Originally Posted by
kbarch
If you get dropped from a race or "serious" group ride, it's simple. You didn't ride hard enough. Training or finding another group should be a fairly straightforward matter. But if your friends on a more casual ride decide to abandon you, you might start to wonder what else you might have done wrong, and finding another group can mean something more complicated.
Those that would choose to abandon me on a casual ride, I wouldn't consider as friends. I doubt this would happen on a casual ride unless I spent weeks off the bike or just didn't feel well, etc. I think what he was trying to say was if you're having trouble keeping up with a 20-22 mph pace during a casual ride and you're only used to doing an 18 mph pace, then you should be looking for a slower group to fit your level of fitness.