Thursday Night Social Ride - This one's gonna be a little different...

Just in time for all those curious types out there, the information for this Thursday's Social Ride has been published:

Hey there, Social Cyclists.

Perhaps you've noticed the change in the weather? Our sub 100 degree days have brought a bunch of relief to us that get around town on two wheels. It brings to mind that with only two more months of summer temperatures we better get our swimming in while we can. This weeks ride is heading back to Barton Springs for an hour of free swimming. After that we are heading over to The Liberty on east 6th where they are buying us all some beer, then selling it to us for cheap after the kegs run dry. Thanks to KC over at The Liberty for having us back.

We are getting to be a very large group, ya'll (around 300 last week). Which is really awesome, Thanks for coming out. With so many new riders lately so I want to go over the basics.

1) We meet at the Pfluger Pedestrian Bridge at 7:30, we leave at 8pm. Don't be late. If you are, just ride around looking for a huge bike mob. That's us.
2) Bring WATER, bike lights, lock, an ID if you want to drink and for this week... a swimsuit and a beach ball.
3) We try our best not to run lights and to let cars pass when they have the right of way. This means staying to the right, whether that be on a four lane road or a two lane residential street. We aren't riding in traffic, we are traffic. We need to let cars do their thing while we do ours. Please listen to the ride leaders when they ask you to stay right or to slow down. It's a safety thing.
4) Be respectful. This is an incredible group and this almost goes without saying... almost. Respect your fellow Social Cyclist, respect traffic, respect the people that live in the neighborhoods we ride through and respect the employees and patrons of the establishments that host us. We have a lot of goodwill built up for our group. Let's keep it that way. Pick up your trash at the park, be friendly to pedestrians and cars that we see, tip your bartenders for that free beer and maybe even throw in a "thanks." If we keep up the good act, we are going to be able to do even more than we are now. Thanks ya'll.

A few more points of order in this weeks bulletin. I mentioned about how large our group is getting. At the hour that we ride, it is not practical to stay in one group. Beginning this week, we will be splitting into groups that are large enough to be fun and safely ride in traffic and small enough so we don't have to stop every minute and a half. We will ride in groups then mob up a couple of times during the ride and finally at the bar. I'm still working out the logistics, so hang with me while I work the kinks out.

Also, Social Cycling ATX needs you! Yes, you. I need some help. I need people to help me lead and manage the rides every week (both the Social Ride and the Heavy Metal Fitness Ride). You don't have to commit to every week. I am just hoping to get a roster of volunteers to fill the need from week to week. It is super fun and I'll try to make it worth your while. If you are interested please email me at- helpout@socialcyclingatx.com.

Lastly, we have a comment/suggestion box. Lately, I have gotten some really good new ideas about where to lead the ride. I have also had riders give me some great advice about the ride itself. So let me know what ideas you have, if you love the ride, hate the ride or anything else. Drop me a line at- yo@socialcyclingatx.com.

I really want to thank everyone for coming out and making this a gigantic bike party every week.

See ya'll at the bridge for some riding and swimming!

Should be interesting to see how this is managed. I've been impressed that Keith, Brooks and the crew have been able to manage a ride of similar size to the Full Moon Cruise or Critical Mass, without having any of the traffic issues that the other larger, more unruly rides seem to encounter. From what Keith says they have some new plans to deal with the size and all the starting and stopping of the rides as of late, so we'll see how all that goes TOMORROW!