I know I have to be reading this wrong because you said:
Originally Posted by
Mithrandir
I kept up for the first 15 miles, thinking "Hey, this isn't bad!". The group was only doing 15 mph which was slightly above my solo average speed, but not nearly as fast as I expected them to go. That changed, however, as I realised that was just their warmup pace, and I was putting in everything I had (and I was already warmed up from the 7 miles).
But then said:
Originally Posted by
Mithrandir
From miles 5 through 7, I got dropped... badly. I noticed there were at least 4 people who did not pass me, however, and when I looked back at mile 7 I could not even see them anymore, so at least I wasn't last.
Either way, at least you showed up, that's the biggest hurdle to group rides. Now that you've got that out of the way and have a general feel for the pace of the ride you can tweak your preparation and only get stronger/better from here. You've already made some observations on what you did wrong. I say fix those things and give it another shot before you throw in the towel on group rides.