I really do think that you have missed the point in all this discussion.

Can I first say that from what I've read and the tone in which it has been written that the group has not been criticised for any failure on its part. Some of the comments about the website are opinions and I think anybody that has looked fully at the website and the history of the variety of the rides could only come to the conclusion that the group offers a wide range of rides throughout the year.

The message that people like myself are trying to put across is that there are not enough easy rides to satisfy the needs of us as individuals looking to join the group. I can only say that having not joined the group is based solely on the fact that I am uncertain about being capable of completing some of the long rides based simply upon the lack of experience of actually doing such a long ride.

Undestanding that the lack of experience is a problem for new members could well explain why the easy rides are undersubscribed

--- On Sat, 7/26/08, ndcanham <ndcanham@...> wrote:

From: ndcanham <ndcanham@...>
Subject: [cyclecardiff] Re: New Cyclists
To: cyclecardiff@...
Date: Saturday, July 26, 2008, 11:08 AM

I've read the comments on the forum about our ride calendar with
interest. I don't agree at all that we say anything which is
misleading on our website. We do offer information for people at all
levels, and a number of novice or returning cyclists have become
involved in our rides, and, I believe, been made to feel very welcome.

Looking back at our Rides Calendar, we have run six pretty easy rides
this year. Even a ride like the one to The Griffin Inn in Lisvane,
which we classified as 'Moderate' due to the distance over 15 k.m.,
was little more than a gentle morning jaunt into the suburbs. There
were at least eight such short rides in 2007 too.

To put all this into context, be aware that the alternative for many
people is to join a road club like Ajax or Jif, which will be well
beyond most novice's abilities.

All of our short rides are designed so that we can reach somewhere of
interest -- riding around Bute Park would get pretty boring pretty
quickly -- but they're also suitable for a more experienced rider to
come along and take part, if only to stretch their legs and have a
coffee in company.

Germaine is right to point out that what short rides we run are
comparatively poorly attended, so there is clearly less demand for
rides of this distance. However, we persist in offering the easier
rides precisely for those who want an access point to a cycling club.

It is important to realize that absolutely all of Cycle Cardiff's
rides are run by volunteers who are passionate about cycling and give
up their own time to plan and run these rides. We have no statutory
status and no grant funding from public or private bodies. In fact we
have hardly any budget to speak of at all. We see ourselves as
primarily a club and do not see ourselves as providing a service to
clients, but we do think that we engage with cycling in a way that
other organizations currently don't.

I can say with confidence that many statutory bodies or grant-funded
organizations would be delighted to achieve the levels of attendance
and physical activity that we are achieving on a regular basis. I also
suggest that those who imply that we're not doing enough would be
hard-pushed to find a similar local voluntary organization in the UK
which is running a ride schedule as wide-ranging and accessible as
ours, with the possible exception of Southwark Cyclists.