The photo is from the 2021 Tour de France. 21 riders were injured in a crash.

I’ve been riding with the club for over 25 years and have seen my share of accidents and dumb behavior. However, this is a safety message in reverse. I’m telling you first what not to do and then offering advice on how to avoid trouble. None of the examples are fictional. All are based on actual incidents, and are listed in no particular order. We hope you will be forewarned and prepared for similar circumstances.

• The group is heading up a hill, and the slower riders slow down considerably. A faster rider moves to pass, but the incline is very steep and he can only pass slowly. Another fast rider tries to pass, but encounters the same difficulty passing quickly. You suddenly have several riders fanned out in a row almost completely blocking the roadway. A car comes from behind, and in a rush to provide clearance the row of riders crashes. When joining a group that is passing slower riders, take notice of how many riders wide that group is, before you join them.
• The roadway has fresh pavement, and the riders are gleeful as they wander along, unaware they are about to cross a town line where the road has not been repaved. There is a large pothole immediately across the town line, and you know the rest of the story. Road conditions can change quickly. You must always be watchful and not lower your guard.
• There was a storm the night before, and twigs and branches are strewn across the pavement. None are very large and the riders become accustomed to the debris, when without warning a twig gets caught in a front wheel, locking it in place, and the rider is thrown over the handlebars. Any debris on the road can be dangerous and should not be ignored.
• A group is crossing a busy street. One cyclist a few riders back hears others call out “clear” and proceeds without looking and is hit by a passing truck. Calling out “clear" is dangerous because road conditions change quickly and riders behind who follow blindly are at risk of serious consequences.
• It is a week after a snowstorm, and the roads are clear, but sand remains on a downhill stretch that curves. A rider tries to take the curve without slowing and goes down as his rear wheel loses grip in the sand. Speed control is essential when there are indications road conditions are changing.
• You spot a dog up ahead seemingly minding its own business. It is not leashed. You approach the dog thinking it will remain in place, but it suddenly darts towards you, and gets caught in your front wheel. Animal behavior is difficult to predict. Always be careful when approaching an unleashed animal.
• The route travels though a built-up neighborhood of single-family homes. There is neither traffic nor street life and you become less wary, unaware a car is backing out of a driveway into your path. A quiet environment can change unexpectedly. Always be on the lookout for moving vehicles.
• The rider is new to GPS navigation, and stares at his cell phone, not aware a pedestrian is crossing the road. It is an elderly woman who suffers serious injury after the crash. Cell phone navigation should only be done with glances at the phone. If you must study the screen, it is best to stop first.
• It rained the night before, and the potholes are filled with water. You pass many that are shallow, and regrettably ignore the one that is deep. Rain-filled potholes are deceptive. It is best to assume they are all several inches deep and avoid any water-filled pothole.
• There is a steep downhill, and you delight in going full speed. Unfortunately, the road curves at the bottom of the hill, and you are traveling too fast to negotiate the turn. On downhill turns it is more difficult to maintain control. Better to slow safely than to be sorry you didn’t.
• There was a short section of a wooden boardwalk still wet from the rain the evening before. The riders slipped and went down hard. Wooden surfaces are slippery when wet.
• A rider pushing to stay with a group moved up close to the next rider’s rear wheel. When the riders at the front of the group suddenly swerved they all crashed. When riding in a group you must signal before you stop, slow down, change direction, or pass.
• The rider was taking a right turn onto a busy road. He looks to his left for oncoming vehicles, but neglected to look right and did not notice the 4-inch pile of sand after the turn. He went down but luck was on his side and he was not hit by oncoming cars. As your Mom told you way back, "look both ways".
• The group pulled off the road to re-group. It was a steep embankment. A rider clipped out and extended her foot to the ground. Due to the slope her foot didn’t reach the ground causing leg injuries. Care is required when getting on/off your bike on sloped or uneven terrain.
• A fast-moving group approaches a side street when at the last minute the lead rider signals a right turn. Not wanting to miss the turn, the following riders try to slow and make the turn. The result is an accordion crash of all the riders. If you approach a turn and sense you can’t slow enough to turn safely, it’s better for you and everyone behind you to continue straight for a bit and come back and make the turn.  

