Road Cycling - First Group Ride

Some people had told me about a group ride at a local LBS, so this morning I decided to do it. I dont know if I picked the fast group or what but I was busting my ass to stay with them some of the time. Finally I had to break off and go home. Problem was I didnt know where I was! Luckily I found my way back and in the process set a new distance/time pr for me. How fast do your group rides go? This group was going ~30mph. Surely there had to be a slower section. Maybe I just need to get faster! I did get used to riding people's wheels and group dynamics so it was a pretty good ride overall I guess. Anyone in AZ do the landis cyclery ride? Thats the ride I did this morning.

30 mph is pretty darn fast for a group ride. Looks like you hooked up with a group of hammers to ride with, and the faster groups are usually not the ones to wait around if you get dropped. Ask around and see if you can find other groups that ride at a pace you can be comfortable with -- you want to push yourself a little bit to improve but still be able to keep up. The thing about group riding vs. solo is that when riding solo we sometimes tend to ease up a little when we get tired, but in a group ride you have to try to stay with the group whether you're tired or not. I prefer group riding over solo -- to me it's a lot more enjoyable having good riding buddies around you when you ride and there's safety in numbers.

I agree, the group you hooked up with must have been hard core. The two group rides I do both ride in the 21-22 mph range.

Seriously, you should ask about the level of the ride before you join.