Clydesdales/Athenas (200+ lb / 91+ kg) - tried to keep up with a group of roadies ... *puff puff wheeze*

i will stick with solo riding. i met up with the group because the leader said 'sure it is an easy pace, we go slow and don't leave anyone behind' ... bah! lol ...

i kept up with em for the first 5 miles .. but holding 17+ mph was to much for me ... so i split off and did my own thing ...

a roadie i am not, and likely will never be ... a mountain biker i am ... but i need to do the road thing to build more endurance.

now time to go pass out somewhere.

17 MPH is not an "easy pace" most bike clubs I have seen that offer an "easy pace" ride is around 12-14 mph.

i was expecting around 11 to 13 thats what i had been trying to work on ... heh .. all i can say, is it will be a while before i try to ride with them again ... i would hate to see the pace for their group ride that they classify as 'racers'

i was expecting around 11 to 13 thats what i had been trying to work on ... heh .. all i can say, is it will be a while before i try to ride with them again ... i would hate to see the pace for their group ride that they classify as 'racers'

They were just making fun of the clyde. If you haven't noticed, in the cycling community, we're ranked with mentally ********-handicap individuals*.

*Note, that I have nothing against people with physical or mental disabilities and just used the poor stereotypes to make a bad point.

That happens to me too. I am a noob with a hybrid, but ride with roadies. I can cruise at 15-16 for days no prob, but that is not even warm up for them. I hang, huffing and puffing, at 19-20. 21+ I fall off pretty quick...

I have never been on a "no drop" that I didn't get dropped from. I gave up going to club rides, because I didn't like driving over an hour just to ride by myself and get lost. I can do that on my own without the drive. I don't think I'm that slow either, I pass people through the whole ride when I go to big charity rides.

My nephew is a Cat-1 racer and he twisted my arm to come with his Wed. night group that rides out of his shop. They have an A, B, and C group, of which C is the slowest (12-14mph). Of course I went with C. Apparently not many C group people showed up. The pace was FAST. On the flats in the first 5 miles, we were cooking along at 20-25mph. Then we hit the hills.... I hung onto the wheel of the person in front of me for the first 3, then on the 4th, I blew up. Thought my heart was going to explode. Meanwhile, my computer sensor wire, which had been dangling by a thread for the past two years but still worked, so I never got around to fixing it, came flying off when I hit a bump on a 35mph downhill. So the computer stopped working. After I got dropped, I was lucky enough to take a shortcut and meet back up with the group-back in flatter terrain, so since I had a chance to rest up, I was able to finish the ride with the group. BTW, I'm 250 and ride a touring bike. The next morning, I went to fix my computer and out of curiosity, checked my average speed for those first 6-7 miles. Average was 21.5! Riding by myself, I usually average between 14 and 15. So somehow, between the paceline and the adrenaline, I did something I've never come close to doing before. I think I'm going to try again next week, but I assure you, I'll be praying for a large bunch of C Group people to show up....... Whew!!!

on my ride today, I averaged 15.3 miles over a 10.26 mile loop... The first 5 miles I was above 17mph for all but one quick hill. If i had a flat place to ride with no wind, I could probably keep up 18mph for a while... but my whole area of NY state is nothing but rolling drumlins, so I wont be finding much flat land without hopping in my car (id rather just ride from my house, gas=money).

My girlfriend Bought me (us?) a tandem Kayak for my birthday...I tell ya thats almost as fun as bicycling :) the world takes a different perspective when your out on the open water in a 13 1/2' plastic boat...lol

I dont go on group rides...unless that group is any of the following: girlfriend, Dad, brother, myself....Once my brother finds himself a road bike and comes home to visit, I might have trouble keeping up...but that will add some fun :)

i think i will stick with ridin by myself for quite a while ...

come to think of it, i was the only clyde there .. most of the others were prob max 150 to 160ish ...

only other person that rides with me is my kid .. but he is still on a mtb ... and has trouble keeping up with me when i am on my hybrid ... i had already thought about that so didn't bring him to that ride ... i dont think he would have faired to well either ... but he likely would have smarted off to quite a few of them ...

my little computer says my avg for the 5 miles before i did my own thing was 17.5 ... but by that time my legs were already on fire and i needed to slow down for a while to even be able to talk lol

i already think if it was a 10 mile lap i could avg more then 11 but it was a 20 miler, i had already rode the route a few times over the weekend to see if i thought i could do it, and i passed quite a few people while out there...

i am sure when i go to the l-bs again, the owner (leader of the ride who game the the line i listed above) will have a comment or two to make about it, meh but when i started on it i told him then that i would be doing it just to see what i could do ... and he mentioned again that they normally topped out around 15 on this ride ... of course he was in the lead ... and they were goin a tad bit more then 15 lol ... i think he was just mad that i didnt buy the bike from him and went with another shop instead.

