Originally Posted by
rm -rf
It sounds like you want a few more riders.
Are your rides posted on a calendar or an email list? Make your "D" group a separate ride, not just the "D" group--give the ride it's own name. Include both your fiancee's first name and your first name as ride leaders. Mention what your typical flat road speeds are, and that you wait at the top and the bottom of the hills, with nobody left behind. This may bring out some riders that felt that the usual rides were just way too much to handle.
Make sure you don't lose any riders. Either count them at every turn if the group is under 10 riders, or ask one of the riders that tends to be near the back to be the sweeper, and wait until they roll up to the group and get a chance to take a short break before you take off again.
I'd love to get a few more riders! I think we are also getting a friend of my fiancee's next weekend but she'll be riding a hybrid.
The separate group ride sounds like a great idea. As I get more confident as a lead I'll try to put that into action. I want to make sure that I can handle small groups first before jumping the *** and being overwhelmed. Thanks for the idea. I'll definitely try to get the word out there. Hopefully they will see that I'm serious about this and put my name up on the website. It says at the moment that they are looking for leaders so that may be the reason people won't attend specifically for that. They have been announcing a D group on the spot since I let them know every time I am available.