Home - Capital City Cyclists

Welcome to Capital City Cyclists, a recreational bike club and 501(c)3 non-profit bicycle advocacy organization for the Florida Capital region.

CCC rides are open to anyone with an interest in group riding regardless of previous riding experience, however, our expectation is that new riders will celebrate their interest in cycling by joining CCC as a member. People who are new to group riding or new to the area are encouraged to come ride with us. However, the skill level required for our rides varies from ride to ride. Please read the ride descriptions carefully and make sure that the posted speeds and distances are within your abilities. If in doubt, please contact the ride leader. If you are brand new to group riding, consider joining us for our monthly 10-10-10 Ride held on the first Saturday of each month.

CCC Annual Bastille Day Picnic and Rides

Come join us for CCC's annual Bastille Day Picnic and Rides. This year's event will be held at the Southwood Community Center (in the air conditioning).

We have three pre-picnic ride options: a 27 mile road ride, a 28 mile paved trail ride and an 11 mile neighborhood ride. All of the rides will start and end at the Southwood Community Center. The two longer rides will start at 8 am. The casual ride will start at 9 am.

This is a covered dish event. The club will provide sandwiches and drinks. Lunch is 10:30 - 12:30. Coolers will be available for those who would like to drop their dish off before the ride.

If your family members don’t ride they can join you after the ride for the picnic and activities. We will have activities for the kids and kids at heart. Bring your bathing suit if you want to swim. Southwood pool members are encouraged to bring their passes and host a few club members who may wish to swim.

For full details, including the ride routes, see Bastille Day Rides and Picnic - 7/13/2024.

Come out and enjoys some good rides, great food, and family friendly activities. Please contact Marcia Meale with any questions.

The 39th Spaghetti 100 is October 12th, 2024.

Slides from January 2024 Presentations on International Bike Touring

Cycling in the news

Johan van Tol - 1/4/2024

Strava's Year in Sport

Bicycling has a story about Strava data and what it says about cycling in 2023. Strava releases a year-end report with the trends for the year. One of the striking trends is that gravel cycling increased by a whopping 50% or so.

Most cyclists know Strava. What you might not know is that Strava data are used by transportation planners to see where cyclists ride. Unlike the public Strava heatmaps, Strava Metro provides planners with precise data on the numbers of cyclists, at least the Strava using cyclists and what routes they prefer. In the UK 10% of the population is on Strava, providing great data. While Strava users are not quite the same population segment as all cyclists, they apparently are pretty close and the routes they choose are not a bad representation of the average cyclist.

Anti-Cycling Headlines

Staying with the Brits, road.cc has a story about the ridiculous Daily Mail headlines attacking cycling and cycling infra-structure. If you'd like some examples like "Precious, Moaning and Tetchy - Cyclists are the new women", please read this.

The beloved Miccosukee Greenway is under threat.

Your county government intends to build a road right through it. See what's happening and what you can do to stop this in this News Article.

Staying with the Group

Here are some tips to avoid getting separated, and dealing with it if you do . . .

Before coming out, check the posted pace in the ride description on the event calendar and make sure it is comfortable for you. If the ride is clearly beyond your comfort level, it is probably best to skip it and find another ride. On the other hand, if you think the pace will be challenging, but probably doable, come on out. But make sure that you tell the ride leader(s) at the ride start that you may struggle to keep up. All of our ride leaders are ok with that. If they know you are trying to keep up they will make sure that the riders regroups at key turns and that you staying with the group.

Make sure you know the route, or at least know how to find it using your phone. We post RWGPS route links in the description for each of our rides. Assuming you have installed the free RWGPS app on your phone, you can click on the RWGPS ride link in any ride description and the route map will come up on your phone. CCC members can sign up for free access to the RWGPS CCC club account at https://ridewithgps.com/organizations/93-capital-city-cyclists. If you prefer paper cue sheets they can generated from the RWGPS website. If you have any questions about using the CCC routes or the CCC RWGPS club account, please contact Hugh Aaron, Ride Director. He will be happy to help you.

If you get separated from the group, stop and call and/or text the ride leader(s). The ride leaders cell numbers are typically posted in the ride description on the CCC website. While most people don’t look at or answer their phone when riding, if the ride leader(s) finds that you are no longer with the group, he or she may check their phone to see if you have called or texted.

Thanks to everyone who attended the recent presentation on RWGPS at Bicycle House. Please remember that CCC members are eligible for a free club membership to RWGPS.

RWGPS Presentation Outline

From the Danish Safety Council
"Helmets have always been a bright idea"