They were just making fun of the clyde. If you haven't noticed, in the cycling community, we're ranked with mentally ********-handicap individuals*.


Oh bulltwinkle. :rolleyes:

Cascade Bike Club breaks their rides into the follow categories:

Easy: Under 10 mph
Leisurely: 10-12 mph
Steady: 12-14 mph
Moderate: 14-16 mph
Brisk: 16-18 mph
Strenuous: 18-21 mph
Super Strenuous: 22+ mph

There are currently only 5 different events for Easy rides under 20 miles in length, so I can see how it's daunting to someone just getting started, and looking for a group "no drop" ride. There's more than twice that number of Strenuous and Super Strenuous rides. :eek:

I'm not a fan of group rides. I don't do pacelines, I don't like riding in a pack. Sometimes I like to stop and take pictures, or sit at a park bench for a few minutes and just enjoy the afternoon. On Sunday I did 30 "Steady" miles by myself while doing errands. 14mph average, but I also stopped at a park in Bellevue and did some people watching for a while, and I stopped at the mall in Redmond to pick up some See's chocolates for The Girl.
I saw quite a few well practiced groups when I rode STP last month. They were all very awesome looking, one right after the other, wheel to wheel, well coordinated in their movements, and flying past me at 20+ mph. I overheard one group talking at the Centralia stop:
"We should back it down a little bit to 23."
"Maybe. It's getting a little hot for the 25-26 we're keeping right now, I guess."

Yeeeeah. That's just a little bit out of my league.

I would say 17 is a pretty easy pace for any seasoned roadie with the hard rides being 22 or more.. Around here the slow no drop is around 15mph.

25 miles per hour on a bicycle?
Really?
Blasphemy!
I must have 25mph of gravity pulling down on me. I can barely achieve that going downhill.

Cascade Bike Club breaks their rides into the follow categories:

Easy: Under 10 mph
Leisurely: 10-12 mph
Steady: 12-14 mph
Moderate: 14-16 mph
Brisk: 16-18 mph
Strenuous: 18-21 mph
Super Strenuous: 22+ mph

There are currently only 5 different events for Easy rides under 20 miles in length, so I can see how it's daunting to someone just getting started, and looking for a group "no drop" ride. There's more than twice that number of Strenuous and Super Strenuous rides. :eek:

I'm not a fan of group rides. I don't do pacelines, I don't like riding in a pack. Sometimes I like to stop and take pictures, or sit at a park bench for a few minutes and just enjoy the afternoon. On Sunday I did 30 "Steady" miles by myself while doing errands. 14mph average, but I also stopped at a park in Bellevue and did some people watching for a while, and I stopped at the mall in Redmond to pick up some See's chocolates for The Girl.
I saw quite a few well practiced groups when I rode STP last month. They were all very awesome looking, one right after the other, wheel to wheel, well coordinated in their movements, and flying past me at 20+ mph. I overheard one group talking at the Centralia stop:
"We should back it down a little bit to 23."
"Maybe. It's getting a little hot for the 25-26 we're keeping right now, I guess."

Yeeeeah. That's just a little bit out of my league.

i guess i would fall between leisurely and steady for my current pace ... i can push it to 20mph for about a mile then i have to slow back down ...

i would say that i 'enjoy the ride' a bit more as well ... though so far when i have been riding by myself, less it was for an adjustment to the bike i hadn't stopped ... but i would slow down from time to time to look at a nice street rod .. or other things that catch my attention ...

i am just gonna keep doing my own thing ... and wear my 'mountain biker' title that i have been branded with by most in that group proudly ... maybe one day i will be able to keep up or pass them but i would wrather have fun doing it.

