squidrow

Any tips for a group ride first timer? I have been riding for a few months now but all of my rides have been solo.

I have good gear, spare parts, the food and hydration things down. What I have absolutely no idea about is how do you actually ride in a group? How do you figure out who is in front, for how long.. essentially I am looking for a "group rides 101" type overview.

Thanks

eric1971

Let me google that for you

bt

https://www.bikeforums.net/road-cycli...-yell-you.html

10 Wheels

What Speed can you maintain?

Elvo

Wear jeans if you want to make a statement

bt

probably averages 30mph like the rest of us....

10 Wheels

My club has four speed groups.

This a fast one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=G4eWM8ZvDzQ

Lazyass

Group Ride and Paceline Tips from Spin Zone Racing - GoPro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EB23djKy7mI

happyscientist

Is there someone specifically that you know you want to ride with like a local club or a group at work? If so, email the ride leader or someone you know in the group and let them know what your abilities are (say 30 miles in just under two hours). Ask them what rides will be appropriate. Let them know to expect you, then at the ride, introduce yourself, and let people know that you are new and that you appreciate advice.

Be genuinely receptive of advice. Cyclists love to give it, and they will like you if they think you have a good attitude, even if you can't keep up. Expect to hang near the back, out of the way until you get a handle on things. They might assign someone to stick with you and make sure that you don't have any problems.

Funny story from my first group ride. I am a woman, and very few women around here ride on the roads. I am probably out numbered 10:1. I was invited on a casual group ride that was specifically for beginners and old farts. One of the old farts made it very clear that he didn't think he should have to ride with a woman, and apparently he hadn't suffered that indignity for years. I hung toward the back because I was just trying to stay out of everyone's way, and he would deliberately hang back and swerve all over the road to block me from going around him to catch up with the group. A few of the other riders got tired of his antics, so the biggest guy in the group dropped back next to me. He told me to be ready to jump on his back wheel, then he took off with me drafting. The other riders blocked the jerk until we got ahead, then they dropped him to finish out the ride by himself. I showed up the next week, and the jerk didn't, but about a year later, I was riding with a different group, and someone told me a story about something funny he heard about on a beginners ride the previous year

caloso

For your first group ride, I would recommend going on an organized no-drop club ride, not the Tuesday Night World Championships. Let the ride leader know it's your first group ride. You'll probably be asked to hang out at the back to see what's going on and get comfortable. Make sure you keep your head up and look through the rider you're drafting. Protect your front wheel, don't overlap. Cover your brakes, but don't use them unless necessary. Hold your line. Don't allow gaps to form. And above all, be smooth.

jimincalif

Great story, hard to believe someone would have that attitude these days. Glad to hear the other riders took care of the situation so well! IMO one of the great things about this sport is that men and women can ride together.

To the OP, I joined a club not quite a year and half ago. I hadn't ridden with a club since 1972, so it was a bit intimidating at first. Even though I'm not a new rider, I went to the club's "newbie" class to get a feel for what it was all about, hear what they thought was important for new riders to learn and meet some of the folks. then just focused on riding, paying attention, not causing problems. Don't worry about pulling in front for a while, just hang back and get to know the other riders and give them a chance to get to know you. Ride smoothly and you'll be able to figure out the other stuff as you get more experience riding with them.

rm -rf

I still remember my first group ride. The sound of 20 riders clicking in their pedals, then the hiss of 40 tires on the road.

Many no-drop rides don't do much pacelining. A few of the stronger riders tend to stay up front, and the rest sit in the draft. The spacing between riders spreads out on the slower rides. So those rides are easy for a new rider to do.

The faster rides do the pace lines and the close drafting. Riders need practice to be "smooth". Riders that swerve slightly with each pedal stroke or that repeatedly go slightly too fast then stop pedaling are really annoying to ride behind.

