If you regularly dress in lycra and spandex, it helps you look a little less dorky if you are with other people dressed the same way. That is one of the reasons I joined the PFW club. Although I still ride by myself sometimes, at least half of the rides I do are with people from PFW. I first joined the club to learn the roads around the area and the best places to ride. After a few years I learned enough to start leading rides.
Being a member of the PFW has really made biking a lot more fun. It has made me a better rider. I have learned the best places in and around NJ to ride and I have made a number of good friends. When you get serious about biking there is a lot of things to learn about the bike and riding in general. Learning and gaining experience is a lot easier when you have people around you that are doing the same thing and sharing their experiences.
Of course, there is the social aspect of being in a club and riding with a group. On the weekend rides I end up spending 3-4 hours with the people on the rides. We talk about a lot of different things while we are riding. Usually, we talk about the news of the day is or what's going on in our lives. We also joke around a lot and kid each other. I'm not a very social person but I look forward to riding with my core groups as it feels like some where I belong.
And that it the benefit of joining a club or hanging around like minded people. You are in a place where you feel safe indulging in an activity the other people might consider strange.
Although going for long rides on a bike might seem like a weird hobby to some people most people consider people that are into astronomy total geeks. I can't really disagree with that much so will be happy to be called an astronomy geek. The number of people that are into astronomy have decreased over the past 20 years. With the information and easily accessible picture available through the internet less people are spending nights starring at faint blurry objects in a telescope. Most of my observing has been of the Sun, Moon, and bright comets. My main interest was solar and lunar eclipses which doesn't require a lot of time or expensive equipment, so I really didn't invest a lot of time or money into the hobby. I also never join an astronomy club although I did go to a number of different sky watch and star parties around the area.
Recently however I got a smart telescope and join the South Jersey astronomy club. My Dwarf 3 has let me explore and take good pictures of a lot of objects I have only read about and seen pictures of. It's easy to use and I can set it out on patio and let it do all the work of getting the image I want. The only problem with my back patio is that I don't have a good view of the southern sky as it is blocked by woods. That is why I joined the South Jersey astronomy club as they have a field about an hour away in Belleplain state forest that has a clear and less light polluted view of the skies. They hold a star party once a month so at their last one a couple of weeks ago, when it was a clear night, I went down to get some views of the southern sky and talk to some other astronomy geeks.
My main goal was to get a good picture of the Eagle Nebula (M16). The reason I wanted a picture of this nebula is because it contains the famous pillars of creation which is an iconic picture taken by the Hubble telescope. Here the picture I got
I have circled the pillars which are in the middle of the nebula.
Here is close up. The three pillars are in the center. It's a little hard to see if you don't know what you are looking for. The dark blog in the middle of this photo is the middle pillar with a lighter fainter one to the left with a star close to the middle of it. To the right of the center pillar is a smaller one almost as dark.
Here is the Hubble telescope of a close-up picture of just the pillars for reference.
Of course, my photo isn't nearly as clear or detailed as the Hubble, but I'm impress by what I could get with the Dwarf 3. Most people won't care but when I hang out with a bunch of other astronomy geeks they get why this is cool and we can discuss nebulas and star formation and other topics I find interesting.
I am also a member of a couple of other clubs in my community like the photography club and pickleball club. Each of these clubs let me indulge in some hobby without the stigma of being strange. Although I spend a good amount of solitary time pursing my hobbies, I do enjoy the fellowship of clubs to share my experiences and learn more about my hobby.