We listed "what to do" in the above situations, but we think safe behavior should be obvious in these circumstances.

Tim Wilson edited this article.

The article was written in 2012, and since then technology has marched forward. The support of choice for geezers these days are electric bikes, which are the fastest selling segment of the bike market. Electric bikes provide continuous support, and even allow you to sprint up steep hills. When geezers start to experience medical issues on hilly rides, it may be time for a change. When the strictly human-powered effort stops working, geezers may need motor power to climb the hills, and compensate for the difficulties that come with age. Many geezers are grateful for this technology to keep them riding.

WheelPeople Editors

Now that the baby boomers are a major demographic, bicycle makers really need to redesign their bikes for that market. I’m sure Madison Avenue can come up with a better marketing name, but for now I’ll refer to the new model as the geezer bike.

One thing a geezer bike needs for sure is a triple. Many of us that had bikes in the glory days sporting corncob freewheels (and I do mean freewheel) can’t push those gears any more. Even triples are hard to come by these days with the advent of the compact crank. The compact crank is a communist plot to make people think they can get away with just two chainrings. The gen-x/y/z riders may have no problem with this, but we geezers know it’s not called a granny gear for nothing, and if you do the math you can see that no way is a compact crank going to match a triple. For you engineering types gear inches (measure of how far you go per crank revolution) should be inversely proportional to age. You can still get up the same hills, just much much slower. At some point you might as well just get off and walk, but from personal experience, I’ve determined that you can ride about 1.5 mph without falling over (and you don’t have to unclip). Unfortunately my bike computer can’t handle these extremes so it usually shows a speed of zero, somewhat discouraging, but not far from the truth.

Handlebars are another sore point for geezers. We all remember the prime directive of having a flat back when you ride, but we ancients can no longer comfortably hunker down on the bars with our knees nearly grazing our chest. So drop bars are a thing of the past for our generation. The bicycle industry is on this one, having invented the hybrid some time ago with those upright bars. So instead of the rule of thumb that the bars should be one inch below the top of the saddle, we go the other way.

Which brings us to saddles. Gone are the days when we happily traversed hundreds of mile on brick hard saddles, made out of unyielding (but light) substances. We need something more akin to the barco-lounger, or a saddle with a secret. The secret is that it is designed for comfort, not performance.

Performance is not a issue with geezers. Gone are the days of trying to be a contender, the geezer is now happy just being pack fodder. In the early days, when each ride was a new personal best, it was interesting to measure your progress. There’s a large overlap of cyclists and techno-geeks, who outfit their bikes with all manner of technology, watt-meters, gps-training things that let them go home and make spreadsheets of their rides. We geezers realize that we are over the hill (literally) and are on the down slope of the performance curve. So there is no percentage in outfitting your bike with all manner of devices that just serve to tell you how much slower you’re going. The geezer bike should have none of these depressing doodads. The only useful geezer device is a GPS, since geezers tend to be easily confused. I have to admit I’ve been in this condition long before geezerhood set in. That and a cell phone as a backup when they forget to change the batteries in the GPS.

This article originally appeared in WheelPeople in December 2012. The triple crankshaft image was added.

As the year 2023 dawned, I realized that I have been in the CRW for 50 years.

I arrived in Boston in 1973 with a friend.  Together we had about $400 between the both of us.  We found a rent controlled basement apartment for $165 a month.  Boston was not the high-tech city it would become later.  Things were cheap.  The trolley was 25 cents a ride.  There were few high-end restaurants.  The seaport area was a bunch of warehouses.  Harvard Square was populated by inexpensive venues for students. 

