Tappets

is it just me?

whenever i seem to join group rides, i end up riding by myself mostly. the faster riders are always way ahead of me and the slower ones drop off the radar in no time.

i'm not getting paid to bust my ass and ride 25 + mph everywhere and i don't like riding with the slower crowd either... no offense.

why do i bother? i am OBVIOUSLY the only one affected by this, otherwise one of you would be riding in the middle with me

DrPete 

If it's not fun, don't do it. It's that simple. Life's too short.

You can most likely find a more chill group to ride with, though, that's a better match. Testosterone overdose will always be a problem on group rides, though...

Portis

You've just explained why I don't do group rides.

jsharr

Why don't you just go for a solo ride and see if a really cool group forms around you. Happened to Forrest.

velomedieval

Happens to me, too. The more I ride with other people, the more I enjoy riding by myself.

Cypress

Sound advise if I've ever heard any.

roadfix

I get dropped about 1/2 way everytime I join the huge Montrose saturday morning ride.....and this has been going on for over 10 years. Doesn't bother me one bit getting dropped and soloing to the finish....

chephy

That's the thing about group rides - you can rarely go at your own pace. I would do a group ride for two reasons: to chill out with a crowd I like and forget about speed or to try to go as fast as I can in a paceline. To go at my own pace I'd ride solo, or maybe with my boyfriend whose cycling speed matches mine pretty evenly.

slowandsteady

Why not cycle with the group that matches your skill set? Stop riding in those club rides that only accept A or C riders. There must be some ride that is in your category.

Portis

You are presuming that a lot of people have that option. I know we don't here and would have to assume that a majority doesn't either.

caloso

For me, the whole point of going on group rides with strong riders is that it forces me out of my comfort zone. The only way to get faster is to ride faster. And the best way to, at least for me, to ride faster is to ride with faster riders. I get dropped by the 1s and 2s all the time, but that day that the group shatters and you look around and realize you've made the first selection and you have no business being there but I'm gonna hold this wheel to hell and back.... that's a great day. And I still get dropped now and then, but that feeling keeps bringing me back.

As always, YMMV.

CastIron

It happens to me a fair bit. I ride my own ride and sometimes we mesh, sometimes not. Either way we'll regroup at the next cafe or such. Mostly I go for the route planning offered.

ragboy

I hear what your saying. Two reasons I'll ride in a group 1) I feel safer as we're more visible and 2) I get pushed a little harder to keep up with the pack. What I could do without though is having to chat with a socialite as I'm working my ass off trying to stay afloat.

slowandsteady

Really? What club do you ride for that has no B rides?

Tappets

oh hey i get that. i've witnessed this phenomenon once. the group was just 'faster' enough that i had to keep it real for the whole ride and i was happy, but wasted by the time we got back. i even pulled for a while here and there to do my part. guess i did ok cause no one yelled at me.

i was just wondering how many others seem to run into this problem MOST of the time.
i didn't think iwas alone... even though i am alone on most group rides. maybe i just smell bad.

[eidt: spelling maflunction]

caloso

Actually, it's happened to me two times this week. One time I just decided to bag it, and soloed home on a direct route. The other time, I was able to pick up a handful of other dropees and we worked for a while.

Machka 

+1

The one and only cycling club where I live has one level of riders. A. You're either fast, or don't bother coming out.

Most of the clubs in Manitoba were like that too. They tried to form a club that catered to slower riders during the last year I was there ... but I heard that a year or two later it disbanded.

I suspect that most places don't have so-called B or C level clubs.

Machka 

I'm in the slower crowd. We do get dropped off the radar in no time, one by one, until we are out there all by ourselves. We can't help but think that if some of the middle-cyclists would just slow it down a touch near the beginning of the ride we might actually be able to ride with them, at their pace for a while. With a bit of effort, we might actually be able to keep up with the middle-cyclists for quite a distance ... they aren't that much faster than us. But we get dropped too quickly because everyone feels they have to keep up with the rabbits right out of the starting gates. Sadly that'll never change ... and so many of us just quit riding with groups.

slowandsteady

So why don't you lead a ride at your pace?

Machka 

I do.

M_S

Riding, at least for now, is my "alone time."

I try to push myself, and as a runner I know that training with other people makes you better, however I am experienced enough with endurance training to know how to push myself even when nobody else is there. Plus I don't race, so there's no time goal I'm going for.

slowandsteady

Maybe this is what the OP needs to do as well. No sense complaining about it, it is an easy fix.

Machka 

Yeah.


We can either ride solo at the back, or in the middle, of a group of riders .............. or "lead our own rides at our own paces" ... in other words, go for a solo ride.

Either way we end up riding solo. I guess the second way is a bit better because at least we start solo, so we don't have the frustration of being dropped!!

Tom Stormcrowe

I pretty much ride solo myself because I'm too fast for slow and too slow for fast, myself! The thing is, at or about mile 80, I've generally started to pass the fireball riders up and by mile 120, I'm all solo again because everyone else has quit and gone home!

slowandsteady

Lead it and they will come......