It's like that around here too. There are 10-15 organized roadie rides that you can look up online for this general area each week, and no matter what they say, you can add 3-5 mph onto the "average speed on flat areas". From what I've seen, the average "flat" speed is usually the speed that they ride up a 3% - 5% slope. Or maybe they only show up for rides where the target speed is their recovery-ride speed?

yeah, the local clubs here like to mess with new or heavy riders.

first group ride I did with one club, they tried pulling the fast paced stunt on me, but since I had the opportunity to train a lot in Denver before coming back to arizona i was in shape and acclimated to pulling a lot of hills and at a higher elevation. Needless to say I kinda smiled when the guy that was leading the most almost threw up after the ride and I was still right on their rear the whole time and I was feeling good.

I personally like a 15-17mph cruising speed, but I remember the first month or so I struggled to average 14mph on the flats with a road bike. It really comes down to training and more training. I still need to get in to better shape, and can't wait for the day when I am in a decent shape to at least hold up in a really realy fast peloton for at least a little bit.

One thing we clydes do have in our favor is the ability to gain extra speed on the downhills compared to the 150lbs weight weenies. So we can make up time/speed on the donwhills.

JOE

i am going to get my avg speed up ... it will just take more time on the bike to get it ...

only 'issues' i am having with the bike, is my feet get a numb / tingly feeling after pedaling for a while ... not sure why /shrugs ... and not having options for my hands .. but looking at a set of ergon grips with the bars on em for another couple of choices ... saddle part is fixing to be taken care of ... i feel that once i am not as worried about what is hurting that i will get my speed up more ... still searching for the 'right' spot for saddle placement to ... each ride i am moving the post up and down a bit and adjusting the tilt ...

Are you riding platforms or clipless, and what kind of shoes are you using.

If you're using platforms with or without clips and straps, try Skateboarding shoes. ;) They have a thick, stiff sole and help minimize pressurte points.

If running clipless, the only time I've gotten the tinglies in the feet is when I either had the cleats out of position, or when I have the shoes strapped to tightly. As you ride, your feet swell a bit, and you need to adjust the straps accordingly. ;)



i am going to get my avg speed up ... it will just take more time on the bike to get it ...

only 'issues' i am having with the bike, is my feet get a numb / tingly feeling after pedaling for a while ... not sure why /shrugs ... and not having options for my hands .. but looking at a set of ergon grips with the bars on em for another couple of choices ... saddle part is fixing to be taken care of ... i feel that once i am not as worried about what is hurting that i will get my speed up more ... still searching for the 'right' spot for saddle placement to ... each ride i am moving the post up and down a bit and adjusting the tilt ...

riding platforms and 'bike shoes' well they are like skateboarding shoes ... 5.10 Impacts ... with a grippy sole and a stiffer bottom ... but i can still feel the pedal through the shoe .. maybe i need some stiff inserts? ... i don't tie them up to tight .. but they are snug ... and i can move my foot around in em a little bit .. so i don't think it is from them swelling.

Cascade Bike Club breaks their rides into the follow categories:

Easy: Under 10 mph
Leisurely: 10-12 mph
Steady: 12-14 mph
Moderate: 14-16 mph
Brisk: 16-18 mph :rolleyes:
Strenuous: 18-21 mph
Super Strenuous: 22+ mph

There are currently only 5 different events for Easy rides under 20 miles in length, so I can see how it's daunting to someone just getting started, and looking for a group "no drop" ride. There's more than twice that number of Strenuous and Super Strenuous rides. :eek:

I'm not a fan of group rides. I don't do pacelines, I don't like riding in a pack. Sometimes I like to stop and take pictures, or sit at a park bench for a few minutes and just enjoy the afternoon. On Sunday I did 30 "Steady" miles by myself while doing errands. 14mph average, but I also stopped at a park in Bellevue and did some people watching for a while, and I stopped at the mall in Redmond to pick up some See's chocolates for The Girl.I saw quite a few well practiced groups when I rode STP last month. They were all very awesome looking, one right after the other, wheel to wheel, well coordinated in their movements, and flying past me at 20+ mph. I overheard one group talking at the Centralia stop:
"We should back it down a little bit to 23."
"Maybe. It's getting a little hot for the 25-26 we're keeping right now, I guess."

Yeeeeah. That's just a little bit out of my league.

Hey big boy, why don't you pick up some more See's and head south :rolleyes:

I would say 17 is a pretty easy pace for any seasoned roadie with the hard rides being 22 or more.. Around here the slow no drop is around 15mph.

I'd say that's about right. It used to seem fast when I was first riding, but now I can do 17mph all day. Just ride more.

