Originally Posted by
bigvegan
This is par for the course for group rides in L.A. Just play it by ear. Remember you're always riding your own bike, and nobody else can make YOU do something stupid. If the risk is too great, don't go, if you can manage to be reasonably safe yourself, despite what others do, then go along.
Pretty much standard around here, too. I'm a geezer, around long enough to see cycling expand and contract a few times (up and down in the early '70s, up when Lemond was hot, down again, then up when Lance came along). Every new wave brings a bunch of a-holes who don't know or don't want to follow the rules. Fine with me if they endanger themselves, but they piss off drivers by the thousands and make things hard for all of us. I enjoy riding by myself anyway--I ride with a few friends, but rarely with a random group of testosterone junkies.