Here is a list of the Ride Types offered by CRW -https://crw.org/Ride-Types.
I will highlight a few of the rides offered throughout the riding season.
Second Sunday Lexington Ride: This ride is regular ride out of Lexington Center.
Join the Charles River Wheelers (CRW) and the Friends of Lexington Bikeways for our September Second Sunday bike ride. This is a 21.1 mile ride leaving from the Minuteman Statue in Lexington Center and looping through Bedford, Concord and back. A moderately paced (avg 11-12 mph), no-drop ride with human arrows to point the way. The ride has a few challenging hills but is mostly rolling terrain. The Second Sunday rides are a great way to gain experience riding in a group as well as to explore new routes in Lexington and beyond!
Lexington Social Revolutions - it usually has four pace groups, if you check out this ride, then I would start with the Touring Pace. You can see all the paces that they offer here.
- Touring Pace 10-12 mph - 20 mile route. This group stays together for a no drop ride.
- Club Pace 13-14 mph - 20 mile route. Good conversational pace ride. Riders can drop to the group following.
- "Almost There" Pace 15-16+ mph - 20 or 30 mile route. Good workout pace where we can still chat - sort of. Riders can drop to the group following.
- Adrenaline Pace 17+ mph - 30 mile route. This ride can be goofy fun, with attacks on hills and even on the flats (when someone is really bored). Bring your grown-up socks for this one as they have been known to go faster -- much faster. Again, if you're dropped, just wait for the next group to come.
Women Only Rides - Women-Only Rides are designed to promote women-only group rides or to lead women-only groups as part of other CRW rides. These rides build thoughtful events and opportunities within the club to foster belonging and connection for and with other women. Creating personal connections within the group will embolden women to join and participate in all that CRW (Women's, co-ed, adventure, gravel, etc.) has to offer and will make CRW a more inviting place for women. The Women's Committee offers women's-only rides, workshops, and events, and identifies other integrated club opportunities each month when they encourage women to come out and participate.
Bike Thursday - Bike Thursday is a weekly ride for cyclists that enjoy riding at a slower pace of between 10-12.5 mph. Our routes are usually in the western suburbs, but could be in other areas. All rides are scenic. After the ride we gather for a picnic lunch at or near the start location. Sometimes there are stores available to purchase food, other times we bring lunch. Rides are between 20-25 miles and take over 2+ hours. At the start we break up into 3 groups of 12-14 riders each. Each group has a leader and the groups stay together using human arrows and a sweep.
The important thing is to read the ride description and to see if it fits your riding style. There are a lot of rides on the CRW Ride Calendar, some are specialty rides (gravel, adventure, DEVO).
You might want to find a ride that is a "no drop" ride - one that stays together as a group usually based on pace throughout the ride. Also, it might be best to check out a shorter ride (around 20 miles) until you feel comfortable riding in a group.
There are always more to share, but I think this will help you get started.
