-Devil-

i will stick with solo riding. i met up with the group because the leader said 'sure it is an easy pace, we go slow and don't leave anyone behind' ... bah! lol ...

i kept up with em for the first 5 miles .. but holding 17+ mph was to much for me ... so i split off and did my own thing ...

a roadie i am not, and likely will never be ... a mountain biker i am ... but i need to do the road thing to build more endurance.

now time to go pass out somewhere.

smsimpson83

17 MPH is not an "easy pace" most bike clubs I have seen that offer an "easy pace" ride is around 12-14 mph.

-Devil-

i was expecting around 11 to 13 thats what i had been trying to work on ... heh .. all i can say, is it will be a while before i try to ride with them again ... i would hate to see the pace for their group ride that they classify as 'racers'

AndrewCO

They were just making fun of the clyde. If you haven't noticed, in the cycling community, we're ranked with mentally ********-handicap individuals*.

*Note, that I have nothing against people with physical or mental disabilities and just used the poor stereotypes to make a bad point.

ochizon

That happens to me too. I am a noob with a hybrid, but ride with roadies. I can cruise at 15-16 for days no prob, but that is not even warm up for them. I hang, huffing and puffing, at 19-20. 21+ I fall off pretty quick...

c_m_shooter

I have never been on a "no drop" that I didn't get dropped from. I gave up going to club rides, because I didn't like driving over an hour just to ride by myself and get lost. I can do that on my own without the drive. I don't think I'm that slow either, I pass people through the whole ride when I go to big charity rides.

professorbob

My nephew is a Cat-1 racer and he twisted my arm to come with his Wed. night group that rides out of his shop. They have an A, B, and C group, of which C is the slowest (12-14mph). Of course I went with C. Apparently not many C group people showed up. The pace was FAST. On the flats in the first 5 miles, we were cooking along at 20-25mph. Then we hit the hills.... I hung onto the wheel of the person in front of me for the first 3, then on the 4th, I blew up. Thought my heart was going to explode. Meanwhile, my computer sensor wire, which had been dangling by a thread for the past two years but still worked, so I never got around to fixing it, came flying off when I hit a bump on a 35mph downhill. So the computer stopped working. After I got dropped, I was lucky enough to take a shortcut and meet back up with the group-back in flatter terrain, so since I had a chance to rest up, I was able to finish the ride with the group. BTW, I'm 250 and ride a touring bike. The next morning, I went to fix my computer and out of curiosity, checked my average speed for those first 6-7 miles. Average was 21.5! Riding by myself, I usually average between 14 and 15. So somehow, between the paceline and the adrenaline, I did something I've never come close to doing before. I think I'm going to try again next week, but I assure you, I'll be praying for a large bunch of C Group people to show up....... Whew!!!

nymtber

on my ride today, I averaged 15.3 miles over a 10.26 mile loop... The first 5 miles I was above 17mph for all but one quick hill. If i had a flat place to ride with no wind, I could probably keep up 18mph for a while... but my whole area of NY state is nothing but rolling drumlins, so I wont be finding much flat land without hopping in my car (id rather just ride from my house, gas=money).

My girlfriend Bought me (us?) a tandem Kayak for my birthday...I tell ya thats almost as fun as bicycling the world takes a different perspective when your out on the open water in a 13 1/2' plastic boat...lol

I dont go on group rides...unless that group is any of the following: girlfriend, Dad, brother, myself....Once my brother finds himself a road bike and comes home to visit, I might have trouble keeping up...but that will add some fun

-Devil-

i think i will stick with ridin by myself for quite a while ...

come to think of it, i was the only clyde there .. most of the others were prob max 150 to 160ish ...

only other person that rides with me is my kid .. but he is still on a mtb ... and has trouble keeping up with me when i am on my hybrid ... i had already thought about that so didn't bring him to that ride ... i dont think he would have faired to well either ... but he likely would have smarted off to quite a few of them ...

my little computer says my avg for the 5 miles before i did my own thing was 17.5 ... but by that time my legs were already on fire and i needed to slow down for a while to even be able to talk lol

i already think if it was a 10 mile lap i could avg more then 11 but it was a 20 miler, i had already rode the route a few times over the weekend to see if i thought i could do it, and i passed quite a few people while out there...

i am sure when i go to the l-bs again, the owner (leader of the ride who game the the line i listed above) will have a comment or two to make about it, meh but when i started on it i told him then that i would be doing it just to see what i could do ... and he mentioned again that they normally topped out around 15 on this ride ... of course he was in the lead ... and they were goin a tad bit more then 15 lol ... i think he was just mad that i didnt buy the bike from him and went with another shop instead.

chipcom 

Oh bulltwinkle.

CliftonGK1

Cascade Bike Club breaks their rides into the follow categories:

Easy: Under 10 mph
Leisurely: 10-12 mph
Steady: 12-14 mph
Moderate: 14-16 mph
Brisk: 16-18 mph
Strenuous: 18-21 mph
Super Strenuous: 22+ mph

There are currently only 5 different events for Easy rides under 20 miles in length, so I can see how it's daunting to someone just getting started, and looking for a group "no drop" ride. There's more than twice that number of Strenuous and Super Strenuous rides.

