Why do short fun rides start so early?

[ontodva]

It's a Saturday or Sunday morning and you are looking forward to a 30-40km easy ride but why is the organiser making everyone get to the starting point at 9.15? That is a typical start time for a meeting point that could take people an hour to get to by train after leaving home at 8.15. Why so early? The ride will finish by 2.30. Everyone needs to be home by 3.30? Who said?

[rotavator]

Have a chat to the organiser and try to find out the (real) reason. The only organised rides that I do start at 11 am and I wish they started earlier!

[ontodva]

Rotavator, then I would need to chat to all the organisers. They all start well before 10am.

[Paulatic]

I’m intrigued
Do people really thing 9:15 is early?
Do people really spend two hours travelling by train to do a 40 km ride at a speed of 10km/ hr?

It’s a world I couldn’t ever see me entering but find it interesting if people really do this.
As for an 11am start I’m pleased I’m not leading it but I suppose I wouldn’t be late arriving

[ontodva]

London. Meet at x Central London station at 9.15. The ride has participants. Where do they come from? Suburbs. Get up, shower & breakfast. Prep for the ride. Ride to station. Wait for train. Get train to station. It must arrive before the start time which is 9.15. You are getting up at a normal work day time if you commute but it is a weekend. And this is not at all exceptional for a fun ride - others start at 8.30. That is why I am asking why.

[peetee]

Traffic. An early ride is better for the inexperienced who could feel less confident on a busier road. Our shorter club rides are generally done and dusted before lunch.

[Hellhound]

Our Team/CC rides start at 08:00 in Summer and 08:30 in Winter.
Many riders have families so early start means home by lunchtime.I was under the impression that most club runs started well before 09:00!

[PH]

Those start times have evolved because they suit most people. if you think there's a demand for other times, it's never been easier to organise and publicise your own.
A ride in the middle of the day will limit what else you can do with your day off, still not much time to do anything before it other than have a lay-in, you're going to be out when you're used to having lunch, so it's either go hungry or a longer stop, less time to do anything else at the end of the ride. You could of course have a later ride, after lunch, our MG tried these for a couple of years but they never really took off, though our mid-week summer evening rides are popular.
I wouldn't spend a couple of hours a day traveling for a couple of hours riding, luckily I don't have to. I'm surprised someone living in the London suburbs would need to travel into central London to find a group, another reason that setting your own up might be feasible.

[mjr]

Those start times have evolved because they suit most people. if you think there's a demand for other times, it's never been easier to organise and publicise your own.

I think they've evolved because of inertia and it suiting the organisers, typically people who can rock up to family Sunday lunch without doing anything towards its preparation. So they don't want a lunch stop. Often organisers are either retired or early-risers so don't value a more relaxed weekend day start. Most people never get asked and enough ride to perpetuate early rides.

It's also never been easier to get abuse for trying something different.

The group I ride with starts in town at 10am (about 5 minutes from a train station served at 0950) and regards weekend rides as day trips, but other locals start between 3 and 7 miles out of town between 8am and 9am, aiming to return to their starts by noon.

[ontodva]

It surprises me that riders would prefer fussy inflexibility about lunch time to a bit of a weekend lie-in!

[PH]

Those start times have evolved because they suit most people. if you think there's a demand for other times, it's never been easier to organise and publicise your own.

I think they've evolved because of inertia and it suiting the organisers

I'm lucky enough to ride with a group where the organisers make up a fair proportion of the riders, so there isn't that distinction. Neither is there any abuse for trying new things! What sort of clubs are you basing that experience on? Whenever I've organised something, there's always been an appreciation for doing so, whether it's developed into something successful or not. Our mid-week day rides do start later, meeting in a café at 10.00 for a 10.30 depart, that's mainly to miss the worst of the work/school traffic and the same people riding at the weekend prefer the 9.00/9.30 starts.

[PH]

It surprises me that riders would prefer fussy inflexibility about lunch time to a bit of a weekend lie-in!

So, get involved and try it.

[Paulatic]

It surprises me that riders would prefer fussy inflexibility about lunch time to a bit of a weekend lie-in!

It surprises me someone wants a weekend lie-in unless you’re a teenager of course.
If it’s your day off from work why waste it laying in bed?
I’ve been retired 10 years yet still wake up in time to go to work and next week when on holiday I’ll more than likely be up an hour earlier. I can’t be wasting holiday time in bed.

[mjr]

Neither is there any abuse for trying new things! What sort of clubs are you basing that experience on?

Affiliates of both Cycling UK and British Cycling. Splits over such things as start times and locations (northeast edge of town, central or southwest edge!) have led to new clubs (not just new riding groups) forming. Ironically, the only group doing political campaigning seems to have the least internal politicking.

Abuse? Mainly online and those running the online groups seem mostly old cautious members who hesitate to delete posts and boot offenders.

Our mid-week day rides do start later, meeting in a café at 10.00 for a 10.30 depart, that's mainly to miss the worst of the work/school traffic and the same people riding at the weekend prefer the 9.00/9.30 starts.

So, not many of them are working full time? It's similar here for most groups. Riding times are mainly set by the people riding: that's inertia.

[mjr]

It surprises me that riders would prefer fussy inflexibility about lunch time to a bit of a weekend lie-in!

It surprises me someone wants a weekend lie-in unless you’re a teenager of course.
If it’s your day off from work why waste it laying in bed?

No more time in bed, so no waste. Just a later start so we can enjoy the evenings and nights more.

I’ve been retired 10 years yet still wake up in time to go to work and next week when on holiday I’ll more than likely be up an hour earlier. I can’t be wasting holiday time in bed.

Not a surprise. Not only retired but either sleeping less or not going out late nights at clubs, gigs, midnight/outdoor film shows, and so on?