About the only thing that has changed about our rides is that we must always make sure:
- that you’re not sick and/or not an asymptomatic carrier (not sure how we determine this one),
- that you practice excellent personal hygiene by frequently washing your hands,
- practicing social distancing when at all possible (or wear a mask when not possible),
- be careful where you send your snot rockets, away from fellow riders, and
- above all, ride safe and ride legal.
While we’ve had to cancel the Climb to Kaiser 2020 (now rescheduled for June 26, 2021), we have a number of items on the agenda for the Fresno Cycling Club as we go forward, which include:
- the Belmont Time Trials begin June 2, 2020.
- the Tour de Lakes club ride is on for July 25, 2020.
- the Kirch Flat has been rescheduled to Sept 5, 2020 (registration open).
- the Grizzly Century will be Oct 3, 2020 (registration opening soon).
- the Bass Lake DC will be held on Oct 10, 2020 (registration opening soon).
- the Everyone Loves Raymond is scheduled for Nov 14, 2020.
So I am hearing talk that the Fresno Cycling Club is a “clique.” I thought for a minute and decided to confirm the definition of a clique. So, SIRI told me: a clique is “a small group of people, with shared interests or other features in common, who spend time together and do not readily allow others to join them.” As far as the Fresno Cycling Club as a whole, I have to say that we are NOT a clique. Yes, we are all of a like mind in that we love riding our bikes, but we aren’t a small group and we always encourage riders to join our rides. Are there cliques within the Fresno Cycling Club? I would have say yes there are, but I don’t see that as always a bad thing.
Cliques are a part of life; anytime you have a larger organization of like-minded people involved in a similar activity, cliques will develop. Cliques tend to develop when for instance, in the bike club, a group of people start riding together. The more often they ride together, the more they get to know each other’s riding styles, habits and personalities. The more they enjoy being around each other the more likely that it is that a clique can form. It usually doesn’t take long before a larger group breaks into smaller groups. What happens is the splinter group may develop into a clique to the point they wind up doing their own rides all the time and stop including others. The problem with cliques is that they wind up shying away from club rides (and are no longer covered by the club’s accident and liability insurance!). Cliques can tend to alienate other riders by not allowing them to ride in their group. This can develop a negative image for the club as the more cliques that develop, the more people will feel alienated and not part of the club.
Take a look at the groups you ride with now; have any of them developed into a clique that tends to alienate other riders? As a club we need to be mindful of this and try not to allow our cliques to become what I would call a negative clique(one that restricts other riders). If we want our club to thrive, we need to endeavor to have as many club rides as possible in an effort to include as many riders as possible.
As we begin to come out of the shelter-in-place restrictions, we will make every effort to have as many rides as possible so as not to exclude anyone. Please keep an eye on the Ride Calendar, at www.fresnocycling.com for more information. The more ride leaders we have, the more riding we can do. If you want to be a ride leader contact the A/B Ride Coordinator Mark Locatelli or the C/D Ride Coordinator Henry Pretzer.
See you on the road!
The Prez - Dennis
