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Learn the basics of cycling from experienced ride leaders with a passion for the sport. Whether your interest is touring, competitive cycling or group riding, the C-SIG provides 8 weeks of intensive training and practice during all-day group rides. Each week the rides get a little longer, a little faster and a little more difficult, so you gain strength and endurance over the spring. You’ll also get lessons in the following areas of competency:

• Essential Riding Skills:  Efficient pedal stroke, cadence, using a cycle computer, maximizing use of gears, balance/coordination, passing/acceleration, hill ascent, braking on fast down-hills, short stops, hairpin turns, etc. 
  Please note: Before joining the SIG you must have the basic riding skills of starting, stopping, and riding in a straight line.

• Road and Group Riding Skills – hand signals (stopping, turning, road obstacles), safety skills for riding in traffic.

• Bike Maintenance and Repair Skills – changing a flat, care and lubrication of chain and crank, adjusting brakes.

• Nutrition and Hydration – timing, quality, quantities.

• Bike Fit – for maximum efficiency and injury prevention.

• The Best Cycling Clothes – for riding comfortably in cold, hot, wet, and everything-in-between weather.

• Emergency First Aid Response – basics for acting quickly in case of emergency AND much more! 

Build a foundation of cycling skills that will last a lifetime. Learn to ride stronger and more safely with groups and develop as a cyclist beyond your wildest dreams. The C-SIG is a stimulating and supportive environment for developing endurance, stamina, and friendships.

Your Equipment 

You can use a road bike, a hybrid, or a mountain bike (please see the FAQs for more information on using a hybrid or mountain bike). However, your wheels must have quick-release skewers or thru axles (the things that hold the wheels onto the bike) as opposed to a skewer that requires a wrench to loosen a nut; and if your bike has downtube shifters (mostly on older steel road bikes), you must know how to use them properly. If you are unsure of your equipment, ask your bike shop to help you. Pedal-assist e-bikes are not permitted.

Attendance   

The C-SIG ride series will take place on eight Saturdays, all day, from March 25 to May 13. There will also be a mandatory indoor orientation session prior to the first ride on 3/25. In case of rain, Sundays are back-up days. Because of bad weather, almost every year at least one or two rides end up taking place on Sundays. If you miss them, they count as absences.

Each week of the SIG we will ride a little farther and a little faster. To avoid falling behind, we require all of the following:

1. You must attend the 3/25 orientation session prior to the first ride
2. You must attend at least two of the first three rides, AND
3. You must attend at least six of the eight weekly rides overall

The strict attendance requirement helps to assure that SIG participants are committed to the program, and that everyone is progressing together steadily and safely. This is a progressive series, with each week taking us a little farther and a little faster. Each week, we build on what we have learned in the previous weeks. Since much of our course material is presented in the early weeks, attendance at the first three sessions is particularly important. (Leaders have discretion to allow exceptions for Covid-related absences.)

Please note: Due to the limited number of spots in the SIG, we ask that you double check your calendar and other commitments to make sure you can attend the required weekends to complete the SIG. Because we cannot necessarily accommodate all who wish to join, if you register but change your mind and bow out before the start or do not finish, you will be depriving someone who otherwise might have participated and benefited from the SIG.

Dates

We start with our Classification Ride on Saturday, March 11, in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. This is essential to participating in the SIG. (The rain date for the ride is Sunday, March 12, or, if that whole weekend is a washout, Saturday, March 18.)  

Two weeks later is the mandatory orientation in the morning on Saturday, March 25, indoors in Morningside Heights, Manhattan -- the same day as the first ride.

The course itself takes place on Saturdays, all day, from March 25 to May 13, 2023. Sundays are back-up days. Because of bad weather, almost every year at least one or two rides end up taking place on Sundays. If you miss them, they count as absences.

More details are in the confirmation email you will receive after you register for the C-SIG, and there will be another email in early March with more information as well. (Please read the FAQs linked at the top of this page, and read the emails you will get post-registration. These may answer your questions before you send us an email query.)

Giving Back

Towards the end of the C-SIG, your Leaders will make suggestions on organizing and leading club rides. While the SIG is “free,” at the end of the SIG, we expect that each participant give back to the club, preferably by leading a ride or by volunteering for a club activity.

More Info

There is more necessary and important information in the C-SIG FAQs. If you are interested in taking the C-SIG, please read the FAQs, which may answer many of your questions.

You may also like to get a head start by looking over the following C-SIG materials, especially articles on clothing, nutrition, exercises, checking your bike.

C – SIG handouts

ABC Quick Bike Check: from Transportation Alternatives

Tire Care Before and After Each Ride

Clothing and Accessories

Coordinated Emergency Response

Nutrition for Cyclists

Riding in Traffic: from John S. Allen. Street Smarts: Bicycling’s Traffic Survival Guide

• Don't Weave in Traffic

• Left Turns in Traffic

• Right Turns in Traffic

• Rotary Intersection

• Roadside Hazards

Stretching Chart p. 1 : from Bob and Jean Anderson.

Stretching 2000 Stretching Chart p. 2 : from Bob and Jean Anderson. Stretching 2000

Cleaning and lubing your bike: from T.K. at Larry’s Second Avenue Bicycle Plus (since updated)

Changing a Rear Tire : from Larry and Benny at Larry’s Second Avenue Bicycle Plus

Bike Handling

• Cornering and straight lines

• Pedaling, spinning, gearing and hills

• How to Ride the GW Bridge ramp and corner turns

• Taking your bike where you can't ride it

• Shifting and Gears – by Jim Reaven

• Riding in Adverse Weather