The one-pager
How We Ride
The charter. Read it before your first ride — it’s the whole deal in seven short sections. Snobs about bikes, never about people.
Pace
16–17 mph (26–27 km/h) rolling average. On flats the front holds 18–20 mph (29–32 km/h); climbs are ridden at your own pace and we regroup at the summits — as a habit, not a promise. This is not a no-drop ride: if the pace is clearly beyond you on the day, or your bike suffers a major mechanical, the group rides on and you get a sympathetic wave and a text to make sure you got home. Flat tires and small stuff, we fix together. Come fit, come self-sufficient (phone, tube, route on your computer), and none of this will ever apply to you.
The Week
Thursday Kermesse: 6:00pm from Chainline Brewing, ~34 miles, one beer at the finish, home by dark (winter: shorter, lights required). We’re launching with this one night a week. A Saturday Long One — ~50 miles with a mid-ride espresso — joins the calendar as the club grows.
Group Craft
Two abreast where legal, single file on request, point the holes, no half-wheeling, no aero bars in the group. If you can rotate through-and-off smoothly, come to the front; if not, sit in and learn by watching.
Equipment
Road bike, well maintained. We are enthusiasts, not snobs — but show up with a creaking bottom bracket twice and someone will fix it for you, possibly against your will. Helmets required.
The Beer
One good one, at the end, at the table, Flemish-style. It’s the club meeting, not the club purpose. Ride home legal and lit. Ordering a radler, a coffee, or a water earns you exactly zero comments — the tradition is the table, not the glass.
Culture
New riders get introduced, wheel-suckers get forgiven, flat tires are a group activity. We’re snobs about bikes, never about people. The ride is the point; the espresso and the beer are non-negotiable.
Kit & Trips
Club kit by ride three is a strong tradition, not a rule — clean and black. A bike that looks good rides faster; a group that matches rides fastest. Trips: 2–3 per year, small group, one overnight. First up is the Ronde van Baker — Glacier, WA base, Artist Point at sunrise, frites somewhere if we can find them.