : To participate in the Winter Ski Instructional Program you need to join and pay the fees. Biking is included with your Skier registration. Registration begins for the new year around the end of September. Registration is at www.rideandglide.org/cgi-bin/form_input2.pl Select Join_Club
I only bike, I don't ski, can I join? : Yes, you just join as Bike Only. No Skiing. You can do that at www.rideandglide.org/cgi-bin/form_input2.pl Select Join_Club. It's only $10
Do I need roller skis? : An emphatic NO! Roller skis are not required to participate in the Winter Program. There are a group of dedicated skiers that have rollerskis and we usually start pre-season workouts after Labor Day. I do not recommend rollerskis for beginners. They are very dangerous and of little benefit to a beginner until he or she develops reasonable technique. If you are thinking about rollerskis feel free to contact me about them. But rest assured you will miss out on nothing in the club if you don't have them.
I'm a Winter skiing member do it need to do anything to ride bikes? : No, You're already in, hopefully you checked the bike e-mail list button when you registered. If you didn't contact me at sdthatcher@q.com
How do I sign up for a Time Trial? : Once you are a member, either Skier or Bike Only, all you need to do is register for the TT. Do that at www.rideandglide.org/cgi-bin/form_input2.pl Select tt_registration The events are free. You need to re-register for each of the monthly TT's however.
What are the benefits of membership? : Your Full Year membership gets you access to all the club activities. Skier gives you complete access. Bike Only membership gets you the riding benefits. The benefits of club membership are as follows. Ski Instruction, 20% discount at Joe's Ski Shop for XC equipment, Discounted equipment buying night at FinnSisu, 20% off HED wheels, Discounts at Now Bikes and Fitness, free entry in the Withrow TT Series, Free access to HED demo wheels at the TT's, Discounted products at Rudy Project (50%) and free Clif/Nature Valley products at the rides and skis and at races.
How much does it cost? : Full year Winter Program fees are $70, $60 for returning members. Summer membership, if you are not already a Winter member is $10. That gets you access to all the perks and the TT's are free
How do I contact other members? : There is an e-mail list that you will receive once you join. You can also see individual member's addresses and e-mails on the Club Info and Forms page at www.rideandglide.org/cgi-bin/form_input2.pl Select Members_list. You'll need a password to see anything other than a list of names. With the password you get name, phone, address, ski technique, what bike they ride etc.
Can I just get e-mails, I don't want to join? : You can get on the e-mail list as a Lurker You don't ride with us, you don't get ski lessons, but you just want to keep up with what we are doing. Drop me an e-mail at sdthatcher@q.com and ask for Lurker status
How fast do we ride? : There are typically 3 groups of riders by the time the night is over. The front group averages over 21 mph for the 30-50 miles (including the 20 minute warm-up). Then there's a second group of riders that try to hang on to the front group, at times, with varying degrees of success. They usually average 19-21 mph for the night. Then there's a group of riders that don't even attempt to hang with the Big Boys and just go out on their own. They usually average about 15-16 mph. We call these the Fast, Halfast, and SE (Shorter/Easier) groups. We ask you what group you might ride in on the membership form.
What are the ride protocols? : We usually go out in 3 groups. The SE group goes out when they are ready. Usually before 5:45. So you should e-mail others in the group if you're an SE rider so they know to wait for you. Then we send out the Fast group and about 2-3 minutes later the Halfast group. We do this to reduce traffic congestion, not to promote any chase groups. This club is very concerned about our image on the roads as it's seen by motorists. We don't tolerate "Cyclists Behaving Badly". Ride at most two a breast, single file in high traffic areas. No running stop lights. Always takes turns with cars at Stop Signs when traffic is present. Never pass up an opportunity to make a good impression on a motorist. Read the Paceline Guidelines. We usually have between 20 and 40 riders in the Fast and Halfast groups and less than 10 in the SE group
When and Where do we bike? : We meet every Tuesday at Ramsey Beach in White Bear Lake from April through Sept. We leave the parking lot at 5:45. We'll wait if you get to the lot by 5:44. About once a month we meet at the Mahtomedi HS Athletic Fields parking lot to take a ride to Afton. Beginning in the 2017-18 season we will also be riding on snow/dirt on Tuesday's at Lake Elmo in the Winter (headlights)
When and where do we ski? : We do our ski instruction at the Lake Elmo Nordic Center in Lake Elmo Regional Park and Elm Creek Nordic Center in Elm Creek Regional Park every Tuesday night from Nov through Feb. We meet in the Nordic Centers at 6:30 and head out for the night's work by 6:45. The buildings are open so come in and change into ski boots and warm up before skiing.
Is this a racing club? : No!, About 30% of our skiing members race (we have about 150 members). The racers are a boisterous group and get a lot of attention, but you do not have to race to benefit from the instruction no matter how performance oriented it seems. We'll teach you to go further and faster and longer with less effort. That's good for everyone, Racer or Touring. Winter is about instruction as apposed to workouts. But you will get a workout during the technique sessions, it's just not the focus. About 15% of the Summer members race. The Summer rides are much more about training. The Fast and Halfast groups are out there to train and go fast. This is pack riding and you should be comfortable riding in a group. The SE group is not as intense, it's still a Fitness Ride however. In general we're not out on a social ride, but sometimes the SE group turns out that way depending on who show up or by agreement.