I ride with an eyeglass mirror so I am never caught by a group unexpectedly. When I see a group coming up from behind if I feel like joining them I will wait until they are 100m behind then start to increase my speed. As they approach I am almost matching their speed and will move to the center so they can hold their line and pass right. I'll acknowledge them and if they aren't going crazy fast I'll tuck in and watch how the group is riding. I might wait for a full rotation by dropping back and letting the rider pull back in with plenty of notice as to not interrupt his/her rhythm. If I go into rotation I will keep with their flow and see how things go.
Depending on effort and speed my pulls range from 50 crank rotations up to 5 miles +/-.
22mph to 27mph maxing at 30mph with the guys I ride with. Depending on conditions I can get the line up to 28-30 and let them sprint from there.
Last edited by OldTryGuy; 06-17-13 at 10:16 AM.