Originally Posted by
jimmuller
Yet there was no support at all that I could see.
My club has various rides at different levels, with a leader and (often) with a "sweep". It's pretty routine to have everybody say their name at the beginning of the ride. (Higher level rides are a bit looser.)
http://www.btcnj.com/ridecategories.asp (The "family" rides are rare.)
Different leaders have their own styles and it wouldn't be unexpected for riders to prefer one leader over another.
Our club only paints arrows for their "rally day" rides. The fact that your ride had 50 people and arrows makes it seem "special", in some way.
It doesn't seem like this would be the best "first" ride with a club. Also, 20 years quite long ago. It might make sense to give them another try on a more appropriate (and less populated) ride.
It's quite possible that there is a wider variation even in this club than this one event would indicate.