Although I had a car, I sold it right away.  The MBTA Green Line and my bike would become my mode of transportation. I started biking from Brighton to my downtown job.  There were no bike facilities at work, but I was allowed to chain my bike to a railing inside a municipal parking lot for free! 

I contacted the local American Youth Hostel (AYH) office in Brookline, and started riding with them.  On one ride I met John Kane (AKA Dick Maziekus).  He told me about the CRW, and I became a member in 1973.  Many CRW riders were also AYH members.  AYH was known for running tours, many utilizing rustic hostels throughout New England. The photo is from 1975, and  was taken of the author by John Kane. Note the "bowling ball" helmet which was fashionable at that time.

Although I'm not the oldest CRW member, I may be the member with longest membership.  I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.

The Boston traffic in 1973 was much more forgiving.  The CRW rides were usually on Sunday mornings, and the Blue Laws were still in effect.  That meant that only essential stores could be open (gas stations, small convenience stores).  Sunday mornings were pretty much limited to church traffic. 

The club had a little over 100 members, with maybe 20 showing up on any Sunday.

The "navigation" system consisted of a printed cue sheet, or simply "follow the leader".  Sometimes there were "catch up" stops.  Most of us were in our 20's, but there were some "old" people in their 40's.

The clothing of choice was made of wool.  Wool got a little soggy when it rained, but otherwise was a good choice for both warm and cool weather.  Looking at the attached photo of me, you will notice how "short" the riding shorts were!

Hard-shell helmets were unheard of in 1973.  But by 1974 they started appearing in Bike magazines. I may have been the first CRW rider to purchase a helmet (1974, from MSR).  I still remember the ribbing I received from the "old timers" about wearing a "bowling ball" on my head.  But within a few years, Bell introduced its fashionable helmet, and it became a regular item.

The CRW was part of the League of American Wheelmen (LAW) back then.  The LAW supplied patches for special occasions: century rides, etc.  Many of the CRW members sewed these patches on their jackets and bike pouches. 

Popular starting points for the rides were relatively close to Boston:  Larz Anderson Park in Brookline, the old Duck Feeding area in Weston, Cambridge Common, and Ralph Galen's office in Cambridge.  And it seemed as if all rides went through Dover!

Most CRW bikes were 10-speeds, but a few were 15-speeds. Popular brands were  Peugeot and Raleigh.  I had an Italian Frejus that I purchased in Detroit.  It came with sew-up tires, but I quickly transitioned to "clinchers".  For  commuting I bought an internal gear Raleigh. 

I think CRW dues were $10 per year, mostly to print and mail the monthly newsletter.  There was an additional charge to attend the annual club banquet, but most people walked off with a door prize.  John Kane was usually the MC at the banquet and kept the crowd laughing at his witty observations.

So thanks for the memories, CRW!

By: Robyn Betts and the CRW Women's Program Committee

The CRW Women’s Program: An Open Letter About Women-Only Rides

Since 2021, CRW has sponsored women-only rides, open to women and non-binary riders. This has caused a fair amount of consternation among some members. “Why exclude men?,” they have asked. “Why do women need their own rides? After all, women aren’t formally excluded from any club rides.”

These are fair questions, especially when posed in the abstract. But they miss critical points about how our rides operate in practice, who participates in them, and what the impact is on our membership.

Below we outline how women-only rides better serve an underrepresented segment of our membership, foster deep connections among members, and help to create a more welcoming bike club.

Women are Underrepresented on CRW Club Rides

Analysis of a four-month period (April-July, 2022), encompassing 218 CRW rides, shows the following:

While we unfortunately do not have access to the gender split data of our entire membership, there is an unmistakable imbalance in male and female ride participation.

The Women's Program Has Tapped Into an Underserved Part of our Membership

Meanwhile, the Women's Program’s monthly weekend rides and weekly recurring rides have been wildly successful in encouraging new and existing female members to get on their bikes and ride in numbers that our typical club rides - at least in this 4-month span - have not achieved. An average of 23 women continue to join each monthly weekend ride. We have a wide variety of riders: fast riders, slow riders, new and existing riders, and even club members who admit they've been CRW members for years, but never joined a single club ride until the Women's Program was formed. This program has tapped into an underserved segment of our membership.

