· Updated · 3 min read
Clubs came to Tour du Pain: own kit, coffee rides, radio and a weekly paper
Tour du Pain got clubs on 30 and 31 October, in seven releases over two days. A club has its own kit and plans coffee rides that every member sees. During those rides members talk over club radio, a ready check makes sure trainers and microphones work beforehand, and every week a small paper sums up what the club rode. On 31 October anyone could start one.
It started with a link
1.22.0 went live on 30 October. A club link showed a card with the club kit already on your own rider and two buttons, Join or No thanks. Members saw who was riding now and the member list, with switches for the kit, the club tag behind your name and showing in the list.
Other riders saw your club colours and tag on the road. Members who started at the same time landed in the same room, so a club didn't have to plan anything to ride together.
A club screen and a row on Home
The same day 1.23.0 gave members a row on Home with the crest, the name, who's riding and the member count. Press C and the club opens. The club screen lists online members first, then this week's km, rides and riders, your own week and place, and the next coffee ride.
Coffee rides could now be planned for the whole club, so members saw them on that screen without anyone sharing a link. Captains got the share link to manage and could remove members.
De Bakkerskrant
1.24.0 added the paper. De Bakkerskrant (The Bakers' Paper in English) sits on the club screen with last week's km, rides, riders and new members under a dry headline such as "Oven stays warm" or "Not a crumb lost". One tap shares it in the club's own chat group.
It only counts from 3 riders up and shows no names. Once a week is printed its totals don't change, so the number you shared on Monday is still the number on Friday.
Club radio
1.25.0 made club rides sound like a team radio. During a planned club ride, members hear each other wherever they ride, up to ten voices at a time. Members land in the club ride's room whether they tapped Join or not.
Hiding from the club list also keeps you off the radio, and leaving the club ends it at once. How voice in the bunch grew before that is in the post on voice in the bunch.
The club's own kit
1.26.0 let a club wear its own drawn kit, with a logo on the chest, back and thigh and leg cuffs. The first club kit was ready to switch on that day. Club kits read from the chase camera, and riders in the distance show them as colour blocks, so you spot your clubmates up the road.
Ready?
The last piece on 30 October was the ready check in 1.27.0. A card on the club screen tests your trainer and your microphone before the ride: connect, pedal 10 seconds and say something. The card goes away when both work.
The coffee ride card then shows how many riders are ready as one number, like "7 of 24 ready", with no names next to it. The microphone test stays on your device.
Open to everyone
On 31 October 1.28.0 opened clubs to all riders. You can browse and search clubs, ask to join, or start your own, and the Leaderboard got a Clubs tab. Invites show on Home and in the rider menu.
Captains can change the club's name and colours, hand the role to someone else, invite riders, and plan or cancel club rides. From 30 minutes before a club ride your wheel follows the host, so the group stays together whatever the watts, and a group ride and a club meet share one room.
Later on 31 October club rides could also be one workout together on one clock; that's in the post on 105 workouts, and clubmates racing each other's Col times is in the Col du Pain post. For running a weekly club night step by step, read indoor rides for cycling clubs. For a one-off ride with friends, see group rides.