Cascade Bike Club breaks their rides into the follow categories:

Easy: Under 10 mph
Leisurely: 10-12 mph
Steady: 12-14 mph
Moderate: 14-16 mph
Brisk: 16-18 mph
Strenuous: 18-21 mph
Super Strenuous: 22+ mph

I would call that accurate. :thumb:

I think a "no drop off" ride would have to be at Steady or below.

I'm not a fan of group rides. I don't do pacelines, I don't like riding in a pack. Sometimes I like to stop and take pictures, or sit at a park bench for a few minutes and just enjoy the afternoon.

+1. It has never appealed to me yet.

I absolutely love group rides. Something about being part of a moving, evolving (pick up riders as we go) ballet on bicycles is a beautiful thing.

My first group ride was about 20 miles at a nominal 14mph pace, thought I was going to die. My regular Saturday and Sunday rides now are about 40 miles with the occasional long group ride of 70 miles on Sunday. Average speed these days is about 18 on the 40 and high 19's on the 70.

Have to want to push to get better. I still get dropped the last leg of the 70 miler (they hit 30 in the sprint to the town line) but complete the ride none the less.

I found that I ride a little faster each time I ride with a group that paces faster than I am used to. My last group ride, we had about 25 people and I was able to maintain between 18-21 mph for 21 miles. I was completely spent after that and rode the remaining 15 miles around 14 or so. Never would have been able to do that on my own.

Group riding is more about technique. Im sure you could hang if you knew what you were doing with a group. If you see the group start to acclerate, step on it. If you hesitate, you're oof the back and out of the draft. Too hard to catch back up on your own so make usre you don't all out.

Whenever the group approaches even a small incline, you know the guys yup front are going to stand to keep the pace up. Get ready to stand and or acclerate. It's not that hard. Thing that sucks though is most ridrs get a kick out of dropping other riders. Insecurity I would say. If you rode with good riders, even a good racer, he wouldd encourage you rather than make a fool of you.

We did a forum ride with some girls that had neve averaged 17, They were so jazzed that they did on this day. Part of the reason was that when we hit an incline, I knew they would struggle a bit. So I'd slow then give them a chance to recoup. Once they did, it was cake. Big problem is lots of riders are too macho the work together!:(


See the gurls in pink and and the gurl jsut ahead of her? They had never averaged 17 before. On this ride, they averaged abit over 17 for about 50 miles! You know why? Cause I'm a good guy!:roflma2:
http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/gulpxtreme/Forumride1.jpg

i understand 'drafting' ... thats how i kept up as long as i did ... but the people i was behind got annoyed at me still being near them it seemed ... because they looked back .. and then took off ... and caught up with the main part of the group ... leaving me to fend for myself ... i made it another couple of miles with someone that dropped back to ask me why i was riding a mountain bike on a road ride (isn't a mountain bike, just has a flat bar instead of a drop one) ... then he took off again ... thats when i took a turn and did my own pace and route ...

each time i go out riding, i try to push myself a little harder, for a little longer ... biggest mental obstical i have right now, is the issue with my feet hurting after a bit ... and saddle getting un comfy after a while ... once they get to a certain point, i am ready to stop to rest for a bit before going again,

did another 10 miles today trying out something on my shoes ... my pace was a little quicker then normal but overall was still in the 11-13 range ... with 2 1 mile sprints at 20 ... main reason i stopped on thsoe, was either traffic or my feet...

i know i am out of shape, but i am working on it ... but i am not trying to break any records either, just doing the road thing to build up endurance and such, to help me with the riding that i enjoy more ... through the woods.

i guess a group ride would be different, if it was organized and lead by someone who is interested in everyone ... but overall i would have to say, that even before we left out the parking lot ... i already did not feel welcome, and had the feeling that several of the others were wondering why i even bothered to come out there. hah

Lots of jerks on bikes! I had a guy ask why I was riding an off the shelf POS like my 95 Trek ($600). I thought it was strange as Gina and I caught up to him and his $4k bike, then dropped him!:D

Keep at it and maybe some intervals.That will increase your cruising speed. Try to hang on the back and respond, don't hesitate. Gina and I bought the tandem then had trouble hanging onto the back of a group doing 20 mph. Kept riding then one day were were doing 26 dropping everyone that tried to say on our wheel. It's all about time in the saddle and learning how to respond to attacks. Attacks I'm not sure why if it's a group ride.