mkadam68

• DO NOT overlap your front wheel
• DO ride predictably (no sudden movements left, right, forward or braking hard & fast). Ride only as close to the person in front of you as you are comfortable. Any closer, and you get nervous and start doing "dumb" things.
• DO WATCH how the group rides, ask questions about things you don't understand, and remember the answers for next time. As you get better at riding a straight line, you can begin to emulate the things they do. (First time out? Keep your hands on the bars and don't point things out. Yet. It's more important that you ride a straight line than try to help others by pointing out objects and swerving all over the road. You should be at the back of any groups anyway, so no one should be behind you and it won't matter.
• REMEMBER, everybody does things for a reason. If you see them do something, and if you can safely do it, you may want to, too. (But think about it first: you may not want to.)
• INTRODUCE yourself to another rider, ask if there's a ride leader somewhere, and introduce yourself to them. Tell them you've never been on a group ride, and ask if they would teach you what you need to know.
• DO KNOW what the route is and--more importantly--know how to get back to home (your car or house).
• BE SELF-SUFFICIENT You need to know how to take care of any unexpected mechanicals (flat tires, etc...). Others may do it for you, but don't show up presuming others will take care of you.
• BEHAVE HOW THE GROUP BEHAVES IN TRAFFIC Doing your own thing, even if the legal or right thing to do, can cause accidents between riders or even with cars. If you've been dropped more than say 10-yards, and are by yourself, then you can act on your own.
• DO NOT do your first group ride on the weekly World Championships ride. If you do, you'll probably get dropped anyway, but if you don't, you'll be a danger to everyone else there.
• DON"T SHOW OFF No one cares how fast you are for 30-feet if you disrupt their ride. And besides, there is always, always, always somebody faster than you somewhere.
• BE TEACHABLE If somebody does hollar at you, ask yourself (and them?) why? Maybe they had a very good reason for doing so. Learn from it.
• KEEP COMING BACK No one will respect you, which means no one will get to know you, which means no one will be inclined to help you when you need it if you show up, get shellacked, and drop out. Take your medicine and keep coming back for more. That shows true character and is almost always admired.
• DO HANG OUT If other riders stay after the ride and are being social, get to know them. Social is the second great drug of bicycle riding (well, third if you count EPO).

The wheels go 'round & 'round There may be people in front of you, on either side, or behind. Then again, there may be nobody around you for a couple hundred yards or more.

You're new, so not you. You stay at the back. If you're not in front, watch & learn how the others do it.

Martian63

Join a local club. Ours has social rides and offers a "skills and drills" ride to teach you to ride in pace lines. The skills and drills rides were amazing for this beginner. The social rides are great for meeting other cyclist.

kbarch

Lots of great advice after the jokes were out of the way.

You'll do fine even if you forget what you've read here beforehand if you just remember this:

bbattle

Contact your local cycling club to see if there are any beginner group rides or training sessions. Most recreational group rides don't expect anyone to get into a paceline but they do want you to ride safely in a group. That means maintaining pace with the group, not being twitchy with your brakes, not being too close to other riders, holding your line in a turn, etc. As the riders up front peel off and rotate to the back, you may find yourself up front. If so, just maintain the same pace the other riders started. Upping the pace when you get up front is rude and not kind to the riders who just spent a lot of time up front.

Drafting is very useful but you need to be comfortable riding closely behind someone AND matching their speed. If you yo-yo(speed up, slow down, speed up, etc), the riders behind you will be very upset. But, as I said, drafting isn't required in a lot of recreational group rides. Just know what is expected of you before you show up for the ride.

If you show up for the 17mph pace ride but can't hang with the group, let them know that you'll be dropping off the back and going solo. Sometimes somebody will hang back with you but I wouldn't count on it. It depends on the group. Large groups often break up into smaller ones.

We have a RAM ride series here; it stands for Ride A Metric. They start off with an easy paced 10 mile ride and progress through the summer so that by the time the big fall charity ride comes around, the riders can finish the metric century. Experienced riders often join the group to help the newbies and give advice and show how things are done.

intransit1217

"Be teachable" I'll second that big time. And keep coming back.

I used to:

Half wheel
Run off the front
stop pedaling
ride too close to the shoulder
etc.

I got corrected alot. I'm not perfect, but I'm better. And I can enjoy riding in a slow double paceline now.

pdedes

accept correction with grace from veterans. their safety is in your hands.

squidrow

Thanks all for the advice.

I did my first group ride this weekend which turned out to also be my first ride involving hard climbs and my first 'on purpose' metric century (did a metric last year when I missed a turn and got lost).

I had a great amount of fun, hung back, watched, learned and repeated what I saw and heard. The ride was the 'Assault on Morrow Mountain' in Stanley, NC and I can't wait to do it again.