Group rides are not the same as riding with strangers. I love group rides. I hate riding in a paceline with strangers. I won't do that anymore. So I ride in group rides with people I know. My team has training rides most Saturdays and Sundays. There is free beer at the end. Sometimes I ride with the A group, sometimes with the B. I used to be one of the fastest riders in the A group, but that was only when the A group was particularly slow.