I've caught up to pacelines on my own. As soon as they see me coming, they pick up the pace, not sure why. So I'm at the back of the group. I see some guy looking at me in his little mirror. He drops back from the group a bit then tries to drop me on the short little inclines on the underpasses of the trail. I'm a friendly guy but when they do this, I laugh. Some guy thinks he's going to drop me on a 10 yard climb when I do 10,000 ft climbs and caught up to their paceline. I knew his strategy so I just waited till they ried then went around them with a smile!:D


Point is, lots of jerks in group rides. Reason why I ride alone or with the wife. We're joined by friends at times but being the stronger rider, I get no thrill out of trying to drop them!:rolleyes:... I actually have plenty of friends that like to ride with me cause I work them a bit, but not too much!:thumb:

yeah i am going to keep putting miles on the saddle i know it will get better haha ...

most all of my friends are mountain bikers .. and rarely do any ride on the road ... when they do, often times i am with them .. on my mountain bike ... but thats a different animal .. i can keep up with most of them. (till we get on the trails and they are better at dodging trees then i am) ...

at the point i am now, i want to get myself better on the road ... just so i can show those 'jerks' that i can keep up with, and possibly pass some of them on another ride in the future (not the near future i am affraid tho)

It's alotta bike handling skills really. I'm sure you are strong enough. Prolly more that you're new to the group thing. As you get better you see things like brake caliper movement without looking for it. When you see it, feather your brakes or you just may hit the guy ahead of you. Same if you see the guy ahead of you stop pedaling, be ready. If the guy at the front stops pedaling, you know the wind will slow the entire line. If you notice the front 2 or 3 lift the pace, get ready cause the guy ahead of you is about to do the same. Just ride with them. you'll catch on!:thumb:

I believe i'm around these numbers too Clifton-

Easy: Under 10 mph
Leisurely: 10-12 mph
Steady: 12-14 mph
Moderate: 14-16 mph
Brisk: 16-18 mph
Strenuous: 18-21 mph
Super Super Strenuous: 22+ mph

I'm at 370ish..... Hills will drop me quickly compared to the skinny guys.. and i mean quick. I keep attacking and keep up a good pace and can usually stay close. I've always had a set of lungs so if its a super short ride i can just let it all loose but if its a 25+ miler then some conservation is in order.

I see nothing wrong with getting dropped! unless its specificlly no drop ride. Every new group i ride with i say ahead of time if i slow you up DROP ME..
has happened a few times and so what.. it makes you fight harder.. next time i'll see how long before i get dropped. Seeing that this weightloss is a fight why not go balls to the wall with other people sometimes.

just dont give up so easy.. hang in there and learn. you wanted to check it out for a reason.

anyways... keep spinning!

my feet get a numb / tingly feeling after pedaling for a while ... not sure why
I had the same issue - I moved my foot position on the pedals to be closer to the heel and the problem went away.

I had the same issue - I moved my foot position on the pedals to be closer to the heel and the problem went away.

i tried that, as it is how i ride on my other bike .. but the bike i use on the road, ends up with toe overlap if i don't pay attention while turning ...

Depending on the terrain and the make-up of the group 17 mph in a paceline could be a quite easy pace.

I think "drop the new guy" is a game typically played by jerks with all new riders Clyde or not so I wouldn't take that personally.

Keep riding with them till you don't get shot out the back I say. You'll hang on a little longer each time and eventually be there at the end.(I'm still working toward that, but mine is not a no-drop ride)

Going fast is fun. Going fast and only working part of the time is really fun.

You brought a big grin to my face with this post..
We've all been there. Trust me.
Last monday..34 Mile ride around Grand Island NY.
I see 3 recumbents and every fast rider in the club I belong to.
The ride 'started out at' 18mph and went up from there.
I hung in for 16 of the 34 and that was it.
I've learned I have more than enough left IF I start out moderate and warm up (also if the duration isn't over 30 miles and we don't wind up with hills and 20mph headwinds..lol)but starting out fast..poof.
The real heartbreaker is when (like with me on monday)you have 3 of the riders who are litteral bears (yeah,clydes)doing that 22/23mph stuff the entire ride.
If you learn the routes the club is riding you'll soon discover that -at your own pace- you wind up at the rest stop or coffee stop or finish,all of 5 min behind the main group. (If you discover shortcuts,you may even wind up there BEFORE the main group lol)