Not only do Women's Program riders show up in large numbers, but they return month after month. They also participate in our Slack group, hang around after rides to socialize - sometimes for hours - and make personal and professional connections outside of rides. The Women's Program is building community while providing increased access to what CRW has to offer.

Why Women-Only Rides?

It is clear that the club’s typical group ride programming is not reaching women as effectively as it is reaching men. This is one good reason to have programming that focuses on engaging our female and non-binary members in a different way, and CRW’s women-only rides are doing that extremely well right now.

There are other reasons to have women-only rides:

● Inclusiveness: Women-only rides can be beneficial for women who may feel intimidated or uncomfortable riding in mixed-gender groups. Women who are new to cycling or have experienced harassment while riding tend to find this a more welcoming environment.

● Social Connection and Belonging: Some women within CRW have asked for a space where they can come together, have more social opportunities, gain confidence in riding, make new friends, and feel connected to the club. Women-only rides create a supportive community and foster these connections. These rides have undeniably appealed to our members: many are more engaged with the club now than ever, despite having been members for years.

● Empowerment: We know that women’s participation in sports was restricted for a long time. Despite the strides made since Title IX, women’s sports still have not gained the same traction as men’s sports. Even our beloved sport of cycling is still male-dominated at all levels, from casual riders to pros. It’s helpful to remember that most organized sports are still separated by gender. Women-only rides celebrate strong women and their athletic abilities, despite long-standing and persistent imbalances in sports.

● Growth beyond the Women’s Program: Women’s Program ride leaders are passionate about cycling education and encourage new riders to learn riding and safety skills. The Women’s Program regularly fosters participation in co-ed rides. Many women who initially focused on women-only rides have become confident riders that now join co-ed rides, and have even become ride leaders!

But Aren't We Excluding Men?

Men are already participating in CRW group rides at much higher rates than women. From this fact, one might conclude that men are generally better-served by the club’s offerings than women and non-binary members. At the very least, our typical club rides have been more appealing to men and do not reach women in the same way that they are reaching men.

The Women’s Program Rides Are a Piece of a Larger Effort

CRW does not discriminate against any protected class because club membership is open to all. CRW is striving to maintain a responsible and current Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Program. The Women’s Program is fully supported by the Board of Directors, and is part of this effort. The Women’s Program in particular addresses the Equity concept. Equity is “fair treatment, access, opportunity, and advancement for all people.” Equity is an action-based practice that requires organizations to identify and eliminate barriers that have historically prevented the full participation of all groups. Equity influences who has access to opportunities and how members feel valued. This concept does not assume all programs or rides will be available to all members, and it allows for special programs to address needs that do not necessarily include the entire membership.

Efforts should be made in all areas of the club to create a welcoming and supportive environment for people of all genders, including across our co-ed spaces. However, providing women-only programming is one crucial way for us to reach an underserved part of our membership that may never join a co-ed ride. And, it is working. This program invites, engages, and retains more women riders and fosters connection in the club. The feedback we’ve received indicates that when we run co-ed rides sponsored by the Women's Program, fewer women attend and their experience is less positive than women’s-only rides.

The Women's Program rides, much like the adventure, gravel or devo rides, provide one way to engage our female and non-binary ridership, which we know is generally participating at lower rates than men. The Women's Program can co-exist with and complement other efforts to ensure that we have a place for women to enjoy cycling and participate in group rides. Women-only rides can encourage women to take up cycling, participate in the sport, and feel a sense of belonging within CRW.

It is important to note that DEI efforts can change over time. It is important to assess the needs of membership and react to those needs as the club grows and changes. We appreciate this chance to reaffirm our commitment to the mission and implementation of the Women’s Program as an important offering for a significant segment of the club’s membership.

Sincerely,