Welcome…

to the Stamford Bicycling Meetup Group (SBMG).  This is a great place to meet other local cyclists in a social setting were you can make friends, find riding buddies, participate in rigorous training sessions, or rip-up the trails...what ever you want. And, if you just want to relax, kick back & do leisure rides SBMG is also a good place for you.  This group is geared to beginner, intermediate & advanced bikers interested in cycling whether for fitness, competition, or recreation.

The SBMG is a motley crew of riders that meet up in and around the Stamford area to do various types of bicycling. We have mountain/off-road bikers that ride at Mianus Park after work during the week, and street riders that meet for casual rides as well a fast paced endurance rides around Stamford.

This Meetup is actually a social networking forum more than a group.  The forum is a means for people in the biking community to find each other and get together for rides.  As such SBMG welcomes and support community originated event. You can think of the SBMG website as a community message board dedicated toward bicycling in Stamford, Norwalk, Greenwich, Rowayton, and beyond. When you are thinking about doing a bike ride, please use the SBMG to find others that are also interested.

Who We Are

The Stamford Bicycling Meetup Group (SBMG) is a group of bicycle enthusiasts looking to meet up with others to go cycling. This group is for people of all skill levels and of all biking types (recreational, endurance, leisure, mountain, road, etc.). We meet regularly for in Stamford, Greenwich, and Rowayton, Norwalk, but also plan meetups in other areas, for rail trail, road, and off-road rides.

If you are a beginner, this is the place to start. You will meet others who can give you advice before you buy any gear. If you are an experienced cyclist, this group is an ideal way to meet other bikers to talk about gear, local routes, and to plan trips. Cyclist of all levels are welcome!

SBMG is a social network forum, not a club, training facility, or outfitter. All events are common adventures, are non-autocratic in nature, and not for profit (unless hosted specifically by a business, institution, or outfitter following a different liability model). SBMG, its organizers, and its members assume no legal and or civil responsibility for or to any individual or event.

We Encourage Safe Cycling

We suggest for safety reasons that everyone ride with a helmet, in a legal manor, and in a cycle-pods of three to five. The forum makes it possible for novice, intermediate, and advanced bikers to find each other and form safe ride pods. Road cyclists should follow rules of the road.  Off road bikers should follow rules of the park.  The social nature of the group allows members to share safety tips and skills in a non-structured friendly format.  Safety is your responsibility!

How We Set Up Events

The Stamford Bicycling Meetup Group (SBMG)  is not a leader-dictated Meetup group, but a member-driven forum. Bicycle enthusiasts are welcome to join the forum and suggest locations for common-adventure rides.  All members can suggest a place, date, and time for a bike-ride event.  In fact, SBMG relies heavily on individual members to put events on the calendar.

When two other members decide to attend the suggestion moves to the calendar and is announced to the group as an event.  (Some events are moved to the calendar by one oftheSBMG moderatorswith less than three people on the RSVP list.) Once it is on the calendar it is no longer a suggestion, but an event and it gets announced to the group by e-mail.  Whenever you visit the SBMG page,you should check the SUGGESTED events page to see if there is a suggested event that you might want to attend.

Many people worry that if they suggest a ride too many bikers will show up and they would be responsible for a large group.  Most of the SBMG events attract about 1% of the members, which is about 2 to 4 bikers. That is just the right size for a group ride. Members just need to be specific on the day, time, and place (as well as bike-ride type, skill level, pace, etc.) when making a suggestion.  The events are common adventures, so you are not responsible for others, just yourself, but there is always safety in numbers.  However, you should be very specific about the bike-ride type, skill level, and pace of your suggested ride.  It is not a good idea for bikers of a single podto havea mixed expectation of the ride... it just leads to disappointment and a ride pod break down.  In short, be clear in your suggestion description and others with like-mindedthinking will join you (i.e. clearly state road ride, mountain bike ride, novice, intermediate, advance, short, long, fast pace, leisure pace, free-ride, trail-ride, etc.)

SBMG wants all its members to feel free to make ride event suggestions. Such suggestions can be novice leisure rides in a park or rail-trail (with picnic and frequent stops), intermediate-level day road rides, or advanced-skill mountain bike rides. Anyone can take the initiative to add bike-ride events to the calendar. And, this is the best way to get events that work for your personal schedule and skill level so you never have to ride alone.

Ideas for Meetups

We are interested in finding racers and triathlon riders that want to do a more rigorous training ride.  If you are interested in training with others then please suggest a date, time, and place for likeminded cyclists to meet up with you for a ride.  In your suggestion make it clear that the nature of the ride is fast-paced and rigorous.

We are have many members that want to meet up for local leisure exercise in local streets and parks.  Cycling is an ideal way to relieve the stress of the day and to get the 30 to 60 minutes of cardio recommended for a healthy life-style.  The SBMG forum is the ideal way to get the benefits of cycling while also forming a network of like-minded people to socialize with before, during and after the ride. If you are interested in daily exercise bike rides that are not rigorous training ride but more leisure in nature, maybe along the route to Calf Pasture Beach in Norwalk, or between Cummings Beach and Shippan Point in Stamford, or along Shore road in Old Greenwich, or where ever, then please suggest a date, time, and place for likeminded cyclists to meet up with you for a ride.  In your suggestion make it clear that the nature of the ride is leisure-paced and exercise oriented.

We are always looking for people to lead recreational rides throughout Connecticut and the neighboring states.  If you are interested in exploring the many bike routes and rail/trails in the area or doing multi-night bike touring others then please suggest a date, time, and place for likeminded cyclists to meet up with you for a ride.  In your suggestion make it clear that the nature of the ride is leisure-paced and recreational in nature.

Our most active group members are mountain bikers.  We have novice to advanced mountain bikers that post off-road rides, mostly in Mianus River Park on the Stamford, but if you are looking to meet up with people to ride other locations then we encourage you to post suggestions.   In your suggestion make it clear that the nature of the ride is off-road.  State the paced and style of your ride.  Use descriptors such as cross-country, trail, free-ride, and dirt jumping as these are well known terms.  Also, state if your ride suggestion is novice, intermediate, or advanced in nature.