Jandro 

+1

mollusk

Best answer.

tetonrider

I'm guessing this was pretty freaking far frm "just like the pros," but that is just my hunch.

ancker

It was a good result because the winning group was 11 guys and we had 5 guys in it.
It was a shame we didn't win or podium, but overall a great race for us.

And we didn't "have" him pull. He just did it. He's a MTB guy that occasionally comes out to embarrass us full time roadies.
The guy that got 5th also got a top 10 in the race immediately following this one. (And podiumed the day prior.)
The other three guys in the group were able to hang with the group but not strong enough to attack/sprint for a result.

I wasn't able to say with that group and finished in the group behind, one lap down. I (and another two teammates) had raced the day before.

efficiency

#64, Ken Grody and DEWALT on the bibs, riding a BH. He's a long way from home.

There was a large break of 11 guys, your team had 5 of them, so you were guaranteed 6th. With all five of your guys, the best you managed was moving up one spot in the standings. It was good of your team to make the winning group, but it was not "great" because they definitely misplayed the endgame.

jsutkeepspining

with 5 guys in a group of 11 you should be placing first or second or third.

MDcatV

i would call that ****tin' the bed, but that's just me.

MDcatV

sorry dude, but that's the opposite of a good result for your team. making the break is good. having over half the break represented by your team is excellent, not winning or having at least 2 on the podium is failure to the extent that everything else that was good is spoiled. you guys shouldnt be patting yourselves on the back, you should be identifying why with over half of a break represented, you were not able to produce a better result and what you should have done differently. it should be a learning experience for improving tactics.

shovelhd

For a Cat5, yes. You finished. For a team, it's terrible. If it's a Cat5 team, then it's understandable. You don't know what a good team finish is yet.

botto 

canam73

They were guaranteed 7th, not 6th.

So they moved up 2 spots. That's twice as good as one spot.

shovelhd

5 guys failed. Unless they were all cat5's, then they all succeeded.

tetonrider

x50.

see my earlier post. ;-)

efficiency

Math is hard.

himespau 

I don't know. Failed is a bit harsh. They're cat5's. They got out and raced and hopefully learned something. They didn't crash or, hopefully, cause anyone else to crash. Isn't that the point of cat5?

shovelhd

Read the second sentence again.

himespau 

Whoops. I suppose reading is fundamental. Just saw a lot of folks bagging on the guy and didn't want him to get too discouraged. But yeah, you did say it.

carpediemracing 

I missed this response. Yes, I recognized the shorts and the bike from your area. Someone said he won M40+ Crit nationals a few years ago but I don't know who he is etc. He's super strong and super fast but he doesn't seem to take Tues serious enough to even finish them. I see him on many of my raw footage clips watching the race finish.

He must know someone here. He wears a local jersey when he's here but not the shorts. He seems to pop up for a few weeks a summer.

spectastic

Is there an etiquette for taking a pull when the guy in front of you is too slow? I'm new to group rides, and at first, I had no idea how long to stay in the front. Normally, I just keep track of how long the guy in front of me pulls, and I set the same mark on my cateye. Someone said above that 1/2 mile is considered a really long pull, so I guess that answers the question. But on certain occasions, there's someone at the front who's going only like 23 mph. In that case, is it appropriate to pass them?

I'm still new to this, and probably have unintentionally done some stuff on my group rides that have p1ssed other people off. But I'm learning

shovelhd

Too slow for who? The group as a whole, or just you? Was this a hammer fest or a B ride? Was this ride supposed to be an important part of your training week? Group rides are about the group, not you. Don't be that guy.

nhluhr

If the person on the front is below group average speed, advise them to rotate through. I know, communicating seems like a radical idea.

mollusk

I was looking for something else and came up on this zombie thread. The team with lots of guys in the break need to learn how to "take out the garbage" to drop riders that don't take pulls. Yelling at them is a waste of breathe. It is Racing 101. It can be done with only two riders in the break and with more than two it is really easy.

The original poster had no reason to take pulls to help the team with lots of riders in the break set up a sprint train at the end.

burnthesheep

There might even be strategy to yelling at folks. Instead of wasting energy in a team to deal with those folks, sometimes pure guilt or intimidation might make them make a mental mistake. Then the non-worker just took care of themselves without anyone else spending any energy.

I mean, swearing or being belligerent isn't necessary and might get you in trouble, but otherwise peer pressure is on the receiver to decide against acting upon.

zandoval 

So how will you act when someone skips their turn?

Better I hope...

Kai Winters

It's been 10 years since this started. The OP was a cat 5 at the start in 2013, any else wonder what he's been doing these ten years?
In his place I'd have taken 'light pulls' just to keep the flow but not to kill myself when I'm facing a team of four in the break group of ten. Dem's are stacked odds against me but again I'd have gone through the motion.