I'm not a fan of group rides. I don't do pacelines, I don't like riding in a pack. Sometimes I like to stop and take pictures, or sit at a park bench for a few minutes and just enjoy the afternoon. On Sunday I did 30 "Steady" miles by myself while doing errands. 14mph average, but I also stopped at a park in Bellevue and did some people watching for a while, and I stopped at the mall in Redmond to pick up some See's chocolates for The Girl.
I saw quite a few well practiced groups when I rode STP last month. They were all very awesome looking, one right after the other, wheel to wheel, well coordinated in their movements, and flying past me at 20+ mph. I overheard one group talking at the Centralia stop:
"We should back it down a little bit to 23."
"Maybe. It's getting a little hot for the 25-26 we're keeping right now, I guess."

Yeeeeah. That's just a little bit out of my league.

Caincando1

I would say 17 is a pretty easy pace for any seasoned roadie with the hard rides being 22 or more.. Around here the slow no drop is around 15mph.

Mazama

25 miles per hour on a bicycle?
Really?
Blasphemy!
I must have 25mph of gravity pulling down on me. I can barely achieve that going downhill.

-Devil-

i guess i would fall between leisurely and steady for my current pace ... i can push it to 20mph for about a mile then i have to slow back down ...

i would say that i 'enjoy the ride' a bit more as well ... though so far when i have been riding by myself, less it was for an adjustment to the bike i hadn't stopped ... but i would slow down from time to time to look at a nice street rod .. or other things that catch my attention ...

i am just gonna keep doing my own thing ... and wear my 'mountain biker' title that i have been branded with by most in that group proudly ... maybe one day i will be able to keep up or pass them but i would wrather have fun doing it.

Pinyon

It's like that around here too. There are 10-15 organized roadie rides that you can look up online for this general area each week, and no matter what they say, you can add 3-5 mph onto the "average speed on flat areas". From what I've seen, the average "flat" speed is usually the speed that they ride up a 3% - 5% slope. Or maybe they only show up for rides where the target speed is their recovery-ride speed?

UniversalFrost

yeah, the local clubs here like to mess with new or heavy riders.

first group ride I did with one club, they tried pulling the fast paced stunt on me, but since I had the opportunity to train a lot in Denver before coming back to arizona i was in shape and acclimated to pulling a lot of hills and at a higher elevation. Needless to say I kinda smiled when the guy that was leading the most almost threw up after the ride and I was still right on their rear the whole time and I was feeling good.

I personally like a 15-17mph cruising speed, but I remember the first month or so I struggled to average 14mph on the flats with a road bike. It really comes down to training and more training. I still need to get in to better shape, and can't wait for the day when I am in a decent shape to at least hold up in a really realy fast peloton for at least a little bit.

One thing we clydes do have in our favor is the ability to gain extra speed on the downhills compared to the 150lbs weight weenies. So we can make up time/speed on the donwhills.

JOE

-Devil-

i am going to get my avg speed up ... it will just take more time on the bike to get it ...

only 'issues' i am having with the bike, is my feet get a numb / tingly feeling after pedaling for a while ... not sure why /shrugs ... and not having options for my hands .. but looking at a set of ergon grips with the bars on em for another couple of choices ... saddle part is fixing to be taken care of ... i feel that once i am not as worried about what is hurting that i will get my speed up more ... still searching for the 'right' spot for saddle placement to ... each ride i am moving the post up and down a bit and adjusting the tilt ...

Tom Stormcrowe

Are you riding platforms or clipless, and what kind of shoes are you using.

If you're using platforms with or without clips and straps, try Skateboarding shoes. They have a thick, stiff sole and help minimize pressurte points.

If running clipless, the only time I've gotten the tinglies in the feet is when I either had the cleats out of position, or when I have the shoes strapped to tightly. As you ride, your feet swell a bit, and you need to adjust the straps accordingly.

-Devil-

riding platforms and 'bike shoes' well they are like skateboarding shoes ... 5.10 Impacts ... with a grippy sole and a stiffer bottom ... but i can still feel the pedal through the shoe .. maybe i need some stiff inserts? ... i don't tie them up to tight .. but they are snug ... and i can move my foot around in em a little bit .. so i don't think it is from them swelling.

cohophysh

Hey big boy, why don't you pick up some more See's and head south

tinrobot

I'd say that's about right. It used to seem fast when I was first riding, but now I can do 17mph all day. Just ride more.

ochizon

I would call that accurate.

I think a "no drop off" ride would have to be at Steady or below.

Stujoe

+1. It has never appealed to me yet.

ScrubJ

I absolutely love group rides. Something about being part of a moving, evolving (pick up riders as we go) ballet on bicycles is a beautiful thing.

My first group ride was about 20 miles at a nominal 14mph pace, thought I was going to die. My regular Saturday and Sunday rides now are about 40 miles with the occasional long group ride of 70 miles on Sunday. Average speed these days is about 18 on the 40 and high 19's on the 70.

Have to want to push to get better. I still get dropped the last leg of the 70 miler (they hit 30 in the sprint to the town line) but complete the ride none the less.

jaxgtr

I found that I ride a little faster each time I ride with a group that paces faster than I am used to. My last group ride, we had about 25 people and I was able to maintain between 18-21 mph for 21 miles. I was completely spent after that and rode the remaining 15 miles around 14 or so. Never would have been able to do that on my own.