Originally Posted by zimbo

For someone who might be reading this and is considering a group ride for the first time, it's important to recognize a couple of things:

- Cruising speed on flat ground is not the same as average speed. Because of stoplights, warm up, and cool doown, the cruising speed is often 2-4 mph faster than the average speed, so you should find out which is meant when you see a reported speed for the ride.

- On flat ground, you can go much faster sitting in the pack than you can on your own so if your average speed is 16 mph, don't be afraid to try a ride with an average speed of 17 or 18mph, with the caveats below.

- Hills or surges in speed can cause a ride to be much more difficult than reported. If it's a steady ride, you'll be much more able to handle these speed changes than if it's a race simulation.

- Always talk to someone who attends or leads the ride before showing up for the ride. The reasons for this are myriad: reported speeds often vary wildly from reality, ride times change, whether or not the ride is a no-drop ride can change. Lastly, if the ride has no leader then it's less likely to be organized, consistent, and new-rider-friendly.

- Prepare for a scenario wherein you might get separated or dropped even if unintentionally. If you can't go as fast as the group, if you get a flat, if you don't know the route YOU are the one ultimately responsible for getting back home, regardless of the group. Most groups go out of their way to include newbies but sometimes separations occur without anyone knowing.

--Steve