Stumbled Onto My First Faster-Than-Advertised Group Ride
So I went out tonight to ride with what was advertised as a "B" ride (which around here means 14-17 mph). I ride the 11 miles out there and I'm informed there is a "faster" group that breaks off the front (@ 20-22 mph) but that everybody else rides the advertised pace. Ok, I think to myself, it's Monday night so we've got the "fast people recovery ride," since most people put in the big/fast mileage on the weekend. No problem, considering that I usually average about 17.5 without working too hard and that's without a wheel.
My first mistake was trying to chase the fast group right out of the box. I got stuck behind everyone who was riding three abreast and had to make up about half a mile on a well-organized paceline of four guys. They were going about 25 when I caught up to them. Needless to say I had to full on sprint to catch the group, so on the first big hill I was gassed and realized there was no way I'd keep up with the big boys tonight. Humbling, and totally my fault. Lesson learned.
No problem again, I thought, I'll just drop back to 16 mph or so and wait for everyone else. Then the rest of the group catches me going 20-21, sees me struggling, nobody offers me a ride on a wheel for a minute to catch my breath and get back up to the pace. We turn left onto a new road with a slight 1-2% downhill grade and everyone is hauling 26+ mph. At this point, I'm thinking, "you've got to be kidding me." The ride leader pulls up NEXT to me (again, if I could have gotten a wheel for a mile I might have been ok) and asks how I'm doing. As calmly as possible, I remark that for a 14-17 mph ride, this one's a bit fast. Ride leaders response: "yeah, this is a fast group." I wasn't far from home so I opted to "accidentally" wrong turn and call it good for the night.
I don't mind getting dropped, it just means I have something to work on. But ride leaders, please for the love of everything holy put some kind of note in your ride listing if you're going to average 5-8 mph over the advertised pace. If I had wanted to ride 19+, I would have gone and found the "A" ride tonight.
Good news was, I managed to hang on for 8 miles running right around 24 mph (most without the benefit of a draft). My total mileage was 32 and a bit, averaging about 17.5 mph. I HTFUed a bit and learned a lesson about chasing a guy in a US Postal Service jersey (they must ALL be doping)! But I still think it's BS that the ride leader did not take the simple step of re-classing the ride on the calendar.
Vent complete.