Alone again
Ok..Six years ago when I decided to join a cycling club, I 'knew' I was out of shape.
There are two (well,actually, there are 3 but the 3rd is a premier racing club)clubs in my neck of the woods.
I chose the smaller less prestigeous.
The one with the motto: No Rider Left Behind.
Darned if they wern't true to their word. Every ride there was a sweep who was the last rider.
Four years back, realizing more than a few of the origional members (and some of the new ones as well) were getting 'up in years' the club insttituted B rides.
The idea was: 13 mph and a max. distance of 25 miles
"More the Journey than the Destination"
I began leading those rides. I'd ride into the ride start and home from the ride which gave me additional conditioning and the opportunity to do whatever speed I felt capable of.
By last season the B ride often had twice as many riders as the A.
And...by mid summer, these B riders were clammoring to go farther and pick up the pace a bit (please)
so we were doing 30 milers at 14 mph with some flat terrain sprints up to 15mph!
As some of the B riders progressed, they slid over to the A group and they were ready to ride with that group rather than being thrown to the wolf pack so to speak.
There are days when I'll get A riders looking for a easier paced ride.
There are days when someone else leads the B ride and I get to 'play with the fast crowd'
Maby there's a club with the no rider left behind mindset in your neck of the woods.