Hello everyone. I am riding in the Ride for the Roses next weekend in Austin and this will be my first group ride. I am starting to get nervous because there will be 6,500 riders (including Lance) and I don't want to do anything stupid, like cause a 6,400 bike pileup behind me because I fall over at the start or ride too slow or whatever.
Can anyone offer me any advice on A. what to expect from a huge group like this and
B. where to place myself in the group to cause the least amount of disruption. I can typically maintain about 16-18 mph on flat to rolling terrain. What speed do most riders like to maintain? I'm sure that 53-11 will tell me to ride out and pass Lance and just stay in front so I have nothing to worry about but...I'm old and not nearly as physically fit as he is

I am not new to cycling but I just bought my first road bike in 15 years last month and have been riding hard several days a week to get ready for this ride. Before that I rode casually ~100 miles A week on a mountain bike.

Any advice would be helpful! Pictures of the whole weekend plus a ride report will be posted on my pbase site on Monday.

Thanks in advance,

Rob
www.pbase.com/robncindi/cycling