Originally Posted by
rorban
I want to start riding in local group rides, but I feel like I would embarrass myself without a drop bar type bike. I guess I don't know what to expect. Does anyone ride in group rides with a flat bar bike? I think it would benefit me to ride in a group but I don't want to be laughed at the first time I try it and not want to do it again... Don't want to let a bad experience turn me off from something that could potentially be beneficial for me if you know what I mean.
I'm going to get yelled at for this ... but Memphis has a Critical Mass. The average moving speed of Seattle's CM rides is about 6 to 7 mph. There are more types of bikes than I knew existed, so your flat bars won't be out of place at all. You'll have a lot of fun, and meet dozens or more of other cyclists. But you'll also see some rudeness and lawbreaking ( running of reds, corking of intersections, and probably the younger folk drinking while "driving" ). It's probably worth going once and making up your own mind about it, and if you talk to the other cyclists who show up, you'll probably get a lot of advice on other, local group rides and good trails to check out.
Actually it looks like the Memphis Critical Mass has been infiltrated by "follow all laws" folks, so my caveat might not apply:
http://sites.google.com/site/memphiscriticalmass/